《Werewolf in another world》


 -1 Info/prologue

    First of all, this is my first time writing something to be read. So I''ll apologize if it falls short of people''s expectations and if it''s doesn''t have perfect story building and writing.


    Now for some info regarding how the settings is written.


    1. Magic- there''s at least 3 different types of magic in this series. Each has its own capabilities and uses.


    A. Mana- the typical type of magic that everyone usually sees. Using the energy inside of yourself to manipulate elements and other forces outside your body. Used to cast elemental magic such as fireballs, moving water, and creating wind. Can also be used to strengthen allies or hinder opponents. Typically improved through meditation and training using mana.


    B. Chi- used mainly in self enhancement and strength. While someone could use mana to create natural disasters, someone could also use chi to physically crush mountains. Unlike mana requires training of the physical body and the use of chi. Could also be applied to weapons being used by the user such as swords, bows, and lances.


    C. Energy- similar on use as mana, energy is manipulation of magic of your surroundings instead of from within yourself. Using energy is how magic weapons and armor are made, as well as other certain magics such as necromancy which use the spirits of others. One could also use energy exactly the same ways as mana, but use the energy from outside of the body requiring more control, as well as abundant outside sources to draw upon to fight with.


    2. Mutations- mutations are people(usually humans but not always) that from the abundant amount of magic in the world are born with some type of physical abnormality. Ranging from extra arms, to possibly green skin. Could also be minor mutations such as abnormal hair or eye color, and not all mutations are visible such as enhanced strength or mutated blood. Typically shunned, mutations are seen as inferior for not being able to handle the amount of magic in the air even though mutants are also able to use magic. People that happen to be from earth are always mutants do to their bodies being exposed to magic for the first time.


    3. Gods- gods in Aletera are known to exist, though they are not able to interact with the worlds population themselves except within their own area of control. Looking down at the world like a giant chessboard, the only exception to this rule are the champions that each God can choose to represent them in power struggles. Though they are the gods of Aletera, they are also known on earth due to people from Aletera ending up on earth and spreading stories of their home world. This however resulted in the real personalities of the gods being warped due to inconsistency in telling of their myths. As a result, while people on earth know the names and their godly duties, they do not know just how different the gods on Aletera are from the ones they think they know.


    4. Languages- the first several chapters are from the main characters point of view, and when another language is spoken it will be in {} different brackets. After the MC starts learning the main language that will become the normal language and if the MC uses English then it will be in the other brackets.{}


    Prologue


    As the plane took off Leonard finally relaxed. Spending the last 10 days in Hawaii had really taken a toll on him. He was ready to just nap the whole way home when his little sister Emily nudged him from the next seat,


    "Look, mom and dad are already asleep even though we just left."


    Leonard just smiled at her and said,


    "So would I if someone didn''t keep me awake just now."


    Emily pouted and said,


    "If I didn''t wake you up then I wouldn''t have anyone to keep me company on the way home?"


    Knowing he wouldn''t win against her and that she''ll be alone when he left for college in a month he decided to humor her.


    "Alright, one round of cards then I''m taking a nap."


    "Two!" She replied stubbornly. ''With how she acted you wouldn''t think she was already sixteen,'' Leonard thought to himself.


    Before he could answer her a notice came over the speaker saying to fasten seat belts. They had just barely put their seat belts on when the plane gave a sudden lurch. The movement woke his parents up and Emily grabbed onto Leonard''s arm for extra support. As they were trying to figure out what happened the plane suddenly fell out tog the sky. Leonard could only hold onto his sister out of fear and security as he looked out of the window and saw the water rushing up to meet them.


    CRASH!!!


    He lost consciousness.


    3 days later- "authorities have just recovered the planes wreckage several miles offshore of Hawaii. There''s still no comment on what caused the crash but with no known survivors it is one of the deadliest events in recent memories. "

 1 Awakening

    As Leonard regained consciousness he realized that he was in the middle of forest laying on the ground. As he looked around all he could see was endless pine trees, though they were far bigger in width and height than any trees that he''s ever seen. The trunks alone were at ten feet thick at the base, and the tops were higher than he could estimate. At least he felt like they were taller than the redwoods he had heard about.


    The place seemed unreal, he thought he had gotten lost in a fairy tale if he wasn''t dreaming. Then in a flash everything he had just experienced came back to him


    "AAAAHHHGGGGGGG!!!" He let out a cry like a tormented animal. He recalled the feeling of falling out of the sky, Emily gripping onto his arm, and the moment of pain he felt on the impact before blacking out. He started sobbing uncontrollably at the thought that he had lost both of his parents and his sister all at once. In his grief he didn''t even stop to think about his situation and only retained enough consciousness to crawl to a hollowed out trunk nearby and cry himself to sleep.


    The night was cold, and though he was thankful he dressed to return home and not in the tank top and shorts he wore in Hawaii; he still felt like he would freeze through the night. As the sun came up a single spot managed to shine through the the trees onto the ground in front of Leonard. Still shivering he crawled forward to enjoy the warmth as he thought about his next move. Though his grief was still with him he decided his family would want him to keep going and not give in to despair and join them prematurely in the afterlife. Even though he wanted to think they were still alive he found it hard to believe that they had lived like he had, though he wasn''t even sure if he had lived to be honest.


    He thought about his current situation and finally started thinking about how in the world he had gotten there. He reasoned that if he had woken up from the plane crash without being rescued it was most likely he''d wake up on either a raft, a beach, of the jungle of a tropical island near Hawaii. Try as he might he couldn''t come up with a reasonable explanation about why he had woken up in a pine forest in what felt like the north from the cold. What made him even more confuse was that through the gaps in the trees he could only see mountains on all sides. If he woken up near the ocean he could have made sense of it, but not in the middle of the mountains where he was seemingly many miles inland.


    His thoughts ranged from kidnapping, drugging, hyper realistic hallucinations, he even entertained the idea of being transported to another world(but only for a second). As his thoughts wandered he suddenly felt a pain in his stomach accompanied by a loud noise. It was then that he realized that he was starving!


    "I have to find some food first or I won''t think straight" he said out loud. He thought that by vocalizing problems he could focus better on them, as long as he didn''t start answering himself. If that happened then he knew he would be truly screwed. He slowly got up and reluctantly moved away from the Suns warmth promising himself to make a fire as soon as possible.


    He didn''t try to fool himself with ideas of hunting... Just yet. But he did think that he might be able to find some northern fruits or berries to snack on. The thing that scared him with this idea was the possibilities of poisonous berries, so he decided to stay away from any brightly colored berries he found.


    He soon realized that the problem might be harder to solve than he thought though, when after several hours of walking he still hadn''t found anything to eat! He could tell it had been a while since he started walking because the sun was now almost at its peak in the sky! It was roughly noon and all he succeeded in was wasting more energy by walking around. Not long after though he heard the sound of running water nearby, rushing towards the sound he was able to find his first drinking water since he woke up the day before.


    The stream was about five feet across and it looked like it was deepest at about two feet. Placing his hands in the water first, the stream was as cold as ice. He scrubbed the dirt of his hands before moving a few feet upstream to drink the cleaner water. Leonard had read somewhere that mountain streams were actually cleaner than city water due to the rocks and constant movement acting as a natural filtration system. He would only have to worry if the water was at all stagnant.


    Keeping that in mind Leonard dipped his hands in the water and brought some to his lips, savoring the cool liquid running down his parched throat. He was so focused on drinking that he hadn''t noticed the large wolf standing on the opposite bank staring at him. When Leonard heard a low growling he looked up and the first thought in his head was ''maybe this isn''t earth after all''. Because he knew that on earth wolves didn''t get as big as horses.


    Leonard froze, his mind rushed into overtime while his body wasn''t moving as he worked on ways to survive this sudden encounter. However due to the wolves growling and the look of hunger in it eyes Leonard arrived at only one conclusion- RUN!!


    He launched himself to the side and ran following the stream. He heard a soft thud behind him and knew that the wolf had jumped over the water, a quick look behind him showed the wolf getting further back as it only followed him at a leisurely pace obviously believing he was an easy meal. This thought irritated Leonard even though he should count it as a good thing he couldn''t help thinking ''you asshole! If you''re gonna eat me then put more effort into it!'' to himself.


    Risking another look he saw that the wolf was following at a slightly faster pace and cursed himself in his heart. Though its pace was still slow enough that he was able to stay ahead of it for another ten minutes, long enough that he had long since felt a pain in his side and started weeping from the effort. Looking back one last time he saw the wolf had apparently decided to get serious in its pursuit and was moving even faster, and he looked forward just in time to see to cliff he was about to run off of.


    Coming to a sudden stop, he suddenly felt a large weight hit him in the back as the wolves'' fangs sank into his shoulder. Due to the wolf crashing into him they both fell forward sending them both down the cliff to the bottom. They had of course hit several rocks on the way down, caused great Leonard to lose consciousness on the way down.


    Leonard opened his eyes and could feel himself fading, ''how funny is it that I supposedly escaped death just to die the next day?'' He thought, mocking himself. He could see a pile of fur a little ways away, ''at least I took that bastard with me'' and he felt relieved at the thought. As he felt his conciseness fading he suddenly saw a striking red in front of him. As it moved closer he realized it was a woman with beautiful red hair and golden eyes examining him.


    "How beautiful" he said before his conciseness faded away.

 2 Iris

    **reminder other languages are used in this chapter and will be indicated by{}**


    While Iris was out hunting she stopped to fill her water skin at the foot of the waterfall when she heard something crashing down a short ways away. Going on alert and using the surroundings energy to cloak herself, she crept closer to the sound. As she moved closer what she found surprised her, a high wolf and surprisingly a boy that looked like he might be the same age as her. She said might because due to what she assumed was him falling down the cliff he was heavily injured all over his body, and his face while not injured as badly sustained it''s fair share as well.


    she was quite surprised at finding someone who seemed the same age as her. In the village everyone close to her in age was still at least several years older, or several years younger. Which meant she was usually treated like everyone''s younger, or older sister. As she got closer to examine him he said something,


    "How beautiful." And then he passed out.


    {what did he say?} Iris said out loud, before the severity of the situation finally hit her. With how his injuries looked, if she didn''t treat him and get some help soon he might not make it! And so, removing the small bundle of supplies Iris set to treating the worst of his injuries as best as she could before returning to get the other villagers to help her move him. As she removed his upper clothing she found that the worst looking wound was the bite the high wolf left on his right shoulder.


    Lifting him slightly she also found that the wolves claws left several shallow marks in his back, but as those were shallow she put priority to the bite wound. From her pouch she removed a small pointed leaf that was green on one side and silver on the other, called silverherb. She only had a handful of leaves with her, so she put a few of them in her mouth and chewed them into a paste before lightly spreading it on his wound. Then she slowly worked her way through the rest of the leaves making sure to cover as much of the wounds as possible, after which she took the few wrapping she had and wrapped the wounds as tight as she dared.


    With the temporary treatment done she then pulled out another pouch of leaves called stink weed, and lit a small fire and dumping them in it. Satisfied with the fire she dropped her cloak over his body to keep the chill out and headed out to the village, confident the stink weed would not only cover the smell of blood but also keep any predators away from the boy.


    Returning to the village as fast as she could, it still took her over half an hour.When she explained the situation to the other villagers they immediately set to preparing a stretcher and any additional medicinal supplies that might be needed. However it took longer to return to the boy with the extra supplies and people while also keeping an eye out to make sure no monsters decided to make a snack out of their group. In total it was roughly two hours since she left the boy before they returned.


    {Has he taken any medicine, or just the paste from the silverherb?} the head healer Austin asked.


    {He had just lost consciousness right after I arrived and all I had was the silverherb.} Iris replied gently removing the bandages so that the more experienced handsold work their magic. Austin nodded and cleaned all the wounds he could see, before placing his hand over the lighter wounds and started chanting,


    {Heal, heal, heal} as his hand slowly drifted over the boy''s body. The smaller wounds started healing after his passed over them and moments later were closed. He then had Iris carefully lift one side of him so he could examine and treat the wounds on his back. After doing so his forehead and back were coated in sweat as he exhausted himself treating the wounds with magic. He looked at the bite mark and decided that it was too deep to be healed by his magic and rewrapped it until they could return to the village.


    Moving at a much slower pace than arriving due to carrying the boy on a stretcher, it then took them over an hour to return to the village. After arriving there was a short discussion about which house to bring him to in which Iris volunteered her house since she had been the one to find him. The other women looked at the boy whose face was now healed and gave Iris ambiguous looks as if teasing her, to which she pointedly looked the other way.


    After placing him on her bed Austin then went to gather the supplies he needed before treating and wrapping his shoulder for the final time that day. Before Austin left the boy regained consciousness long enough for him to mumble some things they couldn''t understand, and drink some medicine to encourage sleep and help numb the pain.


    The boy slept for the next two days only waking long enough to drink some water and medicine before falling asleep again. Iris stayed by his side as often as possible, accompanied by the elder of the village, elder grandma. Elder grandma appeared to be in deep thought as she watched the boy sleep, sensing a mysterious power in him that she couldn''t understand even after her many years. As if sensing elder grandmas thoughts Iris asked,


    {he''s a lost person isn''t he?} Elder grandma only smiled and said nothing. If he was such a lost person then they would find out after he woke up completely. However even elder grandma could think of no other explanation why someone who didn''t seem able to take care of themselves was so deep in the northern mountains. It would also explain his unusual attire that she haven''t seen before. However lost people were almost always mutants like most of the people in the village, yet he didn''t have any visible signs of a mutation. Which made her wonder if it was related to the unusual power she sensed in him.


    Wanting to learn more elder grandma left the house and called for Thomas, one of the only non mutants in the village,


    {I want you to travel to Mountains Edge Village and gather some supplies.} she told him the details of what she wanted and he said he''ll prepare and depart within two days. Satisfied she went back to Iris''s house only to hear her call for help when she was right outside. Elder grandma rushed inside and was horrified to find that the boy was physically changing into some kind of monster right in front of their eyes. After a minute however the light from the rising moon shined through the window onto the boy, who then started glowing from the moonlight.

 3 Artemis

    Artemis was lounging in her hut in her divine world unique to her, wondering if this is what mortals called dying of boredom. As goddess of the moon and the hunt, her divine world was a hut in a forest with a specimen of every species readily available for her to hunt. But after many millennium of hunting the same things over and over she had grown bored. If she wanted she could have joined in the tournament the other gods held among themselves every hundred years. But it required a champion, and she didn''t want to waste her time let alone her blessings on a mortal that wasn''t very exceptional.


    She once found amusement watching mortals hunt in her name, and sometimes become the prey. She had enjoyed the show quite often until she had grown bored of that as well. Now Artemis was wondering what she could do to pass the years . She was even starting to think she might as well just find a champion to compete with the other gods champions. Even if they weren''t worth her time, they might provide a few decades of entertainment before kicking the bucket.


    Just as she was about to look for a champion her trusted beast Fenrir suddenly let out a sharp growl from his place in front of the fire. Artemis looked over at Fenrir with sudden interest, and understood through their link that something significant must have happened to one of his descendants. As the ancestral God beast of canines, all wolves and dogs were defended from him. And whenever something abnormal happened to one he usually felt it. Rising Artemis strode to the entrance to her hut, with Fenrir following closely behind her.


    Leaving her hut Artemis walked to the pond nearby and lightly tapped the surface of the water. As the goddess of the moon her pond could show her all things under the moonlight. As the ripples spread an image of a wounded boy in a bed was shown to her. Artemis was confused, if Fenrir was reacting why was the one shown a boy and not one of his descendants? As she examined him more closely she slowly understood.


    The boy was a mutant! But what had mutated wasn''t his skin, or eyes or any other outer part of his body like a normal mutant. What had mutated was his blood! And when his mutated blood came into contact with another creatures, it started changing him from the inside. He was slowly becoming not a mutant, not a human, but something else entirely. Artemis had a spark of excitement ignite inside her heart.


    ''This boy, neither man nor beast, but a combination of both might be my ideal champion!'' She began to realize. But her excitement started to cool down the next moment. As she watched the change slowly happen she realized that he was becoming more beast than man. If left as is he would become a monster that would kill indiscriminately, and through contact infect others to become like him due to his mutated blood.


    After looking through the boys memories however she realized that he was also a lost person! He had also found something interesting there, something he had seen in things he called "movies". Things called "werewolves". Then she developed a plan inside her head. Summoning Fenrir with her mind she plucked a thorn from a nearby bush.


    Fenrir knowing what she wanted to do lifted his paw and held it over the water. Artemis then jabbed the thorn into Fenrir''s paw, drawing several drops of blood before the wound healed over. Artemis then used the blood dripping into the pond as a medium. Through the ancestors blood she manipulated the descendants, and shaped the boy''s body the way she wanted, from the inside.


    She decided, she would help him retain his sanity. But there would be a cost, every month at the height of her power, during the full moon he would lose his sanity and become a beast. He would threaten the lives of all that he cares about. It will be this point that determines if her plan works or not. If he cuts all contact with people then she have to finds other means to use him. If he remains in contact with people however, then she could threaten him with their safety by removing her blessing and turning him back into a beast. He would force him to accept her offer and become her champion, she did not simply want an obedient pawn like the other gods.


    She wanted someone who could entertain her, someone who would struggle and fight her very chance they got. Only to be forced into submission and await their chance to strike. Other gods would finds this situation dangerous, but Artemis found it thrilling. She shuddered in anticipation and slowly finished bestowing her blessing. She would wait six months. Six months to finally talk to her champion face to face. That would be enough time to not only integrate into this world through the village, but form connections and come to terms with his new powers. He would get a pass this month, but starting the next full moon; Artemis couldn''t wait and grinned in anticipation.


    ****


    Iris watched in fascinated horror as the boy she had saved started changing in front of her eyes. However when it looked like he would fully turn into a monster the moonlight suddenly shown down on him. Realizing the goddess Artemis that she followed as a fellow huntress was interfering, Iris dropped to her knees and bowed her head. Elder grandma soon followed suit. Even with her experiences she dare not disrespect the gods. She watched through the goddesses work the boy''s body returned to normal and the moonlight slowly faded. While Iris was frozen in amazement that she had witnessed the goddesses miracle firsthand, elder grandma though of something else. She was thinking that this boy, whose power seemed so strange to her would someday be someone who could stand at the pinnacle of this world. This boy, might someday even become one of the people leading this world into the new age.

 4 Awakening.... Again

    Two more days had passed before Leonard finally opened his eyes. The first three seconds of doing so felt like an eternity. The first second he noticed that he was in a bed in a house made out of wood. He had also noticed that his eye sight had become remarkably better when he was able to actually count the grains of wood in the ceiling above him.


    The 2nd second, he looked to the side and noticed the beautiful red haired woman he had seen before losing consciousness, fast asleep by the bed. For the first time he managed to get a good look at her. He thought that he had hallucinated the golden eyes from before but was unable to confirm it due to eyes being closed from sleeping. But he saw that she had a pale complexion, but not to the point of being sickly. She light freckles dotting her nose and spreading to her cheeks. She wore mostly leather, which tightly hugged her firm figure. And lastly he noticed that her hands had small scars covering them, a testimony of many years of work in her craft most likely courtesy of the small knife she had on her belt.


    The third second he was awake however, he suddenly cried out in sharp pain as he felt like he was suddenly suffocating from the smells trying to enter his nose as well as a splitting head ache from the sudden sharpness of his ears. He could only squeeze his head in response to the pain.


    "GEEEEEEAAAAAAHHHHHHHHGGGGGG!!!!" He cried out suddenly. Causing the girl to jump up but that was the last thing he noticed, too focused on his own suffering. After what seemed like an eternity(but had actually had only been four minutes) had passed his pain started to subside and he noticed the girl(who apparently did have golden eyes) returning with and elderly woman and a man with green? hair. She had apparently left to retrieve help and to let them know he had woken up.


    Embarrassed at alerting all of them, he tried to apologize for the trouble,


    "Sorry about that, I suddenly had a headache from hell that only last for a few minutes for some reason" he tried to explain to them. The three of them gave him a confused look as if they couldn''t understand him. Then the man with the green hair walked towards him and gently started examining his head and eyes, as if looking for an abnormality. Leonard was relieved that his words had apparently gotten across to him until,


    {I don''t see anything really wrong with him, however I''ll have to take a closer look. "Examine!"} he cried out alarming Leonard. Not only was he not able to understand what the guy was saying, there was even a faint glowing light right next to his head! He looked around thinking the guy must had used some kind of tool, but was shocked to find that he didn''t have anything in his hand.


    "What is going on here?!" He asked, as the guy paying him no mind moved to examine his shoulder now instead. Remembering the wolf clamping down on him, he was concerned now over the state of his heavily bandaged shoulder. Since he couldn''t feel any pain he assumed he had been given pain killers, until the bandages came off and he could see that let alone blood and gore; all that was left of his wound was some light scarring!


    Leonard was shocked and wondered how long he had been out, thinking it might have been at least a couple weeks from how his wounds have healed. In shock about his apparent "coma". Finishing his examination, the green haired man turned to the two women,


    {there''s nothing wrong with him, he''s completely healthy. I''ll return to my house now, I''ll check on him at least once a day for the next few days to ensure there''s lasting damage. He probably confused on the situation since he''s only been talking in that strange language forawhile now. First get some tea in him to calm him down and to rehydrate him. After that try to establish who he is with a basis of communication.} Continuing to talk in a way he couldn''t understand, the green haired man apparently gave instructions to the two women before leaving.


    After being left alone with the two women, the red haired girl set to making something by the fire while the elderly one continued watching him. Not sure what to say(if they would even understand him) Leonard settled to watching the girl work. After a few minutes he noticed she was setting a pot of water to boil as well making some food! At the sudden realization, accompanied with the now spreading smell his mouth started to water uncontrollably, and his stomach suddenly let out a giant noise of complaint! The elderly woman chuckled gently while the girl jumped at the sudden noise. Leonard turned away from them while his face turned scarlet.


    "Sorry" was all he could mumble through his embarrassment. Though they couldn''t understand what he said the elderly woman seemed to understand his meaning and chuckled a little more. After a few minutes of waiting, (and a few more animal sounds courtesy of Leonard''s stomach) the food was finally ready. The girl handed him the tea first so that the food wouldn''t make him sick. After he finished gulping it down came the bowl of stew she had just finished. Though it was just a bowl of stew with chopped up bits of meat, and some veggies; to Leonard at that moment it was a gourmet meal cooked by the best chefs of Italy!


    As he hurriedly gulped down the stew, the girl watched him with interest. However he was too focused on the food to notice. As he finished the first bowl within moments, she then took the bowl back to get get seconds while he mumbled words of thanks. When she handed him back the refilled bowl he started to eat again but slower this time. He noticed the girl had a small smile on her face, apparently pleased he found her food pleasing. He became transfixed on her face now that he took a moment to look at her awake.


    He was focused on her eyes as he looked at her, as he had never seen golden eyes before. And became lost in them like he was entranced.


    "How beautiful" he repeated what he had said before passing out before. Not knowing what he meant while looking at her eyes the girl became noticeably distressed, and looked away as if in fear and shame. Afraid he had done something to offend he tried to remedy the situation but found he couldn''t due to the language gap!


    The elderly woman then stepped in and said to the girl,


    {don''t look away Iris! While you can''t tell what he said, you could see it wasn''t disgust at your eyes. Seeing the way he was looking at you, I would guess he was trying to flatter you!} he didn''t know what she said, but the girl calmed down somewhat. Returning Leonard''s looks again he noticed that through her hair, her ears had turned a crimson color to match her hair. At first he was only curious at what the elderly woman said to calm her, now he really wanted to know.

 5 My name is...

    After the misunderstanding? Was cleared up, Leonard finished eating his stew. As the girl was cleaning up the dishes, he started looking at the elderly woman. From the moment she arrived, she had simply stood there and looked at him.It was as if she were examining him. He almost felt that she was analyzing everything she could about him, in order to decide what needed to be done with him.


    As he looked at her, he noticed that she was relatively normal compared to the guy and girl. The guys hair was a dark forest green, and based on the house he was in it didn''t seem like they''d have the necessary dyes to color hair. His next thought was that it was naturally colored that way, but that was impossible. The only ways someone''s hair would naturally be green was in cartoo-


    As he had this thought he suddenly stopped. He thought about everything that had happened since he had woken up the first time and realized that what he might considered normal probably doesn''t apply anymore. He thought about waking up in the forest, running from a wolf as large as a horse, and then finally how the people here had different physical characteristics compared to normal people. He just then remembered that the guy had made something glow right next his head for a moment, but when he looked there was nothing there. Almost like...


    "Magic!" He said out loud. The girl looked up as he talk out loud, and as if she could understand what he was thinking the other woman smiled at his words. Leonard''s mind meanwhile was going completely into overdrive as he considered the possibilities of magic. However as this childlike giddiness was going through him he suddenly saw both the women looking at him and realized there was something more important to attend to. He figured that they at least needed to establish each other''s names. He pointed at the older woman and asked her slowly, (not that it would matter how fast he asked her)


    "What. Is. Your. Name?" The woman seemed to understand the question and while pointing at herself said,


    {elder grandma} knowing anymore words would be confusing and unnecessary, she kept her introduction short and simple.


    {elder grandma?} he asked in conformation while pointing at her again. To which she nodded he head, pleased that he had understood. The other girl who suddenly showed some enthusiasm, pointed at herself as well and said,


    {I''m Iris}. As he heard her words he then pointed at her in conformation as well and said,


    {I''m Iris?} realizing her blunder, her ears turned red again as she shook her head and corrected while pointing at herself again,


    {Iris!} she declared. After he confirmed her name with her, the one who called herself elder grandma then said to him in almost perfect mimicry,


    "What. Is. Your. Name?" Ignoring his own shock, (and her smirk at imitating him) Leonard was about to answer using his name when he suddenly stopped. As he thought about it, he realized that he had given a whole new life on another world. Meanwhile he assumed his previous life had already come to an end. As such was there an need to keep using the same name as he did on earth? The more he thought about it the more he realized that the fresh start he was given needed anew name. However he was also reluctant to just blindly throw away the name his parents had given him, now that he had nothing left of them.


    After thinking for a moment he looked up at them and said,


    "Leo. My name is Leo." Hearing the Leo part twice, the women assumed that he had added extra words to his introduction like Iris and pointed at him to confirm,


    {{Leo}} they both said in unison. He smiled and nodded to confirm they had gotten it right.


    After the introductions were finished, Leo went to get up for the first time since waking up. However as he peeled back the blankets he was suddenly filled with more questions. He had suddenly remembered that he naked from the waist up, that was understandable due to the wounds on his shoulder needing treatment. What he did not understand, was that he was now in different pants now as well. A brief check was all that was needed to confirm the last thing he was worried about, his boxers were also gone!


    He turned to the two women while pointing at his pants hoping they would say who had changed his clothes. His hope was that it the male doctor, even though they never met it would still be better than having a girl change him in his sleep. Of course things didn''t go his way. Understanding his confusion at his clothes, the beautiful Iris suddenly had her ears turn red for the third time now; but the redness continued to spread to the rest of her face this time, showing her embarrassment.


    Normally Leo would enjoy the idea of removing clothes with a beautiful woman, but having it happen while he was unconscious and she seemed to be his primary caretaker while he was so embarrassed him to no end. Laughing at their expense, elder grandma walked to the door of the house. Iris quickly grabbed a small stack of sturdier clothes than the loose pants he was wearing now, and after handing them to him fled after elder grandma out the door.


    Sorting through the clothes, Leo took his first real look inside the house. It was a quaint little building, by the modern standards he was used to it would normal be considered closer to a shed. But he quite liked it, there was a single bed in the corner, and dresser opposite it, and a small table next to the dresser. The other side of the house looked like it was where the food was both stored and prepared. What he had originally thought was a fireplace, was actually closer to a wood stove. When he had looked over there while Iris was cooking, the door was open making him think it was a fireplace. The place felt like it was completed by the numerous fur rugs on the floor providing protection from the cold wood floor.


    By the time he had finish looking around the house he had finished changing. And so he took his first steps out the door to his new life.

 6 The village

    When Leo left the house he found Iris and Elder Grandma waiting for him. Contrary to when she was inside the house Iris had adopted a somewhat "cold" demeanor. But as she made eye contact with Leo occasionally, he would see a small smile at the corner of her mouth.


    Now that he had left the house he could tell for certain that he was smelling and hearing things on a far greater spectrum and range than he normally should. He could hear the insects crawling in the grass, birds chirping in the tress across what he perceived as the village, and he could pick out specific parts of conversations throughout the village. (If only he could understand what they were saying)


    He could not only see several people that he assumed were the local inhabitants, but he could smell certain odors that he was able to subconsciously connect to the people he could see, and locate ones he couldn''t.


    "Ahem" Iris got his attention and she then proceeded to lead him on a tour through the village. Leo couldn''t help smiling as he followed her, listening to her explain various things as if she had forgotten he couldn''t understand her. When he looked over at her he saw that elder grandma was also smiling at how Iris was acting. However he was able to learn a few words through her explanations, such as whenever she pointed at someone and said something he assumed that it was their name.


    As they walked through the village, he looked around and realized that there were at most fifty people living there. With a closer look at the surroundings he saw that they situated on the side of a mountain that looked as if it had a giant slice taken out of it to create a shelf. With all that led to the forest floor below was a single pathway just wide enough for a vehicle. After looking around Leo guessed that the largest vehicle in this world though was just a carriage.


    As Iris continued leading him she introduced him to various people throughout the village. First was Austin, the green haired man who he learned was the village healer. Austin had been the primary one in his treatment after his fall. He invited Leo into his home/clinic where Leo saw a variety of jars and pouches filled with different ointments, leaves, and medicine. Through a Small demonstration, he also showed Leo his first confirmation that there was magic in this world.


    Next was the head of the village gardeners, Lucy. From what they were able to get Leo to understand, unlike Austin who mostly worked alone; there were several people who worked under Lucy tending to the gardens that they maintained. Leo was curious as to the reason why the plants were able to grow so well despite the northern chills, but until he was able to learn the details on how things worked he just used his same fallback for explanations, magic.


    This was confirmed when Lucy demonstrated why she was head gardener. By pointing at what looked like a tomato plant, and growing a whole tomato from a single flower in moments. She then plucked the tomato from the plant and handed it to Leo, who then ate it while Lucy watched. When he finished eating the tomato he tried to express that he found it delicious, which earned him a radiant smile from Lucy.


    Iris then practically dragged him away from there to show him the other areas, which earned them a round of giggling from the ladies tending to the gardens. Next stop was the loggers, who provided the village with the daily firewood and crafted various things needed from wood. The head loggers name was Jack, and what surprised Leo was that Jack had a second set of arms right below his first pair! Leo found someone with four arms strange, but as with the garden used his fallback magic. As if he wanted to show off to Leo, Jack then started chopping wood with two axes at once!


    Using both hands on one side, and both hands on the other he swung two axes repeatedly while other loggers would swap out the wood rounds he was chopping. Leo thought that they were working at an amazing speed. Then a couple other loggers then collected the chopped pieces of wood, and started delivering them to the different houses.


    As Leo watched the loggers work, he also thought about the gardeners. He then reached the conclusion that rather than a usual village, this place was more like a family working together. But as he looked at the various people he noticed that almost all the people around them had some form of physical "uniqueness" as he wanted to put it. Some people had obvious differences like Jack, while others had minor ones like Iris and Austin, while others had different skin. He wasn''t talking about some had darker or lighter skin tones than others, he had seen people working and walking by that had different types of skin altogether. One guy had purple blotches all over like a bad rash, but no one seemed to notice. Another girl however looked completely blue! He didn''t mean like depressed, she looked from head to toes a light shade of blue as the sky!


    He had even seen someone else walk by with scales instead of normal skin. And another person had hair a different color like Austin''s, except instead of green like his it was bright pink!

 7 First lessons

    *NOTE- Remember English is now using these {} brackets while the other language is using the common"" quotation marks*


    While he was thinking about this, Iris began to lead him to the next place. The building she led him to was slightly bigger than most of the other houses. As she led him inside he a bunch of chairs and a woman sitting across the room. Through introductions he found out her name was Brenda. After being introduced to each other, Iris continued a conversation with her leaving Leo out for the moment.


    He took the time to examine Brenda and found that as far as he could see, she didn''t have some kind of "uniqueness" to her. Then their conversation ended as Brenda grabbed a few items for Iris, it was then that he could see what kind of building this was and Brenda''s role. She was a teacher! He recognized some of the items she handed to Iris as things such as crude flash cards, with characters he didn''t recognize on them. As he was wondering what Iris needed them for, she then turned to look back at him and then he understood with a bitter smile. They were for teaching him.


    After apparently thanking Brenda for the supplies, Iris then led Leo back towards the house they started at and the passed it. As they kept walking he gradually heard the trickle of water over the rest of the daily noises. A few minutes later a beautiful pond surrounded by dark green grass cam into view. As Leo looked up he could see a small waterfall feeding the pond from further up the mountain. The area was very serene.


    Seeing his reaction to the area Iris smiled and promptly found a nice patch of grass and sat down. Pointing to area in front of her, she indicated he should do the same. After he sat down she then pulled out the first of the flash cards. The moment he saw it he couldn''t help bursting into laughter, apparently he had gone from preparing for college back to elementary school in what felt like only a few short days to him.


    The card Iris held up was a thin slat of wood that had a crude drawing on it with some characters below it. What was on the card though was a picture of a tree. Iris then pointed at the picture and said,


    "Tree!"


    He couldn''t help smiling at her as he repeated the word back.


    Like this his lessons began. She would hold up a card and pronounce how to say the word corresponding to the picture, and wait for him to say it back. As such he quickly learned how to say words such as tree, rock, water, and mountain relatively fast. After ensuring that his pronunciation was correct, she then moved on to basic greetings.


    It took some effort for him to realize what she was trying to say, but after hearing her name in the sentence repeatedly; he began to realize she was saying,


    "My name is Iris" as an example of self introduction. And so his lessons continued. As he quickly began to learn introductions and greetings, Iris was visibly impressed by his progress. He could only smile ruefully though as he remembered nearly failing foreign language classes in school. He reasoned there was a difference in only studying for an hour a day, and needing to learn just to establish basic communication.


    As the sun began to set Iris put the lessons to a halt and then taught another phrase,


    "Time for dinner" as it had already been quite a while since he had eaten the stew Leo was once again quite ravenous. He never appreciated learning another languages words so much before. After cleaning up the materials Iris led the way back to the center of town, there Leo was greeted with the towns full inhabitants setting up what looked like a feast. A new group of people were off to one side covered with blood up to their elbows.


    From the smell, Leo deduced they were hunters that had just finished cleaning a kill and that was what the appetizing smell was. As one of their members saw them walking over and alerted a woman who seemed to be in charge. As the woman walked up Leo noticed several things at once about her and the hunters.


    First was that she had a third eye in the middle of her forehead. He watched as while her two normal eyes were on them, her third eye was darting back and forth around the village as if it was trying to examine everything it could at one time. He guessed this is what let her become the head hunter, being able to keep track of multiple things at the same time.


    Second, all the hunters were wearing the same tight fitting leather outfit Iris was. Realizing that this was probably something like a uniform for hunters, Leo decided that it seemed to fit her. It also explained what she was doing in the middle of the forest when he fell. Recalling the scars on her hands, he reasoned they were probably the result of skinning and cleaning game.


    And lastly was that as the woman approached Iris gave her a small bow and respectfully called out to her,


    "Master, welcome back. Was there plenty of game to be found?" The woman looked her over and smiled.


    "Yes, we came across a herd of tusk Giants in the valley. We were thinking of trying for one when we heard the howl of some high wolves nearby and didn''t want to get caught in the conflict. We settled with taking a stag lord while we were returning."


    Leo could only make out a very small amount of their conversation but was pleased with the improvements he had already made. As if she had just noticed him the woman then turned to him and said,


    "I''m Natalie, head of the hunters. Now what do I call you?"

 8 Feas

    Surprised at being called out to, Leo quickly recalled his lessons and promptly relied,


    "I am called Leo. It is nice to meet you Natalie." Feeling proud at getting past his first real interaction. Iris giggled at how proud he looked while Natalie looked confused. ''Why does he look so proud from simply saying nice to meet you?'' Since she had been gone all day, she didn''t not know that he didn''t speak their language. She soon found out however by simply carrying on the conversation.


    "Well then Leo, now that I''ve met you; you seem like a strong young man with some potential. How would you like to join the hunters and learn not to repeat your last mishap?" Poor Leo couldn''t keep up with his limited lesson. He got left behind in the conversation almost as soon as the words left Natalie''s mouth. Feeling the pride he just felt getting destroyed he immediately became dispirited.


    This confused Natalie as well, while Iris fell into another fit of giggles. She then explained Leo''s situation to Natalie, who then felt awkward at being inconsiderate,


    "I''m sorry for my inconsideration, I''ll wait a while before asking you again." She then promptly walked away while Iris was still giggling. While he still didn''t understand most of what she said, he at least got the point that she had began with an apology. Iris then led him to the area where the rest of the villagers were setting up for dinner. As they were walking he thought he saw a cold expression appear on her face, but it disappeared a moment later when the village kids swarmed them.


    He saw that as the kids swarmed around the two of them, Iris adopted a "big sister" attitude while the children whose ages ranged from five to twelve bombarded them with questions. He guessed that he was the source of the kids questions as most of them were pointing to him. While some surrounded him directly, he could hear many times the few words Iris taught him asking what his name was. Before he could say anything however, Iris got the kids to quiet down and walked over to Leo gesturing at him,


    "This is Leo, he doesn''t speak very well yet though. So each of you has to be nice to him until he can learn. Ok?" The kids nodded their understanding. The. One of them pointed at him asked,


    "Iris, is he your husband?" While Leo didn''t know what the kid said, he did notice that Iris''s ears suddenly turned very red and she hurriedly sent the kids away. Confused on what the kids were saying he was about to try to ask Iris when he noticed some giggling a ways away. Looking over he saw the gardening ladies from before looking their way and giggling, while talking amongst themselves quietly.


    Deciding it was better not to ask, Iris soon dragged him towards the people who were cooking the days kill. As they walked around, Leo kept an eye on His surroundings while Iris attempted to explain various things about dinner. Soon the food was ready and it was time to eat. With several tables set up, they were able to accommodate the entire village population and then some. Iris sat him at a table next to her along with elder grandma, Jack, Natalie, Lucy, and Austin. As they sat down he noticed that Lucy and Austin sat close together, as well as Natalie and Jack. Seeing the way they interacted with each other Leo realized they must be married and smiled.


    The real surprise though, was a moment later when Lucy moved her hair and a slightly pointed tip showed itself. Gaping at what he saw Leo was only able to get one word out,


    {ELF!} At his exclamation everyone looked at him causing him to become embarrassed at his outburst. He shyly apologized, and everyone returned to their meal. Thinking about it calmly, he wasn''t sure she was a real elf. Everyone else in the village had shown some kind of uniqueness, so he reasoned he had simply confused slightly pointed ears for elf ears.


    As the meal resumed, Iris was pointing out various dishes and telling him their names. What he saw on the table though was similar to what he would expect from his own world though. While he wouldn''t be able to identify the different types of meat, there were potatoes, salads, corn, loaves of bread, and many other things he familiar with. Seeing him grabbing a little bit of everything, Iris gave up explaining and let Leo simply try everything on his own. She couldn''t help smiling as she watched him scarf down all the food he had piled on his plate.


    Austin the town healer also looked satisfied after seeing Leo''s gluttonous appetite. While satisfied that he had his appetite after recently recovering, they were also hoping that he wouldn''t eat like that all the time. They might not make it though winter if that was the case! After satisfying most of his appetite, Leo started looking around and examining the surrounding people. After doing so he realized something that shocked him. There were no people the same age as him and Iris!


    Leo had been wondering why a girl as amazing as Iris would spend so much time and attention on him. As he looked around the towns inhabitants he thinks he could guess that was why. The youngest people out of those older than them were at least in their mid twenties. While the oldest of the children was around twelve. Apparently with the towns low population there was a generation gap, and Iris happened to be caught in the middle of it. After noticing this he also noticed something else, where were her parents?


    He figured he would have met them during the day or at least while they were eating diner. Especially as it seemed like Iris had been the main one taking care of him. However the only ones he met and felt that she was relatively close to, were elder grandma and Natalia! Neither one seemed to have any familial resemblance to her though. Thinking about it he decided this probably wasn''t an appropriate time to ask about it.


    He did attempt to ask however, if there was an occasion for the feast that night. Getting his question across to Iris, she then gave him a blank look for a second and then pointed to him.

 9 Where will I stay?

    Seeing Leo didn''t quite understand Iris was trying to find a way to describe things to him when Jack suddenly stood up. As the loudest person around he suddenly started a speech as a way to let everyone know what was going on.


    "As all of of you know, the boy we found less than a week ago has already made a full recovery. For those who haven''t met him yet, his name is Leo and he apparently can''t speak well so try not to ask him anything complicated. For now his intentions are unknown, but I feel there''s something unique about him and I hope he would stay around and become a welcome addition to our village!"


    While Jack was speaking Iris hurriedly tried to explain the situation to Leo, but due to her hurrying to explain he couldn''t understand most of what she said. Hearing Jack mention his name, and continue taking enthusiastically he wondered if he was speaking about if he''ll stay or leave? As he tried to ask her, while he didn''t know what to say she seemed to get that he somewhat understood the situation which made her sigh in relief. She nodded to confirm that was the case, and looked at him with expectations as well. Leo thought for a moment.


    While he did want to stay and get to know everyone in the village better, he also wanted to go out and explore this new world. He decided that until he learned more about the world, it will be safer to stay in the village for now. As he tried to explain to Iris that he wanted to stay, she showed noticeable signs of relief and gave him a few short sentences to say. Not knowing what they meant, but since he had nothing else to go on at the moment he decided to trust her and repeated the sentence as she said it to him after standing up.


    " My name is Leo. And many thinks for saving my live. I not yes wet to leaf, but with to stain here." Looking to Iris for confirmation, he saw her doing a complete face palm. ''Wait they do that here?'' He thought before realization hit that he must have messed up. Looking around and seeing most of the people gathered snickering Leo quickly sat back down and tried to hide himself. Jack however, with two mugs in his hands; held one out to him and shouted for all to hear,


    "Well said!" Taking the mug offered to him, Jack raised his in a toast and everyone followed suit. Taking a brief sniff of his mug, Leo discovered it was ale! He had never drank before and was concerned due to the fact that he was still underage. However even Iris had her own mug and raised it as well for a toast so he copied her. Everyone let out a cheer and started drinking their ale. Leo followed suit and wanting to leave a good impression, tried to down the whole mug at once.


    Jack looked at Leo impressed. He thought this boy was still wet behind the ears when it came to drinking, especially when he saw Leo hesitate once he notice it was ale in the mug. Watching him finish his mug, Jack yelled out for all to hear,


    "HA! Look at that! Any man who could drink that well at that age is alright by me!"


    Everyone else also looked at Leo impressed. Leo himself was surprised at his drinking ability. He expected the alcohol to hit quite hard since he had never drank before. And though it did have a bit of kick to it, that was to be expected since it was alcohol. In reality though he had downed it almost as easily as water. Well he wouldn''t think too much about it, at least it seemed he made up for the speech blunder.


    As the feast continued, starting with the children various people started getting noticeably tired and heading to bed. Leo then noticed another problem, where will he sleep? As he tried to ask Iris this she then pointed to the house that he had woken up in earlier. He nodded to show he understood her, and then he started to wonder where her house was.


    After they started to get tired Leo and Iris both started walking back to the house. Leo got somewhat confused, ''is she trying to make sure nothing happens?'' He couldn''t help thinking. After they entered the house Iris turner her back to him and started stoking the fire to heat up the room. Taking advantage while her back was turned, Leo quickly changed back into the loose fitting pants he was in earlier. When she turned back around she walked over to the dresser, and pulled out more lose clothes to sleep in.


    At that moment it hit Leo, this was iris''s house! He suddenly felt like the situation was suddenly several times more awkward, especially after she gestured to him to turn around with a faint blush on her face. As Leo did so he could hear her changing behind him, and with there only being one bed in the room his imagination started to run wild.


    After a few moments however, he turned around and saw her retrieving extra furs and blankets from under the bed. Then proceeding to make another bed on the floor. He started to help make his bed on the floor, to which she said her thanks. When he tried to crawl into it though, she had said,


    "No!"


    Startled he looked at her, and saw her pointing at her bed. Realization struck him, she wanted him to take her bed while she slept on the floor! Leo was irritated! He didn''t know that much about chivalry in this world, but he had been taught to treat a woman with respect! And that meant he would not force her to the floor while he took her bed!


    However Iris apparently could tell what he was about to say, and before he could say anything she pointed at his shoulder and head. Understanding her meaning after a moment he could only cave in. To him she was a women, but to her he was a patient. Though he felt fine now, he did have to admit he was comatose for who knew how long exactly. Gritting his teeth he decided to let her have her victory for the night, but the next day he wouldn''t bow to her decision.


    And like that, his first day in the village came to an end. And unknown to all of the people there, a goddess was looking down on all of them smiling.

 10 Morning practice

    Leo woke the next morning hearing the sound of his own name. Blinking the sleep from his eyes, he looked over and saw Iris dressed in her leathers. Finishing putting her hair in a pony tail, Iris indicated he needed to get dressed as well and left. Quickly getting dressed, after opening the door Leo saw that there wasn''t even a glow on the horizon from dawn; saying that there was still plenty of time till sunup.


    Iris indicated to follow her while she carried a bag of supplies including a bow. Following her he realized that they were headed to the pond again. After arriving, she took a pose and motioned that he should mimic her. Mimicking her pose, she then led him through a series of stretches that almost seemed like a dance to him. Nearly twenty minutes later she stopped and he could feel a cold layer of sweat on his skin.


    After a small breather from warming up, Iris then instructed him to do a series of exercises. Following her example, he would do push up, sit-ups, and some other exercises he was familiar with from P.E., as well as several others he wasn''t familiar with. While he wasn''t an all star in school, he did stay pretty well in shape and worked out occasionally; however when he first came to this world he had been unconscious for quite a while so he wasn''t sure what to expect. What was completely unexpected however, was that on the exercises he was familiar with he completely shattered his old records!


    Previously his best was only forty two push-ups in a row, instead Iris had him go until he couldn''t anymore and easily cleared one hundred with ease! It was only when he reached the triple digits that she stopped him. While he was excited from the surprising increase in strength, Iris simply acted as if it was a pleasant surprise he was already able to do that much. Leo wanted to think about why his physical abilities had increased, as well as his senses now that he thought about it! Because there had been so much going on the day before he didn''t think too much and now he compelling baffled.


    Iris had him focus on his next exercises however so he was forced to wait until later the think about it. While he was going through the exercises she gave him he realized that instead increasing muscle like he originally thought, it felt like she was just trying to get a measure of his capabilities. After the exercises were done, Iris took out the bow and showed Leo how to hold it.


    After showing him how to hold, aim, and draw the bow, she then left him to practice himself while she took out a target the size of his head. Placing the target on a nearby tree, she then counted paces away from the tree, as he hadn''t learned numbers yet and was too focused on how to hold the bow he didn''t know how far she had gone before stopping and placing a marker.


    Indicating to go to the marker, she then pulled out some arrows and guest urged that she wanted him to practice shooting the target. Drawing the arrow back, he was about to let it loose when she called out,


    "Wait! Hold it!" Leo didn''t know what she said but froze. She then came close and fixed the areas that he was apparently mistaken on, while not appearing to notice how close she was while doing so. While she was correcting his mistakes, Leo forgot what he was doing and stared at her face. Iris was oblivious to his staring at her until she finished correcting his posture. Gently slapping the side of his head, he suddenly remembered what he was doing and apologized for being rude. Due to the low lighting she didn''t notice him blushing, but he did notice her ears turning red again.


    He refocused himself and took aim, as he tried to line the arrow up he let go.


    SWOOSH!!!


    He missed. Even with his enhanced senses, he had a hard time aiming properly due to lack of experience. Iris barked an order, which he assumed was "AGAIN!" and he lined up the next arrow. Going through the ten arrows, he only missed completely two more times, hit the trees four times, and only managed to hit the target three times. After collecting the arrows she had him practice several more times. By the time practice ended, he had increased the amount of times he would hit the target, but still couldn''t hit the bullseye.


    With the sun partway up by now Iris called a halt to the training and after collecting the target, headed back to the house. Leaving the things by the door, Iris tended to the fire and got out some cooking utensils, while Leo with nothing better to do got out the flash cards to review them. As Iris prepared breakfast, he suddenly heard a familiar sizzling sound accompanied by the familiar smell. He could help thinking that not matter where you go, bacon was indeed the go to for breakfast.


    Curious where she got the meat at since there didn''t seem to be a refrigerator, Leo watched as she put it away and noticed that she was walking towards a plain old barrel. When she lifted the lid however, he noticed the room got a degree or two colder, and there was a small blue gem on the underside of the lid. Interested, Leo got up and went to look at the gem. When he reached out to touch it however Iris grabbed his hand. Seeing her shake her head, he could only go back and keep reviewing flash cards until the food was done.


    Thinking back to the magic he had witnessed the day before, Leo figured the crystal was related to a type of ice magic. Intrigued by other modern consciences replaced by magic, Leo resolved to learn the language as fast as possible in order to learn more about magic. After she finished cooking the food, he and Iris ate in silence since he still didn''t know enough to carry a conversation. When the meal was over she led him back out to the pond for what he thought was more exercises. While he was partially right, they were the mental kind instead of the physical as Iris continued drilling him in their language.

 11 New routine

    When the sun had gotten to its peak indicating noon, Iris stopped his lesson and led him back to the house. After his recent lesson he was a little better at being able to carry a conversation, as long as the other petty spoke slowly and carefully. After a light lunch of dried meat, Iris got her bow and arrows and then led Leo across the village back to the gardens.


    When she was done done having a short conversation with Lucy, Iris turned to Leo and said,


    "I''m going hunting, stay and help with the garden. Be back before sundown for dinner." Due to the fact that she had spoken slowly, and they had focused on learning words related to village affairs; Leo had been able to understand almost all of what she said. Feeling proud of himself and wanting to show off a little he then replied,


    "Ok I understand, do you want me to start dinner?" Ignoring the excited whispering and the giggles from the ladies behind her, Leo only focused on Iris as she replied with a radiant smile,


    "No, I''ll make it. If you want I''ll teach you how to cook though." Once again he felt proud for understanding most of her words. Before he could say anything though, Iris turned and ran off to join the other hunters. Smiling, Leo turned around just in time to catch some gloves someone threw at him. Lucy then walked up and slowly started explaining things to him. As she showed him the details of the garden he noticed that some of the things they had to eat the night before weren''t there. He decided to push the details he hadn''t heard yet to the back of his mind, and focus on what was right in front of him.


    Though he mostly did the physical work such as shoveling dirt or moving pails of water, he enjoyed helping the ladies out and felt like he was able to return some gratitude to the villagers for saving his life and nursing him back to health. As the work went on the ladies learned the extent of his vocabulary and pace of speaking. They also helped him out by talking quite a bit with him, teaching him more words that Iris hadn''t gotten to yet. As he continued trying to talk to them his speaking got slightly more fluent and he learned many words related to the work they were doing.


    After spending the rest of the afternoon helping tend to the garden, Iris came back to get him. Curious as to why she made such a short hunting trip and where her kill was, he tried asking about her trip.


    "Did you not find any game?" Noticing the increase in his speaking pace, and his vocabulary Iris smiled before replying,


    "I only checked traps, I wasn''t looking for prey to shoot unless it was on my way." Due to her still speaking slowly, he was able to understand what she said. Walking back to the house, Leo pulled out the extra blankets and furs while Iris started making dinner. After he had finished making his bed on the floor, Leo watched Iris make dinner. As he was watching her he realized that even though they had only known each other for two days, they were already quite close. He slowly started to get a feeling that this must be what married life was like.


    As his imagination started running away, there was a knock on the door. When Leo opened it, saw elder grandma standing outside.


    "Good evening, may I come in?" Leo quickly remembered his manners and moved to the side while saying,


    "Good evening, please come in." Elder grandma walked inside the house while looking obviously pleased with his progress. When Leo turned around he saw that Iris had finished cooking, and there was even a third serving prepared for elder grandma. Leo figured that she normally came by for dinner, and didn''t say anything. As Iris placed the plates on the table, elder grandma took out a small bundle and opened it to reveal several slices of sweet smelling bread. Based on how rich the smell was Leo guessed that it was fresh baked, and when he ate it was even still warm.


    While eating elder grandma visited with Iris for a while. Leo assumed she was asking about him because he heard his name occasionally. After a while however they seemed to finished their conversation and then she turned to Leo and slowly started asking how things were. Leo tried to explain that things were going well and tried to tell her about the various things he experienced in the last two days. Seemingly satisfied with his answer, elder grandma stayed a while longer and continued making small talk before leaving.


    Then Leo and Iris turned around to give each other privacy and readied themselves for bed. After he finished changing, Leo made sure Iris was done before quickly getting in the bed on the floor forcing her to sleep on her own bed. When Iris realized what he was doing she simply glared at him before sighing and crawling into her own bed for the first time in days.


    Quickly becoming his routine, Leo spent each day of the following week similar to how he spent his first one. He would get up with Iris a couple hours before the sun rose every morning and stretch before exercising and training until the sun was already up. Then after breakfast he would spend the rest of the morning learning their language. After a light lunch, he would go to different groups in the village and spend the rest of the day helping them, while also communicating with them further learning their language. Then going home with Iris he would have dinner with her and elder grandma before turning in for the night to start over the next day.


    He still hadn''t asked about learning more about magic though. He figured another week or two before he would know enough to ask about learning it. He became even more excited when he saw Jack, who apparently doubled as the village blacksmith; plunge his bare hand into flaming hot coals to retrieve a piece of molten hot metal. He thought he saw a pale light cover his hand before sticking it in the coals, but wasn''t sure if he was just seeing things or not.

 12 Conflic

    After being in the village for a week Leo had gotten used to his new life. He slowly became used to the life there and the various jobs required. He would help tend the gardens one day, and help cut and distribute firewood the next. When he asked Iris about what kind of work he would need to do in the future, she simply stated that he would be where they needed him to be. He became suspicious though when she kept training him in the bow, and they even started close combat drills the day before.


    As he finished tending the garden on his eighth day, he started walking back to the house while also meeting up with Iris. He saw her throw a cold look somewhere before happily asking how his afternoon was. While he replied, he looked in the direction that she directed the cold look and was Unsurprised to see Curly standing there looking over. Leo had learned that Curly (who Leo believed was called so due to the curved horns and curly goatee) belong to a small group of men that couldn''t find wives in the village, due to the fact that there were more men than women living there.


    Several years ago, the men were despairing when they thought they would remain single their whole lives; until they noticed Iris was developing into a beautiful young woman. Knowing she was in a similar boat as them as the only person in the whole village in her age group; they approached her with the intentions of increasing favor then, to appear more appealing when she aged a few more years. When elder grandma and Natalie noticed what was going on they quickly put a stop to it.


    They had told the men not to harass her, and if she would choose one of them it would only be after she turned twenty and if she was willing. They then grudgingly decided to wait a few more years. That was until nearly two weeks ago now that Leo showed up, and was bedridden while Iris personally cared for him. Some recognized they wouldn''t win her and gave up, others like Curly wanted to pursue her and became mad when they saw how close Iris and Leo were from day one.


    Noticing Curly looking their direction, Leo decided to be a bit bold and took Iris''s hand in his own. Realizing what he was doing Iris didn''t say anything, but seemed to squeeze his hand tighter.(though he might have imagined it) Curly''s face turned a deep shade of purple and stormed over. Leo had hoped seeing the intimacy would help Curly give up, but instead it seemed to provoke him further; and was thinking about how to resolve it when Iris said,


    "This is my problem so let me handle it, he fights with the Warriors so I don''t want you to get involved." Hearing her words he nodded, then released her hand and stepped back in case she needed swinging room. Seeing him backing away seemed to infuriate Curly further, and when he arrived in front of them he verbally exploded.


    "What the hell Iris?! You give the rest of us the cold shoulder for years, then happily jump into this guys arms the same day he arrives? Look at him! He even backed away to leave you by yourself!" Iris had the coldest look he''d ever seen on her face and spat back at him,


    "Speak for yourself, I never would''ve married any of you to begin with. And besides, you have no say about who I do choose. As far as you''re concerned, I''m just a piece of meet meant to be owned." Curly seemed to be even more enraged by her words. Leo on the other hand, was also getting pretty mad. He didn''t like seeing women getting disrespected to begin with, however Curly had essentially called Iris and easy woman due to how quickly the two of them got close.


    This had ticked Leo off, especially since on top of being indebted to her he cared about her a lot. So when he heard Curly being so rude to Iris, he went to take a step forward. He stopped though when he saw Iris shake her head slightly. He decided he''d still stay out of it, but prepared to jump in just in case. As the argument continued more people gathered and at some point, someone even went to fetch elder grandma since Natalie was out hunting. Curly''s next sentence however caused many people to start yelling at him and practically sent both Leo and Iris into shock,


    "Better to be a piece of meat than a slut who opens her door for the new guy in town!"


    SMACK!!! At a complete loss for word, Iris left a bright red handprint on Curly''s face before storming back to her house. Leo was about to follower her when he saw Curly look down at Iris''s backside and suddenly reach a hand out. Seeing what he was trying to do, Leo reached out and grabbed Curly''s forearm. Curly looked at Leo in rage and tried to fight back, but his look of rage slowly turned to shock, and then into fear.


    ****


    Curly had spent the last several years of his life rather depressed. Due to all the women in the village already being taken, he thought he might be forced to live his life alone. The worst part was that as a "disgusting mutant" he wasn''t even able to leave to find a wife, or move somewhere else entirely. Then he realized that Iris, though being a little young, would grow into a fine looking adult.


    Like the others, he first tried to make himself seem more appealing to her for the future. After he was made to stop though, he noticed that she started giving cold looks at him and the others. He then realized that elder grandma and Natalie must have said something to her to make her hate them. As the next couple years went by she seemed to grow more beautiful by the day and Curly became more and more convinced that she needed to become his wife.


    Then that all changed when she found that damned Leo. He had watched as day by day they became even closer, and his rage building all the while. Then after a week of this, he noticed that Leo took iris''s hand in his own while looking at him. ''Are you trying to spite me you damn brat?!'' Curly''s rage exploded and he went to confront the two of them. However as he approached he saw Leo back up and leave the fighting to Iris which infuriated him even further.


    Through the fight though he realized he wouldn''t win Iris from this upstart and called her out on it. After she slapped him and started to walk away, he decided that if he couldn''t have her then he would at least win a small victory and cop a feel of her firm looking ass. Before he could however, a firm hand gripped his arm.


    "Let go of me you bastard, or don''t blame me for what happens!" Leo however held on to his arm and started applying more strength to his grip. ''Damn brat, I''ll show you strength!'' Thinking this, Curly first coated his arm in chi to protect it, then gathering some chi in his hand hit Leo in the shoulder. Thinking he had won, Curly had a smile on his face. However he then noticed that let alone being injured, Leo didn''t even seem to register the hit. The grip on his arm also seemed to be increasing in strength as well.


    Curly became concerned for the first time and leaned forward and head butted Leo in the head with his horns. Thinking he might have done something this time, Curly was shocked to see that not only did Leo seem to be unfazed; there was a small cut on Leo''s forehead. Curly watched on horror as the cut seemed to heal almost instantly. And as he looked at Leo''s face his glare seemed to be getting fiercer as well. Curly started to feel fear now and could only stand there as Leo used an increasing amount of strength to crush his arm.


    Looking into Leo''s eyes, Curly then noticed that the usually brown eyes had gained a bit of orange at the edges. At this time there came a crunching sound and Curly felt a sharp pain. Looking at his arm, he could see that Leo''s nails now seemed to be cutting into his flesh while his bones continued to be crushed under his grip. His rage forgotten, Curly fell to his knees due to the pain and with tears forming in his eyes,


    "Please stop. I, I promise not to bug you anymore so please let me go." At this point he started sobbing while the sound of crunching could still be heard from his arm. Curly looked to his eyes again pleading, but all he saw was the look of a bloodthirsty beast. Iris who had been in shock this whole time then gently grabbed Leo''s arm and said that Curly had had enough.


    "Leo that''s enough, he might be an ass but he doesn''t need to lose an arm over it." Leo hearing her words released Curly''s arm and turned around with Iris and together they walked to her house. Curlyfelt pain, he felt humiliation, but most of all he felt fear. Seeing his broken and bleeding arm had also turned purple, he turned and fled to Austin''s house hoping to have him arm healed. But most of all, he wanted to get away from that monster.

 13 Recruitmen

    Many of the surrounding people were shocked, but they felt more relieved. As far as they were concerned Leo''s strength meant more protection for them from any monsters in the mountains, and people. Many were also under the impression that Curly deserved what he got for his attitude towards Leo and Iris. Leo on the other hand looked calm on the outside, while on the inside he felt rising panic. ''What did I just do?!''


    He remembered seeing Curly about to grope Iris, he reached out his hand to stop him, then next thing he knew Curly was on the ground begging for mercy. When Leo thought back to that moment he felt slight revulsion from remembering the feeling of Curly''s bones grinding under his hand, and the feeling of blood on his fingers from where his nails pierced Curly''s flesh. Looking at his still blood covered hand, he wondered how his nails managed to dig into his arm so deeply. While he didn''t doubt them breaking skin, what he did could almost make his nails be considered weapons.


    What he was most concerned about though, was Iris''s and the villagers reactions. If they thought he was dangerous, or psychotic, then they might kick him out! He only knew them for a week, but he was already really Attached to the people here. He was especially worried because as far as he knew, his whole family died in the crash. Plus seeing as this was an entirely different world, he literally had nowhere left to go.


    In the few moments that all of this went through his head they arrived at the house, and Iris suddenly said,


    "Let me see your hand for a moment. " He worriedly held out his hand, and she... pulled out her water skin and started scrubbing his hand with her own. Dumbfounded at how she acted like it was nothing unusual that he just destroyed another persons arm, she washed the blood from his hand. Finishing her task, she went to go inside the house and said,


    "There''s going to be a few more people coming over tonight, so wait to set up the other bed. And, thank you for helping me." She rushed inside, trying to hide her blushing face. But Leo saw her ears had an especially deep red to them. Relieved she wasn''t mad at him, Leo quickly rushed to help her prepare dinner. When they had almost finished preparing dinner for five people, there was a knock on the door. Leo opened it and was surprised to find out the two extra people were Natalie and Jack.


    Letting the two of them and elder grandma into the house Jack suddenly said,


    "HAHA, I heard you gave Curly quite the scare! He ran crying to Austin to heal his hand, but Austin only did the bare minimum to ensure he didn''t lose it; and told him he was gonna leave it to heal naturally as his punishment! You gave him quite the lesson boy!" Even further confused by how everyone was not angry at him, but was actually happy at his actions, Leo cautiously asked,


    "No ones mad at me for what happened?" Seeing his confusion at their acceptance of his near mutilation of another person, elder grandma smiled and said,


    "Curly provoked you so we don''t intend to blame you one bit, as long as you don''t intend to randomly attack people. Plus, you probably haven''t realized but it is actually quite dangerous living here in the mountains. When everyone saw you easily overwhelm Curly, their first thought was that we have someone else to rely on to protect the village." Leo sighed in relief, at least for the moment he wasn''t going to be forced away. As they started eating Jack then spoke up and said,


    "Now onto the reason we came over. Leo, how would you like to join the Warriors? " Leo looked up in shock. Jack, who apparently also served as the leader of the village warriors, asked Leo to join them! Before he could say anything however, Natalie spoke up,


    "Before you rush to accept this boneheads invitation, I would also like to ask you to join the hunters." Leo was astounded! He thought he would be disciplined for his actions, but instead everyone was apparently trying to recruit him! Leo saw that Iris''s eyes were shining, and as he looked back at Jack and Natalie,


    "What''s the difference between the two?" He wanted to be sure of what he was going to be part of. Though he was partially leaning towards joining the hunters. (A certain goddess found that his intentions were quite funny since she didn''t influence him yet) Jack and Natalie both started to reply, but before they could,


    "Technically both groups work to protect the village, the Warriors guard the entrance to to village, while the hunters focus on hunting prey. This in turn keeps the monster populations down enough to prevent most threats. They prey that they hunt, also provides the village with more food." Elder grandma spoke up before either one could start a fight over recruiting Leo. Personally thinking she felt he should go to the hunters, especially when she remembered what took place the last full moon. Natalie then spoke up,


    "For the most part, you''ll spend the next couple weeks training to move around the forest and identifying monsters. You''ll also primarily be practicing with the bow, and dagger. Identification and movement don''t mean much if you can''t shoot your target or a monster gets you." Seeing his wife had finished speaking Jack took the opportunity to speak up,


    "As a warrior, you''ll mostly be training to engage monsters directly. We''ll see what kind of magic you''re best at and go from there. Though personally speaking I think you''d be best as a physical chi fighter." Thinking over what the two of them said, Jacks words caught Leo attention.


    "I''ll be learning magic? " Jack seeing his interest spoke up,


    "Yep, there''s three different kinds. You''ll be trained on those to see which type suits you best and focus on emphasizing that to maximize offensive abilities." Natalie then took over,


    "While with the hunters, we focus on learning mild amounts of all three to better adapt to situations in the forest."Leo after hearing their words fell into deep thought. After a while he asked,


    "If I choose the hunters would I still be able to learn more about magic beside what I specifically need to survive?"


    "Of course, as long as you give priority to what''s more essential." Hearing her reply, Leo then said,


    "I want to join the hunters."

 14 Mutants and magic

    After hearing Leo''s reply, the only dissatisfied one in the room was Jack. He however kept his mouth shut so that he didn''t anger his wife. Before further discussing the topic however, elder grandma then spoke up,


    "I know you probably want to jump right into talks for training, but I need to talk to you about something as well Leo. What do you know about mutants?" Leo was surprised at the sudden topic change, but looking around he noticed that once again Jack and Natalie, as well as Iris were awaiting his answer. Leo looked at Natalie''s third eye, jacks extra arms, and finally at iris''s golden eyes; and he knew the story wasn''t as simple as he thought.


    "I don''t know anything about them." He replied. Nodding as if she expected his answer, elder grandma then continued,


    "Mutants are people who are born "deformed" from the excess magic in the air. They are noticeably different from birth, and being considered "defective" are often thrown away, or abused by their families." Leo was in shock after hearing the information given to him. He then thought back to the day he woke up, and remembered Iris had panicked at one point and tried to hide her eyes. He also thought about Curly''s actions and realized the reason for them, he still didn''t agree with them though.


    And thinking about how every person in the village had some kind of "uniqueness"; as he had called it, he then asked,


    " is everyone in the village a mutant then?" Elder grandma shook her head and said,


    "While I built the village for mutants, they''re not the only ones welcome. That being said, the amount of non mutants here could be counted on one hand." Leaving aside the fact that she had built the village, Leo was surprised at what elder grandma had told him. He then remembered that he had never met, let alone heard mention of, Iris''s parents. At the thought Leo suddenly realized her situation was pretty different than he realized. Natalie then spoke up,


    "So you mean to say you never realized this was a place for mutants?" Leo shook his head at her question and decided he didn''t need to hide anything from them before saying,


    "As far as I can tell, this world is completely different from mine. I didn''t even know what mutants were, I just thought the people here were different than my home. Plus my life was saved by all of you." All of them couldn''t help felling appreciation from this boy, but before they were able to say anything elder grandma changed the topic back to what it was before.


    "Ok, now that''s out of the way; let''s discuss training." Shocked At how she once again randomly changed the topic, they followed her suggestion and soon after ended the night.


    ***


    The next morning Iris was once again his instructor. After doing the morning drills, she led him back to the gardens.


    "Morning Lucy, I''m showing Leo the cave." As if she was expecting them, Lucy nodded and said,


    "Right this way then" and led the two of them to a wooden door in the side of the cliff the village was hugged up against. Leo had seen the door occasionally and wondered what was inside. After opening the door, Lucy immediately closed it the moment they were all inside. She then led the way while he and Iris still followed. After walking for a few minutes in the cave, Leo began to notice that it was getting quite humid. With the floor gradually sloping down, they eventually went through an opening and Leo''s eyes nearly popped out of his head.


    Inside the cave was rows, and rows of crops. But that wasn''t all, Leo also noticed that the cave was unusually bright and looked up, only to think they had gone back outside. The whole ceiling was lit up like the sun. While Leo was trying to comprehend what was going on, Iris suddenly said,


    "This is the main garden that sustains our village. And it is maintained almost completely by magic." Leo could only look around in amazement as he also tried to listen to iris''s lesson.


    "Magic is only truly limited by your own imagination. It could be used to destroy, or it could be used to nurture." As Iris said the word destroy, Leo watched as she held out her hand and a ball of fire suddenly appeared in it. Then after putting it out, when she said nurture she pointed above one of the crops and water vapor condensed; forming a miniature rain cloud above the plant.


    "There are three basic types of magic, mana, chi, and energy. As you train to join the hunters, you need to learn basic uses for all three. Mana will be to cope with certain circumstances, such as starting a fire. Energy will be to blend into the surroundings and better hide from prey and predators. Chi will be to enhance your body, and while enhancing movement, also dealing greater damage to what it is we''re hunting." Leo also watched as Lucy walked along the rows of crops and her very presence seemed to encourage the plants to grow. He was reminded of his first day when he watched her grow a tomato right in front of him.


    And so Leo''s long awaited magic lessons finally began. And he learned that it was a lot more difficult than Iris made it seem. As he learned the differences in chi and mana, he also learned that most items that replaced modern conveniences were magic crystals filled with a type of energy. The little blue crystal he had seen before was filled with ice energy, causing it to give off a constant chill. While the ceiling in the cave was covered with crystals that had sun energy, acting as artificial sunlight for the crops.


    As Jack had said, the one he seemed best at however was chi. With his enhanced abilities, he was able to keep up while racing Iris when she was using chi. When he figured out how to apply chi though, he quickly left her in the dust. Learning to use mana however was proving more difficult. Iris told him that while chi required a strong body, mana required a strong mind. So he was left to meditate or hours at a time to train for using mana. Energy though, was the hardest to use. After seeing his lack of abilities with mana, Iris only had Leo do the basics for energy and told him learning it could wait till later when he could better use mana as a foundation.


    On top of learning how to use magic, he was also training in archery and with a knife. With noticeable improvements daily, only a week after his training began; two weeks since he had awoke, Natalie said that he was to join then on a hunt.

 15 First hun

    Leo thought that he had mistaken what Natalie had told him and could only say,


    "What?" Natalie smiled as she looked at him and said,


    "We''re going on a hunt, and you''re coming with us. While you seem to be able to use the basics of chi, that means you should be able keep up. You''ll follow us while we hunt, and observe so that you know what a hunt entails. Your first kill will wait until the day before the full moon." Leo was excited to venture out of the village for a while, but something Natalie said caught his attention.


    "Why wait specifically until the full moon?" Natalie arched an eyebrow at his question and then sent a look at Iris, who then quickly looked away. Sighing, Natalie explained,


    "The full moon is the night of the goddess of the hunts full power. In order to appease the goddess, when someone hunts for the first time they offer up the heart of the kill to her on the night of the full moon. The fresher the kill the better. It''s said that by doing the offering, the goddess will bless the hunter. While ignoring the goddess or providing an old offering, will invoke her wrath." While Leo heard it he nodded his head to indicate he understood, but secretly thought such traditions were foolish.


    He didn''t believe the gods existed, and therefore there was no need to go out of your way to honor them. He however didn''t say this, due to the fact that since there was magic in this world there might actually be gods as well. He figured better safe than needlessly provoking things he shouldn''t. (When A certain goddess of the hunt heard his thoughts, she actually started laughing out loud) so gathering the equipment he was loaned, he followed Iris, Natalie, and the rest of the hunters out of the village.


    They ran about halfway down the path leading down the mountain, before coming to a rope ridge. The bridge went from the path, to a platform hidden in the trees. The trees were the same ones Leo had seen on his first day, that looked as if they could even dwarf the famous red woods. After reaching the platform however, things got interesting. The rest of the hunters started taking different directions, while Natalie and Iris stayed with Leo, soon they were the only ones left. Leo was watching in amazement as he watched the other hunters leap away from the platform, and they used chi to travel from tree to tree through the forest.


    Natalie then gestured to follow her, and leaped from the platform to another tree. Iris soon followed, leaving Leo to take the rear. Leo looked down and felt dizzy, before shaking his head and powering his legs with chi like he had been taught; he jumped to land on the branch next to Iris. He thought he had done well, until he soared over the branch and had to catch hold of one of the lower branches from the next tree to keep from falling. Hanging from the branch Leo called out,


    "A little help please!" Giggling uncontrollably, Iris jumped to the branch Leo was on and pulled him up. While sitting on the branch Leo tried to catch his breath from the thrill of what he just experienced. Natalie joined them a moment later, and while Iris was still giggling at Leo''s mishap; flicked her on the forehead. Iris quickly stopped giggling and started rubbing her forehead, telling leo Natalie must have used chi when flicking her. She then said,


    "Truthfully not bad, you somewhat managed to recover before falling. And you over jumped which showed you had the power, just not control. That''s what we''re here for. Instead of just using chi for training, you need to apply it out here where you''ll actually be hunting. Traveling through the tree tops and searching for prey on the forest floor. Jumping from branch to branch will soon be second nature to you." As Leo heard her lecture he slowly understood. He had been brought here half to experience a real hunt, and half to learn how to travel the woods.


    After being sure Leo understood her, Natalie took off again while Iris followed behind. Leo took the rear again, but because the jumps weren''t as drastic as the first one he was able to make them. As they went further and further, the movements got more and more extreme. While Leo struggled to keep up, he happened to notice that both Iris and Natalie were scanning the forest floor for game while moving. After a few hours of moving with occasional breaks for Leo, Natalie suddenly stopped and held up a fist saying to stop moving and keep silent.


    Leo crept forward, and became amazed at what he saw. There in front of them was what seemed like a herd of deer, except they standing ten feet tall before getting to the antlers. Their fur was a light silver on the head working its way down until reaching behind the shoulders; then it turned to a darker brown. The most amazing part though, was the antlers. They appeared to be living tree branches complete with leaves growing on them. He watched in amazement as the herd continued walking, completely unaware of them. Seeing him stare in wonder, Natalie then said,


    "These are stag lords. We call them so due to the antlers looking like crowns, they are the most common game we hunt. One stag lord could feed a single family for over a month, while several could feed the entire village." Leo watched as Natalie drew an arrow, and nocked it while drawing and taking aim. He wondered how she planned to make the shot, as his experience told him they were well out of range. But as if sensing his thoughts,


    "When using chi, not only could you add power to the arrow; you can even use it to take control and guide it while also increasing the range. The only impossible shot, is the one you don''t take." While he was contemplating her words, she loosed the arrow. Leo watched as it flew silently through the air and buried itself in the eye of the largest stag lord. And before they could react, she drew another arrow, and released. Taking another one through its eye as well. Leo watched amazed. He had missed the first shot, but on the second he noticed a kind of pale light covering the arrow.


    The remaining stag lords then darted off in the bushes. A moment later however Leo was wondering how they were going to move the two stag lords, when Natalie removed a whistle from her pack. Putting it to her mouth, she blew into it creating a high pitched sound throughout the forest. Soon the other hunters appeared and started working on cleaning the kills. She then lept down with Leo and Iris, and Leo learned how to clean a kill, before being given an entire leg to carry back to the village.


    And so ended his first hunting trip. As the next two weeks went by, he joined the hunters every day. Either just patrolling for any abnormal monsters, or checking snares for small prey. And day by day Leo''s chi control got better, until finally it was the day before the full moon; and Leo would never forget the day''s events.

 16 First kill

    When Leo woke, Iris was already cooking breakfast. He quickly dressed while her back was turned, and then she turned to him and said,


    "Morning, we''re gonna skip morning training so that you can head out earlier. Natalie will be the only one with you, I''ll stay here, and prepare for the offering tonight." Hearing her words, Leo felt nervous and nodded. He then asked,


    "On the off chance, what if I don''t get something?" Iris smiled bitterly and said,


    "Today''s not the only chance you''ll have to hunt. Even if you''re not a good hunter, you''ll still be useful as a scout or cleaner. Remember, it doesn''t matter what you get; as long as it''s an honorable kill." Leo nodded remembering that while Artemis was pretty much a living incarnation of "law of the jungle", there were some things she would not tolerate; such as the killing of a mother or child. As they finished eating, Iris suddenly said,


    "I have something for you." And she pulled out a newer set of leather clothes. Leo new that after this set, any he would have would be made from his own kills. Iris turned around again as he changed again, into them. When he was done, she came and checked to make sure everything was right. At that moment Jack flung open the door, with Natalie right behind him. Leo and Iris both jumped, Iris quickly backed away from leo. Leo couldn''t help feeling like they were caught doing something they weren''t supposed to, especially when Jack gave him a wide grin.


    "Getting distracted on the day of your first big hunt huh? If you were in the Warriors I never would''ve allowed it!" Natalie then promptly slapped the back of his head, before turning to Leo and Iris.


    "Iris, I''ll leave the preparations for the offering tonight to you. Leo, I''ll be following you; but all the work on this hunt belongs to you. The tracking, the shot, the cleaning. And remember, if you shoot and wound an animal; its up to you to put it out of its misery. Any questions?" Leo could only reply "no ma''am" and they were on their way. Once on the platform, he watched the other hunters spread out again. But he figured that after cleaning his kill Natalie would call them like usual to pack it in.


    He took a deep breath to steady himself, and then rushed forward to the next branch. Unlike the first time he tried it, he didn''t overshoot it. He landed with confidence, before launching himself to the next one. Like this he moved through the forest for the next few hours, before finally stopping. Natalie who had been silently following, thought he needed a breather. But saw that instead, not only was he not breathing hard like his first time out; he was listening.


    Over the last two weeks Leo had been training his senses as well as his stamina. His sight, his hearing, and his sense of smell. He had long since accepted that they were stronger than a normal humans. And he decided that he would make use of it. He learned to recognize the different animals who''s kills he helped clean. When he saw them walking the forest floor, he learned to recognize the way they moved and the way they sounded as they walked. Though he had yet to make a kill. Leo could already be considered an apex predator of the forest.


    And so, when he thought he heard something moving through the forest a ways away, he stopped to listen to determine its identity. He heard sharp thumping sound whenever the animal stepped. This told him that the animal had hooves and was extremely heavy. As he continued to listen, he heard sharp grunts occasionally and was eventually greeted by a smell he did not recognize. He turned to Natalie and described what he had heard and she looked at him In surprise.


    "From what you described, it should be a maned boar. They''re usually about thirteen feet tall at the peak, and have a noticeable mane going down their back. It''s because of this they''re so hard to hunt. The mane dulls most attacks, especially arrows. When you take into consideration the tough skin they have as well; it would require either a massive amount of chi to penetrate the skin, or a direct shot to the brain through the eye. Both are beyond the skills of a beginner." She had emphasized the word beginner, because he had warned him that if he wounded something he would have to kill it. Therefore she wanted him to focus on something easier to kill.


    Leo however was thinking. One thing he had noticed was that he was exceptionally powerful when it came to chi. When he learned that chi was related to physical capabilities, he thought it might be related to how much stronger he seemed to be. And with his enhanced senses, his accuracy in The bow had gone beyond the levels of a mere beginner. While he wasn''t able to maintain accuracy at first, he was able to quickly adapt and became an exceptional shot. He had even started learning how to control the arrow as Natalie had done, though he wasn''t so good at it yet. Therefore with his superior base capabilities, along with his powerful chi; he couldn''t help thinking ''is it possible?''


    "I''m gonna go for it, while I could go the safer route and find something else; I don''t want to betray the efforts everyone had put into training me." Natalie had looked at him in disappointment when she heard his first words, but sighed in defeat when she heard the rest of his sentence. She had to admit though, even she was curious as to the extent of his abilities. Therefore he nodded her head and gestured for him to lead on.


    Leo then maneuvered around the source of the noise, and crept closer with more subtle movements to avoid startling the boar. When it finally came into view, Leo couldn''t help his surprise. The thing was even bigger than Natalie said, at fifteen feet tall at least. Leo couldn''t help but wonder why all the creatures in this world were so exaggerated when it came to size; haven''t they heard size isn''t everything? The boar had two tusks that came out from the sides of the mouth and curved up until they were pointed at the sky. Each one was roughly two-three feet long, and the points looked as if they Jed even punch a hole in the side of a tank if they wanted to.


    One blessing though, was that they were facing the broadside of the boar. Leo was able to get a clean shot at the eye, readying his arrow he took aim. Using his superior vision Leo could see the beady little eye, and he started pouring chi into the arrow. Natalie watched from the side and became impressed in the amount of chi he was using, after all the traveling they did. After about twenty seconds of pouring chi into the arrow, Leo let it fly. Natalie saw the grass behind the boar move from where the arrow hit it. She sighed and shook her head, but when she turned to Leo he had a big grin on his face.


    Natalie realizing something wasn''t right, looked again. And when her third eye looked as well, she could see a small red hole. Not in the eye like thought, but behind the ear. And as the gargantuan boar fell with a crash, she realized what happened. The arrow had been powered far more than usual, and had gone completely through the board head. She hesitated before placing the whistle in her mouth and summoning the nearby hunters to help pack the meat in. She breathed to regain control of herself and smiled while looking at Leo''s grinning face before saying,


    "Good job. I don''t think anyone''s ever killed a maned boar for their first kill before. Now, you get to clean it before we pack it in!" The massive grin on Leo''s face disappeared in a flash.


    ***


    Back at the village there was great bonfire roaring, and people were sitting all around feasting after the manes boar was brought back. After cleaning off all the blood he got on him, Leo also joined in the celebration. Iris even came and gave him a kiss on the cheek in congratulations, which earned lots of calling as people tried and succeededto embarrass the two. Then the moment everyone was waiting for, the moon started coming up. Leo was waiting by a table that had the heart on it as everyone watched the moon rise. When the moon was completely risen he would take the heart, and grow it into the bonfire as an offering to Artemis.


    He watched as the moon rose, but the moment the entire moon cleared the mountain it was behind,


    THUMP!!


    Leo suddenly, felt a pain in his chest.


    THUMP!!!!


    He collapsed to his knees, closing his eyes and groaning at the sudden pain as everyone looked worried.


    THUMP!!!!!!


    He opened his eyes, which had turned from brown to a very bright orange.

 17 I wonst abandon him

    When Iris was preparing for the offering, she couldn''t help smiling at the thought that she and Leo would get to spend more time together when he became an official hunter. When word had been brought back that he killed a maned boar she almost danced with excitement. Even she had never killed a maned boar. They were too rare and too much of a challenge for her. She didn''t have enough raw power like Leo did. She was so happy she even gave him a kiss on the cheek when he joined the party. But then, when the moon had fully risen she heard Leo cry out in pain.


    "Leo! What''s wrong?" Was all she ask in the situation, but he didn''t answer. No she realized he was in so much pain he couldn''t answer. And the reason for the pain became apparent a moment later. She was only able to watch on horror as his body started bulging and growing, tearing the clothes she had just given him that morning. A thick coat of fur, dark red to match his hair started covering his body. And his eyes became an orange so bright, they appeared to be glowing. She tried to grab onto his arm in and attempt to help him, but he suddenly pushed her away while crying out,


    " NOOOOOO!!!" Though it sounded more like a beastial roar. Iris could feel a sudden sharp pain from the moment he pushed her and looked down at her arm, only to discover there were two long gashes flowing warm blood. She then let at a sharp cry of her own at the pain, which brought Leo''s attention back to her while in the middle of his transformation. The two orange beast like eyes suddenly showed concern, and she could only watch as he took several large steps and leapt off the cliff at the edge of the village. And few minutes later an eerie howl sounded thought the forest.


    The rest of the people, could only stand in shock and horror at what happened, until they realized Iris needed to be taken to Austin''s.


    A few hours later, Austin had finished treating Iris,


    " I did what I could, but I couldn''t get it to close all the way. It''ll take a few more days to close properly, but there''ll be a scar when it does. I''m sorry I''m not a better healer." Iris shook her head to Austin''s words to show she didn''t blame him. He had healed the torn veins in her arm, but doing so had exhausted him. Plus she didn''t mind scars, her only concern was if Leo minded them. When Iris thought of him her eyes grew moist. She had seen the pain he had gone through before hurting her, and how he was hurt not at his own pain; it the fact that he hurt her.


    She remembered the last full moon. When Leo started changing then, she watched as moonlight shined down and reversed the change. She though Artemis would protect him again, or that he wouldn''t be affected by whatever happened then after that. After thinking for a few moments, she gripped her hands and blinked the tears from her eyes. She made her resolve.


    After thanking Austin she went to collect her things. As she was about to leave, someone called out to her,


    "And where do you think you''re going?" Looking back Iris saw Natalie, Jack and elder grandma staring at her. Iris then said,


    " I''m going to find Leo. I''m not going to abandon him to what ever happened." Before any of them could respond however a voice cried out,


    "He''s a monster that attacked you and you''re still going to find him? What are you gonna have him attack the rest of the villagers next? Maybe the first ones he''ll go after are the children that can''t-" at that moment a dagger buried itself in the wall behind the speaker, Curly. The dagger had passed within an inch of his face, and Iris who threw it was breathing heavily and had a wild look in her eyes in rage.


    "The next one won''t miss." Was the only thing that came out of her mouth. Curly broke into a cold sweat. He feared Leo, so ever since the last time he didn''t dare raise his head on front of him. But Leo wasn''t here now. So Curly pushed his argument.


    "You''re mad because I spoke the truth?! I don''t know what he is, but that look he had was that of an animal; like a mad dog! If you''re throwing your lot in with him, then that makes you nothing but his bit-" once again before Curly could finish what he was saying another dagger went flying. Except this one impaled his hand. The same one Leo nearly cost him. As curly fell to his knees, Iris calmly walked over an retrieved her daggers. This resulted in another cry from Curly as she pulled the knife from his hand.


    "Curly, when the sun comes up in the morning I expect you''ll already be on your way. If you''re still here, then I''ll send you on your way, understand?" When elder grandma spoke there was an indescribable pressure to her words. Curly was barely able to nod his head through the pain and the pressure that was put on him. She then turned to Iris and said,


    "When you bring him back, bring him to my house. I want to have a chat with him for a while." Iris gave a small smile At elder grandma before Natalie spoke up,


    "We''re going as well. You''re hurt and we don''t know what he''s capable of.Also I don''t think he''s that bad of a person, so the least we could do is hear him out." Iris felt immense gratitude at their words. Then she turned around, and her, Jack, and Natalie headed out to find what they would learn was called a werewolf.

 18 The next morning

    When Leo woke the next morning, he felt as if his entire body was beaten black and blue, he felt sick, and he was naked. He barely pushed himself up from a laying position, when he started to hurl everything out of his stomach. After several minutes of vomiting, what came up nearly made him sick all over again. He had expelled mostly raw meat, and intestines, and it was bloody. Though he didn''t know if the blood was his own or from whatever he ate. As Leo looked around he could barely make out the sound of running water.


    Still feeling weak, he started a slow crawl. After what felt like an eternity, he managed to reach the water where he got a look at himself for the first time. His face was smeared with blood, and his hair was wild looking. As he slowly started cleaning himself up, he caught a whiff of the smell of raw meat. Looking over he saw what he thought might have been what he ate the night before. The horned bear was torn almost limb from limb. Originally nearly as tall as a maned boar while on all fours, a horned bear was able to stand strait at over twenty feet tall. But this one had been completely shredded. Of the two horns on its head, one was broken; three of its limbs were gone, and some of its intestines were scattered around the area.


    What wasn''t accounted for was probably part of what Leo had thrown up. As Leo recounted the night before, he could only remember what had happened before completely transforming. He remembered being in pain while his body changed, he remembered that before the transformation was complete his last thought had been to kill. And he remembered that he had hurt Iris.


    Leo didn''t have any delusions about what had happened. He knew, he was a werewolf. Even as he thought the words he knew it was ridiculous. But what evidence was there to prove him wrong? He thought back to his heightened physical abilities, and his enhanced senses. But the question was how had he become a werewolf in the first place? Leo''s head hurt after he started thinking too much and he decided the most important thing was to determine his next move.


    He couldn''t go back to the village. What if he hurt them again? What if he hurt Iris? But Leo felt a longing to go back as well, he had no other place or people. But even if he did he would just hurt them as well wouldn''t he? Unable to determine his next course of action, he decided to simply follow the stream for now. After over an hour of his slow advance during the cold morning in the nude, he arrived at a cliff. After several minutes he recalled that he had been here before. This was where he had been attacked by the wolf on his second day.


    He recalled that it was down this cliff that he had seen Iris for the first time. Almost as if his thoughts had summoned her there, he heard a soft thump behind him. When he turned around, there was Iris. There were tears in her eyes, and when Leo looked bandages on her arm. He tried to back away, to leave before he could hurt her again. But before he could she ran forward and ignoring the remaining gore and his lack of attire, wrapped her arms around him and cried.


    "I almost thought you were gone." Leo was at a loss for words, before simply wrapping his arms around her in turn and saying,


    "I''m right here." His voice was raspy, like it was covered in sandpaper. And Iris continued to cry in his arms. He then caught wind of Natalie and Jack''s scent, but realized they had tactfully stayed out of the way after determining that Iris wasn''t in any danger. After several minutes of embracing each other, Iris then led Leo back to the village. And Leo thought that if Iris could forgive him, then maybe the villagers might let him stay. Due to Leo''s being slightly weakened, the trip took a while. Jack had stayed to secretly protect the two from monsters while Natalie returned to The village with information, as well as to bring Leo new clothes. And slowly, but surely, they returned.


    ***


    Artemis sighed in relief. Her plan had been to use Leo''s connections as hostages against him. If he left them behind, then there would be no point. She contemplated how well her plan was going so far. She had to ensure that Iris couldn''t find Leo until the transformation ran out, then led her right to him to ensure that he didn''t leave. She was surprised though that he had found a potential wife so soon. With how they were now, she was the perfect hostage.


    As she was admiring how well her plan was going, she suddenly felt a mass of dark power far off in the jungles of the southern part of the continent. As she looked to the south she suddenly muttered,


    "Hades!" Hades was the God of death, and his personality was as twisted as they come. He would collect souls and then bring them to wherever it was they went to, he never told her. But he rarely ever made a champion. He liked to make undead, and would occasionally send them to battle champions to test them. But he had never made an actual champion before. Artemis pondered the reason for the change and realized it might have been in response to her trying to mold Leo to become her champion.


    At first she felt concerned that her fun would end too soon, but then remembered she was doing this for entertainment! Her champion against the only real champion Hades had made. What would be more entertaining than that?! Artemis resisted the urge to investigate Hades new champion, and turned her attention back to Leo. As she patio ally waited for the six month deadline she set for herself to end.

 19 Hades

    Hades was the god of death. As such he was one of the only gods allowed in the mortal realm. He would take souls and guide them to the system. The system would then take them and his job would be done. He had no idea what the system was, only that it was connected to the many different worlds. Occasionally he kept souls for himself however, and turned them into undead. He had created many undead over the millennia, some were ok, most were failures. They would be puppets that wouldn''t even move unless he ordered them to.


    The most powerful, he would send to test against the other gods champions. But he longed to create the perfect undead. And not long after he found out that even Artemis was making a champion, he found the perfect materials. At first he had thought to improve upon one of his old creations, a lich he threw away a few thousand years ago. But then he found his new materials in the southern jungles. She was a young girl, in her teens. And she was a mutant with superhuman strength, even though she had never used chi.


    She had been left in the jungle, and for the last month used her strength to attempt to survive. But she had slowly accumulated wounds during the fights. And with no way to treat them, the wounds festered and began to wear the girl down. He was actually surprised she managed to survive here a month with no survival instincts. As he looked down at her, she was still in the process of dying. But she would only last a few moments at the most.


    Hades began to slowly inject his power into the girl, and after he believed she had been adequately corrupted he asked her,


    "Do you wan to live?" The girl looked at him and made no response. Hades continued to ask knowing his corruption would make her comply.


    "Don''t you want revenge? Against the family who left you here? The family who abandoned you?! Don''t you want power?!" As the girl heard Hades words she slowly started to nod her head. Hades grinned. As he talked to her he had been thinking about what kind of undead she should be, but as he looked through her memories, he found something. He leaned over her, as if to embrace her and bared his neck.


    "Drink child." Completely under his control now, she used what little of her strength was left, and bit into his neck. She had to rip and tear the flesh, but as the black tar like blood surfaced she happily drank it.


    "Good, good child drink it all." As she drank, changes slowly spread throughout the girls body. The many wounds she accumulating closed instantly. Her skin became paler, and paler, until she was almost as white as a corpse. Due to the shock of the wounds closing she gasped and let go of his neck. When she looked down, the flesh had already knit itself back together. Seeing that had not drank enough of his blood, Hades then told her,


    "Go ahead, drink your fill." The girl getting permission opened her mouth yet again. But this time she used her extended canines to directly bite into where the jugular was supposed to be. As she continued drinking the changes kept happening. Her ragged, dirty, brown hair, had regained its previous luster, and started turning a lighter silver color. Her eyes were closed as she continued drinking Hades blood, but when she opened them they had become a deep Crimson color. Hades smiled as the changes continued in the girls body.


    "That''s right drink my champion."


    "My tool"


    "My Emily"

 20 Lets talk about werewolves

    As Leo walked into the village, he was glad Natalie had brought him clothes. Apparently he was once again the center of attention. As they walked into the village all the people were looking at him, some in awe, some in sympathy, but mostly fear. Before anyone said anything Natalie said,


    "This way, elder grandma wanted to talk to you when we got back." Leo nodded to say he understood. She led him along with Iris and Jack to a path up the cliff above the village. After walking up the path for several minutes they came to a hut on the cliffs. Leo had never seen where elder grandma lived, he just knew she showed up almost every night at Iris''s house for dinner. As they approached, the door open and Austin was the one to greet them.


    "Hey, Lucy and I came to talk as well. Hope you don''t mind, but the three of us are already waiting." And so the seven of them crammed into the small hut. Lucy was preparing breakfast for those who hadn''t eaten yet. As the plates were handed to them, Leo thought to himself that after what happened after he woke up he wouldn''t have an appetite. But as the smell entered his nose, his stomach let out a declaration of war. Seeing Leo devoured his food so quickly Natalie smiled and said teasingly,


    "With the state we saw that horned bear in, I thought you wouldn''t be very hungry." Leo flinched noticeably at her words. Now that he had food in his system again the thought of what he ate last nearly made him lose it again.


    "Please don''t mention that. I already felt horrible enough as it is, I don''t need to recall that. " seeing her words had nearly made him sick, Natalie was quickly quiet. After they had finished breakfast, elder grandma then said,


    "I know you probably don''t want to recall what happened, but I need to know before deciding on wether or not to let you stay. Can you be considered a threat to the village?" Leo paled at her words. But before answering, he thought about everything he knew about werewolves from earth. The problem was sorting through actual myths and movies. Even then he didn''t know what to look for for. So after thinking for a few minutes while everyone waited patiently, he finally said,


    " I don''t honestly know. Based on how things have been for the last month, I would say the only threatening time would be the full moon. This never happened to me before." Elder grandma couldn''t see any lies in what he said. If there was only a threat during the full moon, then they could work around it and take precautions. She nodded and said,


    "So tell us everything you know about your circumstances then." After that Leo launched into an explanation about werewolves. But he could only tell them about movies he had watched, due to the fact that weren''t even werewolves on earth to use for examples. According to him, werewolves would have increased senses and physical capabilities. Some might be able to change at will, but will be forced to change at the full moon. And when they did they would turn into mindless beasts that would slaughter anyone to satisfy their bloodlust. Then he got to the part about a bite transferring the curse.


    "YOU MEAN YOU COULD MAKE MORE?!" Jack had shouted out when Leo got to that part. Leo however shook his head.


    "Most stories say that it only takes a bite to make another werewolf. But I don''t want to risk trying it on someone anytime soon. But it could be that even if I wanted to I couldn''t make anymore werewolves, everything I said was only based off of stories. Maybe someday I''ll be able to control it, and test it. The only other ways I''ve heard of is related to bloodlines. By infecting another with my blood, or my children let''s say, they might also become werewolves." After hearing Leo''s explanation, elder grandma then spoke up,


    "If that''s the case, then it means you should stay even more. There are many people out there that might want to have powerful slaves, and people that could transfer strength with only a single bite would be ideal for them. And during the full moon they could be used to attack any enemies as well. That prospect would be terrifying." When Leo heard elder grandmas words, he then realized several things.


    "There''s slavery in this world?!" Everyone looked at Leo in surprise. Elder grandma nodded and said,


    "It''s one of the reasons I built the village. Mutants that manage to live, are usually enslaved. Some who have beneficial mutations like Jack and Natalie are used for labor, while ones who have mutated looks like Iris or Austin are sometimes used for housekeeping. In cases of mutants with good looks like iris, they might even be in brothels or sent to serve in the bedrooms." After hearing the details about slavery, and that if enslaved what might''ve happened to Iris; Leo was gripping his hands so hard, blood started dripping to floor. After calming himself, he went back to the original topic.


    "So what if then, the day before the full moon I took off. Spent the night in the forests away from the village and you keep everyone here for the night until sunup the next day? Then after waking and getting my bearings, I''ll make my way back the next morning?" Everyone nodded at Leo''s proposal. There were no neighboring villages he could threaten, and as long as there was game in the forest then he should leave the village alone. After deciding on a plan, everyone was about to leave when elder grandma called out to Leo one last time,


    "Leo, you may think the monster inside you is a curse; but in my opinion it''s a gift. Remember, the worst monsters in the world are sometime people themselves, and most often it takes another monster to fight back." Leo thought about elder grandma words deeply as he made his way back down to the village.

 21 Moving forward

    After leaving elder grandmas, the moment Leo walked into iris''s house he nearly collapsed. The amount of stress he had been accumulating physically and mental had finally caught up to him. Iris didn''t say anything and simply helped him into her bed, he had been so exhausted that he couldn''t even argue about using the blankets on the floor. He didn''t wake until the morning of the next day.


    When he woke up in the morning he resolved himself, he would master his curse to ensure he would never hurt those close to him again. His first step was to be able to properly use mana. Compared to chi which focused on physical strength, mana prioritized mental strength. Leo figured that by the meditation used to train mana, he might be able to train the beast within the same way. If he gained even a little insight into control, then his efforts would be worth it. So whenever he wasn''t out with the hunters, he was meditating.


    As the next few days slipped by though, he made no noticeable progress. Except that he was able to create a ball fire in his hand the same way Iris showed him. If it had been Leo a week ago, he probably would''ve done a dance in joy at his first use of magic. But now he felt a mild thrill at the accomplishment. Wondering if there was something he was missing, Leo thought back to any instance ever since he woke in the village that might help him. Then he thought of something, the day he nearly crushed Curly''s arm!


    As Leo thought back on that day he recalled that he had felt blind fury at how Curly was rude to Iris. As he tried to recall that he thought he felt something stirring ever so slightly. He tried to channel it, to build upon it. For the first time Leo felt he was close to something. The next thing he knew,


    THUMP!!!


    Leo thought he had felt a slight change in his body. He couldn''t put his finger exactly on what it was, but he new something was different. He had decided to practice near the pond behind Iris''s house, so he crawled over to the water and peered into it and was surprised. His eyes had gained a ring of orange surrounding his usual brown. He reached out his hand, as if to touch the water and noticed that his nails had changed as well. They had grown into claws an inch long. Leo suddenly remembered that when he had crushed Curly''s arm he had also pierced that skin with his fingers. While still under the effects Leo quickly ran over to a nearby tree.


    He felt as if he had powered himself with chi, but he didn''t. The small change he managed to trigger had increased his physical capabilities. And as he approached the tree he made a huge swipe with his hand and four deep marks appeared In the tree. Marveling at the power he had managed to tap into, Leo had a thought. He recalled the fire he had created before, but changed the image he had. From a ball of fire, into claws of fire. And as he tapped into the mana the claws he managed to grow, flickered as with a flame for a brief second. He had failed, but that failure showed that it was possible. And for the first time Leo thought about the future possibilities, combining the abilities of the werewolf with the worlds magic. And he was suddenly grinning.


    As he was having his revelation he suddenly hear two people approaching. It was Iris and Natalie, and Iris was carrying a bow he hadn''t seen before. When the two of them got closer they could see the orange ring around Leo''s eyes, and the claws on his hands. Before they could say anything though, Leo closed his eyes and entered the same mindset of when he was meditating. After a few seconds he opened his eyes and they were the usual brown. He looked at the two women and said,


    "I think I made a breakthrough! It seems that if my emotions become intense then it might trigger a partial transformation! And if I''m right, I should be able to combine my abilities with the different types of magic!" Seeing Leo was excited Iris couldn''t help smiling and said,


    "That''s good. I brought something for you. You were supposed to get it the night of the offering, but because of the events then it got put off for a few days. It''s tradition that the teacher gifts their student a new bow after they make their first kill." After she finished her words, she held out the new bow. When Leo took the bow he could feel that something was different about it. When he looked at the two women they saw the questions in his eyes. Natalie quickly said,


    "Usually its tradition that the teacher makes that bow, but seeing your capabilities we decided that the bow made before hand wasn''t suitable. We used a harder wood, due to the difference in strength. And used what little capabilities with energy we had to further fortify the bow. It should hold up, but if it doesn''t then you can make the next one yourself." Leo felt gratitude at their words, and how they had put in extra effort just to match the the bow to him.


    "Thank you. There should be time left in the day. How about a quick hunt then to test it? I also want to see if the discovery I made could substitute chi while hunting." As she heard Leo''s words, Natalie suddenly had the perfect target for Leo to try his new bow on.


    "Alright then, we''ll go for a tusk Giant. Try to keep up since you''re not using chi, and don''t hold us back." Leo readily agreed and went to prepare. Many of the other hunters thought he wouldn''t be able to keep up with out chi, but when Leo recalled the feeling he had earlier he as able to trigger the partial transformation. What surprised them was that not only was he able to keep up with them, he was even using his claws to grab branches as they moved through the trees.


    After a while of traveling in a direction he hadn''t gone yet, the forest suddenly opened up to a fielded area. And Leo once again, was able to experience child like giddiness.


    {MAMMOTHS!!}

 22 Hunting mammoths

    Leo was beside himself with excitement, while everyone was looking at him funny wondering what he was excited for. He watched as the Giants lumbered across the field, pulling tufts of grasses as they went. It was this point that Leo noticed several differences from he mammoths he had known about. While he knew mammoths had two tusks, these ones had four. And while he wasn''t sure how big mammoths used to be on earth, he doubted they were nearly thirty feet tall like these ones were. However he couldn''t help getting excited all the same. It was one things to confront animals he never thought existed, it was another thing entirely to encounter someone he had known about but considered extinct. Noticing iris''s and the others gaze, Leo embarrassingly said,


    "They look like animals from my world. There they weren''t called tusk Giants, but {mammoths}." And he then tried to explain how mammoths were extinct. As Leo looked at them again he couldn''t help wondering, are there other monsters that are considered extinct to me, but common here? He got excited at the thought that he might even get to see dinosaurs one day. But he had a job to do, so he had to calm himself down and listen to his role. Seeing Leo had calmed down, Natalie then started explaining the plan.


    "Since Leo is here and this is his first time hunting tusk Giants, I''m going to go through the usual plans from the beginning. Leo you''ll be part of the drivers, your job is to drive one of the Giants to us here in the trees. We can handle one easily, but if the whole herd came we wouldn''t be able to fight back. Using energy the others will sneak through and form a barrier around one to separate it. Leo, your job is to spook them since you can''t use energy to cloak yourself yet. Try to get them to flee away from us, the one we surround will run here. After that we''ll take care of the rest."


    "Understood" Leo confirmed his role. He figured one reason he was given the task to spook the mammoths, was because his beastial intimidation was probably more effective than jumping out and yelling "BOO!". As they were preparing he noticed Iris was part of the drivers as well, so he couldn''t help going up and telling her,


    "I know you probably don''t want me to tell you so, but please be careful." Iris was actually more concerned about Leo''s well being, but she appreciated that he cared about her safety. But before she could say anything,


    "Quit flirting over there you two, don''t you do enough of that at home?" One of the other hunters called out. Leo and Iris couldn''t help turning red at his words while the other hunters started laughing. Natalie told them to knock it off, and Iris replied,


    "Thanks for worrying about me, but be sure to take care of yourself as well ok?" Leo nodded his confirmation before heading to the area that he needed to wait until he got the signal from Natalie. He would have to wait there until the other drivers were in position before making his move. While he was waiting Leo couldn''t help noticing how well they were hidden with the use of energy. Even his superior senses couldn''t pick them up. After roughly twenty minutes, he heard the signal from Natalie.


    Leo closed his and took a deep breath. Almost as if the beast was anticipating the hunt as well, he was able to trigger the partial transformation easier this time than the two other times that day. As he picked out the one Natalie pointed out earlier, he sprinted towards it while letting out a beastly roar when he got close enough to separate it from the herd.


    "RRRROOOOOOAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRR!!!" Startled by the sound of a predator, as well as the smell of one; the mammoths bellowed in fear and ran the other direction. As soon as the one singled out tried to turn, the other drivers jumped up and started trying to drive the mammoth to the ambush. But Leo apparently did his job a little too well, because the mammoth was more afraid of him than the other hunters. When Leo noticed the problem, he decided to cheat and used some chi to get around the beast and start driving it as well.


    When the mammoth had seen Leo there as well, it turned around and ran from this terror it never encountered before. Leo followed close behind it to ensure it didn''t go off course, but as they neared the ambush he fell back to prevent going into the line of fire. Then A rain of arrows powered with chi came down onto the mammoth. But due to the thick fur, and many layers of fat and muscle to go through, none were a kill shot. Natalie had made her usual shot to the eye, but as she shot the mammoth turned its head and the arrow hit one of the tusks instead.


    As they shot arrow after arrow, all they succeeded in doing was making the mammoth enraged. As Leo was trying to figure out what to do, he recalled a scene he had seen in a movie. He ran to the mammoth as he shouted out,


    "Stop firing! I''m going to try something!" The hunters hearing his voice stopped firing as he ordered,and Leo powered by the transformation as well as chi, jumped to the back of the mammoth. He pulled out an arrow and readied his bow as he fought to keep his balance. As he neared the head he poured as much chi into the arrow as he could and aimed at the back of the mammoths skull. As he released his arrow, due to the amount of power Leo put into it, it pierced the back of the mammoths head. And a moment later the mammoth shuddered and collapsed. As it fell Leo was forced to jump to stable ground.


    "I cant believe that actually worked. I guess you can learn from movies." He didn''t notice the other hunters looking at him in awe. Leo had only made two kills as a hunter, and both had been nearly impossible for a hunter with no experience to take down. And both were taken down with a single shot from him. While they had shot many arrows into the mammoth, they were nothing more than bee stings to it. And Leo had no idea the ripples he had caused in the hunters hearts.

 23 ID cards

    Without noticing the others hunters expressions, Leo asked Natalie,


    "So how do we get the meat back? It''s kinda a lot to pack back like usual." Snapping Natalie out of a similar daze as everyone else, she replied,


    "I''ll send one of the hunters back and they''ll get Jack and some other Warriors to bring a cart. We''ll clean it while we wait." And so, for the next few hours, Leo and the others had to wait until jack arrived. After a while Iris came up to Leo and said,


    "That was really something, taking out the tusk giant in one shot like that. I think out of everyone here you have the most raw power." Leo was surprised at her words, but as he thought about it he realized she might''ve been right since no one else tried to take the mammoth down in a similar manner.


    "I just used an inspiration from somewhere else. Plus it probably wouldn''t have gone so smoothly if it''s attention wasn''t diverted." Iris shook her head at Leo''s words. She figured that he didn''t realize how powerful he was compared to them. They continued making small talk while waiting for Jack. Then he finally got there, and they started heading home. Leo didn''t know it, but usually they would''ve had to fight off a few scavengers while waiting for the cart. But this time there wasn''t a single one, the other hunters contributed this to Leo as well. Just his presence was enough to keep them away. As they were walking Leo noticed that the surrounding mountains had snow on them, so he asked Iris,


    "I know it''s probably too late to ask this, but what season is it? My guess would be fall, but I don''t know what time of year it is for sure." Iris nodded her head at Leo''s question.


    "That''s right, you showed up right after fall started so we''re already a month into it. There''s a little less than three months till winter. It''s also the reason we went for a tusk giant, to stock up on winter supplies. Before the end of fall though there''s a fall feast, it''s usually the last big celebration until spring." When Leo thought about her words, something didn''t seem right to him.


    "So is there four months per season? And if that''s the case sixteen months per year? It''s quite a bit longer than earth." Leo digested this information during the walk back. Now that he thought about it, it was also probably the reason for the garden in the cave. Instead of a green house they used sun crystals in a cave. In this way they could continue producing fruits and vegetables during winter when it should be impossible.


    While they were walking back and Leo was thinking about the new information, they arrived at the village. As he walked into the village Leo suddenly stopped. He took a deep breathe and knew something wasn''t right. He had learned everyone in the villages scent by now, and now he picked up a new scent. The main reason this bugged him was because no one ever came to the village so there shouldn''t be any new scents. But this mystery didn''t last long when Austin came over.


    "Leo, Iris, Thomas came back so elder grandma wants both of you at her hut." Leo looked at Iris and they both headed up to the small hut. Leo figure this new scent belonged to this Thomas. He wondered where he had been this whole time since he must have been gone since before Leo woke up. When they walked through the door, elder grandma and a man who looked to be in his late twenties were waiting for them. What surprised leo was that this man didn''t seem like he was a mutant.


    "Leo, this man is Thomas. When we first brought you here, I had some theories about you background. So I had Thomas go to one of the closest towns to gather some things I needed. Though I say close, the nearest town is still at the least a weeks journey from here. Which is why he''s been gone since you have been here." Thomas stood up and said,


    "Nice to meet you. I''m Thomas, also Brenda''s husband. I assist with the Warriors, but my biggest job is going into towns when needed due to me not being a mutant. This time I was sent o get these." As he said that he pulled out several items at once. The first item was a metal plate, roughly the size of an ID card. Thomas took the card and explained,


    "These are identification cards, you drip a little blood on a blank one and they display your information. They''re needed for accessing most cities since it displays your current name, race, age description, and social status." He handed Leo the card. Leo assumed they wanted him to use it, so he cut his finger and dripped some blood before the wound closed.


    NAME- Leo


    AGE- 18


    RACE- werewolf


    STATUS- unoccupied


    The rest of the card was filed with Leo''s physical description like hair color, hight, even weight. With how similar the card was to modern ID cards, Leo almost half expected a picture of himself to show up. Leaving aside that his race was werewolf, he looked at the status section though and was concerned.


    "What does status mean?" Seeing it said unoccupied, Thomas started explaining.


    "Status typically shows where you at socially. If you''re a citizen then it says citizen. If you''re a criminal, then it says criminal while including a list of crimes on the back. If you''re a slave though, then it says enslaved. It''s a measure to keep criminals and escaped slave from moving freely. Yours says unoccupied because you aren''t a citizen of any kingdom." After hearing Thomas''s explanation Leo understood. He then asked,


    "If my card said criminal, what if I just threw my card away?" Thomas shook his head,


    "Then every card you make after that would say criminal as well. They are connected by the goddess Themis, goddess of law and justice. Which is why anyone without a card is considered potentially dangerous, and detained until they could confirm they''re not a criminal. If you ever want to visit other places, you need one of these." Leo realized they got him a card mainly to ensure he wasn''t some kind of criminal, and so that he could travel without being harassed over it someday. He was about to say thanks, when he noticed the other things Thomas had brought with him. They were a couple books, but what bugged Leo was what was on the cover of the top one.


    {Journal of private John Andrews. United States Navy. 1941}

 24 John Andrews journal

    *just a quick note, I am not a history major, neither do I have extensive knowledge regarding the military. I have only done very light research so if anything is inaccurate then I apologize*


    Leo felt like a bucket of Ice was dumped into his stomach. He turned almost a sickly pale, and quickly became drenched in a cold sweat. Iris noticed his ate and was about to say something, but elder grandma noticed and shook her head to keep her from doing so. Leo reached out and grabbed the journal with shaking hands. At one points he even pinched himself with his claws to ensure he wasn''t dreaming. He slowly opened the journal and started reading.


    The first several pages were about John Andrews daily life while he was stationed at Pearl Harbor. From the year, and events he talked about, Leo guessed the journal was from world war 2. Based on how he didn''t mention it though, Leo figured the first several pages were before the infamous bombing. After the entries up until December sixth, what John Andrews wrote suddenly changed.


    {Day 2- I believed at first that I had died during the attack when a bomb fell not far from my position. While I am unaware of how many days have passed since the bombing, i awoke yesterday in a jungle and have tried my best to survive until I reach civilization. I do not know how, but I apparently was blown into the interior of Hawaii and have been trying to reestablish communication with the base.}


    {day 5- three days have passed since my last entree. However I have not only not made contact with the base, with each passing minute I have become even more convinced that I am not on Hawaii anymore. I have encountered strange creatures that I am sure do not exist, except in nightmares. I only have the ammo that was on me when we were attacked, and it is quickly running out. I can only hope that I am rescued before that happens.}


    {day 9- I have found a group of people that are apparently natives of this area. Though I can''t communicate, they seem to speak a completely foreign language that I have never heard before. But we seem to establish an understanding about certain things, and until I understand what is going on I will continue learning more about local customs.}


    {day 20- by now I believe that there is no help coming. After arriving in the village I noticed they seemed to use peculiar techniques in their daily activities. At first I believed it was a form of new age technology, but after extensive observation I can only conclude that it is magic! This has only further confirmed my suspicions that I am not only no longer on Hawaii, but I may not even be on earth anymore either.After coming to this realization I now believe I might have died during the attack. I can think of no other reason as to why I am no longer on earth. I wonder how my family is.}


    As Leo continued reading the journal, he saw John Andrews go through similar experiences he did. He had gone from talking about his regrets, to writing about his new life. He fell for a pretty village girl in the jungles. Advanced their lifestyles with modern techniques, and started his own family. Leo read on as he grew old, eventually had grandkids, and lived his new life as peacefully as possible. But he occasionally mentioned several things about earth. He looked into others traveling to this strange world, and tracked down written records of their lives here as they decided to keep journals similar to him. He had reached the conclusion that he couldn''t return home, and that there might bereason that he and all the people before him were brought here. But the journal ended before he determine what it was. Seeing Leo close the journal elder grandma spoke up,


    "When you were first brought to the village, I believed you were a lost person. I had Thomas go into town and get an ID plate to see what your status was. Since you are unoccupied, it means that you have never been registered in Aletera before. While i was at it, I told him to see about finding any written references to lost people to see if there was any connection. Thomas told me that when he obtained that journal, he was told that its owner had recently died, and it was being sold as a collectors item since no one could read it."


    Leo sat in silence as he absorbed all of this new information. Judging from the journal, John Andrews never heard any hints about being able to go back. Leo was almost relieved when he read this though. He was ashamed to admit it, but he didn''t want to go back. From what he had read both he and John had probably died to get into Aletera, but when Leo died he was with his family. If Leo went back to earth, then he would be able to confirm if his family really had died. So he didn''t know if he wanted to do that.


    Something else bugged Leo as well. There had been two similarities when they had died. They had both been in events that resulted in massive loss of life, and they were both around Hawaii when they died. Leo couldn''t tell if it was the location, or the circumstances that led to them being here. Seeing Leo wasn''t on the mood to talk, elder grandma sent him and Iris home for the night. Leo could only spend the night staring up at the ceiling and thinking about everything he had found on tin the day. It was only when it was well passed midnight that he finally fell asleep.

 25 Austins plan

    For the next few weeks, Leo was constantly thinking about the events he read in the journal. He was forced to put the matters aside though, when shortly before the next full moon it snowed for the first time. At first Leo enjoyed the cold weather until he noticed something else he seemed to overlook, he rarely felt the cold anymore. While the temperature usually had a chill, he thought it wasn''t a big deal. As the temperature started dropping low enough for snow however, he was still wearing the same leather outfits while everyone else started wearing thicker leathers with fur. It was especially noticeable when after the full moon, he had to make his way for several miles in the nude with almost a foot of snow on the ground.


    He had gone with his previous suggestion, and the day before the full moon he took off away from the village, and headed for a Mountain in the distance that would be noticeable. He then stripped voluntarily after remembering his state the last month, and put on rags that didn''t matter much and would be easy to fix later. Natalie had the duty of making sure no one left the village for the entire night, but no one was surprised when Iris came and joined her as if waiting the whole night for Leo. Shortly after the moon rose they heard a howl in the distance, but nothing more after that.


    Leo awoke the next morning and repeated his ritual of the previous month where he expelled the contents he ate while transformed. This was when he noticed that he didn''t even feel the freezing weather, even when he had almost been buried in snow when he awoke. He then made the many mile trek, but noticed he felt better than he did the previous month and even started moving in he treetops like usual after a while to shorten the journey. He started thinking that maybe as he got used to the transformations, it might not effect him as much in the future.


    After returning to where he stored his clothes the previous day, he cleaned himself up and returned to the village. It was then that he learned that the hunters would be busier in the winter than usual, due to the fact that since the outside garden was no lower usable. There would be less produce since they could only rely on the cave, and as a result the hunters needed to supply the difference with meat. He also learned that the villagers had also used magic to make the winter life easier, by burying fire crystals in the ground to warm the earth and melt snow. This meant that regardless of how deep the snow got, they wouldn''t be trapped inside their houses.


    Leo soon realized that there was another concern taking root in his mind, he was completely unable to improve his relationship with Iris! As the weeks passed he became more aware of the fact that they were "living together" but they haven''t advanced their relationship. Leo recalled that when he read a book or watched a show, the main character would always have someone interrupt during critical moments. He used to laugh at them, but now he was suffering from the same thing! No matter what, he would randomly take her hand only to have people tease them for their intimacy. He had even tried to go for a kiss once or twice, but no mater how isolated they were someone always interrupted.


    He had even tried while they were alone in their house, only to have Jack rush in suddenly to talk to him. When he realized what he interrupted he quickly tried to leave, but the mood was already destroyed. The main culprits were the housewives that had nothing to gossip about, so Leo and iris''s relationship was their primary target. But especially with Leo''s super hearing he always caught them talking about them. In this manner the next couple months passed and Leo was still unable to properly solidify a relationship with Iris. Now it was almost the end of fall, and with the fall feast in just a few days Leo was desperate to make some progress soon. But the day before it was the full moon again. Leo was about to take off and wanted to try another attempt at Iris before leaving.


    "I have to go soon, but maybe we could talk a bit before?" Leo asked hoping she could get his meaning. Iris noticed what he wanted to talk about and was almost eager to talk as well. She had been wanting to advance her relationship with Leo as well, but didn''t know how to and was only made embarrassed when they would get interrupted whenever Leo tried something. She was teased especially bad when it was found out Leo wasn''t effected by the cold as much. The other women jumped right onto the topic and immediately pointed out to Iris she probably appreciated his traits as well as a personal heater at night. She had only turned tomato red at the idea of sharing her bed with Leo and made the women go off on her even more.


    "What do you want to talk about?" She played dumb on purpose to test to see if they''d be interrupted again. She was surprised as Leo grabbed her waist and pulled her closer, then his face came closer as well but stopped a small distance from hers.


    "I want to talk about the relationship we seem to have. I''m not sure what to call it, but I want to be closer to you." As he talked Leo was slowly moving closer to Iris, who looked at him with expectation In Her beautiful golden eyes. But as they were about to connect,


    "IRIS AND LEO ARE ABOUT TO KISS!!!!" One of the little kids suddenly shouted as if to alert everyone in the village to their actions. Leo could only pull away suddenly in surprise. Iris looked sad for a moment, but started glaring at the kid that shouted. He was soon quiet and practically ran to his now approaching mother as more people started paying attention to them. Leo looked sad at the fat that they were interrupted AGAIN. He could only look at Iris with a bit of regret and said,


    "We''ll try again later. See you tomorrow." Iris returned his fair wells, then turned to glare at the people who had gathered and started teasing the young couple again. Neither she nor, Leo noticed Austin looking on from his houses doorway thinking he might have to give the two of them a small push in their relationship.

 26 Moon rose

    After spending the night rampaging again, Leo returned to his designated mountain to find Iris waiting for him. Due to what happened after his first transformation, he wasn''t as shy with Iris seeing him nude, though it did make things a little awkward before he put on his leathers.


    "Did you see enough?" He lightly teased her with a smirk. Unlike when the villagers teased her,she didn''t mind Leo teasing her and had a smirk of her own,


    "Don''t blame me, you were the one ''showing off''. I only came here to walk you back." After he was dressed, Leo couldn''t help feeling regretful. Though he did want to try and make a move on Iris, and she seemed to feel the same way; it didn''t seem like it would be appropriate when he had just been covered in gore and had just regurgitated raw entrails. He noticed she seemed to appreciate his lack of actions as well. She had simply come to escort him back. They lightly chatted along the way, mostly about the upcoming feast. Leo was excited since he had only been to the two other gatherings before. One was to celebrate him waking up, the other he nearly attacked the people around him. Leo was very eager to overwrite the experience. As they walked into the village however, Austin called out to him.


    "Leo, come over here for a second I need to talk to you." Curious what Austin wanted, leo said he''d meet up with Iris later and ran over. After entering the house, Leo looked at Austin,


    "What''s up? Do you need help with something?" Austin shook his head and pointed to a chair and said to take a seat. When Leo sat Austin said,


    "I''ll be blunt, the fall feast is tomorrow and there is an issue that needs to be addressed." Leo was thinking it was about his first transformation and paled almost instantly. When Austin noticed his look he soon understood and quickly shook his head.


    "It''s not that! I only wanted to talk about Iris neglecting her duties involving the feast to help you." When Leo heard his words he wanted to say something to deny them, but especially when he thought back to how Iris was waiting for him earlier, he couldn''t. Seeing his acknowledgment, Austin nodded and added,


    "Due to how busy we all are I''ll wait until after the feast to talk to her about it, but since you''re the main reason she''s slacking I hope you don''t mind me asking you to fill in." Leo shook his head and replied,


    "It''s the least I could do when I''m the one who''s been causing her trouble lately." Leo knew it could be a serious matter if certain jobs aren''t done. Austin looked satisfied with his answer and told him what he wanted help with.


    "During the feast we prepare items in relation to the gods to earn favor before going into the winter months, such as some of the harvest for Demeter for example. Iris was supposed to get an item for Artemis today, but from what I could tell she went to see you earlier instead. Especially with your senses you should be able to find it relatively easily though." Leo wasn''t too thrilled when it was another matter involving the gods, but he figured he owed Iris so he simply asked what he needed to get.


    "As you know, Artemis is the goddess of the moon as well as the hunt. There''s a rose that grows in moonlight, and so due to its relation with her we use it during the feast instead of simply parts of kills like normal. It''s called the moon rose, it grows during the full moon but will last for several more days. As long as you move fast you should be able to find one in time. It''s pale in color, and gives off a light glow in the dark." After hearing the details of what he was getting Leo nodded and prepared to head out, but before he did,


    " oh, and please don''t tell Iris about this. I don''t want her to be upset about you filling in for her duties after the full moon." Leo stated that he agreed and left to search for the moon rose. Not long after though Lucy came out of their bedroom.


    "A moon rose huh?" Austin flinched at his wife''s words and said,


    "You heard?" She nodded before replying,


    "I heard everything, which confuses me because we never offered a moon rose before now. What I didn''t hear though was an explanation about how giving a moon rose away is a means to propose to a loved one. Or has that changed since you gave one to me?" Austin could only make a guilty smile at his wife''s words. A minute later he said,


    "And who do you think are the ones who''ve been teasing them a little too much lately?" Lucy just pretended to look away at her husbands words. She knew the other gardeners were the main ones teasing Iris and Leo. But she hadn''t made an attempt to make them stop, so she couldn''t say anything.


    Leo meanwhile was preparing for the search. While he was Iris came up to him and asked what he was doing. Leo came up with an excuse beforehand and said,


    "Austin said that he wanted me to see if there was any silverherbs growing nearby, he wanted a larger stock before he snow gets too deep to find any." Iris knew Austin kept a few plants of silverherb for cultivation, but she also knew that they would occasionally look for wild plants to bulk up his stock in case of emergencies. Therefore she didn''t doubt Leo''s words.


    "Alright, but be careful. The full moon just passed so I know you''re usually tired before resting afterwards, so don''t be too hard on yourself." Leo said his thanks for her concerns while also silently apologizing for lying to her. He set out intending to find the rose, then he''d give it to Iris so no one else thought she was slacking in her duties. And he had no idea of the trap he just walked into.

 27 Artemis was romantic?

    When Artemis heard that Leo was looking for the moon rose she felt many conflicting feelings. On one hand it meant his relationship with Iris would be easier for her to exploit, on the other it reminded her of her embarrassing past. She wanted to bang her head on the wall when she recalled what making those damned things made people think of her. Even though it was several millennium ago she remembered like it was only a few centuries.


    A man who was a follower of hers was a bad womanizer. Though he had these tendencies he had a woman who he loved dearly. Even though she loved him as well she knew of his habits and thought he was lying to her in order to make her one of his ''conquests''. The man refused to give up his love, and swore he would prove his words to be true to her.


    He traveled far and wide to find something to prove his love, and Artemis wanting to help such an accomplished follower decided to lend him a hand. On the next full moon she took the moon light and soaked it into an entire rose bush. The man realizing that even the goddess he followed was helping him, plucked as many roses he could and carried them back to his beloved.


    What he didn''t know was that Venus, the goddess of love was also moved by his feelings. She decided to help the man as well and charmed the roses so that when given to a loved one both could only say the truth about their feelings. When he gave the roses to the woman, instead of refusing like she always did, she could only say her true feelings. When she realized what the roses did, she finally decided that the man was telling the truth when he confessed to her. The couple lived happily ever after, and the legend of the moon roses grew and many people would use them as a form of engagement since they could only tell their loved ones the truth when giving them.


    When Artemis recalled it she wanted to vomit. But since it helped her this time she managed to hold it down. She continued watching Leo, waiting for the next two months to pass before he would officially become her champion.


    ***


    Leo unaware of not only the goddess looking down on him, but also the trap that had been set, was Looking for the rose. Since Austin said his senses would help him, he was trying to find a fragrance he thought might be roses to lead him. He was fighting exhaustion the whole time though, so he thought his senses weren''t working at full capabilities. The feast was the next day though, so he had to keep looking until he could find one. He moved through the tree tops while keeping his eyes on the forest floor, he looked on the peaks of any nearby mountains, and he looked for any sources of water to see if they were growing at the edge.


    With the sun going down though, he was starting to become slightly anxious. Eventually Leo figured that with how exhausted he was, and the fact that the feast wasn''t until the next night, he decided to find a place in the trees he could sleep for the night. He knew that the longer he waited after the full moon, the lesser the chances he would find one. But he was also exhausted after the full moon the night before so he decided sleep would be more beneficial than rushing so he was fully alert.


    After finally getting a few hours of sleep, Leo was back at maximum attention. He continued his search, and tried to recall if he had seen any rose bushes in the months that he''d been there. After a few more hours of searching, he finally found a rose bush. The weren''t any moon roses on it, but it did help Leo identify the scent he needed to keep an eye on. As he kept looking however, it also started snowing again. Though Leo wasn''t bothered by the cold, the snow limited his sight even with his enhanced capabilities. As he thought he would have to give up, he suddenly caught the same fragrance he found earlier and hoped there would be a moon rose for his efforts.


    ***


    Iris was helping set up for the fall feast. She was helping pull out the tables since they usually put them away to keep the snow off of them. As she looked around she could see various people helping as well. Preparing the fire for the offerings, preparing the food, the children were even helping weave decorations from branches. It Iris was feeling anxious because Leo wasn''t there as well. Her feeling started when he didn''t comeback the night before, and while they were setting up he still hadn''t shown yet.


    She even started thinking Leo was purposely staying away due to what happened the first time he transformed. They hadn''t done any big events since then, so she wondered if he made up the story about the silverherbs so that he wouldn''t risk hurting someone at another feast. Though she wasn''t sure if that would make sense seeing as it wasn''t the full moon.


    She had also wanted to show off the offering she had for Artemis. She was going to offer the horns of a stag lord she had killed before she ever found him. They were the largest horns she ever got from a kill, so they were put up until the fall feast so he hadn''t seen them yet. As they quickly set up for the feast, the sun started going down as well and Leo still wasn''t back yet. Iris was starting to get really worried, but the feast was about to start so she couldn''t go out to look for him anymore.


    As they ate some people asked her where Leo was, but she could only say he was out in the forest somewhere. Shortly before it was time for the offerings, she finally caught sight of him moving towards her. He had a big grin on his face as he walked closer, and she smiled as well since he wasn''t apparently purposely staying away. As he walked closer neither one noticed Austin pointing them out and people gradually getting quieter.

 28 Engagement??!!

    As Leo arrived at the feast it wasn''t long until he saw Iris. He had the moon rose covered in his pack, and was planning to give it to her as soon as possible. As he walked towards her he broke into a wide smile, he didn''t know why but he felt incredible joy at the moment. He didn''t notice as he walked that the surroundings were getting noticeably quieter. As Leo kept walking he thought about what he was going to say to her as an apology for making her slack on her duties. He wanted to thank her for all her help since he arrived, and tell her that if she needed help in the future to rely on him more.


    As he walked up to her he pulled out the rose and held it out to her while he uncovered it. He saw her eyes go wide in shock, but before she said anything he said to her,


    "I love you."


    When the reality of what he said hit him Leo''s eyes were wider than iris''s. He didn''t know why he said what he did, the more he thought about he suddenly realized his mind was a little clouded. Before he could think more about it though,


    "I love you too Leo. And yes I accept!" Iris suddenly jumped into Leo''s arms, and the next thing he knew a soft sensation was pressed against his lips. He suddenly realized that Iris was kissing him. Leo stopped thinking and focused on the kiss. Their mouths were glued to each other for several seconds. Suddenly Leo had a thought, what did Iris accept? Before he could find an answer though everyone around them erupted in cheers and Leo and Iris broke apart. Everyone was suddenly trying to offer congratulations. Leo was still confused until Lucy walked up,


    "Congratulations you two! No ones really surprised but you really are a perfect match for each other! So, when will the wedding Be?" When Lucy said the word wedding Leo mind clicked. He looked at the moon rose that Iris had taken by now, and looked over to where Austin was supposed to be. But there was no one there since Austin had taken off running already to avoid Leo. Leo saw him running, and realized what happened. He suddenly had a cold look, and he held out his hand thinking what magic he wanted on the fly. And a second later a snowball had formed and launched itself at Austin''s back, knocking him face first into the snow.


    Everyone stopped trying to congratulate them and stared in shock. Then they heard someone laughing and everyone turned to Lucy, who explained what it was Austin did. Hearing Leo was set up, Iris looked down at the rose with regret. Leo seeing her reaction, took her into his arms again.


    "I don''t really know what''s going on, but I know what I said before wasn''t a lie. I didn''t know what I was doing, but I won''t back down from what happened so I''ll ask properly. Iris, will you marry me?" Leo knew he couldn''t just play it off as Austin''s joke. And he was planning on moving forward in his relationship with Iris anyways. He just wished he knew what he was doing before he "proposed". Iris, who heard him ask properly answered,


    "Yes I accept, and I''ll explain about the rose later. But I think we should focus on the crowd surrounding us first." Leo noticed that they were still surrounded. He kissed Iris once more to her surprise, and turned to address the confused crowd.


    "I didn''t know what was going on, but Iris and I are now engaged. Thank you all for your congratulations!" Hearing that they were still going with the engagement, everyone started congratulating them again. Starting with Lucy, who was being serious now. Natalie and Jack, Natalie took Iris to the side for a second while Jack slapped two of his hands across Leo''s back in congratulations. Brenda and Thomas stepped forward after, and Brenda said she couldn''t wait for a new student in a few years,(Leo started sweating at her words). They continued to work their way through the other villagers, until someone reminded them all that there was still the offering.


    Everyone sat backdown, and Leo sat next to Iris while she suddenly started loading up a plate for him since he was out in the forest and hadn''t had a good meal all day. There was suddenly a bunch of shouts about them already being married, but they both ignored them. Then Leo waited they went through the offerings. He didn''t know about all the gods they worshiped, but he could recognized most of the names. Leo wasn''t sure why, but planned on researching it in the future. Iris was especially excited to show off the antlers she prepared for her offering to her new fianc¨¦.


    When Leo saw the antlers he sent another glare at Austin, whose wife had brought back. He was looking at Leo with an expression of apology, while his face was still red from his snowy face plant. After the offerings, people came up to Leo and Iris once again to offer more congratulations, and ask about the wedding. Leo left most of the questions for Iris, since he didn''t know about weddings in his world to start with. It was decided that they would wait until the spring for the snow to melt. And Leo at one point had several village women asking him about weddings on earth. Leo promised to tell them about it later, and they said he wasn''t allowed to go back on it. It seemed they wanted to incorporate traditions from both for his sake. He felt touched at the women''s consideration.


    As the night went on it started getting late, and people started heading for bed. Leo was thinkingabout if there would be a difference in sleeping situations, when suddenly someone called out to him.


    "Leo, come and talk to me for a bit. Don''t worry Iris, I''ll return him soon." Elder grandma called him to go and talk to her. As he followed her to her hut, it suddenly felt like a situation where he was going to talk with an in law. He suddenly felt quite a bit more nervous.

 29 Iriss pas

    When Leo entered elder grandmas hut, he still couldn''t shake the feeling that he was about to get the "dad talk" from her. Seeing his face though, she shook her head and said,


    "Don''t worry about what I''m gonna do to you Leo, I''m not gonna bite. I just want to ask you a few things and tell you a small story. So take a seat and I''ll prepare some tea." Leo sat down on a chair, and waited for elder grandma to finish preparing tea. When she ha elder him his cup though, he remembered the moon rose and was hesitant on drinking it. Seeing his hesitation elder grandma laughed and said,


    "I didn''t poison it, with how nervous you are we''ll never get anywhere in out talks otherwise." Not wanting to offend her, Leo started drinking and was surprised it was plain tea. When they were done drinking elder grandma sighed, and started talking,


    "Before you and Iris get married, I want to make sure you have the resolve to and to tell you about her past with her parents. She doesn''t remember them, but it could be one of the most revolting days of my life if it wasn''t for the fact that I got Iris out of it. You see, I''m old. Older than I look and that you''d think. But in my whole life I never had a child. After I lost my husband, Iris was the only one I truly cared about. She''s the daughter I never had, and he only regret I might leave behind someday is not ensuring her happiness. So before I start talking out her past, I need to know. Will Iris be happy with you?"


    Leo had no idea how he was supposed to answer. He wanted to say that he''ll take care of her, that he''ll never make her sad, that he''ll always be a good husband. But before he could, the words got stuck in his throat. He had no way to guarantee any of what he wanted to say. The only thing that came out was,


    "I don''t know. There''s much I don''t know about this world, which was obvious from the fact I didn''t even know I was proposing when I did. But I can guarantee, that I''ll never stop trying to ensure Iris is happy." That was all Leo could say. But as he looked at elder grandma, he could see that surprisingly she approved of what he said.


    "Nothing is ever absolute. If you had said she would never regret her decision, then I would''ve been worried. But as long as you put in effort towards her happiness, then I can accept it. Now then about her parents." Then elder grandma started telling the story about how she started raising Iris.


    She had been traveling to stay in touch with the outside world. After traveling for months on end, she stopped at a city and booked a room in an inn. At the inn she heard some gossip, one thing in particular was a family that was in the process of delivering a new baby. Due to the noise in the inn however, she decided to go for a walk without listening further. It didn''t matter to her. As she was walking around however, she heard the sound of a baby crying. She recalled the people talking about a baby being born recently and was curious as to why they were taking the baby outside at night. Surely it wasn''t healthy for a newborn to be out at night?


    After investigating the crying, she discovered a man walking in a hurry with the crying bundle. Feeling something wasn''t right, she decided to follow him. After walking for a few blocks, the man stopped suddenly in the middle of a bridge. She watched in horror as he took the bundle, and dropped it into the river. Before the bundle hit the water however, she moved and caught the baby before it hit the water, while also ensuring its was unaffected by the sudden movement. She then turned to man and said,


    "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?! DROPPING A BABY INTO A RIVER?!" The man just glared at her for interfering and said,


    "That thing is no baby, it''s a damn freak and I''ll have nothing to do with it. If I didn''t drown it, I would''ve bashed it against the wall, thrown it into the fire, anything to get that THING out of my house. Take one look at it and you''ll see yourself." Elder grandma did look at the child, for the first time she wasn''t crying. As she looked down at her, there was a pair of beautiful golden eyes looking back at her. Elder grandma looked at the child in her arms, and for the first time in many, many years, felt a warmth in her heart. She looked at the man and said,


    "From this point on, this child is dead. You''ll have nothing to do with her, and I''ll take responsibility and raise her. That way you''ll never see her again. I don''t care what you say, I''ll leave you alone though. It''s more than you deserve." Not paying attention to the mans reaction, she turned around and walked away with a new daughter. A daughter named Iris. She never even got the name of a single member of the child''s family.


    When she had finished her story Leo was so mad, the part of the table he was gripping was cracking and there a slight orange glow to his eyes. After a few seconds of breathing to calm himself, he started talking.


    "Does she know what you told me?" Elder grandma shook her head and replied,


    "She knows that her family didn''t approve of mutants, but not the specifics of how I came to raise her. She stated that she didn''t need anymore family beside the other villagers." Leo nodded and asked a few more questions. He knew he didn''t know near enough about this worlds traditions. Plus even though he tried to calm himself down, he was still angry at elder grandmas story and didn''t want to go back in a bad mood. After a little while, he finally calmed down and bid elder grandma goodnight and went to leave. Before he left though,


    "Oh and by the way Leo, I don''t know how things are done on your world. But here, girls try to preserve their chastity until the wedding night. And I''d prefer that it didn''t change now. Good night."


    After hearing her ominous words, Leo quickly left her house with a red face, and fear in his heart.

 30 Smoke on the horizon

    Leo opened his eyes, and took a deep breathe before getting up for the day. It had been almost two months since he and Iris got engaged. Just another week before the full moon. Things were awkward for them at first, but they soon realized that nothing was really different. Iris tried to get him to share the bed at first, but Leo remembered elder grandmas warning and adamantly refused until they were married. He didn''t want to say that she scared him though, so he had to tell Iris that it wasn''t proper on earth to share a bed until marriage.


    Over the course of the last few weeks, Iris started learning English as well. There''s wasn''t too much a reason behind it besides that she wanted to learn more about Leo''s world, and he thought it was cool there''d be a language that only the two of them knew. He was quite enthusiastic until she recalled what he said to her the first couple times they talked, and asked what {how beautiful} meant.


    Leo had started to learn how to fight with chi recently as well. It was commonly accepted that due to his increased strength he was a capable fighter when using chi. But due to his lack of experience, his training usually meant he was a punching bag for the others. While practicing though he trained in combining mana with his partial transformations, he hadn''t had a breakthrough yet but figured he was close to one.


    Leo opened the door and stood outside while taking in the view. The snow had continued falling and had piled up to three to four feet in hight. He took a deep breath again and turned to face a distant mountain.


    "Is that smoke I smell? It''s so faint I can''t tell if it''s from a forest fire, or maybe from a houses wood stove." As he continued looking he thought that with his enhanced vision he could see a cloud of haze in the distance, but wasn''t sure. He shook his head and walked to the blacksmiths. Jack had said that one way of learning good control for mana and chi was forging, but Leo wasn''t sure if he made it up or not just to get him to learn under him. After reaching the forge, he smelled so much smoke, that the potential forest fire was pushed from his mind.


    ***


    Many, many miles away in the closest town to the village, was a young man surrounded by many cheering townsfolk. He had dark black hair, and light blue eyes, he wore a set of robes and had a sword hanging from his waist. This man was William, the champion of Kebechet, goddess of purification. Which was why the people sought his help with this particular problem. When he was asked to help them though, his first thought was ''what does this have to do with purifying?!''


    His main activities revolved around preventing undead, but due to the fact that Hades would create them whenever he fancied, it was an endless job. And that was before taking the necromancers who followed him into account. What the people here wanted him to "purify" was a monster, plain and simple. He tried to tell them that he wasn''t a warrior that killed beasts, but a warrior who fought undead.


    But they begged him to help rid them of the monster that would ruin them during the winter if it wasn''t taken care of. He eventually agreed, but declared that depending on the monster involved he might charge extra for his services. Of all things, they needed help with a damn behemoth! Williams face twitched noticeably when he heard this but forced himself to keep calm and listen to their story.


    Apparently the behemoth had always lived on a single mountain several miles away from the village. It never seemed to harass them in the past, but for some reason it started coming down to eat livestock in recent months. They were worried that the behemoth would either consume all of their emergency food for the winter, or even finish it all and start eating them instead. When the people were starting to despair, they heard that there was a champion nearby. They didn''t bother seeing if the champion was one that could help them, and immediately Tried to contact him for his services.


    When he tried to explain that he only fought undead, the townsfolk begged him not to abandon them. They said that if he didn''t help them, then who would be able to before the behemoth brought the town to ruin? William thought for several days before arriving at an idea to oppose the monster, one of his abilities he got from Kebechet made him more capable of using fire. While others would have to study years, he would only have to work days or weeks to match them. He thought that instead of fighting the behemoth directly, he would burn the mountain it made its home and drive it further into the mountains.


    The people didn''t argue against his plan, due to the fact that they couldn''t even use the mountain the beast made its home to begin with. And so William crept to the base of the mountain, and using the powers he obtained, created a wall of fire snaking its way across the base of the mountain. After moving several hundred feet in both directions, he sent it forward into the home of the monster. As the fire crept forward, it melted the surrounding snow and set the tree tops ablaze. He suddenly heard a massive roar vibrate the surroundings. Several seconds later another one sounded out through the night, but this one sounded slightly further away.


    After nearly an hour, William could barely hear the beast anymore and knew it had moved on like he planned. He let out a deep breath in relief. He had hoped that he wouldn''t have to fight the thing. Now that the thought about it, if this was all it took to get rid of it, then it was also the easiest money he had made in quite awhile. Feeling proud of himself, William headed back to town to join in the celebration.

 31 Bad premonitions

    Leo was about to leave for the full moon. He was hesitant though, due to the fact that ever since he could smell the smoke the week before, the forest has felt increasingly tense. He didn''t know how to explain it, but he felt like there was a sense of wrongness almost like everything was on edge. He almost thought he was imagining it, until Natalie said something similar. But he couldn''t ignore the threat that he was during the full moon, so he had to leave anyways. Before he did though, he pulled Iris in his arms, and planted his mouth against hers for a second before pulling away.


    "Promise me you''ll be careful while I''m gone? I don''t like the way the forest feels right now." Iris smiled at Leo''s worries. She considered herself capable in the forest, but liked that fact that he cared about her.


    "We won''t be actually fighting anything, we''ll scout and report back to the Warriors to take care of whatever''s there. And besides, we already know there''ll be something to worry about in the forest tonight, so we will probably wait until you come back anyways. I''m more worried about you traveling the forest alone today." Leo could only laugh at her worries, any tries messing with him and he''ll probably eat it instead. Leo looked up at the sun that had just risen. He would usually wait until later to leave, but figured that going early would give him the chance to help look into whatever was going on. He looked around and asked,


    "Oh yea, where''s elder grandma? I haven''t seen her around for a few days." Leo was paying attention to her more closely nowadays, due to her "polite warning" the night he and Iris got engaged. He hadn''t seen her for a few days though and was worried. But Iris made a small smile and said,


    "She usually takes off for a few days around this time of year. I don''t know where she goes, but my theory is that she visits her husbands grave. Her mood usually changes a lot this time of year." Leo nodded in understanding. He kinda wished she was here though, he expected it from the moment he met her and believed that he witnessed many times that there more to her than just an old lady. It was general information that in a world of magic or martial arts, you don''t screw with old people. If she were here then he wouldn''t feel so uneasy about leaving himself.


    Leo said a few more things to Iris and finally left. After watching him go, Iris sighed and got her game face on. She was supposed to scout with Natalie today and needed to be focused. They weren''t sure what it was that was in the forest. There were a few theories though, like a rouge group of people causing mayhem. But if that were the case then they would have caught on days ago. Another theory was that a high ranking monster was making the forest its new home. This was the most likely answer, since there was less prey and it had been able to avoid the scouts. If this was the case though then it needed to be taken care of. It was cutting down drastically on the game the village hunters needed to bring back, and it might threaten the safety of the hunters or the village itself.


    Iris walked over to Natalie and prepared to head out. Jack and his men were preparing too, since the hunters were more mobile the plan was for them to find the thing. After doing so, they would blow a whistle three times and summon the Warriors. So they needed to be on standby to move out at a moments notice. If the search went late though, then they would merely look for tracks or other signs and wait for the next day. No one wanted to try facing it in the dark, while also risking attracting Leo on the night of the full moon. So people were even joking that they might find each other and he could fight it for them. As soon as they noticed iris looking at them though they were quiet.


    "Alright let''s move out! We got a time limit so I want to find at least some tracks of it, remember DO NOT ENGAGE IT! If you do find it, call for backup and we''ll fight it together. I don''t want any heroes out there." After listening to Natalie''s speech, the hunters started moving out in pairs. Iris was with Natalie, and the two headed away from the village. They traveled for several hours without finding anything. They stopped for a short, tense lunch shortly after noon and then carried on with the search. As the later afternoon was approaching, they decided it was time to head back. They took a different route than the one they used before to maximize the chances of results, when suddenly,


    "Wait a second. Look down there." Iris pointed to Natalie and as they looked they saw what looked like a massive footprint in the snow. One reason they were having a hard time finding and traces of it was that it snowed the night before, hiding any tracks it had left in the last few days. When they saw the fresh prints, Iris and Natalie started following them to at least get the identity of the mysterious monster, though after seeing the print Natalie was starting to have ideas. After a few minutes Iris noticed something.


    "It looks like there''s some hair down there. If we get it, we can give it to Leo and we might be able to track it down tomorrow with him following the scent." Natalie considered Iris''s words. It was getting too late to confront the beast, and she really didn''t want to risk drawing Leo in a few hours.


    "Go get it, but be careful we don''t know how close it is to us." Iris nodded her head, and lightly jumped down to get the fur. After she had put it in her pack however, she suddenly noticed that the forest had turned deathly quiet. She suddenly heard a sound like a low thunder, and looked up. What she saw was a pair of yellow eyes bigger than her head. Before she could react there was suddenly an ear shattering roar. Several miles away, a boy sitting alone on a mountain raised his head.

 32 Behemoth

    When Leo heard the roar he looked up in the direction that he thought it came from. Looking into the distance he saw a flock of birds flying off.


    "Please don''t let there be a whistle." Leo prayed while he strained his senses to the max to ensure he didn''t miss what he hoped he wouldn''t hear.


    piiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii


    Piiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii


    Piiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii


    Leo felt as if his heart stopped. Whatever was out there, they had found it. And instead of waiting, they were calling reinforcements, which meant Iris was going to be there as well. Leo started thinking. He looked up at the sun and saw he would probably only have around a couple hours left before the moon came up at most. He could stay here and hope for the best, or go to help and risk threatening everyone else.


    Piiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii


    Hearing the whistle again, Leo shot forward as he made his way to the fight. Damn the consequences, damn the risks. If he was lucky, he might be able to direct his transformation after the moon comes up against whatever they were fighting. He willed himself to be faster, as he raced towards the conflict, faster, faster FASTER! It was quite a while before he noticed the fur covering his body, and the difference in his size as he moved towards the conflict.


    ***


    Iris looked at the big yellow eyes before the thing roared. She moved back as fast as possible and raced up a tree. By the time she got to a secure area, she heard Natalie blow the whistle. Three times to sound out trouble. Within minutes the other hunters would be gathering here, and they would help notify the Warriors. The question was, could they last that long?


    As Iris looked down at the thing, she was able to determine what it was from the stories she had heard when she was younger. It was at least fifty feet long, not counting the tail. It had gray fur and tusks growing down from its mouth as well as horns on its head. The thing staring at her was a behemoth, a rare monster that was capable of destroying entire areas with its appetite, and fierceness. She heard that there was o e living a few days away, but it never bothered with them. Then as she recalled the smoke that Leo had mentioned to her, it clicked. The thing had been driven out by fire most likely, and was looking for new hunting grounds. And found them.


    Her thoughts were brought to a halt however, as the tree she was standing on started shuddering with impacts. She looked down again and saw that the monster was trying to knock her out of the tree. She jumped to another one without hesitation, and readied an arrow before loosing it towards the behemoths eye. She hoped to blind it, but it was apparently used to fighting people as it seemed to know what she was trying for and turned its head to avoid her shot. She looked out of the corner of her eye and saw Natalie readying another arrow, so Iris did the same. Together the two of them started loosing all the arrows they could while waiting for backup. But it seemed all they did was piss it off.


    Natalie put the whistle on her mouth and let out another blow to alert the other hunters that they needed help desperately. As Iris was contemplating other means to fight without wasting her arrows, the tree she was in started shuddering again. She looked down expecting to see it it ting the tree agin, but was shocked by what she saw instead. The behemoth was climbing the tree! Or at least attempting to. It''s height on two feet alone however was enough to make her worried, as she started to feel genuine fear for the first time.


    "IRIS, GET OUT OF THERE!!" Natalie''s shout snapped her back to reality, as she leaped away to yet another tree. Looking back, she saw that she left just in time as the Behemoths claws tore down the branch she was just on. At this moment she noticed that the other hunters started appearing, together they coordinated the attacks against the beast. But like before, they lacked the power to do any damage as it avoided, or protected all potential critical areas.


    As they fought, Iris noticed that for some reason it focused on her the whole time, as she was forced to move from tree to tree to avoid its long reach. Eventually, her luck ran out as the beast leaned on the tree she was in again and suddenly, CRACK!!! The tree had started to fall. Unable to get a secure foothold to move to the next tree, Iris could only fall with it. Landing in snow softened her landing, but also made it harder to move as the monster bared down on her.


    Iris stared down the beast as she took her last arrow and took aim. She didn''t put any chi into this arrow, instead using it to shield herself as much as possible as the beast swung its claws at her, as she released her arrow. She was only able to see that her arrow hit its mark dead center in its eye, before the beasts claws slammed into her body and flung her away.


    Natalie looked on in horror as the little girl she watched grow up got sent flying into a nearby tree. It was the howl of the behemoth that brought her attention back though, as she saw it clawing at its own eye in pain and fury. Disregarding all caution, she hurried over before the beast could turn its attention to Iris once again. Reaching Iris, Natalie put priority into checking if she was even alive before thinking about moving her. The other hunters were trying to keep the behemoth distracted while she tried to save Iris. Looking at her, Natalie saw that chances were several of her bones were broken, and there was blood spreading to the surrounding snow from the gashes made by its claws. She knew Iris used chi to defend herself, it might have been the only reason she was still alive.


    Suddenly a roar shook the surroundings again as the behemoth tired of the other hunters, and turned towards them once more. Natalie couldn''t move Iris fast enough, and readied her bow to stand her ground. The beast started charging towards them, and to Natalie it felt like the whole world just slowed down. She readied herself for what was to come, and stared down the charging monster. However, right when the beast was about to reach her, something moved between them and stopped it in its tracks.


    Natalie looked up and was shocked at what she saw. The thing that stopped the behemoth was at least seven feet tall, was covered with dark red fur, and looked at her and Iris with concern in its orange eyes. It held the behemoth by the horns as Natalie couldn''t help but cry out,


    "LEO?!"

 33 The husbands fury

    Natalie was at a loss for words as she looked at the scene in front of her. As she was about to try and shield Iris as best as she could, something jumped out and took the behemoths attack head on and stopped it. Whatever it was grabbed the behemoths horns, and looked back at her and she recognized it immediately from its distinctive orange eyes.


    "LEO?!" Nodding its head, the thing turned back to the behemoth and let out a low growl before raising its leg and delivering a swift kick to it head. After stunning it briefly, it turned around and gently picked up Iris in its arms before jumping into the trees. Natalie was stunned for a second before she heard the behemoth move and swiftly joined them. Reaching the branch Leo brought Iris to, the other hunters started surrounding them. Leo placed her down, and there was a growl,


    "Help.... Her...." No one knew what to make of the situation before he jumped down to face the raging monster below. Natalie could only watch in amazement, as Leo stood straight and faced the monster. The behemoth let out a roar of challenge, which was instantly met by the now obviously pissed Leo.


    "RRRRRROOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!"


    The air itself seemed to vibrate with the intensity of the challenge. Instead of watching the fight, Natalie turned to the paling Iris. She immediately gave orders to the surrounding hunters for their supplies of silverherb, and bandages as she tried to treat the ghastly wounds. She quickly realized however, that without better treatment Iris would not live. Natalie desperately wished that Austin were here. And as if knowing her thoughts, she suddenly heard a shout from her husband who was now arriving.


    "NATALIE!!!"" As she looked up she let out a sigh of relief as she saw her husband approaching from the trees, with Austin hanging onto his back for deal life. After arriving, one of the other hunters started to explain the situation, as Natalie dragged Austin to examine Iris. As he did his work, she turned back got the fight and was horrified by what she saw.


    Entire areas of snow had been dyed red as the two monster battled it out. The behemoth had several long cuts down its body made from Leo''s claws, when their arrows had done next to nothing to it. It''s originally grey fur had darkened with blood which would then dye the surrounding snow with each movement. The majority of the red had obviously come from the behemoth, but it seemed like it barely registered its wounds.


    Meanwhile Leo''s dark red fur had turned even darker with the blood that had spilled from him, as the behemoths claws racked his body. However he would only acknowledge his wounds for a moment, before turning his attention back to the fight. After several seconds passed though, his wounds would start closing at a noticeable rate, leaving behind a bare spot on his fur. The main concern though was the amount of bare spots he had, as a testament to the amount of wounds he received.


    What had amazed the watchers though, was that Leo was using not only chi, but mana as well in his fully transformed state. They watched as he coated a clawed hand in fire, and used chi to add power as he drove his claws as far into the behemoths flesh as possible. Which simultaneously pierced the flesh, and burned the outside skin, causing the behemoth to roar once again, but this time in pain.


    Natalie realized that Leo must have gotten stronger in both abilities as he was not able to use such techniques normally. As she became absorbed in the fight, a voice behind her called for her attention.


    "Natalie! Come here for a minute!" Rushing to Austin''s side as he examined iris''s wounds, she saw that his face had turned pale due to his exhaustion from using mana. As she looked at Iris, Natalie felt like a knife had lodged itself in her guts. She had started to turn a nasty purple with bruising, and though the wounds she had received were bandaged, they were soaked through with blood already.


    "As you could see, it''s really bad. I don''t know how else to say it, but I don''t think I can save her. From my examinations, not only has several of her bones been shattered, but the lacerations had cut too deep, and there''s bleeding internally. I''ve treated everything I can, but there''s just too much damage. She won''t die immediately, but at most she''ll live to noon tomorrow; and that''s only if the gods allow her to live that long." Natalie felt as if the knife had been twisted and yanked out as cruelly as possible.


    Why? Why her? Why right when she was to be married in a few months? Why didn''t she take the blow instead? These questions and more raced through Natalie''s mind in an instant, as another roar brought her attention back. She looked down to the monsters fighting below, and fell to her knees. She then let out an agonizing cry, a cry that sounded throughout the entire forest.


    "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!"


    And she felt the tears running down her face, as she looked to Leo who had started to become exhausted.


    "KILL IT LEO! KILL THE THING THAT KILLED HER!" Natalie screamed out in a voice that no one present had ever heard come from her. As her words reached him, Leo looked up from his fight and stared right at her. Everyone present saw the shock, and brief grief in his eyes; before something that shocked all of them happened. His eyes became completely calm, as he turned to the behemoth once again. The behemoth had developed an intense hatred for this thing in its path, and was also briefly surprised when it started to get smaller.


    Everyone present was in shock as the fur on his body started to disappear, and in mere seconds Leo was standing there naked as the day he was born. The behemoth noticed that it''s hated enemy had become smaller and didn''t want to miss the chance, as it charged and opened its mouth wide. The surroundings stared in horror as Leo apparently gave up on all life, and disappeared down the behemoths throat.


    No one was more affected than Natalie though. She had shouted due to her emotions, and believed that she had destroyed any hope of life in Leo, driving him to suicide. She lamented her own foolishness, as the other hunters also mourned Leo''s passing. The only calm one was Jack, who had seen that in the brief moment before being swallowed, there was fierce glare in Leo''s eyes. A look that said he had not given up. A look full of rage, and loathing.


    The behemoth appeared satisfied with its meal, but remembered the annoying things were still around, and one of them took one of its eyes. It turned towards them and took a step. That was all it took. After that one step the behemoth let out a painful wail, worse than anything they had heard so far. They watched as the behemoth stood on its hind legs, and started tearing its own body with its claws. Wounds worse than anything inflicted so far were caused, thanks to its own weapons. As it seemed to desperately want to remove something from its body.


    Blood started foaming from its mouth, as after a minute of wailing and inflicting its own wounds, it finally collapsed. No one dared approach as they still didn''t know what happened, until jacks voice snapped them out of their daze.


    "He beat it. He beat a behemoth single handedly." After those words were said everyone looked at Jack, then back to the behemoth as they contemplated his words. Suddenly its body started moving. The audience watched in horror, thinking it was still come how alive. When suddenly a figure tore through the midsection of the beast. It was a seven foot tall monster, covered in its enemy''s blood and guts. It placed a foot on the behemoths side, as it let out a howl. A howl of victory, over the monster. Then it suddenly collapsed, turning back into Leo. The people in the surroundings watched in confusion before someone shouted out,


    "LOOK!! THE MOON!!" They looked as the full moon had revealed itself completely. They waited for the transformation to take place once again, but instead Leo''s body started glowing. As if it was bathed in moonlight.

 34 Elders pas

    Far into the north, several days journey from even the village; were the ruins of city. The extraordinary thing about these ruins though, was that they were situated on a floating rock over a valley. If any student of knowledge were to see them, they would surely go into shock. For this was the ancient city of Asdarge, which had been lost over a thousand years ago. If Leo heard about it he might''ve been reminded of Asgard, the home of the Nordic gods on earth.


    In the city, walking calmly even though the snow was deeper there than at the village, was a single woman. The snow was melting around her through as she radiated heat and power from her body. She slowly made her way through the city, looking at her surroundings not with a look of interest, but sadness and loss. Her eyes showed familiarity with the surroundings as if she had grown up there, and tears built up as the memories kept assaulting her, fresh even though over a thousand years had passed. She slowly made her way though the city until arriving at a stone in the middle of the courtyard of the castle. The stone had words carved on it though, and they said,


    HERE LIES THE RULER OF THIS CITY,


    WHO DEFENDED IT UNTIL HIS LAST BREATH.


    Even more emotions assaulted the woman as she looked at the headstone of the city''s ruler. Due to the heat she was radiating, the ground had gone from snow covered, to dry and warm. She sat on the ground in front of the stone and said,


    "Hello my husband. I came to visit again. I wanted to talk to you again about the girl I raised, the daughter we never had. She found someone recently, a boy the same age as her. And they plan to be married in the spring. He reminds me of you. I don''t think she could have found better. But, I''m worried. I think he might go down the same route we did, and it would destroy them both like I did us." As she finished her words, the woman, elder grandma, looked at her arm. Though it was covered with her sleeves, she knew the brand was still there, the brand in the shape of a tiara marking her as a champion of Venus.


    She recalled the memory as if it was yesterday, the time when she was happily married and ruled one of the most powerful kingdoms alongside her husband. The city of Asdarge was further south then, and wasn''t a ruin but a prosperous place with people, wealth, and knowledge. It was advancing year by year in ways to use magic to simplify life, like the village. It was also home to some of the most powerful users of magic that ever lived, at the peak of which was her, and her husband. The people were happy, she was happy.


    But as the years went by, she found that she could not bear a child. Even though her husband said that he was happy with her regardless, she felt as if she had failed him as a wife. Soon the people, started talking, not out of scorn or criticism, but out of worry and pity. She didn''t like being seen as a target for pity, so being the vain, young woman she was, she prayed to the gods. She thought that if she became a champion, the gods might reward her for her service and grant her a child. And one answered, Venus the goddess of love and beauty.


    Venus''s terms were simple, the title of champion was for life. After ten years of service though, then she would grace elder grandma with a child. However, since she was the goddess of love, Venus said that her champions must always prioritize the life of their loved ones. Any who let their loved ones perish prematurely, would be stripped of their blessings and have a curse placed on them. Elder grandma readily accepted and became a champion.


    When she told her husband the news he had mixed reactions, though he didn''t want her to bear such a burden, he was also excited to finally have a child even though they had to wait ten years. Seeing his reaction at finally being able to have a child, elder grandma believed she had made the right choice.


    The next nine years went by in a flash. After becoming a champion, the blessings she received helped her to become even more powerful. And as her power grew, so did her beauty as she didn''t seemed to gain any wrinkles or any other signs of aging. Less than a year before the set time however, disaster struck the city of Asdarge. The champion of the sun god Ra, came to attack Asdarge, Arthur. No one knew where Arthur came from, or how he gained his power. Only that he struck, and annihilated all who opposed him.


    As he attacked he destroyed, or stole all forms of knowledge he could relating to magic. He stated that only those in power should use magic, and letting the lesser people use it was a waste. None of his words made sense, and they eventually realized that it was nothing but an excuse to keep people from gaining power, and rising against him in the future. He slaughtered all challengers, eventually leaving just elder grandma and her husband. As he and his followers surrounded them, they released a relentless attack to simply bury the two of them and prevent any counter measures.


    Though the people who followed him didn''t have any strength to be wary of, all of their defenses were destroyed by Arthur himself. After the attack was over, the two of them payed on ground bleeding out. Before taking their last breath, they reached out and took each other''s hands. Then before their vision went dark, her last thought was that at least she would be with her husband in the afterlife. However she woke up not in the afterlife, but Venus''s divine realm.


    "Did you think you escape your curse just like that?" She had said to her. Elder grandma was confused, how could she be cursed if she was dead? As she read her thoughts Venus had a large smile on her face.


    "That my dear "champion" is your curse. You will not die. You will live, for years and years to come. Not indefinitely, for I cannot take another champion while you live, but you will age slowly. Prolonging the amount of time before rejoining your husband in the afterlife. And if you think about finding another love, then they would die a gruesome death every time. You will remain alone until you finally die." And true to her words she could not die. She woke in the city after it had been ransacked. And cried out in anguish at her loss. No matter what she tried she would not die. After a few days though, she decided that if she could not rejoin her husband, she would protect his legacy until someone could rebuild it.


    She moved Asdarge to the north where no one would dare travel to. She buried her husband and placed the tombstone, and guarded the north for the next thousand years to come. Occasionally she would travel, and seeing the way Arthur controlled the human populations would turn her stomach. Mutants were now treated like garbage, and the nonhuman races, elves, dwarves, and beast men were hunted or enslaved. The people were living in poverty due to not being allowed to use magic to ease their lives.


    Growing tired of seeing the injustice, she decided that she would help at least a few people and created the village. And several more years went by, she got a daughter. Though she wasn''t a child of her own blood, she grew to love her just the same. And as the years continued, she finally felt her power start to wane as her body aged. And now, sitting in front of her husbands grave she knew, less than a decade and she should be able to join him again.


    As she was lost in her thoughts, she suddenly felt a reaction from the barriers she laid down near the village. Someone, or something was moving towards the village and it was big. Feeling fear for the safety of Iris and the other villagers, elder grandma shot out and started to return home.


    The return trip took many hours for her, and she felt as if it might be too long even though anyone else would''ve taken days. Then entire way back she felt the feeling of dread growing larger in her until she finally arrived at the village again. Though she usually tried to hide her capabilities to some extent, this time she didn''t care and rushed to see what the commotion was even though it was well after midnight. As the people saw her and made way for her, she arrived at iris''s hut. Feeling as if her prediction was true she raced in and what she saw nearly made her tear up. Iris was lying on her bed and her face was swollen and purple, there were bandages on most of her body and she could smell blood in the air.


    "What. Happened." Those were the only two word she could get out as she tried to process the situation. Natalie was crying herself, so the one who answered her was Austin.


    "A behemoth got into the forest. They were scouting for it when it attacked them. For some reason it focused its attention on Iris, I think it''s cause according to Natalie she was the first one it saw. Then after it attacked her, long story short, Leo showed up and killed it. He passed out right after though so he''s resting over there." Austin pointed toward the ground over by the stove, and as she looked at him elder grandma was astonished to see he was glowing once more. For the first time, elder grandma lamented the fact she had never learned healing arts. And could only wait with them after Austin told her that Iris wouldn''t make it. She decided she wanted to be with her until the last minute.


    As the hours went by, she alternated her attention from Iris to Leo. And this is why, an hour or so before the sun came up she saw her worst hear realized. Leo''s arm suddenly started glowing as if on fire, and a brand appeared on his arm. Right after his eyes shot open.

 35 Meeting with a goddess

    When Leo lost consciousness, the last thing he recalled was beating the monster that Natalie claimed killed Iris. After he passed out, he suddenly heard a sound,


    Clap


    Clap


    Clap


    When he opened his eyes he was once again in a hut, but his time he was on the floor next to an open fire.


    Clap


    The sound appeared again. After looking around, he saw a woman sitting in a chair slowly clapping her hands. What drew his attention though, was the monster wolf laying next to her. It was covered in black fur, and looked at Leo with interested orange eyes. As Leo stood up the woman stopped clapping and said,


    "Bravo. That was a splendid fight. As expected from my champion though. It looks like I was right in picking you to represent me." Leo was confused about what was going on. He thought he had just finished fighting the monster, now he was here listening to a woman talk about him being her champion? Before he could ask though, she started talking again,


    "No need to say anything, I know you''re confused about what''s going on. That''s why I brought you here, and we have until morning to talk. And your woman by the way, she''s not dead... Yet." When she said that Iris wasn''t dead, Leo felt a brief moment of happiness. It wasn''t until a moment later that he comprehended her words. Even if Iris was ok now, her words meant that she wasn''t going to be soon. It wasn''t until this point that Leo began to question the identity of the woman. Once more seemingly reading his thoughts,


    "I am Artemis, goddess of the moon and hunt. And this is Fenrir, the father of all canines." Leo''s first thought was about how he was glad he didn''t vocally mention his disbelief at the gods existence, his second though was of caution since it probably wasn''t a good thing he caught the attention of a goddess. It was also then that Leo recalled that she referred to him as her champion.


    "I have a couple questions, what''s going to happen to Iris? And what do you mean about being a champion?" Leo figured that since she included a time limit by morning, he should only stick to the two main things he was concerned about.


    "Since they''re actually two related things, its quite simple to answer. The woman, Iris, will die by sunup. The only way available to you to save her, is by becoming my champion. Then I will allow you to turn her into werewolf as well, thereby saving her. She should have died quite a while ago, but I am using my powers to keep her alive. I will cease lending my assistance however, when the sun rises, or if you refuse my offer to become my champion." When Leo heard what Artemis said, he was suddenly mad. Not only was she insisting that he turn Iris into a monster like him, but from the way she was talking, she as holding her hostage as well.


    "And if I don''t become your champion?"


    "Then not only will she die, but a lot of the other people you care about will as well. Come with me to see." And with that she led the way outside of her hut. The wolf Fenrir followed her and Leo brought up the rear. He noticed that she stopped in front of a pond, and when she pointed at the water he looked down.


    Reflected in the waters surface was the inside of iris''s hut. There were several people present, Natalie who was crying her eyes out, Austin who was attempting to tend to Iris, elder grandma who had arrived apparently and was sitting at iris''s bedside, and Iris herself who was laying on the bed covered in bandages and bruising. Leo also saw that he was laying there too, in front of the stove. He couldn''t believe it at first but he tried something, he pinched the skin of his left arm and watched it twitch slightly in the image. Before he could say anything, Artemis started talking again.


    "You don''t realize this, but you yourself are a mutant you know. Except you have a rare hidden mutation, mutated blood. When your blood became contaminated with a high wolfs, one of Fenrir''s descendants, it started to change your body completely from the inside. You would have become a hybrid of man and wolf, but your brain would not be able to handle the change and you would be little more than an animal. You would''ve slaughtered any around without thought. I decided to change that so that you might become my champion, and using Fenrir''s blood further, I made it so that you would only become feral once a month. Your sanity is only a product of my mercy, if you refuse my offer, not only will you kiss your life goodbye, you will also indiscriminately kill any around you. So how about my offer now?"


    Leo was dumbfounded at Artemis''s explanation. He suddenly had a thought, given how she waited this long to contact him, he wondered if she meant to corner him so that he would have no choice but to accept her offer. When she read his thoughts, a smile spread on Artemis''s face. She was pleased that not only was her champion capable in combat, but was able to reach correct conclusions on his own as well. Leo realizing he didn''t have much choice in the situation decided to give in, for now.


    "Ok I''ll accept. But there has to be another way to save Iris, I refuse to turn her into a monster like myself." Artemis smiled even more and explained,


    "You do not need to worry about that. You''re the only werewolf that will change during the full moon, a form of insurance so to say. Any you make afterwords will have similar abilities as you, but won''t be as strong, or be as connected to the moon as you are. To infect others, you need to share some of your blood with them, a bite won''t work since it was originally your blood that changed you as well. And I have these for you as well." After she finished speaking, a pair of metal cards appeared and Leo recognized them as Id cards. He suddenly recalled that his said werewolf for race and realized that it would complicate things when he would try to travel in the future.


    "That''s right, these cards are for you and your wife. They are separate from Themis''s control so no one will tell the difference. Just make sure you don''t use any other cards because they won''t work with these ones. Plus yours is a little special." At her word Leo looked at the cards he was handed and noticed that there was another slot on it under status.


    FOLLOWERS- 23


    Before he could ask about it though,


    "A part about being a champion is that they get blessings from the god they follow. I consider the transformation I did on you one, this is the other blessing you will get. I call it the Pack ability. As you gain followers in the world, your power will grow stronger. The more powerful the followers, the stronger you get. And this will just be your base as you can still cultivate mana or chi to become stronger still. This is your handicap."


    "And why do I need a handicap?! This is probably a little late but what does a champion do exactly?" Leo was starting to become even more concerned about what he got himself into with each passing word.


    "The champions typically battle each other to prove dominance over the others, and by extension the gods they serve. However not every God or champion is interested in being he best. Hephaestusfor example, his champions usually focus on crafting weapons for the fighters. And if they are called to combat, rely on the people they''ve armed to fight for them. Demeter is similar, except her champion rarely, if at all becomes involved in fighting since they focus on crops and the harvest. I will warn you about one champion though, Arthur. He has been around for at least the last thousand years and he has been at the top since then. He is the only one I wouldn''t recommend fighting. As for your handicap, I don''t care about fights to the death, but I want to be entertained. So I want you to recruit the other champions instead of killing them. This should be in your best interest as well since with the pack ability, each champion you recruit will add to your strength tremendously."


    Leo''s head was spinning as he tried to absorb all of this information. Before he could say anything though, Fenrir walked up to him.


    ''You are of the same blood as me. As such I will also grant you a boon my child.'' Leo could hear a voice that was sounding inside of his head. He turned to look at the giant wolf, who then placed a paw on his chest. After a second he removed it and the voice sounded in his head once more.


    ''As my child, all of my descendants will acknowledge you. With my blessing, they will worship you and beg for the chance to serve you.'' Once again Leo wanted to ask questions, but before he couldArtemis spoke again.


    "I know you want to ask several things, but time is short and I said that I will stop supporting your wife''s life at sunrise. I don''t mind continuing our talk, but unless you wish for her to die then we should wrap things up." For once Leo agreed with her, but before she sent him away he requested,


    "I said I''ll become your champion, but I have a request. In five years, if I keep you properly "entertained" then I want you to remove the monthly curse on me." Artemis considers his request for a moment then said as she grabbed his arm suddenly.


    "Very well, but you better put in a good effort to release my boredom. Remember the one to pay the price of you don''t, won''t be you. Now then, good day." As she said that, his arm under her hand started burning before she suddenly shoved him into the pool. As soon as his head was submerged, he opened his eyes and was back in iris''s hut. He looked out the window and saw the horizon glowing, indicating that sunrise was approaching.

 36 The sun rises with the new champion

    When Leo opened his eyes the first thing he did was look out of the window. Seeing the imminent sunrise, he quickly them off his blankets and ran to check on Iris. Everyone was shocked at his sudden movements, and before they could react he grabbed a knife. Leo quickly ripped off iris''s bandages after seeing she was still alive, and after exposing the wounds, ran the knife across his own hand. Due to his own anxiety he cut down to the bone, but barely registered the pain as he held his hand over Iris, and allowed the blood to flow into her wounds.


    "Come on, come on." Leo was impatient due to the fact that he didn''t know when Artemis would stop providing her aid. After several minutes the blood stopped flowing due to the wound closing up, when Leowas about to open it up again, elder grandma grabbed his arm and shook her head. When Leo was about to protest he noticed that Iris was starting to change.


    The wounds she had received were quickly healing, and the bruising was starting to fade as well. There was even a sickening grinding noise as her bones started to repair themselves at a noticeable rate. After another minute, every wound on Iris disappeared as if it never existed. Then Iris opened her eyes only to reveal that they had become a very distinct orange.


    Leo started crying with happiness as he saw that Iris was ok again, but he also felt horrible as he forced the change onto her without checking with her in the first place. Iris didn''t have any blame in her eyes though, and she reached out to Leo as if to embrace him. And she whispered in his ear as if she knew his thoughts,


    "I was going to ask you for the change eventually, but now I don''t have to. Thank you." She then pressed her lips to his as the two started to kiss.


    "Ahem!" A voice startled the two of them and Leo turned around to see elder grandma, Natalie and Austin staring at him as elder grandma asked him,


    "While I am glad Iris is ok, how long are you going to blind us boy?" It was then that Leo looked down and noticed that once again, he was naked. While he was getting used to being seen without clothes on, it was still usually an awkward situation. Leo quickly dug around for some pants as everyone started to check on iris''s condition. As the minutes went by her eyes turned back from orange to gold, and she seemed to have recovered all of her strength.


    Now that he was assured that Iris was going to be ok, Leo felt the accumulation of his exhaustion catch up to him. Even though he was technically sleeping, the fact was that he was still talking to Artemis in his sleep so mentally he was exhausted. Before he could say anything though,


    "I know that there''s quite a few questions everyone wasn''t to ask about, bit seeing as Iris and Leo are both ok now, let''s all get some sleep. We''ve been up all night looking after everyone and could use the rest. Let''s talk tomorrow and we''ll clarify what''s going on then shall we?" No one could find an argument to Austin''s words so they all decided to turn in even though it was just now sunrise.


    Leo took his place in front of the stove again, and started dozing off. After a few minutes though he heard some rustling and felt someone lay on the ground next to him. He didn''t have to open his eyes to see it was Iris, and he didn''t say anything. She silently took his hand in hers and said,


    "Thank you Leo." Leo smiled and replied,


    "Just make me a promise, you''ll never make me worry like that again." Iris smiled and didn''t say anything else. The two then fell asleep like that on the floor together, Iris knew Leo wouldn''t join her in her bed and Leo knew that nothing would happen. So the two slept peacefully, hand in hand.


    ***


    The next day after they all got some rest, a meeting was held in elder grandmas hut. There was Austin and Lucy, Natalie and Jack, and Leo and Iris. After they all sat down, elder grandma was the first to speak.


    "I''ll be frank Leo, I''m pretty sure I already know what it is but I''ll ask anyways. What is the mark on your arm?" Leo was startled from that being the first question asked, but he slowly lifted his sleeve and showed the mark that appeared when Artemis grabbed his arm. It looked like a brand, two inches across. It was a full circle with a wolfs paw print inside. He figured the circle was the full moon for Artemis, and the paw print was for Fenrir.


    "I figure it''s the brand marking me as Artemis''s and Fenrir''s champion." Leo answered honestly. He felt he didn''t have a reason to hide his new purpose from them. And while he saw several people widen their eyes in surprise, elder grandma simply closed hers and nodded her head like he just confirmed her fears. Without saying anything, she slowly lifted her sleeve as well and showed the brand on her arm.


    Everyone''s eyes went even bigger if that was even possible, and Iris looked as if she understood something as well.


    "That mark, I remember seeing it occasionally when I was young, but you usually have it covered so I forgot about it. It marks you as a champion as well right?" Elder grandma sigh and with a resigned look on her face nodded. She then explained her past and how she became a champion. While she wasn''t really trusting to hide it, she didn''t want to publicize the information. As they heard the story Leo''s face got darker and darker. Before he finally said,


    "I understand almost exactly what you''re going through. Artemis pretty much declared that she was holding anyone I care about hostage for me to become her champion. If I refused then she would force me to go wild like during the full moon and kill everyone I care about." When they heard Leo''s words everyone could t believe it. While they knew the gods didn''t place very high importance on their lives, they didn''t think that one of them would randomly trigger the mindless slaughter of them all just because she felt like it. Iris and Natalie especially were impacted due to the fact that they both were quite devoted to Artemis as fellow hunters. Suddenly elder grandma stood up and said,


    "So the question is, what are you going to do now?"

 37 Next step

    Leo want surprised to hear her question. There were several things that needed to be discussed about the future. And Leo felt the first thing was iris''s transformation.


    "First I want to talk about Iris being a werewolf. According to Artemis I can make more with my blood like I thought, but they won''t be affected by the moon at all. She says that''s a form of insurance against me. She''ll be stronger than before, but not as strong as I am. As long as I keep Artemis "entertained", then wishful don''t have anything to worry about for her." As Leo finished talking there was a noticeable look of relief on everyone''s face. While they were shocked to find that she would kill them for no reason, no one believed that she would lie to Leo. There was no need for a god to make the effort to lie to a mortal.


    "I see. That''s a relief, but what I was more concerned about is the wedding. Will you stay with Iris, or leave her behind?" When Leo heard elder grandmas question, he didn''t know how to respond. If he wanted to leave for her safety then Iris would never allow it. Her senses were just as good as his now, plus she had years of experience hunting, he couldn''t run from her even if he wanted to. Leo took her hand and said,


    "I personally still want to get married, but I don''t know if it''ll be appropriate considering that I''ll have to leave. It means I''ll either be forced to leave her behind, or take her with me. Artemis gave me ID cards that aren''t connected to Themis, one for me and one for Iris. But outside this village she''s a mutant regardless. I''ll leave the choice up to her." As he was speaking Leo took out the two cards to show them. He found them sitting on the floor in iris''s hut after waking up this morning. He figured he missed them the day before with all of the excitement.


    He didn''t say anything about his pack ability because he thought this talk was more important. He didn''t care about gaining power, the only reason he accepted Artemis''s offer was for the sake of the villagers and Iris. What made him mad was that he knew that was exactly what Artemis had planned from the beginning. As he started getting lost in his thoughts, Iris spoke up,


    "I''ll go with Leo. I don''t want to just sit here and wait for him, and I don''t want to send him out here by himself when there''s going to be several people out to kill him. But, I don''t think either of us are ready to leave just yet. Leo did Artemis give you a time limit on when to leave?" Leo shook his head and thought about it. He didn''t have a specific time he had to leave by, just to make the five year deadline. Iris nodded her head in thought at his answer, but before any of them could say anything more alder grandma started speaking.


    "Then how about this, the wedding will be in the middle of spring four months from now. Then two months later at the start of summer will be when the two of you leave. That should give you enough time to train for the coming challenges. And you could learn about the outside world from Brenda during that time as well, she spent some time away from the village a few years ago to learn before becoming the village teacher." Leo thought it was a good plan. It gave him time to work on his combat techniques, and by leaving at the start of summer it would give the two of them time to work out arrangements before winter came.


    "I think they''d need more time for training, but we can''t keep them copped up out here forever I guess. I''ll start teaching Iris how to be a better marksman, and Jack could teach Leo better combat abilities. Leo did ate is give you any blessings to use?" After Natalie finished talking, everyone looked at Leo with intrigue, and he sighed before pulling out his card again.


    "She gave me an ability called the Pack. It apparently makes me stronger when people follow me. The number of followers is kept on the card, and it''s at twenty three for some reason. And Fenrir gave me some kind of connection with his descendants, I think he made it to where they''ll follow me as well if I need them to. I intend to find a high wolf in the forest and determine how it works soon." When Leo finished talking elder grandma looked intrigued at his ability, and said,


    "I have a few theories on your blessings, but let''s talk about that later. I think the sooner you start your training the better. You also need to work with Iris on her new abilities as well, I''ve heard about how often you seem to end up nude, I would much rather avoid having her go through the same ordeals." At elder grandmas words Leo suddenly have the visual in his mind of Iris running around naked. As if she knew what was going on in his mind, iris''s ears turned crimson, and he felt a glare coming from elder grandmas direction. He quickly stopped daydreaming and apologized. He couldn''t help thinking though that they were already engaged to be married, even if he was waiting for the real thing couldn''t he at least daydream? As if the previous events didn''t happen, elder grandma continued.


    "Sometime soon after the wedding, we''ll have another meeting like this to discuss where and what you''re going to do. Most of the other champions are in high positions in society, and you can''t just run around and start fighting all of them. There''s also the matter of the non humans races as well, the beast men, elves, and dwarves." After she finished speaking Leo sat up and asked,


    "There''s beast men, elves and dwarves on this world too?!" Surprised at his reaction, elder grandma figured that they didn''t exist on his "earth", and just sighed as now there was going to be more for him to learn about as well. Feeling tired even though they all spent a day resting, she dismissed everyone for the day. But as Leo was about to head out he door, she called out to him,


    "Oh yes Leo, please recall my previous words about traditions and what not. " hearing her words, Leo quickly nodded his head and fled from the hut in terror.

 38 Training

    The next few days were all about training. It was decided that Leo would focus on his fighting first, then once he managed to get some techniques down he would divide his time between fighting and studying. Iris however was grabbed by Natalie every morning and was taken into the forest to learn better bowman ship. She seemed to excel in stealth, so Leo thought that if it wasn''t for her bright hair she''d make a decent assassin. Speaking of her hair, Leo also gave her the suggestion of growing out her bangs to hide her eyes, this way they wouldn''t have to worry as much about her being found out as a mutant.


    Jack had advised Leo to focus on chi training since he seemed to be more capable with it due to his enhanced strength. Leo on the other hand insisted that by practicing mana as well would be able to mix up his attacks in similar ways to his fight with the behemoth. Jack didn''t agree at first, but once Leo used the same spell that cloaked his hand in fire, while also impacting with chi, he didn''t say much more about it. Leo was curious about how he was suddenly able to use the spell, since he was unable to use it until he transformed. Then he recalled the pack ability that Artemis gave him and realized that the 23 followers must have powered him up.


    Leo was also concerned about this part of his ability, who exactly were the 23 people. When he asked Jack about it he said not to worry about it for now, but Leo was tempted to ask again when a few days later the number went up to 27. In the evenings, elder grandma would eat at iris''s still, but now would teach Leo about the different things he should expect as a champion. Normally this wouldn''t happen, but Leo was an unprecedented case since as a resident of a different world, he knew next to nothing about how this world worked. So she taught him about the different gods and what he should expect from them and their champions. And finally there was the werewolf training with Iris.


    "Try to imagine being enraged, or some similar powerful emotion. Focus on the strength in your body, and imagine the claws forming from your fingers." Leo hoped that his advice would help Iris train her new capabilities, but since he himself was still blundering in the dark he didn''t know what advice to give. He just knew that his powered worked with his emotions. The first indicator of his abilities, was when Curly tried to grope Iris. after that he would recall his rage until triggering his abilities was almost second nature to him. Now he could use his claws and strength almost at will. He was still struggling at triggering a full transformation at will though.


    "I''m trying, but it''s hard to create rage out of nowhere." Leo understood what she was talking about, he himself needed the specific memory to help him at first. He thought about mentioning the memory to her as well, but wasn''t sure if it was a good idea. He didn''t think it was healthy to remind a girl training to be an assassin about being called a slut, especially when they were engaged. As he was thinking a voice called out,


    "What about the time Curly bad mouthed Leo during the full moon. If I recall right you threw a knife at him and stabbed his hand." Leo turned to the speaker, elder grandma who wanted to observe the training, then back to Iris while arching his eyebrow. He knew Curly was kicked out of the village, but was never told the exact reason. This was also the first time he heard about Iris throwing knives at him, he was also quite surprised that after she stopped him from ruining Curly''s hand she took it upon herself to ruin it instead. Iris had a light blush to her ears, and replied,


    "He tried convincing everyone that you were a threat, but we all knew he wasn''t talking from caution, but from a grudge. Plus he tried to call me a bitch." The last part trailed off, but Leo heard it and decided that Curly better hope he never ran into him again in the future. After speaking though, Iris closed her eyes and tried again to imagine the anger she felt at the moment. When she opened them again there was a slight orange around her eyes, and there was a feel of more power around her. She slowly walked towards a tree, and swiped at it leaving four long marks. Leo smiled seeing her progress and said quietly,


    "Now close your eyes and focus your senses. The smells, the sounds. Tell me what you hear in the forest, what your senses tell you." Iris was used to listening to the forest, it was why she was able to use her energy cloak so well. But it was a first with her senses on hyper mode. He hoped that the difference wasn''t too much for her. She told Leo about the different small things she wasn''t able to sense before, the small animals like the mice in brush, the birds overhead, there was even a big animal moving in the distance whose footsteps she was able to hear. After a while it started snowing again, and she even reported the soft sounds of snowflakes landing.


    As Iris went on with her description of what she was experiencing, elder grandma couldn''t help but be astonished. She always thought Leo exaggerated his claims about his enhanced senses, but seeing Iris put them to use blew those doubts away. They continued training the small stuff before heading back to the village. Iris wanted to start trying to do a full transformation, but Leo said to wait u till he himself was more familiar with it. He only managed it the one time, and wasn''t sure if the only reason it went so well was due to Artemis interfering or not.


    After returning to the village they went through the the routine of lessons for the night, before elder grandma left. As Leo and Iris laid down for the night, he started to drift into dreamland when suddenly,


    "Come to me my child" Leo heard the same voice as when Fenrir talked to him in his head. If he had been awake, he would have let out and annoyed groan at the gods that wouldn''t leave him alone.

 39 Child of Fenrir

    When Leo heard Fenrir calling him, he was quite annoyed.


    ''I just had to deal with you two a few days ago and now you''re calling me again, in the middle of the night no less?!'' Leo thought to himself as he drifted further into his dreams. He arrived at the side of a creek and looked around. What annoyed him even more was that he recognized the place as where he was first attacked by the high wolf. As he looked around he suddenly saw a huge wolf silently walking towards him. There was still snow in the dream world, but the wolf was walking on top of it, showing that it didn''t have a physical form. Leo recognized it as Fenrir, but it was bigger than Fenrir in the hut. He figured that it changed its size to accommodate Artemis.


    ''A place of fated meetings, where one took place more shall follow. Child of my blood, head my call and return to this place. A great boon awaits you. Many challenges lay in your path, and no wolf can survive the hunt alone.'' Leo was annoyed, but he knew better than to ignore a call from a god or god beast. The dream ended, and Leo woke suddenly and silently. He debated on waking Iris, but decided he didn''t want to involved her too much in matters directly regarding gods. He quietly dressed once more, and set out into the night.


    He moved swiftly and silently through the forest. Even though he was only there the one time that he was conscious, he couldn''t forget the memory of he wanted to. As he moved he thought about what Fenrir said to him, ''a place of fated meetings'' it obviously referred to when he saw the high wolf for the first time and became tainted with its blood. It might also be referring to when he transformed the first time and saw Iris again not to far from there. He realized it could also be related to him meeting Iris for the first time. Now that he thought about it that area was scary regarding meetings for him.


    As he arrived at the area, he became horrified at the scene that waited for him. There was blood everywhere, and laying in snow was the corpse of high she wolf. Looking at the surroundings Leo was an,e to guess what happened. The she wolf was desperate for food, and came across what appeared to be a maned boar. Normally a maned boar would be too dangerous for a pack of high wolves, let alone a lone she wolf. But perhaps due to her desperation, she attacked anyways and lost her life as a result. The boar apparently didn''t suffer severe injuries, seeing as there wasn''t any evidence of its corpse nearby, and the smell of the wolf blood drowned out any that might have been left from the boar.


    Leo cautiously approached the corpse of the she wolf, and would have vomited if he wasn''t used to dealing with his own sick "ritual" each month after a transformation. Skinning a kill and gutting it was completely different from seeing a torn up corpse. Apparently the boar had dealt with the wolf with extreme prejudice. While Leo was thinking about what Fenrir wanted him to do there, when he suddenly heard a small sound and he froze. He turned and noticed that there was a small path in the snow leading away from the corpse of the she wolf. Leo''s eye was twitching at the development and he walked forward to the source of the sound and unsurprisingly found a wolf pup.


    It was an infant, probably born after the mother was killed. Leo was confused about how it managed to live so long. So he closed his eyes and extended his senses toward the pup. He discovered that while it wasn''t as much as Fenrir or Artemis, there was a spark of divinity in the small wolf. His eyebrow twitched as he understood the situation. The pup was Fenrir''s direct child. Leo didn''t want to know how it happened, he was only curious as to why he was the one who had to deal with it.


    Shaking his head in resignation, he tucked the pup close, and cursed the fact that he resisted the cold and didn''t bring a cloak with him. He slowly returned to the village, in order to prevent the pup from freezing, and so he could come up with an excuse to Iris and the others as to why he was bringing a wolf home. After a couple hours, he finally returned to the village.


    What surprised him was that there was a decent sized party forming of hunters and warriors. As he approached though they seemed to relax, and Natalie came forward with a glare in her eye. He suddenly realized that they probably formed to find him when he wasn''t found in his bed. He was confused though, he didn''t want to be arrogant, but there wasn''t anything that could seriously hurt him in the forest so why were they worried?


    "So you didn''t take off then? Where were you that we had Iris dragging us out of our beds and hammering on doors for the last few hours?!" Leo heard her words and leaned over to look at Iris, who automatically looked away. He sighed, he didn''t want to tell them matters regarding the gods, but felt like he had to in that situation.


    "I got a summon from Fenrir." He said plainly. The reaction was immediate as people comprehended his words. While it wasn''t a secret that he was a champion in the village, personally receiving a summoning from a divine being, beast or not, wasn''t anything common. Natalie also reacted and quickly forgetting her anger, asked him,


    "What did the wolf God want?" She didn''t dare disregard Fenrir''s position. Even after hearing about Artemis from Leo, she was still a follower. She knew nothing else and couldn''t find it in her to give up her faith immediately. As the god beast that was her companion, no hunter would ignore anything involving him. Leo didn''t say anything, and simply opened up his arms to reveal the bundle he hid inside.


    There was an audible gasp through the gathered people as they saw what Leo was holding. A wolf pup wasn''t that rare, but since he got a personal summons from Fenrir, they knew that this must a direct descendant of his. Leo was worried about the cold with the pup, and quickly made his way to iris''s hut in order to warm it up. Iris was right on his heels, and once the door was closed started making a bed for the pup and looking for something to feed it.

 40 Luna

    As Leo sat down, Iris started grounding some meat into a paste in order to attempt feeding the pup. Now that they were out of the cold weather, Leo looked at the pup in closer detail. It''s eyes were still closed, and it was only covered in a thin coat of silver fur. Leo wondered how it managed to survive so long, especially since it was crawling in the snow when he found it. After a moment of thought he contributed it to the pups supposed divine bloodline. When she had ground the meat enough Iris brought it over and placed it in front of the pup.


    "If only we had some milk. But the cows aren''t producing much this time of year. Are you sure the meat paste is ok?" Leo couldn''t help asking. His main concern was how they''d feed the pup until it was old enough to eat solid foods. But apparently his concerns weren''t needed since the pup started licking the paste and eating it. Iris showed a proud smile and said,


    "We occasionally take in wolf pups for a few months if we find them, since we can''t kill children. Especially when it''s part of Fenrir''s bloodline, self defense Is ok though. After they grow for a few months then we let them go." Leo smiled at iris''s explanation. He may not like the goddess, but he appreciated that her presence prevented the people from eliminating "pests", and killing for sport like on earth.


    As the pup finished eating, it curled up and started making a small wheezing sound that Leo took for snoring. He gently picked it up and placed it in the small bed Iris made next to the stove. Iris smiledat him again, while watching the care he used for the pup. A thought popped up in her head though, and she asked,


    "So what are you gonna do with it when we leave?" Leo sighed, and wondered the same thing. Fenrir called it a boon, so he thought that it meant for him to keep the pup.


    "I''m not sure, I think Fenrir wants me to keep it, but I can''t take it with us when we leave. So maybe I''ll just raise it for the next few months, and either ask someone else to look after it or release it."as he was thinking, someone knocked on the door. When Leo opened it he unsurprisingly saw elder grandma on the other side.


    "I hear you got something interesting last night." Leo only nodded at her words, and let her in the hut. When she saw the pup her eyes opened wide, and she said,


    "Do you even realize what this is?!" She asked with excitement. Leo looked confused at her words and replied,


    "It''s a child of Fenrir, he called me out to save it. We are trying to decide what to with it when we leave." Elder grandma nodded at Leo''s words, anyone with enough abilities would identify the wolfs bloodline with a glance. Leo would be revealed the moment the put the pieces together. He couldn''t just walk around with a giant beacon right next to him announcing that he was a champion. Though it might help the plan she was forming, that would be further in the future though. As she considered it, a thought came to her,


    "You said that Fenrir called you to it, and that he granted you a blessing when you first saw him. High wolves grow quickly, by the time you leave it should already be at least to your waist. It might serve you even after leaving, so letting it go would be fine. With its divine lineage it should grow even faster, and be stronger than a normal high wolf. You might have an entire pack loyal to you when you return." Leo was shocked at elder grandmas words.He recalled Fenrir''s words when he met him, ''With my blessing, they will worship you and beg for the chance to serve you''. He suddenly had the image of a whole army of his wolves following him in the future.


    "I''m not a leader, so the thought kinda scares me." Elder grandma raise an eyebrow at Leo''s words, but didn''t say anything. It just confirmed that she shouldn''t talk about her plan yet. She simply said,


    "Well we can think about that in the future. In the meantime, have you thought about a name for it? It feels awkward to refer it as pup, and it." Leo couldn''t help but agree with her words. He looked at the pup, and their about what he should call it. After receiving his blessings, he was able to tell general information when it came to wolves on sight. So he knew it was a female. He looked at its silver fur, and thought about both he and her father belonged to the moon goddess.


    "How about {Luna}?" He asked the girls opinion. They looked confused though, and asked,


    "Why that name?" Leo smiled and answered,


    "It means the moon on earth. Her father and I both serve the moon goddess, so thought it might fit." When they heard his words, elder grandma was contemplating, while Iris beamed at Leo''s idea. Eventually elder grandma nodded and said,


    "That''s a good idea. Both Fenrir and Artemis might agree with it." As if it was reacting to its name, Luna suddenly started making small yelps and twitching in her sleep. Leo sat down next to her bed, and gently started petting her. He considered her a pain at first, but he couldn''t help but get attached to her. He thought about how he never had a pet dog before, and smiled at how he now had a pet wolf. A wolf that would be able to dwarf any wolves on earth at that.

 41 Father?

    For the next few weeks, Leo and Iris continued their training while also alternating taking care of Luna. Luna however, was growing a lot faster than elder grandma thought. By the next full moon, her head was already up to Leo''s knees. Leo considered it almost like you could sit there and watch her growing. She had also graduated from the meat paste, to small bites of meat within a week, then from those to full slices of meat another week later. She had apparently already adopted Leo as her father though, seeing as from the moment she was able to walk she followed him where ever he would go. Since she would follow Leo around, he also wasn''t able to leave the village without her tagging along, so he couldn''t go on a hunt. Now that the full moon was the next day, Leo was worried about what was going to happen.


    "So what is the plan for tomorrow? Not only do I have Luna following me everywhere, but it''s also iris''s first full moon. While Artemis said she wouldn''t transform, I wouldn''t want to take her words at face value." Leo said during the small meeting they were having. Present with him were Austin, Jack, Natalie, Lucy, elder grandma, and Iris. Of course Luna sat at his feet.


    "Well what should I do then? If I go with and don''t transform, then I''ll be in danger, but if I stay here then I might put others in danger." Iris said with worry. She didn''t regret becoming a werewolf, but she hated not knowing if she''d hurt others by mistake. For the first time, she began to understand what Leo was going through the whole time he was here. Then Natalie spoke up,


    "Iris can simply go somewhere else, if the moon doesn''t effect her then she can return to the village. While that''s going on Jack and I can take care of Luna. She knows both of us pretty well." Everyone couldn''t help but agree with Natalie''s words. From following mostly Leo, but Iris as well, Luna had gotten used to Natalie and Jack. She also knew elder grandma due to the fact she came over for dinner every night. Leo was still concerned though.


    After discussing the plans for the next day, they returned to their respective houses. Leo and Iris returned to theirs with Luna. After entering the hut, Luna immediately jumped onto the bed and curled up. Iris laughed at her actions, and started to make dinner. Leo sat down on a chair, and started going through various notes he had made. He was keeping track of the things he would need to know for the future in a journal written in English. He figured that if he kept writing in it and someone found it, then they wouldn''t be able to read it, just like John Andrews journal. Leo was also using it to teach Iris English writing.


    After a while Iris finished cooking, and they started eating. Elder grandma said she wouldn''t be over for dinner, so that meant they had a rare evening alone. As she brought the plates over, there was even one with a grilled steak on it for Luna, that she placed on the floor. After dinner, they cleaned up and started getting ready for bed. When Leo closed his eyes though, he was greeted with the scene of Artemis''s hut yet again.


    "What now?" Leo didn''t even try to hide the irritation in his voice. He was getting pretty fed up with the divine interfering with his life. Artemis smiled at his attitude, and replied,


    "I only wished to talk about the baseless worries you seem to be having. Instead of focusing on non important topics like wether or not your wife will transform, she won''t by the way, you should be learning what you need to about the other champions. Plus there''s the topic about your new "daughter" to consider." Leo simply glared at her in response. He also couldn''t help wondering if it was even appropriate for gods to contact mortals this often. Once again reading his mind Artemis replied,


    "Constant contact is one part of being a champion. How else are we supposed to ensure your actions please us? Plus you should be glad, I''m giving you information about the other champions for free while they know nothing about you. It''s not breaking any rules considering your special circumstances." Leo just sighed. He figured there went his sleep now too. For the next few hours, he and Artemis talked regarding some of the more known champions like Arthur. He made a mental note to copy everything he learned down in his journal. Then Artemis moved on to the next subject.


    "Now about your Luna. I like the name by the way. I suppose there''s a bit of explaining to do about her. When you first arrived, Fenrir took steps to assist you since you are technically chosen by two gods. As a result, she was born shortly after our first meeting as you well know. As a direct descendant of his though, she is more powerful than any of his other "children". Like you, they will submit to her and serve as her pack. She in turn serves you, so you simply gain more power."


    "Yea yea, we already discussed this after I found her. The main thing I need to know, is how to ensure she won''t follow me tomorrow night." Artemis looked annoyed at his dismissal at her words, but ignored it. She simply said,


    "Well she should be old enough, you''ll figure it out tomorrow. Now, it''s almost dawn. Remember what I said about the other champions, and keep up your progress. I like the way things are going and your current plan. Fighting them as you are now will only lead to your death. But another thing to consider, some of them you might not even fight. Some would just need a little convincing and they might join you. Just follow the elders plan and you should be alright." Leo wanted to ask what plan, but his vision went dark before he even raised it.


    He woke up back in his bed on the floor, he started to get up to start the day, when suddenly,


    ''Daddy! Hungry! Food please!'' Leo heard a voice in his head like with Fenrir, except this time it was girlish, and childish, and there was a pair of orange eyes surrounded by silver fur from the "speaker". Leo could only look I got amazement and said,


    "Luna?!"

 42 Know your enemy

    Leo sat on a mountain top while writing in his journal, and waiting for the moon to rise. He was trying to record the information that Artemis gave him the night before, but some of it was hard to remember after what happened earlier. When he woke up, he had Luna in his face begging for breakfast. Leo thought he lost it until Iris said she heard her too. Then elder grandma, Natalie and Jack all heard her as well. He thought that she must''ve inherited Fenrir''s ability to communicate telepathically, she just needed to mature enough before she could actually use it.


    Leo pushed the mornings events out of his head, and focused on writing. Truth be told, what Artemis told him terrified him. Arthur alone was said to be insanely strong, but according to Artemis his blessing was a more powerful version of his pack ability. Apparently while Leo gained strength from his followers, Arthur gained strength just being under the sun each day. It only increased one percent each day, but after more than a thousand years it has grown to a nearly godlike level. This was also the reason why the gods didn''t limit giving out information about him, he was practically unbeatable so they had to attempt to increase their champions odds of survival.


    That was before taking his followers into account. According to Artemis, since he never had to undergo any intense training, he spent all day with his "wives" that he collected over the last thousand years. As long as he spent his time with them under the sun, he would still grow stronger. And the more time they spent with him, the stronger they seemed to be as well. They were the elites, while the rest of the people around him were more like cannon fodder.


    He was apparently a self proclaimed ruler over humans, but never actually accepted any responsibility. All he did was travel around, terrorize people, and take back a new wife to his home each time. As such the amount of "wives" he had collected probably numbered in the hundreds to thousands, due to the fact that after becoming his they didn''t seem to age as well. So in other words to defeat him, Leo would have to get past his army of super powered wives, and then fight what was essentially a "mortal God". The good thing though, was that he didn''t tolerate any other champions to serve him, too much of a risk they''d overthrow him.


    Leo''s plan was to recruit as many champions as he could to push against Arthur with numbers. The problem would be getting them to cooperate with him, or better yet serve him. The difference may make him seem power hungry, but with his pack ability there was a huge difference between the two. He would have to start planning how to do so, when he started learning more about the outside world.


    At that moment Leo looked up and faced what he knew was south, and started thinking about the future when he wouldn''t have to fight anymore.


    "Some day, I''ll travel the whole world with Iris. No champion struggles, no politics. Just traveling to see that sights that possibly no one else has seen before." He said to himself. He also pictured living a normal life as a hunter, coming home each day to a bigger house and a entire group of kids waiting for him. He laughed at himself. He never would''ve thought about such things before, but things were different now than they were before. Then a darker thought plagued him, one that he tried to push away almost immediately. What if he couldn''t live a normal life? What if the struggles of being a champion plagued him his whole life?


    He quickly pushed the thoughts from his head, and started putting his stuff away when he saw the sun going down.


    ***


    The next day Leo made his way back to the village. He was still getting better at handling his monthly transformations. As he arrived outside the village, a silver streak bolted right to him, followed by a red one.


    ''Daddy! You''re home! I was so worried about you yesterday, but mommy said that it was something you do every month. I waited like, a good girl!'' Luna''s thoughts bombarded Leo as she tackled him to the ground. He might''ve not been in as bad a shape each month, but that didn''t mean he was able to take being tackled by a demigod high wolf pup. Iris made her way over and pulled Luna off of Leo.


    "Luna, you should be more careful. Leo needs to rest after the full moon." Giving Luna a small lecture, she turned to Leo and he pulled her into his arms. Due to the fact he was still vomiting intestines each month, it was an understanding that there would be no kissing until he rinsed his mouth out heavily. Neither one felt the need to argue this unspoken rule.


    "How are you? I didn''t transform last night, so I returned to the village and spent the night calming Luna. I think she could tell there was something wrong with you, she was quite frantic after the moon came up." Iris explained the night s events after he left. So he was right that she didn''t transform as well. It at least put his mind to ease that he wouldn''t have to worry about that, if he made more werewolves in the future. Leo cracked a smile as they walked back to the hut, and said,


    "I think I want to start bringing some alcohol with me each month, then I could justify felling like I''m hungover each morning." Iris started laughing at his joke, but she knew he was just avoiding the topic. It was hard on him each month, but things seemed to be getting easier.


    As they got to the hut, Leo laid down on the floor where his blankets were already waiting for him. Luna seemed to take the fat he needed rest seriously, as once he laid down she came over and laid next to him, as if to provide comfort.

 43 The elders plan

    For roughly the next three months, life continued the same. Spring came and the snow melted while the two trained. Leo was now taking on the whole warrior group at once for training, and Iris was an invisible killer in the forest. Since they seemed to be doing well in their physical training, it was decided that it was time for the educational stuff. But there was something that needed to be done first though, the wedding. The last full moon just passed and there was now less than a week until the wedding left. Leo however had another worry, just a few days prior, elder grandma and Natalie disappeared with Iris.


    Leo was walking around nervously. He was feeling nervous about the wedding to start with, but Iris taking off scared him. His biggest fear was her deciding she didn''t want to be with him. There was no chance of that happening, but with the anxiety he was feeling he considered it. He had another worry, as promised the village women jumped him and interrogated him about earth weddings. He thought they wanted to incorporate traditions from both worlds. As all these thoughts raced through his head, he suddenly felt a slap on his back.


    "You shouldn''t look so worried right before your wedding. I know you''re nervous, but you need to relax a little or Iris might start getting second thoughts!" Jack said as an attempt to perk Leo up. It didn''t work. Realizing his words had an opposite effect from what he intended, Jack pulled out what he brought for Leo to begin with.


    "Hey, some of us are getting a drink before the big event. As the groom, you''re pretty much obligated to join us. No negotiations." Leo could only look helpless at jacks forced invitation. He figured it was their idea of a bachelor party. Leo realized there was one good thing about being in this world, he wouldn''t wake up the next morning married to a stripper or something.


    "Alright, but I haven''t drank more than a cup or two. You guys will probably spend the night partying after I pass out or something." Laughing at Leo''s words while remembering his first night at the village, Jack led him to the party that the hunters and warriors prepared for him. None of them realizing that his werewolf abilities allowed him to drink them all under the table, while he never even so much as caught a buzz.


    ***


    Elder grandma led both Natalie and Iris to a place she had kept secret for over a thousand years, Asdarge. She had to slow down for the two of them, so it took almost two days to reach the place at their fastest speed. She led them through the ancient city until they reached the place where she placed her husbands headstone. Before either woman could ask, she informed them,


    "This is the spot chose to remember my husband at. I could never find his body after the attack, so I could only place this where I thought it would appropriate. I wanted you to come see it, before you get married. I would come here every year after I started raising you Iris, and tell him about you. Foolish of me, I know. But it helped me hold onto his memory, and even if he can''t hear me I wanted to tell him about the child we couldn''t have ourselves." Iris looked at the monument in wonder. She never heard elder grandma talk so much about her past, besides the night Leo confirmed he was a champion. However there was something that bugged her about the monument.


    "How come it doesn''t say his name?" She asked in simple curiosity. Elder grandma sighed at her question, and replied,


    "I don''t want to risk vandals if anyone should ever find this place. I don''t doubt that his name was slandered after dying. Should my plan work, then perhaps a proper monument might be raised someday. Though if that happens, it depends on Leo." Not explaining her words, elder grandma walked off towards the remains of the castle. Natalie and Iris looked at each other in surprise, before quickly following her. Before Iris could ask what she meant, elder grandma started talking again.


    "I didn''t just bring you here to see the stone, I also wanted to give you your wedding presents. I managed to keep some things safe when we were attacked, but I don''t have any use for them now. As such I locked them away in the castle; for what, I don''t know. But now that the two of you are heading out to fight champions, it only seems fitting that I pass whatever''s left on to you."


    They both continued following her in silence, as elder grandma led them up into the ruins. They traveled many flights of stairs and down many hallways. As they walked Iris couldn''t help but admire the castle. She had never been out of the village besides the forest. As such she had never seen such amazing architecture in person, even if it was just a ruin. Finally elder grandma stopped and after some fiddling on a patch of wall, it opened up and showed a room on the the other side.


    "This is where I hid the things I want to give to you. Most are magically enchanted, and even after all these years they might still work." Elder grandma started going through a chest in the room and examining each item, as if to recall its use before setting them down to the side. As she continued, Iris recalled what she said outside about something depending on Leo. She turned to elder grandma and asked,


    "What did you mean before about things depending on Leo?" Elder grandma stopped what she was doing, and turned to look at Iris. She slowly stood and looked the young woman in the eye.


    "After I tell you, you can''t talk to Leo about it until after the wedding. I plan to tell him myself." Iris realized that she was serious and gave her word that she wouldn''t tell Leo whatever she was planning. Elder grandma nodded and smiled, before revealing her plan.


    "I plan on making Leo a king."

 44 The gifts

    When Iris heard elder grandmas words, she didn''t know how to react. Of all the things she and Leo talked about regarding plans, him being a king wasn''t one of them. She just couldn''t believe elder grandmas words for several reasons.


    "That''s ridiculous, even if Leo agrees to that plan on the first place, who would want to follow him? The only support he has at the moment is mutants, and he himself is technically one as well. And to be a king, you need a territory to rule over as well. Unless you want him to try and bring anyone who might follow him here in the north, there''s no way that plan would work!" As Iris listed her reasons, elder grandma just stood there and waited for her to finish.


    "Regarding followers, we already have some candidates in mind and we only need to wait until Leo approves of them. The biggest problem is like you said, getting them to follow him. As for the place he''ll rule over, with the right preparations there''s nothing wrong with the Northern Territory. We ourselves have lived here for years and it never bothered us. As someone who might one day be a queen, you need to think of solutions instead of problems, though I already figured both of you still have a ways to go before being rulers."


    Elder grandmas words caused Iris freeze. Her, a queen. She didn''t desire power, and neither did Leo. But what woman didn''t have the secret fantasy of being considered a princess or queen? She also realized something else, perhaps the driving reason for this mad idea, and that was Leo''s pack ability. If his strength increased from people following him, then how strong would he be if he ruled over an entire kingdom? The more Iris thought about this idea, the more feasible it seemed. Elder grandma nodded as it seemed Iris understood part of the reason for this plan.


    "If my idea works, then Leo would be able to experience a rapid increase in strength. Every person who joins, every one born, they would all make him stronger. Then if you consider the other details, not every champion is a fighter, if he can recruit the right ones then they might become the pillars of our future kingdom. Plus he already had a city, he just needs to repair it." Iris was shocked once more when she heard her words. She then looked around them, at the ruins of Asdarge.


    While the two of them were in talking, Natalie stood off to the side. She wasn''t surprised at elder grandmas plan, because she had been helping her with it from the start. Her, Jack, Austin, and Lucy, had all been aware of the plan and helped it by recruiting secretly throughout the village. Leo wasn''t aware of it, but he had been causing waves in the people''s hearts ever since he arrived. In just the span of a few months, he already surpassed the capabilities of those who had trained for years. And he was still getting stronger.


    They and a few others weren''t stupid, they knew that one day they would get dragged into a fight. All it took was a few people adventuring into the north, and they would be discovered and attacked. The only way of life they''d know after that, would be death or slavery. So the people decided on the best decision available, follow the one who might be able to protect them. As she started getting lost in thought, their conversation came to a close.


    "I want to think about this a bit more, but Leo needs to know. I don''t think you''d do anything bad, but a proper king needs to make the decision himself, and not have others around him make it for them. I''ll wait until after the wedding, but then I''ll spill everything to him." Elder grandma nodded, she specter as much. And replied to the girl,


    "Not to worry, I planned to tell him anyways. As you said, he needs to make the decision himself. And I already know he''s not ready to lead an entire nation, but he''ll need to find it in himself soon. Now, back to topic at hand. Sadly there''s only a few working items left, but they''ll still benefit us." At her words, Iris remembered what they were doing there, and became more focused on the previous topic. Elder grandma pulled out several items from the chest, a couple daggers, a couple mirrors, and a couple rings. Iris could t help but notice that everything was a pair.


    "These items are actually pretty good for us, let''s move out to where there''s more light." And so they returned to the headstone, and elder grandma laid the items on the ground and started explaining them.


    "These daggers, they are plain in performance, but indestructible and never need maintenance. The mirrors are probably the best things there, they allow communication between the holders. I''ll keep one, and you have the other. Then while the both of you are away, we can still maintain contact. Then if you find any potential followers, you can tell me about it before they arrive." Iris waited for her to describe the last items, the rings. But it appeared that elder grandma wanted to hold onto them, and she didn''t say anything. The truth was though, she heard through the other women about earth wedding traditions, and wanted to include the rings during the ceremony for Leo.


    Having accomplished their goal, the three women started the return trip. Iris spent the whole trip thinking about elder grandmas words, and what her future would be like if they followed her plan. When they arrived to the village though, she had to keep from laughing out loud while Natalie face palmed. They returned just in time for her to take care of the heavily hungover Jack.

 45 The wedding

    When Iris and the two others first returned, Natalie had to go take care of the hungover Jack, and Iris went to talk to Leo. She left out elder grandmas plan to make him a king, and focused only on the items she received from her. Iris originally tried to give Leo one of the daggers, but he refused saying that it would benefit her more since he trained bare handed, and she distance. He figured that if she had to fight up close, the daggers would help her more than him. She then explained about the mirror, and how they could use it to communicate with elder grandma after leaving. Leo wasn''t as fascinated though since he used to have a cell phone. After this, the last few days before the wedding passed.


    "Out out out! The groom needs to leave so that we can do our work! The men will get you ready, so get out!" And with those words, Leo was kicked out of his and iris''s house the morning of the wedding. He didn''t go far however, before the village men lead by Jack grabbed him. They dragged him to a house on the other side of the village, in order to separate him and Iris. Leo had learned that instead of just the bride like on earth, neither partner were to see each other before the wedding on Aletera.


    After "detaining" leo, he was approached by Austin who was holding a pair of sheers. Austin then attacked Leo''s head with them, resulting in his overgrown hair being cut to about two inches long. Though men usually weren''t as fussy as women, weddings were held with gods/goddesses as witnesses. The God/goddess invoked usually depended on the couple. In this case they were swearing their vows in the name of Aine, goddess of love, summer, and possibly most importantly in this case, sovereignty. The gods/goddess sworn to was usually related to the couples intentions somehow, those sworn to a divine related to fertility would prioritize having lots of kids, for example. Aine was usually sworn under by nobles, or royalty. Since the hope was for Leo to become a king, she was the being chosen for his wedding.


    As such, they were trying to make Leo more presentable to better appeal to the goddess. Leo on the other hand was mostly just going with the flow, since no one explained to him in detail how weddings on Aletera worked. And so, Leo''s hair was sheared off, he was dunked in a tub of boiling water, and he was being dressed in different outfits that belonged to various village men to find the best one for him. Finally they settled on a dark brown outfit, that while not being able to compete with other people''s wedding outfits, was a lot nicer than the usual leathers they wore. By the time the preparations were done, it was only a couple hours till sundown.


    Those that weren''t working with Leo or Iris, were setting up for the wedding under elder grandmas instructions. Under her watch, the helpers made sure everything was absolutely perfect, no one wanted to be the one to mess up iris''s wedding under her watch. And so, finishing just in time with Leo''s and iris''s preparations finishing, the wedding began. Everyone quickly ran to their seats, while Leo and Iris saw each other for the first time.


    He walked up to the back of the isle, and when Iris did the same, he felt like his were going to pop out. Iris was dressed in a pure white gown, with mild golden accents at the edges to complement her eyes. On her head was a tiara of white flowers, and her hair was pulled back to show off her beautiful golden eyes. Compared to the dresses on earth, it was quite plain but Leo preferred this one over any of those any day. When she saw Leo''s reaction, she blushed slightly while also admiring how handsome he looked in his outfit.


    "How beautiful." Of all the things he could of said at that moment, that''s all leo said. Leo felt it was most appropriate because it was also the first thing he ever said to her when they met. When they met at the back of the isle, Leo and Iris linked arms and started to walk down it. Directly after them, Natalie and Jack followed them as well. Leo got a quick rundown of what was going to happen while getting ready; and he knew that during a wedding, the mans mother followed directly after him, and the girls father followed her. After they reached the front of the isle, they would then "hand over" their child the their new husband/wife. Since neither of them had their parents there, Natalie and Jack were filling in.


    When they reached the front, elder grandma was there waiting for them. In the small towns and villages, it was always the role of the village leader/elder to wed the couple, instead of a priest like on earth. As Leo and Iris stood next to each other in front of her, Natalie and Jack moved behind the two of them respectively. Elder grandma made sure everyone was where they were supposed to be, then started talking.


    "Today, we are gathered here to watch as these two join their hands, and houses in marriage. We plead to the goddess Aine to witness these twos vows, and bless their future together. May they always be happy, and may their children be plenty. Do you Leo, take Iris to be your wife, from now until your death?" Leo''s arm had been linked with iris''s while the small speech was going on. He then turned towards her and took both of her hands into his.


    "I do. From now, until the day death himself takes my soul, she will always be in my heart." Elder grandma nodded at his words and turned to Iris and said,


    "And do you Iris, take Leo to become your husband? To share his burdens, and support his family?" Iris looked deep into Leo''s eyes as she said,


    "I do. From this day forward, he will never shoulder a burden alone; and no matter how far he goes, I will always watch over our children, and welcome him home with open arms." Elder grandma nodded in satisfaction at her words, and continued.


    "Then may Aine look down, and bless this couple to be happy until their end of days, and may it be many years from now!" At that moment, light showered down on the two, a confirmation that the goddess herself had indeed heard elder grandmas places and blessed them. Such a situation was rare in weddings, and usually only happened to royalty. This was elder grandmas hope, because receiving a blessing from Aine during their wedding not only showed that their marriage was approved by her, but that she approved of Leo as potential ruler in the future. Elder grandma looked noticeably pleased, and continued.


    "And now, the ring bearer may step forward!" At that moment one of the villages children, a little girl, step forward with a pillow holding two rings. They were the same two rings that elder grandma kept from Asdarge, and she had endlessly worked to polish them and ensured their enchantments were still in effect.


    As she stepped forward, Leo took the two plain golden bands, and placed one on iris''s ring finger before placing the other on his. Seeing this done, elder grandma then finished the ceremony part of the wedding.


    "I now pronounce you husband and wife! You may now seal your marriage!" Hearing her words, Leo pulled Iris towards him and planted his lips on hers. When he did so the whole audience containing the entire village cheered.

 46 The first nigh

    When they kissed, the entire population of the village cheered. From her seat in the front row, Luna threw back her head and howled, triggering a chorus of howls from the forest. When the couple finally separated, they were surrounded by people wanting to wish them congratulations. They were ushered to a couple of chairs where the people that had gifts could step forward and present them. Natalie and jack were the first in line.


    "You''re about to head out there for trials and hardships. So we decided your gear isn''t going to cut it and made these for you." The two then handed over what they had in their hands. From Jack was a sword that bore his mark on the base of the blade. When Leo held it, he could sense the energy in the blade, and knew that Jack had reinforced it to withstand his strength. Natalie handed Iris a bow, it seemed far heavier and stiffer than her previous one. However, since turning into a werewolf she was often talking about how her bow was too easy to pull back, and that if she didn''t want to break it she would have to make a new one soon.


    "Thank you, both of you. We have always appreciated your guidance, and may we rely on you both for many years to come!" Leo said what he truly felt at that moment. Though he wasn''t used to using a sword, he had time to get the basics before leaving in two months. Iris said her thanks as well, while also standing up and hugging her mentor and role model, Natalie, with tears in her eyes.


    After the two of them, the line slowly got shorter until the last gifts were given. Unlike Natalie and jacks, most were items that were for their house, or that they couldn''t take with them. They were happy to receive them regardless. After the gifts they moved onto the feast that people were bringing out from the houses. As they were preparing, Iris walked off to talk with someone and elder grandma walked over to Leo. She wrapped her arms around him like an embrace, but them she leaned close and whispered,


    "I may not have much say in what the two of you do together anymore, but if you ever make her cry, the other champions will be the last thing you ever need to worry about." Though he had always intended to treat Iris well, he resolved to be extra careful in the future. She then separated from him while wearing a smile, and acted as if she hadn''t threatened him. Leo''s back was drenched with cold sweat.


    As the night continued, they feasted until well after sundown. Since word had traveled about Leo being immune to alcohol, many of the men wanted to challenge him to a drinking contest. Both Leo and Iris tried to get them to stop, until someone shouted out that they couldn''t have the groom dead drunk before the bedding. This situation caused both of the newlyweds to blush heavily, before someone forcefully changed the topic.


    As if on cue, Lucy showed up and led Iris away to talk with her privately. Leo was curious about what they were talking about, but was distracted and only saw Lucy hand the scarlet eared Iris a small pouch. And so, the night continued until someone once again brought up the bedding, but this time stating that it was time for it. And so, the two had to do a walk of shame to the house under the gaze of the entire village.


    Leo practically shoved Iris into the small house in order to escape the gazes directed at them, and without looking at the inside quickly turned to shut and latch the door. A moment later he felt energy spread around them and knew that someone placed a barrier(probably elder grandma) and he released a sigh of relief. He was leaning against the door while facing it to calm himself, when he heard a sound to get his attention.


    "Ah-hem!" Leo turned around, and was stupefied by the sight he saw. There was several candles scattered around the house to provide proper lighting and mood for the couple, but if Leo noticed that then he was a pathetic man. Leo was captivated by the sight of the completely nude Iris standing next to the bed waiting for him. She apparently already disrobed and was waiting for him to do the same. So with out wasting time, Leo slowly started walking towards her, while slowly stripping out of his clothes. He wasn''t shy about it, from the times she had gone to meet him during the full moon, Iris had already seen him naked plenty of times. It was however a first for him to see her, and Leo was captivated.


    As he approached her, he placed his hands on her waist and pulled her closer, and pressed his lips against hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck and responded with passion. Slowly his hands strayed from her waist to the other areas of her body. He was exploring her whole body with his hands, and she was doing the same with him. His hands would stay at the most intimate areas of her, but they would continue a moment later. The only exception though, was her arm.


    When he ran his hands along her arm, he felt several longs lines running the length of it, and immediately recalled what they were from. Due to the leather outfits she always wore, he had never seen her arm after the first full moon. He only knew that she had the bandages on for several days. Leo froze as fear gripped him. He started to fear irrationally at him possibly hurting her again. He knew it was irrational, but couldn''t help it.


    When Iris realized what was going on with Leo, she knew she had to take action. And she did so by pulling him down onto the bed on top of her. Leo was shocked at her action at first, but was grateful at her distraction. He calmed, and once again pressed his lips against hers.


    Leo had planned to go slowly at first with Iris, since he knew that girls were usually in pain the first time. Iris however, had different plans. And as she became more proactive, so did Leo. The two soon fell into desire, passion, and lust, that continued until the sun started to rise over the mountains.

 47 Iriss choice

    When Iris woke the next day, it was already noon and her head was laying on Leo''s chest. She wasn''t worried about the work for the day though, because it was an unspoken rule that you shouldn''t expect a newlywed couple to leave their "bed" for the first to third day of marriage. What she didn''t know was that in Leo''s world, it would be referred to as a honeymoon.


    Iris slowly crawled out of bed, trying not to wake Leo. She stood still for a moment feeling the nice cool air on her still bare skin. Before she could start her task however, the rustling of blankets and intense gaze she could feel on her nude backside told her that she failed in not waking Leo up. She pretended not to notice though, as she took the few steps to the stove, while also putting on a show by exaggerating the swing of her hips. She stoked the fire, and set a pot of water to boil, before turning to the source of half her worries. The small pouch that Lucy gave her the day before.


    Iris had recently realized how rash she was in marrying Leo for two reasons. The first was when elder grandma told her the plan to make him a king. While she grew up away from cities and politics, she knew enough that rulers would have to marry a woman with a powerful backing, in order to increase allies and power. She also knew, that in certain cases it wasn''t strange for such a person to have several wives in order to ally themselves with many groups. Arthur was the most extreme example of this case, though he mostly just wanted pretty women.


    The second was that she never considered when they would have kids. By following Leo, there was a good chance that one or both of them might end up dying. As a result they would never have a chance for a family. There was also the risk of her becoming pregnant while traveling, while the only way to prevent this was complete abstinence. There was no way in hell she was going to do that after the previous night.


    One other solution, was for her to stay here and try to become pregnant before Leo left on his own. Iris was the least fond of this idea, since it involved Leo leaving on his own, and her raising their child alone. She also felt like this was a solution to replace him with their child if he never came back. She could never handle such an outcome.


    Lucy however gifted her something that would solve the problem of potential pregnancy while traveling. In the pouch, was a mixture of herbs that taken as a tea the morning after, would prevent a woman from getting pregnant. It only took a pinch of the herbs, but it required being taken within twelve hours of conception. However she was hesitant on this route, because she knew of elder grandmas past with not being able to have a child. Iris set the pot to boil while she thought about what path she wanted to take.


    As the minutes ticked by, she continued thinking while Leo continued watching her. When the pot started boiling, she made her decision. She quickly made a cup of the tea, and started drinking it. As far as having a child was concerned, she was willing to wait until things had calmed down and they were allowed to settle somewhat. She didn''t know how many years that would take, but Leo had told her once that in most stories werewolves didn''t age like normal humans, and so they probably had all the time in the world.


    As for the other matter with other possible wives in the future, she decided that securing a decent home with potential powerful backings, would be more important than wanting her husband to herself. Even if she might have to share him in the future, she was happy with the fact that not only was she first, but that she was the one he wanted to marry compared to political arrangements. Even though he was tricked into it.


    After reaching her decision, she turned around and confirmed that Leo was in fact staring at her this whole time. There was obvious desire in his looks, but also concern regarding what she had been thinking about even though he didn''t know what it was. Iris felt a smile of warmth and love spread across her face, before she also started feeling the desire return. Her smile turned a little wicked, and she had a spring in her step as she took a couple steps back to the bed, before literally jumping onto it and Leo. The two then resumed their activities from the night before.


    ***


    Leo left the house with a smile on his face, perhaps the largest one he''d had since arriving in this world. It was now the third morning after the wedding. He and Iris had spent the last two days indulging in constant passion, and lust. The only times they had stopped, was in order to cook meals, or small breaks in between when they talked about various things; the stamina of werewolves was a wonderful thing. This was actually the first time either of them had worn clothes since the wedding outfits, as anything they would''ve put on, probably wouldn''t have lasted more than a few minutes before being torn off again.


    Leo was embarrassed at first since it wouldn''t be a secret what they had been doing, but decided to ignore it eventually. What had greeted them after leaving the hut however, was elder grandma with Natalie and Jack.


    "We need to talk." She said simply, before turning around and walking the other way with the other two in tow. Leo and Iris were confused about what was going on, and could only follow them to find out. When they followed them around the corner however, both of them were dumbfounded at the sight that awaited them. The entire village was gathered, but they were all kneeling on one knee and had their heads bowed.

 48 Growing threa

    When Leo saw everyone kneeling in front of him, his brow started twitching. Even Luna, was bending her front legs to match how everyone else looked at that moment. When Natalie and Jack did so as well, he started to get a little mad. At this moment, the only ones not kneeling were him, Iris and elder grandma. He shot a glare at her and said,


    "What. The. Hell. Is. Happening?" Elder grandma didn''t even react to Leo''s words. It appeared that she expected him to not take this well.


    "We, are doing what we can do for our potential future. I planned to do things differently, but time is apparently against us. In summary, this is the best way for us to help you in your upcoming battles. With your pack ability, the best way to become powerful is to have a lot of followers, or to rule a nation. Before you start getting mad though, you should listen to what Thomas has to say."


    Leo froze at her words. He had considered how to make use of his ability, but being a ruler wasn''t something he thought of. He turned to Thomas expecting an answer. Thomas had left for a nearby town weeks ago, and was due back before the wedding. Something delayed him however and he apparently returned while he and Iris were "enjoying" each other''s company. He raised his head, and started talking.


    "While I was in town, I heard some news that might threaten all of us. The human kingdoms are going to start a purge. All non humans, all mutants, will either be enslaved, or killed. I don''t know what triggered them to start it now, but I heard the possibility that Arthur started it. Then I heard the most terrifying bit, the neighboring kingdom is going to send people to investigate the rumors about a mutant village in the mountains. They''re coming for us."


    When Leo heard the news from Thomas, he felt as if a weight had dropped into his stomach. Iris paled when she heard about it as well. Leo was trying to figure out what they needed to do, when he recalled the previous discussion as well. How did him being some kind of King relate to the future purge? As if reading his mind, elder grandma started to explain.


    "This news is indeed disturbing, and it couldn''t come at a worse time to boot. According to Thomas, it''s not expected that they''ll start moving right away, a few years at least, a decade at most. But as a small village, chances are they''ll come for us first to get us out of the way. They need a leader now more than ever. I doubt I''ll be around that long to be of any use." Leo was thinking after hearing her words, but the last part caught his attention, as with the rest of the village and Iris.


    "What do you mean you won''t be around that long? Aren''t you immortal?" Leo asked her. According to what she told them, Venus cursed her to not be able to die as punishment for losing her husband.


    "That''s not what I said, my life was merely extended, not eternal. As long as I live, Venus won''t be able to take another champion. After a thousand years, I finally started to feel my powers start to weaken a couple years ago, I doubt I''ll last another decade. Before I longed for this, but now I worry about the future of those here. If I leave, then I''ll need someone who can keep them safe, and Leo you proved that I can trust you with that." Leo was even more confused, what did he do to deserve this trust she placed in him. Before he could voice his confusion however, Natalie spoke up.


    "Leo, you may not realize it, but you definitely have the qualities to rule. What we would struggle to do, you do with ease. When we were in trouble you protected us. Time and time again you have rendered us in awe of your capabilities. I for one, don''t doubt that you can step up the plate to be a ruler."


    Leo tried to come up with excuses as for why he wasn''t a good choice, but for every excuse he had, they had an argument to counter it. They went back and forth for a while, before he eventually told them that he had to think on it. No one blamed him of course though, it wasn''t everyday you get asked to start a new kingdom.


    ***


    Artemis stood watching the events through Leo''s eyes, and started to get interested. A war between the different races, and her champion throwing himself right into the middle of all of it. He certainly was keeping her entertained. She was concerned about one thing though, can he kill a human? She wanted him to recruit people due to the blessings he gave him, but she also knew that he would have to kill as well. Looking through his memories, she didn''t see a person who could kill, but he had also changed ever since coming to this world as well.


    Artemis decided on a final exam so to say for her champion. She moved her observation from Leo, to one of the nearby towns and looked for a certain person. After a while she found the local captain of the guard of that kingdoms general northern area. She sent out as much power as she could, and whispered to the man,


    "Go north, and find the mutants." The man twitched and looked around thinking he was hearing things. He then turned his attention to the rumors going around town recently about a hidden mutant settlement. The news of the future purge had swept through the entire kingdom, and captain Marshal wanted to make some achievements for himself. He thought that if he led an expedition to the north, and rooted out these mutants in hiding, he might get to advance in rank. He quickly sent out the order to gather two hundred men, and prepare for an expedition into the north within the month.

 49 The one at the peak

    On an island out in the ocean, thousands upon thousands of miles away, there was a man thinking about the news he had just received. He was tall, broad shouldered, and had an incredible tan to testify how much time he spent in the sun. Arthur had just talked to Ra, and found the topic to be the most interesting thing he had heard in a while. According to Ra, not only were the humans about to commence a purge in his name, there was a new champion that might rival him in the future.


    Arthur was experiencing the same boredom at he gods themselves became prone to after more than a thousand years of existence. He would usually enjoy passing his time terrorizing kingdoms, saying that he''ll spare them if they give him all the beautiful princesses. In some cases though he''d destroy them anyways, then take his time breaking in his new "brides" while they cried about losing their families. The powers he gave them through sex were addictive, so no matter what horrors he inflicted on them or their loved ones they turned submissive in the end, begging for him to continue bedding them. However this too had grown boring when he knew they''d all breakdown eventually.


    He was recently thinking of new ways to entertain himself while visiting the kingdoms, and had entertained the idea of war with the non humans. As he thought back he realized he might have said it out loud and made them think it was actually what he wanted. He don''t intend to stop it though, his only hesitation was that he would have to go get some more slaves before they were all killed. From his position he could see all of the island that he lived on with his wives and slaves. He had kidnapped girls from the dwarves, eleven, and beast races and given them various tasks to sustain his home.


    The elves were his gardeners, growing fruits and vegetables for the island inhabitants. The dwarves were around for maintenance, no one was better at construction than the dwarves. And finally the beast girls were his maids, they had violent dispositions so it was nice to see them knocked down a notch and made submissive. As he thought about the recent news, he decided that he''ll spend some time with some of them tonight. He might feel some satisfaction bedding them while informing them that they''re whole race is about to be destroyed, while they begged him for more.


    The second bit of information he received from Ra was a bit more interesting though. He had long ago pillaged any bits of information regarding chi, mana, or energy, and brought them all to his island. As a result, there was no new masters of magic in the last thousand years that Arthur was active; if there were then they all hid so he couldn''t find them. He soon realized that it might have been a mistake to do so however, when all his strength accounted for nothing when no one was left to challenge him, and he couldn''t just say, ''sorry'' and give it all back.


    This was why the idea that there might be someone that could threaten him in the future had actually excited him somewhat. Due to the fact that he wasn''t allowed any information on new champions however, all he knew was that they were a mutant. This was enough though, as one of the reasons he decided not to fix the misunderstandings, was that he knew the mutants would be included in the purge. If this new champion was able to survive, then it meant that he deserved the hopes Arthur placed on him for a decent fight.


    He decided that he would have to limit his involvement to the mainland to not interfere with his growth. He scrapped his ideas to gather more slaves, and future visits he was planning to make for the wives he planned to collect. He decided, he won''t return to the mainland for fifteen years. If this new champion was as capable as Ra thought he was, then this should be enough time for him to properly grow. Arthur would have to deal with his boredom until then though.


    What Arthur didn''t know though, was that a meeting between several of the gods was taking place about how much of a threat he was starting to become. They reached a conclusion, and quickly sent messages to their respective champions about the oncoming purge.

 50 Poking the beas

    As captain Marshal marched through the forest, he couldn''t help the glare on his face. It had been a month and a half since he decided to hunt the mutants, three weeks since they left, and they had not yet found a single trace of any mutants. The glare wasn''t from not finding any mutants though, it was from the words of his men following him.


    "This long and no freaks yet, don''t ya think this is starting to be some wild goose chase?"


    "The captain says they''re out here, but he only has that rumor to go off of."


    "Is he starting to lose it? I''ve never seen him so obsessed with something before, well that one girl in Lawrence city maybe."


    These comments and more had started to really anger Marshal. He would think the same thing normally, but the constant ''find the mutants'' whispering in his mind was telling him they were out here. He had even started to believe he was receiving a divine message, and it was a trial to become a champion. He wouldn''t dare tell his men that though, lest they think he had lost it or they try to steal the chance from him.


    What he didn''t realize, was that while it was a message from a goddess, it was a trial for someone else and he was merely fodder for them. Artemis had considered him of such little importance, that she even forgot his name and placed her message on an auto loop to continue driving him. Hopelessly ignorant of his true circumstances, he continued onward.


    As the day continued stretching on, he finally called a halt to set camp for the night. The men grateful for the reprieve, dropped their packs and started setting up camp, and cooking the nights meal. One thing they didn''t mind though, was that while there were several beasts in the forest that wanted to make a meal of them, as a group of two hundred they were able to easily take care of them. As a result of the constant beats attacks, they also had a constant supply of fresh meat.


    Marshal was standing in his own tent looking over the maps of the region. Due to the fact that people weren''t able to survive up here, there was barely any information to gather from them. There were only geographical info, such as obvious mountain ranges and large rivers, but other than that there were few details. Any details preset on the map were actually added by him and his men.


    As the moon rose, he could feel the message growing in volume. He looked up in surprise, and decided it meant one of two things, either he was getting close, or it was the moon goddess that was guiding him. He thought about it and decided that he was on a "hunt" so it must have been the goddess. Marshal quickly exited his tent and looked up at the moon, he placed his hands together in prayer,


    "Moon goddess Artemis, I thank you for this chance and hope that this one will not disappoint the expectations you have placed onto me. Please accept this humble offering when I purge these worthless mutants in your sacred name." He had layered on the compliments hoping to appease the goddess, but when she heard his prayer she felt only disgust. These were the types of fools she wanted to avoid, and the only reason she involved him was for one of those "worthless mutants". When comparing the two, she concluded that she made the right choice with Leo as he never backed down in front of her unless she gave him no choice. This thing on the other hand was groveling for her favor on a guess.


    The next day, Marshal was motivated by what he hoped was a successful prayer to the goddess, and was convinced that he would find them today. When his men saw how eager their captain looked, they thought there must have been some kind of clue to the mutants whereabouts and became more motivated as well. They continued their slow march through the forest, and around noon, froze when a branch snapped overhead.


    Marshal looked up and saw several pairs of eyes looking back at him from the branches. There were several people looking down on them with surprise on their face. The most noticeable was a woman with a third eye, and a recently matured girl with fiery red hair. The one with the third eye confirmed Marshal''s goal in finding mutants wasn''t a wild goose chase, but his attention was on the redhead. She reminded him of a woman he longed for in Lawrence city, but she already had a husband who was a retired soldier. Suddenly he had an idea, and shouted out,


    "TAKE THEM MEN!! ANY YOU TAKE ALIVE WILL BE YOUR PERSONAL SLAVES!!! AND WHOEVER BRINGS ME THE REDHEAD WILL GET THEIR PICK OF ANY FIVE GIRLS OUT OF THE LOT!!! Hearing his shout the men suddenly became more motivated, and let out a loud cry in response.


    "YYYYYYEEEEEEAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"


    And they readied their arrows and let them loose. Due to Marshal''s dismay however, almost all of them aimed for the redhead. He despaired that she would be killed and was about to reprimand his men, until he saw her dodge almost all the arrows aimed at her. They then turned and started running away. He believed the moon goddess was favoring him though, because the one arrow that hit caught her in the calf and caused her to fall into the brush below.


    He wasn''t too upset by this though, when they tried to run he realized they were using chi. Due to the fact that only the military was allowed to use magic, and non were allowed to truly train it past an adept level, he was quite curious as to how they learned it. As a chi user, there was no way such a fall would kill her and they had a healer. Looking forward to the night he was going to have, Marshal called the shooter over. A young man walked over with a proud expression on his face, happy he was going to be the one to receive the reward.


    "Go get her from where she fell, and you''ll get your pick of five girls when we take the village." The young man ran forward eagerly, and Marshal looked up to monitor for any mutants that might still be close by. Now that he knew they were close they only needed to find the village. While he was thinking the mutants suddenly reappeared from wherever they were hiding. He prepared to give the order to defend, but they never moved. Then he heard a sound from the man he sent to retrieve the girl.


    "NO NO! PLEASE HAVE MERCY!!!" After that was a sickening noise, then silence. Marshal and his men looked in horror, then the girl casually walked out of the brush. Normally the fact that she was walking fine despite taking an arrow in the calf would be enough to shock them all. Everyone''s attention however, was glued to the fact that she was partially covered with blood, and the young mans head that she had in her grip. It looked as if it had been ripped from his body, and she gripped it by the hair.


    Marshal turned pale from the brutality of the girl and looked at her eyes, only to see that they were a brilliant orange. He thought that this was her mutation, and was in shock of her act until,


    "As much as I want to kill you right now, I''ll take my leave. I''ll be sure to report the things you said to my husband though, I''m sure he''ll love to meet you after this." Leaving behind her words, she threw that head towards them and leapt back up to the trees. Just like that, the first clash with the hidden mutants ended.


    Marshal gave his men the order to march on though. They couldn''t be bothered by the death of one soldier, and they figured that the only reason he died was because they sent him forward alone. They continued forward, and Marshal thought back to the girls words. He decided that it would be entertaining to behead her husband in front of her before taking her as his bed slave. With that thought he continued forward, not aware of the sleeping monster he had just provoked.

 51 Classes

    Leo was currently sitting in front of Brenda while she lectured on. He had started taking classes after the wedding and the fiasco of that day. Everything was put on hold, but it didn''t change the fact that everyone treated him differently now. They didn''t bow or curtsy, they didn''t call him majesty or anything, but there was a measure of respect in their words and actions that wasn''t there before. They would also come to him for advice on certain matters as if they needed his help. Thankfully things were different in his classes.


    Because there was a priority for him to learn about Aletera over being a monarch, it was apparently decided that Brenda and Thomas would act like they always have during lessons. Brenda would teach information about magic, and the history of the various races. Thomas would teach about the recent events going on in the outside world. Leo was very attentive due to the fact that, while on earth most of what you learned would never be used outside of the classroom, the things he learned here would contribute to wether or not he lived in the future.


    As he sat there, Leo''s mind wandered to Iris and what she was currently doing. While he sat inside and had classes everyday, she was still going out and hunting. He turned his attention back to the lesson and continued paying attention. The day''s lesson was about the different magic ranks.


    "Magic as you know is split up into three different categories,


    Mana, which uses your own internal energy to influence outside forces.


    Chi, which uses your own internal energy to manipulate your own body, or weapons.


    And energy, which is the manipulation of power outside of your body. This is considered the hardest of the three to master, and is mainly used by necromancers, craftsmen, and those who specialize in stealth. "


    Even though this was mostly review for him, Leo paid close attention, any detail he missed could cost him his life someday.


    "While there usually isn''t any restriction on what ones you could learn, people usually only study one type of magic to master it, instead of trying to focus on all three at once. There are also three ranks for magic users, beginner, adept, and expert. These are also split up in three categories of low, middle, and high ranks. Due to the influence of Arthur however, no person has been allowed to advance to expert rank in a thousand years. There is no real official way to determine ranks however, as they are mostly used a guideline. The general labeling is,


    Beginners, those who have started using magic and haven''t developed the proper power, or control to advance.


    Adepts, those who not only have power, but can use it almost at will. They may also start using it in their daily lives.


    Experts, ones who are recognized as officials in terms of magic. They are able to help and guide others on the use of magic, and they are the go to for any issues involving magic."


    As Leo learned this new information, he started wondering where in the rankings he would be. Knowing the question would be on his mind, Brenda said,


    "You are considered a high level beginner. You are almost at the level of being an adept, but you need to focus on your control a bit more since most of what you do is throw your power around." Leo listened to her words with high amounts of contemplation. He was glad for her honesty, since he had seen in shows and books people lying to superiors to make them feel special. He didn''t consider himself to be theirs, but they didn''t seem to realize that. Grateful for the advise and honest review, the lesson went on.


    "The military of the various kingdoms require for their soldiers to be at least high level beginners. If they wish to advance, they need to increase their rank in whatever field of magic they pursue. Most choose the style of chi fighters for direct confrontation, few others however choose to be mages. The use of magic, especially on the battlefield is far different between the adept and expert levels. As such there are only a handful in each army, and their main purpose is to answer any unexpected situations that might arise. The use of energy in the military is almost non existent.


    When a person in the expert rank continues growing stronger, there is another level beyond it for them to achieve. It was the goal of all who aspired to reach the peaks of magic, master rank. Master rank magic users were akin to natural disasters, they could move mountains, or crush them completely. When they were still active, it was a requirement from the gods that anyone in the rank of master be unable to participate in military affairs, due to being able to level entire kingdoms overnight. At the moment however, there are no master ranks. The two most common theories for this are that Arthur killed them all, or that they went into hiding to escape his attention."


    When Leo heard about the possibility of masters in hiding, he was reminded about one of the times he had spoken to Artemis. The annoying goddess had taken to giving him periodic lessons during his sleep. It wouldn''t be so bad if it wasn''t for the fact that he would be in her hut almost immediately after being with Iris. He sometimes thought the goddess did it on purpose just to piss him off.


    His mind was drawn to their last encounter when she was informing him about the world related in terms of earth. Leo was quite surprised to learn that Aletera was several times larger than earth. When Artemis told him he tried to figure the difference, only for her to pull the information to compare out of his head. According to her, Aletera was roughly the same size as Neptune! He became amazed at the difference, before several questions came to his mind. Of course the goddess sent him back at that moment, before he could ask about things like the gravity difference and so on. Finding out exactly how big the world was, only made Leo more excited to explore it some day.


    At that moment there was a small commotion outside, informing them of the hunters return. The lesson was ended, and Leo went out to welcome his wife, only to freeze at the door. When he opened the door the he was hit with the smell of iris''s blood.


    Leo had long learned that people had their own scents. When he became familiar with the smell of blood, he realized that the smell was the same, except with a heavy copper metallic smell. He also learned that there was a difference between the smell of animal blood, and human blood. That was why when he smelt iris''s blood, rage flooded his mind.


    It was normal for a person to occasionally get hurt during a hunt, but with iris''s blood he could smell another persons that he hadn''t met before. This meant she was attacked, and both of their blood was spilt. He stormed over to the hunters, where they quickly parted to let him through. He then found Iris standing there, the leathers on her leg were torn, and Leo could see that was where her blood was. The other persons though was covering her arm, and part of her body. She looked ashamed when he approached, and he could only get out two words,


    "What. Happened?!" Before Iris could speak, Natalie stepped forward.


    "We were attacked, by a small army that appeared to be looking for us." Leo looked around, and asked,


    "Why is Iris the only one hurt?" Iris looked as if she was disgusted, and explained.


    "The one in charge, he ordered his men to prioritize bringing me to him, alive." That was all Leo needed to hear to understand what happened. Along with the rage, there was a chilled calm as well. He wouldn''t forget the one who had injured, and tried to shame his wife; but he wasn''t going to lose himself in the process of seeking self satisfaction.


    Leo started giving orders to the surrounding people to prepare for the attack. The whole time he never noticed how he just took control. Even though they were preparing for combat, the villagers couldn''t help but smile at the fact that there was a leader to direct them into battle.

 52 Preparations

    As Leo started giving out orders he didn''t notice the two women beaming at him with pride. The first was of course Iris. She was never sure about the plans to turn Leo into a king, and had said her fair share against the idea due to Leo''s reluctance. The other was elder grandma, who had heard everything even though she was just outside her house. She never doubted her plan, in her opinion Leo''s capability as a king would come out eventually regardless of his intentions. Unaware of the twos looks, he continued giving orders.


    "I want the hunters to start setting traps in the forests surrounding the entrance to the village. Nothing too elaborate, snares or tripwires. We need to get them on edge so that they''ll be twitchy. The traps will also serve as a way to alert us of their arrival." The hunters left softly to carry out his orders and Leo turned to Luna.


    The young wolf pup had continued her unreasonable growth and her head now stood even with Leo''s. She had gone on many trips to the forest by now, and had reported that no matter which pack she ran into, all the high wolves would submit to her. Leo knew it was a testament to her bloodline, and now he planned to use it.


    "Luna, go out to the forest and gather as many packs as you can. I want you to keep tabs on the soldiers, and harass them as much as possible. We don''t need unnecessary deaths even with the wolves, so just pick off a couple at the outer edge of the group. Hit and run only, absolutely no direct engaging." Luna didn''t reply to Leo, only throwing back her head and letting loose a bloodcurdling howl. Seconds later dozens replied to her, and they kept growing further into the distance. She then took off to lead them.


    Leo then surprised everyone present, and turned to the gardeners led by Lucy.


    "I need all of you to help me with the most important trap. Those best with magic relating to earth and water, follow me. I''ll also need your help Lucy, for your gift with plants." Led by Lucy, almost all the gardeners stepped forward. Leo then led them to where he wanted them to work, and explained the trap he wanted them to set up. When he finished his explanation, all the women had evil grins on their faces, and they set to work. Leo then walked back to the village while thinking about the information Natalie gave him. From what she told him it would probably take them 1-2 days to arrive since they didn''t use the trees. When he returned from his short walk, elder grandma and Iris were both waiting for him.


    "All of this preparation, is it really necessary? Why not have the hunters pick them off with arrows, or the wolves clash with them directly?" She acted as if she these were the obvious answers to the current problem, and that he had taken a more complicated route. He knew she didn''t really think these ideas would work, she just wanted to know why he didn''t use them.


    "Regardless of numbers, the wolves wouldn''t be able to take on an army of two hundred chi users dressed in armor. All we''d be doing is mildly culling their numbers, while also sacrificing Fenrir''s children, I don''t really want to explain that one to the god beast. Same with the hunters, they''d eliminate a few, but the superior numbers would win in the end. They would''ve already been wiped out if they didn''t focus their attacks on Iris before. It''s better to get them in a position where they can''t fight back properly before utilizing these tactics."


    Both elder grandmas and iris''s eyes went wide hearing Leo''s explanation. Iris was because she hadn''t thought of those facts, while elder grandma was surprised at how he went for the mature way of doing things rather than the hot blooded ways she had half expected from him. She had one more question for him however,


    "Why not just send me to take care of them then? My power may be declining, but I can still take care of some small fries." Leo shook his head at her words, and explained that as well.


    "For two reasons, first is that I don''t want to risk alerting Arthur needlessly. The second is that we can''t always rely on you to take care of us. Though I''ll probably ask if things go bad, until then it''s better to try on our own first." Elder grandma was very pleased with Leo''s answers. She couldn''t help thinking to herself, ''and he thinks he doesn''t make a good ruler?''. What neither of them know though, was that Arthur was avoiding the mainland for the next fifteen years. Even if elder grandma went wild, it still wouldn''t draw him to them.


    Leo then gave the rest of the people the orders he had. First he wanted all the stoves in the houses and the bonfires going, he wanted to use the smoke to draw the soldiers into the traps. He then wanted Jack to collect and smith using a certain metal that confused people; and he told anyone left that used mana, that he wanted them to train using ice magic until the attack started. And so, the preparations for the upcoming battle continued.


    ***


    Marshal was growing irritated. They had marched the rest of the day, and even halfway through the night to follow the mutants they found. They then got up at the first daylight, and continued their march. It wouldn''t be that bad, if it wasn''t for the traps that they kept walking into, and the constant wolf attacks they suffered. Even though some of the traps were non lethal, by the time they freed the ones caught in them, they would already be dead from an arrow. The wolves were what annoyed him the most though.


    He thought this was a trial from Artemis, if that was the case then why were her sacred animals attacking him? He was forced to give the order to defend themselves, and it was only when they killed more than ten of the beasts that the attacks stopped. By this point he had lost almost forty of his men. The rest were tired from their constant awareness. It didn''t look good that he had lost nearly a fifth of the forces he brought.


    Following the smoke they had seen all morning, they finally saw what looked like a village up on the cliff edge. There was a trail going up the cliff, and a small clearing of trees between them and the trail. There was a wall of dirt running along the cliff on both sides of the trail though, so Marshal figured that there would be a trench or something on the other side to hide in. On the edge of the cliff, was a group of the villagers with bows in their hands.


    Marshal sneered at them. A dirt wall, and archers? He knew there was probably some fighters behind the wall, but there was no way this small village would be able to have enough to fight back properly. He looked to his men, and shouted out,


    "GET THEM!!!" His men had started to grow irritated and angry like him. They wanted to earn some quick accomplishments and return heroes for killing the freaks. Instead they had been ambushed by beasts, and had to watch as friends were caught in traps or died by fangs. When you also considered the half nights sleep, they wanted revenge.


    YYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"


    They shouted in fury, and rushed towards the flimsy dirt wall, only for the ground to give way beneath them. They all fell into a giant pit of watery mud, and watched as several people, appeared from behind the dirt wall, and froze the mud with mana.

 53 The battle

    Leo watched as the water in the mud froze, halting any movements from he enemy troops. He had the gardeners dig a pit roughly four feet deep, and filled it with water. He then had them create a fragile shell of dirt over the pit to hide it, and had Lucy help regrow the grass so that it didn''t seem out of the ordinary at all. As a result, at least fifty of their troops were halted by the ice, but there were still at least twice their numbers left to fight.


    "Archers, loose!" The hunters released their arrows, as the Warriors dispatched the troops frozen in the ice. The arrows flew over the ice, to the troops still standing with their captain. Most were blocked, but a few managed to find their targets. Seeing that arrows won''t be as affective, Leo walked up to Natalie,


    "You''re in charge here, I''m going to disturb their ranks so that more arrows might get through their defense. Try not to hit me." Natalie acknowledged his orders, but gave him a small smile at his joke, her arrows will never hit something that she doesn''t want to hit. Leo then turned to Iris, and gripping her arm; he looked into her eyes and said,


    "Together, with me!" Iris smiled at the "order", and was happy that she got to walk side by side with him into battle. The two walked to the edge of the cliff, and stepped off. By the time Leo hit the ground, his clothes had been shredded, and there was a seven foot tall monster standing there instead. Iris didn''t change, and only pulled out her daggers as she followed her husband to the slaughter.


    Iris had trained with her new weapons from the moment they became hers, and she was a killer with them. No matter where she went on the battle field, there was a trail of blood behind. As a werewolf, her base capabilities were far exceeding the ordinary person; and as someone who had spent their life training in chi, no ordinary soldier could ever hope to much her. She turned slaughter into dance, as she expertly aimed her weapons for the chinks in the armor, and turned to the next "partner" once she was finished with her current one. As someone who was raised in the wilds, she learned quickly that more often than not, it was kill or be killed. The men in front of her were just prey in the beasts eyes.


    Leo inspired terror on the battlefield no mater where he went. None had ever seen whatever this new type of monster was, and with each swipe of its claws, death followed. Leo would normally hesitate to kill, but after drawing his wife''s blood and attempting to shame her, the beast demanded blood. Those who fled from him, left behind limbs; those who confronted him, joined the pile of corpses. His dark red fur became an even darker shade as he made his way through the field of corpses.


    The Warriors had focused on disposing of the ones trapped in ice. They intended to hold back the remaining troops, but after seeing the husband and wife duo cutting their way through with ease, they decided to ensure there was no surprise attacks. The hunters were not idle either, as terror spread through the ranks, the men started fleeing. Natalie set an example, as each deserter found an arrow sprouting from their back.


    As more and more started fleeing, Leo threw back his head and let out a deep howl that echoed through the the forest. To the soldiers horror, there was several dozen to over a hundred howls answering back, and they all demanded blood. High wolves rushed towards them through the brush, and slaughtered the cowards. Driven by the fury of Luna and Leo, they felt rage at the deaths of their brethren. The men didn''t even fight back as the wolves gorged themselves on their flesh.


    Soon, there was only Marshal and his last few remaining men. Leo slowly shrank, as he resumed his human form and slowly walked towards the captain. He had not come out completely unscathed, as there were several deep cuts running along Leo''s body to match the stab wounds he had suffered. Marshal watched as this being he thought was exhausted and wounded, began to heal right in front of him. Each cut closed in a matter of seconds, the stabs took close to a minute. Soon he was whole once more, and he continued slowly walking towards the captain, while his wife joined at his side.


    Iris was only slightly cut as she was more nimble than her husband, and had come out of the conflict with fewer injuries. These too, had healed almost instantly under the captains close gaze. It wasn''t until this point, that the realization hit that he made enemies of those he shouldn''t have, and he noticed something else. The monster that slaughtered the majority of his men, bore the brand of a champion on his right arm. As they walked ever closer, the last few remaining men decided to attempt to bring this thing with them to the afterlife.


    "DIE YOU MONSTER!!" They shouted as they ran forward in twos and threes, only to be cut down by the girls daggers, or have their throats ripped out by the boys hands. Finally, they stopped before Marshal.


    "If you''re going to kill me, just get it over with." He said with resignation. Leo simply turned to his wife, and asked her,


    "Is he the one that insisted you be brought to him alive?" His quiet words sparked that last bit of fear in Marshal''s heart. He had accepted his death, and that he was simply used by Artemis for some type of growth for her real champion. But at Leo''s words, he realized with horror that he might not die right away. As the fear built, he saw the mans wife nod her head, and then his vision went dark as he felt pain on his jaw.

 54 Experiments

    When Marshal awoke, he was chained at his hands and feet inside a cave. The monster was sitting there staring at him with a knife in his hands, eyes glowing a bright orange. Curiously enough, he was avoiding contact with the blade. Looking past him, he could see the redhead, and an elderly woman standing there watching. Terrified about what was going to happen to him, Marshal tried moving and started talking.


    "Plea-" was all he could get out before Leo spoke over him.


    "There''s no need for that. I want some information, then I''m going to kill you. How cooperative you are depends on how much suffering you go through before hand though. Now, onto my first question, how did you learn about this place?" Marshal wasn''t sure if he should cooperate or not, but when he thought about what that thing could do to him before killing him, he thought he should go along with what he said.


    "There was a man appearing months ago to the north of our town. No one knew where he came from, but he was all but collapsed when he was found. He was taken in, and then they discovered what he was, a mutant. He disappeared right after, but said something about never going back to the town before doing so. Since there wasn''t any town that we could find warrants of him from, rumors started of a hidden mutant town. Later a voice in my head was telling me to find the mutants, I thought it was Artemis testing me to be her champion, obviously I was wrong."


    When Leo heard the information, he groaned with irritation. For the first part he deduced it was curly, and added him to the list of people to look for along with the champions. The next part though was what really annoyed him, it was that Artemis had a hand in the attack. They had already gone through the accumulated injuries and deaths, and three people died in the attack. The only reason there wasn''t more as because Leo and Iris took most of the enemies attention. He decided that he''ll demand answers from the damned goddess later, and turned back to his captive.


    "What about he purge that''s being worked on, how much danger are we in?" Deciding to go along with the questioning, Marshal was also happy to give him the answers.


    "While no one would normally consider this area dangerous, after our failed attack there''s a good chance that they''ll take more notice of it an attack again. Your best bet honestly, is to try and run as far away as possible" Marshal stated his honest opinion, once it became known that two hundred men lost their lives in these mountains, people would begin looking at it with more interest. Leo nodded his head, accepting Marshals words. He figured that it would be the case to start with. He looked towards Marshal again, and said,


    "I guess it''s better we get started then." He then stood up and took out another knife while setting down the first one. Marshal became quite scared and practically shouted,


    "Wait! I gave you your information! Didn''t you say that my death would be quicker if I did?!" Leo nodded once again, and replied,


    "I did say your death would be quicker, but I never said exactly how quick. Plus there''s the fact that you tried to humiliate my wife to consider. As such, I''m going to use you to conduct an experiment that I''ve been wanting to for quite some time." Marshal started begging for mercy, when Leo ran the knifes blade over his hand. He was extremely confused, he had never heard about torture with the torturer hurting himself. Then he grabbed Marshal''s hand and said out loud to the other two,


    "From what I know, werewolves have a certain weakness, silver. I''m not to sure of the extent this weakness applies though, so I''ve hesitated trying it out on myself. Now that I have a a test subject, I can try it out." Leo then cut Marshal''s hand to match his, and gripped it in his. Marshal was confused at first, until a throbbing pain spread throughout his body. He suddenly felt as if his senses were fine tuned, and his strength suddenly increased. He was amazed at what was happening, until a searing pain erupted from his bounds arms and legs.


    "AAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!" He cried out in pain. A sizzling sound was heard from the chains, as a small amount of smoke drifted into the air. Elder grandma and Iris were shocked at the result, while Leo just hung his head. He had asked Artemis if he was weak to silver, but the goddess had just told him to try it and find out. He didn''t want to risk a new werewolf getting out of his imprisonment though, so he had Jack forge some chains with silver, and a dagger to test it. He never told jack the reason for it though.


    Leo then continued his experiments for the next twenty minutes, before finally killing Marshal. The captains final moments were painful, but Leo didn''t prolong the suffering more than was necessary. After doing the deed, he had once again out on the gloves he used to chain the captain up, but elder grandma stopped him.


    "I''ll handle that, you just stay away from that stuff." She then took the dagger from him, and took the chains before they all left the cave. Leo turned to the other two, and said to them,


    "The fact that werewolves are weak to silver, only the three of us know about it. We never mention it again, and we might not ever need to worry about it, understood?" Not even elder grandma said anything back. They were shocked by what happened, but they both nodded their heads. Leo was right, there was no need to fear a weakness that no one knew.


    For the first time since the battle, Leo let go of his werewolf abilities. He turned to elder grandma and Iris and said,


    "You guys go on ahead. I want to get some fresh air for a bit." They both nodded and walked away, understanding that his first real battle must have drained him. Leo walked until he reached a river, and hurled everything he had in his stomach.

 55 Revulsion

    As Leo puked up everything he had eaten, he couldn''t help but think,


    ''WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?! I know I''m not a saint, but killing indiscriminately, and torturing someone?!'' Leo kept asking himself that, but he already knew the answer, the wolf inside him. Ever since the time he hurt Curly, Leo suspected that there was something inside him, the full moon just confirmed it. Then when he killed the behemoth, he considered it a monster so he didn''t pay it any attention. But today, he slaughtered dozens of people, then he tortured someone without a single thought.


    Leo continued puking as these thoughts ran through his brain. He then looked at his reflection and saw the blood still on him. Was it from the battle, or the torture? He didn''t know. Leo reached into the water and grabbed some sand and gravel, then started scrubbing his skin vigorously. He scrubbed until he bled, then healed and scrubbed some more. He only paused when he recalled something from earlier, and hurled some more. Finally there was nothing left in his stomach, and all he could do was dry heave.


    Leo continued this vicious cycle for nearly thirty minutes, until someone started rubbing his back. Leo turned and saw someone he didn''t expect, elder grandma. He suddenly felt ashamed, to react like this over what he led others to and participated himself with relish. He suddenly dry heaved some more. Leo turned back to her expecting disappointment or revulsion, ashamed of the one who married her adopted daughter and the one she wanted to be a king reacting this way. However all that was there, was tenderness, and care.


    "Here, this is for the stomach, and this is for the smell. I figured you''d need them, so I swiped then from Austin earlier." Leo was confused at her words, but quickly drank the one she said would help his stomach. Thankfully it finally calmed down, and Leo was able to start getting himself together again. Once he started calming down, he looked at elder grandma with confusion. She saw his look, and smiled gently while saying,


    "I know what you''re going through, I went through something similar. It''s a hard thing, taking a life for the first time. I was younger than you my first time, but I cried for days afterwords. I was concerned when I saw you indiscriminately killing earlier, but soon I realized it was the beast inside you. You''re lucky, you have an excuse while the rest of us are just monst-"


    "YOU''RE WRONG!!" Leo shouted suddenly. Elder grandma was startled, but Leo continued.


    "It''s not just a beast, the beats IS ME. It''s all the rage, and blood thirst, it brings all of it that''s in me out. I''m no different from a monster, no, worse than a monster. Because all I can do like that is kill, but I keep my head at the same time. It''s a terrible monster like the behemoth, but with the intelligence of a human."


    Leo didn''t want to hide behind the ''the monster made me do it'' excuse, he did it. That was it, that was the whole truth. Elder grandma was in deep thought. She had a general idea of what earth was like from the way Leo talked about it. From the way he described it, the actions he took today could be enough to label him as a lunatic. She then also thought about her first kill, she and Iris were both raised in environments that acknowledged the fact they''d have to kill one day. They had years of mental preparation, Leo had none. Her first kill had only been a couple people, while Leo slaughtered tons of them. The difference between them was staggering, but she saw a bit of hope. Leo had not lost all humanity and reveled in killing, neither had he become mentally broken from it either.


    She had an idea to remind Leo he was more than the beast. She needed to remind him about the good he brought, and give him ways to move past the despair. He already showed good signs, as he was still coherent. If he managed to move past this, it would show that his potential was even better than she originally thought, and that he would rise further than anyone else would expect.


    "Tell me, did you think about what good there is in your life to move onto after today? Like the wife waiting at home for your embrace for instance?" Leo looked up at her words. And she saw a bit more light in his eyes. She wanted to kick herself for what she was going to say next, but she knew that while not as bad as Leo, Iris needed him to go to her as well.


    "Iris went back already, she''s waiting for you as she always has, and always will. No matter how much of a monster you claim to be, isn''t she the one to always be at your side, or waiting for your return? Take my advise, spend tonight in passion with her, and you will forget completely about your feelings now. She needs it as much as you." Leo''s eyes brightened with her words. She was right. He was actually more surprised at her words, considering she threatened him before, but he looked at her and realized that she really didn''t want to say it.


    "Thank you, for everything." Leo told her sincerely. It wasn''t that he was exceptionally horny or something, but he knew elder grandma was trying to give him distractions. Leo got up, and did something he never did before, he hugged elder grandma. She looked shocked at his actions, and didn''t seem to know how to react.


    After separating from her, Leo drank the other bottle, and washed as much of himself as he could. He then raced home, before rushing through the door. Sitting there, was Iris. She had been waiting for him like elder grandma said, and from what Leo could see, she was going through the same things he had. Leo grabbed her, and pulled her into his arms, before pressing his mouth against hers.


    "I love you." He gasped a moment later. That night was one of the best he spent with her, and for once Artemis didn''t decide to ruin it.

 56 Meeting

    When Leo finally opened his eyes the next day, it was already past noon. It was acknowledged by everyone that due to the battle the day before, that they would all relax due to the mental and physical burdens. That was why, leo had done exactly what elder grandma recommended and embraced Iris until the sun had risen. He looked over at his still sleeping wife and smiled. It was rare that he woke before she did, and Leo was enjoying the shared warmth of her cuddling with him.


    It wasn''t meant to last though, when suddenly there was a knock at the door. Leo groaned, before getting up while throwing a blanket over Iris to cover her. He quickly dressed, while Iris started moving from the knocking waking her. Leo swiftly opened the door, and slipped outside before the interior could be seen, and came face to face with Jack.


    "Hey, morning. We''re setting up for the meeting, and giving everyone advanced warning before we start in an hour." Leo nodded at jacks words, and went back inside after he left, to find Iris still wasn''t dressed. She was instead doing stretches, while showing off her skin like it was the most natural thing ever. He knew she was doing it on purpose though, as evident from her smirk when she looked at him.


    "The meeting will start in an hour, we don''t have the time to-" Leo cut himself off however, when Iris did a stretch that gave him quite the view... ''One more round won''t hurt'' Leo thought to himself as he tackled Iris onto the bed once again. An hour later the two left after they finally dressed and Iris drank her tea, and went to the meeting.


    While they decided to rest today, they still needed to have a meeting regarding the battle, the service of those who died, and future actions they needed to take. After sending off the three who died, two warriors and a hunter, the whole village sat down to determine what they needed to do for the future. Leo waited for elder grandma or someone to start the discussion, but no one did. It wasn''t until Leo saw her looking at him that he realized she wanted him to lead the discussion. He groaned, but figured that with the plan he had in mind it was better this way, as he walked to the front and said to everyone,


    "I''m sure everyone knows why we''re here, but I''ll say it again just to make sure, we need to discuss what we''re going to be doing in the near future after yesterday''s attack." There were plenty of murmurs after he said that, as there were only about two choices for them.


    "So as far as I''m aware, the decisions stand as either staying and risking another attack, or leaving to find another place to live." Even though they knew what Leo was going to say, hearing him actually say it made the situation seem more real. Everyone started getting rowdy at the options due to the complications at both of them. The issue with staying was obvious, they didn''t have the numbers to be able to fight continuous battles. Leaving though meant having to pack up everything, attempt to establish another permanent residence in the mountains, and trying to have everything ready for the winter.


    "I know that we are short on options, but if we want to survive then we need to choose one or the other. I personally vote for finding a new home." A few seconds after Leo''s words fell, the entire place erupted as people tried to protest at how unrealistic an idea it was. Leo waited until they started calming down before stating his reasoning.


    "Every one of you know Iris and I will be leaving soon. When we do who is going to protect you from every attack? I don''t wish to belittle all of you, but the next time they send someone to kill us it won''t be just two hundred foot soldiers. How do you plan to defend with just the small numbers here?" At Leo''s question everyone was silent, thinking. It was at this point that Leo stated his intentions, the plan he came up with before falling asleep in the early morning.


    "That is why, I have decided to accept the position you have tried to give me, and become a king. But, a king needs subjects, so instead of a journey to fight the champions I will go to find those rejected by society. I will recruit those who will face similar trials in the coming days, same as us. And through them, we will build our kingdom!" Leo paused at this moment, waiting for those who would reject his plan.


    He had thought of this when trying to come up with solutions to prevent himself from relying on the beast. He recalled that elder grandma wanted him to become a king, so why not gather people to form an army? He won''t have to fight most battles if he had more numbers, but who would follow him? His answer, those about to be subjected to the purge. But being a king wasn''t just about soldiers, he needed farmers, craftsmen, normal citizens. So Leo decided, he would start with the one he figured would be most important to lay the foundation. Seeing no one was rejecting what he had to say, Leo continued.


    "Instead of leaving to find the other champions, I will leave first to find the dwarves, then the elves, and finally the beast men! I will gather those who are best in their fields, and together, will create an empire that won''t be threatened by the humans who follow Arthur. And finally after we manage to do all of this, then I will fight Arthur once and for all and end his reign of tyranny!" As Leo finished what he had to say, everyone was quiet. Then suddenly,


    Clap


    Clap


    Clap


    One by one everyone present started clapping, then suddenly everyone in the village was applauding Leo. He didn''t know what to do as the small audience cheered his plan. They all knew it was unrealistic, that there were several flaws, and that there was a huge chance of failure. However, they all saw that spark of drive in Leo''s eyes, and they knew, he would lead them to greatness.


    Leo didn''t mind the cheers of the rest of the villagers, he looked to find Iris and elder grandma, and saw them both beaming at him. Elder grandma because he was taking the first steps towards the destiny she wanted to help him towards. Iris because she was admiring the figure of her husband inspiring a mere fifty to sixty people to found a kingdom, and the thought that she would be walking side by side with him for the whole journey.

 57 Departure

    Leo looked around the small house, and felt a significant sense of sadness. This time tomorrow, the house will be nothing but ashes. It was two weeks since the meeting, and their last night in the village before Leo and Iris left to find the dwarves. The other villagers will be leaving at the same time, and all the houses will be burned down so that any armies looking for them won''t find the village, or use it for future expeditions.


    As he looked around, Leo thought about the various memories the small hut carried. He had been in this world for less than a year, but had experienced so much that it was a little overwhelming. As he thought about the various memories, a few tears started to trickle down his face. He met Iris here, received lessons on this worlds language from her, sat at the table and ate with elder grandma and the others. He knew however, that these memories won''t be the last though. At that moment, Iris opened the door and saw the tear tracks running down Leo''s face.


    "I didn''t realize i married such a crybaby." She said to tease him. Leo only smiled bitterly, and decided not to mention the fact that he woke from the puddle her tears left on the bed a few night back. He knew that to Iris, this house, this village was everything. She had been raised here and only left for hunting trips.


    Leo pulled her onto the bed with him, as they both laid back in silence. All that was left was the furniture. Everything else was packed, and what was left would join the house in the blaze. The things that were packed will go with the villagers in carts, and will be stored away so that they were available when Leo and Iris returned.


    After leaving, elder grandma would lead the villagers to Asdarge. There they will try to create a small settlement below the floating rock, as it would be inconvenient to have to travel up or down daily. The hope was that after recruiting them, the dwarves would be the ones to help rebuild the city and lay down the foundation for the future kingdom itself.


    As for the safety of the journey itself, only those with a death wish would travel the forest this way with so many noncombatants. Leo however managed to guarantee the safety of the people, by having Luna surround them with the wolves under her command. She will be the one in charge of securing their safe arrival, and protection until a real base could be established.


    Leo and Iris however, will head south. Thomas will be accompanying them until Lawrence city, then the two will set out on their own while he returned north to rejoin the others. As he had no idea where the dwarves actually were, they would have to travel around and try to find some rumors about their current whereabouts. As he was thinking about their travel plans, Iris suddenly rolled on top of him, and placed her lips onto his before saying,


    "I don''t want to think about depressing things. Let''s make our last night in this place a memorable one." Leo happily complied to her wish for the next several hours.


    The next day was somber, as everyone was leaving behind their whole lives, same as Iris. But when the ideas of what they might achieve in the future went through their heads, they found the situation much more bearable. After filling in the cave that housed the garden, they went and torched the houses one by one. They watched as the only place any of them were able to call home went up in flames, before starting the long journey.


    Everyone started down the single path that led down from the village. Luna was with elder grandma, and let out a long howl, that was answered by the many that would providing protection. Everyone said their goodbyes, as the caravan turned north, while Leo, Iris, and Thomas turned south. Their long journey began.


    ***


    Thousands of miles away, in the southern jungles of the continent, there was a deep canyon cutting through the jungle floor. It would not be anything strange, if not for the eerie black stoned castle being built in it. In the castle, was a great hall, and in the hall was a throne that was occupied.


    "Hehehehehehe, I wonder when I''ll be able to taste the sweet taste of my treacherous brothers blood? I''ll show him, for leaving me to die, while he went off to play with some bitch that had some pretty eyes." The speaker said, with the face and voice of a sweet sixteen year old girl. She sat on her throne, with a glass of what looked like a deep red wine in it. She drank from it as she looked down at the people assembled below her.


    There was a mix of those who served her, some were slaves, some she turned to vampires, the same as her. Then there were the ones who were mainly responsible for building the castle, who would normally be confused for slaves, if not for the obviously deadly injuries they had that none even seemed to register. She continued to drink from her glass, until one of the other vampires stepped forward.


    "Lady Emily! Should we not focus on expanding our power? We already control the majority of the villages in these southern jungles. We need to prepare for the oncoming purge, as you will certainly be targeted!" The man spoke out to his master. The girl suddenly had an ugly look, as she looked down at the man who dared question her.


    "Oh really? You think I need to jump and do something, just because you said I should?" She asked with a sweet smile. But the sweeter her smile was, the more terrified the man became.


    "Of course not lady Emily, I only meant to serve you to the best of my abilities. I mean no disrespect." Though the mans words were polite, he was shaking slightly as he seemed to feel the lord of death over him.


    "If what you wish is to serve, then I think a career change is in order." Before the man could react, she slowly lifted her hand, revealing the skull brand on her arm, and as her hand raised higher so did the man. As he struggled in the air, everyone watched in horror as thin streams of red started flowing from his pores. The streams of blood gathered into a single stream, that flowed through the air into the girls open mouth. As the last drop of blood drained from him, the corpse fell to the floor. As the unique existence of undead, all the vampires watched as the mans soul stood from the corpse, until the girl''s still raised hand started drawing darkness from the nearby shadows.


    The shadows converged on the soul, pushing it back down to the corpse. A moment later, the corpse stood once again, but with a dead look in its eyes as it joined the others in the construction.

 58 Felix

    Felix sat calmly outside the southern gate of Frontier town. He had on a cloak and eye patch, while he waited for someone to take pity on the poor beggar he currently was. He had been here for over a week, listening for any news of what became of the expedition north. He looked at one person passing by to get into the town.


    "Spare a coin?" His old raspy voice whispered out. The man, probably a farmer, looked at him with disgust and said,


    "Get away from me you filthy beggar, surprised you didn''t kick it during winter like most of you do." The man kept walking, showing his ID to the guard who was practically napping, before entering the town. Felix mentally sneered at the man, thinking he wasn''t much better than a beggar himself. He never understood these humans, with how the smallest difference in status seemed to make even the lowest classes feel like kings to others.


    Only a few more days until he''d leave, and return to scouting the humans cities. Ever since he started investigating the northern expedition, Felix had found that they''d been gone nearly two months, yet no one had heard or seen any of them since. He overheard some people talking about a mutant village hidden in the mountains, and the concerns of the people was that they were annihilated by them. If this was the case, then there must be hundreds, if not thousands of mutants there and they were worried about retaliation.


    Felix had laughed silently to himself when he heard this, because there was no way a village that sized would''ve gone unnoticed for so long. He knew that the further north you went, the more vicious and powerful the monsters were, so his conclusion was that it was a combination of the monsters and mutants. It wouldn''t be that hard to pick off tired soldiers when they had to fight monster after monster, especially when they lived there.


    It was this moment that Felix caught sight of the next people to enter the town. Two men, and what his senses told him was a woman under the cloak, all carrying what looked like furs. His instincts went off when Felix laid eyes on them, especially the dark red haired man. When they got close enough, Felix repeated with caution what he said before in his raspy voice,


    "Spare a coin?" When they heard him, unlike the farmer the man handed something to the woman who came and dropped it into the tin Felix laid out. Seizing the moment when she had dropped the coins, Felix reached out with his wrinkled and pale arm, and grabbed her hand, while crying out,


    "Thank ye gods that such a kind mister and missus let me eat tonight, bless ye lass!" The woman reacted when Felix grabbed her, while the man tensed up and was about to come forward, when he released the woman''s hand. The whole time he was muttering thanks like he wasn''t right in the head. The man wrapped his arm around the woman, while shooting a glare at Felix. They continued walking towards the gate.


    Felix was sweating, there was no way those two especially were ordinary humans. When he grabbed the woman''s arm, he felt as if the lord of death was about to descend on him from the way the man looked at him. He had also noticed, ordinary people had the stink of the humans all over them from their time in the towns or cities. None of those three did, as if they had never spent any time in a human city, they did however have the smell of the forest on them. Felix thought about the missing soldiers, and his exposed eye narrowed. If they had anything to do with them, then they were too dangerous to let live, especially that man.


    He walked through the wall, and his image shimmered slightly, as he waited for them to finish entering the city.


    ***


    Leo was on edge. This was his first time entering a town since he had arrived in this world. Due to the fact that he and Iris weren''t human however, he was worried about being found out, and being dragged into fights unnecessarily. They had spent the last week traveling after leaving the village. Since they waited until the full moon passed before leaving, Leo still had almost three more weeks until the next one. One of the biggest things he was concerned about, was what he would do during the full moon while traveling. He pushed those thoughts away though, and focused on entering the town they were about to reached.


    In order to minimize suspicion, they had taken the long way and gone to the southern gate. They even had some money to pay any entrance fees, since Thomas told them that it varied on wether or not they''ll have to pay any fees. Then, in order to ensure that they wouldn''t be short on expenses for a while, they had saved many of the skins from their kills while traveling to sell.


    Iris though seemed even more nervous than Leo. She had taken his advice about growing out her bangs, and she also had a hooded cloak over her face to ensure no one saw her eyes. It might seem suspicious, but the story they had prepared was that she was mauled by a high wolf, and was left heavily scarred and half blind as a result.


    As they approached the city, Leo saw an aged beggar sitting a distance from the wall. He felt it was suspicious however, due to the fact that the winters here were quite intense, so he thought it was strange that such an old beggar would be able to survive it. He handed Iris some copper coins, and quietly whispered,


    "That beggar is somewhat suspicious, go give these to him and see if there''s anything unusual about him." Iris nodded, and walked over to give him the coins. However, the moment she did he grabbed onto her arm and started ranting about something. Leo didn''t care what he said though and his killing intent became directed at the old man, before he quickly released iris''s arm. As she walked back over to him, Leo put his arm around her as if to protect her, and they continued to the gate.


    As if he had been thoroughly scared, Leo could suddenly smell the old mans scent with sweat, but what caught his attention was that his scent wasn''t human. Leo quickly looked back at him, only to find the old man vanished. He memorized that mans scent, hoping that was just imagining things, and arrived at the gate.


    "Need to see ID''s to enter." The guard said lazily. Leo fished out his ID, while Iris and Thomas did the same. They all pricked their fingers, and dropped some blood to verify them. Leo and Iris had cards personally prepared by Artemis, so both of theirs said human under races. He had been concerned however, due to the followers number on it, so Artemis changed it to only those who followed him could see it. He had been depressed, due to the fact that after the wedding the number jumped to count everyone in the village; but it and dropped when the three people died during the attack.


    After they verified the ID''s, Thomas led the way into the town. According to him, it was called Frontier town due to the fact it was the northern most point of civilization, and considered on the frontier. It was one of the several towns in the vicinity. When Thomas had been explaining however, Leo felt a gaze, and turned to see a pretty young woman staring at him. When she noticed his gaze however, she shot him a wink and disappeared into the crowds. He glared at the direction she vanished in, and turned back to the discussion.


    As they walked further into town, Thomas led them to the local tanner to sell the skins. The smell alone was almost enough to knock Leo and Iris out though. As they approached someone, Leo walked forward and said,


    "Who do we talk to about selling the furs we have?" The man looked up, and his eyes widened from seeing the amount of furs they had. He straitened himself, and said,


    "You''re looking at him, Tanner the tanner at your service." Leo wanted to laugh at the name, but limited himself to a small smile. He didn''t want to annoy their potential money source. Tanner led the way to his shop from the tanning vats, and they started getting to business.


    "We need to sell these for traveling expenses, as we need to reach Lawrence city. But we might be traveling a lot in the future, since furs would be our main source of income it would be nice to know a decent place to sell them." Leo casually mentioned them returning in the future so that Tanner would be more honest with prices, as he would most likely be seeing them again. Tanner, hearing that they might return in the future, and seeing how skillfully the furs were skinned, decided to be a bit more lenient with the price. Not too much though, since he needed to ensure a profit.


    In the end, Leo walked away with one gold coin, and five silver coins. He was suddenly glad for the extra training elder grandma had him do, to listen to heart rates and see facial cues with his heightened senses, when someone was bluffing and to haggle better. He added their new wealth, and counted one gold coin, twenty five silver coins, and thirty copper coins. Leo had learned that it was fifty copper coins to one silver, and fifty silver coins to one copper. All the coins had the image of the sun on one side, and a handsome guy with a fierce look on the other. He figured the guy was Arthur.


    After selling the furs Thomas led them to an inn, where Leo booked two rooms for the next two nights for twenty coppers total. Then Thomas and Iris left to explore the town and listen for news, while Leo would stay in the tavern of the inn and eavesdrop. After a couple hours of drinking and listening though, and he had nothing except people being worried about the lack of news regarding the expedition north. Leo tried to not look guilty when he heard this, and eventually returned to the room to wait for Thomas and Iris.


    Though he was immune to the effects of alcohol, the comfort of the bed after a week of the ground called Leo to dreamland. Leo quickly locked the doors and windows since Iris knocking would wake him up, and started to slumber. He didn''t know how much time passed though. When he felt someone press against him, waking him up and he opened his eyes to see Iris on top of him. He didn''t register that he didn''t hear her come in, and only enjoyed her embrace. As she pressed her lips against his, Leo managed to ask,


    "So when exactly did you guys get back?" With a smirk. She smiled while answering, and said,


    "Just now, I let myself in, for a surprise." Something didn''t seem quite right to Leo, as he continued kissing her. But when he inhaled through his nose, he suddenly opened his eyes, and grabbed her by the throat. Iris started coughing as he lifted her into the air by her throat, and looked at him with pleading eyes. Leo looked at Iris with rage in his eyes, as they started glowing orange. He spat out at her,


    "Who the hell are you, and why are you impersonating my wife?!" ''Iris'' opened her eyes in shock at his own eyes and words. But she didn''t answer, only for Leo to tighten his grip on her throat. She reached a hand around her back, and pulled out a knife that she sank into his side. Leo flinched, before grabbing the handle with his free hand, and pulled out the blade. He let the blade drop, and looked back to the fake, before slamming him fist into her jaw, and knocking her out.


    At that moment he heard a commotion on the other side of the door, and unlocked and opened it to see the real Iris and Thomas on the other side. They were surprised to see the fake on the floor, before Leo quickly took the rope they had, and started tying her sitting on a chair. He then explained what happened, before leaving them to watch over her so he could rinse out his mouth.


    That done, he returned and literally slapped the fake awake. She woke up with a start, but before she could say anything Leo got behind her and grabbed her neck in a loose grip. He then explained to her,


    "I locked the windows and door before napping, there''s no way you could enter the room with out me noticing unless you could walk through walls. Forgive me for not taking chances." The fake laughed at his thoroughness, and said,


    "I knew it, you''re a champion aren''t you?" Leo didn''t day anything, and only said,


    " Iris, check her arm. The only people that would have those kinds of powers are other champions." She ripped the fakes sleeve, and exposed the brand shaped with a mask and two daggers.


    "Loki!" Thomas suddenly said, recognizing the symbol. The fake laughed with iris''s voice, which annoyed Leo so he ordered,


    "Shift back into your true form!" She stopped laughing, and her form shimmered for a moment before it turned into the pretty girl who winked at him earlier. Leo knew this was another disguise though, and said,


    "I said you''re true form!" Surprising the girl for a moment. She looked thoughtfully at Leo, before her form shimmered once more, and there sat an extremely good looking young man. He was no older than Leo, but what caught his attention was the fox ears and tail. The beast man laughed bitterly and said,


    "Nice to meet you, my name is Felix."

 59 Felixs tale

    Leo was busy gurgling the highest concentration alcohol the tavern had, and Felix was laughing himself silly even after being given a bright red handprint, courtesy of the wife of the man that he had just been making out with. Thomas was standing silently by himself, with a similar handprint after they heard him laughing himself when he went to get the alcohol. Once Leo was done, he spit out the window, and closed it to continue business.


    "Let''s start talking, shall we?" Felix was still giggling, but knew that if he didn''t cooperate they might actually kill him, so he sobered up quickly. Leo took another look at Felix, he had the usual cocky good looking boy attitude, when he wasn''t making a fool of others. Felix looked at Leo in return, and said,


    "I would love to talk to you, but I''m kinda uncomfortable with this seating. Mind if we remove the ropes?" Felix asked politely. Leo just straight stared at him and replied,


    "You and I both know you don''t need our help getting out of those ropes." Felix shrugged, and the ropes just fell right through him before he threw them away.


    "If I used my blessings to get out of those ropes, then how did you know I wouldn''t use it to run away?" He asked curiously. Leo suddenly grinned evilly, and replied,


    "Because, we''re talking politely right now, if you ran then I''d track you down and kill you just like that. Don''t doubt me on that, thanks to your stunt I know your scent perfectly now, you can''t hide even by changing form." Felix''s smile fell, and he started sweating again. He never thought that these people would have better senses than a beast man. He still wasn''t sure what they even were, he never heard of humans having beast man senses. Even half breeds had some physical traces of their beast origins.


    "What are you?" He asked in wonder. Leo looked thoughtful for a second, then replied,


    "Get me to trust you, and I''ll tell you. Let''s start with all of your blessings, shall we?" Felix decided that he wouldn''t lose much by telling them his third blessing anyways, and said,


    "Well, you know about the shapeshifting, and the walking through walls, and I can also tell when someone''s lying. So I''ll know if you''re being truthful or not." This was why he didn''t doubt their threats to kill him, he knew he was telling the truth when he said it.


    "What a coincidence, I can use my senses to tell if you''re being truthful or not as well. This should go a lot better than I thought. Next question, what are you doing here in the human cities?" Felix pondered how to answer the question without giving away secrets that weren''t his, and answered,


    "I''m here to gather intelligence before the purge." He left it only at that, since he didn''t say for who specifically, and didn''t say what intelligence he was after. Plus since they just wanted to talk, then he might be able to gain some allies for the coming battles. He then decide to ask his questions.


    "Now you, what are you and where does your loyalties lie?" Leo pondered the question, before answering.


    "I''m a werewolf, and my loyalties lay towards those I care about, who like my beautiful wife will be victims of the purge." At Leo''s words Iris dropped her hood for the first time and showed Felix her eyes. Felix went wide eyed at the hopeful allies he found. If they were against the humans like him then he might come out ahead, but there was something bothering him.


    "What is a werewolf? Is it some kind of wolf beast man?" Felix had never heard about these beast men, so he thought it was some kind of new hybrid or something. Leo only smiled and started stripping.


    "HEY, I know some things were kinda weird before, but i don''t actually swing that way!" Felix cried out, but before he managed to close his eyes, Leo finished stripping and suddenly started getting bigger. Felix watched in fascination and horror, as Leo grew to seven feet tall, barely being able to keep from hitting the ceiling. He grew fur all over his body that matched his hair, and sharp claws pointed out from each finger and toe. Felix felt really grateful that they managed to come to an understanding.


    When Leo changed back, Felix got on his knees and pressed his forehead into the floor. He had only heard of transforming beast men being champions of the ancestor beast gods, Apis, Babi, and Bast to name only a few. All other beast men were completely unable to change, Felix was one such beast man due to the fact that the god he served was Loki, who wasn''t one of the ancestor gods. What he saw before him though, was not one of the ancestor gods doing, it was something different, more powerful, and deserved being worshipped.


    "Please forgive this ones errors! I was not aware of the greatness I was in the presence of! Please, lend your support to the beast men in upcoming purge!" Felix wasn''t stupid. Leo never mentioned that he would help them, only that he wasn''t with the humans. So he decided that he needed to get Leo''s help on his side no matter what. Leo got dressed again, and was watching Felix''s sudden change in attitude.


    "I already planned to ally myself with the beast men, just not at the moment. I''ll need their help to face Arthur later-" Leo suddenly stopped talking, from the moment he mentioned Arthur, an intense killing intent radiated from Felix.


    "You want to fight Arthur? I want in." Felix said with determination set in his eyes. Leo could tell that there was some really bad blood there, and he asked Felix,


    "What happened between you and Arthur?" Leo knew that the non humans in general hated him, but Felix was definitely different in his hatred. It was personal. Felix looked as if he fought with something internally, but started telling his story.


    "I grew up in a village away from the main territory of the fox clan ruled by Inari. She would choose a champion that would rule over the fox clans, and through them directly guide us. The champion was always a young maiden, Inari would activate the nine tails trait in her next chosen champion and the second tail would grow by their eleventh birthday. Every year after they would grow another tail, until the ninth one grew on their eighteenth birthday. The girl would always have to maintain her purity, or be abandoned by both Inari and the people.


    "Once the ninth tail grew, they would go to the main territory and train to become the next champion of Inari, and head priestess. I have a cousin, named Felicia, she was like an older sister to me. She was supposed to be the next champion. She was seven years older, so when I was ten she was seventeen, about to turn eighteen and travel to start her training. Due to how close we were, I got special permission to go with her and train to be her guardian. But, just a few days before we left, HE came, Arthur.


    "It was the afternoon, and I heard people screaming. When I ran to the town center I was grabbed by some woman, one of his wives, and dragged to the middle of the center with everyone else. He walked slowly around us, and demanded the next nine tails. When one of his wives grabbed her, I tried to stop them. She was dragged out in front of us, and I yelled out, ''leave my sister alone you bastard!''. One of the wives stepped forward, and was about to hit me, but he stopped her.


    "''What''s your name?'' He asked me. Before I could say anything Felicia cried out, ''Felix! Get back!''. He looked between us, and said to the one holding me, ''bring him forward''. I was placed in front of my sister, and he told to me, ''Felix, this is how this is going to go, I''m going to **** your sister in front of every person here. You will get the best seat in the house! If you don''t like it, then come and get me when you get older.'' And that''s exactly what he did. I was forced to watch as my sister was stripped, and had her purity stolen from her in front of the entire village.


    "The worst part of it was, at first she cried and tried to fight him. Later however, she started to make noises of pleasure, and not long after she was begging for more. She went from a pure girl who would never make those kinds of sounds, to a bitch in heat because of him. After he thoroughly broke her, he placed a collar on her and left with his new toy. He didn''t have any of us killed. That was probably the most humiliating part of it, he came, and took what he wanted and didn''t even try to act like we were a threat to him doing so.


    "It was only a few hours later when the main forces from the clans arrived with the current champion. While Inari possessed her, she got down on her hands and knees and begged for our forgiveness. A goddess begged for us to forgive how she couldn''t help my sister. It was then that I decided, I will do very thing in my power to bring that prick to justice. If I can''t kill him, then I''ll just try to cut off the prick''s prick and shove it down his throat, then he could never do to anyone else what he did to my sister."


    When Felix finished his story, Leo felt rage deep in his body. He didn''t doubt any of what Felix said, he couldn''t fake all of that rage, and he didn''t show any signs of lying. He heard about Arthur''s tyranny, but never from a direct sufferer. To elder grandma he was a conquerer, not a villain. Felix looked Leo in the eye, and said,


    "If you promise to kill that prick someday, my life is yours from this day forward. Swear to your God, and I''ll do the same." Felix''s words surprised Leo, swearing to his goddess was an ultimate oath. If he ever failed then it was her duty to ensure he was punished for it, in this life or the next. Elder grandma could be considered an example of it, even though hers was a different situation. Leo returned Felix''s gaze, and rolled up his sleeve before pressing his fingers against his brand,


    "I swear, that I will kill Arthur one day, no matter how long it takes." Felix nodded, and placed his fingers on his own brand,


    "I swear, that as long as I live, my blade and my life belong to Leo. I will be his shadow, and eliminate his enemies so long as I live." Felix felt the pressure meaning the oath was complete, and he looked at his new master. When he thought about it, he realized that Inari was probably going to be pissed.

 60 New ally

    After Felix finished his vow, Leo suddenly felt a surge of power, and felt his pocket suddenly heating up. He pulled out the source of the heat, and saw that it was his ID card. He saw that there was a new change, and it brought a smile to his face. Along with the followers stat, was a new number.


    Followers-56


    Elite followers-1


    Leo figured the elite option was for when he recruited champions. Which confused him briefly because it did t seem to count elder grandma, then again she probably didn''t count as a real champion when she lost her blessings. He attributed the surge of power to Felix being a champion, and figured that even if they weren''t a direct combat champion it still gave him more strength than a normal person.


    While Leo was looking at his ID card, he suddenly heard cries of pain coming from Felix. He looked over and saw Iris trying to crush Felix''s head with her claws. Leo was about to call her off, but her next words stopped him.


    "Now that you got the pressing issues out of the way, I would like to know why you decided to make out with my husband while LOOKING LIKE ME!!!" Leo decided that he wanted to hear Felix''s reason too, especially since he said he didn''t actually swing that way. He was also somewhat annoyed at him impersonating Iris. Felix saw he wasn''t getting any help, and quickly explained.


    "I figured it was the best idea to get him to let his guard down. Most people who are powerful keep a guard up even when they sleep, plus I knew he was cautious of me from the moment we met in front of the gate. For all I knew it was a trap to lure me in for the kill. It wasn''t the first time I seduced a guy in the form of a girl, and I doubt it''ll be the last; but anything goes to get the target."


    When Leo heard his reasoning, he felt quite a bit of pity and respect for Felix. Not many guys were willing to put aside their pride and take a girls form to sleep with another guy for a chance at their life. After hearing his reason, Leo decided he suffered enough.


    "Go ahead and let him go Iris, I''m sure he''s learn his lesson." But as Iris released Felix''s head, Leo walked over and gripped his shoulder. He applied pressure and said to Felix,


    "I don''t think I need to say this, but I''m going to anyway. If you ever turn into my wife again, I won''t stop her from getting ahold of you; and if you ever use her form for anything questionable, not even Loki will be able to protect you." Leo had on a kind smile, even though his words were anything but. Felix was once again drenched in a cold sweat. After things settled down, they sent Felix to Thomas''s room and two days later, it was time to move on.


    They had decided to depart early in the morning after their second night in Frontier town. Since Felix was about to leave the town anyways, he joined them as they traveled to Lawrence city. After leaving the town behind them, Leo started talking about his plans for taking on Arthur, and the details about his pack ability. When he heard that Leo grew stronger with each follower he gained, Felix jumped right onto the idea of Leo ruling the beast men, as it would only help him get strong enough to take on Arthur.


    When Leo explained the reason that he wanted to recruit the dwarves first, Felix nodded his head in agreement. There was no point in gaining so many subjects if there was no place for them yet. However, he explained that instead of trying to recruit the entire beast race at once, Leo should have someone travel to the villages near Asdarge and send them to the safety he could provide. Since it was undiscovered so far, it was a lot safer there than the villages that have been known about for years.


    Leo figured it wasn''t a bad idea, as they could help get the farms started, and used the mirror to report to elder grandma about Felix and his idea. At first she didn''t trust him, but when Leo mentioned that Felix swore on Loki to serve him, she became a lot more accepting. She said that she''ll send people to the locations Felix mentioned, and hopefully they''ll have their first official allies.


    Leo had noticed one thing about Felix that disturbed him though, after they finished discussing all the heavy stuff the day before, he switched back into the cocky attitude. It made it harder to read him when he changed the way he acted so skillfully. One moment he was cocky, then he was pleading with Leo, then he was filled with an indescribable bloodlust. The switches were so quick that he had a hard time keeping track of which one was the "real" Felix. Finally he asked him about.


    "Felix, how do you change your expressions and attitude so skillfully?" Surprised at the question, he turned to face Leo. After they called the first meeting to a close, Felix had used his ability to hide both his ears and his tails, but he still had the same look as when he introduced himself. He pondered Leo''s question for a moment before answering.


    "It was the first thing Loki taught me before becoming his champion. When Felicia was taken, I was nothing but a bundle of rage, and I didn''t care who knew it. I lost myself in training with short swords or daggers, and prayed to whichever God would take me. It wasn''t for another year when I was eleven that Loki answered. He said that I had to learn from him before he accepted me though, and his first lesson was to hide my rage. He said that if I could fool myself, then I could fool others. It''s this training that put my ability to impersonate others to use, because if I only acted as myself then I would always be found out immediately."


    Leo was thoughtful at Felix''s answer, envious that he had time to train before becoming a champion. He got blackmailed into it when he didn''t even know which way was up. As this thought went through his head for the hundredth time, he could have sworn that he heard Artemis laughing in the back of his mind again, and mentally told her to shut the hell up.


    They spent the next several weeks traveling, only truly stopping when Leo had to leave for the full moon. Leo had to pray that he didn''t end up eating a farmer or something during the night. Luckily the night passed without incident, and they continued on the way to Lawrence city. After nearly a month and half after leaving the village, they finally saw a spread out city and large wall in front of it,waiting for them in the distance.

 61 Awkward reunion

    As they approached Lawrence city, Felix took off into the brush to avoid the gate. Even though he had been investigating in the cities he obviously didn''t have an ID card due to being a beast man. Whenever they arrived at a town, he would disappear and reappear when they entered the walls.


    "ID card if you please." The guard said routinely. Leo was surprised and silently praised the guards good attitude. He handed over the card after dripping some blood on it, and a moment later received it back and guard motioned for them to go in. Once Leo was inside the gates, he was deeply impressed at the city.


    Unlike the various towns and villages they had passed, there was a brick road going into the city, with gutters lining the sides for waste. The houses were made with a combination of stone and wood compared to the usual wood only buildings they had seen the whole way; and not to mention two story, some were even up to four! Most of the buildings that Leo saw after leaving the village were like they were from a medieval movie, and lacking compared to the village that promoted the use of magic and chi, while the normal towns didn''t. He looked to Thomas to ask some questions, but he quickly shook his head before Leo could and explained,


    "I don''t know much about Lawrence city, I was only here once when I was just a kid. Anyways, I only plan to stay for two days before returning." Leo nodded his head in understanding, but at that moment


    "Then I''ll go ahead and answer anything you want to ask, after all this is where I spent quite some time before heading north you know." Felix had reappeared out of nowhere, and offered to answer Leo''s questions. From that point the two were going back and forth with questions and answers the whole way until they reached the inn they were going to stay at.


    The inn was a cozy place that seemed to see a fair amount of customers. Leo paid for the two rooms, and they all went up to store their items and rest until dinner time. Leo and Iris however decided to make use of the soundproof barrier that elder grandma taught Iris before leaving, and by the time they went to dinner both of them were looking very "refreshed".


    Since Thomas wouldn''t be able to drink much the next night in order to leave early, Leo decided they should have a small farewell that night for him. For the first time Felix experienced the immunity Leo had towards alcohol when he tried to out drink him. Iris didn''t touch her ale much and was content just spending time with the other three, even though she had to keep her hood up. Suddenly the cozy atmosphere was disturbed when the door slammed open, and a man staggered into the tavern.


    "SCOTTY! Gish me a damn ale!" There was a slight slur to his words, and Leo knew it would probably get worse over the next few hours. He seemed to be in a partially bad mood, and Leo was about to say they should call it a night, when the man suddenly yelled over everyone else in the bar on a drunken rant.


    "THISH ONE ISH FOR THE PURGE! Wipe out all thoshe damn freakshes, and good riddansh!" Leo frowned at the mans behavior, and was about to say something before noticing that though the people didn''t agree with his obnoxious attitude, they did agree with some of his words. Leo was quite thankful that Iris was facing away from the man, and had her hood up so there wasn''t unneeded trouble. He leaned over to one of the other tables, as Iris and the other two tried to keep to themselves, and asked someone there,


    "What''s the deal with the town drunk over here?" The man chuckled slightly at Leo''s words, and answered him,


    "That''s Shane over there, he''s not really liked much but this purge is accepted so people agree with him tonight. It''s a rare thing that they do, even though he comes in here and rants about mutants every other night. The way he talks about them you''d think their gonna be the end of the world." Leo was a little agitated at the mans words, but didn''t say anything. He looked over and Shane was indeed harassing some people, but they didn''t do anything about, and the bartender even pretended not to see it. He turned back to the man and asked,


    "If he''s not really liked, why do people tolerate what he''s doing? Why not tell him to back off? And why does he hate mutants so much?" Leo didn''t want to ask this many questions, but the more he looked at Shane the more he almost felt a sense of familiarity. He was wondering why this was. The man was more than happy to talk once Leo passed him another ale though.


    "See, Shane used to be in the military, so he knows chi. If anyone tries to mess with him he''ll teach them a lesson, of course that''s only if they live through it. He fought in the mutant uprising a few decades ago to boot, must have been right before you were born. He lost quite a few friends, and lost touch with those who lived through it when he started drinking. His hatred intensified after he returned though, for some reason. There''s a few theories, like how his wife who was pregnant gave birth to mutant baby, but it''s never been proven. One is that mutants stole his child instead and he''s never forgiven them."


    Leo thanked the man, and started thinking. He felt it would be best to return to the room once again, but stopped once the door opened again and his jaw practically hit the floor. In walked a woman, who walked up to Shane and tried to talk him into going home. He started yelling and cursing at her though, in response. When Thomas looked to see what Leo was looking at, he also went into brief shock, and started becoming slightly worried. Iris noticed the two''s looks, and asked,


    "What is she that beautiful?" She couldn''t see her due to her still facing away from them, and Leo was stuck at trying to find an answer. He then decided that they have to get back to the room NOW, but when he stood up he caught Shane''s eye apparently.


    "HEY! Shtay right there!" Shane started walking over, and Leo started sweating, the entire time the mans wife was trying to stop him. He stopped right in front of Leo, who had moved between him and Iris. Shane however pointed to the hooded Iris, and said with clarity for the first time,


    "Tell your freaky friend to take of his hood!" The entire tavern was silent as they watched the show. Before leo could say anything though, the mans wife tried to plead with him again.


    "Please leave them alone, let''s just go home. I can get a pot of t-" the woman was suddenly cut off as the man backhanded her, to neither the taverns surprise, or apparently hers. Leo became enraged at the act, but held it in check. He couldn''t afford to have the orange eyes appear here. He forcefully calmed himself, and steadily said to the still waiting Shane,


    "My WIFE was mauled by a high wolf on the road a few weeks ago, she lost the sight in one eye and has several leftover scars. I would appreciate not having to force her to show herself in front of the whole tavern." Leo recited their arranged story, but no one in the tavern apparently bought it.


    "I''ve heard that story a hundred times, do you think any of us are so stupid as to believe it?" Knowing he found a mutant to bear his wrath, Shane''s wits returned at an amazing pace as if his previous slurring had all been an act. Shane then reached out as if to hit Leo for lying to him. Leo reacted to guard himself, but it wasn''t until a second later that he realized he was tricked. Shane''s real target was iris''s hood.


    He grabbed a fist full of the cloth, and yanked it back to for fully reveal her face to the whole tavern. As he did so, she turned and shot a glare at him, only to go into shock along with every other person in the tavern except Leo and Thomas. Her gaze was originally directed at Shane, but the woman behind him caught her eye and stunned her. The reason was because the two looked almost exactly alike.


    The only differences between Iris and the woman was that the woman was noticeably more aged, had a bruise forming on her cheek, and didn''t have iris''s golden eyes. The woman stared at Iris in equal shock, and looked directly at her eyes. She then said to Iris,


    "Mary?"

 62 Mother and daughter

    "Mary?" The woman said silently, but due to the tavern being dead silent, everyone heard her. The woman had tears start showing in her eyes, as she tried to reach out to Iris.


    "Mary! It is you! I know those eyes anywhere! It''s your mother Hilda, I''m so happy you''re alive!" At this point the woman reached out and tried to take iris''s hands, only for her to slap them away. Iris had the look of a demoness, as she looked at the woman who she grew up believing threw her away. She looked at the woman, and only said four words,


    "My name is Iris!" As she fixed her with a cold stare. Hilda''s tears ran down her face to fall onto the floor at her feet at her daughters rejection of her. It was this point that Shane who had also gone into shock, became aware of the situation. He recalled the woman that took the thing his wife birthed away, and was filled with fear for a brief moment. When he didn''t see her around though, he grew bold and fixed his glare onto Iris. Iris''s attention was switched to Shane as she detected his hostility.


    "I threw you away you little freak bitch, did you return so I could finish the job?" Shane sneered at her, it was this point that Leo stopped looking at Hilda and turned his attention back to Shane. At this moment however, Hilda moved suddenly between Shane and Iris shocking the whole tavern. Where there was only defeat a moment before, her eyes blazed with fury as she tried to protect her daughter, even if she didn''t accept her. She had only taken his abuse before, but now she spoke to him clearly,


    "Don''t you lay a single finger on her! I failed to protect her all those years ago, and I won''t repeat the same mistake!" Leo found her courageous actions admirable, which was why when Shane reached forward Leo grabbed his arm. Shane looked at him in surprise, but Leo only had a smile on his face as he introduced himself.


    "My name is Leo, sir and madam, I believe it''s more proper to introduce my self as your son-in-law though." Before Shane had time to register Leo''s words, he kicked him clear across the room onto a table where he stayed down. Hilda took a moment before she realized what Leo said, and recalled he said Iris was his wife earlier. She then started looking him up and down as if appraising him. Hilda quickly turned her attention back to Iris however, and tried to talk to her.


    "M- Iris, please let me talk to you. Even if you don''t want me in your life, just let me say what I want to. Please just let me apologize..." As she finished her sentence Hilda started crying again, all her fury from a moment ago lost. Iris was about to refuse her with a glare, but Leo quickly grabbed her and walked a slight distance away.


    "Iris, I think we should listen to what she wants to say." Iris looked as if she had been betrayed as she protested.


    "Did you forget he just said he threw me away, if elder grandma hadn''t gotten me I probably would have died! And you want me to try to forgive them?!" Leo nodded as he heard her words, but in his mind he had the thought Shane threw her away not Hilda. In elder grandmas story she had only met Shane, and Hilda said she wasn''t able to protect Iris. This along with the way she acted tonight, Leo felt it would be best to attempt to form a relationship with Hilda at least. He decided to use his secret weapon in this argument, even if it was a low blow.


    "I only know if it was me, I would give an arm and a leg to see my parents or sister again." Iris flinched noticeably at Leo''s words. He told her about the accident, even if she didn''t understand some of the words he used like "airplane". So she knew that chances were high that Leo''s familywas dead, or even if they miraculously survived, as a lost person there was no way Leo would ever see them again. When she compared their situations, she at least had a chance to form a relationship with her mother; she knew there was no denying the connection. Looking at the way she acted, it was like she was throwing a temper tantrum.


    "I suppose we could at hear her out..." As she wasn''t speaking quietly, Hilda beamed when she heard her accept. Leo then turned to her and said,


    "I know it is late at night ma''am, but do you mind if we intrude on you for a bit?" Even though it was almost the middle of the night, Leo felt they had to do this as quickly as possible so Iris didn''t change her mind. Hilda''s smile widened even further at his words.


    "Of course, my house isn''t far from here and I can put on some tea." Her husband completely forgotten, Hilda quickly led the way to the door. Leo leaned over to Felix, and said,


    "Take care of Shane for me, don''t do any thing too drastic for now though." Felix nodded at Leo''s words, and he also went to the counter before leaving.


    "How much for the table and chairs?" He asked in order to pay for the damage. The bartender just shook his head though, while looking scared that Leo might try to do something to him if he asked for money. Leo sighed, and reached into his coin pouch and pulled out five silver coins.


    "For the damages, the rest can go towards drinks for your patrons." Hearing Leo''s words the bartenders eyes went wide, and the customers cheered. He knew it was quite steep for repairs, but figured it might earn some silence regarding Iris being a mutant. Even if it didn''t, they might drink enough to forget most of the details. Settling the matters, Leo followed Hilda out and towards her house.

 63 Meeting the family

    As Leo and Iris left with Hilda, Felix was arranging it so that Shane would be out of the way for a while. He had kept a stash of herbal ingredients for poisons, and mixed something that would keep Shane knocked out for the next few days without killing him. He then stashed him on a barge that was about to leave, even at this time of night, and then returned to the inn. He had interpreted Leo''s words to not do something drastic as killing him, so he considered this quite mild.


    ***


    Leo and Iris were following Hilda through the streets of Lawrence city. She didn''t say anything though, and just silently led them to her house. Leo wasn''t sure if she was quiet from anxiety, or if she was purposely waiting until they arrived at her home. As they were walking, Leo swiped the mirror from Iris''s pack, figuring this was something that needed elder grandmas input.


    Not long after they left the inn, they arrived at a two story house that looked quite cozy. Leo looked up at it and saw some light upstairs, he realized that Iris must have some brothers or sisters or something. Hilda stopped and pointed to the house,


    "This is my home, and where you were born Ma-, Iris. Let''s go inside, I''ll get some tea started and you can meet your brothers." Iris had a look as if she didn''t know what to think, especially when Hilda mentioned that she had brothers. Leo then patted iris''s back, and said,


    "I''ll be a couple minutes, until I join you guys you should talk a little bit and learn more about each other before jumping into the heavier stuff." Iris gave Leo a look like he abandoned her, and Hilda had a look as if she wasn''t sure what to think. Leo gently pushed Iris into the doorway, and turned around to walk towards the alleyway. There he pulled out the mirror, and activated it to talk to elder grandma. Nothing happened for a moment, then her image showed up on the tiny piece of glass.


    "Leo? What''s going on, where''s Iris?" Even though it was the middle of the night, Leo could see quite a bit of light, as well as Natalie and Jack on her end. In the background as well, he could see the wooden siding of what looked like a new house. He was somewhat excited because this meant they were building houses already, as the last time they talked to elder grandma they were living in tents. He was now a little anxious as well, because he wasn''t sure how elder grandma would react to this situation.


    "Well you see, she''s currently talking to her mother, and her brothers..." The threes faces on the other end froze as they registered Leo''s words, then from elder grandmas, he saw a flash of confusion, realization, then finally fury.


    "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN HER MOTHER?!!!!" Leo realized this was probably the first time he ever heard her yell. The next couple minutes he just stood there as she rained several profanities onto him, him being a worthless bastard was the most tame insult she used. After she ranted for nearly three minutes, Natalie wrestled the mirror away from, a feat that surprised Leo, and asked him for specifics.


    He then explained the details of what happened after they got to Lawrence. Natalie was nodding and thinking, while elder grandma looked like she was thinking about if she should roast him on a spit, or flame broil him. After he caught them up to the present, Natalie asked him,


    "So what is it you''re trying to do?" Leo answered,


    "If Hilda truly wants to be in iris''s future, then it would be best if they come to some kind of understanding. If not, then at least Iris would get some kind of closure from all this. As for Shane, I''ll think about what to do with him later, I don''t really like the idea of killing my own father-in-law." They all sighed at their end, needing more information than what they had. Natalie then suggested to Leo,


    "Leave the mirror going and slide it into your pocket, we''ll listen to the discussion, and make a decision from there." Leo nodded, and slid the mirror into his pocket before returningto the house. He knocked to alert them of his arrival, and walked in to find Iris and Hilda sitting at a table, with three other guys who looked to be triplets. As he looked at them, they all had the same face, obviously taking after Shane like Iris did Hilda. They looked to be on their early twenties, twenty five at the oldest. When he walked in, Hilda suddenly got up and tried to introduce them all.


    "Um, Leo right? These are my sons, Mathew, Marcus, and Michael. They''re about four years older than Iris." As they all stood to shake Leo''s hand, he saw that they weren''t actually similar. Mathew had a black eye, Marcus had tiny bits of cloth up his nose, and Michael had a swollen lip, Leo assumed these "differences" were courtesy of Shane as well.He wondered if he made the right decision to not have Felix permanently get rid of him.


    It seemed as if Iris had opened up just crack, and Leo''s as glad at that. They continued talking for a few more minutes until the water was done boiling, the triplets told Leo about how they were a blacksmith, tailor, and stablehand respectively. Then once the tea was served to everyone, Hilda sat down and started talking about what she wanted Iris to hear.


    "First I want you to know, Shane wasn''t always like this. He used to be very sweet, but after he fought mutants in battle right before you were born, he changed suddenly. He became more violent, drank more often, I hoped that having a daughter would help him calm down. It was the only thing that would make him excited, and when you were born he was so happy. But when he went to go get something for me, you opened your eyes for the first time, and I saw that you were a mutant. Instead of the revulsion that most felt at having mutant children, I felt only fear. I didn''t care what you were, you''re my daughter. But he came back, and his grin melted away into nothing.


    "Before I could say anything he slapped me across my face as if I had something to do with you being a mutant, and stole you from my arms. I was still weak from childbirth, and wasn''t able to fight back. As he disappeared out the door with you, all I was able to do was cry. The boys were only four at the time, and all they could do is try to comfort me. Later Shane came back, without you and angrier than ever. No matter what he never said what he did to you so I could only imagine the worst.


    "As the years went by he got progressively worse. I was too scared to try running away, and I feared for the boys lives, that he would get rid of them like I thought he did to you. But he eventually started beating them as well when they tried to defend me. As they got older, they tried to work and save money for us to leave because they didn''t want to leave me here alone. But he would always take their money by force and use it for more drink, like he did tonight."


    As Hilda finished talking, Leo considered once again having Felix take Shane''s life. Leo looked over at Iris, and saw that she was in deep thought. He considered this good though, as it meant that she was seriously considering Hilda''s story. Suddenly he heard voices coming from his pocket, and remembered elder grandma and Natalie were listening. He pulled it out, and elder grandma said,


    "Point me at this Hilda." And so Leo did. At first Hilda looked confused, but when she saw a person in the glass square, her eyes opened wide. Then elder grandma made a very impactful introduction.


    "Hilda I presume? I go by elder grandma, and I''m the one that took Iris from Shane and raised her."

 64 Arrangements

    As Hilda heard elder grandmas words, her face started twitching. She was filled with several emotions, anger at the one who took her baby, gratitude at the one who saved her from shane, and anxiety at the decision that Iris would make. Iris was surprised at elder grandma entering the he conversation, and she was also conflicted with Hilda''s story. On one hand she had spent her whole life thinking her mother hated her, on the other hand she was almost wanting a closer relationship after finding out what actually happened.


    "It''s nice to meet you elder grandma, thank you for taking care of Iris all these years." Though she said the words she almost had a grimace when she did. At that moment elder grandma said to Leo and Iris,


    "I want to talk with her for a while, Hilda is there a place for them to sleep until morning?" Leo was surprised, of all the ways for elder grandma to react to Hilda he didn''t expect her to recommend them staying the night there. Hilda looked equally surprised, and turned to the triplets,


    "Can you three lead them to the spare room, and make sure they have everything they need!" It almost sounded like an order due to her high tensions. The three boys agreed, and led Leo and Iris upstairs. Marcus and Michael split towards their own shared room, while Mathew led them further down the hall.


    "This is a storage room, but we keep a bed in there just in case. There should be several blankets if you need them, and if you need anything else we''ll be right next door." Leo and Iris said their thanks, and before Mathew walked away Leo called out to him. He pulled something from his pouch and gave it to him.


    "This is called silverherb, we use it for injuries and you guys might like to use some. Just crush it up and add a little water before spreading it on your injury. You might want to take some to Hilda first though." At first Mathew didn''t know what to make of the leaves Leo handed him, but hearing their use his eyes widened. He said his thanks and rushed down the stairs to give some to his mother. Though Leo didn''t intend to let Shane stick around, he decided to let them keep his stash of the herb just in case. After all the excitement of the day, Leo and Iris passed out almost as soon as they laid down. They had only remained conscious long enough for her to crawl into his arms.


    When the sun came up the next morning, Leo and Iris rose with it. The reason being, they could both smell breakfast being made downstairs. For Iris it was a new experience as she grew up in the huts so it was hard to do anything without alerting someone else; Leo was reminded of earth though, and the weekend mornings he woke to find his mother making breakfast. The two made their way downstairs, to find Hilda cooking with a radiant smile across her face. The best part was that the bruise Shane gave her the night before was gone as well. Leo thought the talks the night before went well from her expression, and was glad that the two of them seemed to come to some kind of arrangement.


    "Good morning Leo, Iris, I''m making breakfast for you two. The boys already left for work, so that gives us a little time to talk about what elder grandma and I discussed last night. Just sit down and let me finish this up." As Leo sat down, she placed some portions of bacon and eggs in front of him. Iris though, was blushing slightly as she started making her tea. She didn''t make any after they messed around the day before, and she was trying to play it off as if she was helping out in the kitchen. Hilda didn''t buy it though, and tried to take over.


    "No, you go sit down and I''ll make this for you. What kind of tea is this, I''ve haven''t seen leaves like this before?" Leo wasn''t sure if he should laugh or cry at the question, and as Iris turned Crimson starting at her ears, he tried to make up an excuse for her.


    "It''s just made with some herbs where she grew up, she has it every morning with breakfast." Leo tried to play it off, but Hilda noticed how red Iris was and grew suspicious. She suddenly recalled a friend using a type of tea to prevent a child the night after being with her lover, and with iris''s red face connected the dots. Hilda''s face started twitching noticeably at the realization, and tried to calm herself by reminding herself that they were already married therefor she shouldn''t be too surprised. She then handed the stuff back to her, and tried to forcibly change the topic.


    "So, about what we talked about last night. Elder grandma had told me that the two of you will be staying in Lawrence city for a while, so I would like to offer you the room until you leave. Depending on the situation, when you''re ready to leave she''ll come here and I might be leaving with the boys to your village. I plan to mention it to them tonight at dinner, but I doubt they''ll disagree with the idea. There''s not much tying us here at the moment, I''m just concerned what Shane would do before then. Elder grandma said that I could rely on you if something happens though Leo?" Leo smiled at her questioning look before replying,


    "Don''t worry, as long as I''m here he won''t lay a finger on you or the boys. If he tries with Iris, chances are he''ll end up losing the hand so no worries there. Believe it or not, I wasn''t helping you or Iris last night, I was making sure he didn''t die from picking a fight with her." At Leo''s words Iris turned red again, but didn''t deny them. Hilda''s eyes went wide again, and looked at her daughter in amazement. Leo finished his breakfast, and left the two women to catch up while he returned to the inn to get their belongings, and ask what Felix did to Shane the night before.

 65 Alex

    After returning to the inn, Leo found Felix and Thomas waiting for him. He explained events after leaving the night before, then turned to Felix to hear what he did with Shane.


    "I figured you meant something drastic as in killing him, so I drugged him up for a few days, then stuck him on a barge headed down the river to the coastal city Pacifila. A good week at least to get there, but to get back takes several weeks at minimum. He won''t be back anytime soon, especially since I emptied his pockets before dumping him." When Leo heard what Felix did, he tried as hard as he could not to laugh. Then he told them what the next plan was.


    "So Thomas, elder grandma is coming to pick up iris''s family. I don''t know when she''ll be here but do you want to wait for her to arrive?" Thomas was thoughtful for a moment before answering Leo.


    "I''ll stay, I can also help gather information on the dwarves through rumors. I don''t know what to do about expenses though, I don''t intend to invade Hilda''s house simply for convenience." Leo already had an idea about this though, as Felix was better suited for information gathering than him, he planned to make money while he was looking into Intel.


    "I plan to spend my time polishing my fighting as a bounty hunter while we stay here. I''ll be able to collect money through bounties plus what they''ve been stealing, it''ll help me practice fighting humans as well. I may want the experience when I go into battle in the future." As he finished his words, Leo''s expression went dark. He had fought in the previous battle, but as a beast that would only kill. He wanted to be able to fight as a man.


    So they decided, Thomas and Felix will switch inns due to the commotion they were part of the night before. Thomas will frequent taverns and marketplaces to listen for rumors, while Felix puts his powers to work and looks into any reports he could find, Leo didn''t want to walk into a human military encampment. Leo would simultaneously work as a bounty hunter and learn the dwarves language from any books he might be able to find in the city.


    ***


    Far to the east, a man was looking up at the mountains towering above him. He was wearing glittering armor that didn''t even have a scratch in it. The form of an owl was etched into the breastplate along with his helmet designed to match the brand on his arm. He was Alex, champion of Athena and chief strategist of the Helian empire under King Andrew. His mission was to invade the dwarves, and bring back as many as possible as slaves. The capital of the Helian empire, Heliantis, was also known as the slave capital of the continent.


    Alex was thinking of how to invade the dwarves with minimal casualties. He turned his gaze to the front, at the massive stone doors flanked by the two 200 foot tall statues of the dwarves. The door was previously closed to prevent invasion, but his men had opened them to find the main hall inside collapsed. Alex knew the layout of the entrance to the dwarven city. After the two doors, was a main hall going back for several dozen miles, leading to an elevator that took one to the main city. Unlike most thought, the city wasn''t below ground but up in the mountains. The mountain range was the tallest on the world, the Worlds Crown. Up hidden in the mountain peaks, was a valley that the dwarves settled centuries ago as their capital, Tirdaral.


    He hoped that he would gain many accomplishments from his endeavor. Alex''s goal, was to become the new Arthur. He idolized the tyrant, and wanted to leave his name in history the way he had. The only problem, was to encourage others to assist him on this path. Alex''s abilities revolved around strategies, and skill. There was no one on the entire continent better with a blade in both skill and showmanship than he. Every duel he had participated in, he won with flare without a scratch. He was also the object of admiration for most of the young women in the empire, and took full advantage of their affections.


    The only exception however was Andrews daughter, princess Alice. She was promised to Arthur, but Alex had been trying to win her affections for years. She turned her nose to him however, and as far as he could tell she was against her marriage to Arthur as well. As a result she was more or less imprisoned in the palace. Alex was hoping to use his accomplishments here to gain support in winning her hand however. One of his men interrupted his thoughts though with a report on the excavation.


    "Sir, we started removing the rubble, but since we don''t know how far back it goes we could be working for months if it goes to the elevator. We have found side tunnels that lead to different rooms and possibly to the city itself, however there have been several traps located throughout them however." Alex thought about this report and replied,


    "Send a request for some hounds, we''ll have them sniff out the traps and lead the way through the tunnels. Work on both the side tunnels and the main hall. If we find a way we may be able to surprise them by getting through all the traps." The man nodded, and went away to relay his orders.


    Hidden in the walls of the main hall, a stout figure at four foot tall was observing the soldiers progress. Every day more soldiers seemed to pour in, from his count there was already more than five thousand. He started sweating at the sheer difference in strength, and quickly returned to report the situation to the clan elders.

 66 Bounty hunter Leo

    After confirming their plans and new inn, Leo returned to Hilda''s house to find Iris sulking. It appeared that Iris got her first ever scolding from her mother. Leo had a pretty good idea what it was about as both she and Hilda glared at him as walked in. He arched an eyebrow, and said,


    "Why are you glaring at me? The one who always attacks is Iris, if she doesn''t she does something to make me do it, all in all she always initiates." Iris went wide eyed at his "betrayal" while Hilda went wide eyed for a different reason. She planned to scold Leo for corrupting her daughter, but realized that she was the main perpetrator. It didn''t help that she didn''t argue. Leo wanted to laugh at their expressions, but instead started explaining the plan he, Thomas, and Felix decided on.


    "Their moving inns so that we don''t invade your house Hilda, and while they investigate what we came for I''m going to bounty hunt for income. I''m planning to go out for the first bounty today." As it wasn''t even noon yet, if it wasn''t far Leo had more than enough time to go out and collect a bounty. When they heard his plans Hilda and Iris had different reactions.


    "Isn''t that too dangerous?!"


    "I''m coming right?!"


    Hilda terrified at the fact that her daughter wanted to fight bandits on a nearly daily basis. Leo however shook his head, and explained to Iris.


    "It depends on the hideout. I want to gain experience fighting people, but if there''s more than I might be able to handle then I''ll have you sniping from the background. What you can do to help the most is learn the language of the dwarves from the books I plan to buy. I''m going to read them in the evenings, but it would be best to have someone else studying as well."


    Iris was sulking again that he more or less sidelined her, but she also knew that was for her to spend more time with Hilda. The scolding she just received aside, she was actually starting to warm up to her mother. As for Shane (she would never admit to him being her father) she was quite glad when Leo said that chances were that he wouldn''t be back until after they leave, if he even came back. So after kissing her goodbye, and saying farewell to Hilda, Leo left to check the bounty notice boards.


    Unlike games or novels, there wasn''t some kind of adventurers guild in Aletera. If a bandit group or monster was causing trouble, then a bounty would be posted in a tavern or around town. Then a bounty hunter, or soldier might take up the bounty to earn some extra coin. Most bounty hunters were just retired soldiers that wanted to keep fighting, or were random people that used self taught magic(as long as it didn''t get past beginner level). Sadly the higher bounties were bandits in the same category.


    He walked to the nearest board, and looked at the different bounties. The highest paying one was a group of fifty bandits with what seemed to be several self taught chi users, for one hundred gold coins. Leo took that poster so that he and Iris could get them tomorrow. He then looked and found a bounty that was nearby, a group of seemed like ten bandits in an abandoned mine shaft. ''Even if there no adventurer set up like the games, the hideouts were the same huh?'' Leo couldn''t help thinking to himself.


    He took the poster, and swiftly left town towards the mine. After a little less than an hours travel at "Leo speed", he arrived at the mine. Leo watched the entrance and went over his equipment mentally. Sword, check. Bow and arrows, check. He checked the poster once more to confirm what he needed to confirm the bounty, and grimaced. He needed to cut off and return with the bandit Chiefs head. Leo shook his head to clear the distracting thoughts, and watched as the first bandit exited the mine.


    The moment he cleared the entrance, an arrow sprouted from his neck. When a second one walked out to check the noise, Leo dashed forward and lopped off his head with his sword in a single strike. He looked sick at all the blood since he wasn''t in beast mode, but knew he would have to get used to it anyways if the bounty required the heads. Leo also realized that this would be a good way to become more accustomed to killing. When the thought entered Leo''s head, he shuddered at how casual it was.


    Leo continued killing the bandits in a systematic way until there was only the chief left. The chief roared with fury as he bellowed at Leo,


    "I''ll make you pay for killing my men! Do you have any idea how hard it''s going to be to replace them?!" He then charged at Leo, who felt like the charge was in slow motion. He simply sidestepped, and with a flick of his sword the Chiefs head went flying. Leo frowned at how easy it was to clear the bandit hole, perhaps he needs to target higher bounties from now on? Leo then went around the cave and searched for any loot that was taken from travelers.


    All together he found about five gold coins, and some rings. After he wrapped up the head in one of the cloth bags he found in the hideout, Leo headed back to the city. He was stopped at the gate as usual, and upon asking about the process to receive a bounty the guard took the head for him. He returned with the five gold coin bounty, the same as what Leo found in the mine, and sent Leo on his way after confirming the ID.


    As he reentered the city, Leo was thinking about how easy it was for him to earn money now. As he finished quicker than he planned, Leo spent some time wondering the market for book shops. After walking for a while, Leo found a shop with the name The Crooked Book. With ten gold coins burning whole in his pocket, leo went in.

 67 Studying

    As Leo walked into the store he could suddenly smell the scent of paper and ink, he always felt that it was calming. The scent was stronger in this world than earth, he wasn''t sure if it was his heightened senses or the different ways a book was made. He walked up the counter, and asked he person in charge,


    "Any books about the non human languages?" The man looked up at Leo and smiled.


    "Looking to buy some slaves while the gettins hot huh? Heard that after this purge there''s not gonna be anymore non human slaves besides what they breed for us, course that''s only if we don''t use them all in the brothels or something. Hahaha" Leo tried to laugh hat the mans joke, but felt disgust deep down at him. But as they say, you need to talk the talk.


    "Yea, gonna pick some up to do some work around the house. But it bugs me not knowing what those bastards say behind my back when I don''t understand." Leo felt self hatred for his words inside. He tried not to think about how many times he might have to say similar things in the near future. The man laughed in understanding, and went to grab books Leo asked for.


    "An intro to dwarven, Elven, and Beastman language. I even threw in a general history for each race if you want it, if not I''ll just put it back. So six books total, that brings you up to six gold coins apiece." Leo went wide eyed at the price, ''that''s daylight robbery!'' He thought to himself. And to think, he was so proud of the ten gold coins he made that day and now most of it was gone just like that. He handed over the coins, and walked out of the store grumbling about how correct the name was.


    After he returned to Hilda''s house, Leo left the books on the table, while he went to wash off any remaining blood on him from killing the bandits. When he returned Iris was already reading the intro to dwarven language. He didn''t know if she was really interested in learning the language, or if she wanted to hurry up and learn it to join him on bounty hunts. Leo looked at the books he got, and decided to start the general history. But right before he did, he saw the Beastman language intro book and realized how much of an idiot he was.


    "Holy shit, all this time I could''ve been learning the Beastman language from Felix, yet I haven''t even noticed it." Iris looked up from her book and froze as realization hit her too, before face palming at the obvious. Shaking his head at his stupidity, Leo sat down next to Iris with his book and pulled out the bounty he grabbed for them the next day. When she saw the poster iris''s eyes lit up while Hilda''s who just entered the room was narrowed.


    "Is that for both of us?" Leo nodded and explained.


    "I did a different one today, but this one was there as well and I figured it would be a good chance for both of us to train a bit." Iris went back to reading her book, but looked as if she had a big smile on her face. Leo couldn''t help thinking, ''some guys have to take their wife on dates, others have to buy jewelry, I have to take mine to slaughter some people to make her happy.'' He turned to his own book until dinner was ready. Hilda was preparing it while muttering under her breath about how the two of them were insane, and Leo swore to mention the behemoth fight one of these days.


    He opened his book, and started reading. The first several paragraphs weren''t anything new, but then he got to the reason why the non human races were considered inferior. According to the book, it was because each of the non human races were only able to use one type of magic, while humans could use all three. Dwarves were able to only use energy, elves mana, and beastmen chi. The result of this however, was that they were able to use their respective abilities in ways humans never could, it was one reason why dwarves were considered the best builders and craftsmen.


    This is also what led to the oppression from humans on the other three, while they were pros at their own type of magic, humans were able to diversify their attacks. Leo found it extremely ironic that the most "diverse" race, was also the most discriminatory. This was the base argument that Arthur used when he drove a wedge between the races all one years ago. After that, they seemed to forget that by combining their strengths, they would be able to utilize even better capabilities. Well, that was something Leo was planning to teach them anyways.


    At this time dinner was done, and Leo and Iris put their books down to eat with everyone else. Iris looked a little awkward sitting at the table with them, and Leo remembered that this was the first time she sat down with her family for dinner. Leo smiled as he looked at her and said,


    "Pretty nice, right? We used to sit down like this for dinner every night at my house back on earth." Iris looked embarrassed at Leo''s words, because he was he one who talked her into giver Hilda a chance for being her mother. Hilda and the boys who had just arrived, looked confused though. Leo realized he hadn''t explained it to them,


    "I''m a lost person. I came from a world called earth, and ended up in the forest near the village that Iris was raised in. I would''ve died out there if she hadn''t found me you know. I didn''t know what mutants were yet, but the first thing I said when I saw her as I laid on the ground bleeding was "how beautiful"." When they heard Leo''s story, all four of them were shocked. They then spent the rest of dinner asking about Leo''s past in another world. He answered all his questions to the best of his abilities, and then it was time to clean up. As the triplets were about to walk away though, Leo called out to them.


    "Oh yea, how would you guys like to learn how to use chi?"

 68 The couple that kills together...

    As the words left Leo''s mouth everyone, including Iris was shocked.


    "Wha-"


    "Wha-"


    "Wha-"


    The three said one right after another. By this time they had already talked about moving to the village, which all three didn''t have any arguments about. If they were going to be living there, then learning some type of magic would be good for them because they would be able to apply it to their work in some way. Leo was calmly looking at the three of them before explaining.


    "At the village, everyone uses magic in some way. Blacksmithing could be improved by learning chi or mana, and tailoring would be enhanced with energy to enchant like the dwarves. I''m not too sure with a stablehand, but say if you want to tame seem beasts up north then chi would defiantly be a benefit to you." The three looked thoughtful at Leo''s suggestion, as they never had the option to learn magic before.


    "Go ahead and sleep on it, I know it''s probably a lot to take in at the moment. If you want to learn, I''ll be willing to help you out even though I''m a beginner myself, or Iris might help you learn like she taught me." Leo didn''t mention it, but he also had the thought to turn them into werewolves in the future, but they didn''t know about that yet so he thought it would be best to wait until things get settled in the north. So it''s the idea planted in their heads, they all went to sleep for the night before Leo and Iris went to kill some bandits in the morning.


    The next morning Leo and Iris woke earlier than they had the day before. The boys were getting ready for their day at work, and Hilda started making breakfast in the kitchen. When they walked in, Iris surprised everyone by saying,


    "Morning mother." When she heard it Hilda looked as if she was going to cry, and the boys just looked at her in shock, while Iris looked like she wanted to crawl into a hole at their stares. Leo just beamed at her, since just a couple days ago she was more inclined to hit her mother than saying good morning.


    After breakfast, the boys left for work and Leo and Iris were about to leave for the bounty hunting. Hilda looked worried as she didn''t want her daughter to do something so dangerous, but apparently it didn''t hit her yet that Iris grew up killing animals that would tear apart a normal bandits nest on a daily basis. With her warnings at their backs, the two set off.


    Once they left the city, they got away from the roads and set off like Leo did the day before. After a couple hours of traveling, they came accords the sight of an attack. Since they were in the same area of the bandit nest they were supposed to take care of it wasn''t too surprising. The attack was fresh,can''t Leo and Iris both smelled blood in the air. They traced the smell back to the camp and found a cave with several bandits hanging around.


    It didn''t take long for them to notice the carriages from the attack, and the men and women tied up near them. One good thing that they saw, was that the women didn''t look as if they''d been touched yet. Leo focused his hearing, and learned that may not be the case for much longer as the bandits were waiting to see if they would get a decent ransom for them or not. If they couldn''t, then they would be given to the men later. For once, the savage thoughts he had towards what he was going to do to the bandits didn''t repulse him.


    Leo looked at Iris, and she nodded at what he wanted. One benefit of hunting together was that the two had developed perfect teamwork. As they would have to be quiet in order not to spook the prey, they had learned how to communicate without words.


    One of the bandits approached the captives, and went down a moment later from an arrow in his eye. When the rest turned to see what the noise was, Leo rushed forward and was already slicing. As he wasn''t making a whole lot of noise, he had already dispatched three bandits before the rest of the ones outside noticed him. By that time Iris herself had already removed several more as well. By the time they finished clearing the bandits outside the cave, they had already killed fifteen of them.


    Leo then untied the captured people, and indicated that they should hide behind the carriages until they killed the rest of the bandits, which they were glad to do. Leo then went back to the entrance of the cave, the poster said that ere were fifty bandits and they already removed fifteen, so there were thirty-five left. Leo searched the ones they already killed until he found a horn. He walked back to the entrance of the cave, and blew the horn.


    When the ones in the cave realized what was happening, they rushed out and tried to overwhelm Leo with numbers to kill him. However, they lined themselves up nice and neatly as they ran out of the cave. Iris was having a hay day as each of her arrows carried more power than a normal arrow, and since they were lined up neatly she would kill two, or even sometime three with just one shot.


    Then the last several people came out, the self taught chi users. Leo could tell it was them since they carried an aura like they were the most badass thing in the area. Which was why they were completely surprised when one tried to attack Leo with a sword, and he not only caught it, but overpowered them at the same time. Suddenly there was a shout,


    "Surround him, the archer can''t do anything if we''re too close to him!" Leo snickered at their stupidity, as while he was dodging to the side an arrow passed within an inch of his neck to hit the one behind him. He and Iris had perfect harmony while fighting, they were dead the moment they set their sights on them.


    Only a few minutes later, all of the bandits were dead and Leo had collected the Chiefs head for the bounty. He looked around the camp, and said to himself,


    "Isn''t this way too easy?"

 69 Iris wins

    Leo was curious as to why the bounties he went after were so easy, though it wasn''t a bad thing since it meant the bandits weren''t that strong. After a few minutes he realized that he technically was "overpowered" as he was using chi, on top of being a werewolf with naturally enhanced physicalabilities. It didn''t help that Arthur lowered the natural standard for strength when he made it where people couldn''t train in magic anymore. Leo didn''t realize it, but he was starting to show signs of being a battle junky as he had yet to find a real opponent.


    These thoughts went through his head as he gathered up the bodies of the bandits after collecting the Chiefs head, and piled them up for burning. According to Iris they needed to burn the corpses or they might turn into undead, which he didn''t know the day before. Leo kept quiet about that, and hoped that since there was only ten then there wouldn''t be any problems. While he collected the bodies, Iris was checking on the captives and the bandits hideout for their stolen loot. As he finished collecting the corpses, Leo cried out,


    "GODS DAMN IT!!" Iris came running over, and asked urgently,


    "What is it, more bandits?" Leo however, was crestfallen as he just pointed to the pile of bodies. Iris looked at them half expecting there to already be undead. But then Leo just said,


    "You killed more than I did..." Iris was dumbfounded, then started laughing hysterically. The bodies all had distinct wounds from what killed them, slashes from Leo''s sword and holes from her arrows. Apparently Leo counted them as he collected the bodies and found more died from her arrows than him.


    As they sent the people the bandits captured ahead, Iris continued cackling at Leo the entire way back with him internally swearing that he''ll even the score later. Later they arrived at the city gates again, and Leo repeated the process to receive the bounty. One hundred gold coins in his pockets, Leo felt a little better. He then walked over to the inn that Felix and Thomas were staying at for a status report, and to pass them twenty gold coins for expenses. With nothing new to report, leo and iris returned to Hilda''s house.


    When they returned, Leo went straight to clean up, while Iris went to see if Hilda needed any help as it was now almost dinner time. Iris repeated their exploits in an attempt to explain to Hilda that they were both capable of handling themselves in fights, but Hilda got increasingly stressed as Iris explained the more dangerous things. Leo then came into the room, and placed a pouch on the counter.


    "To help out where we can." He said simply. Hilda thought it was simply part of the bounty, and figured it would be good to get breakfast with it, until she opened the pouch and saw how much was in it. Hilda had never had much money in her life, the house was left by her parents, and whatever they hoped to get from Shane being in the military was mostly spent on alcohol. That was why when she saw the twenty gold coins gleaming at her, she nearly had a panic attack right there.


    "I,I, I can''t accept this!" She said almost in a panic. Leo just laughed quietly, and replied,


    "The bounty was one hundred gold coins, that''s only a little bit and I plan to earn more while we''re here. That''s also for any travel expenses when elder grandma comes to get you. I''ll probably give you more of my future bounties depending on how much I get." Hilda looked flabbergasted at Leo''s words, she had spent the last nearly twenty years with Shane draining them dry of any funds, so Leo handing her his hard earned money was a big deal for her. She wasn''t really sure what to think of this son-in-law before, but now she was starting to think that her daughter had a better sense for men than she did.


    ***


    The next three weeks went by swiftly for Leo and the others. He would alternate between bounty hunting, and studying the dwarven language with Iris. As time went by they believed they were getting good at speaking it, but would only be able to know when they arrived at the dwarven kingdom. He would help the boys learn magic in the evenings, while he sometimes helped out Matthew at the forge to demonstrate how to smith while using chi. He nearly fainted when Leo stuck his hand into the glowing embers.


    Perhaps the thing that made the most improvement though, was iris''s relationship with Hilda. As she spent more time here with her while Leo went bounty hunting, the two swiftly became close once the awkwardness was cleared away. They spent most of their time with Iris talking about her life in the village growing up, Natalie, Jack, elder grandma. Iris even proudly talked about the time Leo defended her from curly''s harassment soon after he just arrived. She skillfully avoided topics that Hilda would consider terrible, like the behemoth, the battle, and Leo''s first transformation.


    Actually they didn''t know anything yet about Leo and Iris being werewolves, as Leo didn''t want to scare them right after Iris reconnected with them. As such they also didn''t know that he was technically becoming a king and Iris his queen. When it was time for the last full moon, Leo said that he was staying in the forest overnight to collect several bounties at once. As a result he took several low level bounties to work through as he recovered from the full moon.


    During that time, Felix and Thomas were busy gathering information. Felix was sneaking around any nobles nearby that would receive info about the dwarves, while Thomas was hanging around taverns and market places to listen for rumors. Leo was planning to leave in another week if there was no news, but fortunately that wasn''t the case as Felix stormed into Hilda''s house with the letters he had stolen.


    "Leo this is bad, another two weeks and the dwarves might fall!"

 70 The Worlds crown

    Leo and Iris rushed through the brush. It was the fourth day after they left Lawrence city, and Leo could see the towering mountains of the Worlds Crown ahead of them. Leo thought back to the day before they left, and his expression got darker.


    Felix had stolen letters from a noble he was investigating, and as a result they learned what was going on at Tirdaral. The dwarves had caved in their own main entrance to the city, and now the soldiers from the Helian kingdom were steadily digging their way to them. What had caused Leo to be so angry, was that the letters were requests for more trained hounds since they had lost too many to the traps in the maze of tunnels into the mountains. Dogs were descendants of Fenrir just like wolves, so them being treated as if they were disposable had angered him.


    Leo and Iris had left the next morning, it was obvious that Hilda didn''t want them to leave, especially when she had an idea of what they were doing. But she learned from what Iris had told her over that last few weeks that she lived a dangerous life, even if Iris left out the most dangerous events. And so, after she saw them off the early the next morning, the two left for Tirdaral. Thomas was waiting for elder grandma anyways, so he stayed behind; and Leo told Felix to stay so that he could keep working on the mission that he had from the beastmen, and to keep an eye on Hilda if Shane showed up. He didn''t mind Felix focusing on the mission from the beastmen, as they ultimately wanted the same thing eventually anyways.


    They had been moving at a fast pace for four days now through forests, and covered what would have taken a week on horseback in that time. As Leo was looking at the towering mountains getting closer, he guessed that they would arrive later on the day. As they had rarely stopped due to the urgency of the situation, both Leo and Iris were showing signs of exhaustion. Finally, he called for a stop.


    "Let''s stop here for the night, we''ll go the rest of they way in the morning and figure out a way through the troops then." Iris was panting quite a bit, so she just nodded. Neither of them had pushed themselves so far before, Leo hoped they would recover by morning. As Leo started clearing a place for them to sleep, Iris walked off to look for berries or nuts to eat. They both agreed that a fire would be too dangerous this close to a military camp.


    After eating what Iris brought back, the two laid down together and she went to sleep. It was only late afternoon, but they decided to sleep a little earlier so that they could recover more before the next day. Leo took the first watch, and listened to the forest around them as he thought about the next day. He needed to think of a way to get through the the soldiers, and to the same place they were trying to break into. Then he had to convince the dwarves that he wasn''t with the force right outside that was about to kill and enslave them all. Then he would probably have to fight at same force along with the dwarves if he managed to convince them he was a friend. ''Should be easy'' he thought mockingly to himself.


    Leo continued thinking as it got darker, eventually becoming completely night. Leo eventually had an idea, but figured it would better to sleep on it. The plan he came up with was insane, the fact that he thought so while he was still tired said a lot. If he still thought it was a good idea in the morning then he would go through with it. Leo looked at Iris and felt a sense of regret about waking her up, if he wasn''t so exhausted he would let her sleep all night. After waking her Leo enter dreamland within seconds.


    Leo woke to the familiar scent of Iris, and the glow of the sun behind he mountains. He shot a glare at Iris and said,


    "I thought I said wake me a few hours before dawn." She nodded at his words, neither looking guilty or irritated and replied ,


    "Yes, but you needed the extra rest. And don''t pretend you didn''t let me sleep in either, the dawn came too early after you woke me up. You took an extra hour or two of watch last night didn''t you?" Leo suddenly found a stump in the other direction rather fascinating as he pretended not to hear the words of his wife. The two finished the leftover fruits and nuts from the day before, and set out once again.


    Only a few hours later they arrived at the edge of a cliff, looking down at the plains leading to the entrance of Tirdaral. Leo groaned as he tried counting the men camped out down there, the number had gotten closer to ten thousand at this point. Leo looked in admiration of the massively carved doors to the dwarven kingdom, still unbelieving that soon he''ll get to meet them for real. The doors were carved into what seemed like a cliff, except it extended all the way up to what seemed like the top of the mountain, past the clouds in the sky. He then looked at the piles of rubble next to the doors, and felt a pang of regret at the loss of what he suspected was another example of flawless dwarven sculpting.


    Suddenly there was the sound of a small explosion from the mouth of the cave, and Leo smiled. If they had some kind of explosive, then it made the plan he was coming up with even better. Iris was turning pale at the sight of all the soldiers, and asked,


    "So the plan is to go through all of them?" Leo laughed at her words, and shook his head. He then started taking off his shoes, while indicating Iris should do the same. She followed his directions with hesitation, and stowed the shoes in her pack afterword.Then, just like when he grew them out of his fingers, Leo grew claws out of his toenails. He then turned to Iris and said,


    "We''re not going to fight all of them, we''re going to cut a line straight through them while destroying and killing as much as possible without stopping. Then we are going to climb the Worlds Crown." Iris''s face twitched at his words.

 71 Attack

    "You''re joking, right?" Was all that came out of iris''s mouth. Leo simply shook his head once again, and started explaining.


    "The dwarves will be cautious of us if we just walked up to them, and we''ll have to fight the soldiers eventually. By destroying everything we can on our way through, we''ll prove that we''re not with the soldiers while also crippling them before we have to fight. Climbing the Worlds Crown is also a right of passage for dwarven royalty, crippling the human soldiers and undergoing trials meant for royalty should hopefully give them a good opinion of us."


    Leo had read in the book about the dwarves that he bought, that before a king was considered they had to climb the Worlds Crown to prove their determination. If a potential King was unwilling, or unable to then it proved they were unfit for ruling. The only downside was that as Leo wasn''t a dwarf, so him climbing the mountains would most likely be contributed to chi or mana. That was why he also wanted to cripple the encampment, to further raise himself in their eyes. Hearing his reasoning, Iris groaned but didn''t say anything. Leo smiled and handed her his arrows.


    "I''m going to be using fire and my sword, I want you to focus on targeting anyone that looks important. The main goal though is speed, if they get a chance to surround us then we''re dead. We''ll have to go as fast as possible." Iris smiled at his words. They had never tried to go as fast as possible before, even the trip here though it was in haste, was made with moderation for saving energy. She took the arrows and added them to her own quiver.


    Leo then stood, and walked off the edge of the cliff like he did in the battle. Iris followed him a split second later, and they both kicked off the base and shot themselves forward. When they ran normally, Leo compared their speed to that of a car on a road. When they sped up at this point however, he compared their speed to a car on a freeway, in other words they were fast. The two raced across the plain towards the encampment. Though he told her to focus on archery, Iris still used the surrounding energy to cloak them so that the guards wouldn''t notice them until it was too late.


    As they neared the guard post they erected, Leo threw back his head and howled. Part of his plan was to cause confusion by instigating the trained dogs the humans brought in to attack. He hated the fact that most, if not all of them would die, but even Fenrir agreed that dying in defiance was better than being needlessly sacrificed. So as Leo''s howl echoed across the camp, it was answered by the barking of nearly a hundred dogs. Hearing the amount of canines that answered him made Leo even angrier.


    The guards that heard his howl turned to see where the wolf was, only to receive and arrow in each of their throats instead. Leo and Iris then jumped and cleared the minor wall that they built instantly, then kept running. Leo had his sword in his right hand, while his right was covered in flame, and fire arched over the tents until it hit one, then exploded.


    At this point the soldiers realized that they were under attack. Leo continued sending fire out while his sword swung at every person he came across without missing a beat. Iris listened to his words, and every time someone who looked more important appeared she let an arrow loose, then moved onto the next one. In this fashion they made their way swiftly thought the camp.


    Then Leo saw a pile of something that smelled familiar to him, but not from this world. He smiled evilly, and sent a fire ball at the pile of what seemed to be oil barrels. Leaving a small mushroom cloud behind him as the shockwave added to their speed. The more soldiers came out to meet them, the more fell at his blade. As they were nearing the edge of encampment and the foot of the mountains though, Leo swung his sword and heard a distinct breaking sound.


    He felt a brief pang of loss at the weapon, before he saw someone who was dressed in the brightest armor he ever saw. His armor seemed to have the design of an owl, and he looked as if he was a capable fighter. Leo then flung the broken blade at his face, then moved on not even seeing if he hit the man or not. He then used fire in both hands, as the destruction of the camp increased. As they got closer to the cliff like mountains, Leo shouted to Iris,


    "JUMP NOW!!" and the two pushed off of the ground soaring briefly in the air, before slamming against the cliff face. They dug their claws into the rock, and then swiftly made their way up not even looking back at the destruction they caused. There were several people shooting arrows at them, but with how fast Leo and Iris were moving only one found its way to Leo''s shoulder. He groaned in pain, before yanking the arrow out and burning it. Soon they moved even out of the range of the arrows.


    ***


    Alex was furious as he strode through the camp and surveyed the destruction. He had a hand to his face as blood flowed from the wound he sustained. This was the main cause of his fury, as the attacker dared to attack his face. Alex''s instinct had barely alerted him to the danger when the man threw his sword, and it was thrown with such strength that it had even destroyed his own sword just to deflect it. He still sustained a deep injury to his face however.


    He went to see a healer, even though they were kept busy from the results of the attack. He demanded to be seen immediately, after which he was told he would have a scar for the rest of his life. Sadly at this moment one of his men came to give him a damage report from the attack. After hearing what was lost, including all the dogs that they needed after they attacked their own masters, his fury only grew. It would take two weeks to recover, then another two to finish the work.


    It was only when he sat in the comfort of his own tent that he started thinking as to the identity of the attackers. His first instinct said beastmen, but the man had used mana so that was impossible. No humans moved that way, as he recalled the jump the two had made when they reached the cliff. It was only few minutes after he started pondering that Alex recalled information he heard only few days before. About the expedition that went north and was exterminated, never to be seen or heard from again.


    As he thought of this, he started thinking. ''Could there be an even bigger threat than we originally thought of in the north?'' He wasn''t the chief strategist for nothing as he realized that after revealing themselves they would want to acquire allies. This thought created a feeling of dread, as he realized that might be another powerful force out there that they knew next to nothing about recruiting dwarves and possibly elves and beastmen.


    However, a wicked smile came to Alex''s face as he suddenly had a thought. If this was the case then exposing them, and possibly eliminating them would elevate his status. He might even be able to have the princess if he was successful. But he needed to focus on the dwarves first, and he would take the two prisoner to interrogate later.


    Watching the whole thing from a peephole was one of the dwarven Chiefs, Agmundr who was in shock. He was the champion of Hephaestus, and when the report had come about the humans movements, he came himself to investigate. What he didn''t expect however, was that two humans would attack the encampment and start climbing the Worlds Crown. He had asked Hephaestus for guidance when the humans began their siege, and the only answer he got was to wait. Now he believed that he saw what he was supposed to wait for, and started the journey back to Tirdaral.

 72 Sacrilege

    Unaware that the dwarves were already preparing to meet them, Leo and Iris continued climbing the Worlds Crown. They had continued climbing at a fast pace, using chi to launch themselves higher and higher. When they would take a break from using chi, they looked as if they were simply running up the cliff on all fours. For hours they simply continued moving up, as the sun continued in its journey across the sky. When it started disappearing behind the distant mountains, Leo called out to Iris,


    "Let''s make a small cave with mana and rest for the night!" She simply nodded in agreement, and the two then set to carving the rock out of the cliff walls. After the battle at the village Leo learned how to better manipulate rock and dirt, so carving out a place to sleep wasn''t a big deal to him. He and Iris placed their hands on the rock in front of them while hanging from their claws, and sent their mana into the rock, carving away he rock hey didn''t want.


    What they removed from the cliff, they threw out from the wall not caring that it would land on the camps below. The end result was a small cave five feet deep, and ten feet across, more than enough room for the two. Iris crawled forward until she was well inside the cave, and collapsed on the floor. Leo didn''t say anything, and looked at her with tenderness in his eyes. He felt horrible for driving her so hard the last several days, but it was a small price to pay for all the lives they would change.


    Seeing she wasn''t waking anytime soon, Leo decided to stay on watch. They had decided that a watch would still be necessary while climbing, due to the possibility of the the rock breaking and spilling them out into the open air, and flying monsters thinking of a midnight snack. Leo sat back against the wall of the cave, and pulled out some drawing supplies he kept in his pack.


    Leo started working on a design that he thought would help the dwarves. If fantasy lovers on earth knew what he was drawing, they would crucify him for his sacrilegious acts. However, he didn''t have the luxury of worrying about "immersion" as to him there were real lives at stake. If any people, had a problem with what he was doing, he''d tell them to go to hell.


    Leo had learned that due to them being unable to use mana or chi, dwarves were considered the "weakest" race. As such any war fought between them and other races usually ended with them losing. They would only stand a chance due to the weapons they made, and used in battle. However these weapons would only carry the dwarves so far, against people who literally trained to manipulate the elements and controlling their own body.


    The truth though was actually very different, as without taking man or chi into consideration, dwarves were actually the strongest race simply by physical strength. Leo was actually curious on who was stronger with just brute strength, dwarves or werewolves. As the night continued on, Leo continued working of his design, trying to find the right way to combine it with magic for the dwarves to use. He figured that the original item would actually be considered useless due to chi and mana users being able to defend themselves against it.


    As he continued working the sun started rising, taking Leo by surprise that it was already morning. He decided that they could rest for a few more hours, and woke Iris so that he could get some sleep. She was angry at first, thinking that he was skipping his own rest for her. It took Leo a few minutes to explain to her that they weren''t going to continue until around noon, she still grumbled about how it wasn''t enough time but consented to his plan.


    Leo then laid down and closed his eyes, losing consciousness almost immediately. It felt almost as immediate that Iris was waking him up at noon. Leo was obviously still very tired, and Iris said to him,


    "You''re taking the first rest tonight, you''ve shorted yourself on sleep the last two days in a row." Leo smiled bitterly and bowed to the words of his wife. After a small meal of the dried meat they had brought with them, the two continued if way up the cliffs. Leo looked at the rest of the distance that they had to climb, and almost felt a sense of vertigo. He almost had the thought that he underestimated the climb, and had more respect for the dwarven Kings that had made the climb with out any chi or mana.


    As the day continued, so did Leo and Iris. They didn''t have the same haste they had the day before, since they were already out of range of any retaliation from the encampment below. They still ran up the cliffs, just not as intensely as they had before. They deleted this pattern the next two days, as they endlessly tired themselves out. Both of them had torn their hands and feet bloody several times, for the skin to simply knit back together and tear again not long after.


    Finally after nearly four days, just as long as it took for them to run to the foot of the mountain, the two reached the top of the mountain. Both Leo and Iris pulled themselves over the edge, and collapsed at the relief of real flat ground for the first time in days. After what felt like hours, Leo turned to stand up, and came face to crave with an entire dwarven army.

 73 Dwarves

    Leo looked at the dwarves that had gathered apparently for a fight. However he could also see interest in some of them as one walked forward. Surprisingly he spoke the human language to Leo,


    "Greetings humans, I would like to know why it is you have intruded in our territory." His words were somewhat welcoming, but his tone wasn''t wasn''t as pleasant. Leo thought about his next words, before saying,


    "We have come in aid of the dwarves, so that we might unite against the growing threat. We are as threatened as you are." At Leo''s words Iris looked at them and showed them her eyes. The dwarves own eyes widened as they thought about this development. The dwarf looked thoughtful for a moment, then said,


    "I am known as Agmundr, one of the dwarves Chiefs. How do I know you are truly intending to help us, this woman could be a simple ploy to get us to let our guard down against you." Leo was about to answer, but then he heard one of the dwarves muttering in the background.


    {more like a prostitute he found in a brothel to bat her pretty eyes at us} The dwarves around him laughed silently at his words, until a bloodthirsty aura pressed down on all of them. The one who spoke looked up in terror, and saw leo glaring at him with glowing orange eyes.


    {speak that way about my wife again, and I''ll throw you off this cliff!} surprising everyone present, the ones who he wasn''t targeting could even feel his aura. They sat back watching the situation, it was their own kinsman who started it but if Leo tried to attack then they wouldn''t stay still.


    They were really surprised though, when they heard Leo speaking the dwarves language. They were doubly surprised, when iris''s eyes also started glowing orange. Leo then stated to the gathered dwarves,


    {we are not humans, don''t confuse us with them!} After a few moments the glow faded from Leo''s eyes and the bloodthirsty aura started disappearing. There was an audible sigh of relief through those who had faced the brunt of Leo''s rage. They also started glaring slightly at the one who spoke for nearly bringing that beast down on them. Leo felt this was the most desirable situation though, as he was able to demonstrate that he wasn''t human and that he wasn''t a pushover. The gathered dwarves now looks at him with a small measure of fear, so Leo decided to confirm that he was in fact an ally.


    {The two of us come from the far northern mountains, there is a small settlement of mutants up there that has escaped the persecution of normal mutants. We came here to call for allies to stand with us in the coming fights, or to join us as we build our own nation away from human control.} Leo knew he probably made down mistakes in his speech, as he lacked real use of the dwarves language. It seemed as if the message had gotten to them though, as they looked at Leo with a small amount of respect now. Then the one who called himself Agmundr stepped forward, and announced to the whole assembled group,


    {I personally witnessed the two of them attack the human encampment below, and cause devastation that was in no way forged to fool us.} Leo was surprised as he didn''t realize that he was being watched by the dwarves even before he started climbing. The dwarves started muttering amongst themselves, though this time they weren''t trash talking. Apparently Agmundr didn''t inform them of the fact that Leo and Iris already fought the humans once before climbing. Leo then decided to sweeten the talks.


    {there was also an expedition to the north to investigate us, my wife Iris and I were the ones who primarily fought and eliminated the two hundred soldiers. With the natural barriers and abundant resources we wish to bring more dwarves, elves, and beastmen north to unite the races, and push back the humans!} the dwarves were shocked to hear that Leo and Iris already fought off a human army, but hearing about how he wanted to unite the races some started to protest.


    {Why would we want to unite with the elves and beastmen? Where were they when this siege started and why haven''t they bothered to help us even now?} Leo groaned internally, he had an idea that there was tensions between the races, but he hoped the current situation would help them understand that they needed to cooperate. He decided to use the ultimate weapon for negotiations that he used with Felix.


    {what if by setting aside your differences and uniting with them, I will be able to properly challenge Arthur?} at Leo''s words every dwarf became alert. Agmundr looked at him suspiciously, and asked,


    {why do you think that you will be able to defeat Arthur? Many have tried over the last thousand years and none succeeded!} Leo already expected this question, and decided that he needed to reveal this information. Pulling back his sleeve, Leo revealed his brand and started explaining,


    {I''m branded by Artemis, and I have sworn to kill Arthur. My blessing allows me to increase my initial strength whenever I gain followers. If you follow me, then your entire races strength will go into helping me defeat the one that caused so much pain and suffering to your people.} at Leo''s words, Agmundr and all the dwarves looked uncomfortable, he knew Leo was telling the truth when he said that he had swore to kill Arthur. Every one of them however found it uncomfortable to swear loyalty to someone they just met. Agmundr thought of an idea, and explained to Leo,


    {if you truly wish for us to follow you, then prove you deserve our loyalty. Help us prepare, and fight beside us in the coming battle.} Leo smiled, and replied,


    {I would ask for nothing more.}

 74 Karl

    Leo let out a sigh of relief, before He relaxed though, someone started protesting.


    {hold on a damn minute!} a gruff looking dwarf stepped forward, and continued until he was in front of Agmundr and Leo.


    {you''re just gonna let them into our territory just like that? Just because you saw what he was capable of doesn''t mean we''re all assured they''re an asset!} there were several dwarves mumbling in agreement at his words. Agmundr groaned, and gestured to the dwarf while explaining to Leo,


    {this is Karl, he''s the lead warrior of the Tirdaral dwarves. He''s also one of the few Chiefs who''s not a champion.} Leo was surprised at his words, but something else caught his attention.


    {most of your Chiefs are champions?} Agmundr nodded and explained,


    {we are mostly craftsmen, and due to the diversity of the types of drafts there are, there are several gods that rule over them. I''m a champion of Hephaestus, there''s also Ptah, Gofannon, Brigid, Qaynan, and Tvastar to name a few. As a warrior Karl doesn''t serve a God, due to the fact that they usually choose some other race for their warrior champions.} at that moment Karl, who had been standing silently spoke up.


    {don''t talk as if I need a god to help me crack some skulls, I can do well enough myself without their help! And I''m not sure I want some help from someone who needs them to be able to hold his own!} Agmundr tried talking down Karl while Leo was thoughtful for a second, then he said,


    {what if we have a sparring match? I won''t use any chi or mana, and you could see if I''m capable before the battles start?} everyone went silent at Leo''s proposal, until unexpectedly Karl started laughing.


    {Hahahahahahaha, you gave guts I''ll admit! Let''s go then no weapons, no magic, one on one!} everyone was stunned at first, then they quickly moved back and made room for the fight. Karl shrugged out of his armor and handed it to a younger looking dwarf, while Leo stripped off most of his clothes, so he stood bare chested facing Karl.


    Leo shot forward at him, intending to test Karl''s defense. What he didn''t expect was that Karl not only didn''t move, but only jabbed out a fist at Leo once he tried to make a hit. Leo threw an arm up to block it, but felt something crack before he jumped back suddenly. Leo felt a continuous pain in his forearm, and looked down to see it bending at an angle it wasn''t supposed to be. Groaning in pain, Leo set the arm back to where it was supposed to go. He then stood there waiting for several minutes.


    {hey boy, you don''t just stand there in a fight you know, come at me!} Karl had a wicked grin on his face as he saw Leo didn''t really react to having his arm broken. Surprising everyone, suddenly Leo started laughing. He had started to develop battle junkie tendencies and his fight with Karl was the first one in a while that he started feeling a thrill in.


    {hey old man, since when do you break someone''s arm in a friendly sparing match? Did you forget that there''s going to be a battle here soon?} at Leo''s words Karl looked a little uncomfortable. While he hadn''t approved of Leo and Iris yet, it was a fact that they might be part of their fighting force in the near future, and here he was crippling one of them. Before he could say anything though, Leo lept forward swinging his arm that was supposedly broken and tried to hit Karl again.


    Karl was stunned for a moment before he swiftly put a guard up, causing him to groan from the force of Leo''s hit and be pushed back several feet. Leo''s eyes glowed orange again as he looked at Karl and grinned widely before saying,


    {aren''t you the one standing there making yourself a target? Don''t think I''m out yet just because of a small thing like an arm breaking!} Karl was stunned. He knew Leo wasn''t faking his arm being broken, they all saw the way it was bending. That meant that either Leo managed to heal it without using chi or mana, or that he was still fighting while it was broken. The split second that this went through Karl''s head resulted in him taking a kick to the back of the head. He felt as if he head butted a rock with how hard the hit was.


    While his head was still ringing from the hit, Leo then grabbed his remaining clothes and used them for grip to throw Karl across the field. Karl tried to recover this mess of a fight as he tumbled, but the second he faced towards Leo all he saw a foot. Leo froze right before hitting Karl''s face, and said with a wicked grin on his face,


    {I think I win!} Leo was breathing hard after a fight for the first time ever since he left the village. He was actually excited to fight Karl again, and said to him,


    {one to nothing, next time lets see if you could even the score.} Karl was stupefied at Leo''s attitude. Suddenly shocking everyone present, he started laughing out loud and said to Leo,


    {what do you mean even it? Enjoy your last victory over me boy, next time I won''t go so easy and I''ll know that your bones will heal so you won''t catch me by surprise! Hey boy!} the same boy that he gave his armor to ran over and for the first time Leo noticed that he looked like Karl.


    {this is my boy, Lemmik! Now boy, run back and tell your mother that we''ve got company, and that she needs to open the best ale we have!} Lemmik ran off immediately after and Karl gestured that Leo and Iris should follow him to his house, it seemed he was the type that bonded over fists instead of talking. Before leaving Leo said to Agmundr,


    {I think we should meet up tomorrow to discuss some things, I hope you don''t mind.} Agmundr shook his head, and replied to Leo,


    {not at all, you climbed the worlds crown and fought Karl right after, I''m actually surprised you''re still on your feet. We''ll talk tomorrow, so for now just get drunk with Karl and enjoy yourself.} Karl laughed at Agmundr''s words, until Leo gave a bitter smile and said,


    {sad to say it, but I can''t get drunk. I could probably out drink any dwarf here and it won''t even effect me.} when they heard his words every dwarf gave an exaggerated gasp, and started talking amongst themselves. Leo heard small bits and pieces and it seemed that they took his words as personal challenge. Karl especially seemed affected, and declared,


    {if you go to bed sober tonight, then I''ll have failed as a host!}


    Despite his boasts, Leo managed to out drink him and even was the one who helped his wife clean everything up, much to Karl''s dismay the next morning.

 75 Magic muske

    After being, led to Karl''s house, and meeting his wife, he then instigated a drinking contest with Leo to determine his claims of being immune to alcohol. The result was that Leo had to help put a passed out Karl in his bed before helping Iris and his wife, Runa clean up after their drinking contest.


    {the two of you really shouldn''t be helping me as our guests you know.} Leo frowned slightly at Runas words, before replying,


    {we are the ones that intruded, if I make a mess and make someone else clean it up after intruding in their home then I''m a failure as a person.} Leo said to her. Runa smiled at his words, and went back to cleaning. It was when Iris yawned that she firmly sent the two of them to bed. The two of them didn''t say anything back this time, and went to the room Karl loaned to them before passing out as soon as they laid in the bed.


    The next morning Karl was already up and talking to his son Lemmik, while his wife was busy making breakfast. When Leo and Iris alerted them by saying "good morning" Karl glared slightly and said,


    {you''ve made me fail as a host boy, how do you plan to compensate my hurt feelings?} his tone sounded rough, but Leo could see he was joking. He smiled before replying to the dwarf,


    {if I let you win a round will you call it even? We''re at two nothing now.} Karl looked devastated at the realization, and shouted,


    {let''s head out to the front now boy, a bit of "morning exercise" will be good for us.} Leo had a big smile and gestured that he was to lead the way. After the two left for their "morning exercise" with Lemmik following, Iris started helping Runa with breakfast. Neither one said anything until Runa spoke up,


    {thank you for coming. You owe us nothing yet you came all the way here to help us, even taking the Kings route up the mountain. It''s also been a while since I''ve seen Karl so cheerful. He loves a good fight, but the ones coming hold no honor and hopefully your husband is able to help like he says he can.} Iris felt touched at he words, but felt the need to correct something.


    { I''m also helping you know. There''s no way I''m staying put while all the men go to spill some blood, have to get the woman''s share in don''t I?} Runa stared at her in amazement for a moment. She was worried for the young woman, but if she was anything like her husband than she was more than capable on the battlefield. The two continued chatting until the guys returned, with both of the husbands covered in dirt. Karl had a grin on his face while Leo scowled.


    {that''s my win boy, I''m catching up!} Leo however started smiling, and responded,


    {catching up? Are you proud of still being behind old man?} causing Karl''s smile to fade as he realized that after the previous night he''d never beat Leo at drinking. After a quick breakfast, Karl said goodbye to Runa, and led the two to the other dwarven Chiefs. They held a meeting to formally meet with Leo and Iris, before Agmundr asked what every dwarf wanted to know.


    {you say you came to help us, but what aid can to you provide?} in terms of supplies or reinforcements, they were under siege so there was no way to receive them. Leo silently looked through his pack, and pulled out a blueprint. He didn''t want to put his best negotiation piece down so fast, but they needed to mass produce as many as possible before the humans managed to attack. He unrolled the paper, and started explaining.


    {I call it a magic musket. I noticed that most of you were using crossbows as a ranged weapon yesterday, these will hopefully even the playing field against chi and man users.} Leo wasn''t able to finish his design, but hoped the genius engineers that the dwarves were would be able to complete the design since he provided the first step. Agmundr looked at the design, and his eyes started burning with passion. He saw the blueprint wasn''t complete, but he knew that with the kickstart this provided they would not only be able to finish it, but mass produce it before the battle. Leo then continued,


    {we also intend to fight alongside you in the battle. My weapon was broken on the way here, I only ask that I might get a replacement.} Agmundr nodded at Leo''s words, he had seen the two of them take on the entire encampment singlehandedly. He knew that if push came to shove they would be able to leave guarding one of the tunnels completely to them. Giving Leo a weapon was simple task, they had tons to spare, the main issue was finding what he was best with. He looked at Karl, who saw Agmundr looking at him and knew what he was going to say ahead of time.


    {don''t worry, I''ll make sure that he''s properly equipped and that he knows how to use what I give him properly. I''ve a score to even with boy after all, Hahahahahahaha!} Leo smiled as he realized that he would have plenty of time to get used to his new weapon in the near future. Karl also looked as if there was a light in his eyes at the thought of taking Leo on with actual weapons instead of barehanded.


    They continued talking about the various things that were essential, then the meeting ended. Agmundr led the chief smiths to works on the magic musket, while Karl led Leo to pick out a new weapon.

 76 New weapon

    Leo followed Karl, as he led the way to a storage room in the side of one of the surrounding mountains. As they walked in he saw rows upon rows of weapons. Leo whistled, and Iris in shock as they never saw so many weapons before. What surprised Leo was that they were all expertly cleaned and taken care of, there wasn''t even a speck of dust on any of them. Karl stopped and turned to Leo and asked,


    {So, what is it that you''re used to?} he guessed from Leo''s strength that he used a heavy weapon, similar to his war hammer. That was why he was surprised when Leo said that he had only ever used a single handed sword.


    {that won''t do, not at all.} Leo heard him mutter as he walked among the rows of weapons. Leo was confused, and asked,


    {what won''t do?} Karl left his train of thought, and told Leo,


    {your strength is the problem, a regular sword doesn''t have any weight to it. What matters isn''t having the lightest weapon, its that it feels right in your grip, not too heavy, not too light. It''s probably why you broke your last sword. But if you trained for swords then it''s the best thing for you,even if it''s a great sword, but we don''t have any that will work for your strength. We used a special metal that was denser than anything else called adamansteel for chi users, but we don''t have any weapons left as they were all taken centuries ago. The damn metals so strong though, that even if we started working on one it wouldn''t be ready until after the humans break their way here anyways.} Leo was dumbfounded, as it seemed as if they didn''t have any weapons suitable for him available, until Karl continued,


    {we might have something temporarily, until we can work a great sword for you. Perhaps a battle axe so that you have the blades, but there''s still the weight at the end. You might not be familiar with it, but I''ll have to beat the basics into you before the battle starts, perfect for me to even the score boy!} Leo was thoughtful for a few seconds, before accepting Karl''s offer. He then led the way to a row of giant double sided axes, and started examining each one. Leo didn''t say anything as Karl went to work, until after nearly thirty minutes later, he finally pulled one down and handed it to Leo.


    The moment Leo picked up the axe, he almost felt as if it was perfect for him. Karl gave a great laugh and shouted,


    {I STILL GOT IT HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH.} what Leo didn''t know was that Karl''s specialty wasn''t just fighting, he was also the best at choosing a persons weapons. There had been tons of young dwarves that only lived through certain situations due to Karl correcting them on what weapon they should use. As Leo started swinging the axe around, he marveled at how he was able to use it with either one or both hands. Karl started laughing again, and said,


    {now let''s go test it out shall we? You''ll also get to see what I like to use. Oh, should I find something for the lass too?} Iris just shook her head, and pulled out her daggers before saying,


    {I''m good with these or a bow. According to the one who gave them to me, I almost never have to worry about maintenance.} Karl''s eyes went wide at the daggers, and he exclaimed,


    {THATS ADAMANSTEEL!! How in Hades did you get that?!} Iris explained how she got them from elder grandma from the ruins of Asdarge. Leo also took the moment to explain that he also came to ask the dwarves to help rebuild it. Karl was thoughtful for a few moments, before he silently decided to bring up the topic with the other Chiefs. He then led the way back outside, and they went back to his house so that he could get his war hammer. As Leo and Iris waited outside, Karl soon came back out with a hammer that was actually bigger than him. It looked like one of those exaggerated anime weapons, but seeing how easily Karl swung it around Leo wasn''t laughing.


    {alright boy! Let''s even that score, shall we!?} the two men rushed at each other. As they started their fight, Iris and Runa who came out with Karl, were sitting at the side anxious. Though Iris wasn''t usually worried when Leo was fighting, seeing the size of the hammer caused her to feel a little fear. As the fight continued more people, started to gather at the commotion. Leo was awkward with the axe at first, but as he continued dancing out of Karl''s range, he gradually got better with it.


    Leo actually had to use chi to block Karl''s hammer once, which the dwarf didn''t mind as it meant that Leo was getting serious. Then he started covering his axe with chi, and began using it to block the hammer with the extra protection. Karl got a few cuts from the few times Leo''s axe grazed him, Leo got some bruises from when he didn''t guard properly. As the fight dragged on, more people started to gather and eventually even the other Chiefs came to see the commotion. With how intense the fight was, they would have thought the two were actually trying to kill each other if not for the giant smiles on their faces.


    Eventually Leo got close, and once inside the hammers guard brought his claws up to Karl''s throat in order to finish the match. Seeing he was bested again, Karl only started laughing. He didn''t consider the claws a low blow, in fact Karl was overjoyed that there was someone who could pressure him to be even stronger even though he couldn''t use chi. Leo felt the same, as Karl wasn''t like Jack who learned to fight for the few and far in between times he was needed, he loved the thrill of facing a strong opponent and striving to beat them. The current score was 3-1.

 77 Lock up

    The next couple weeks went by uneventfully. They received news that the humans had replaced everything Leo and Iris cost them, and began exploring the cave once more. Leo spent every day practicing with his new axe, and Karl was only too willing to help him with it. It had only taken a few days for Agmundr to finish the magic musket, and now they were being mass produced for the upcoming battle. The dwarven city was peaceful for the moment, but Leo was growing more concerned by the day. Finally he approached the dwarven Chiefs during meeting,


    {I need you to lock me up in the most secure prison you have tonight!} They all had a look of confusion since Leo didn''t tell them about his monthly transformations yet. He had been trying to find a way to avoid the topic, but due to the the upcoming battle and the fact that the surrounding mountain peaks were home to several dwarves, he wasn''t able to go to another mountain for the night. In the end he decided to attempt being locked up, but he was still concerned about getting out.


    {what''s this boy, what crime have you done to deserve it?} Karl of course spoke up. Leo shook his head, and explained,


    {on nights of the full moon I become a monster, if I don''t go somewhere far away I''ll hurt people. But I can''t do that here so I need to be locked up as securely as possible.} Karl''s shook his head, and started laughing.


    {do you have so little faith in our ability to protect ourselves boy? I think a few of us will be able to handle you throwing a temper tantrum or something.} Leo then practically shouted,


    {the power this thing has, took on an entire army of chi using human soldiers, and walked away with out so much as a scratch. I took on a Behemoth bare handed, and shredded the thing from the inside out. If I don''t get locked up tonight, there is a very real chance I''ll kill every dwarf I come across.} Karl thought that Leo was over exaggerating things, but seeing how earnest he was in doing this he only sighed. He then led the way to the black cells.


    They were tunnels dug into the side of the mountains that spiraled down into the ground, once you stopped going down there was a long hallway ending in a room. There was no door, instead once the prisoner is thrown into the room a mechanism is pushed at the other end of the hall and slabs of stone filled the hall. As a result the prisoner is encased in stone fifty feet thick on all sides.


    As there was only a few hours until sundown, Leo stayed in the cells and insisted on them being closed right away. As she watched the slabs fill the hall, Iris then sat down in the end of the hall as if to wait for sunrise for Leo. Karl of course joined her. A couple hours later Runa showed up with some soup for the two since they didn''t have any dinner. As the three sat and ate in silence, Karl suddenly asked,


    {is this thing really that dangerous?} Iris didn''t reply right away, she just rolled up her sleeve, and revealed her arm to the two for the first time. They were shocked to see the scars on her arm, as she started explaining.


    {this happened the first time he transformed. None of us knew about it, not even Leo. He looked as if he was in pain, but when I tried to help he pushed me away. It was only a few seconds later that I noticed my arm was covered in blood. I don''t think he''s ever forgiven himself since.} when Karl and Runa heard iris''s story, the two showed a sad expression. Karl''s was firm though, as if he would do anything to prevent Leo from hurting anyone he cared about again.


    Runa soon left, leaving the two to sit in silence. Iris thought she could hear occasional thudding, but wasn''t sure if she imagined it or not. After many hours, someone said that dawn was coming, and the two prepared to open the cell. Iris waited until the sun was completely up, before giving Karl the OK.


    The two went pale after the first ten feet of slabs moved, because that was all that was left. In his quest to escape the prison, leo had smashed through the slabs. They didn''t know if he got tired of trying, or if he got bored, but it appeared that he also tried to claw his way through. They could see the numerous bloody claw marks he left in the stone walls of the hall and room. Seeing the destruction first hand, karl was growing paler by the second. His friend never told him about any of this.


    After they reached the room, they found Leo passed out and buck naked on the floor. As they moved to cover and help him, Leo woke and looked at Karl. Karl suddenly had a look of rage, and demanded,


    {why didn''t you tell me about this?! How do you think it would effect me, not knowing a friend was suffering like this every month?!} Leo shook his head slowly, and replied,


    {I didn''t want to tell a friend i could kill them at the drop of a hat.} Karl had a sad look, and helped him make it back to the surface. Leo spent the rest of the day resting in bed, as he tired himself out especially bad trying to escape all night.

 78 Battle starts

    After the full moon Leo didn''t take long to recover, and was back training as soon as possible. It only took a week for the report they had all been waiting for to finally arrive, the humans finished working their way through the tunnels and were coming. The Chiefs were having a meeting on battle formations, and Leo and Iris were participating as well. As Karl was the head of the Warriors, he was the one forming the battle plans and formations.


    {there''s about five different tunnels they''ll be coming from. These four here, are all only wide enough for a five man formation to pass through. This one though, is where we could expect the bulk of the attack as its wide enough to allow ten soldiers to march in line. I''ll be leading the defense there, the other four tunnels will be hopefully be held with the magic muskets that you made. I''ll have Leo and Iris with me, their close combat abilities will be beneficial for us.} at that moment however Leo was shaking his head and said,


    {Iris is better at ranged with a bow, if we get her at an elevated area she can pick off commanding officers in order to disrupt the command.} Karl nodded in confirmation as no matter the army, moral will always go down when the superiors died. After the plans were made, they all dispersed to report to their designated areas. Leo and Karl stood side by side in front of the tunnel he was describing, and Iris was a little ways off with her bow. If it wasn''t for the fact that she was targeting the most important people she would''ve complained about being sidelined again. They were waiting at the tunnels, as they didn''t know when the enemy will attack. Leo''s ears suddenly picked something up in the tunnels.


    {ready!} the dwarves were suddenly standing row by row, waiting to receive the enemy. They were surrounded by the magic musket users who were waiting to pick off the first wave. Suddenly, troops of humans poured out of the tunnel, only to have lead balls rained down on them. They had applied chi to their shields in order to protect them during the charge, but it did next to nothing with the superior firepower of the magic musket. The only drawback of course was the reload time, when the next wave appeared Leo and Karl led the charge.


    {KILL THEM ALLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!} Karl shouted as they rushed into battle. Leo rushed forward next to him already swinging his battle axe for the first to fall to him. As they clashed for the first time Leo was deafened with the sound of metal crashing together.


    Iris was in a constant state of repetition, knock, pull, loose. Knock, pull, loose. Over and over again Iris repeated the same thing. Her role was to prioritize the enemy commanders, but until she saw them she couldn''t just sit and stare at the battle. As she constantly emptied her quivers the dwarves near her replaced them with fresh ones. Due to the constant flow of arrows she was even loosing five at once. She hadn''t been able to keep track of how many she had killed so far, but she did know that she killed at least seven commanders already.


    She could hear that deafening roar of the magic muskets at the other tunnels and knew that they were still holding position there. Suddenly a splinter group broke free of the dwarves and made their way over. Iris put down the bow and drew her daggers to engage the enemy. The dwarves who were to support her did the same and they swiftly met the group. She swung her daggers at the first one to reach them and slit his throat before he could even react. She ducked and avoided the swing of another''s sword and stabbed into his armpit.


    Iris once again started her dance of death as she continued her way through the group. She had dispatched the majority, and by the time they returned to the bows, the dwarves around her were filled with a newfound respect for her. Unaware of the reactions of those around her, she returned to her repetition.


    Leo was caked in gore as he cleaved his way through the groups of enemies. He marveled at Karl''s ability to pick a weapon once again, as with his strength he would bisect two to three opponents at once. Regardless of chi or armor, it was as good a paper before him. He just wished he knew how messy an axe was to use. Nearby Karl was smashing his way through even more enemies than him. The battle wasn''t all good though, as the dwarves would cut down the enemies with their superior weapons, the humans were able to easily cut through the dwarves armor with chi fortified weapons and kill them. There was also the occasional mana user that would send a fireball or two at them before Iris managed to get to them.


    As he became more and more engrossed in the battle, the beast craved to be freed. It wanted to kill and feast on the blood and flesh of its enemies. Leo worked to hold it down though in order to prevent the same thing as what happened during the battle at the village.


    He focused on dispatching a group of enemies when he heard Karl give a war cry behind him. Leo spent a few moments finishing the group he was on, before turning around. When he did though it felt as time on the entire battlefield stopped. Leo didn''t see who did it, but he had turned just in time to see Karl''s body hit the ground as his head rolled the other way. He felt as if his heart stopped, then his vision went red.

 79 Devils luck

    Alex flicked his sword to remove the blood from the dwarf he just beheaded, a foolish specimen swinging around a hammer bigger than it. He looked around the battlefield, and frowned. Though they seemed to be in a stalemate, he was loosing more commanders due to a sniper. His first thought was the woman that helped attack the camp a few weeks prior, as he had blocked few arrows as well. Suddenly he heard a great roar,


    "RRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR"


    He turned to look at the source, and saw a giant beast swinging a battle axe through his men like they were weeds. Every man dropped what they were doing except the ones in its path as they became overwhelmed with fear. Alex thought this was some weapon of the dwarves, but he saw that none seemed to know what this was either. The thing made its way over to towards the dwarf he beheaded, and picked up its hammer in its right hand as it kept its axe in its left. Once they realized what it was doing, all the men in the area tried to flee.


    It carved its way through his men with little effort, everywhere it went rivers of blood and gore were all that was left. Alex then heard another roar, and turned to see another monster coming straight at him. This one was slender compared to the first, a female? It didn''t matter Alex needed to run now! He called out the retreat, they weren''t ready to handle these things!


    "RETREAT, RETREAT TO THE TUNNELS!" He called out to his remaining men, just in time for the female to slash him with her claws. Alex was sent flying into the stone wall behind him, only for it to give way into some kind of chute. He spent the next several minutes on the border of consciousness due to his injuries as he fell down the length of the mountain. As the chute emptied him out near his men, they quickly ran over and tried to ask what happened. It took Alex several more minutes to realize that he was back on the ground, away from the battle.


    "Clo- CLOSE THE TUNNELS!!" He screamed at his men, hoping that closing the tunnels would be enough to stop those horrors. They were confuse for a moment due to the fact that there were still several thousand men in the mountains, but seeing the marks of his body moved to do as he said. It didn''t take long for the sounds of explosives to echo out, and the tunnels they worked so hard to claim were closed.


    They then started the retreat, so that Alex was able to report what he saw in the mountain. He felt as if he forgot a very crucial detail though as he thought back on it from his recovery bed. It wasn''t until much later that he saw how those things marked his face and body, and he swore to have his revenge.


    Back at the battle however, Agmundr was experiencing a mixture of horror and shock at the sight of Leo and Iris. Leo wielded an axe in his left hand, and Karl''s hammer in his right, while Iris just tore through the the opponents with her claws. Though they never harmed any dwarves, just seeing them tear through the army as if they were nothing on a beastly rampage was enough to inspire both terror and awe in the dwarven people. He had wondered what set them off, but when he saw the hammer Leo used was Karl''s realization dawned on him, and he shed a few tears for his fallen friend.


    He decided to leave the main tunnel to the two of them, and focused on the ones he was in charge of. The plan was to use the magic muskets on waves so that there was no gap in reloading. These weapons Leo brought them were a real game changer as he puts it, he said they required some other form of power before, but they used magic crystals and runes to replace them. As the battle wore on the humans began to dwindle in number due to Leo and Iris. They had long since cleared the main tunnel, and we''re now roaming the numerous routes to find more enemies to kill.

 80 Aftermath

    Leo woke on a cold stone floor, naked and covered in blood. He saw Iris not far away in the same situation. He realized that she must''ve shifted right after he did. He couldn''t even recall what happened after he changed, he looked around and saw the axe and hammer nearby. He felt the sudden pang of the loss of Karl, and would''ve cried if he didn''t have Iris to take care of. He crawled over to her and gently woke her up.


    The first thing Iris did when she woke was start heaving. Leo was scared that she would start throwing up parts of people, but was relieved when it was only dry heaving. After she spent several minutes trying to clear her empty stomach Leo went to find something to cover her nakedness. He found a cloak nearby, and wrapped her in it without a care for himself. After the two regained some of their strength, they started the journey back to Tirdaral. It took several hours to get through the tunnels, but they eventually found their way out again by following the scent of the freshest air.


    There was a small group waiting for them, and at its head was Agmundr. When they saw Leo and Iris they immediately sent for some fresh food and clothes, while Agmundr walked forward and checked on them.


    {thank the gods the two of you are alright, what happened to you two?} though it was a little soon to start interrogating them, he needed to know what it was they did exactly. He never heard of someone outside beastmen champions changing shape, but only Leo was the champion and they both changed into the same thing.


    {we''re a new race called werewolves, we change form at will or when our emotions get intense. It also heightens our senses and physical abilities. Due to my connection to Artemis, she makes it so that I alone lose control during the full moon and transform. That''s why I insisted on being locked up last full moon.} Agmundr looked thoughtful at Leo''s words, before the things he sent for arrived. After Leo and Iris changed in a private area, they started wolfing down their food. Iris especially was ravenous after her first transformation.


    {I got the bastard.} she said when she talked for the first time after reverting back. Leo was surprised, and Agmundr looked shocked. He then asked,


    {are you sure? You got the man who killed Karl?} Leo didn''t even see who did it, so knowing Iris did and got the guy would Leo give him some closure. She nodded and explained.


    {he was wearing some shiny armor, and blocked several of my arrows. When I was waiting for the next batch, I saw Karl rush at him and attack. The man apparently specializes in speed because he dodged Karl''s hammer with ease and it only took the one attack to kill him. I rushed right for him, and didn''t even realize I changed. I made sure that my claws got him and he went flying back into the wall.} after saying her peace, Iris went back to eating. Leo didn''t press her more because he knew how draining the first change was.


    What none of them knew, was that due to an insane stroke of luck, Alex was actually alive. He had returned to the capital of the Helian kingdom, but instead of being a hero he was known as the one who fled the battle. Because he had the tunnels collapsed, no one else had seen the "beasts" he claimed scarred him. He was then branded a coward, and was accused of abandoning the thousands of men left in the mountains. But because he was a champion, and therefore an asset even as a coward, he was spared a harsh punishment. Not only that but the women around him had abandoned him due to his scarring, and failure.


    Leo was completely unaware of all of this, and continued eating his food. His main concern was facing Runa and lemmik later, when he couldn''t save Karl. At least, until Agmundr mentioned another thing.


    {about your offer to join you in the north, does it still stand?} Leo was surprised. He expected that the dwarves would refuse him until he could offer a kind of compensation.


    {it is, but I require that you''ll have to be under my leadership due to my blessing and to prevent conflict. And you have to realize, we may not have the means to support your entire race right away, but the right amount of effort from everyone will soon change that.} Agmundr nodded as if he had already expected that, and continued.


    {they blocked the tunnels to the surface below, in other words were trapped here. It won''t be hard to unblock them, but nothing keeps them from just blowing them up again, and we can''t survive here if there''s no trade from their efforts. So it''s either slowly starve, or make a gamble.} Leo nodded in understanding. In the time he had been here he had learned everything he could about their lifestyle.


    Though there were numerous mountain ranges there actually wasn''t very much game due to the fact that it was so impossible to reach this area. As for farming, the high elevation actually limited their crop yields, so they had to rely on dwarven caravans and active trade from those who still desired dwarven products. By blocking the access from the mountain, the humans were now essentially choking the dwarves to annihilation. The only reason they had survived this long were their massive stockpiles of supplies.


    Leo and Agmundr then set the time for a meeting, to decide the dwarves fate and when to migrate them to the northern mountains.

 81 Labyrinth

    After they held the funeral service for those who didn''t make it through the battle, Leo and Iris were now in a meeting with the other dwarven Chiefs about future plans. Because they all saw them transformed, there was quite a bit more awe in the way the dwarves looked at them. He was making sure the Chiefs knew what it meant to migrate to Asdarge, as they wouldn''t be able to provide for all of them immediately. Thankfully when he got ahold of elder grandma she said that some of the beastman tribes had already moved there and started mass farming projects.


    {when we arrive there are already farms and a small village being made, but what I want the dwarves to focus on are the ruins above. If we get the city itself in working order then we can start on greenhouses and ways to sustain ourselves year round.} the dwarves nodded at his plans, as they had next to no other choice. They needed to prioritize housing for the winters, and food supply. The main problem they had was this though,


    {how can we all move there without being in constant combat?} one of the Chiefs asked. Leo sighed, as he couldn''t think of a way to do that either. The only thing he was able to think of was a giant caravan, but that was like a giant target.They were stuck on this one problem, until the new warrior chief, a young dwarf, said,


    {what about the labyrinth?} the other Chiefs had mixed reactions, some were thoughtful, others were angry, the rest sighed in exasperation. Leo was confused though, what was this labyrinth? Seeing his confusion Agmundr explained,


    {the labyrinth is a large tunnel complex spanning what we believe is the whole continent, but it could very well go farther. It also goes deep into the ground, no one has ever actually determined how deep it goes. There''s no actual determined reason for its existence, but some believe that several gods had a hand in it. It comes to the surface at several points, there''s even one right below us, but none ever willingly go down there due to the dangers.} Leo was excited to think about this, if he could use this correctly, he could make it something like his own Underground Railroad.


    He thought of possibly using it to help those affected by the purge move to Asdarge, and maybe in the future make a railway down there for faster travel. If that was the case then they would be able to return to Tirdaral in the future as well, and possibly use it for a center of the network. As Leo''s thoughts continued he grew even more excited about this labyrinth. But there was something that he needed to confirm first,


    {does it go to the north?} if it didn''t go near Asdarge, then there wasn''t any point. Agmundr then went to a shelving unit for maps, and pulled down several. He then pointed to one area,


    {we have only explored parts of the labyrinth, but we have gone north before. There is an exit around...here!} Iris looked at the spot he pointed at and studied it for several moments, before saying,


    {that should be somewhere near Asdarge, I remember that area when I went there with elder grandma. It might take us several months, but we should be able to make it.} Leo became excited at her words, but several of the Chiefs were looking worried and he recalled they said there were dangers.


    {you said that there were dangers in the labyrinth, what kind? Iris and I might be able to protect the front of the caravan while the Warriors protect the rear, down there we won''t have to worry about the sides as much either. If we manage to remove these dangers we might even be able to make use of the tunnels later as well.} the gathered Chiefs a fell silent at Leo''s words as they considered them.


    Most of the dangers were monsters that made the tunnels their home, undead, and there were rumors of even dark beings such as liches living there. When Leo heard all of this he wasn''t disturbed in the least. Though the way through would be dangerous, but after conquering it they would gain much more. He then made his decision and announced it to the group.


    {we''re trying the labyrinth. While the civilians are preparing to leave, Iris and I will take small groups down and examine the path to remove any dangers. If needed we''ll also have the escorts bring down side tunnels to ensure no other threats move in. Once we start moving as I said the two of us will lead and be the ones to remove any obstacles on the move.} Leo''s words worried the Chiefs, but they also helped many of them see him in a new light.


    Leo had said that he would be the one facing any dangers. This told the Chiefs that he seriously considered their lives to be more important, and that he wouldn''t hesitate to run into trouble for them. They continued making plans for the next couple of hours, then they ended the meeting. Leo and Iris then went to talk to elder grandma and ask her to work from that end.


    "We''re planning on trying the labyrinth, after giving you the coordinates can you have some people go and guard the exit for us? We would take several months, but we should hopefully make it in time for winter." She sighed at his words, as she also heard of the dangers of that place even if she never went down there herself.


    "In case you forgot I''m also on the road right now, I''ll have to wait until I get back but we should still have enough time. By the way these Felix and Hilda are quite interesting, and Iris''s brothers are quite well mannered. It''s been a while since I was actually treated like and old lady. They''ll be welcomed in the new village though, it''ll be nice to be able to start keeping animals and a full time blacksmith, even if we''re about to be invaded by an entire country of them." Leo ignored her quip, and thanked her before handing the mirror to Iris so that she could talk to elder grandma and Hilda. They then started preparing for raiding the labyrinth.

 82 Tunnel diving

    A few days after they started their preparations, Leo and Iris led a small team of dwarves down into the labyrinth. Their goal was to travel a ways down the route to Asdarge, and ensure no monsters were present to threaten the caravan. Any that were present were to be eliminated. They took a separate path down until they were on the labyrinth, and Leo saw the underground space for the first time. It was a giant tunnel that looked to carved from stone, and not a natural formation.


    {this is the tunnel under Tirdaral, if we go this way it''ll take us further to the east. Down there a ways is a branching tunnel that goes further south. We want the other way to go north, if needed well also block up other branching tunnels to prevent attacks.} Leo nodded, but hoped they wouldn''t have to do that in order to properly use the tunnels later.


    He then led the way forward so that he would be able to detect any movement ahead, and Iris took the rear for the same reason. He listened to the directions he was given and they went forward for the next couple hours. They gave themselves a whole week to scout the tunnels, and planned to make use of it. After walking for several hours, they decided to take a break and the dwarves rest. While Leo and Iris were the muscle, the dwarves were the navigation and it wouldn''t be very good if their navigators got lost from being tired. Not long after they started going again, Leo called a halt,


    {I hear something up ahead, Iris come up here and give me a hand it sounds big.} Iris quietly moved up and together they moved forward until they saw what was ahead of them. Leo was looking at a giant snake at least five feet around and fifty feet long. It was slowly moving around as it seemed to be looking for food. Leo''s eyes started glowing at the challenge, and Iris started getting a bit excited as well. They both knew they couldn''t leave the snake alone for the future, so they got ready for the fight.


    {if I''m correct, the hood probably means it''s venomous. But it could also something worse that we have to avoid, So just avoid whatever comes out of its fangs. I''ll go for the distraction and you attack it''s body to wear it out.} Iris nodded at his words, knowing that as the stronger one Leo was better suited for the distraction. He then charged forward after a brief breath, and started the change. He quickly threw off his cloak and fur grew out all over his body. The snake noticed him instantly and lunged forward for its next meal.


    As it opened its mouth to swallow him, Leo reached out his hands and grabbed the upper and lower jaw while planting his legs to stop the snakes lunge. As he slowed it down, Iris appeared behind it and started slashing with her daggers and left deep gashes in its hide. The snake pulled back its head out of Leo''s claws and wailed in pain at its wounds. It turned to Iris and bared its fangs as it prepared to spit. She swiftly left from the spot and when the spit hit the ground it started melting a hole in the stone.


    ''Acid spit, I figured as much'' Leo thought to himself, and he leapt at it with his claws bared and sank them into the snakes scales. It then turned back to Leo and tried to coil around him, just to experience Iris slashing her daggers across its spine when it''s attention moved from her. It suddenly lost feeling in its body past the slashes, and for the first time started getting scared. The snake then tried to run away, but after losing its mobility wasn''t able to. Iris sank her daggers into its skull after it started to give up hope, and killed it instantly. Leo changed back and looked at the beast they killed, and wondered if it tasted good. As he was wondering this the dwarves came over after ensuring it was dead, and he asked,


    {hey, are we able to use this for provisions? If so we can have a feast tonight and preserve our other food.} the dwarves didn''t seem to know how to respond, as this was a beast that had plagued most of their attempts to use the tunnel in the past, and Leo and Iris just killed it with what seemed like ease. After confirming that it was edible, they continued on with the labyrinth exploration for the next well before returning to the surface.

 83 Starting home

    After they explored the tunnels for a week, Leo and Iris returned to the surface to prepare for the departure. Thankfully Runa still let them stay with her, while her and lemmik were still mourning. They were pretty busy for the next several weeks as the word spread of the migration. Most of the dwarves rejected the idea, but eventually had to give in or they would have been left behind to starve or be enslaved. There were several that stayed behind, and some only agreed to leave because Leo mentioned the possibility of them returning one day.


    There was also the fact that another full moon came, and Leo had to spend another night in the dwarves black cells. He also had to explain what they found in the labyrinth, and what might threaten them when migrating. The Chiefs were quite surprised to find that Leo and Iris managed to fight everything they came across, and they didn''t block any tunnels, but merely left traps so they would still be useable later. In fact, after finding that most of what was down there was edible, Leo wasn''t as proactive in killing them because the monsters could be emergency food supplies.


    He then mostly helped with the preparation for the caravans and moving leave. They had carts that they were loading up, and surprisingly they could run on little tracks they made in the tunnels leading down to the labyrinth. Leo once again realized that the dwarves were truly amazing. After three weeks of preparation, they were finally ready for leaving.


    {How many all together are going?} Leo asked Agmundr as he led the way down to the tunnels. Agmundr shook his head and replied,


    {only about three quarters of us here, so about six thousand all together.} Leo didn''t know what to think at the number. On one hand it was a lot of people to provide protection and a future for, on the other it wasn''t enough to truly make a difference against the purge yet. He could only hope that they''ll get the numbers they needed from the elves and beastmen. They would have enough to rebuild Asdarge though. But then Agmundr said something that surprised Leo,


    {there''s still caravans out there traveling, the ones who stayed behind will direct them to follow us, and we''ll have at least a thousand more arriving, maybe more.} Leo felt this was promising though, since they would have more joining them, but will also give them more time to prepare.


    Leo was thinking about future arrivals as he made his way down to the labyrinth. Once he made it down to the tunnels, he and Iris waited for more of the caravan to show up, and they started their journey. During the time they were down here previously, both Leo and Iris studied the maps and tunnels so that they could learn the way through.


    As they traveled through the tunnels, it took several days before they ran into another monster. This time it looked like a giant insect, some kind of beetle with horn. This time instead of transforming, Leo wanted to try fighting it with his battle axe. As the beetle flew at him and Iris, he rolled to the side and swung at its legs. Though the beetles shell was hard, he managed to get through two legs with one swing thanks to his strength and chi.


    The beetle roared in pain, and barely kept its balance with its third leg on that side. As it spread its wings to charge Leo again, Iris used her ability to leap over the beetle and severed one of its wings. It roared in pain once again, and Leo kept forward and swung his axe down on the joint between its head and body, effectively decapitating it.


    Leo glared at the beetle, of course the first thing they killed this time wasn''t something they could use for rations. He shook his head, and went back to escorting the caravan through the tunnels.

 84 Return

    They had been traveling for several weeks in the tunnels. Due to burrowing monsters and any attacking the rear of the caravan where Leo and Iris couldn''t help, they had lost almost a hundred dwarves. This didn''t dampen their spirits though, as they expected to lose many more in this dangerous move. The bigger problem was the dwindling supplies of food and water. They were able to use certain monsters for extra rations, or find an underground river, but with no certainty if a monster would be edible or if there was a river they couldn''t help but be concerned.


    Leo on the other hand, was starting to feel the pressure from being underground so long. He figured he wouldn''t be as affected if he moved at his normal pace, but he had to wait for the caravan behind him. Iris was similarly feeling it, as she grew up in a forest without any sort enclosure. This was the first time she was so enclosed for so long, and she didn''t like it. They were getting noticeably better though, as according to the maps they might only be down there for another day or two at the most.


    {let''s call it a day, Iris and I will scout ahead and see if the exit is nearby.} when they heard his words the dwarves became noticeably excited, as even though they loved being underground it was a different story being in the labyrinth. As they all started settling for the night, Leo and Iris started rushing ahead. Though they couldn''t leave, the rush of the wind as they swiftly made their way through the tunnels was enough to calm them somewhat. They moved through the darkness, and Leo spotted movement ahead. He signaled Iris and they stopped to examine the monster. It was a large hairy animal, that had two horns on its head, that wasn''t that caught Leo''s attention though.


    "That''s a horned bear!" Leo exclaimed with excitement as he recognized the scent. If it was a horned bear then it might mean that it wandered in somewhere and they were closer to the surface than they thought. Iris swiftly drew her bow, and loosed an arrow at its head. Even in the dark of the cave the arrow found the eye she aimed at, and the bear went down with only a weak groan.


    After they brought down the beast they returned to the caravan with the carcass, and explained the situation. After leaving it for the nights rations, they returned to exploring the tunnels to find the exit. The two had spent over an hour searching, and only barely caught the scent of fresh air. They became even more excited than when they found the bear, and rushed towards the scent until it started becoming stronger. After several more minutes, they saw light ahead, and finally for the first time in well over a month saw the sky above them as they left the cave.


    Leo and Iris were ecstatic as they were finally "home". They breathed in the scent of the trees, the smell of the breeze going through them. They listened to the animals in the brush, and the creeks gurgling nearby. Neither one realized how much they missed the mountains until they had returned. Leo and Iris looked at each other, and suddenly felt emotional as he held her face and said,


    "We''re home." Before kissing her passionately. But as much as he wanted to go further, the two held themselves in check as they both reluctantly returned to the cave to report the exit. After a little more than an hour of travel, they found the night camp again and reported what they found to Agmundr.


    {we found the exit, a little over an hours travel for the two of us, so about a days march from here. Let''s rest up for the night before we finish the journey.} Agmundr also became noticeably excited,


    {really?! Then we can finally see some sunlight again! Believe it or not, after being in these caves for the last weeks I''ve had enough of being underground for a while. Too much extra stress being on guard all the time.} Leo laughed as he understood what Agmundr meant.


    That night everyone slept easily as some of their tensions were loosened when they heard they''d be able to leave the next day. Leo and Iris also got the rare chance to sleep all night as several dwarves insisted that they''d wake them if something happened.

 85 Reunion

    After they woke the next morning, Leo and Iris led the dwarves to the exit they found the day before. As the caravan filed their way out of the tunnels they started to cry out with happiness at leaving the labyrinth. It wasn''t long until leo sensed someone approaching and looked to see several people dressed in leathers in the trees. He smiled and called out to the leader, a familiar woman with three eyes,


    "NATALIE! We''re home!" Natalie smiled at him and Iris when she walked over, and replied,


    "Welcome home you two! We''ve missed both of you!" As the hunters made their way down from the trees they started surrounding Leo and Iris and welcomed them home. Agmundr made his way over and said in the human language,


    "Well met miss, my name''s Agmundr, would you do me the honor of knowing yours?" Natalie looked surprised for a moment, and Leo recalled that she was most likely raised in the village, so this would be the first time she actually met a dwarf. Natalie quickly composed her self and said,


    "My name is Natalie, the head hunter of our village it is an honor to meet a dwarven chief such as yourself." Agmundr shook his head an swiftly said,


    "The honor is all mine, these two saved our people in the battle, and from a fate of slavery. We could never repay this debt." Natalie looked at Leo and Iris with pride, then turned and barked orders to the hunters. A couple then turned and left for what Leo assumed was the new village. The hunters that stayed then helped the dwarves finish exiting the tunnels. After a few hours the couple that left returned, and a minute later Leo was tackled by something big, hairy, and slobbery.


    "Luna- Luna get off please." Leo said while trying not to laugh. He looked at her and saw that she had grown even bigger than the last time he saw her. She was easily as big as a horse now.


    ''Father! Welcome home! I missed you.'' Luna was the master at multitasking when she soaked him with her slobber while licking him, and shouting in his head. The surrounding dwarves looked uneasy when they heard her in their heads, but Iris started laughing until Luna tackled her and gave her a tongue bath as well. When Leo stood up he noticed that the dwarves were starting to get anxious, courtesy of the small army of high wolves surrounding them.


    {calm down, they all follow me and Luna. They''ll never hurt one of you unless they''re ready to die for it.} though he still wouldn''t like killing fenrirs descendants, he wouldn''t tolerate them attacking those he was protecting. Though the dwarves eased up a little, it was obvious that they didn''t trust the high wolves.


    After a while more to ready the caravan, they started the treck to the ruins of Asdarge and the new village they built nearby. The high wolves formed a guard surrounding the caravan, and they didn''t have to worry about any monster attacks. The sun was starting to set when Leo could smell the food cooking in the distance, and started to see the glow of the fires and homes. When the villagers saw them coming they rushed out and welcomed Leo and Iris back.


    """"WELCOME HOME!!!!!!""""


    They surrounded the two and bombarded them with questions about their journey. Leo and Iris tried to answer any they could, but soon gave up after repeating the same answers over again. They were herded to the center of the new village, where elder grandma and Hilda sat waiting for them. Iris stepped forward,


    "We''re back." Was all she said. Hilda rushed forward and wrapped her in her arms, and elder grandma stood and took her when Hilda released her. While Iris was reuniting with elder grandma and Hilda, Leo was looking at the floating ruins not far from them for the first time. He felt a sense of wonder and adventure when he saw them. He then looked around and wondered what this area would look like in several years when they brought more people here and developed it. He then turned his attention to the several beastmen nearby.


    They looked at Leo with curiosity, as they heard about him from elder grandma and the others. As he walked over to meet them, a strong looking man with a wolves features glared at him, but didn''t do anything. An elderly looking bearman walked forward and introduced himself in the human language.


    "I am the elder of these beastmen, Kumen. I humbly thank you for the protection your people have offered us. We were quite isolated in our village ourselves, and both the beastman Capitol and the other northern villages were too far away to offer us protection." Leo nodded his head and said,


    "It is only natural, I intend to meet with the beastmen eventually anyways. I hope we can all join together to fight this purge and remove Arthur." The elder widened his eyes at Leo''s words and so did all the beastmen behind him. Leo realized that elder grandma might not have mentioned this, and wondered if he made a mistake. A moment later they seemed to calm down, and Kumen said,


    "Please forgive our surprise, I have never heard of one willing to go against the sun gods champion before. If it will pave a better path for our children''s future then we will support you in this endeavor." Leo sighed in relief and talked a little more with Kumen before returning to the others and discussing his travels with Iris.

 86 Starting work

    The next day Leo realized how lucky they were in their arrival, since that night was the next full moon and he managed to not be trapped in the tunnels with the dwarves and Iris. Before he left though he started discussing the plans with Agmundr and the other Chiefs. Due to the fact that Leo and the other first residents of the area were humans, the dwarves started to speak the human language more often as well.


    "We can start working immediately so that there can be some kind of proper shelter for the winter. We already cut it too close for t a sling and the snow will only arrive faster here in the far north. We can look for a couple of places to start mining, and the stone we dig will be sent up to the ruins for rebuilding. That way we''ll have both the stone and any ores we dig up to use. Of course the first materials we use will have to go into a ramp in order to get them up there in the first place. We can start a rotation to work at all times for both areas so that we can finish faster."


    Leo didn''t know what to say. If anything it was that this was why he didn''t believe he was suitable to lead. Agmundr had only been here for twelve hours and already drew up a plan to start rebuilding what was supposed to be his kingdom. Leo meanwhile had been able to think on it for several months now and didn''t even know where to start, he could only feel embarrassment at the situation. Before leaving for the night, he also went with the dwarves to find prospective mines.


    "Let''s check here." Milo the chief of the miners said as they arrived at the side of a mountain. He then asked Leo to step back, and slammed his palm into the mountain side. Leo didn''t sense anything happening, and was about to ask when Milo spoke up.


    "This area is good, no ones been here before so there''s plenty of untouched veins. Mark this area, and we''ll go and check another area." A group of dwarves started working, and Milo started walking away with Leo right behind him.


    "What did you do?" Leo asked in confusion. Milo had a look of realization, and explained,


    "It''s an ability that only the dwarves have. Others might be able to replicate it with mana or chi, but not to the level of the dwarves. It sends a shockwave down into the Rock and earth, and any ores that might be down there send it back. When I did it before, I got a bunch of shockwaves back at me meaning that there were tons of ores down there." Leo realized with surprise that the dwarves were able to use echolocation underground. He found this fascinating and wondered if there was another way to use this ability in the future.


    By the time he left later, the dwarves had split into three main groups for work. There was the mining group, that would be digging ores and stone, and transporting them to be used. The builders that would focus on clearing away obstacles and start with building the ramp to Asdarge for future materials. And the camp group, that focused on taking care of the kids that couldn''t work yet, and the meals and other duties needs to maintain camp. They had started clearing away a section of trees for the ramp, and there were already three different mines being started. Leo couldn''t help but admire the dwarves efficiency.


    That night Leo was sitting at the top of a faraway mountain waiting for the moon. He was thinking about how surreal it was, that his kingdom was now being built and since the dwarves agreed to follow him, he already had subjects in the thousands. He felt a fear at disappointing those that took a leap of faith and followed him, but also anticipation for the future and the empire he might be able to build with those around him. It was with those thoughts that the change took him that night.


    The next day Leo returned to the camp to find that the dwarves were even more impressive than he thought.In a single night they already had the ramp over halfway to Asdarge and it seemed to be growing at a noticeable pace. Leo worriedly went to find Agmundr and when he finally did he said,


    "Isn''t everyone working a little too hard? I understand the need for urgency, but I don''t want anyone to get hurt or collapse from exhaustion from rushing." Agmundr looked at Leo in confusion, and said,


    "What are you talking about, if anything all of us think we''re behind schedule. I don''t think you understand, we dwarves love this kind of work. When we''re building a future masterpiece like this then there''s no stopping us. We have a proper rotation so that no one gets exhausted, but everyone is rushing to get back to work because they all want to be apart of this. Don''t worry we understand the need for rest, and won''t overwork ourselves." Leo couldn''t help but go along with Agmundr''s words, but still felt as if the dwarves were pushing themselves too hard.


    It only took another half day to finish the ramp, and then they started working on a mechanism to pull the stone up on carts with rope and they finally started the process of officially rebuilding Asdarge.

 87 To spring

    Leo looked around and was in complete amazement at what he saw. The dwarves had worked continuously at rebuilding Asdarge, and several of the buildings around him were already rebuilt. It had only been two weeks since they started, yet almost a quarter of the city was under construction, and half of that was completely rebuilt. Hundreds of those camping below had already moved to the city, and the dwarves had even started on the palace stating that if Leo was a king, he needed a palace to live in. He tried to protest, but no one would have it, even Iris and elder grandma wouldn''t take his side in this.


    One of the other projects the dwarves were working on was building an underground garden like at the village. As it was already autumn, they would need one to survive the winter. Leo also tried to introduce the idea of greenhouses, but they would have to wait due to the need for resources they didn''t have. As time went on though, the ruins stared looking like an actual city again. Besides the houses they also rebuilt the running water ways, roads, and started opening shops as well. They didn''t have a formal currency though, so they mainly bartered goods.


    The beastmen that had also started living there stayed on the ground though, as they were focusing on the gardening, and a couple had joined the hunters and warriors. Thankfully the dwarves and beastmen both brought livestock, so they were also able to get produce like eggs and milk, plus an emergency meat source if the worst situation happened. As Leo wasn''t able to help with most of the rebuilding, he joined the hunters once more. No one argued with this, as with the dwarves joining under him Leo was now unbeatable by any monsters in the forests. No one was surprised when he went to hunt alone once, and brought back another behemoth that he killed with his bare hands, or rather claws.


    One thing he did appreciate though, was the Royal bath. Though he had been cleaning himself, Leo hadn''t been able to take a real bath since arriving in this world. When he first dipped himself in the waters warmed by heat magic crystals, he felt as if he would never leave. One factor was that he was also joined by Iris in the bath, and loved cuddling with her in the warm water. The dwarves told him the crystals were only temporary, and that they were working on finding a way to pump water from heated underground rivers to Asdarge. This was one thing he actually encouraged.


    ***


    It only took another week for the snow to start falling, signaling an end to the outside gardens. If anything, the snow actually increased the workload, as they not only needed to hunt more, but the dwarves also focused on completing the underground gardens. The beastmen started working on this as well, since they would be the ones tending it under Lucy''s instructions. One thing that surprised Leo was finding out Lucy was actually half elf, though he made the connection before finding out about mutants. Similar to the dwarves subterranean echolocation, elves were able to grow plants better than any other race, sometimes even using their magic to grow them almost instantly. Leo recalled that he had seen Lucy use this skill several times.


    As the snows got higher, so did the buildings. They climbed by the day as the dwarves kept working, Leo once again felt guilty at the amount of work they were doing, even during winter. But no matter what he said they insisted they enjoyed this work, even during winter. The weeks turned into months, and spring came once more. As the warm weather returned to the north, the city was finally being finished. The dwarves had completely restored the city and prepared for the increase in occupants.


    The forests below the city had long been cleared, and numerous farmlands now spread out, waiting to welcome those who would work them. The mines were a seemingly endless supply of ores and stone, as the projects never seems to end, even though the city was mostly restored. Leo was sitting in the palace that he had been forced to move into when it was rebuilt. He had finally agreed, but only when those around him agreed to move in as well.


    He was looking at the throne the dwarves restored, what elder grandma said would be his once he managed to win over the elves, and beastmen. Though he was recognized as King, it was also decide the official coronation wouldn''t take place until then. He didn''t mind, as the idea of sitting on a throne wasn''t to appealing to him, and he wasn''t in a hurry to do so. It wasn''t until halfway through spring, that news was brought to Asdarge that accelerated their plans.


    (A.N. I had severe writers block for this whole area of the series, hence the reason why the releases were taking longer and getting shorter. Now that I''m getting into a part that I have been waiting a while to write, I hope to start picking up soon. Thanks for sticking it out with me.)

 88 Stirrings

    Leo was looking at future plans for the surrounding areas, when he received a message that there was an outsider looking for him. Knowing that there shouldn''t be any outsiders aware of their presence, Leo immediately went on alert. He made his way to the throne room where he was told they were waiting, when a familiar scent met his nose. Leo immediately relaxed, and told the others,


    "It''s alright, he''s a friend." They looked confused from Leo referring the girl that arrived as "he" , until her features started changing and there stood a fox beastman with cocky smile on his face, before he instantly removed it, meaning he had urgent business.


    "Leo we need to talk." When he heard Felix''s tone, Leo knew that there was something important going on, and led Felix to the other room. Joining them were elder grandma, Iris, Kumen, and Agmundr. Introductions were made, before Felix got to what he tracked them down for.


    "Something terrible is about to happen, but if you do things right this may be a golden opportunity for you." Felix began his report,


    "All over the continent, there have been thousands of slaves already captured from the purge. They are being transported to Heliantis, of the Helian kingdom, the slave Capitol of the continent. In just two months, the biggest slave auction in history will begin. If you manage to free them though, then not only will you gain followers for your kingdom, but any who return home will spread word of your intentions and kindness. They have captives from the dwarven caravans, elven forests, and the beastmen tribes, on top of the humans they are going to sell." When Leo heard this he had many thoughts going though his head.


    This would be a massive attack against the humans, he didn''t have the manpower to launch such an attack. But he also couldn''t pass up a golden opportunity like Felix said. This would gain him hundreds, if not thousands of followers almost all at once. Leo looked at Felix, and said,


    "I understand the reason for us to free them, but how would you suggest it? We don''t have the numbers to go against that many soldiers. Iris and I could only go so far, we only got lucky the last two fights because we caught our enemies unaware." As Leo said, the last two fights he and Iris were mainly successful because their unknown forms inspired terror on invaders in unknown territory. In this case though, they would be going on enemy territory, where the soldiers would be protecting their families. Plus as the Capitol of a kingdom famous for their slaves, they will have their elites there in force. The more Leo thought about the situation the more uncertain he felt.


    "What about a surprise attack from the inside?" Elder grandma spoke up. Everyone looked at her and she explained,


    "If Leo and Iris sneak into the city ahead of time, they could cause enough chaos for the rest of our fighters to get in and if we focus on freeing the slaves then our numbers will naturally go up." As Leo thought about it, he wasn''t sure this was the way to go either. If the slaves who didn''t have any training fought then they would most likely die, and it would defeat the purpose of going there to begin with. They might take down the city, but at the cost of thousands of lives. Leo continued thinking, and decided.


    "We''ll go with elder grandmas idea. I don''t like sentencing those who can''t fight to die, but if we gave them a choice I''m sure they''ll join with us regardless. We''ll wait until the most captives are there in two months to attack. It''ll also be the time with the heaviest defense, but if we don''t do anything to set off alarms we should be good. Iris and I will infiltrate them ahead of time and spend a couple weeks there to investigate the layout of the city, and find the best way to attack. Felix I want you to go to the surrounding cities and work on finding out military routines. This way we can ensure we attack when the least amount of soldiers are in the city itself, and can tell where the heaviest amount of reinforcers will come from."


    When everyone heard Leo''s decision, they were surprised as they expected him to attempt to find a less risky way. Elder grandma was secretly pleased, one mark of a good ruler was to know when to make tough decisions. It was decided that Leo and Iris would leave in a week, and Felix was to leave immediately. They would be taking the labyrinth, and after the new warrior chief of the dwarves, Yvan, was to take the Warriors into the tunnel after and march to the city after the two cleared it along the way. He decided that with the further research into the magic muskets, they would be able to travel the tunnels in relative safety, with numbers of course.


    That night Leo and Iris went to his kings chamber in the castle, and embraced each other with passion. They didn''t know when they would be able to in the near future. When they awoke the next morning, Iris found that she was out of the herbal mixture, and went to Lucy to get more.


    Leo went to Agmundr to talk about his future weapon. With how rich the mountains were in minerals, it didn''t take long for the miners to find what they needed to make Leo an adamansteel weapon.

 89 New blade

    When Leo reached the workshop the dwarves had taken, he was greeted with the sounds of metal striking metal as they hammered away. He walked though the area, unable to use his nose due to the high amounts of heat and sweat in here, until he found Agmundr. When he also saw Leo approaching, Agmundr quickly finished what he was working on before making his way over with a grin on his face.


    "Finally, we get to start working on your personal weapon, this ought to be a masterpiece." Agmundr was born after the dwarves quit working with adamansteel, and so he never worked with the material and was looking forward to the challenge. He was also looking forward to using the chance to forge a masterpiece that would please his patron God, Hephaestus. He was also excited, as if Leo accomplished what he swore and killed Arthur, then his weapon would most likely be the one used to do so. Leo was excited, as according to the dwarves an adamansteel weapon would last him his whole life.


    "First we need to see your fighting style, to know what dimensions would be best. After that we''ll take your measurements as well as any preferences you have for your own blade. It''ll take us a couple weeks, but it should be ready in time for the attack." Leo nodded, excited. As they were talking, Jack joined them as he was a fellow smith and understood what the dwarves wanted for references best.


    The two faced each other, Leo had a larger practice sword and Jack had shorter ones in each of his four hands. The two rushed at each other, and Leo swung first. Jack used two of his blades to block him, and the other two lashed at him from the sides. He danced out of the way, and swung once more from the side. Jack swept his own swords, and Leo''s swung by him harmlessly. He then used Leo''s momentum against him, and swiped at his shoulder. Leo ducked and was about to attack once more, until,


    "STOP!" Agmundr called out. The two stopped their movements, and turned to look at him. Agmundr then said,


    "We should have what we need, now it''s time for the measurements." Leo nodded and walked forward after putting the practice sword away. Agmundr surprisingly did everything himself, as hehad Leo hold his arms out, and took his measurements. Leo then asked,


    "Don''t you have any assistants?" Agmundr nodded and replied,


    "Yep, but they wouldn''t be of any real use here. I plan to do everything to make your sword myself, as it''s harder to make a masterpiece if there''s holes in the process from others helping." Leo nodded in understanding and didn''t ask more. After the measuring was done, it was time for the rough draft to be drawn. Agmundr got out some paper and started drawing. When Leo looked over he saw a large sword curved to look like a fang. If he understood the dimensions right, it would be so big that he''d need both hands to use it, but he would only need one hand while transformed. He was excited to see that he would be able to use the sword in both of his forms, he wouldn''t be able to use it as much inside, but that''s what his claws were for.


    ***


    Iris returned to the room later feeling a sense of relief. She almost ran out of time to make the tea and received quite the scare from it. She put that matter aside, and set to packing for the upcoming trip. They had just under a week before leaving and they would be in the labyrinth for around three this time once again. What she worried about though was when they reached Heliantis, as she would have to keep her hood up or be identified as a mutant. The one most concerned though, was Hilda as she didn''t want Iris to walk right into the slave Capitol.


    Over the winter the two had grown much closer, seemingly to make up for all of the time they lost. She also grew closer to her brothers as well, by teaching the three of them how to use chi. She had even taken Michael out into the forest a few times, to learn more about the native animals like tusk Giants to learn about taming some of them. When Leo mentioned it he seemed to have an excited glow in his eyes as he talked about the possibilities from using the tusk Giants muscle. As she expected, after returning from Lucy''s Hilda was waiting for her. She stood when she saw Iris and said,


    "No matter how much I think about it, I still can''t get used to the idea that my daughter became a queen, even if Leo hasn''t been officially coronated yet. A queen that''s going to march into battle no less." She finished with tears in her eyes. The idea of a queen fighting wasn''t strange in the past, in fact during elder grandmas time it was almost expected. Only royalty that would spill their own blood for their citizens were respected, man or woman. She had been told all this of course, but Hilda couldn''t help but have the thought that she was going to lose her daughter again right after getting her back into her life.


    After moving here she never spared a thought for what happened to Shane, a state of mind shared with her sons. She was shocked to see the change in them after moving, as due to their father all three grew up cold and silent. However after moving she saw each of them smiling more and even caught them flirting with a dwarven or beast girl on more than one occasion. She didn''t discriminate of course, as all she wanted was for all her children to be happy.


    The mother daughter duo then spent the rest of the afternoon speaking to each other, treasuring their time together before being split once more.

 90 Heliantis

    The rest of the week went by swiftly, and it was finally time to once again depart to the south. One reason for leaving when they did, was because the full moon just passed, as he always tried to ensure he doesn''t have to worry about it as much while traveling. Felix already left days ago, and headed to the surrounding territories to gather information on them. Around the two of them were also various dwarves preparing for the journey as well, as they would be leaving around the same time, but Leo and Iris will be traveling ahead. Suddenly several people came to wish them farewell.


    "Take care my daughter, and please stay safe." Hilda said to Iris before turning to Leo,


    "Please, take care of her, and yourself." Leo nodded and said,


    "Ensuring iris''s safety is always my main concern, no matter what." Hilda looked concerned, but didn''t say anything. Next Natalie and Jack stepped forward.


    "Run fast you two, remember the easiest prey is the one that doesn''t notice the hunter." Leo looked serious and nodded at her words. If the kingdom gets aware that they might try to do something then it''ll make their plans nearly impossible, so they needed to ensure they didn''t cause any commotion while there. Jack then said,


    "The two of us will be with the dwarves, we''d try to go with the two of you, but we both stick out worse than Iris so we have to stay back. Try and save some heads for me though." Leo smiled at jacks words, both glad and worried that the two of them will join the battle. Jack saw he was worried though and said,


    "What''s this, worried about the guy who trained you to begin with? It''s twenty years too early for you to be worried about me fighting!" He declared out loud. Several people also cried out at that time, to also show their determination to fight. They moved through the rest of those who were saying goodbye, before getting to elder grandma.


    "Be careful, you''re not facing a group of soldiers out of their element this time, they''re going to be the elite fighters whose main goal is to protect their king, and home. As Natalie said, don''t cause any unnecessary issues and keep your head down." Leo and Iris both assured her that they understood, before they finally departed.


    They both entered the tunnels armed with their bows, and iris''s knives. Leo was hoping that his sword will be ready by the time he returned, and he left his axe with the dwarves, as he didn''t want to draw attention with it. They mostly brought the bows so that they could pass as hunters. The two took one last look at daylight, then shot forward into the darkness once more.


    They had traveled for several hours before they ran into the first monster, Leo didn''t even stop to register it before his claws ripped out its throat. The two were still moving and were already well away from the corpse before it even hit the floor. They didn''t bother with harvesting rations, as they were more focused on speed and didn''t want the extra weight. They moved without rest as the hours went by, as both were accustomed to traveling for hours without stopping.


    It was after about six hours of running that they took their first rest, only for a quick lunch and for Leo to ensure they were going the right way. While moving they only slowed their pace long enough to mark the turns so that the dwarves would know the way they went when they arrived at them. Leo confirmed the next several forks they had, and then they resumed their journey.


    It took a week of this constant movement before they reached the exit they were looking for. Leo looked at the maps once more, and couldn''t wrap his head around the fact that they made a journey that would usually take several weeks or months by foot, in a week. He was even more excited to build the railroad in the labyrinth to use for transportation in the future.


    They stored the maps in a hole they made in the wall with magic, then marked it so that dwarves would dig it out later. The maps were too precious to take into the city with them. They then joined the road and continued the rest of the way to Heliantis as normal travelers. As they stopped Leo and Iris would hunt some game to further cement their story of being hunters.


    Unlike earth, the lords of this world welcomed hunters as they kept the dangerous monster populations down, as long as they didn''t kill any prized game. Stag lords and other such "less dangerous" game were prime examples of this. After about five more days of travel, the two got their first look of Heliantis, the Capitol of slaves.

 91 Tragedy

    When Leo and Iris got their first look of Heliantis, they were both dumbfounded. While the city Lawrence was big, and the dwarven city Tirdaral was amazing, they didn''t even come close to Heliantis in size. The walls stretched out, and there were towering castles in the city. Leo isn''t spend all his time gawking though, he was looking at the layout, and various other things he would need to notify the dwarves of when they attacked. After a couple more hours of walking, the two finally arrived at the walls.


    "I.D.s" the guard said in a lazy tone as they approached. Iris kept her hood down as they walked up and they both presented their I.D. cards. The guard waved them through, not apparently caring about iris''s hood, not that either of them were complaining. After they entered the city Leo said,


    "First let''s find a decent place to stay, then we''ll just wander around a bit and scout the area." While the dwarves mined, they found silver and gold veins and used some of the ores to make more currency for when they had to travel. The rest was used to make their own Asdargian currency. It was the same values, but one side of the coins had a mountain, while the other side was an image of Leo''s wolf form. He was adamantly denied using it, but he was overridden during the meeting.


    "Ok, I heard from Felix that there was a decent inn in the shopping district called ''The Healthy Hearth''." Leo nodded, and the two set off for the shopping district. They had about a month and a half to gather information. He had about three different locations he wanted to scout; the stadium, where there were slaves that were forced to fight to the death for entertainment, the slave market, where the most slaves were processed and sold to their new owners, and finally the high class district, where they had more slaves than residents in each house. As they were walking, suddenly heard a commotion,


    "Hand over your coin purse, or I''ll gut you like a fish!" A man was being robbed. Leo gritted his teeth, and pretended like he didn''t notice. He didn''t like ignoring people who needed help, but he needed to keep a low profile and couldn''t draw attention to himself. His fists clenched, Leo walked the other way. After nearly an hour of walking, the two finally arrived at the shopping district, and a nearby vendor was more than happy to tell him the location of The Healthy Hearth. Nearly another hour and they found the building, as Leo walked inside he found a warm atmosphere, and even this early many people drinking. They were all laughing about this or that, and didn''t seem to mind Leo or Iris as they walked up to the counter.


    "How much for a room?" The innkeeper looked at him and said,


    "A silver a night, or six for a week." Leo''s brow twitched at the steep price, but he still handed over the coins for the next month and a half. After he received their money, the innkeeper handed Leo a key and told them what room was theirs. The two went to their room, and crashed for the day after traveling so hard.


    ***


    Princess Alice sat in the Royal library reading the last page of her book, before going to put it away and finding another one. She thought, ''What do I want to read now?'' As she looked at the thousands of books around her. She had already read all of them, but had nothing else to do so she was going to read them again.


    Her sole role in her royal life, was to become Arthur''s bride in a few months after she turned seventeen. As such there was no way anyone in the castle would let her do anything that might harm her, lest they risk Arthur''s wrath. The only places she was allowed to go to, was her room, the kitchens, or the Royal library. As such she had already read all the books available for her. There were books about almost any topic imaginable, studies about monsters, histories, policies in different nations, everything. What Alice liked the most though were the fictional stories, fairy tales.


    She loved the idea of a princess being in trouble and her Prince Charming saving her, fighting dragons, witches, or any other kinds of monsters, all for her. She would spend hours daydreaming, that her Prince Charming would come to save her from her future, beating Arthur and taking her away to his castle to live happily ever after. Her favorites of these were actually tales collected from lost people, Cinderella, Snow White, sleeping beauty, and so on. But Alice knew this would never happen to her. The closest she ever found to her Charming, was the champion of Athena, Alex. He only ever looked at her as a conquest though.


    She had learned early on, that there were two kinds of love stories, fairy tales, and tragedies. Her life was unmistakably a tragedy, as she would spend the rest of it, hundreds or even thousands of years being Arthur''s toy. In tragedies the girl would always lose either her freedom or her life, and the only options left for her were one or the other. But if she lost her life then Arthur would kill the entire country, simply because of her selfishness. She had seen the way he treats his "wives", when on his last visit he brought a fox girl with nine tails, and paraded her nude throughout the castle. It was one of his games, everyone else could look but not touch, and it helped to break them to lose any thoughts of self importance left.


    She knew that after he "married" her, it would be her turn to be paraded around the castle, taken by him whenever and wherever he wanted. No one in her family cared though, she was the daughter of concubine, so she more than acceptable to be used as scapegoat for the kingdoms existence.


    "I just want one day..." Alice whispered to herself. It was all she wanted, one day to walk among people, to act like a girl and not a sacrifice. She thought to herself, any free will she had would be taken from her in about four months, she wanted to have at least one day. Alice decided, in a month she would break out of the castle, and spend a day among the people. She recalled seeing a couple of princesses in her fairy tales do that. She then also decided that she''ll read books about famous thieves so that she could study them. She quickly found one, and started studying it, preparing for her own escape, before resigning herself to her life of tragedy.

 92 Gladiator

    Leo and Iris spent the first couple days in Heliantis traveling the city and mentally mapping it. They spent their time examining the patrols and discipline of guards, the layouts of the various districts, and the number of potential slaves they would save. After a week of this, they went to scope out the stadium. If it wasn''t for the fact that most, if not all, of the people fighting were slaves that had no choice, Leo might have liked watching it. The two joined the flood of people going into the colloseum, and went to find some seats. They didn''t mind what seats they got, as their enhance vision would mean they would see all of the fights regardless as long as their actual view of the fights wasn''t blocked.


    Thousands of people packed themselves into the stadium, waiting for others to spill each other''s blood for their entertainment. The sound was practically deafening for the two with heightened hearing, with the horrendous smell of thousands of unwashed bodies cramming into the same space. Leo swore to never visit a colosseum again. He then watched as a line of people, were brought out from the cells of the arena, and separated into two groups. The crowds went silent for a moment as the gladiators faced each other, then the second they clashed an even louder deafening roar thundered.


    Leo didn''t understand what others found appealing about this, as the fighters killed each other in the bloodiest ways possible. He would''ve preferred a fight where they didn''t fight just to spill blood, but to prove superiority over another. To best one another, and striving to beat those who are better than you. As the first round finished, an appetizer to start the blood thirst, they then led out a couple men. He side to looked at one of them, a man with pride and strength in his gaze. He nudged Iris, who seemed to be doing worse than him there, and said,


    "See that one, keep an eye on him. He seems like he might be able to handle himself well in a fight." She nodded, still looking a little pale, and they watched the next fight. The two started charging at each other, and the mans opponent lunged his sword as he tried to spill the first blood. The man simply turned himself so that the sword passed by harmlessly, and swung his own blade around to slice open his leg.


    Fresh blood flowed from the wound, as the opponent now took a defensive stance, since his wound prevented him from moving as he pleased. The man walked around his opponent, only moving forward when the crowds demands for blood pushed his actions. As the opponent slashed this time, the man parried and ran his sword across his back, opening a gash but not yet crippling him. The opponent seems to give up, as the crowd started booing and making the sign of a thumbs down, the sign of death. The man walked forward, and swung his sword, effectively taking the others head off with the single strike. What Leo noticed was that he didn''t seem to show any joy or excimer at the act, he only seems like he was doing as he was bid.


    After that fight the same man took part of a few more fights, and won them in similar manners until he was done for the day. The crowd started chanting as he was being taken away,


    "Theos!"


    "Theos! "


    "Theos!"


    "Theos!"


    "Theos!"


    When Leo heard this he assumed it was his name, as he watched the man being led away. He decided that if he was able to, he wanted to get that man on his side in the future. As they continued watching the fights none showed the same capabilities of Theos, but there were several capable fighters.


    Finally, Leo and Iris had enough and both decided unanimously to leave. As they left the smell and roar of the crowd, he heard Iris say,


    "Unless it''s to free the gladiators, I don''t ever want to go to a colosseum again." He couldn''t help but agree, the place wasn''t friendly to those with senses as sensitive as theirs. They decided to take a detour back to the inn, and went to the market to browse for a while.


    The roar of the crowds was soon replaced with the shouts of haggling of the market stalls, but Leo would take the markets any day of the week. They walked by various booths, selling various goods that were both familiar and unfamiliar to Leo. As they were walking something caught both of their eyes, and they swiftly separated. A moment later, the two returned and saw that the other had something. Leo laughed and said,


    "Let''s wait until we return to the inn, so that there''s a little more privacy." Iris nodded,came the two continued walking around. They end to all kinds of different booths, and ate several foods they had to offer. Leo liked it, as it was the first time he was able to simply walk around and enjoy an afternoon with his wife. As if he suddenly realized it, Leo then grabbed iris''s hand and pulled her closer. When she noticed what he was doing she looked confused until he said to her,


    "On earth we call a couple going out like this a date, and they usually walk hand in hand like this." She didn''t say anything, and the two just walked around enjoying each other''s company. If it wasn''t for the fact that he was in enemy territory, Leo would''ve been completely content in that moment.

 93 Marke

    After walking around for a while the two went back to the inn to relieve their fatigue. Simply going to the colosseum had been mentally draining for both leo and Iris, as Iris had never been in an area with so many people, and Leo found being in large crowds that didn''t have the same hygiene standards of earth disgusting. There was also the twos senses to take into account. Once they had returned to their room the two took a small nap, then woke for dinner.


    "Let''s go, I haven''t eaten all day." Leo said as they got up and made their way downstairs to eat. Once they were done they returned to their room and Leo dug out a small item he found that day. As he was about to give it to Iris she started to hand him something as well.


    "I guess we think alike." He laughed as they looked at what the other got them. Iris handed him a necklace, a small pendant with the make of a wolf. It looked silver but when Leo touched it his hand didn''t burn.


    "I already made sure it''s not silver, it''s probably just something that looks like it." Leo smiled, and immediately hung it over his neck. Iris then looked at what he handed her, and her smile was radiant. She instantly put the charm bracelet on her wrist, and said,


    "I love it, thank you." When he saw her smile Leo couldn''t help himself and leaned forward to kiss her, and the two spent the rest of the night in a very good mood.


    ***


    It was a little over a week later that Leo heard about a small slave auction at the market about to start. He went with Iris to get a general idea of what they were like, and see what conditions slaves were usually kept in. He didn''t expect much, but the reality of what was there was almost too much for him. Men, women, and children of all ages and races were marched out onto a stage, chains on their wrists and nothing but a small loincloth to protect their shame, some didn''t even have this.


    They were clean for the most part, after all who would want to buy dirty merchandise? But almost all of their eyes were dead, and most showed obvious signs of malnourishment. He watched as the first man was led forward and the announcer proclaimed,


    "First we have a strong strapping young man, capable of doing physical labor or perhaps even training to be a fighter." He continued going on before they started the bidding, and the man was bought for ten gold pieces by someone Leo learned belonged to the colosseum. He knew the man would now make his living as a killer for sport, or would soon die for sport. His already sour mood took another turn downhill.


    After that the auction got progressively worse, until one point that a girl, no older than thirteen was led forward. Once she stood in front of the crowd the only piece of clothing she had, a small loincloth, was ripped from her and the announcer shouted out,


    "And here we have a beautiful young woman, still growing and it has been confirmed, pure. She knows housework, and could be useful as a maid." Leo knew the announcer didn''t believe she would be a maid though, otherwise he wouldn''t have removed her loincloth. He gripped his hands so hard a drop of blood fell, and he felt bile rising in his throat. The most intense bidding started then, as several nobles started trying to buy her.


    "Five gold pieces!"


    "Ten gold pieces!"


    "Twenty!"


    And so the prices went up, and up, until she was finally sold to a fat disgusting man for fifty gold pieces. A strong worker sold for ten, and a youthful pure girl sold for fifty, Leo grew even sicker. He could feel Iris trembling beside him, both from revulsion, and relief that she was able to avoid that kind of life. Leo hoped that was the worst, but he was proven wrong. After that girl several other girls were led up, some even several years younger than the first, most were bought by filthy looking lords, and some were bought by people he learned were brothel masters.


    As the auction went on his revulsion only grew, and finally it ended and Leo left with Iris, leaving a small trail of blood drops from him gripping his hand so hard. If he hadn''t been training to control himself he was sure he would''ve gone wolf there, maybe he should have. For the first time Leo was looking forward to the next full moon, just a day or so away. It was obvious this world was rubbing off onto him, as he simply wanted to kill at that moment.


    Leo refused dinner that night, and was unable to sleep after witnessing what he did. The only reason he did not act on it, was the thought that in only around a month he would be fighting to free all of them. That and the thought that he committed the faces of the ones who bought them to memory, and would personally ensure they all died horribly.

 94 Hero?

    It has been two weeks since Leo witnessed the slave auction, and he had been avoiding going to another one ever since. After the full moon he actually felt better than he did before for once, mentally if not physically. As the major auction approached it was almost time for Leo and Iris to leave and rejoin the others for the attack. They didn''t write down the information they needed as if it was found they would immediately get pegged as spies. However Leo had something else on his mind.


    "Are you sure you''re ok?" He asked Iris who seemed to not be feeling well the last few days. He knew that not all of his capabilities would be transferred to werewolves he made, and it appeared that it also applied to his resilience to sickness. She shook her head and said,


    "I''m fine, probably just from being in the city for so long." Leo didn''t disagree with her, as even he felt a little ill just from being here as long as they have.


    "I''m going out for a bit, maybe walking around will do me some good." She said as she left the room. Leo wanted to go with her, but knew she wanted to be left alone for a while. So he went downstairs and simply hung out in the pub. He simply decided to drink with the other patrons as he waited for Iris. While drinking he was chatting with the others while also listening to his surroundings to hear of there was any new news he should know before leaving. Like this he spent the next couple hours, then when he was starting to get worried when a little before sunset Iris finally came back. He went up to her,


    "Let''s walk around for a bit and get something for dinner." She smiled at his suggestion and gladly held his arm as he escorted her out of the inn. He had gone out with her a couple times, but usually waited until the end of the day to avoid the crowds. She of course still needed to keep her hood up. The two walked around until they found a place to get some food, and enjoyed a relatively nice evening together.


    That ended though on the way back shortly after dark. They were walking back when he caught some movement in the corner of his eye. He saw a robed figure being stopped by some guys and heard what they were saying.


    "How about coming to play with us for a bit, huh cutie?"


    "Um, no thank you. I''m supposed to be on my way..."


    "Ah come on, we''ll show you a really good time."


    "No, please."


    The robed figure, a girl was then dragged into a darker alley, and as Leo watched this he grew angry again. He had done nothing when a man got robbed, he stood by and let some innocent girls get sold to scumbags, he wasn''t going to stand by and listen as a girl was violated when he could do something about it. Without even checking Iris stepped in line next to him and went to help him.


    "Get on the roofs, I''ll take care of it while you keep lookout." She nodded, knowing they still needed to keep a low profile. And the two went to deal with some worthless punks.


    ***


    Alice was happy her plan to sneak out succeeded. She was walking around the city with a small purse of gold coins and a hooded robe to keep her face hidden. She noticed a few of her fathers men searching for her, but stayed hidden so they couldn''t find her. She knew that she would most likely get punished later, but didn''t care when she compared what her life will be like soon anyways.


    Sh enjoyed herself walking around, trying new food, seeing plenty of people, and getting to spend time outside for once. Eventually it started to get dark and she had to go back. Alice started working her way to the palace, but couldn''t remember the right way to get there. As she was walking it got darker before she finally decided she was lost. She started to look for one of her fathers men, before a group of guys stopped her.


    "How about coming to play with us for a bit, huh cutie?"


    "Um, no thank you. I''m supposed to be on my way..."


    "Ah come on, we''ll show you a really good time."


    "No, please." She didn''t want to go with them, but one of them grabbed her arm and dragged her into a darker alley. Alice felt scared since she wasn''t ignorant as to what they after. Once away from the street they pushed her up against the wall and pulled back her hood to look at her face.


    "Hey I was right, she is a right beauty. Gonna have some fun tonight for sure." One of the guys, maybe the ringleader, said to his friends. Then one of them stepped forward and said,


    "Wait, she''s the princess! I''ve seen her before when the royal family appeared at an event in the past!" There was a quiet murmur through the group, and Alice wondered if they won''t bug her now since it was known she belonged to Arthur. The ringleader then smile and said,


    "What do you think, a girl picked by Arthur himself and we clear the city before he comes for her? Hide the body well enough and no one will know until we''re already gone." The lackeys started chuckling in agreement, none of them had any attachment to the city so they didn''t mind leaving it for Arthur''s wrath.


    Alice paled at their words, as the ringleader then suddenly pushed her face against the wall and started tearing her clothes. She felt the now cooling air on her lower body as it was exposed, and some hands started running across her skin. Tears fell from her eyes as they grabbed her buttocks and started rubbing it, and she suddenly felt something hard and hot press against her nether region. She suddenly had a thought, Arthur for centuries as his toy, or this group for a single night before they killed her.


    Either choice would be unbearable to any girl, but she already knew her life was a tragedy anyways. One last time she hoped for the hero she knew wouldn''t come, and right when her chastity was about to be stolen from her the ringleader suddenly disappeared from her back and she felt the breeze on her exposed lower region once more.


    "Wait what? NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" That was the last words of the ringleader before a sickening noise sounded throughout the alley and he fell forever silent. There was a single beat, before the rest of the guys who were about to defile her started attacking the one who killed the ringleader. The sounds of a fight broke out throughout the alley and Alice slowly turned to witness what she could only believe was a dream. She saw a guy fighting the ones who dragged her here, taking them all on singlehandedly.


    Each of them one by one died at his hands, before one grabbed his arm and ripped the sleeve. She didn''t register it before he finished off the last one. Alice was still stunned as he turned towards her and walked over. She felt as if her knees would give out at that moment.


    "Are you alright?" He asked as he held his hand out to her. It was the same one with the ripped sleeve, and in the low light she saw a brand on his skin. Alice looked at the one who saved her, one who appeared when she needed him the most, one who was chosen by a divine, and she only thought one thing. Fresh tears in her eyes as she stumbled forward and when he tried to catch her she leaned forwards and pressed her lips against his, and said two words before passing out,


    "My hero."

 95 First meeting

    ''WHAT THE FUCK?!''


    Was the only thing going through Leo''s mind at the moment. He had stepped in and helped a woman who was about to violated, but the moment it was safe she came forward and kissed him, while also calling him her "hero". Plus, there was the fact that he heard what they were saying a moment ago, and the words "princes" and "Arthur" stuck out like a sore thumb.


    As he was trying to figure this out he heard a sound behind him and turned to see Iris walking up. Suddenly he felt a chill go up his spine, but seeing Iris''s poker face ignored it, hoping he wouldn''t regret doing so later. He then said to her,


    "Did you hear what they said, she''s the princess." Iris nodded with a pale face, they had been trying to stay out of trouble, but now they didn''t know how to avoid it. If they left her there and something happened to her then it would cause an uproar, if they tried to being her back or leave her with someone then they''ll become involved. Though she REALLY didn''t want to, she said,


    "Let''s bring her back to the inn and find out what she has to say, then we could figure out what to do with her." Leo was sure he didn''t imagine the coldness on her voice, but hurried to remove his cloak and wrapped it around her, since her own clothes were torn up and she was still exposed. They then hurried back to the inn, hoping no one was suspicious of them.


    ***


    When Alice opened her eyes the first person she saw was a beautiful woman with bright red hair, and what seemed to be glowing golden eyes. She was in a bed and was still wearing her torn clothes, proof that the previous incident wasn''t a dream. She suddenly had a giddy feeling in her stomach, and smiled at the thought that she actually met her hero. Seeing that the red haired woman frowned, and said,


    "If you''re wondering about my husband, he went to get some food and drinks and will be back in a few minutes. That gives us some time to talk." When she heard her Alice''s smile faded, as she didn''t think of her hero already having a wife, not that she minded if she was a concubine. Her only worry was being someone''s toy, and having her freedom taken for the rest of her life. When she thought of this again her smile returned, much to iris''s annoyance.


    Alice then took a moment to look at who she now considered the first wife, and actually felt intimidated by another woman''s looks for the first time in her life. She was called the most beautiful girl in the kingdom, but never cared about this due to the fact that it was what drew her to Arthur''s attention in the first place. Now she looked at Iris and couldn''t help but compare the two of them. Alice was thin and beautiful with her wavy brown hair, while also seeming fragile, like a flower.


    The woman in front of her, though she was undoubtedly a mutant, Alice felt she was better looking than her. She was lean and fit, dressed in leathers as if for combat that showed off her figure. She gave the feel of a weapon, waiting to be unsheathed, beautiful but deadly. She suddenly started speaking,


    "We heard them refer to you as Princess Alice, but I hope you''ll forgive me if I don''t add the princess." Alice shook her head and said,


    "Please, I don''t want something like that, please talk to me normally." Iris was surprised, as she thought royalty would want to parade their status. She then said,


    "Ok, Alice. So why did you kiss my husband and call him your hero?" Alice turned red at the question, and said as if a young girl with a crush,


    "Because, I was raised to be an offering to Arthur, and no matter what no one would try to help me. I read stories my whole life about a Prince Charming, or heroes that would save the princess whenever they were in trouble. Your husband is the only person that''s helped me my whole life, the only one who seemed to actually care about my well being even if he didn''t know me."


    When Iris heard her she couldn''t help but sigh, and felt pity for the girl. She was raised in a way that was obvious that no one around her cared, but saw her as something similar as breeding stock to be sold. But she couldn''t help but smirk while saying,


    "So you fell in love with my husband, gave him your first kiss, and yet you don''t even know his name or I bet what he actually looks like." At her words Alice turned even redder, as she recalled the alley was too dark for her to see what her hero even looked like; and all she saw was that he processed a brand on his arm, the mark of a divines chosen. Iris looked at her carefully again, and said,


    "I think the better question is, can we trust you? As you can see I''m a mutant, as such that either means that I''m to be degraded to a slave by your country and family or your enemy. So which is it?" When Alice heard her she didn''t know what to think. She suddenly recalled that even if she was with her hero, it would condemn the entire country to bear Arthur''s wrath, all for her selfishness. She suddenly felt tears in her eyes again at the thought that even if she met her hero, she wouldn''t be able to be with him unless he was willing to fight Arthur for her. But neither of them knew that Arthur wasn''t coming for Alice, as he was staying away from the mainland for another fourteen years.


    She continued crying as she faced the choice she thought she had, be with her hero and condemn her people to die, or turn her back on him and her own happiness for the sake of others.

 96 Princess

    Leo returned to the room with a tray carrying several a bowls of soup and mugs of both water and ale. He hoped Iris would get along with the princess, but also knew it would probably be hard considering what happened before. Sure enough when he opened the door he found the princess crying her eyes out again, and he shot a look at his wife who immediately put her hands up as if to say she wasn''t guilty. He set the tray down on the stand next to the bed, and said,


    "Um princess, there''s some food here if your hungry." When she heard his voice she immediately turned to take him in, it was also the first time he got a good look at her. He thought she was pretty, but he was already happily married so he didn''t register more than that. After a few seconds she seemed to smell the food and hesitantly took a bowl. Leo and Iris also took one and they all started eating.


    Leo couldn''t help but notice that every chance she got Alice was looking right at him, before quickly looking back at her bowl, then switching back to him. The three continued to eat in awkward silence, before they finally finished their food. As Alice moved to put her bowl back, Leo couldn''t help but notice she was still wearing her torn clothes. He looked away, and said,


    "Iris, is there something you could lend her to wear?" He two girls suddenly noticed, and Alice turned as red as iris''s hair.Few minutes later he turned around again to see her in new clothes. He then started talking,


    "So princess-"


    "Alice!" Leo was confused and asked,


    "What?" She blushed and replied,


    "I want you to call me Alice, not princess." He didn''t know how to react, but amended his earlier words.


    "So Alice, what was the princess doing walking around in the city without any guards?" She hesitated for a moment before answering.


    "I wanted one day where I wasn''t a prisoner." Was all she said. Leo understood her intentions though, it was a common story in earth princess stories. He also understood that she was promised to Arthur soon, which meant that any free will she had would be taken soon as well. He was torn, he wanted to help her, but knew they had to keep a low profile. Before he could say anything though,


    "I- I know I can''t be happy. I want to avoid being with Arthur more than anything, but if I don''t then he''ll kill the entire kingdom." Leo thought for a moment, he didn''t know what to do. He decided that he''ll take her back to the palace, then let fate go from there when they attack the city. He couldn''t tell her though, as there would be the risk of their plans leaking, even if she didn''t betray them. She then turned to him,


    "Please, just let me have one night with you, um..." Leo then realized they never told her their names.


    "I''m Leo, she''s Iris." Alice smiled as she tried to commit his name to memory, and continued,


    "Please, just let me stay with you tonight, I won''t ask to go all the way or something, Arthur will notice if I''m not pure. Just let me feel loved tonight." Leo felt awkward at her request, especially since there was a chance they''ll take her away so she doesn''t marry Arthur. He turned to look at his wife. Iris looked conflicted as she thought the same thing as Leo, but eventually nodded her head since nothing will happen anyways, plus it could be considered a form of repayment for not telling her their plans.


    Leo climbed into bed a little later, with Iris on his right side, and Alice climbed into into his left side, meaning he spent the night being smothered by both girls scents. He couldn''t help but have a bad feeling about the next day.


    ***


    The next morning Leo was walking towards the palace with Alice beside him. He already had Iris leave to meet him outside the city, and they''ll returns to the approaching dwarves after he returned Alice. She was in a very conflicted mood, on one hand she spent the night sleeping next to her hero, but on the other she''ll most likely never see him again. The two finally reached the palace gates, and Alice called out,


    "I''m Princess Alice, returning to the castle." The guards were dumbfounded that the princess herself had appeared before them. They heard about her going missing, but never imagined they would be the ones to report her return. What amazed them was that the man who brought her back tried to leave after escorting her to the gates. One of them stepped forward,


    "Please sir, the king would want to thank the man who brought his daughter back." Leo sneered in his mind and thought to himself,


    ''More like his sacrifice.'' But didn''t say anything or let his expression reveal his thoughts. He let them lead him inside the palace, hoping nothing happened.


    A little ways away there was one person who was dumbfounded at what he saw. There with princess Alice was the same man who scarred his face. Alex reached up and felt the line running across his cheek, and recalled the memory of this man and a woman rampaging through their camp singlehandedly, and throwing his sword hilt at him and scarring him. He immediately went to see the king first to report this.


    Leo however had no idea, and continued with Alice and the guards through the castle. They eventually entered the throne room, and Leo saw for the first time real royalty. There was a regal man standing in the center radiating authority, several men with his face surrounding him, Alice''s brothers more than likely, and a heavily scarred man in pristine armor not too far away from him. The man in the center walked forward with a smile on his face and said loudly,


    "My daughter, you have been returned to me safe and sound!" He reached Alice and wrapped his arms around her in a hug, Leo knew it was an act though, with how stiff Alice was. He then turned to Leo and placed his hands on his shoulders before saying,


    "From what I understand I have you to thank for returning her to me!" Leo bowed his head and said,


    "The honor was all mine your grace." He hoped he acted well enough. The king smiled again, and gestured for Leo to lift his head while everyone started applauding. Suddenly something impacted the back of his head. Leo suddenly hit the floor and his conscious started fading. He noticed two things before losing consciousness, the big man standing with a giant hammer that apparently made his way behind him while everyone was applauding, and Alice''s screams.

 97 Imprisoned

    Leo drifted in and out of consciousness, but every time he was about to wake up, he was greeted by another hit on the head. He didn''t know how long he was out of it, or how many times he was hit, only that he had a splitting headache. When he was finally allowed to come to, he was being held up by chains with his arms out to the sides, there was a metallic collar around his neck, and he was only wearing a loincloth. He opened one eye, and struggled to open the other, due to the dried blood covering his face. It appeared that they broke his skin quite badly when they hit him, but he already healed, simply leaving the blood coating half his face.


    "I see you''re awake, again. I couldn''t keep track of how many times we had to knock you out while we chained you and investigated your background. About twelve hours have passed since then, and poor Praxis had to stay alert the whole time." As Leo''s vision focused, he saw a few people in front of him. The king, Andrew, the man in the shiny armor, and the one who hit him, the big guy with a hammer. He also saw two faces that he instantly recognized, the innkeeper of the inn he had been staying at, and the most surprising, Curly. The horned man looked as if it was Christmas, as he gave Leo a sinister smile. Leo frowned and didn''t say anything, but Andrew apparently decided to do the talking instead,


    "This innkeeper was more than happy to provide us details of your companion, and we were quite happy your hear it matched the reports of my advisor, Alex, and most surprisingly this mutant. So I know that you have a female companion, with golden eyes, who along with you, might not be human. I intended to interrogate you about what happened with my daughter, but this caught my interest." As he said that he pulled out a metallic card that showed Leo''s ID, but unlike the fake that Artemis gave him, this was a real one that displayed,


    RACE- werewolf


    In big letters for them to see. Leo was still silent, and Andrew just clicked his tongue, before saying,


    "Let''s just do this the easy way, tell me about these werewolves. According to this mutant, he was from the same place as her, but she was always human. Then my advisor, Alex, stated that two humans attacked his camp singlehandedly, moved like beasts the whole time, and were capable of things that should be nearly impossible for humans to do. Then as he attacked the dwarves Capitol, two beasts attacked them and singlehandedly turned the tide of battle, what he presumed to be a male, and a female. The funny thing being, that the two of you climbed up there, and that he now claims the color of the monsters fur matches the color of your hair."


    He paused suddenly, as if giving Leo time to speak, but he kept silent. Andrew sighed again, before burying his fist into Leo''s stomach. Leo vomited blood from the hit, and was confused as he couldn''t use ki to block it. Andrew apparently noticed his confusion, and smiled. He jabbed at the metallic collar on him, and said,


    "Know what this is? It''s a collar designed specifically for slaves who can use ki, mana, or energy. They seal it, so that no slave can use magic. Though it hasn''t seemed to seal your ability to heal, it should do the trick well enough for your strength." Leo laughed to himself, most of his strength was physical, not ki. But he wasn''t about to tell them that. Apparently Andrew understood Leo was ridiculing him, as he turned and nodded at the big guy with the hammer, Praxis. Leo thought he was about to get another hit in the head when he walked behind him, but instead heard the hammer hit the floor. The whistling wind warned him what was coming a split second before it hit him.


    CRACK


    His skin split as the whip sliced across his back. He let out a groan, much to Andrews satisfaction. Then he heard the whistling again,


    CRACK


    A second year in his back appeared, as the whip cracked again. Leo only let out a small groan this time, not wanting to let Andrew have the satisfaction. He was then whipped another twenty eight times, for a total of thirty. His back was turned into strips of skin, as his blood ran freely down his legs. After a few minutes he felt an intense itching, as his back started healing from the damage. Andrew laughed again, and said,


    "So here''s what we''re going to do, you''ll tell us about werewolves and where your little wife is, or we''ll continue whipping you until you tell us. Since you heal so quickly then we don''t need to worry about killing you as much." Leo was once more silent at his offer, causing Andrew to sigh again and he walked away while saying to curly,


    "I''ll send a force to the location you told us about, there better be a settlement there. I''ll leave him to you for now, but no killing or maiming. I might need to either use him or breed him so only use the whip, understand?" Curly nodded with enthusiasm, and said,


    "Of course your majesty, I''ll be quite content with making him suffer without killing him! And I''d like to thank your majesty once more for making an exception for a mutant like me!" The King nodded and said,


    "Of course, you helped me identify a potential new breed of slave and a source for test subjects. However if things don''t work as we expect, then you''ll be the one working in their place." Curly nodded again, and the king finally left. He smiled evilly and turned to Leo, before saying,


    "You have no idea how much I looked forward to this Leo. You ran me out of the village, and I was caught and almost enslaved after making my way south. If I wasn''t brought here and caught the Knights attention when they announced they were looking for Iris, I would still be in chains you know. So I owe you, for getting me kicked out, and for getting me out of chains." Leo turned to look at Curly, and said his first words since waking up,


    "When I get out of here, the first one I''m going to kill will be you." Curly had a look of contempt on his face, but there was a small flicker of fear there as well. He put it aside, and grabbed the whip, and started to learn how to use it with LOTS of practice.

 98 Both of us

    For the next week Leo was in the dungeon being whipped by Curly, and interrogated daily by Andrew. He could have broken out if he wanted, but didn''t since it would make them especially alert for another attack since they knew he and Iris were their enemies. Plus, if he was here when the army attacked, as he didn''t think they would leave him or wait for him to escape, then he was already in the castle for a straight shot at the royal family, to settle a now personal agenda.


    He wasn''t sure if it was on purpose, but he noticed that every night he could see the moon perfectly out of the small barred window of his cell. He kept track of its cycles, and worst case scenario, he was there for another week and went wolf on them when it was full. His only worry was Iris, as he knew she wasn''t caught, and hoped she wouldn''t try to break him out. Curly didn''t seem as if he could be happier, as he whipped Leo as much as possible.


    With each crack of the whip Leo recalled a different name of those he wanted to kill.


    CRACK


    Curly


    CRACK


    Andrew


    CRACK


    Praxis


    CRACK


    The innkeeper


    And every other person he swore to kill during this trip, the disgusting nobles, the slave masters, Alex. The list would go on, and when he reached the end of it, he''d start over. This went on for an entire week, with Leo bidding his time. It was on the seventh day after he was imprisoned, that Andrew came again, while grinning like he just won the lottery.


    ***


    Iris stood on a cliff faces get Heliantis, going over the past week once more. She had heard on her way out of the city that they caught the one who kidnapped the princess, and used the shadows to cloak herself before scaling the walls to avoid capture. She then returned by herself to the tunnels to meet with and advance with the dwarves, but found that things didn''t go the way they wanted. Apparently the monsters in the labyrinth had been attracted by the smorgasbord that was the dwarves, and had attacked in greater density than they did with her and Leo. Even Natalie and Jack didn''t get out unscathed.


    As a result, while there were minor casualties, there were several injuries that they needed to push back the attack for, at the most a month. She knew the full moon was just a week away, and that Leo was most likely waiting for them to break out. Ignoring their objections, she left behind the army and returned to Heliantis alone, to break Leo out. She regretted it now, not telling him when she first found out the real reason for her sickness, and trying to wait until they left the city. It was for this reason she couldn''t wait.


    As she looked down on the city she thought of her plan once more, she intended to start at the colosseum, and attempt to get the gladiators on her side. If she could increase her numbers, then she could be better ensured of her and Leo''s safety when fleeing. After recruiting them, she would travel to the palace and eliminate anyone who crossed her path to her husband.


    She then turned her gaze to the castle, and a gentle look appeared on her face, as she missed her husband. She hoped she would be able to help the princess as well, but she would prioritize Leo no matter what. She then whispered, as if she thought it would reach Leo,


    "Please be safe," she then placed her hands on her lower abdomen, in a gesture of care and protection.


    "For both our sakes."


    She continued to wait on the cliffs until the sun started to go down. And when the shadows covered the land, cloaked herself as well and stepped off of the cliff.


    ***


    When Leo saw Andrew walk in looking as if he had just won the lottery, one thing crossed his mind.


    ''They found her!'' He thought in brief panic, though he kept his face neutral to avoid giving Andrew any satisfaction. The king in question looked down on Leo and said with glee,


    "Guess what." Leo responded with his usual silence. The king grinned even wider, and said,


    "There was a healer, that just got back from one of the surrounding villages yesterday. What do you think was the first thing she heard? "Red haired, golden eyed woman wanted" Apparently the first thing she did this morning was come to give us information, of a woman with red hair, and golden eyes who visited her the day before we captured you." As Leo heard his words he was confused, Iris was feeling ill yes, but why did she need to go to a healer? He didn''t even ask his question, before Andrew answered it with even more glee.


    "Apparently, the healers diagnosis was that the bitch, is expecting puppies." At his words Leo felt as if his entire body was filled with ice.


    ''WHAT?!''


    Was all he could think as his mind raced to make sense of Andrews words. He immediately thought it was just a ploy to get him to talk, but then the healing woman in question walked in flanked by Curly and Alex. She then said,


    "It''s true, I expect she''s about to reach her third month. I was about to leave for the village, when she appeared and flashed a bag of coins in my face." As he heard it Leo attempted to deny it, it couldn''t be true. He must''ve been shaking his head somewhat, because the healer then said,


    "The woman carries a pair of scars along her forearm, does she not?" Leo became even more distressed when he heard that, as Iris kept herself covered to hide her eyes.


    Seeing that the news was getting to Leo, Andrew felt immense satisfaction. He had been trying to get to him for a week, but no matter how much they whipped him, he wouldn''t budge. He was trying to decided how to change tactics, when this healer arrived at the perfect moment. He now felt victorious, as if they got their hands on the woman, they might not need Leo anymore. Andrew opened his mouth to speak, but he failed to anticipate the consequences of his next words.


    "The mark you carry is that of Artemis, is it not? Then I''ll propose a hunt, in the name of the goddess of the hunt, a hunt for the bitch of her champion, and the pups she carries!" When Alex heard his king, he grew nervous. The gods rarely interfered when their champions were in trouble, but if they were insulted personally, then their wrath would be swift, and terrible.


    "Your grace, perhaps we shouldn''t involve Artemis in this. I mean we do not wish to incite a goddess herself." Andrew didn''t acknowledge his advisors worries, and simply declared,


    "What wrath? The gods care not for us! I fear the wrath of Arthur, the one whom I may have to present a spoiled daughter to in a mere few months! Why should I fear the wrath of those who cower in their divine worlds, while he slaughters their people for sport? So how about it "champion"? Everyone in the city already knows we''re searching for her, and the people traveling here for the slave auction just decreases her chances of hiding! I''ll just increase the reward for her, as they are now "hunting" for more than one person, aye?"


    Andrew continued raving for several minutes, before leaving while laughing. The now nervous Alex and the healer followed him, while Curly came and whispered into Leo''s ears,


    "I''ll be back later, I''m going to wait until the moon is up before I show the goddess what I''m doing to her champion personally." He then left the room. Leo was left with his head down, as if defeated.


    But if any of them bothered to check him, they would see that there was no feeling of defeat in him, there was only rage, and blood thirst.


    ''How dare they threaten my child! How dare they!''


    This thought revolved in his head, fueling his rage, before he stirred.


    ''Fuck the plans, fuck the army, FUCK THE HELIANTIS EMPIRE!!!''


    He thought in rage, as his eyes became the most vibrant orange they ever had. He was about to rip his chains from the walls, and leave to rip any who crossed him to shreds, but suddenly stopped.


    ''Calm yourself my champion.'' Anyone else would believe they were words meant to calm Leo down, but he heard the venom in her voice.


    ''Calm yourself, and wait for my rise tonight. Then, the Heliantis empire will pay for insulting a goddess, they will learn once more what it means TO INCITE A DIVINES WRATH!'' She practically shouted in rage in his head. Leo did as she bid, and waited.


    He waited.


    And waited.


    Until finally, the moon rose.


    It was another week until the full moon, so it should have only been half full, however this moon was completely full, bigger than it should''ve been, and as red as blood. As the moon rose, Leo raised his head, and opened his eyes. Instead of their usual vibrant orange, they were as red as the moon.

 99 Frenzy

    Artemis was seething in rage after she heard Andrews words. She had witnessed and blessed thousands of "hunts" over the years, hunts for food, chasing criminals, even a few assassins after a target. But the one thing she would never tolerate, was the hunting of a mother or child. There were two reasons for this.


    The first was that it disrupted the natural circle. The natural circle was the cycle that all life depended on. If people started regularly hunting the mothers or young, then the cycle would be disrupted due to the populations being unable to replace the elderly.


    The second is that it was not honorable. What person in their right mind would be proud of killing a defenseless child, or a mother with a child dependent on her, no matter the species. The most insulting part was that he stated that they''d have the "hunt" in her honor. She had never been insulted like this in her entire existence. If he had begged her for forgiveness then she might have only moderately punished him, but he declared that all the gods were cowards and that a mere mortal was more threatening than they were! She turned to the divine beast at her side, and declared,


    "Go and notify the other gods and goddesses, I plan to turn Heliantis into an example to both the divines and mortals." Fenrir stood and left to carry out her order, it was severely offended as well at the words that Andrew said, and wanted to assist in destroying him. Artemis turned to her pond that she used to watch Leo, and started working her divine powers. As her rage continued to grow her realm started turning red, and she worked a new power for Leo.


    It was a dangerous ability, one that if used wrong could threaten entire empires overnight. So she made it where it would only be activated when she allowed it, on the nights of the blood moons. It''s effects would also disappear at the rising of the sun, burning away all trace of it. She then waited after granting the new power, for the frenzy that followed as she ordered her champion,


    "Slaughter them all, let none live in the city when the sun rises!"


    ***


    Curly was in a great mood, he not only got to punish Leo every day, but Iris was almost his. He pleaded with the king, and he agreed that if Iris was a werewolf then he would be one of the ones they used for breeding. If not then when they no longer had any use for her, she would belong to him. He knew he would have to wait several months before touching her due to her pregnancy, but that just meant that he spend the time until then teaching her that her place was on her knees in front of him. He was entertaining himself with the thought as he opened the door to Leo''s cell, and saw that scraps of metal that had belonged to his collar and chains.


    As curly looked at them on the floor, he also noticed the large hairy feet with sharp looking claws on them. His eyes went up, until they met the glowing red eyes of the monster in front of him. Before Curly could so much as cry out, the monster rushed him and grabbed his horns. He screamed in pain as he felt his horns being pulled, before he heard a crack, and was suddenly kicked into the hallway. He then heard something clattering on the ground, and looked to see his horns bouncing towards him.


    "Please, no more." He begged the monster, as he never imagined having his horns broken would be so painful. He looked up, and simply saw an open mouth and razor sharp teeth headed right for him. Curly closed his eyes before he felt the teeth sink into his shoulder, and he cried out in pain,


    "AAAAAHHHHHHHHH"


    As the beast savored his flesh. Then some soldiers who heard the noise rounded the corner, and saw what was happening. The monster released Curly, and turned towards its next prey. Curly sat there, bleeding out onto the floor from his shoulder wound. He saw some more soldiers rounding the corner from the other way as the monster continued attacking. He tried crawling to them for help, a trail of blood following him.


    He didn''t notice the pain going away, as the wound started to close. His senses started getting sharper, and he felt more strength in his limbs. Curly looked at his arm, and saw it getting bigger as hair started growing on it. A few short seconds later he was another monster to prey on the soldiers. He turned his red glowing eyes on them, and lunged, as his masters orders were to bite all before him.


    He lunged at the first soldier, and before the man could defend sank his own teeth into him. He tasted the sweet coppery taste of his blood, and released him before attacking his comrade. As Curly finished the men before him, he left to find more enemies, not caring when they started growing hairier and larger. He then made his way through the he prisons, then the barracks, and finally into the castle. He attacked all in his way, men, women, and even any children he came across. According to his master all were their enemies.


    He soon came across a woman in a servants attire, and flung himself at her. She screamed in fear beneath him, as Curly was about to bite her. He then stopped, and after looking at her for a moment left her untouched. The woman was confused, the monsters were killing indiscriminately, why let her live? She then fixed her clothes collar that tore when she fell, and exposed her slave collar. Not knowing that it was her servitude that saved her, she fled the palace to flee the monsters.


    Curly soon looked to the wall surrounding the castle, and started climbing to find more enemies. As he reached the top, he looked out and saw the entire city spread below him. At that moment dozens of his new brothers joined him at the top of the wall, before they all jumped to the ground below, to continue their assault on all of those that angered their new master.


    (A.N. So I figured you''d all be confused on Artemis hating hunting mothers and children yet attacking them all like this, it''s specifically targeting them that she hates. It doesn''t really bug her when they''re just dragged into it like in wars.

 100 Theos

    Iris arrived outside the colosseum relatively easily. She eliminated the couple of guards silently, and hid their bodies so that she could avoid the alarms. As she was about to enter the colosseum, she thought she heard the sounds of fighting across the city. She briefly looked to the castle, before turning back work.


    ***


    Theos sat in his cell, thinking once more about how his life led to this, how he did nothing but simply exist. He believed a man should always have a goal in life, when he was a young and foolish man he wanted to reach the pinnacle of strength, but they were forbidden from training to such heights. It wasn''t until he was married and his daughter born that he realized how foolish he was.


    He swore that no matter what, he would ensure his daughter lived happily, and no harm would ever befall her. All he did was fail miserably. He left for a few days to hunt, and returned to find his home reduced to ashes, his wife and child''s charred bones inside. He mourned them deeply, and Theosconsidered it his most prominent failure of his life. He then spent the next several years tracking the ones responsible, before exacting his revenge.


    He didn''t look into them well enough though, as one had a relation in the nobility. He pushed how Theos was nothing but a murderer, who looked to justify his actions with baseless accusations. As a result he was arrested, and pushed into slavery before they found he had a history as a fighter, then to the colosseum. Now he had nothing, not even the will to live. That didn''t mean he wanted to die though, as he didn''t want to go down without a fight, but he simply existed, waiting for the day one would best him in the colosseum and claim his life.


    His recollections were interrupted, when he heard some men shouting in the corridor, before falling silent. The few dozen other fighters in the large feel became restless at the noise, before the door was opened by a very beautiful woman with fiery red hair, and golden eyes. Theos looked at the woman, not with desire as with the rest of his cellmates, but with intrigue as he wondered what she was doing there. She gave them a cursory glance, before holding up a small metallic ring with the keys for them to see. The rest of the men started calling for her to free them, while also looking at her with obvious desire, as it had years for some since being with a woman. Her eyes narrowed at their looks, before saying,


    "I offer you freedom, in exchange I wish for you assist with freeing my husband from the castle. For those that wish, we can provide a new home away from the corruption and cruelty of this kingdom. For those who don''t, I simply ask that you provide a distraction to allow me to slip into the castle unnoticed." Everyone was silent at her words, before one of the high rankers in the colosseum, Thraxis, started laughing. Instigated by the high ranker, the rest of them started laughing as well, except Theos, who continued watching the woman with interest.


    "If you miss your husband, then just get this collar off and I''ll show a good time instead!" He shouted with pride. The woman said nothing, and simply threw the keys to him. Thraxis was ecstatic, as he believed he was about to have his first fun in years, but Theos threw he wasn''t, the woman didn''t get this far on luck and chance. He watched as Thraxis removed his collar, and channeled his ki before rushing the woman. In less than a second they saw the woman move, as she held something bloody in her hands, and Thraxis tried to grab his throat, to find it was gone. He died choking on his own blood, and she stood over him expressionless.


    She then reached down, and took the keys he still had in his hands, before holding them up for them all to see once more. She turned her cold gaze on each and every one of them, before saying,


    "Make your choice, join him in death for stupidity, or join me and attempt for freedom and throw away the chains of cruelty." None moved, until Theos himself stood, and walked closer until his chains prevented him from moving any closer. He then looked down on the woman and asked,


    "Who are you that we should believe in?" She looked him in the eye, and said,


    "My name is Iris, I''m the wife of the king in the northern mountains who intends to kill Arthur, Leo. We came to liberate the slaves to cripple the human kingdoms and add to our own citizens." None said a word at her declaration, as they realized the position of the woman they just leered at, if she was telling the truth. Theos then lowered himself, until one of his knees rested on the floor, and bowed his head. Everyone watched dumbfounded as he then said,


    "What is your command, my queen?" As he said the words, for the first time in years his eyes burned with purpose. They intended to fight Arthur, whose laws prevented Theos from being able to reach the height of his potential. They interned to take them from those who were cruel and corrupted, like those that took his wife and child and sent him here. If by fighting with them he could ensure others didn''t suffer like her did, then he would gladly go.


    As if they suddenly realized their foolishness, every fighter went down on one knee, and murmurs of "my queen" echoed in the room. It was obvious they only thought about securing their own safety, as they seemed to forget they had laughed at her and looked at her with undisguised desire earlier. Iris''s eyes blazed with with purpose, as she unlocked Theos''s chains and collar, before handing him the keys and saying,


    "Free every slave here, then we assault the castle." Without a single words, Theos left to follow her command. The rest of the former slaves there never went against her orders, as they had witnessed her prowess firsthand, and it was obvious she now had the colosseum''s best behind her. As Theos freed the slaves in the room, and had them spread to free the rest in the other rooms, Iris looked towards the castles direction in worry. She had noticed several sounds, of fighting and the roars of beasts.


    Once the slaves had been freed, she now had roughly a hundred fighters behind her, and Iris led them to the entrance of the colosseum. Along the way they witnessed what happened to those who stood in her way, as they passed the dozens of the guards corpses. As Iris exited the colosseum, she became dumbfounded at the sight that met her, as she saw part of the city had started burning, and hundreds of werewolves were now attacking the people left and right. Before she could make sense of this thou, an entire crowd of at least a hundred stopped in front of her, seemingly entirely unaffected by the carnage around them. They all seemed to share a common trait though, they all wore the collars of slavery.

 101 Liberation

    Number 27 ran down the street in the middle of the night while following his master, the missus, and while carrying the little missus on his back. They were trying to escape the monsters chasing them while also listening to the cries of those who didn''t get away. The more people who got attacked, the more monsters there seemed to be. His tiger ears twitched in irritation, as the little missus pulled his collar and yelled in them,


    "GO FASTER!" Of course 27 could only obey and tried to run faster. He suddenly tripped on something, and fell to the ground while making sure the little missus was ok. As he tried to get up, 27 saw a foot coming at him, right before it slammed into his face and knocked him back down. The weight of the little missus disappeared from his back, and his master said,


    "You stay as bait you worthless animal!" And started running away. 27 felt tears in his eyes, as he looked back and saw one of the monsters bearing down on him. He watched as the thing lunged forward, and sailed right over him before reaching his masters. He then witnessed the thing tearing into each of them, even the little missus, and felt a grim sense of satisfaction. This was up until he saw the thing turn back at him, he braced himself once more, before the monster walked right by as if it didn''t even register him.


    A few moments later 27 continued watching as his former masters then bulged and started growing hair, before becoming three more monsters, that also ignored him and ran to find other prey. 27 was confused, why ignore him, but attack others. He was sure he wasn''t anything special, he was a normal tiger beastman born to normal tiger beastman parents already in slavery.


    It was this point that he saw he wasn''t the only one that seemed to be ignored, as he noticed a couple people simply wandering around, as if they weren''t threatened. He spent a couple minutes trying to figure it out, why were they all ignored, until it clicked. All of them were wearing collars! As he realized this, 27 also noticed something else in the corner of his eye, the glowing red full moon. It didn''t take long to figure the rest out, after all the entire city knew that the champion of Artemis had kidnapped then returned the princess, and that his wife was still wanted. 27 immediately got onto his knees and clapped his hands together to start praying.


    "Bless you moon goddess, and your champion. This one is eternally grateful for your compassion-" and he continued. Seeing him thanking the moon goddess, the rest of the slaves soon arrived at the same conclusion, and started giving thanks as well.


    When Artemis noticed the increase in prayers, she sneered. She originally wanted them all to die, but Leo kept enough of his wits while enraged to ensure the safety of the slaves. She consented to this, as it was the whole reason he came in the first place, and it would increase his strength. They didn''t seem completely hopeless though, as the first one to start praying stopped a few moments after, and started trying to direct the others to a safer location.


    27 knew they couldn''t stay in the middle of the city forever, as the buildings around were still being damaged and at least one fire started already. He then walked to the nearest slave, and said,


    "Come on, we have to get to safety. Help me gather as many slaves as possible, Artemis and her champion wouldn''t want their effort to go to waste." The other slave nodded, not caring that the one talking to him was a beastman, and they started their work. 27 then led them all to the only place he could think of, the colosseum, as they helped any other slaves they ran into along the way. As they reached the giant building, there were over a hundred people following him when someone else led a group out of it. He and everyone who followed him froze as they came face to face with the very woman the entire city had spent the last week hunting.


    Iris looked in surprise at all the slaves in front of her, before they all started kneeling before her. She was shocked but didn''t let it show, as she tried to make sense what was going on. She looked around and saw the blood red moon, and what seemed to be several hundred werewolves running around and attacking everyone in sight, except the slaves. Then a tiger beastman shouted out,


    "We give thanks to the wife of the champion who helped free us!" She then started to understand, they must have thought that when the werewolves didn''t attack them that they were sent by Leo and Artemis to save them from slavery. Iris couldn''t confirm or deny their guess though, as she herself had no idea why this was happening.


    Before she could say anything however, a werewolf saw Theos and the rest of the gladiators without collars, and immediately charged them. She simply stood in front of them, much to Theos''s annoyance as it was supposed to be the other way around, and the werewolf stopped before her. Recognizing its new masters mate, it immediately exposed its vulnerable areas in a show of submission, before Iris let it leave. After this display, not only the slaves, but the gladiators as well, we''re all convinced they made the right choice. She then turned to all of them and said with a tone of command,


    "Change in plans, go and help all of the slaves you can. Prioritize women and children, and bring them to the colosseum for safety. Draft any capable men to help you, and save as many as possible. I''ll stay out here to organize them." They all nodded with newfound discipline, and started helping those already there enter the colosseum. Theos then removed the collar of one woman staying, before clicking it back onto his own neck. Everyone looked at him in shock, until he said,


    "We need to ensure they don''t attack us, so we need the collars." As they understood his intentions, the rest of the gladiators started taking collars from the ones staying at the colosseum as well. Soon after they all started leaving, Theos turned to Iris and was about to ask something, before he noticed her lightly caress her stomach. He suddenly recalled his wife doing something similar, and paled before he asked her quietly,


    "My queen, are you... expecting?" He almost hesitated to ask, but she looked back at him, and he turned green with as she slowly nodded to confirm it. He then said,


    "Please, allow me to stay and guard you. I understand that you might not need it, but you need to avoid any stressful movements, even in the early stages." Iris was surprised at his request, before she decided to accept. It was the same reason she decided to stay at the entrance and help organize everything. After a while slaves started arriving in droves, as word spread throughout the city. Soon though, some werewolves surprisingly brought her someone she didn''t expect.

 102 Prisoner

    After watching his king antagonize Artemis, Alex knew he would have to prepare to leave the kingdom. Others would think he was was a coward, but he thought of himself as practical. He didn''t know if she would retaliate immediately, but prepared all the same. He was in his office throwing all of his most valuable items into his bag, and had his rapier at his waist. As he prepared to leave, night fell and he saw the blood moon outside his window, Alex knew he made the correct decision to leave.


    He heard the screams as he was about to walk out of his office, and recalled the nearest secret escape tunnel. Normally the royal family were the only ones who knew about these, but he secretly investigated everything he could about the castle ahead of time. He looked back at his desk, and grabbed the last thing he wanted before leaving, a decorative pen his father gave him when he started advising the king. He stuck it in his pocket, not even concerned with the ink stains at the moment. Alex then made his way through the castle, as he had another destination in mind before fleeing, as he turned to the tower the princess was locked in.


    ***


    Alice didn''t think she would be able to cry anymore after this last week. She watched as her hero was attacked, and knocked out, then he was imprisoned while she was locked in a tower, almost as much a prisoner herself. Everyday for the last week her maid would come to attend her, while also sharing every detail about Leo''s torture, possibly on her fathers orders. She also heard about how the entire city was on the search for Iris, who she was informed carried Leo''s child just today.


    As the sun went down that day she saw the red moon rise, and after several minutes she heard the yelling, as monsters spread from the prisons to attack. As she watched the people she was prepared to sacrifice herself for being attacked, she only felt numb. She no longer felt the need to care about them, as the only person who genuinely cared about her was having his most important person being hunted by them. As they started to multiply, her door opened and Athena''s champion Alex walked in. He took one look at her, and he suddenly grabbed her arm and started dragging her.


    "You''re coming with me princess. You''re father is gathering his best in the main hall, when he brought this on us to begin with. By morning the city will be in ruins, and everyone most likely dead." Alice didn''t know what to do, but frowned and said,


    "No! I''m staying." Alex''s face twitched, before he suddenly backhanded her. Alice was stupefied, she had never been hit before and didn''t know what to think. He suddenly grabbed her by chin, and forced her to meet his eyes, and said,


    "By morning everyone you know will be dead, and it is all because of the one you seem to be infatuated with. Arthur most likely won''t care about a princess from an already destroyed kingdom, you are mine." Alice felt an intense fear of her future. She knew that Alex was always interested in her, but she never accepted him because she knew he saw women merely as targets to conquer. Before either of them said anything, there was a sudden shaking, and a hole opened up beneath her and Alice disappeared.


    "KYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"


    Alex heard her shout, as there were several roars in response from the monsters. The sound of her shouting got further away, as well as the majority of them. He still had one monster remaining though, as it tried to climb through the hole to get him. Alex immediately pulled out his rapier, and started to attack the monster trying to get him. He stuck it into its arm, and it immediately grabbed the blade without a care for further injuries, and pulled it out of his hands before tossing it away. Alex watched as it started to heal the minor wounds seemingly instantly, and backed up to the wall with apparently no other options.


    As it climbed out of the hole and started crawling closer, Alex fumbled, looking for any weapon to use. He grabbed anything within reach, and could only find trinkets to throw at it. He then searched his own pockets, and found only his fathers pen. As the monster lunged he jabbed with the pen into its face, and was completely confused by the result.


    "AAAAARRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOO!"


    The monster cried out, as the part where the pen touched it started smoking. He looked down at the small pen in his grip, and lunged at the creature this time, sinking it into its skull, and every spot he could reach. He earned himself another scream, as the monster slowly started dying from its wounds. Alex then fled towards the nearest secret tunnel, and he continued holding the pen in his hand as if it was a national treasure. The small trinket his father gave him, he now considered his most valuable possession.


    ***


    Alice was terrified as the creatures dragged her away. She was entirely convinced this was how she died, as their claws scratched her and she became battered from being dragged around. She closed her eyes and awaited her fate, preferring even this over what Alex had intended. They finally stopped dragging her, and with a bit of hesitation, Alice opened her eyes to find herself staring at Iris, who she thought she would never see again. Before she could say anything, Iris knelt down in front of her, and looked Alice in the eye before asking,


    "Did you help them take Leo?" It was a simple question, one that she half expected. She looked Iris in the eyes, and said,


    "No, I would never willingly betray him." Iris stared back at her for a moment, then pulled Alice into a hug.

 103 Wiped ou

    King Andrew was in his throne room with all of his sons and elite warriors, minus Alex. He sent a couple men to retrieve his daughter, but they never came back. Now he was trying to organize some form of retaliation against the monsters plaguing his city. He turned to his trusted body guard,


    "Praxis, take some men and retrieve Alice at all costs, surviving tonight doesn''t mean anything if she can''t pacify Arthur in a few months." The man saluted, before shouldering his giant war hammer and walking towards the doors of the hall. Right as he reached it,


    BOOOOOOOOOOM


    CRAAAAAASSSSSHHHHHHHH


    The doors to the throne room blasted open, and a flood of monsters poured in. They immediately attacked the soldiers accompanying Praxis, and tore them to shreds. The man himself impressively managed to hold a couple at bay, before they finally overtook him. Unlike the others though he wasn''t instantly killed, but brought towards a specific one, with dark red fur. It looked down at him as they all watched in horror, and a growling voice sounded out,


    "How... many... times... did you... hit me... exactly?" It seemed to have some difficulty speaking at first, but seemed to getting better with each word. It''s question confused most of those gathered, but the king and Praxis understood clearly, this was the prisoner they had captured and interrogated, Leo the werewolf, champion of Artemis. Praxis started stuttering at the question, before saying,


    "Please, I was only following orders. The king is the one you want, not me!" Andrew was astounded that his "trusted bodyguard", turned on him at the drop of a hat, as he instantly tried to betray him. The monster grinned an evil grin filled with razor sharp teeth, and replied,


    "I... Know... That''s why... He''s next..." Both men paled, before Leo suddenly swung one of his claws with great speed, and opened Praxis''s stomach, allowing the intestines inside to spill out. Leo then dropped praxis to the ground, done with him now. He turned to the remaining people, and pointed his blood soaked claws at them,


    "KILL THEM!"


    The dozens of werewolves rushed to obey his commands. What ensued couldn''t even count as a battle, more like a one sided slaughter. The elites of Andrew managed to repel a couple of his werewolves, but it was ultimately futile as they soon fell to tooth, and claw. Soon there was just Andrew and his sons left, as all of those who faithfully served him began transforming. Leo however called off assault, and strode forward. The one who looked the oldest, possibly Andrews successor, came forward with his sword held high, and said,


    "I challenge you! Fight me man to man, and let''s settle this!" Leo snorted at the mans declaration, and started shrinking before he stood before them in the buff. He then sneered,


    "Now then, let''s see the might of the entire royal family, armed to the teeth, against a single man in his birthday suit." As if enraged by his words, the crown prince charged forward with his sword held high, and yelled with the look of a hero about to save his country, before Leo grabbed his sword arm and tore it off.


    "AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"


    The prince yelled in pain, as his blood sprayed to color the hall even redder. Leo''s face didn''t even react, as he flung the prince to the side and continued on as if he simply threw away some trash. The crown prince then watched from the side, as all of his brothers charged together, and were butchered with ease. Leo then turned to Andrew, and casually walked towards him. Andrew immediately drew his own sword, and took a defensive stance. He then declared,


    "I''ll not let you destroy my city monster!" Leo froze for a moment, then started laughing as if he heard the joke of the century. The only other two left alive, the king and the crown prince, became confused, before Leo turned to the crown prince and asked,


    "Do you know why this is happening?" He didn''t say anything, and just glared at Leo. He sighed and explained,


    "It''s because your father antagonized me and a goddess by declaring he''ll hunt my wife and unborn child, while declaring it was in her name because he believed he was above the gods themselves." At his words the prince had a look of disbelief, and Andrews face paled even more. Though they learned about how the woman they were hunting was pregnant, he didn''t hear about his father antagonizing the gods. He turned to his father and asked,


    "Is it true?" His fathers face fell, and it was enough for him to verify Leo''s claims. Leo suddenly turned away from Andrew, and started walking back towards the crown prince. He kneeled down next to him, and said,


    "This''ll probably make the villain, but I''m going to kill your heir now Andrew, and his last thought will be about how his father threw away his life, and the lives of your entire kingdom, for the sake of a few moments vanity." They both widened their eyes in shock, before Leo grabbed the princes head and twisted, snapping his neck. It was his small mercy to him that he didn''t let him suffer more.


    Seeing the last of his sons killed in front of him in such a way, the king finally lost all will to resist. Leo stood and walked towards the king once more, kicking the sword away from him at the same time, before he suddenly swung his leg at one of the Kings arms.


    CRACK


    The sound of bone breaking sounded throughout the throne room, shortly followed by the king screaming. Leo moved to another spot, and took aim once more at his knee, destroying his kneecap and bending it completely backwards, earning another scream. He then continued with precise attacks, as he slowly destroyed the Kings body without killing him. Finally when he had almost every bone in his body shattered, Leo gave him mercy, and ripped off his head, ending the king of the Heliantis kingdom.


    ***


    Leo sat at the top of the castle, his eyes watching the east for the rising sun. It had been several hours since he killed the king, and even though he wanted to go and find Iris, he stayed at the castle to wait until the night was over. He watched as fires spread throughout the city, and listened as people screamed at the inhumanity as they were mauled by monstrous beasts. Soon, the blood red moon sank behind a distant mountain, and the red glow faded from his eyes, as well as the eyes of every werewolf in the city, now numbering in the thousands.


    Only a few short minutes after the moon set, the sun peaked over the mountains on the other side. The moment it''s light reached one of the wolves near him, it burst into flames and was reduced to ashes seconds later. He watched as the same thing happened to each and every one of the thousands of new werewolves, as the sun slowly rose in the sky, before he finally left the so castle roof tops to find his wife.


    The night of slaughter finally ended.

 104 The morning after

    Iris and Theos watched as the sun slowly rose in the sky, and that when it''s light touched the werewolves they would burn away to ash in mere seconds. After there were no more werewolves, Iris told Theos,


    "You can probably remove the collar now, go and tell the rest that it''s safe now." He nodded, and went to carry out her orders. Minutes later crowds of former slaves started exiting the colosseum, no longer wearing the collars. When they saw the sun rising, signaling their first day as free men and women, a thunderous cheer roared out as they started celebrating. Iris watched as children found their mothers, families found each other after being sold to different masters, and men and women embraced each other. When she saw this she felt an intense longing for Leo, when,


    "IRIS!"


    With her senses she heard it before anyone else, but soon several people turned to the man who was yelling, while Iris raced to his arms. As Leo wrapped his arms around her, she finally felt relief, as he stole her lips. He kissed her again, and again, it was as if he was trying to make up for the whole week they didn''t see each other. Eventually he stopped kissing her, and suddenly had a serious face as he asked,


    "Is it true?" As he placed his hand on her abdomen. Iris realized that he already knew about their child, though she felt a brief sense of loss at not being the one to tell him, she swiftly dismissed it and said with a radiant smile,


    "Yes, it''s true. You''re going to be a father." When he heard her confirmation, Leo felt a sudden rush of emotions. He was never really sure about believing Andrews words, and only felt rage at what he stated he intended to do. But now that he heard it from Iris, and was able to calm down, he felt as if he was the happiest man alive, and the previous nights experience was nothing more than a dream. He soon had a smile to match hers, as he kissed her again.


    It was this point that Leo suddenly noticed the growing crowd watching them. He separated from Iris, and looked at all of them. He saw every race he knew of, humans, dwarves, beastmen, and he finally got his first look at elves as well. He could also see what looked like a several mutants in the crowd aswell. Iris noticed what he was looking at, and started explaining the situation to him. When Leo understood what was going on, he nodded and jumped up onto a nearby roof to look over them, and said,


    "My name is Leo. I understand most of you have heard of me by now, that I''m the champion of Artemis, and that I''m not human." At his words those gathered started whispering. When Leo heard this he decided to demonstrate, and removed the cloak he found before transforming. Those gathered watched with horrified fascination, as he grew in size and sprouted hair, becoming the exact same as the beings they saw the night before. After making his point he changed back and wore the cloak once more. He then continued,


    "I rule a territory to the north centered around the ancient city of Asdarge. For those who have nothing and wish to start over, I offer you a place at my kingdom as free men and women. Currently there we have the dwarven refugees from Tirdaral and the traveling caravans, as well as several beastmen from their surrounding villages. Any who wish to return to their homelands, or do not wish to journey with me, I wish you luck and good fortune to your new lives." When Leo was done speaking they dissolved into their own discussions.


    He went back to Iris, who introduced him to Theos and some of the others she became aquatinted with that night. Soon a brown haired woman entered his vision, and Leo turned to see Alice rushing towards him. She wrapped her arms around him, and said with some desperation,


    "I''m so sorry! I never thought they would capture you for no reason. If you didn''t bring me to the castle then you wouldn''t have been locked up, and whipped." Leo shook his head, and said,


    "You can''t predict or dictate others actions, don''t blame yourself for the cruelty of others." When Alice heard his words, contrary to her previous thoughts, she started crying once more. Leo then had a serious expression, and truthfully said to her,


    "I killed the royal family, even the king." At his words she didn''t know how to react. On one hand her father treated her like livestock to be fattened and sold at the highest price, on the other he was still her father. After a few moments, she had a hardened look in her eyes and looked Leo in the eye and said,


    "I won''t say they deserved it, but what happened was a result of their own actions." As she said this Iris pulls her into a hug as well, as she understood about bad fathers just from the few minutes she met hers. Leo turned to Theos, who immediately stood as if to attention, and said,


    "Will you follow me?" Theos looked confused at Leo''s question, and said,


    "Of course my king." Even though he didn''t know Leo, what he saw showed he was someone worth following. Leo nodded, and said,


    "Even if the city''s destroyed we''re not safe yet, there should be dozens or hundreds soldiers in the surrounding country side. Help organize some groups to keep a watch out, and get some people to start going through the wreckage of the city, because we''ll need food and supplies for the trip north." The man bowed at Leo''s orders, and went to carry out his words.

 105 Divine intentions

    As Leo was trying to organize the recently freed slaves, the gods were making moves of their own. They had long felt that Arthur was a thorn in their side, but it would be insulting for a divine to move for one mortal, even more so if he was a champion as they would be seen as a poor loser. Now however, the rest of the mortals were starting to fear him over the gods themselves, this could not be tolerated. After watching the destruction of Heliantis, they decide they could no longer remain idle, and started moving.


    Some had non combat related champions, and decided to have them assist Leo. Others had their own pride, and simply decided to guide their champions to Leo and see what happened. A few, like Ares, found the current situation interesting and decided it might be fun to aggravate it more. While even fewer, like Athena, were regretting their choice of champion due to the fact that they were antagonizing the situation, but they had made a rule that once a champion was named, they couldn''t be unnamed because of regrets. Some, like Venus, had made agreements with their champions before hand, but the rest couldn''t change on a whim.


    And so, the gods went to their respective champions, to spread their decrees.


    ***


    A man stood on a mountain top, channeling his ki and the energy in the surrounding atmosphere, as a thunderstorm raged around him. He channeled the abundant lightning energy around him, and soon bolts of electric energy covered his body, waiting to be put to use. He continued drawing more energy, until he felt as if he was about to explode from having too much power in his body. When he could take in no more, he suddenly rushed forward and struck down on the ground to one side of the mountain, and discharged all the energy be stored.


    BOOOOM


    The entire side of the mountain received the impact, and faced utter destruction from it. The stored electricity shot through the ground, destroying everything in its path before being naturally negated by the earth. He stepped back to admire the destruction, before the sky flashed, and thunder roared. Others would want to run to make sure they don''t get hit by the lightning, but the man closed his eyes agin and listened to the thunder, as if it was speaking to him. After several minutes of this, he opened his eyes agin and turned north before muttering,


    "''Journey north to find what I seek'' what I seek is vengeance, does this mean I''ll find it in the north, or that there is a means to achieve it there? No matter, the journey alone would provide several opportunities to train, and it''ll be a nice change in scenery after being here for the last twenty years."


    Acting as if he didn''t just destroy the entire side of a mountain, the man picked a trail and started walking.


    ***


    In the castle of one of the human kingdoms three people were playing instruments, and the fourth was singing. The one singing bore a brand in the shape of a bow, the mark of Apollo on her arm, and the rest bore the marks of the three muses. They were hailed as the finest musicians on the continent, and many lords and kings competed for the chance to get them to play in their halls. The girls voiced carried like an Angels, and the entire audience was captivated by her performance.


    As the last note died down, a subdued applause echoed out, and the four started to prepare their next song. Suddenly different notes echoed through the room, none of the audience seemed to hear them, but the singer and the three behind her froze as they listened. As the notes died down the four suddenly started playing their next song as if nothing happened, but they now had a directive from their respective gods.


    As the singer started planning how to travel north, she was troubled as she was the only fighter among their group, using a bow. She eventually decided that it would probably take a while before traveling, as they would need to arrange proper protection. As she thought of all of this, she continued her song as if nothing had happened.


    ***


    Two elven women walked through the gardens of the elven royalty, both smiling with their golden hair down. They looked exactly the same, except for the mark of a tree for Medeina one bore on her arm, the other a pair of torches for Hecate. As they walked the various forms of plant life seemed to simply make way for them, and the air shimmered around them as if with mystery.


    As they were walking they both suddenly received messages from their respective goddesses, and their faces turned serious as they contemplated the message.


    ''A new ally and the hope of the elves has appeared''


    They didn''t hear who this new ally was, or where to find them. All they could do is wait until they appeared before them, and hope they would meet the expectations they now had of them.


    ***


    Far to the south on a mountain range that could almost compete with the worlds crown, a young woman with blueish silver hair, rounded ears, and a fluffy tail, punched the man in front of her with strength one would not believe she had in her young frame. She had a ferocious look, as she turned to next man in line, eager to improve herself even further. She had received a message from the goddess Bast, ancestor to all cat related beast folk, and her goddess.


    She wasn''t sure what to think of the message, as it stated that one who was stronger than her would soon appear, and lead her people to freedom. She was a favorite to become the next warlords wife, and if this person would lead them, then it meant he would most likely become her husband. She refused to accept this without a fight, and decided to train herself to be unbeatable.


    As she thought this, she launched herself at the next opponent, and missed only to hit the cliff behind him. As she did so, large cracks appeared out from where her hand impacted it, and rocks started raining down upon her. She didn''t mind this though, and turned to her opponent with renewed vigor, and the poor man looked as if Hades himself came for him.


    ***


    Meanwhile ares was looking to add some more conflict into the situation, and looked for his new champion. Because of his tendencies to drive his champions to constantly fight, they never lasted long. Though the one who came from the colosseum seemed promising, he didn''t want one who already served another. As ares searched, he found what he believed to be the perfect candidate. He seemed naive, the kind of person who fought for fun, not for bloodlust. There was plenty of time to change that though.


    The man in question was currently traveling along the road, looking for his next challenge. He loved the thrill of the fight, and was always looking for his next opponent. His dream was to one day get the attention of a God and to become a champion, he believed that it was the ultimate acknowledgement of his abilities, if a god themselves took interest in him. Suddenly he felt a headache, and his vision blurred.


    "You seem quite capable youngster, how about getting a chance to really prove your worth?" He couldn''t believe it, his dream was finally coming true, he was finally being contacted by a god!


    "My lord, what would you have of me?" He asked, hoping they wouldn''t change their mind.


    "If you want to fight for me then I have two conditions, first one being that I want you to constantly fight, so build an arena to draw competitors in. The second, is that I won''t accept pity to your opponent, so all fights must be to the death, no exceptions. If you lose and your opponent takes pity on you, then it is the greatest humiliation." To the man the two conditions weren''t that big a problem, he was actually excited to build an arena and constantly get challengers. As for the other one, while he fought for fun to him the best fights were when both fighters fought to the death anyways, because it was only then that they both fought to their full capabilities.


    "I agree, my lord." As the words left his mouth a brand in the shape of a sword and spear crossed over a shield appeared on his arm. While the young man was ecstatic about his new purpose, ares was laughing, as his new champion didn''t know what he just walked into. He''d give him a few years, then he''ll show him how he should''ve thought about those conditions a little better, as not all champions were fighters.


    (A.N. As you can see lots of new characters coming up, but I have a small problem, I''m having trouble thinking of proper names for them. If you guys have suggestions for the characters above then please drop a comment

 106 Concerns

    Felix was riding towards Heliantis as fast as possible. For the last several weeks he had been traveling between the different outposts and checkpoints to investigate, and sabotage as much as possible. He actually had a bit of fun with this mission, as he was required to be quite creative.


    There was even one time that he managed to convince the entire force of a certain outpost it was haunted, when he dressed as ghost and used his blessing to walk through walls. His fun came to an end however, when he intercepted a letter stating they had caught a criminal in the palace, and were on the lookout for his accomplice and wife, a woman with bright red hair and golden eyes. He then spent the last two days rushing to get to Heliantis as fast as he could, to help Leo, and possibly find Iris before they did.


    As he crested the last hill before Heliantis, Felix was unprepared for the sight that treated him. He expected to find a fortified city that was full of tens, or hundreds of thousands of people, soldiers, and nobles. Instead there were several plumes of smoke, as if large parts of the city was recently set to fire, and there was a distinct lack of people. As he continued to watch the city, he saw there were people, but they didn''t match the numbers such a city should have, not even close. He wore the look and armor of one of the guards, if there was an emergency in the city then it would make him more than welcome, is what he thought.


    "SEIZE HIM!"


    Before he knew it Felix was surrounded by at least a dozen men, none wearing any kind of insignia or uniform. Not knowing what was going on, Felix simply put his hands up. He decided that he needed to know what was happening, and that as long as they didn''t try to execute him or something, to just go along with them until he found Leo or Iris. He didn''t dare use their name, as if they weren''t the ones behind this, it would create even more problems.


    ***


    Leo was in a tent that had been set up for him the day after he started preparing to leave, and he was listening to all of the reports of those present. Each of the different groups had chosen a representative to talk and act on their behalf, a older man for the humans, A tiger beastman for the beastmen, a noble looking elf, and a gruff looking dwarf. Theos was obviously present, as he was in charge of most of the search groups, and travel preparations. Iris stood to the side, equally attentive.


    After reuniting with Leo, he had refused to let her out of his sight. While most would consider this annoying, she didn''t mind it because the last week was extremely stressful to both of them, and she knew he was mostly acting this way due to her condition. However she did feel sorry for Alice, who was standing right next to her, because he had been focused only on her. This confused Iris, as Leo was aware of how Alice felt about him, so she expected he would make her his second wife, or concubine. She already made her peace with it after they were married, and knew he wasn''t the type to look at other women, so she didn''t mind if there would be a couple others as she was first. She was brought back to the current situation, as the reports continued.


    "Your grace, there are several of the beastmen, and elves that intend to return to their respective homes, and the dwarves seem to be undecided due to the information you mentioned about them moving from Tirdaral. There are however several that would like to join you majesty to the north." Leo nodded, he expected that they''d want to return, and was pleasantly surprised at how many wished to go north with him. He then said to them,


    "Get me the numbers and specifics of where they intend to go. If they''re returning to their homelands, then I can use this to reach out to the other two races by sending messages with them." They all nodded, as if Leo wanted to get in touch with the elves and beastmen then this was the best immediate way at the moment short of going himself. At that moment a guard arrived,


    "Your grace, we just apprehended what we suspect is another scout, but as soon as he heard your name he started asking to see you." Leo was curious who would request to see him, and told them to send him in. Soon a guard he never saw before wearing the Helian kingdom armor walked in, but the moment he did Leo smelled a familiar scent.


    "Do you ever just make a normal appearance Felix?" He asked through narrow eyes. Except for Iris everyone was confused, before the guard shed his armor, and his form started shimmering before there stood a fox beastman. He smirked at Leo, and said ,


    "What about you, I raced here to free you from imprisonment, and here I find the city destroyed and under new management?" Leo chuckled lightly with a rueful smile at the last week, and dismissed everyone so he could talk to Felix. Soon it was just him, Felix, Iris and Alice left in the tent. He then started with introductions,


    "Felix, this is Alice, the former? princess of the Heliantis kingdom. Alice, this is Felix, champion of Loki, and one of my companions." Leo hesitated at Alice''s title, as he destroyed Heliantis, so he wasn''t sure if it was appropriate to refer to her as princess anymore. She nodded in acknowledgement at his words, and Felix looked dumbfounded, as he never expected that Leo would take the princess of the kingdom prisoner, or maybe he intended to make her his woman?


    Leo noticed Felix''s misunderstanding, but he wasn''t sure how to correct it. He truthfully wasn''t sure what to do with Alice, he mostly helped her because he felt sorry and wanted a better life for her, but there was also the love she seemed to feel for him. From the time he had spent with her since the city fell, he had seen she was not only very beautiful, but more intelligent than she initially let on. If he met her first, he didn''t doubt he might''ve fallen for and married her instead.


    He knew that people accepted polygamy in this world, but all the examples he''s seen of it so far were merely men in power acting on their own lust, and drunk on their influence. He didn''t want to feel the same as them, and he especially didn''t want to feel the same as Arthur, who simply collected women as if they were trading cards. He also felt as if accepting her as well was the same as betraying Iris, especially since she was pregnant. He didn''t delude himself into thinking he could peacefully have both of them, but he didn''t want to hurt her more than he already did. He destroyed her home, her family, and completely uprooted her way of life, and she happily thanked him for it.


    He sighed as he thought about it, but turned to Felix and started explaining the last couple months since he and Iris arrived at the city. As he did so he also started writing up a letter to send to Natalie, Jack, and the dwarves, to rendezvous with them as they leave the city. He planned to leave after the next full moon, in less than a week.

 107 New brother

    Over the next several days all of those that were freed were preparing to leave for the north, collecting the various necessities they needed and loading it onto wagons they found around and outside the city. This was mostly comprised of food, water, tools to live on the road, and weapons to protect themselves with. Other things Leo decided to take, was most of the royal library, due to the vast amount of knowledge Alice personally vouched for in it, plus there was a section that held various books, notes, and scrolls written by other lost people. Leo had been excited to read these, until he found they were written in other languages. He also decided to plunder the Royal treasury, but this was a more political decision.


    He understood that with the absence of the Heliantis kingdom, there was a power gap, and the rest of the human kingdoms would most likely start fighting to fill it. His choices were to either try to take this land for himself, or leave them to it. If he decided to stay, then he''ll have to deal with the constant attacks from those who want to take the land and treasure for themselves. By leaving then they''ll just fight each other, and hopefully weaken each other in the process; and with all the treasure gone it''ll be a lot harder to replace all the soldiers they lost.


    He also knew that after this attack, there was no way they could stay hidden. This meant that the humans would be more wary of werewolves, especially since Alice told him that Alex had been planning to escape, and most likely had. If he spread the knowledge of werewolves, then every kingdom would know about them really soon, plus there was all of the civilians and soldiers who might''ve fled in time to avoid the fate of the rest. As a result, Leo figured that if at least one of the kingdoms wanted to avoid an antagonistic relationship with them, the plunder could be used to help them to reach an agreement.


    As they got closer to the full moon however, Leo''s biggest concern was Iris. It may have been irrational, but he didn''t want to leave her for even a moment, and didn''t like the idea of leaving her for an entire night here. He would''ve asked Felix to watch over her, but he sent him with letters to Natalie, Jack, and the dwarves. As Leo was fretting over this the night before the full moon, he suddenly, saw Theos in the corner of his eyes.


    He had been nothing but impressed with the former gladiator ever since he met him. For some reason he was completely dedicated to serving him and Iris, and was doing as much as possible to help them return north as soon as possible. He knew he didn''t have malicious intentions, because he had Felix secretly question him and a few others while disguised before leaving. After thinking for a moment he told Iris his idea, and with no argument from her, approached him.


    "Theos, I want to talk to you for a moment." The gladiator quickly walked over, and said,


    "What do you need my king?" Leo looked him over, and asked,


    "Do you wish to be stronger?" Theos was confused for a moment, then said,


    "Yes your grace, it was a dream of mine to reach the pinnacle of strength in my youth. I gradually threw away such a foolish dream when I learned how the world worked, and now I only hope I''m capable enough for your highness." Leo nodded at his words, then said,


    "Meet me tonight in the palace, I have something I want to give you." Theos was confused but promised to be there when Leo wanted him to be. After that he went back to work, but his mind kept wondering what his grace wanted to give him. This bugged him for the next several hours, before it was finally nightfall. He then traveled to the palace, and found Leo, Iris, and the former princess waiting for him in the courtyard. When he arrived he kneeled,


    "I apologize for making you wait your grace." Leo shook his head, and replied,


    "Not at all, if you were busy then it meant more work got done, and that''s not something to apologize for. Now then Theos, before I give you what I intend to, I need to ask you a few things. First, do you swear to always serve me and mine?" Theos wasn''t sure why his grace was asking this, as he answered the day they met as well.


    "Of course, from now until I die your grace!" Leo nodded, and asked,


    "Do you swear to protect us with your life, and always ensure the safety of my family?"


    "Yes your grace!" Leo nodded, there were probably more specific oaths he should''ve thought of, but these were what he was most concerned with at the moment. He also listened to Theos''s heart rate and breathing to determine what he was feeling, which was one of the reasons he chose to go to the abandoned palace where it was so quiet, the other was to avoid witnesses. He then said to Theos,


    "Hold out your hand." Theos was confused, but did as his king commanded, before Leo swiftly sliced his palm open with a knife. Theos flinched, and looked at Leo with confusion on his face, before he saw Leo do the same to his own hand. He panicked slightly, because he didn''t want to watch his new king potentially maim himself, before Leo suddenly grabbed Theos''s hand with his. Theos was growing more confused by the second, before suddenly,


    THUMP


    He suddenly felt pain in his entire body.


    THUMP


    Next thing he new Theos got an insane headache for a brief second, as his senses became fine tuned almost instantly, and his eyes turned a vibrant orange.


    THUMP


    When he recovered from whatever happened, Theos also realized that he now felt immensely stronger, and as if something was struggling to get out. He hesitated for a moment, before throwing caution to the wind and let out whatever it was. Thick black hair started growing all over his body, he grew even larger, and his fingers and toes sprouted sharpened claws on each one. His mouth became filled with razor sharp teeth, and his strength soared even more.


    Theos threw his head back, and loosed a mighty howl, as if challenging all those who would dare stand against him. Then he turned his gaze back to Leo, his king. Leo started releasing a slight pressure, and Theos who felt so mighty, started back into down in the face of him. He felt ashamed, ashamed at his own foolishness in the face of his ruler, but when he looked at him, Leo smiled. Theos started changing back, and Leo swiftly threw a prepared cloak over him. After reverting back, he started hurling whatever was in his stomach, even more shamed from doing so in front of the king and queen. Leo kneeled down, and said to Theos,


    "It passes as you get more used to it, and it''s probably normal to feel so invincible when you first transform." Theos listened as he continued hurling. When he finished he turned back to Leo, and said seriously,


    "Your grace, I can never repay you for the strength and power you have given me, thank you." Leo however shook his head and replied,


    "If you wish to repay me, then make good on your promise to protect my family, and ensure no harm ever befalls them." Theos turned to look at Iris and the princess, and recalled that Iris was expecting. He then swore internally, he would never repeat his failure with his own daughter. No matter who it was, human, beastman, dwarf, elf, mortal or God, he would never let any harm come to the ones his king trusted him to protect. Seeing the resolution in Theos''s eyes, Leo smiled again, and said,


    "Stand then, my new brother."

 108 Reveal

    When Leo woke after the full moon, he didn''t return to the city, but instead started moving towards the meeting point. Waiting there already was Natalie, jack, Felix, and the dwarven army. She looked at him with half closed eyes, and said,


    "You seriously couldn''t wait for us to arrive?" Leo just shrugged in return, as she still didn''t know why he and Iris were so desperate to act. They planned to explain that night however, while also contacting elder grandma and Hilda to inform them of what happened the last week. They then caught up a bit while waiting, and a few hours after lunch time the head of the caravan of the freed slaves came into view.


    At its head was Iris, Alice, and Theos, who now carried an even larger aura of intimidation after turning into a werewolf. Right behind them was almost every dwarf they freed, as they informed them who they were meeting with. Seeing their kinsmen, the dwarves in the caravan let out a cheer, and started hurrying forward. When Iris got to him Leo immediately pulled her into his arms, and nodded his thanks to Theos. She then started catching up with Natalie, while Alice looked quite shy at the moment surrounded by all the new people. After a few minutes Leo said,


    "Let''s go somewhere quieter, we have to discuss our travel plans." They looked confused as they all thought they were taking to labyrinth again, but Leo just gestured to an isolated area, and they started a meeting. The attendees were Leo, Iris, Alice, Theos, Natalie, Jack, Felix, and Yvan; Iris also pulled out the mirror, and used it for the first time since before Leo got captured. He looked at those gathered and the ones in the mirror, and said,


    "First of all we need to explain the exact details of what happened the last couple of months, so that everyone is one the same page." They all nodded, and elder grandma started first, reporting any significant events that happened while they were gone. Thankfully except a few more beastman refugees, nothing of note happened. Then Natalie and Jack started reporting what happened in the tunnels.


    Apparently when Leo and Iris didn''t bother with the corpses of the monsters they killed it drew others when the meat started rotting. That combined with the entire company of dwarves, they had to fight nearly continuously since leaving. It was mostly just because of the magic muskets that they didn''t have many casualties, however there were many injuries, including Natalie and Jack themselves. Then not long after they arrived at the exit Iris found them alone, and explained that Leo got captured. When she heard they couldn''t help him right away, she then fled back towards Heliantis before they could stop her.


    This was the first time elder grandma and Hilda heard about him being captured, so they both looked at him intensely wanting details. Leo sighed, and started explaining what happened after the two of them arrived at Heliantis. He talked about going to the colosseum, the slave auction, and finally when he saved Alice. When he got to the part where they captured him, several people looked at him through half closed eyes. But when he mentioned that the one who was always torturing him was Curly, the ones from the village became alert.


    "Curly was there?!" Elder grandma demanded. Leo nodded and explained,


    "He said something about getting caught, and was about to be sold in the city. But when they started passing word around about Iris, he caught their attention and sold information to them. He also informed them of the village, so that they could capture the rest of us if we were still there. Don''t worry though, he was the first one I took care of when I escaped." Elder grandma sighed in relief when he said Curly wasn''t a problem anymore, but then turned another stern eye on him and Iris, and said,


    "But still, I don''t understand why you waited so long to escape, and Iris, you should have thought about your actions better." She was about to continue scolding them, but Leo interrupted her and said,


    "I didn''t escape because I decided to use my position to move on the palace when the attack happened. But then after a week the king brought some new information to my attention. It was because of this I moved when I did, and Artemis as well demanded their death." He didn''t say what it was yet, and elder grandma almost shouted,


    "Well? Out with it!" Leo simply smiled, and pulled Iris close once more and started rubbing her abdomen. Those gathered were confused for a moment, before everyone''s eyes besides Alice''s and Theos''s widened. Hilda practically shoved elder grandma out of the way to see them better, and said,


    "Are you serious?!" But her eyes were shining, as she anticipated seeing her grandchild. Natalie immediately pulled Iris away to offer congratulations, and Jack clapped Leo on the shoulder. Elder grandma was the one most affected by this information, and took her several minutes to recover from it. Soon they got back to the discussion, and Iris started explaining,


    "I found out the day before Leo got captured. I planned to tell him when we left the city, but as you know it didn''t happen. It was also why I was so desperate to get him out as fast as possible, and left when I saw I couldn''t get help from the army. I decided to attempt it myself, but knew I was sorely out numbered, and most likely outmatched. So I went to the colosseum to recruit the gladiators to help, and met Theos there. After showing my own strength, and him pledging himself to my service, they also joined me and we went to attack the palace. But things didn''t turn out that way." As she finished her story, she turned to Leo, as if waiting for him to explain. Leo then awkwardly started explaining,


    "You see, the healer you saw reported your visit and the diagnosis to the king, and he turned around and used it to taunt me. When I heard that you were pregnant, and what they were planning, I went ballistic. He also used it to taunt Artemis, saying it was a "hunt" in her honor, and even went as far as to call the gods themselves cowards. She then granted me the new power, but I can''t use it unless it''s a blood moon, and I destroyed every person who would participate in this "hunt" in her name, and for the sake of my wife and child."


    At Leo''s words everyone nodded in understanding, as any father would most likely react similarly in the same situation. Plus it was also understandable he would act independently when Artemis decided to enact divine punishment on them.


    After that they made introductions between Theos, Alice, and he rest, before they started talking about the travel arrangements.

 109 Girls talk

    After detailing what happened the last couple months, and introductions, Leo moved on to the more serious topic.


    "We need to decided our travel arrangements, I don''t think taking the labyrinth is the wisest choice right now." Those present were confused, and Jack asked,


    "Isn''t it the shortest way to get there? And we need to worry about soldiers if we take another route." Leo nodded, what Jack said was the exact reason he started using the tunnels to begin with, but Leo then stated his reasoning,


    "Yea, but unlike the situation where we started using them with the dwarves, these people have been chained up, imprisoned, and have experienced a living hell for who knows how long. It wouldn''t be good if they were then trapped underground for several weeks right after escaping that situation, the dwarves would be ok with it, but I bet the rest won''t. Plus above ground we have better chances for hunting game, and replenishing our necessities. As for the soldiers, at the moment the human kingdoms would be more confused, and scared. I doubt they''ll quickly send people after someone who wiped out the heart of a kingdom singlehandedly in a single night. Any soldiers we find on the road shouldn''t be too hard to take care of."


    They digested his words for a while, before deciding he might be right. Even if it was with the help of a goddess, Leo destroying a kingdom overnight is a feat living people could only attribute to Arthur, until they get more information, they shouldn''t be rushing to antagonize Leo. What Leo didn''t say was also the fact that being underground wouldn''t be healthy for Iris in her condition. Given what''s happened so far, he wanted to ensure she was not at all stressed out when he could help it. He then turned to elder grandma and Hilda, and said,


    "With this situation though, I expect that the kingdoms would now be aware of our existence. Elder grandma, I''m guessing you know the areas around Asdarge best, can you lead Agmundr and some other dwarves to build watch towers on the mountain tops to the south of Asdarge? It''s time we start worrying about real defenses." Elder grandma was surprised Leo brought it up, and was more than happy to comply. They discussed a few more details, before deciding to retire for the night, beginning the long walk in the morning.


    ***


    They had been on the road for nearly two weeks now, and Alice was pretty miserable. She had practically lived in the library her whole life, so she was completely unbuilt for this kind of lifestyle. She tried not to complain about it though, to avoid troubling Leo as much as possible. As she walked along she heard some whispers,


    "That''s the former princess."


    "She was part of the royal family."


    "Her father ordered my peoples deaths."


    "Why didn''t she burn with them?"


    She had been trying to ignore the growing number of insults and occasional threats directed at her, due to her background. She made sure Leo didn''t hear about it though, as she already felt as if she caused him enough problems. As she thought about Leo she looked towards him and Iris, who was sitting on a carriage. Whenever Leo wasn''t focused on making sure things were as smooth as possible, he was catering to Iris, making sure she was as comfortable as possible. Alice didn''t feel any resentment towards her, but she did feel bitter he wouldn''t look her way. As she watched them, she saw Iris briefly meet her eyes, before saying to Leo,


    "You don''t suppose there''s any jackalopes in these woods, do you? They would go good in some stew about now." At her words Leo suddenly looked serious, and dragged Jack to help him hunt for some jackalopes, as he learned they actually existed in Aletera. Once Leo was away, Iris looked at Alice again, and gestured for her to join her and Natalie. Alice walked up to her nervously, and climbed up onto the carriage seat. They were both silent for a moment, before Iris said,


    "I don''t mind you know." Alice was confused before realized what Iris was talking about. She then said,


    "Even if you don''t mind, I don''t think Leo cares for me, at least in that way." She couldn''t say he flat out didn''t care about her, as he even made sure she alone was safe during what the slaves had started referring to as the blood riot, due to the blood moon. Iris smiled bitterly, and said,


    "I know how politics works in this world, and it was normal for me. When we got married I even came to terms with it. But while we were in Heliantis, Leo saw that people of influence would be attended to by several women, sometimes against their will. I think he just doesn''t want to be considered the same as them, and Arthur, especially after the blood riot." Alice was silent in contemplation, as she had noticed people comparing him and Arthur recently, since Leo had managed to destroy a kingdom by himself. It may not have been as casually as Arthur does, but the fact he did so didn''t change. Iris then continued,


    "If he knows we both accept it, then he might be able to as well. Besides, if i think about it, you''re my first real friend in my life. As my husband Leo obviously doesn''t count, but as my friend, I want you to be happy." Alice was struck stupid by iris''s words, and saw that even Natalie was thinking about them, before eventually nodding her head. She then thought about it, and realized she herself had no friends in her entire life. As she noticed this herself, she suddenly felt a lot better than a moment before.


    "Thank you, friend." She said to Iris with a genuine smile on her face. Iris smiled as well, pleased to have cheered Alice up. Now, they both realized that they just needed to get Leo to accept Alice. Natalie smiled as she listened to them, while also thinking that Leo better not either of them down.


    That night Alice was laying down for bed, her mind racing to figure out the best way to get Leo''s attention. As she closed her eyes, she soon drifted off to dreamland, or so she thought. Instead of her dreams being filled of Leo like normal, she instead open her eyes as if she never went to sleep, and was in an unfamiliar place. She looked around and saw rows of different gowns and dresses, mirrors, and a woman she had never met before. The woman looked like beauty incarnate, before her appearance suddenly seemed to shift, but she still seemed beautiful, perhaps even more so than before. She turned to Alice, and said,


    "Welcome Alice. I, am the goddess Venus."

 110 Goddess of love

    Alice looked in surprise at the self proclaimed goddess in front of her, only to hear,


    "How rude, then again I shouldn''t expect much from mortals, especially with how your father was." Alice froze when she mentioned her father, before the goddess laughed and said,


    "Don''t worry about it dear, the fathers sins don''t belong to the child. What I wish to talk to you about is much more interesting." At her words one of the mirrors seemed to melt and an image appeared on it, Alice being pushed up against the side of a building.


    She then watched as right before those men defiled her, Leo rushed in and saved her from them, killing each and every one. She slowly turned to face the one who saved her, and said,


    "My hero." Before she kissed him for the first time. Alice felt both warm, and awkward watching the scene where she fell for Leo, and could see how he and Iris thought it was strange. Venus let out a sigh, and said


    "Ah, young love. No matter how many times I see it, the tragic heroine falling for the dashing hero always moves my heart. Which brings me to why I brought you here." She turned to look at Alice once more, who felt even more awkward being under the goddesses spotlight. Venus then had a somewhat serious face before saying,


    "You see, with all the gods mobilizing against Arthur, I can''t have it said I''m not doing my part. And while I do currently have a champion, she was a worthless disappointment, and will naturally parish in a year anyways. So, this is the deal, I want you to be my next champion." Alice had an idea of why she was brought here, but actually hearing it stunned her.


    She then was suspicious, if Venus wanted a capable champion then Iris would be the best choice, as she belonged to no God or goddess, and was a very capable warrior. Then Alice realized what was most likely going on, Venus was more than likely trying to cause strife between her, Leo, and Iris! She was suddenly quite angry, and glared at the goddess. Venus however read what Alice was thinking and when she started glaring at her, started laughing. She then said,


    "I won''t deny my tendencies to cause similar troubles before, but at the moment the situation is very different. As for why I didn''t choose Iris, well there''s quite the list of reasons, but I''ll just leave it as I prefer a human or elven champion, as they are usually the most beautiful." Venus wasn''t lying, though the power and majesty of the werewolves was very beautiful to some, she cared more for how they looked physically. But, there was also the fact that Iris''s surrogate mother is marked as her current champion, Iris would never trust her. Plus she decided having more capable people around Leo was better than making someone already strong, stronger. Alice then declared,


    "Either way, I don''t care! I refuse to be your champion!" Venus almost had an ugly look on her face at being talked to in such a way, almost. She then smiled charmingly and said,


    "So you prefer being a worthless damsel in distress?" At her words Alice shuddered. She hated not being able to do anything for Leo, being in the way, and always causing him trouble. Knowing what she said got to her, Venus continued,


    "I''ll give you a year, when my current champion dies, to change your mind, and complete some tasks I want you to do to prove you can actually be of use." Alice didn''t say anything as Venus continued, uncaring.


    "First is that I want you to get your family''s former subjects to accept you. Convince them you are all on the same side, and that you are their ally.


    Second, confirm a real relationship with your beloved. I don''t care if you''re a wife, concubine, or just some whore he visits when he''s lonely, a real physical relationship needs to be established. It won''t be considered official, while you are still pure.


    And third finally, you need to conceive his child. It doesn''t have to born by the time limit, just conceived. As the goddess of love, beauty, fertility, and also sex, these are the basic requirements I''m placing in order to become my champion, and prove that you are capable at doing something productive-"


    "I still haven''t agreed!" This time Venus did have a somewhat ugly face, as she was suddenly interrupted, but only for the briefest of seconds. She then had an almost sickly sweet smile, as she said,


    "Then perhaps some incentive is in order, look at the mirror girl." Alice hesitated, before looking into the mirror in front of the goddess. What she saw would''ve churned her stomach if she was in her physical body. She was looking down on herself, being torn apart by high wolves as they ripped pieces of her flesh apart for their meal. She watched as they ripped out her intestines, removed limbs, and swallowed her heart.


    "Or how about this?" The goddess said as the image changed, and instead she was in some kind of bandit camp, as they ravaged her body for their own pleasure. She nearly became sick again, as the image sped up as if through time and then showed her as they still enjoyed her body, while her belly was swollen with one of their children inside her. Seeing her obvious displeasure, the goddess smiled, and said,


    "And finally we have this one." The image this time showed Leo and Iris, happy, as her belly similarly grew. Then it finally it went back to normal, but she now held a child in her arms, and they both looked happy to see it. She then saw herself, in the background, not part of their happy family. Alice then watched as the number of their children grew, and grew. And over time Leo and Iris were joined by a few more women, who started having children as well. But as time went on, they stayed the same, and Alice, who was never part of their family, aged. As the image progressed Alice started growing wrinkles, and her hair turned grey. Before she finally turned to dust, and bones.


    Alice was stupefied, and horrified at what she witnessed. How her life became tragedies in ways she never imagined, and how she was seemingly forgotten by the one she loved. Venus relished her reaction, and said,


    "Arranging futures as these is easy for me, a chance to be taken when everyone''s gazes is turned away. Or simply cursing you, to never realize your love as you watch your beloved live happily without you. So should you fail my expectations, and not complete the tasks I set to you, then one of these futures will be waiting for you. I don''t need you to agree right now, just finish what I set to you, and you have a chance for the happily ever after you wished so dearly for. Or if that''s not enough incentive, then how about a future where the one you love meets the tragedy?"


    Alice looked up at her words, scared more than she had been with the previous images. Venus seemed to realize what she was thinking, and started laughing once more.


    "No, no, this isn''t something I would cause. It is what would await all of you, should you reject every available resource. One of the many futures that can happen. Yet easily changeable." At her words another image appeared in the mirror, yet when Alice looked at it, her vision went dark.


    When Alice could see again she was kneeling on the ground, hands tied behind her back. She was surrounded by mountains that were burning, and buildings laid to ruin around her. When she saw the women holding her captive, she paled, as she recognized them from the last time she saw them ten years ago. However the fear she felt at seeing them paled in comparison when she saw the one in front of her.


    "Arthur" she whispered.


    (A.N. Using a really roundabout way to post, but still somewhat able to manage. For those who didn''t see my comment last chapter, webnovel fucked up the app for some reason, and I can''t post there anymore. Don''t know how often I''ll post due to it, also depends on if what I am using works, but I''ll try to stay active.

 111 Vision

    As Alice took in her surroundings, what she witnessed would give her nightmares for weeks. Gathered around her were several people that she didn''t recognize, but due to the brands of their arms she knew they were champions. They were all captured, wearing shackles meant to seal magic, and gathered in front of her and Arthur. Arthur turned to her, and said,


    "I gave you a chance. You could have been mine, and lived forever in pleasure. But instead, you chose a mutt, and dirtied yourself. Now, you''ll watch as I take them all from you, before I finally end your dog right in front of your face." As he spoke another couple of prisoners entered her view, Leo and Iris. She froze when she saw them as both were bound in chains, but they didn''t look like normal chains, and smoke rose from where it touched their skin. When Leo turned her heart lurched, when she saw that one of his arms had been torn off recently.


    All of them finally gathered, one of Arthur''s wives stepped forward with a large sword, and she recognized the nine tailed fox beastman she had seen last time. The first one was dragged forward, and Alice saw it was Felix. When he saw the woman he turned ashen grey, and shouted,


    "Felicia! Please don''t do this!" The girl didn''t listen to him though, as he was moved into position in front of her. She raised the sword,


    "Felicia, please-" whatever else Felix was about to say was cut off, along with his head from his body. Watching the grisly scene up close, Alice almost screamed. As if not caring that she killed someone she was apparently close to formerly, she kicked the body away, and turned to the next one. She then worked mechanically through all of the captives, people Alice didn''t yet know, but most likely will in the future. Leo strained his chains, trying desperately to help them, but ultimately being unable to.


    Finally it was just Alice, Leo, and Iris left among the pile of headless corpses, or so she thought. Then a small line of children were brought over, all in chains, and all carrying looks similar to the one she loved. When he saw who was next Leo wentballistic, and started trying to break the chains with his one arm, his face turned purple with rage and his eyes glowed orange, but nothing other than that happened. He then shouted,


    "YOU FUCKER, ILL FUCKING KILL YOU!"


    As the children were lined up in front of them. Arthur looked them up and down, as if appraising them. He then said,


    "Place the girls to the side, Ill take the oldest as my wife tonight, and the rest will be raised on the island until they come of age. As for the boys, just get rid of them." As he ordered the girls were moved to the side, while looking at Leo with looks of desperation,


    "Daddy..."


    "Nooooooooo!"


    The oldest one looked at her father and mother, and said,


    "Mom, dad, please save me." With tears in her eyes, as she watched her father, the invincible man she grew up knowing he was, being bound as she was about to be taken away. Leo and Iris both fought their restraints, desperately trying to save their children. Their attention was taken however, as the boys were lined up for their turn for the headswoman. One by one Leo watched his sons, the oldest barely ten, the youngest not even four, executed. Arthur didn''t even flinch at the gruesomeness of the scene in font of him, and pointed,


    "Her next."


    "NOOOOOOOOOO!"


    Leo shouted once more, as Iris was dragged away, and placed in for the of the woman. The girls all had tears running down their faces, after watching all of their brothers being executed, and now their mother. Iris was first brought to Arthur, who looked her in the eye.


    "Such a pretty thing too. It''s really too bad you''re already defiled, I would''ve loved making you my wife." Iris spit on him, but Arthur didn''t even seem to care, as she was prepared to face her end. The sword was raised above her neck, and Iris looked at Leo, the love of her life.


    "I love you." She said clearly, before the sword fell, and she joined the pile of headless corpses.


    "IIIIIRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSS!!!!!!"


    Leo shouted in rage, grief, and horror, as the one he loved most left the world of the living. His head fell limp, as he lost all will to resist. Their remaining children, all of his daughters, started to wail as their mother died in front of them. He was then positioned for his turn next, eyes dead, as he saw Iris''s lifeless eyes in front of him. The sword was raised, and fell once more.


    Alice had lost all feeling in her body, she had tried to remind herself over and over that this was an illusion, it wasn''t real. Then the voice of Venus sounded in her head,


    ''Of course this isn''t real, this is merely an illusion of what may pass. This is to show you what can possibly happen should Leo fail. Learn your lesson well mortal.'' The voice was gone again and Alice looked up to feel her heart seize on her chest, as the heads of both Leo and Iris were placed in front of her. Iris''s beautiful golden eyes, never to shine with the light of life again, while Leo''s brown eyes would never regain their orange brilliance. Then the woman moved behind her.


    Alice watched as the shadows on the ground in front of her matches the movements of the woman behind her.She saw the sword raised in the air, and then suddenly drop.


    ***


    Leo was currently in bed, with Iris snuggled up to him. They were sleeping in the carriage, while everyone else was outside. This bothered him at first, but no one complained, and he wanted Iris as comfortable as possible. He knew he was smothering her a little too much, but he couldn''t help it when he thought about the little bundle growing in her.


    His mind was filled with visions of playing with his son or daughter, when suddenly a scream sounded throughout the camp.


    "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"


    Leo immediately recognized Alice''s voice, and he and Iris were instantly alert. When they got to Alice, everyone in their general area was awake, and she was surrounded by pools of vomit. Leo ignored the vomit surrounding her, and grabbed Alice by the shoulders before turning her to look him in the eye. As she saw him Alice froze for a second, the last time she saw Leo was when his eyes were empty, and dead.


    New tears found their way down her face, as Alice immediately clung to him, and started crying into his chest. Leo wasn''t sure what to do, so for lack of a better idea, he wrapped his arms around her and held her closer. Leo couldn''t help but wonder what set her off, as he thought of everything she''d been through, yet none of it caused the same reaction she had now. She continued crying through the night, until the sun started to peek over the mountain.


    As she started calming down, she thought back to when she woke up. It was as if every emotion she experienced under Venus''s influence returned all at once with a vengeance. She then recalled the last thing Venus told her before she returned to consciousness, that everything they discussed was to be a secret known only to the two of them, and finally a reminder that she only had one year.

 112 Damsel in distress

    For the next two days Alice rarely left the carriage while they traveled. The rest of the refugees used it as an excuse to hate her even more, of course they would have to walk while royalty rode in a carriage. They never blamed Leo, as he was the one who freed them, but that didn''t stop them from hating her. Alice herself, was going through a constant cycle of sleep for at most an hour, before waking up wanting to scream again. She had been exhausted mentally and emotionally, and would drift off, but subconsciously seeing the horrifying scene once more would awaken her once more.


    Leo and Iris had no idea how to help her, mostly because neither knew what was wrong with her. Alice was adamant about not discussing what she was seeing in her sleep, something Leo found suspicious. He knew what was happening to her wasn''t something normal, and there were only two conclusions he could reach, either she was somehow cursed, or it was possible some god was interfering.


    He hasn''t heard much about curses in this world, so he doubted they were that common. So he concluded it was a god. Arriving at this conclusion angered Leo even more, as he himself had dealt with Artemis being unreasonable on more than one occasion. When Leo thought back, it seemed the only time they agreed was when he was imprisoned, and they destroyed a Capitol city together. The problem was though that since there was also the possibility that she wouldn''t be able to talk about it, he couldn''t help her. He could only leave her until she decided to help herself.


    Alice herself wondered how long she would see the horrid nightmares, Leo and iris''s dead eyes looking back at her. Most of all was the fact that she was entirely helpless to assist in any way whatsoever. She was, as Venus put it so perfectly, a damsel in distress, and that was all she was. As she thought about it though, she knew instinctively she''ll never be good at fighting, she never developed the instincts, the attitude. Then, a thought hit her. It took two days of this sleepless cycle for her to realize it, and she hated the conclusion she arrived at, as it was undoubtedly the same direction Venus wanted her to go.


    "Where are you going?" Iris asked as Alice stood and went to the carriage door. Alice looked back at her, and said simply,


    "To stop being a damsel in distress." Iris sat there dumbfounded at her words, as Alice exited the carriage and walked towards her first target, the elderly woman carrying a pack far larger than she had any right to.


    "Would you like some help with that ma''am?" She asked in a friendly voice. The woman looked at her with some suspicion, and when she saw Theos not too far away to ensure she couldn''t run off with her things, said,


    "That would be lovely." And happily handed off her pack to the younger woman, in order to rest her older bones. Alice almost staggered under the weight of the pack, but quietly bore it, as she shouldered it herself, and marched on.


    ***


    That night Alice sat carefully at the fire, as she waited patiently for her supper. She carefully removed her shoes, to tend to the bloody blisters she accumulated, that matched the ones on her hands. Due to the fact that she had tried to rest as often as possible before her encounter with Venus, Alice never really worked herself while traveling. Today she had helped carrying some of the packs of the elderly refugees, helped with a stuck cart while Leo was hunting, and helped all of those who needed it with pitching tents. Having never worked so hard in her life, it was no wonder she now carried blisters from the experience.


    At first the others didn''t trust her actions and doubted her intentions, but when they saw the bloody marks on her hands and feet, they immediately looked away in shame. Leo soon brought her a bowl of soup made with the meat of a stag lord he hunted. He usually went and brought some fresh meat each night for dinner, and after removing what they needed, gave the rest to people who needed the extra food. Though even with this there wasn''t enough for all of them, and some went with only bread, or watered down porridge.


    As Alice was about to dig in, she noticed a couple kids a little ways away that had unfortunately missed out on the stag lord meat he brought. Alice looked down at her own bowl, and slowly stood up on her bloody feet, walked over to them and handed it over.


    "Here, it''s better for growing boys to eat more meat." They looked at her in shock, along with everyone else in that area. The older one took it with a bit of hesitation, before they both said their thanks and started eating the meat with relish. She walked back to her own fire, all eyes on her, and tried to ignore her growling stomach. Shortly before she went to bed that night, Leo arrived again, and handed her a few things.


    "Here, this is a pouch of herbs I collected, they''re called silverherb and are used to heal minor injuries. And this is some more soup from a jackalope I just got, after I saw you give yours away. Finish eating and I''ll help you bandage your hands and feet for the night." Alice nodded bashfully, as she ate with gusto, if the palace maids saw her lack of manners then they would faint. After she finished eating, Leo chewed on the herbs for a few seconds, then started spreading them on her blistered hands and feet, earning a blush from her.


    "You know, I love that you started to feel better, and that you''re helping more. However, you need to take care of yourself. You can''t help them all, and if you try to do too much then you''ll wear yourself out, and the already low numbers you''ll help will drop to none. You also can''t carelessly give away your food, or you''ll collapse of starvation soon if you want to be more active." As she listened to his reprimands, Alice''s blush deepened. She looked over, and saw Iris beaming at her for her improvements.


    Soon his first aid was done, and Leo went back to Iris after wishing her a goodnight. As Alice laid down that night, she thought back to Venus''s first task, one she grudgingly knew she needed to fulfill.


    ''"First is that I want you to get your family''s former subjects to accept you. Convince them you are all on the same side, and that you are their ally."''


    Alice had realized, even if she couldn''t be a fighter like Iris, she was still able to be of valuable help to Leo, and the people who followed him. The first step to that at the moment, was gaining the approval of those people, and assisting with as many issues while traveling as possible, to ensure things were as smooth as possible. Alice went to sleep that night with newfound determination, and for the first time in the last two days, she didn''t have any nightmares.

 113 First job

    In the weeks following Alice''s change, everyone gradually started looking at her with different eyes. She would assist with everything she could to ensure the journey was easier for the refugees, carrying packs, gathering wood, and even the more physical chores like hauling water. He even caught her helping clean a kill one of the others got hunting, though she was completely pale at all the blood and gore.


    Leo also noticed over time, that she started developing a firmness to her figure that wasn''t there before. Even though nothing was wrong with her figure before, she always had what he could only call a "soft" look to her, with no trace of muscle on her body. Though she didn''t have the same look as Iris, who was thin but would pack power, she did look more mature now than back at the palace, and she started turning even more heads when she passed through the camp. None of them would dare consider laying hands on her though, as she was already regarded as Leo''s.


    While Alice was working on bettering herself within the camp, Leo was in a meeting with Yven, Felix, Jack, and Theos. Felix placed down a paper that had a collection of names and profiles on it with a grim face. When Leo saw the sheer number of names on it, he could only let out a sigh. The names belonged to those who were not enslaved due to being nonhumans, or those who were simply sold into slavery, but criminals who were enslaved due to their crimes.


    Directly after Theos was turned into a werewolf, he immediately revealed his entire past without holding any details, even how he became a slave. After hearing that criminals were also turned into slaves, Leo had Felix disguise himself and travel among the refugees to use his ability to determine who was a criminal, and if they didn''t intend to renounce their ways. The list in front of Leo was all of the such people Felix found during their travels, out of the few thousand people with them, there were well over a hundred names. He even had a list of possible crimes in their profile as well.


    "How exactly did you even get this detailed information?" Leo asked Felix out of curiosity, as he couldn''t imagine Felix casually asking if these people murdered or r*ped before. Felix shrugged and said,


    "I got good at asking around the real topic, plus depending on the form I take, people tend to let their guard down." Leo shuddered inwardly, and was glad Felix was on his side. His ability to see through even the tiniest lies was quite fearsome. Theos then asked,


    "So how many are going to be a problem?" Felix sighed, and replied,


    "From what I could tell, most of them, and it''s going to be a pretty big one. They''re already starting to develop their old itches, and some have even started to organize any that would cooperate. If they get into Asdarge unchecked, we could have an organized crime ring on our hands." Leo groaned at the news, as he contemplated counter moves against this. As they had not yet caused any trouble, then it would seem as if he was already abusing his power to oppress them, if he moved openly.


    "Felix, I want you to move tonight and eliminate the ones leading those trying to organize, but do it quietly, and with the least amount of bloodshed possible. The innocents hopefully wouldn''t understand what happens, but the others should take it as a warning. If they persist, then we''ll have to take more drastic measures. There aren''t any crime rings in Asdarge yet, and I don''t plan for there to be any. I also want copies of this list made, and distributed to Theos, and Yven''s men so that they can keep an eye on those that''ll remain." They nodded and left to carry out his orders, but Leo called Felix back.


    "I feel like I''m overworking you Felix, but I want you to go and get Alice, I have a job I want the two of you to work on." Felix laughed bitterly at Leo''s words, and left to do as he said. Several minutes later he returned with Alice behind him, beaming as she thought about how Leo needed her help. He looked at the two of them and started explaining their job,


    "This incident showed me how careless I was, even though we freed them we know nothing about these people, their trades, their history. So Alice I want you to start interviewing them and writing down their information, and Felix I want you to "assist" her to ensure what they say is truthful. This way we can understand who we have traveling with us more, and I can also report what they say to elder grandma through the mirror and have jobs waiting for them when we return to Asdarge. Felix finish your earlier job tonight, then you''ll both start tomorrow."


    When Alice heard what he wanted, her smile got even bigger. Though she hated doing as Venus bid, it made her extremely happy that she could be of use to Leo. She was curious what the earlier job Leo mentioned was, but since he didn''t say anything she didn''t ask. She then spent the rest of the day preparing the necessary materials for her job, several sheets of paper and an ink pen.

 114 Survey results

    Only a few days after assigning Alice to survey the people, Leo was glad to see they were getting quite the results. There were many among the refugees that were formerly carpenters, stonemasons, farmers, and various other trades necessary for city life. She had even found several people that did paper work for their former masters, and were able to read and write. After going through a strict interview with Felix, they also became her assistants.


    Even rarer, there were even those that studied magic, though only a little bit, that Leo was anticipating having train to open the doors for the next generation of magic users. There was even a small handful of healers within the refugees, but due to their environment their capabilities were limited to mostly small cuts or bruises. He hoped that by learning under Austin, they would become capable healers in the future.


    Finally there were also several fighters within the remaining refugees that weren''t with the colosseum, so Leo and Theos missed them when they looked for capable fighters. He immediately sent Theos to recruit any that wished to continue fighting, with additional specific instructions, to find future werewolf candidates.


    By this time Leo knew word was spreading by any that escaped the blood riot, and werewolves would soon be known by all the remaining kingdoms. Though he knew he wouldn''t keep werewolves secret forever, the problem with this was that there were only three werewolves in existence at the moment, himself, Iris, and Theos. Though he didn''t plan to turn anyone else until they reached Asdarge, Leo wanted a list of potential candidates to choose from, and to train while also stabilizing his kingdom.


    He was relaying all of this through the mirror to elder grandma, who was also reporting some of the progress she was making.


    "We''ve laid the foundation for four towers so far, all on the peaks of the mountains to south of us. They''ll take about a month for us to finish all of them, since we have to transport to materials. Once those are done we''ll have a way to get advance notice on any travelers to the north, and we have locations and plans for at least three more, plus five in both the east and west." Leo nodded and said,


    "Good, I also want the rest of the hunters to start scouting any passes that might be used to sneak pass the towers. Once we return we should have the manpower to build better defenses and man them on rotations." Elder grandma nodded at him with a hint of pride at how serious he was taking his position, even though he didn''t want it at first. Leo then continued,


    "I also want someone to go and survey any potential sites for future settlements, so that we can establish serval farming communities. We can''t cram them all around Asdarge." Alder grandma nodded agin, but said,


    "But how to you plan to protect them and transport the produce they grow? It''s still quite dangerous up here for normal people." Leo sighed, and said,


    "I''ll think about that on the way back, worst case senario we''ll have to send some of the beastmen that stayed with them since they''re naturally good at chi." They talked for a few more minutes, then ended their conversation. Leo contemplated some of the things he and elder grandma talked about, and started thinking. He already planned to make railway lines running from Asdarge to Tirdaral, but he wasn''t sure about running them above ground.


    He then looked up, and smiled widely as he saw Iris walking through the camp. She was already well into her fourth month, and her belly was starting to grow, meaning she had to trade in the skintight leathers for dresses and gowns. Thinking back, Leo didn''t think he ever saw Iris wearing gowns except for their wedding. Though it was unusual to see her wearing them, he though she also looked good in them.


    She was walking around while also talking to the various people. Unlike Alice who most held resentment towards until recently, Iris was immediately accepted by the refugees. Those seeing her smiled at their new queen, and called out to her asking how she was, and if she needed anything. Leo watched her going through the camp for a few minutes, until she looked up at him and smiled.


    A few minutes later however, he heard a horn sounding meaning some people were approaching.