M. Tress Writes
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Summoned by Monster Girls - Chapter 98
🕑 Added 2024-12-21 09:00:04 +0000 UTCI gave both Cerebaton’s warning and his suggestion several days to percolate in my mind. One thing that kept slowing me down was the realization that, while I was undoubtedly interested in Cariad, I had a very full plate at the moment. Between the relationship I already had with Kassandra and Rieka, adding in the obvious interest that Shayla was showing and the bits and pieces I was seeing from Jane, I didn’t know if I had the emotional capacity to handle something with Cariad, too.
Honestly, you need to focus on this competition. Maybe worry about other relationships after that point. The girls need you to focus on the competition, and you need to deal with your new burgeoning business.
I reminded myself of this fact several times a day, but it kept floating to the surface of my thoughts and distracting me no matter what I did.
In order to diversify the offerings on my storefront, I started working more with my earth magic to shape some other items to list on the Bitsy storefront. Since I was sourcing all of my own materials myself, it meant that my costs were way down as far as production expenses. I knew that I needed to focus and get things done, but without the impending doom of potential homelessness hanging over me, it was harder than expected at times.
The Friday after my meeting with Cerebaton, I made my decision regarding the Manipulate Element (Primal).
“Even if it doesn’t combo how I hope, it’s still gonna be useful. I know that creature’s blood burned like hell and being able to unmake stuff would be really useful. If it works, I could bore through the rock walls around the blast doors then just seal the ends, rather than have to shape it out of the way and then have to put it back.” I mumbled to myself, staring at the entry on my interface once more.
I was intensely curious about what selecting the ‘time’ school would give me the ability to do, but as I had no idea on it and no one to ask about it, I was unwilling to risk the potential gains.
Reading the entry over again, I didn’t spot anything new from what I’d seen the last six times I had read it.
Manipulate Element (Primal) - Cost: 800 SP - Select Light, Dark, Time, Entropy. User may add them to the list available at Minor level and improve as normal. The opposing element of one chosen is forever lost.
May be chosen one additional time for one of the second set of opposing elements.
“I don’t know why I’m hesitating. Eight-hundred SP isn’t that much anymore,” I muttered to myself. But I knew immediately that I was lying. I knew exactly why it was that I was hesitating. I didn’t like the fact that it locked me out of another school.
Even with the regular minor level of Manipulate Element, the phrasing was different. It just said the opposing element cannot be selected. Not that it is ‘forever lost.’ The thought bounced through my head like a DVD player screen-saver for a moment before I growled under my breath and mentally selected the power.
Immediately, a flashing message scrolled into my view that reminded me of when I had first selected earth magic, but this one had a few choice differences and a large warning attached to it.
By selecting the power, Manipulate Elements (Primal) the Traveler is granted access to one of the four primal powers.
This does not force your natural mana to aspect, so if the Traveler had previous abilities from another element, it will not prevent you from using them.
WARNING: Due to the highly conflicting nature of the primal powers, selecting one half of the pair will bar you from ever learning to manipulate the other half.
Please select from the following:
Light // Dark
Time // Entropy
As before, each of the names glowed with a color-matched hue for its power, rather than the iridescent purple of the other entries. Light was a pearly white, while Dark was pitch black and only visible because it was somehow darker than the background of the interface. Time was the color of steel and entirely uniform, while Entropy shimmered with an opalescent sheen that reminded me of a cube of bismuth.
“Well, here it goes,” I muttered to myself. “Hope Cerebaton was right, and it doesn’t make me dissolve or some shit like that.” Again gripping my hesitation, I selected the opalescent option of entropy and waited. I didn’t have to wait for long.
You have selected: Entropy.
Please confirm your selection.
Yes // No
I sighed and hammered the ‘yes’ mentally, and everything vanished from my vision. A moment later I felt something, like the tingle of an evening chill washing around my ankles and creeping into my clothes before it sunk into my body then faded away.
Due to the restrictions of Manipulate Element (Primal), your choice of Entropy has barred you from the school of Time magic.
Entropy has been added to the list of options available at the minor rank of Manipulate Element.
May your choices serve you well, Traveler.
Flipping through the options quickly, I found and selected Manipulate Element (Minor) and hurried through the menus to select entropy as my next school of magic. Again, the interface vanished from view and left me in nothing more than the questionable darkness inside my eyebrows for a pair of heartbeats before a new message popped up.
You have chosen: Entropy.
As this is a Manipulate type skill, utilizing it will be different from a more structured spell-casting that you may be familiar with.
Working with your chosen element will allow it to grow and evolve.
Congratulations, Traveler.
Just as before with the earth magic, I didn’t really feel any different in the wake of selecting the power. But after the amount of practice I’d gone through with learning to manipulate earth magic, I was sure it would be simple enough to figure out.
I’d been sitting at my kitchen table, with the various projects and bits of assorted detritus that came from setting up everything for the jewelry and other bits of product I’d been trying out scattered around me. One of those was a fist-sized piece of the decorative river stones that were used to line parking lots and planter beds. I’d snatched it to experiment with, but hadn’t decided exactly how to go about that yet.
Now, though, the lump of unworked stone made for a convenient target. Reaching into myself, I found the spot that my Mana Reservoir occupied and tugged on it gently. Before, when I only had the earth element, it would flow without a problem out of that place within me.
The power paused after stirring, and I felt as if I had my mental hand wrapped around two pieces of cloth, both of which could move, but only one at a time. One felt familiar and strong, while the other was weaker and wispier. It was the second one that I focused on and pulled again.
The power that flowed outwards felt off, and more than a bit dangerous as it flowed into my hands. Using the same mental patterns I’d learned from Rachel Cedarfall while practicing earth magic, I formed a sliver of intent with the mana, only pouring a single point of mana into it, and then guided it towards the stone in front of me.
A blot of chaos, its colors roiling and shifting in a multitude of hues, shot from my extended fingertip. It was small, about the size of a sunflower seed, but zipped across the intervening distance to slap onto the stone with a hiss. The blob sunk abruptly into the stone, boiling for a moment before vanishing in a puff of iridescent smoke and the scent of—oddly enough—strudels.
The hunk of granite, which had started out the size of my fist, now had a quarter-inch, irregular hole bored into it that was a good several inches deep. I picked the rock up and flicked on the halogen lamp that I had clipped to the table in order to illuminate my workspace. Peering into the hole, I could see that its edges were entirely smooth, though oddly irregular. The scent of strudels still hung in the air around the rock as well.
I spent a good five or six minutes inspecting the rock, looking for any signs of the material that had been taking up the space previously.
I know it didn’t just destroy the matter. Cari and Cerebaton both have told me before that it doesn’t do that, it just breaks down the bonds and divides the object into their base components. So does that mean that I have microparticles of the elements that make up granite floating around?
I winced at that thought and mentally promised myself to be careful of things that broke down into toxic components in the future. The last thing I needed was to idly apply this energy to regular table salt and make poisonous gasses on accident. Intentionally might be useful, but by accident was something I needed to avoid.
“Okay, next step,” I muttered and focused on my Shape-Shifting power. It leaped to my command like a well-trained dog, and the thumb on my right hand—the one holding the stone—sprouted a dense black claw rapidly. Another twist of that power in my chest and I felt it flow out and encapsulate the claw on my hand. The claw shimmered for a moment before returning to normal.
I waited for several seconds, for any sign that the elemental alignment effect would go rogue and start hurting me. I’d intentionally only shifted the outside of my thumb to the claw, leaving the interior normal. When nothing happened, I focused and tugged on the spell again, letting the imbued element encapsulate my thumb entirely.
A brief tingle passed through my body, but when I flexed the thumb it followed my directions without issue.
“Okay, not falling off. The entropic effect is remaining constrained to the imbued flesh. Test number three then,” I muttered and dragged the sharp tip of the claw over the stone just underneath the bored hole.
A hissing noise, similar to the effect from earlier when I’d shot the spell at the rock, emitted from the point of contact and a swirl of iridescent smoke rose up from the stone. The claw left a narrow gouge missing from the rock as it passed, parting the granite like I had a handful of butter rather than rock.
I could feel the difference in my Mana Reservoir though, and when I checked my interface, I could see that the effect had bled off another five points of mana from my reserves.
“Got it. Expensive as hell, but very effective. Something to keep in my back pocket then,” I mumbled, grimacing as I realized there was one last test I needed to complete.
Moving hesitantly, I tapped my left index fingertip to the back of the claw and quickly checked the pad of my finger when a twinge of pain ran through me. The first layer of skin was now missing from my index finger in a section roughly as big across as a pea, and a little bit of blood was welling up now as a result.
“Okay, that confirms I have to be very careful with this power while I’m using it. Got it.”
<><><>
The swirling colors faded away, and the transfer deposited me on a tiled floor a moment later.
I glanced around to take in my surroundings. Large windows set into three of the walls illuminated the room I now stood in. Behind me, a large hanging sheet of a pale blue color that reminded me of a summer sky covered the fourth wall. All the walls were painted white as well, though it was hard to actually spot the walls because of the number of different hangings, paintings, and other decorations scattered between the windows.
After studying my surroundings for a moment, my eyes settled on the reason that I had arrived here.
Shayla stood between an easel that held a canvas and a table covered in small jars of paint. The large moth woman was wearing another of her flowing dresses, a buttery yellow one that matched the red and tan patterns in her hair and wings surprisingly well. I couldn’t see how well it fit her though, as she had a paint-stained canvas apron over top of it and that bit of fabric hid a lot of the curves I knew the moth woman had.
“Liam! I’m glad you came,” Shayla bounced happily, sending an alluring ripple through her body even with her cleavage so heavily restrained by the apron. Her wings pumped happily as well, the large appendages flaring out wide on either side of her before folding neatly at her back once more.
“Of course I came. One of my girls called for me,” I replied with a smile, crossing the few feet of distance that separated the two of us and held my arms out to Shayla. She started to open her arms for the hug, but hesitated at the last moment.
“I might get paint on your clothes,” Shayla murmured, her shoulders and antennae drooping sadly.
“I don’t care. Besides, it doesn’t look like any that you have on you is wet right now. If you want a hug, come get it.”
The shy moth woman only hesitated a moment more before stepping forward and wrapping her arms around me in a hug.
Since we were of a similar height at over six feet tall, Shayla didn’t have to bend over to wrap her arms around me. And this resulted in the soft fans of her antennae stroking the side of my face as she hugged me.
I know it might have freaked some folks out, but the antennae and wings weren’t the strangest thing I’d seen so far on this world, so I just took it in stride. The feeling of her full breasts, even through the several layers of cloth, was enough to make it rather easy to ignore anything else that might bother me, too.
Shayla extended the hug for over a minute, humming happily as she leaned into me, and when she finally pulled back, it was obvious she was reluctant to do so.
“How has your week been, Shayla? I haven’t seen you for several days after all,” I asked, not pulling away from her immediately as the moth woman had not released her arms from around me, just leaned back enough that she could look up the slight amount to meet my eyes.
“It’s been good. I’ve been doing a lot of practice with my practical classes. I wish I could do more to help you get ready for the tournament, but—”
“—but there isn’t much that can be done. Right?” I interjected.
She giggled quietly at that, her antennae curling at the tips and bopping me lightly on the forehead as she shook with laughter.
“That is right. It isn’t as if we have to train you to respond to commands. All we have to do is ask nicely, and you’ll do whatever we ask.”
“Almost anything at least,” I interjected, wiggling my eyebrows playfully at the moth woman. She blushed furiously in response, biting her lower lip lightly while her pitch black eyes sparkled in amusement. “I still can’t believe Kassandra asked me to strip to show off for you all the other day. I’m just glad the System didn’t recognize it as an actual mission.”
“Are you that hesitant about being bare in front of us? I thought…” Shayla asked shyly, letting her question drop off but not looking away from me.
I held back my first instinct, which was to automatically reassure Shayla that I had no problems. I’d been getting better about the knee-jerk reaction to people asking me for things, even circumspectly. This was because of Kassandra and Rieka both reminding me to think about myself and my own well-being more often, and I loved them dearly for that.
Finally coming to a decision on the answer to Shayla’s question, I looked up to meet her pitch-black eyes and didn’t look away as I answered.
“It depends on the situation. For a joke? I’d prefer not to, especially as I don’t know how comfortable you or Jane are with something like that. It is one thing to know that your friends are sleeping with someone. It’s entirely different to see him wandering about naked with his everything hanging out in the wind. Not knowing if those involved were okay would make me uncomfortable with it.”
“And if you did know they were?” Shayla’s question was quick in response and her voice a bit breathless, but I considered it for a moment before answering.
“I’ve worked hard to bring my body back into shape as it is, so if I knew those around me didn’t care, then it wouldn’t bother me. But I’m not a nudist by nature, so it’s not as if I want to walk around naked either. Why?”
Shayla was chewing on her bottom lip again, her head tilting to one side while her antennae curled in apprehensively. She appeared to be searching for the proper words to voice what she wanted to ask, so I waited patiently for her to find them. The seconds dragged on and as they grew into minutes, I could see that Shayla was struggling mightily, so I decided to just suggest something and see if it helped her come up with what she needed to say. I had a decent guess, given our location.
“Did you want me to pose for you or something, Shayla?” Her eyes, which had drifted away from me to stare into the distance, snapped to my face once more and she nodded hesitantly. “Well, I did promise you I’d model for you if you wanted. Having a shape-shifting model has to be tempting, and I figured you’d cash in that promise eventually.”
“You don’t have to strip entirely naked, but…” Shayla’s voice dropped in volume and she mumbled the rest of her statement.
“I’m sorry, Shayla. You have to repeat that, I missed the last part,” I teased her gently, using the arms that still hung around her waist to give her a hug. This made the moth woman start in surprise, and she glanced down to realize that we were still half-pressed together in that hug from earlier.
“Your shirt,” Shayla said quickly, and I glanced down to check it.
“What about it? I don’t see any stains on it…” I replied, looking back up at the blushing girl.
“I was hoping to paint you without your shirt on is all,” Shayla said, her voice squeaky with concern and I had to stifle a laugh that bubbled upwards. She was just too damn cute with how shy she was.
A flash of light around the edges of my vision told me that the System had accepted her request for the summon and I smirked as I read it over.
Assist your contracted companion, Shayla Valo, with her body study for painting.
Reward - 150 SP
I considered teasing Shayla a bit more—especially with the System calling it a ‘body study’—but with her hanging around Kassandra as part of our team, I knew that she was going to get that enough in the future. So, rather than poke her again, I just nodded and released my grip on her to step back. Shayla hesitated at first before she did the same, her strong grip relenting and allowing me to step back slightly.
Grabbing the hem of my shirt, I yanked it over my head and then tossed it on the ground next to her easel.
“Shirt off, as requested. You’ll have to tell me how to pose or whatever you want. I told you before I’m not used to modeling,” I said as I stepped back from her easel and stretched my arms over my head.
It’ll be good to do something straightforward like this. I’ve been obsessing over the whole primal magic thing for the last several days. I just haven’t had the courage to message Cariad yet and ask her to help me test it. ‘Hey come over so I can find out if I am able to get away with touching you and not getting vaporized!’ is not the best way to invite a cute girl over to your place, I thought idly while waiting for Shayla to get herself settled.
When no response to my previous request for direction was forthcoming, I looked over at Shayla to find that she was still standing there staring at me with her head tilted to one side and her mouth hanging ajar. Those large, black eyes of hers were staring in my direction but unfocused, while her fluffy antennae were the only thing moving, wafting in my direction like a little pair of fuzzy hands trying to reach towards me.
“Shayla?” Her name spoken aloud made the other woman start in surprise and she blinked several times, the blush that had been fading from her cheeks returning with reinforcements.
“Ah! Uh? What is it, Liam?” Shayla stuttered, her hands coming up to grip the front of her apron, hunching her shoulders and her antennae curving back in protectively again.
“How did you want me to pose?” I reminded her gently, resting my hands on my hips and tilting my head slightly. “You wanted me to be a model for you. What pose do you want and do you want me to use my Shape-Shifting to alter anything?”
Shayla blinked several times before her hunched posture reversed and she straightened. The blush didn’t leave her cheeks, but a smile returned as her antennae bounced upright once more.
“Ah, how about… one hand up on your chin thoughtfully? Leave your right at your side and look in that direction, but keep your chest towards me?” Shayla suggested, energy returning to her voice. I nodded, shifting to take the pose she suggested.
“And the Shape-Shifting?”
“No, you are perfect as you are right now.” I might have imagined the hunger in her tone at that statement, but I didn’t call Shayla out on it, not right now.
She’s shy, so I don’t want to rush her. But I am not going to complain… I thought with a small smirk as Shayla picked up her tools and started using a thin piece of charcoal to begin her work.
Comments
M. Tress
that would be a heck of an emotional moment.
Aaron Henley
I don’t know what kind of gifts Liam has planned but I’d like to imagine that he brings his phone to Shay one day with a few videos of Bob Ross and tell her: This is one of the greatest artists our world ever had. His gentle soul has inspired generations. When he passed, the world wept.
M. Tress
It was tempting to go time but it would put him in opposition to the daemons. Like using fire magic to protect you from a person made of ice etc. Shifting would work to give him the appearance but he'd not be protected from the ambient negative energy there.
Lazerus56
maaaaan. To quote a rather powerful wizard "no, the Strongest magic is CHRONOMANCY" -Arthur Egfort. Idk why I just would have picked time magic every ...time. Entropy is a good damage multiplier, something he doesn't have a pressing need for but still welcome. It's also a guaranteed win with Cariad. In my mind some sort of stasis feature or other ability would make touching possible or pause entropy for a time. I guess gambling your relationship for all time isn't worth it ... :/ so if he gets enough mana could he work in the demon realm with a full body shift? I mean cerabaton does his morf at a lower level of shifting. he should just copy a demon's biology ? would that work anyway?
M. Tress
Liam is in a kinda unique situation where he's not always around the girls. So the harem-at-a-distance thing is hard to write but also interesting as heck. Especially with the relationship connotations that come with it. I'm curious to see where it goes, but i'm also glad Liam isn't rushing too xD All of the girls deserve to be woo'd and loved properly ;)
J Aughenbaugh
I would be very happy to discover that Liam has more than enough emotional capability to add Shayla, Cariad and Jane to the group. They're all awesome ladies
J Aughenbaugh
MOAR DAKKA
Freya
Tyftc
M. Tress
To quote another series by a different author 'I want a lava cannon!'
Bob Bryan
Now will she be number 3 or will cariad, we shall see. Also, still hope he also choses fire at some point. You teased lava magic and in my opinion, would compliment his earth magic. Plus fire with his attacks would be awesome.
MDMcVay
Yes of course she wanted a model
