Summoned by Monster Girls

Kassandra had been demanding up until the very last minute, but thankfully my devious snuggle-noodle had not been cruel. She’d made sure I was dressed before I was yanked back to Earth when I reminded her that I had been in public when she’d called me there initially.

She hadn’t bothered to put a stitch of clothing on herself though, which was honestly unsurprising given her teasing nature.

The fact that she’d kept me well after nightfall made it a little hard to get back home, but at least I wasn’t having to run naked like I’d had to do after the emergency summon she’d sent out a few weeks back. That sucked, but I still have no regrets concerning it.

I really panicked back then, didn’t I? I thought while jogging along the dark streets in between flickering street lamps. Sure, she needed to be warmed up, but it would have worked just as well to bundle her up in front of the fire. Might have taken longer, but it should have worked. Then again, she’s not warm-blooded either so, better safe than sorry right?

Arriving back at my apartment without being accosted by any of the local gangbangers was fortunate. While I had my Shape-Shifting, it wasn’t quite enough to deal with getting shot while being robbed, at least not yet.

I took a quick shower to wash up, both from the sweat of running and the other activities that Kassandra had demanded of me. While I was shampooing my hair, which had finally finished growing back in to a reasonable length again and I could stop using my Shape-Shifting to give myself proper eyebrows after the flame snake incident, I closed my eyes and focused on the System interface.

Delving into the entries for ‘Powers’ I hesitated before selecting Mana Reservoir to review it again.

Mana Reservoir (Minor) - Cost: 1,000 SP - Grants the Traveler a minor mana reservoir equivalent to 10 mana. This mana will regenerate at a fixed rate depending on ambient mana of the environment.

Spells cast by the Traveler will pull from this reserve first, then any other mana reservoirs in the Traveler’s possession.

Still wish I knew if ten mana was a lot or a little…I thought before sighing.

“It’s just another investment. It’s not going to be my primary means of fighting…hell my Shape-Shifting isn’t either, not yet at least. For now that is my bonk-stick.” I sniggered while thinking of the flanged iron mace that Kassandra had been storing for me in the other world. A bit of loot we’d recovered from the crag hunter nest, it was plain but it worked. More importantly, the girls didn’t have to buy anything else.

Gritting my teeth, I focused on the power and willed it to activate. The point counter, which had gained another hundred points over the 1370 it had contained after completing the ‘mission’ Kassandra had assigned me, drained down to 470 now.

A sensation of pressure formed low in my gut and I grunted. It felt like I’d just been punched in the kidney. The sensation morphed into a brief burning feeling before flaring and fading away just as a golden color flashed around the edges of my vision and the neon purple words popped up in front of my still closed eyes.

By unlocking the Mana Reservoir power, your body has been adapted to utilize and store mana.

Mastery of this power will allow you to expand your reservoir and unlock new effects.

Due to you having begun work on mastering the Shape-Shifting power, this reservoir is separate from the internal source of that power.

“Huh…okay. That is odd. Didn’t know Shape-Shifting had a power source. Just figured it well…did it.” I muttered before shrugging. A brief flare of hot pink light in the upper corner of my vision drew my attention there and I saw that directly under the entry for my ‘Current SP’ there was now a readout that stated ‘Mana 0/10’. As I watched it, the 0 began to rapidly tick up until it sat at a full 10 mana.

“Handy. Glad it filled me up to start with. Hadn’t thought of that. Boy would that have sucked to show up for training tomorrow and my mana be empty. Glad I didn’t wait.” I mumbled before focusing on the ‘Powers’ menu again and skimming over the entry that would actually grant me something to use the mana on.

Manipulate Element (Minor) - Cost: 100 SP - Select a base element from the following list: Fire, Water, Wind, Earth. User has basic control of this element and can manipulate mana to produce and shape that element into spells.

This can be selected multiple times for an additional, neighboring element (EX: fire and earth, or fire and wind) but not an opposing element (Ex: cannot select fire first, then water).

“Seems straightforward.” I mumbled, rinsing the shampoo out of my hair before focusing and selecting the entry. There was another flash around the edges of my vision and then the glowing purple words returned with another System message. I was just grateful it didn’t hurt as much as it had when taking Mana Reservoir.

By selecting the power, Manipulate Elements (Minor) you can now begin to focus mana and aspect it into one of the four elements at your will.

This does not force your natural mana to aspect, so if you had previous abilities from another base element it will not prevent you from using them.

Please select from the following:

Fire

Water

Wind

Earth

Each of the elemental names glowed with a color matched hue for each element, rather than the iridescent purple of the other entries. Fire was red, water was blue, wind glowed a soft yellow, and finally earth glowed a dull green.

Focusing on Earth, it flashed twice before the message faded and then different messages began to scroll across my vision.

You have selected: Earth.

Due to the restrictions of Manipulate Elements (Minor) this has blocked you from selecting Wind if you choose to retake this ability in the future.

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.

Good luck!

New Powers available in the System interface.

Congratulations, Traveler.

“Another new power? What the heck?” I muttered and quickly navigated to the ‘Powers’ tab once more.

I saw the new power immediately on the Body tab. One of the derivative powers on the same tier as Shape-Shifting (Lesser) that was fuzzy but unreadable was immediately visible now.

Shape-Shifting (Elemental Alignment) - Cost: 200 SP - (Requires Manipulate Element of some form to provide elemental energy.) Allows for the inclusion of elemental shift of the animal forms, though no spells are usable, only allowing elemental damage via natural weapons.

“Huh…so that means what? I could like…make my talons deal fire damage? That’d be neat, but not something that works well with earth magic. It states ‘no spells are usable’ either if I select it, and I just got spells. I don’t think I wanna do that…” I mumbled to myself. “Maybe ask the girls?”

At that point, Fate apparently decreed that either my day thus far had been far too nice or that I’d already spent too long in the shower and that it was time to punish me.

The water coming out of the shower-head went ice cold and I had to bite back a scream of surprise at the sudden temperature change. Slapping at the knob quickly, I hurried to get the water turned off before I froze.

“Can’t have anything nice.” I grumbled, grabbing my towel to dry off and head to bed.

<><><>

Again, I thought I saw buildings in the chaos as I whirled through the distance after the summon had hit me while I was seated at the table with my breakfast. Rather than the Gothic cathedral though, these were high-rise buildings that looked like office complexes I’d seen downtown. The big difference was they were made of polished steel with no obvious windows on them, rather than the normal steel-and-glass I was used to.

I didn’t have long to ponder the thought as I landed on something soft a moment later and reality swirled back into place around me only half a second behind that.

I could feel the sun on my face and hear a distance murmur of conversation as well as a crackling noise that sounded like fire. Turning in place quickly, I spotted my girls right before Kassandra pounced with a happy squeal.

Catching the energetic dwarf lamia with a laugh, I let her momentum carry us into a turn while I hugged her to my chest. The motion caused her long tail to wrap naturally around my hips as I completed a full turn with a giggling Kassandra burrowing into my chest.

“Liam! I missed you so much.” Squealed the redheaded troublemaker, much to the amusement of Rieka. She stood a bit back with an unfamiliar young woman who was watching the entire encounter with raised eyebrows.

“Missed you too, Nugget.” I murmured into her hair, squeezing Kassandra close while she wrapped the rest of her serpentine body around my legs.

“Nugget?” Kassandra pushed against my chest to peer up at me with a suspicious look.

“Ah, sorry about that.” I mumbled, blushing in embarrassment before answering her in a low tone. “Spent a bit of the morning thinking about cute nicknames and that one came to mind. Like a gold nugget, small but extremely precious.”

Now it was Kassandra’s turn to blush, but she punched me in the chest lightly with a playful scowl.

“Okay, but only in private! I have a reputation and nobility to maintain!” Kassandra insisted more loudly this time.

“What sort of reputation do you have left, Kass?” Rieka laughed, having approached with her companion in tow. “Everyone knows you cause mischief all over the place. They just can’t catch you at it to prove it.”

“Then they have no way of knowing it was me.” Kassandra replied haughtily, her nose plucked up towards the sky in the image of a haughty young noble woman. “Besides, if anyone is being rude, it’s you! You haven’t introduced our guest to Liam yet!”

Rieka spluttered but Kassandra was quick to continue her joke as she wiggled to one side to snuggle up under my left arm without unwrapping her tail from my waist, clearly intent on spending her time clinging to me for as long as I allowed.

“Liam, this is one of our classmates and fellow Rue House occupant, Miss Rachel Cedarfall. Miss Cedarfall, this is our summoned companion and protector, Liam the human.” Kassandra rattled off a rather formal sounding introduction with the surety of long practice. She did this while giving Rieka a cheeky wink and the wolf kin woman glared at her friend in mock outrage.

I studied the new woman politely while the introductions were being made. Like Lady Maia, she was obviously an elf from her lack of animal features and the pair of long ears that poked out of a mane of tawny hair gathered into a messy bun at the back of her neck. While Rieka and Kassandra tended to dress neatly and rather ladylike, the elf in front of me was far more practically dressed. She had on a pair of sturdy but loose leather pants and a leather vest over a long sleeved blouse that was buttoned at the neck and wrist. The vest hung to mid-thigh with a number of small pockets and pouches dotting its surface and from the wear and tear on the leather it was meant as a protective garment. A number of small pouches hung from her waist, like the girls normally carried, and she had her spell rod tucked into a slot on her vest on the left side. Eyes the yellow of a summer sun watched me curiously from under noble brows in a sculpted face. If it wasn’t for her dressing like a craftswoman, she would look regal in her bearing. She also stood several inches taller than both of the girls and only an inch or two shy of my own height.

“Pleasure to meet you, Miss Cedarfall.” I said, giving her an awkward half bow, unsure of how I was supposed to greet someone in this world but unable to do anything more elaborate due to the scaled limpet clinging to me. Said limpet was giggling the entire time.

“The pleasure is mine, Liam the human.” Rachel replied, tilting her head slightly to one side in curiosity.

“Please, just call me Liam.”

“Then you shall have to call me Rachel. Your two companions have requested I give you some pointers while developing your earth magic? Did you recently reach maturity and have it aspect?” The elf woman’s voice was musical with just a hint of a rasp to it, like a singer who has spent too long in smoky lounges.

“Not especially no. I recently acquired the ability but the mana isn’t aspected, as far as I can tell.” That got odd looks from all three and I just shrugged. “When I actually got the ability, it stated that it does not force my natural mana to aspect, just that I can use it to cast spells of that type.”

“That is…confusing.” Rachel said after a moment, her delicate brows scrunching together for a moment while Rieka and Kassandra shared a silent glance. “But you are sure you can utilize earth magic?”

“It’s what I was told. Something about it being a ‘manipulate effect’ rather than a more structured spellcasting too, so I’m going to have to experiment but we will see.”

“Fascinating…Do you mind if I document this?” Rachel’s creased brow smoothed and she reached into a pocket in her vest, extracting a leather notebook the size of a paperback book and a wrapped charcoal pencil. “I normally research alchemy and things like that, but I have never heard of someone able to cast magics without having their body aspect the mana automatically. And natural mana?” Her yellow eyes were wide with interest. “That is always elementally aligned. It’s what causes monsters to form and dictates their, usually violent, nature.”

“Sure, go ahead. Just please keep personal details out of it if you can, I don’t want anyone bugging the girls.” That statement got warm smiles from both Rieka and Kassandra while Rachel nodded rapidly, which made her long ears bounce only slightly. Clearly they had more ‘backbone’ than Rieka’s floppy canine ears and were not nearly as motile.

“We’ve pre-charged the summon for several hours and the promise still remains. While Liam is resting, I’ll work with you on your water magic. There is enough shared in the nature of it and ice that it should help you out.” Kassandra butted in, making Rachel blink rapidly in surprise before delicately clearing her throat.

“Of course, I apologize. Let us head over to the practice range. Did you bring coins to work with…Liam?” Rachel said my name with a bit of hesitation, as if expecting me to change my mind, then relaxed when I didn’t.

“I did not. I have a natural reservoir that I’ll be using to practice with, like the monsters you mentioned.” I added the second half in a whisper that made Rachel’s eyes bug out in surprise.

“Truly? No sentient species has a natural reservoir, only monstrous species do and it is widely believed that is what makes them violent, as I said before. But they aren’t able to use magic beyond natural adaptations. Like a fire breath or molten skin…”

“Liam is different like that.” Rieka chipped in with an amused shrug. “I don’t think he does anything normal really.”

Kassandra looked like she was going to say something before smirking and remaining silent, content to cling to my side like a busty and cuddly barnacle.

“What? I know that look.” Rieka grumbled as the three of us who were walking proceeded out of the shadow of Rue house and towards the low stone building that held the magical practice ranges. I was surprised to be able to manage the walk with Kassandra clinging to me without too much difficulty.

“Oh nothing…” Kassandra let the statement hang there innocently enough for several seconds before grinning wickedly and continuing. “I was going to contest it and say Liam kisses like normal, but that’s a lie. The things he can do with his tongue…” She let the sentence drift off while biting her lower lip sensually.

“Kass!” Rieka hissed in surprise, blushing furiously while Rachel glanced between all three of us before finally locking eyes with me. I just shrugged helplessly at her and the confused look shifted to a small smile. She rolled her eyes while Kassandra and Rieka traded barbs and retorts.

“Miss Silverscale, you are going to have to unwrap him for the first part while we get him started.” Rachel finally butted in once we made it inside the practice range. There were only two others there. One of which I recognized as Lady Valda and she nodded back in greeting when I did the same, but she didn’t come over to talk to me this time. The other woman was something of a surprise.

I only caught a brief glance of her but she was tall and had a set of delicate-looking insect wings of a chocolate-brown with red and white highlights. A pair of fluffy white antennae waved above a mane of dark brown hair shot through with the same red and white as her wings. She was fiddling with something in her hands with her back to us but I couldn’t see it before I had to focus back on the trio with me as Rachel continued to admonish Kassandra to get off of me for a bit.

“Fiiiine.” Kassandra sighed with exaggerated amounts of disappointment, giving me a kiss on the lips before sliding free of me nimbly to land lightly on the floor between Rieka and I. She and Rieka continued to squabble playfully while Rachel led me up to the ‘firing line’ of the lane that was furthest from the other students who were in the room practicing.

“Miss Silverscale is quite…familiar with you.” Rachel said carefully, gesturing at a spot just before the line for me to stand.

“Yea…Kass is a sweetheart. I don’t think I’d have much of a choice to protest, even if I wanted to.”

“As long as it is something you both want, I have no desire to judge. Now, earth magic…” Rachel gestured towards the range and carefully drew the metallic rod from her vest with a flourish. A flick of her thumb slid open the narrow window that gave access to the shimmering iron coins inside and she laid the fingers of her free hand on the top coin in the stack, nearest to the tip. It was different from how Kassandra and Rieka would cast, using only one hand and simply sliding their grip up the rod as they went.

“Earth magic is often viewed as ‘lesser’ by many people given that it isn’t as flashy as fire or loud as lightning, but it can aspect into higher forms just the same. And that aspecting will depend on how much you practice, what you do with it, and the will of the gods.” Rachel lectured while she prepared her spell rod and took up her position next to me. “Many do not believe it to be worth the intensive training just for the chance that it will force their mana to aspect, but it’s something I’ve been researching.”

I could feel the mana radiating from the exposed coins in the spell rod like never before. It felt oddly magnetic in nature, both pushing against my skin and pulling on it at the same time. This was the first time I’d been around the mana charged metals without the shielding of the rods and it was noticeable. Now that I had noticed it though, I could feel the faint pressure from the pouches at Rachel’s waist and even from behind me where the other two were now observing.

“Earth has recorded aspects into lava, if you are one of the fortunates to have fire as well, and metal as a regular one for earth. I have read a few accounts of one ancient earth mage that aspected into crystal as his higher rank form, but have only found references to it. But that is more advanced. For now it basically means that the earth magic you possess could evolve in a number of ways depending on how you use it. And use it you must, if you want to grow.”

“Makes sense.” I muttered, thinking of the Mastery bar that had appeared on my stat sheet the previous night for both new skills. Like Shape-Shifting it was out of a thousand and currently sat at 0 on my sheet. “How do I use the magic?”

“For me, since I have to draw mana from an exterior source, I have to deliberately focus on what I want to happen. Like…let’s say a stone spike to strike that target.” She nodded to the pillar closest to us. “Then when I have the image in mind, I focus on the runic components of the spell and infuse them with energy. From there I can force mana into it to temporarily form the runes at the end of my rod and fire the spell that way. Like this. Stone Spike!”

A sliver of pale gray stone formed in the air in front of her. It was as long as my hand and almost three fingers across at the base before tapering into a sharp point. It formed and then flicked forward across the distance towards the stone pillar, slamming into it with a ringing crash of stone on stone. The entire process took less than a second and reminded me a great deal of Kassandra’s ‘Ice Lance’ spell.

“Okay. That looks easy enough.” I said quietly, thinking about what I’d felt. She’d drawn the mana up into her left hand from where it touched the mana coins. It had then swirled there for a moment before crossing over through her shoulders to exit her right and be channeled into the rod before bouncing forward to erupt from the tip of her spell rod.

“Try it, Liam!” Kassandra called from behind us and I nodded, closing my eyes to focus. I noticed the startled look that Rachel shot Kassandra out of the corner of my eye just before closing them but shrugged it off.

Low in my abdomen, where I’d felt the ache from the previous day when I had accepted the Mana Reservoir power, I felt a slow pulse. Giving that energy a tug, I mimicked the same hand position that Rachel had been using. My right hand mimed gripping a rod and my left was cupped slightly ahead of my right. I drew the mana up into my left hand before pulling it around through my chest and out through my right, just as I felt Rachel do it.

As the mana began the trip and entered into my left hand, I opened my eyes and focused on the target. There was a deep scratch in the stone just to the left of the center dot where Rachel’s spell had hit, so I focused my intent on that center dot.

A blade of stone surged into being just ahead of my hands. It was easily a foot long and as thick as my wrist, tapering into a needle sharp point. It raced through the air to impact the target with a crack before it exploded into a hail of stone chips going in all directions.

“Whoa…” I heard Kassandra crow in wonder from behind us and I turned to shoot a grin at her. Rieka was staring in surprise at me as well, her ears perked up but her tail hanging limply behind her. Kassandra wiggled happily beside her friend in a bit of a back-and-forth dance that sent her hips swaying hypnotically. Rachel was staring at me in startled surprise from her position next to me, her eyes wide and a little pale.

“You didn’t use a chant…” Rachel mumbled when she realized I was staring back at her.

“Oh…was that why it was bigger? I tried to pull only a bit of mana out to use it…”

“I…I’m not sure…Spells require the keywords to launch them, it is what finishes the spell circuit and imprints our will on the mana.” Rachel mumbled, still staring at me with a wide eyed expression that was making me worry.

“How much mana was that, Liam?” Rieka had gotten hold of herself and both her and Kassandra had approached during my hushed conversation with Rachel.

“Oh, let me check.” I closed my eyes and checked the readout on the System interface that flared up behind my eyes. The current mana readout read 9/10.

“That was one mana point apparently?” I said as I opened my eyes to all three girls staring at me in surprise.

“That…is ridiculous.” Sighed Rachel, finally closing her eyes to rub at her delicate eyebrows and forehead like she was getting a headache. “He doesn’t use any of the mana infused metals, he doesn’t use spell chants or runes, he just mimics my hand motions and bam…spell. So unfair…I want you as a mentor!” Groused Rachel, stomping one foot in a surprisingly cute gesture for someone who moved with the grace of a ballerina.

“Hey! Hands off, Liam. He’s our human.” Jabbed Kassandra, though the restrained amusement in her tone made it obvious she was joking.

“I wouldn’t make a good mentor, Rachel.” I got in before the two could start an argument. “I literally just picked the ability up yesterday. Maybe once I have some more practice with it?”

“I will take that promise then, Liam.” Rachel’s normally reserved expression slid into one of amusement and acceptance. “I expect you to be in contact shortly. If you are this able to shape mana or…manipulate?” She questioned the last bit and I nodded. “Manipulate the elements as you say, then I doubt it will take long and I would dearly like to apprentice under you.”

“I’d be happy to help you out, once I can actually lend the help. Call it returning the favor?”

“Deal! Now what are you two whispering about?” Rachel turned her attention back to Kassandra and Rieka and I glanced over to see Kassandra grinning wickedly while Rieka blushed furiously.

“Nothing!” Barked Rieka, glaring down at her serpentine friend.

“I was just saying, it’s a lot of fun to be under…mph!” Rieka had clapped her hands over Kassandra’s mouth to muffle the rest of the sentence and was glaring down at Kassandra. The red headed dwarf lamia was grinning though, I could tell from the twinkle in her eyes.

“Oh!” Rachel’s exclamation drew my attention back to her and I was treated to something I hadn’t expected today.

The sight of an elf maiden blushing.