Once I finish pulling the rest of the stumps, including those of a couple more trees that the Carpenter Kamamimi felt the need to cut down while I worked, I break them apart and pile them up a short ways away from, but generally next to the smokehouse. During that time the Chef, Ginro, and Meiron have really taken the Croc Ogre apart. There is a great sheet of fresh leaves laid out under it and it has been cut into several distinct pieces and skinned. The legs and arms are separated, and the torso has been cut into a few sections. Most of the organs have been laid to the side for Meiron to peruse.

I approach for a better look at what's going on. The Chef is cutting the piece I hung up earlier into more manageable pieces and Ginro is helping her carry them to the smokehouse. Once I'm near enough Meiron speaks up. "I'd say I'm about done here. I tried to give your friends a few tips while you were busy, so hope that works out for you." She laughs then dusts her hands off. "So, did you get your thoughts sorted? And, more to the point do you have any more questions for me? I'll be quite busy with all this for a couple days, I should say." She taps a large bundle of the Croc Ogre's hide, presumably containing the parts she is taking. Amusingly, the bundle is tied to the horn so she could sling the lot over her shoulder.

I growl slightly, then scrunch up my face a bit at the noise. "Not the sound I was going for. I just meant to grumble there. Oh well. Mostly. And, yes. A couple at least. Though nothing too complicated." She nods and spins her hand in a carry on sort of gesture. "You mentioned that there are ten elements. Could you tell me what they are?"

"Oh, that's all? I'm not sure how useful that will be for you, but sure." She leads the way back to the chairs and table. Then sits down with her legs crossed. "Alright then. The elements come in three groups, and one standalone element. The first trio, the Heavenly Elements, Light, Dark, and Ether. The second trio, the Worldly elements, Earth, Water, and Wind. And the third trio, the Energetic elements, Lightning, Fire, and Ice. And finally, the solo element. Often called the First element or the Prime element. Which is, simply put Life, or sometimes called Quintessence."

I furrow my brows, then mumble to myself. "That sounds like it lines up with the Gods?" She smirks and nods emphatically. "And those are usually in line with monsters? Like, there are elemental monsters that are made of those?" She nods again. "I'm, a bit confused now. How could a monster even be made of life?" I rub my temples, which is about like rubbing around the base of my horns.

She laughs heartily. "Well, to be fair Life Elementals are among the rarest of monsters. Actually, pure Elementals are all quite rare nowadays. It's speculated that they are born from Essence that pools in places where a given element holds sway. But at this point there will be other monsters that are happy to consume such Essence before it can sit there long enough to become an Elemental. But to answer your question, they actually look the most like a normal living thing from among the Elemental types. But of course, they are radically different. Plants, and even other lifeforms would naturally grow faster and stronger in their presence." She grins. "Side note on Elementals, since they're rare, the ones that are around tend to be quite strong. They'd pretty much have to be. And they usually end up with the Ancient as a secondary type. Since that type seems to be all about age."

That has given me another couple of questions. But I'll start with the obvious. "And you, specialize in elemental magic? How do you even get ahold of the Essence for it if they're so rare and powerful?"

"Elemental isn't so rare as a secondary type. Though I have met some pure Elementals. And, on the topic, I have gotten ahold of at least C-Rank elemental magic in every type. I even have B-Rank in a few." She gives a wry smile, then waves her hand in a dismissive manner, as if that achievement is meaningless. I stare at her hand in confusion after that. "Isn't it obvious? The cost starts getting too high. Even with skills like 'Essence Resistance' and 'Essence Efficiency' there's only so much a human can handle. It seems to me that with A-Rank Elemental magic it'd be hard to accomplish much off of the bit of Essence I could safely inject into myself. Five Ampules would be pushing the limit of what I can handle, and even with B-Rank magic that only goes so far. It is far better to learn to use the magic cleverly than to keep aiming for greater heights. Though I can at least reign it in and only expend the Essence needed for what I'm trying to do. Which is to say, I can practically use lower ranks of magic even though the skills I have are at the higher ranks."

I nod. "Right, I suppose it's hard to rely on the power of monsters while staying human." She has a tired expression after I say that. Almost making her face match her voice. Then she shakes herself off and looks at me with a smile. "Alright, I do have one more question. Are humans, comfortable being around monsters? You don't seem bothered by, all of us." I hold up a hand and spin it around.

"Huuuh?! You called me a witch and didn't even know the meaning of the word?" She sighs. "Most people would probably be cautious around monsters, but you call the people who associate with them 'Witches'. Though that tends to be a little loosely used. A witch could be somebody who uses a skill to tame monsters for military use. Or a witch could be a fearless child who gives table scraps to some small non-hostile monsters near their home." She shakes her head. "Well, you were right to call me a witch. I've just been, living out here, occasionally trying to hold a conversation with the odd passing monster for entertainment."

"I see." That doesn't mean Lara would definitely dislike the fact that I'm a monster. Maybe? "I guess that's all I want to know right now. Thank you, for talking with me about this stuff." She nods, offers a parting wave, stands up, and walks over to collect her monstrous bindle. Then she walks off in the direction of her mud house.

I stay sitting a while, to think things through. Though I do end up tapping my claws against the tabletop and fidgeting. Eventually, I sigh and stand up. Then I look around, seeing if I can help with anything. The Carpenters seem to be staking out an area on the ground. So I quickly go to help with the meat processing.

I arrive just before Ginro and the Chef carry another batch of meat to the smokehouse. The Chef cuts pauses to cut more pieces for me to carry, turning the index claw of her right hand into a large, cleaver like blade to hack through the Ogre's large muscles. Once she's done she wraps the pieces up with a pair of leaves and hands them over to me before grabbing her own bundle.

After walking the distance, Ginro and I wait by the door for her to organize things. Once she's done I take a glance into the smokehouse. It looks like there's still a lot of room. Everything in there is a bit spaced out. "Huh. How much more can we fit in there?"

"I'd say another trip or two will cover it." I scratch my head in response to her statement, then shrug. We walk back to the site of the slaughter. I move to help cut it apart more, but she holds up a hand. "Here, let me show you how I've been cutting it." She cuts off a large section of muscle, then starts cutting it lengthwise, forming reasonably uniform strips. Certainly better looking than the random chunks I cut off and cooked before.

Once she's shown me how she cuts the long wide jerky like strips, she leaves that piece to me and cuts other, more roast like pieces herself. I shave through the full piece she left to me, then wait for her to organize who is carrying what. Once we put that batch into the smokehouse she pauses and looks around. Then she nods. "Looks like this is about right. Any more and some of the meat will end up touching. Gotta expose as many surfaces to the smoke as we can. At least, that's what the old lady said. I think my cooking skill agrees?"

She walks out and over to the pile of roots. "Could you bring some of the fire over for me?" I stare a moment, feeling a bit curious about how, independent, she has become so suddenly. Then, unable to figure out why that caught my attention, I shrug and return to the campfire. I select a branch with one end sticking out of the fire and grab it. When I return she has already piled up roots in the fire pit in the center of the smokehouse. "Thanks. Er, could you just put it under the pile?"

"Sure." I step through the small doorway and put the branch into a gap at the bottom. After that she piles even more of the roots and some pieces of the base of the trunk on. She waves her hand at me and steps out, so I follow. Once we're out she places a section of the boar's hide over the opening. I hadn't noticed before, but there are little stone hooks around the door. "Is it really alright to use that without tanning it first?"

She shrugs and starts poking little holes in the hide to put the hooks through. "She said it should be." Once she's done fastening the hide she returns to the Croc Ogre's corpse, though she seems to be standing there thoughtfully rather than taking a specific action.

I look to the construction site. The Carpenters are now laying boards down in the area they marked off with stakes. That seems simpler than marking out the measurements, so I approach to see if I can help. When I draw near the male woodworker pipes up. "Hey Boss, perfect timing! We're about ready to start laying logs for the walls." Huh? . . Ah, right. It takes all three of them to move a log, while I can move one by myself pretty easily.

"Should I start carrying them over now?" He nods, so I move to the log pile. I think I hear him conversing with the other two briefly while I'm walking away. When I bring the first log back to the site, the white haired female is waiting for me. She pulls some of the marker stakes out and shows me where to place it. Then before I go to get the next log I notice her carving at the log. It looks like she's making notches in it to fit the logs together as they're stacked.

That process carries on until the other two are finished laying out the floor. Then the two of them help her with the logs as I lay them out. Which puts their pace faster than my own. So I start carrying two logs at a time, one under each arm. The balance was a little difficult the first couple times I tried it. But as I got used to it, it became simpler. The Carpenters are still working a bit faster than I am carrying the logs over though, so I start jogging both ways.

It almost starts to feel like a game. I move faster and faster each time. Eventually it starts to feel like I'm taking fewer steps between the construction and the initial log pile on each trip. I keep speeding up until I start to build up a pile next to the workspace during the time it takes them to carve the logs to fit their plans. Though needing to lift the logs into place from time to time slows my pace a fair bit.

Just when my breathing starts to get heavy I run out of logs in the initial pile. I stop at the former location of the log pile, and my tail lashes in vexation. Why'd the game have to end when it was just getting good? A faint yowl rises in my throat, then I shake my head and slap my cheeks lightly. I make it a point to slowly walk back to the nearly half done building. Taking a good look at what we have so far while I go.

It's much more complicated than I expected, and for that matter, just a single building? Did I underestimate what we'd need, or did they decide to build one big house instead of two? From what I can tell, it will have a large entryway. Then to one side of the entrance would be a large room, and off to the other side, several other, smaller rooms, though the divisions between rooms are vertically placed boards, instead of logs like the outer walls. At the other end of the entrance there is another room, though the layout doesn't look like a bedroom.

While they're carving, I walk across the floor inside the building. It seems pretty level. I crouch down and rub the palm of one hand against the floor. It seems really smooth. How'd they manage that? Suppose that's good though. Wouldn't want anybody getting splinters. After a bit of looking around at that, they need help lifting another log into place.

While lifting that log I hear a noise from the edge of the clearing. I glance over, laying eyes on Oct and Lara. Who came back from a different direction than they left. Once the log is in place I walk over to talk to her. "So, did you two find a river?" I suppose I'll try to follow Oct's trail later.

She smirks. "Are you talking to the dog, or me and them?" I stare, uncertain how to react. "Kidding, kidding. Yes, we did, and Oct followed the river up and down, trying to find the point where it was closest to the clearing, I think." Oct's right head barks. "There you have it. More importantly, do I hear other people?" She climbs down off of the Orthrus on her own.

"Oh. . . Yeah. Don't worry bout them. They're just friends of mine." I scratch my cheek. Her head tilts and her brow furrows. Then she sighs heavily and beckons me closer. When I draw near, she leans in, then abruptly grabs hold of my left ear with her right hand. "Nya!" My tail poofs up and trembles behind me. "Heeeeeey!"

"Sorry, but I've decided to come out with it. This situation is just gonna get more ridiculous if I don't." Her grip loosens slightly and she rubs my ear carefully between her fingers. Which leaves me feeling a little weak in the knees. "For starters, could you use Identify on me? Since I'm sure you would have figured it out by now if you had done so already."

"H-huh? Wha'da'ya mean?" She stops rubbing my ear and tweaks the tip. "Ooohkay!" I reach up and grab her wrist gently. "Just gimme a sec!" She keeps her hand where it's at, and I heave a couple deep breaths, then mutter the word aloud so she know's I'm doing it. "Identify."

"What am I looking fo- Rrow!" My question is cut off, and my eyes start to water, when she squeezes my ear harder. I decide to think before speaking again. ". . Oh. E-essence Sense? And Identify?" Her grip relaxes. "So that means you already? . . ."

"Knew you were a monster, and had that Monster Creation skill? Yes. At first, I thought it'd be better to play along. But once you made Oct I was starting to get the impression it'd get a little silly if you kept using that while trying to hide it." She smiles slightly, then lets go of my ear to actually pet me. A bit embarrassing, but much better than the pinching. Her other hand comes up and touches my right horn. "Hmm. Still not sure."

"Yeah, umm. Watch out for the point. My horns are pretty sharp. Same with my claws and teeth. Or rather, fangs I suppose." I let go of her arm and smooth down my tail fur. "And, I guess if you already knew that, I might as well tell you everything." Her index finger trails across the base of my ear, which causes me to purr slightly.

"Oh, that's what those were? Right, suppose I should explain. I'm not quite, completely blind. Just almost." Her left hand pulls away and her right stops moving. "There's more? . . . Well, I suppose it can't be too surprising compared to everything so far." Her left hand moves to my right ear, and she strokes both ears along their bases similar to how she touched the left one a moment ago. Naturally, the rumbling in my chest picks up. "I mean despite being some over the top monster, you're basically a cute, if a little dense, guy. Not to mention, most guys don't really go for the petting thing."

My cheeks flush and my ears fold back. "It, does feel kinda nice. But I hope you can take me seriously sometimes too." I carefully shoo her hands away from my ears, then clear my throat. "The other important thing I need to tell you, is that I'm from another world. I used to live in a world, that is quite a bit different from this one. Even just what I've seen here so far proves that. I was just a human there. Though I'm not sure humans here are exactly the same. And, I died there. Then woke up here. Just in the morning yesterday. That was a bit weird."

"Okay, that blew my expectations out of the water. I'm not sure I understand that, fully. But if you're from some world other than Tilzain, that would certainly explain why you don't seem to know, anything." She starts muttering to herself, then ends up shaking her head. "I'll need to think about that, but for now I'll just accept it."

"That, went over a lot better than I thought it would." I twirl a bit of my hair between my fingers. "Hmm. Well. I made five humanoid monsters called Kamamimi. Three of them are building a house. Of course, I was helping. I guess, I should maybe get back to that?" I turn around, then pause and look back. "Oh, and if you're hungry, a monster wandered by earlier and I killed it. Plus, one of the Kamamimi has a Cooking skill. I cooked some pieces too, but they're probably not as good as anything she might have done."

Lara hums thoughtfully, then grabs my tail. I freeze in place and gasp. My face heats up and I shake my head. "No! No no no. That's even more embarrassing than the ears! Please don't touch my ta-aaah~!" My hands fly to cover my mouth after her stroking the last foot or so of my tail's length caused me to moan aloud. I tremble, and turn to look at her. This time, her face is red too, though she's also grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

She keeps ahold of my tail for a few seconds after that, then finally lets go of it. "That was, quite the reaction." She giggles, then holds her right hand out to the side and whistles softly. Oct walks up to her side. "Sorry for catching you off guard like that." She sets her hand up on the orthrus' back. "I suppose I'll see about lunch. So, could you lead me over to talk to the Cook, Oct?" The left head gives an affirmative ruff and they walk off.

I sigh into my hands, then flail my tail around a bit. "That was. Uhh." My ears fold back and I mutter under my breath. "Weirdly pleasant." I shake my head, wrap my tail around my waist, and return to help with the construction. It looks like they've already finished carving the logs while I was talking to Lara, and just need help putting them in place.

While helping the Carpenter's finish the walls, I overhear Lara and the Chef conversing. I think I missed the start of the conversation, but right now Lara is talking. "This meat is a little tough like this. A human like me needs some kind of eating utensils, like a fork and knife. Or at least a plate. Maybe if you cooked it low and slow to make a roast, or boiled it with a lot of other ingredients to make a stew, it'd be softer and more manageable. Though I suppose you don't have a pot, huh?" She says something quietly enough that I can't hear clearly from here before speaking up again. "Oh! Or mince it and cook it on a greased metal sheet, or in this case, rock slab to make toaras. The flavor is a little strong for that, but it would be easier to eat."

"I could cut it into smaller pieces for you?" The Chef's voice dips enough that I can't hear it for bit. We move to the other side far enough that I can't hear them talking for a bit. We work our way back around for the last section. When the last log for the wall is put into place, I hear one more sentence. "I think, we can ask Miss Meiron for any cooking equipment we need."

After that, the sound of their conversation is covered up by the noise the Carpenters make as they put holes in the boards for the ceiling. I help them put the boards into place. It looks like the holes were for putting stakes through and into the matching holes in the top layer of the wall's logs, pinning them in place.

Now that the building is, basically completed, I step back to take a look at it. The walls are put together with alternating notched logs placed on top of each other. Its basic design is like giant lincoln logs, though the walls are much sturdier than that idea implies. We pretty much needed my strength to force the pieces together, so they shouldn't come apart easily. The space for the door is reinforced with vertically placed logs that had holes cut into it with the logs to the sides having pegs on the end, and were thus similarly slotted together. We don't have a door yet, but it seems like Meiron told them about the idea of a door at least, given they were discussing it.

I am however a little concerned about the inclined roof leaking. The reason it is inclined is because the wall on the right side from my perspective has an extra log, as do the front and back sides. Though the ones at the front and back are wedge shaped to allow the slant. I approach Lara and the Chef. It seems like they're done talking for now, so I don't hesitate to speak up. "Mmmm Laraaaa. Do you know how people protect wood from water here? Or at least keep roofs from leaking?"

She turns towards me and furrows her eyebrows. "Why'd you say my name like that?" I'm not quite sure on that myself, but she doesn't give me the chance to respond. "I'd prefer if you didn't do that, but I suppose it's fair if I'm going to keep touching your ears and tail. And, to answer your question. Far as I'm aware it's just done by mixing the fluids from a Slime with limestone powder, then painting it on. Although, it seems like you can make pretty weird monsters with your skill, so maybe you could make a Slime that just does that?"

"Ah. I'll try that then." I tap my forehead with a knuckle, wondering why I hadn't thought of that myself. Lara giggles at me as I turn to walk back to the house. Once I'm standing in front of the house I set to thinking of the Slime's specs. No need for it to be strong, so F-Rank. Don't care what it looks like. Needs to be able to climb vertical surfaces, be smart enough to listen, and coat exposed wood with something to seal water out. Maybe absorb water from wood before coating it? Does that help? Uhh. Go for it.

I feel the breath of essence leave me, but then it sort of comes apart instead of forming a monster. "Huh?" Did I do something wrong? Lets try again. F-Rank, climbing, smart, and anti-water coating slime. The same thing happens, with the essence starting up, then dispersing. "Still didn't work." Uumuu? E-Rank, climbing, and anti-water coating slime? A thicker feeling breath comes out and sinks down. Then I sense it coming together, finally a basketball sized amber colored slime with a tennis ball sized core jumps up out of my shadow.

"Can I not give F-Rank monsters multiple skills? Yeah, I guess higher rank monsters have more skills when I make them? . . . So, one per rank starting at F?" The slime seems to not acknowledge my existence at all, and it rolls towards the building and starts up the side, leaving a glossy trail in its wake. "And I forgot to make it smart enough to tell it what to do." It seems to be doing what it was made to do though, so I suppose it's fine.

The guy from the woodworkers approaches me. "Hey Boss, what's that thing?" He stares up at the slime, then touches the glossed part of the wood. "Oh? I think I like the look of this. So you made that thing to make the house better?"

"Pretty much. The slime paints on the shiny stuff, which makes it so the wood won't get soaked by water. Should keep the roof from leaking. Might need to make sure it gets everywhere though, cause it's not a smart slime." I rub the back of my head. "Seems like it'll take a while too." Should I make more of them? Doesn't seem necessary.

I shrug. "Well, it's not a big deal. I got something else I want to do. So, you guys and Oct watch Lara for me. Oh, Oct is the two headed wolf, and Lara is the human, er, the girl like you guys, but without the ears." I hold my hands up just in front of my own ears. "Right. Anyway, I'm borrowing Ginro to train with him a bit." He nods in understanding and walks over to talk to the other two Carpenters.

I walk over to the campfire area. I wave to Ginro to catch his attention, then turn to talk to Lara. "I'm going to train with one of the Kamamimi to try and get used to my new body. Do you need anything before I go?"

"Go? As in you think you're so strong that training close to the house will destroy it?" She laughs once, then pauses with a pensive expression. Finally she shakes her head. "Well, if you'll be gone for a while, you could use your skill to make some beds?"

"Bed. Monster? . . . That just sounds like a Mimic!! Terrible idea!" I shake my head vigorously. "We don't need evil beds full of teeth and disappointment!"

"What? Calm down. What are you talking about?" She lightly chops my forehead, her hand perfectly passing between my horns on the way down. "What even is a Mimic?" Her hand turns so that her palm and fingers are rubbing my forehead and the front part of my hair.

I close my eyes and hum softly. "Ah, ummm. Sorry. A Mimic is a monster that disguises itself as a treasure chest, then attacks anybody who tries to open it. They're fairly common and really nasty monsters in the games I used to play." I lightly push her hand away and open my eyes. "So basically they're evil and a huge letdown."

"I don't think I fully follow here, again. But I get that you don't like Mimics. That said, you don't have to make a bed as a Mimic? You don't even have to make the bed directly. You could just make, like a sheep monster and have the Kamamimi shear it." Her hands grasp at the air. "Not sure how you turn wool into a mattress."

"Sheep you say? . . ." Sheep, or should it be a ram specifically? There are legends for both. I guess, one ram one ewe? I let go of her hand. "Alright, just a tic, I'll make something awesome!" I laugh and run towards the remaining open space in the clearing. As I go I think I hear a weary sigh, but I'll ignore that for now.

Let's see, don't want em too big, so I'll have to reign in the rank a little. C then? Yeah, a male and female pair of large sheep, with wool that grows to a set length and regrows quickly, make sure they're docile enough to raise as farm animals. And, another Kamamimi, that has wool working skills.

My skin prickles and silver beads fall into my shadow. My shadow then spreads out, and three figures rise out of it. A golden ram nearly as large as the boar I killed yesterday, with large black horns curling around the sides of his head, a golden ewe with smaller, gray horns, and a female Kamamimi with similar curly golden hair, and claws the same shade, her eyes meanwhile are a striking blood red. She also has a more, robust figure, compared to the other Kamamimi.

After a moment of staring I shake my head and look away. During that time Ginro runs in with a few leaves, which take him a moment to get situated, then once she is adequately covered he marches over to me. "Didn't you say you were going to give them clothes when you make humanoid monsters?"

"Oh. I did think of something like that. Guess I forgot to try? Besides, I don't know it'll work." I shrug, then put my arm over his shoulder. "Now then, time for you and I to go out and train a bit." The new Kamamimi is running her hands over one of the golden sheep's wool. Huh, silver and now gold. "I think I'll name her Kinu." I drag Ginro along as I walk over to talk to her, though I let go of him when I start talking. "Good afternoon Kinu. You're in charge of these two, but try to work together with the others. For the moment, to make beds."

She speaks in a higher pitched and more innocent sounding voice than I expected, given her voluptuous appearance. "What's a bed?" She looks closer at her own claws, then carefully uses one to cut off a bit of the ewe's wool. The lock of wool holds together as she rubs it between her fingers. The spot it was cut from regrows over the course of a few seconds. "I like this stuff. You said these two are mine?" She looks over at me with a pleading expression.

I avoid meeting her gaze by looking at the sheep. "Ahh. That's more or less right. But don't hoard their wool. I was planning for them to be useful." I scratch the back of my head. "Play nice and I'll try to think of other materials you can use too." Even if it's just different colors of wool or something. I sigh, point over to Lara, then to the woodworkers. "As for the bed, talk to her about it? Then to them about building a frame out of wood."

I step over to, and lightly elbow, Ginro. "Alright, now that that's all set in motion, let's go!" I pick a random direction and run out of the clearing. Despite going at what I think would be a reasonable pace for a human, it takes Ginro a minute to catch up. Once he does I take a casual swipe at him with my tail, which he dodges pretty easily. But that was only a distraction. After the swipe I put a little more force behind my legs and start leaping forward instead of simply running.

My speed has probably about doubled, but this time he comes up beside me in about twenty seconds. Before I can pick up the pace again he speaks. "You were talking about training, but what are we going to do?" I smirk, then snicker and swing my tail at his back. He doesn't notice in time to dodge, but this time it was meant more as a light pat rather than an attempted strike.

"You think running through the forest isn't already training? I've gotta get used to this body still, so even this will help. But I'd also like to check out your skills. You haven't worked out your Mercurial Slash or Phantom Step skills yet, right?" I aim for a tree with my next leap, landing mere inches from it, then jumping hard to the side to try and change my momentum last moment. Despite my effort, my horns tear into it, and my right shoulder rams into it, slowing me down, but still giving me an idea of how much force I was exerting when the tree cracks and leans over. "Training you has to be worthwhile too."

I slow down to a jog and roll my shoulder before dusting it off lightly. Not a scratch. Damn. I slow down further before coming to a stop at the edge of a sandy ditch. I look around, briefly wondering about this random sand-pit in the middle of a forest. "Kinda wish I had some combat related skills too. Maybe watching yours can help me figure something out?"

He comes up beside me, breathing a bit quickly. "Why not use your, monster creation, I guess Miss Lara called it, to fight?" I take a moment to think about that, then my attention wanders back to the sandy patch. I stare towards the center, then close my eyes and sniff around. The main scent I notice is earthy, but there is something else as an undertone. A sort of musky scent? I can't quite decide what I think of it. I blink a couple times, then lean forward.

"That's definitely not meant to be a combat skill. I might have an idea for that though. Make monsters that, act as an attack, maybe?" I think I see the sand at the center shift slightly, so I hold up my right hand and make a shooing motion to Ginro. "Get back a bit. No, make that a lot. I'll, try out that idea with whatever this is."

I hear a rustling noise as he backs away. I step forward into the outer edge of the sand to see what happens. A second later something flings sand at me from the center, I jerk my arm up to cover my eyes. I hear more sand shifting, then move my arm to look. The creature before me looks like a large female lion, with insect like mandibles on the side of her muzzle, some patches of chitin, such as around the neck and over the flanks, and antennae atop her head. I identify it right away.

Her antennae twitch around and she starts sniffing in my direction. A moment later a second one emerges with a snarl. The first responds with a chuffing noise, then shakes her head. They split up and start stalking forward. Once they're both about ten feet diagonally from me they both dig their front paws into the sand before launching more of it at me.

I cover my face with an arm again, swing my tail forward hard to ward them off if they try to lunge, and activate my skill to create something I already had in mind, though I scale it down from my initial idea to match the enemies' rank. When I lower my arm again the Antlions are standing back, staring at the new arrival and yowling.

My latest creation could best be described as an angry red and orange fireball. It's about the size of a beach ball, and floating at head height. It is currently spinning around looking at me and the Antlions. I hear sand shifting at the center of the pit. I decide to preempt the enemy reinforcements by using my 'Weapon'.

I carefully aim, then strike the fireball on the back when it's facing the Antlions, like spiking a volleyball. Even as it flies in the direction I hit it, it's already swelling up like a balloon. It explodes into a raging flame about halfway between myself and the insectile creatures. On top of that the blaze is larger than I expected. I cover my face with my already extended left arm to try and protect myself from the backlash.

A moment later I feel like I'm standing in front of an open oven. That sensation lingers for a few seconds. Then after it starts to fade I notice that my feet feel hot, as if I were standing barefoot on a sidewalk during the summer. Only, the feeling is all around my feet? I blink a few times and move my arm away from my face.

My left arm and chest look sunburned, they sting about that much too, and the fur on my legs is steaming. Looking further down, the entire sandpit, or at least the surface layer of it, has been fused into molten glass and the Antlions are nowhere to be seen. I pull my right foot up from the glowing hot sludge and start backpedaling out of the pit. "What the hell? The E-Rank version was this strong?" Once my feet are back on solid, though still scorched, earth. I take a look around.

The trees on this side are scorched, and have slight, guttering flames going on a couple spots. Looks like the blaze was brief enough that it didn't really catch despite the heat. I should still put it out though. "Alright, let's get the water version of that now." A thick breath of essence leaves me, then a sad faced water ball floats up out of my shadow. It looks around briefly before settling on staring at me. "Now, identify so I can try to figure out what went wrong with the fire one."

"Okay, Self-Destruct is what I wanted, guess I should make it delayed next time so it doesn't blow up in my face. But, what's up with Full Conversion? I guess that has to be why it was that extreme, right?" I huff, then shake my head. "Figure that out later, I guess." I raise up my left hand, and flick the Splash Bomb towards the center of the burning trees.

Once again, it explodes a bit shy of the target, though this time I was standing closer anyway, so it's within a couple feet of the tree I was aiming for. I close my eyes the moment it bursts. The water hits me like a wall, managing to cause me to stagger back a bit, then I tense up. It feels cool, but also, kinda hurts? A lot?! "GAahhh!! WHY IS WATER WORSE THAN FIRE?!!"

I turn and leap over the glassed pit. When I land on the other side I roll and thrash around. After a few seconds of that I growl, brace my hands against the ground, and push myself up. I grit my teeth hard enough that I hear a metallic squeal as they grind against each other. I finish standing up, then shake my furry appendages one at a time before stepping away from the puddle I made on this side.

I notice Ginro staring at me with a worried expression in the corner of my vision. My mouth pops open, wider than I thought I could open it. Then I sigh heavily. "Sorry about all that. I apparently can't handle water." I shake my head, then take a look down at myself. All of my skin is lobster red instead of a small area lightly sunburned. It feels like I both lost the top layer of my skin and have a nasty rash all over to boot. My fur is slicked down and kinda ratty looking, instead of its normal fluffy texture.

My mind wanders, wondering about elemental affinities. A moment later my instincts kick in and I start licking the water off of myself. Though the sensation of my tongue going over my raw feeling skin isn't pleasant, it's still better than leaving the water to sit, I suppose. By the time I finish doing that, Ginro has brought me a leaf, which I stare at a moment. Then it occurs to me that the leaf I had been wearing didn't even survive the fire bomb.

"Right. Thank you." I take the large leaf and wrap it around my waist before fastening it. It seems like it's actually a bit bigger than the one I had before, and fits just a bit looser while still covering everything just fine. "This is, good? If it was as tight as the other one, it'd probably be uncomfortable right now. Good judgement Ginro." I manage a tired smile, and pat his shoulder. He gives a more sincere smile while nodding deeply with his eyes closed.

Chaos_Sinner777

I do not apologize for the chapter title. Even if it only works for the training part of the chapter. Did anybody expect Lara to assert herself this soon? Cause I kinda didn't, but it still felt right? Also, is it weird that a fairly normal girl can cause a Mythic Rank monster some measure of discomfort? Probably. But I blame the martial arts, which will be fleshed out more later, so no worries. Lastly, and on a more serious note, I am having a hard time deciding what all Tai should know. Like I already established that he didn't really watch Isekai anime. But should I say he wasn't really into anime at all? And I intend for him to have been a bit of a gamer, but how far should I take that? Eeeeh.