Chapter 117
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"This one senses there has been a deviation, we are unable to predict how this will affect the Offering."

"How is that possible? I thought you never got anything wrong?"

"An unknown Variable has interfered, an unseen and hidden force. There is yet hope, the Queen is an important piece, it will draw the Offering eventually. We will inform you if we learn more, we otherwise suggest preparing for an additional Variable."


Me and Arya spent just over another month in the Yin-Yang Village, it took Arya longer to get used to her new Status than either of us had originally thought, but I was actually grateful for the delay as up until just the day before, I hadn't learned anything useful about a good Vessel, or about the Ryona Labyrinth.

I'd been working with the fletcher learning about Elven craftsmanship as a distraction when a hunter brought their bow in to be serviced. The hunter had told tales of an open stretch of land that he was hunting only to be ambushed by some kind of massive cat. He'd never run into a beast around there before, so he was lucky that only his bow had been broken.

While the fletcher congratulated him, I was very interested in the cat-like creature he'd run into, so I bid farewell to the fletcher while I asked him about the creature while having him mark down the location on a map I'd traced during my school days. It wasn't exactly on the route to the Forest of Darkness, but it would only be a slight detour to visit, something I really wanted to do.

I then spent the rest of the day learning about the area with Seshat's Library, something that wasn't easy as it was only a small part of a larger area, but I eventually narrowed down the type of creature between a few possible ones that were likely to live in the area. The problem was that they were very diverse, and since the hunter hadn't been able to tell me its color or what its fur looked like I could only make conjectures until I saw it for myself.

Of the possible creatures, I honestly hoped it was a Pantigris, a tiger-like monster that was renowned for its stealth, as well as being an exceptional mount if you could managed to tame one.

The other options were also interesting, but the only other one that really caught my eye was the Khetorah, an unusual feline monster that hunted in packs. They had a matriarchal hierarchy, much like spotted hyenas, and they were specialized in speed and agility, something I thought Steria would be able to use to a great degree. Unfortunately, these monsters were much smaller than what the hunter had described so I didn't think it was one of them.

When I asked Arya bout it she said she was fine making the detour, it wasn't like a few more days would cause her time to run out, there was still well over two years left after all. However before I could to turn to leave she grasped my hand, warmth like gentle sunlight spreading from her. "Do you remember the night of the celebration?"

My head cocked to the side as I looked at her confused, before shaking my head.. "Some of it, but only up until we started drinking heavily."

"Um.." she began. "I know it's probably nothing, but you can't grow one can you?"

My head began to race as I processed what she was implying. I hadn't told her about the Symbiotic Reproduction Skill, so she could only know if I'd shown it to her while I wasn't really aware, such as when we'd been completely wasted. However, it was too soon to jump to conclusions, so I simply kept a straight face. "What do you mean?"

"It's just that, the other day, I was daydreaming, and for some reason, I had a clear image of you standing atop a table naked, showing off.... an appendage you didn't normally have. At first I thought I was just crossing the events of that night and our time in the Well of Balance together, but my mom asked about it recently.

Her memory about it was hazy, but she said she's pretty sure you penetrated her with something. I told her it was probably a sex toy, and showed her one to prove it.

I wasn't going to ask, but it's been bothering me like an itch I can't scratch."

I wanted to go back in time and smack myself back then for being pressured into drinking so much. To think I'd been worried about Arya, when it seemed like I was in a far more precarious situation. I could only rub my neck guiltily as I looked at Arya. "It isn't exactly what you're thinking, but I can indeed grow something down there, I hadn't planned on doing anything with it so I thought it best to ignore it for now, but I might have caused a massive issue."

Arya's hand tightened against mine, a look of concern taking over her face. "What do you mean?"

I told her about the Skill and that from what its description said I thought it would guarantee pregnancy, but that I wasn't sure as I'd never actually experimented with it, not wanting to even give myself the temptation yet. It seemed however that I was going to, or rather had already made a mistake with it, but we couldn't be sure, not unless a string of pregnancies happen at the same time.

Even if we wanted to do something, it was already too late. However, in Arya's ever thoughtful mind, she told me that we should experiment with the Skill, obviously I couldn't put it in, but she was also interested how it worked.

For now we'd keep quiet about it until we fully understood how it worked, to that end, me and Arya told the people of the village that we were going to go out for a few days and not to worry about us, only saying that we wanted to have some quality alone time together like we'd had back in school.

While not technically a lie, it wasn't the complete truth, but neither of us wanted to cause a panic unless there was a good reason to do so. We went to the same isolated cavern that I'd once summoned Steria at, only this time we both went in and I covered the entrance with webbing so that even if someone did come by the wouldn't be able to get in.


The beginning of slowed chapters. Next chap Monday.

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