The short staccato sound of a hand rapping against wood woke the girls from their deep slumber.

“Ursula! Sophia!” The headmaster’s voice called from the front door, “The alpha is regenerating slower, I believe it will be perishing soon and I wish to have you both there to experience it.”

They both loudly groaned in weak protest as the calming respite of their embrace was being assaulted by wave after wave of fatigue mixed sore muscles made itself very well known to them.

“We’ll be out in a minute!” Ursula shouted concluding her sentence with a soft nearly inaudible sigh.

“Don’t wanna…” Sophia mumbled; her face still engulfed in the pliant fleshy breasts of her partner, “Warm.”

A small fond smile grew on Ursula’s lips as she gently caressed the blonde head in her bosom. Softly tucking some of the wandering strands behind an ear, she craned her head down and planted a kiss on the crown of Sophia’s head.

“Rise and shine sleepy head.” Ursula murmured.

The smaller teen wrapped her arms around her wife’s body and squeezed tight, “What if I don’t want to.”

A mischievous smirk dawned on Ursula’s face but just as her hands were about to unleash a tickling tempest on Sophia’s sides Arne’s hand knocked on the door again.

“Come along, we don’t have all day.” The old man shouted.

Both of them exhaled deeply and lethargically summoned their clothes from the front of the house, cleaned them and put them on. When they finally made their way through their front door, they were greeted by Arne pacing back and forth rapidly, trying his best to wear the stone pathway even further than it already was.

“What took you both so long?” He spat out, but before they could formulate a reply, he took a quick breath and continued, “I apologise, I have not slept since the attacks began and I am eager to have this debacle concluded.”

“Let’s get going then.” Ursula tersely answered, indignation from his earlier question still present.

“How do you keep on functioning?” Sophia asked.

The eagle animan started the flight spell and then began to speak, “As your mana increases your body becomes more inherently magical. As you both have experienced, when you focus your magical energy on your body it enhances your strength but that is not all. Your mana reinforces your bones, supports shock adsorption and then boosts your muscle strength so to not destroy your body with the drastically increased forces.”

“Oh,” Sophia exclaimed, “So if your body becomes more magical your processes become more efficient therefore you need less sleep.” Her voice dropped to a whisper, “That’s also why we haven’t needed to go to the bathroom anymore…”

“Precisely,” The balding man nodded at the blonde, “It does not, however, change the mental ramifications of staying awake for an excessive duration like I have, especially if the situation has been exacerbated by stressful external factors.”

The pair had the decency to look chagrinned.

“Speaking of,” he continued, nailing them with an intense stare, “there is a startling lack of the smaller Ents around the city, do either of you know anything about that?”

“We went out of our way to take them out last night when you dropped us off – nothing too drastic though. There must be other teams clearing the city as well.” Ursula smoothly replied.

“Really?”

Ursula nodded vigorously, “Yup.”

“The reports I received last night from our associates state that at one point in the night they all started to move in one direction­–” His dead eyes stared deeply upon the shifting ones of the teens, “–Specifically towards the orphanage.”

“Huh, that is a big coincidence. Isn’t that right Soph?” The blacksmith chuckled nervously.

“Yup,” Was the deadpan reply, “All a big coincidence. Definitely, did not nearly die. Not. At. All.”

The headmaster let out a sigh of great lament, focusing his gaze on the rising sun straddling the horizon dying the red misty sky a bright blood orange.

“You two will be the death of me.” He eventually muttered out.

“At least it will be interesting Sir?” Ursula chuckled nervously.

The trio remained in silence for the rest of the short flight coming down to stand at the top of the humongous construction of earth magic in the shape of a wall.

“It’s gotten a lot slower,” Sophia quickly surmised.

The great booms of the manamal’s limbs slamming against the wall had indeed slowed from being as if you were in the middle of a raging hurricane thunderstorm to a gentle rolling summer storm.

“But what makes you so confident that its on its last legs?” Ursula peered over the parapets and glanced at the sturdy wood encrusted living tree.

“Identification of the status of the manamal you are hunting is an essential skill of an adventurer.” The headmaster began, a small twinkle in his eyes as he relished the opportunity to teach, “For your common foe, merely examining their breathing patterns, attack intervals, wounds and stance is sufficient. But alpha manamals are a significant change to standard beasts.”

He gestured to the Ent below them.

“Magic dramatically enhances all their features and abilities across all statistics. But it also takes their greatest asset and heightens it even further. The Ent of course has near god like regeneration with its casting efficiency at a similar level, otherwise it would have been impossible for it to withstand our blows for the last day – not to mention lobbing those gems over the wall.” He explained.   

“Of course, if it were so simple to exhaust and kill the beast we would have done so. However, for all alpha’s once their magic has depleted their cores collapse in on themselves and are said to ignite. Their already super enhanced forms given a dramatic boost until they burn out – a last ditch effort to take its attackers down with it.”

“With that said, look closely and tell me what you see.” The bald eagle said, concluding his speech by focusing his sight on the giant manamal below them.

At first the pair couldn’t see anything aside from the rampaging wooden limbs hammering away at the wall, but amidst the maze of flying roots there were the briefest flashes of yellow as if the sun was glinting of some reflective surface on the tree.

“It’s going super saiyan?” Sophia blurted out, “I mean, I suppose those yellow lights are what you are referring to Sir?”

“Indeed, we have made it just in time. It should only be a few more minutes.” The eagle-like man said gravely.

As they waited, the manamal continued to slow as yellow flecks of light became more common around it. The thin red mist began a steady march back towards its creator until the warm hues of the sun could finally be seen clearly. The Alpha Ent was now shrouded in a blood red cloud, its shadow looming ominously from within the fog as the flecks of yellow briefly illuminated it.

The Ent’s movement completely halted, the mist now turning into a condensed viscous sphere that roiled with restrained power.

For the slightest of seconds, the constant steady pressure it had been exerting on the populous of Aedar lifted.

Then, like a dying star, the sphere collapsed in on itself morphing in a bright yellow that burned viewers retinas with a fierce intensity. With glacial surety it flowed along the multitudes of branches, then down along the trunk and finished by encasing the roots.

Ursula couldn’t help but mutter, “Maybe someone should have hit it while it was powe-”

Wham!

It was like the weight of an anvil had slammed down on their backs and knees, an omnipresent force that pervaded their senses.

“That’s just its aura?!” Sophia gasped out, her legs buckling under the pressure.

The ground opened up before them as countless roots took to the sky and began to thunder down against the walls, the dark grey stone beneath everyone’s feet dimmed almost imperceptibly but it still stood strong against the barrage. The wind was whipped up into a fury from the sheer force of the blows, it raged over the wall nearly bowling over the teens.  

Barely able to stand, Sophia and Ursula looked to the headmaster and then in the next moment Ythere was blissful silence and the winds had calmed.

“As you can see the humanoid species did not become dominant on this world due to pure magical strength, but rather ingenuity. I myself at full power would only manage to barely escape such a being.” He shook his head lightly, “It would destroy the city in moments.”

“Will the wall run out of mana?” Sophia asked, examining the floor closely and trying to will the glow that suffused it to not change.

The bald man shook his head, “This wall has had millennia to store magic for its enchantments. Furthermore, there are multiple contingencies in place if its reserves do run low.”

“So now we just sit here and wait it out?” Ursula asked.

Arne nodded, “It won’t be long.”

The shining brilliance of the tree had already diminished somewhat as the swarm of its limbs hammered against the invisible magical protections lining the stone wall.

“Has anyone ever considered hitting alpha’s while they are powering up?” The blacksmith asked idly, enraptured by the insane sight before her.

“Of course, but there is an unpredictable nature to the transformation. Many have tried to deliver a killing blow only to have their own lives taken when they did not finish the beast.” His eyes glazed over a touch as he stared at a distant memory.

The duo let the conversation die at that point as the man obviously continued to reminisce about his past. Sophia sidled up to her partner, dragged her down to the ground, and dropped herself into lap formed there.

As the seconds slowly ticked by the golden shine, alongside the pressure from its aura, diminished from the surface of the sun to a warm summer’s day. Roots began to fall limp to the ground, branches snapped as they collided with the shield, and wood began to slough off the trunk exposing the giant mana crystal within its core.

“No wonder they have so much mana, I could fit in that crystal ten times over!” Sophia commented in awe.

The yellow eyes of the manamal burned as it mustered its last effort, with no support and little strength it used its last speck of mana to push itself towards the impenetrable shield. Like a great redwood being felled, the gnarled wood groaned and crackled as it gave way seeming to fall for an eternity before it shattered against the protective wall of Aedar, branches with little mana breaching the shield and flying everywhere.

A faint breeze brushed against the Ent, lying against the wall, and its eyes snuffed out like embers in the wind.

“It’s done.” The headmaster announced, ending the silencing spell, and allowing the cheers of the people lining the wall to wash over them, “What did you think of the experience?”

“Intense.” They replied.

They weren’t able to say more as several mages walked over to say their thanks to the headmaster.

Seeing him occupied, the two teens walked over to where most of the thick branches had fallen onto the wall. Now away from the crowd they noticed an inconspicuous sound that seemed so familiar reassert itself.

“Do you hear that?” Sophia asked, straining her ears.

The tall blacksmith nodded and tried to do the same.

After a few seconds they couldn’t make it out, so Sophia quickly modified the sound isolation spell to funnel the noise into her ears.

“Oh.”

“What?”

“It’s moaning…”

“Oh…”

They shifted on the spot for a few seconds, faces tinted a light red.

“Do you think anyone would mind if a few of the logs it dropped went missing?” Ursula eventually asked, keen to shift the conversation.

“Nah, but best ask the headmaster just in case they could revive it or something. I’ve seen that in movies too many times.” Sophia replied, hoisting up a few pieces of her own.

A dry chuckle interrupted their musings.

“You girls best not speak of that in the open like this,” A raspy voice called out to them.

“Chanel!” Sophia shouted, the logs she had collected clattering to the ground, “Why are you here?”

The wrinkled face split into a grin, “I may not be as powerful as the old bastard over there, but I do have a few tricks up my sleeve.” For effect she flicked one of her hands out and her clothes shimmered with light as the detailed embroidery of a tiger gamboled about, smirking at the awed looks on the girls faces

“What kind of material did you use for the enchantment?” Sophia asked eyes shining.

“Hmm, that… is a secret.” Chanel replied with a cackle as she hobbled away.

“What is with old people and being mysterious in this word?” The small blonde pondered.

“Apparently it’s the only way they can have fun.” Ursula answered dryly.

They heard a few cheers ring out and turned to see the headmaster floating down to where the giant, still glowing, magical core lay amidst a small mountain of wood. With the magical reinforcement of the lumber gone, it was easy for his magic to rip the gem out of the corpse and raise it high into the air to gather even more cheers from the onlookers.

He flew up to where his apprentices were, added them to his flight spell, and took off. Minutes later they were back at the orphanage.

“I will be off to secure the gem and sleep. Try not to get yourselves in any more trouble.” The eagle animan nearly pleaded.

A cheeky grin lit up Ursula’s face, “We will certainly try to.”

Arne sighed deeply, “I suppose that will be the best I get. Now before I forget, next week I will be focused on teaching you magical techniques and rules for dueling rather than combatting manamals, due to the competition soon starting. Revise what you can prior, and we will go from there.”

“Alright Sir, have a good sleep and say hello to Axia if you see her for me.” The blacksmith replied.

The old man nodded and flew off.

“We’ve got to get a good flight spell down.” Sophia commented.

The taller teen smirked, “I could think of some other ideas for it as well.”

“You’ve been in a cheeky mood today,” The blonde elf turned and hugged the midsection of her wife, “What’s up?”

Ursula’s hand snaked down and gently fondled the long ears of her lover eliciting a few soft mewls, “I’ve got something I’m really looking forward to this evening.”

Heat flooded Sophia’s body, but she pushed the wandering hand away, “We’ve got to talk to Rosalind first… then we can do that…” She trailed off, her face even redder than before.

“I don’t know,” Ursula knelt and gently nibbled the base of her lover’s neck, “That sounds a lot more interesting.”

“It’s only been two days, keep your pants on.” The blonde chided, though she did nothing to stop the mouth now licking up along her ear.

Taking the tip of the long ear before her into her mouth, Ursula’s hand began to rub small circles into the clothes above Sophia’s abdomen, feeling the slight increase in body temperature in preparation for the main event.

Sophia’s eyes closed and soft moans escaped her mouth with each breath that were slowly getting faster and faster as the circles being rubbed got lower, and lower-

-The hand pulled away.

“Why?” Sophia whined pitifully; her face flushed with arousal.

“Do you remember that day when you kept on teasing me?” The tall elf asked softly directing her hot breath onto her partner’s ear.

“…No?”

“I’m sure you don’t. Well now you get to experience a…” She paused to think of the right word, “Reenactment.”

“I didn’t get you this bad though!” Sophia groaned as she tried to rub her legs back and forth and buck her hips to eke out a bit more pleasure.

“I know… but I’m really looking forward to you one upping this.” Ursula whispered, giving one last lick to the ear and standing up and shifting in place to get her mostly erect dick in a more comfortable position.

The tall girl walked forward with a deliberate sway to her hips, making sure to flash a coy look over her shoulder.

Sophia groaned as she watched the tall curvaceous woman strut into the orphanage, she tried to not let the squishing sounds of her drenched clothes get to her as she followed her partner in.

Rosalind was onto the both of them in a flash, dragging them over to a table she thought to check them for wounds but seeing their flushed faces she quickly decided against it, “Are you two okay?!”

“Yes Mum.” They answered dutifully.

“We could see the light of the Final Gambit, it’s all over now?” The matron continued.

Sophia went to answer but felt a hand begin to palm her ass, so she closed her mouth and turned her head to stifle the moan that was bubbling forth.

“Yes, but we still need to be careful as the smaller Ents are independent so please tell everyone to avoid trees for now… not like there’s any real ones left.” Ursula answered.

The caretaker of the orphanage let out a large sigh of relief, her body sinking down as the tension fled from her body, “Good.”

“So… Asorlind, what’s the story behind that?” The tall elf asked softly.

The woman bolted up straight as the stress reinflated her, “Who told you that name?!” She hissed.

“Alondra.” Sophia answered, the visceral hate for that woman briefly overpowering the arousal flowing through her.

“Oh, Sophia I’m so sorry.” Rosalind commiserated, briefly reaching out for a hug and halting once again upon remembering their current state, “It was my name before all of this, but I refused to be a part of them once I left so I changed it.”

“Do they really hate names not starting with ‘A’ enough to just switch the letters around? Wait, yes,  never mind, they definitely do.” Ursula said, remembering the disgust on Alondra’s face as she said the name Rosalind gave her.

“Sophia, if you want to talk about it, please, visit any time. I would offer right now, however…” The matron’s eyes danced over their near red glowing faces.

“Thank you, Rosalind. But you’re right, we do have to go.” The auburn-haired blacksmith answered for her partner, still mauling the backside of her lover with her hand.

“I expect to see you both soon.” Their mother demanded as they left, closing the door behind her.

The green-eyed enchanter began pulling Ursula along the path.

“What’s the rush Soph?” The blacksmith asked playfully.

Sophia, still powerwalking away, looked over her shoulder directly into the brown eyes of her partner, “We’re going home, now.”