Light was starting to filter through the forest’s canopy by the time we finally dared to stop near a small stream. I was breathing heavily, the exhaustion of battle, victory, my crowning, the subsequent celebration, then another battle, and a night of carrying a catgirl well and truly catching up to me. 

Kate was doing just as badly, only letting out a groan as I let her go. She hit the ground harder than I intended, but I just sighed and took a seat on a fallen tree to catch my breath. 

This world was different from the last, and even my own. That was one thing that was certain, from the lack of magic in the air to the unknown trees surrounding us. They weren’t strange, per say, but just close enough, yet clearly not, oaks to make it unfamiliar. I wondered how much else would be different as I took off my helmet and put it down next to me. I was tempted to put it back in storage, but my Flame had barely recovered at all from my earlier use.

Getting caught out without any magic left would be undesirable, to say the least.

I needed information. Knowing the battlefield was critical to any engagement and in any way that mattered, I was at war here. I glanced at Kate, but she was still laying on the ground. Breathing, though, so she was probably fine. Just working through the whole ‘lose everything you know’ thing.

I knew how that felt, so I’d give her some time. She was lucky she didn’t have two dozen people looking to her for a goal if you asked me. Rather than tell her that, though, I considered what I needed to know.

There was, evidently, a ‘dark lord’ here. Funny, that. I wondered what his tax policies were like, or if he was stuck in a rut trying to just conquer everything first. Or his goal. That was probably important. Well, beyond hunting down and killing beautiful women at least. I couldn’t really see that as a goal by itself. Mine had been significantly more complex than that, after all.

Alright. Dark lord, point one. Then, races and nations. Followed by our surroundings. That should work for determining the next steps of a plan.

I snapped my fingers, ignoring the fact that my metal gloves made an awful screech of metal on metal and Kate shot to her feet. Her knife, still covered in dried blood, was held tightly in her hand, and her eyes met mine with a hatred that was honestly surprising. Also hot. Not very intimidating though. The dried up flecks of white on her cheeks and eyebrow didn’t help there. On the other hand, the goblin blood did.

“Yo, go wash your face and clothes and we’ll talk.” I’d have loved to join her, I was sweating like a pig in my armour, but taking it off and putting it back on would take time I didn’t want to waste if we weren’t as safe as I thought.

Getting killed because you weren’t armed and armoured was just embarrassing. I grinned at the memory rising up unbidden. It did also bring opportunities.

Kate didn’t try to hide as she walked to the stream, instead just tossing her knife down next to it and pulling the tunic over her head before slipping down her pants. A good or shy man would have turned away, but I’d long ago stopped caring about appearing better than I was so I just sat there and enjoyed the show.

She truly was quite beautiful. Quite short, but lithe. I did not know what life she’d led before the attack, but it’d left her with a decently muscled frame. She turned toward me, her eyes meeting my own and a clear flush on her cheeks, but her hands remained at her side. The well sized breasts topped with tiny pink nipples were unhidden. Nor was the golden circle resting between them. A true Heroine, then.

Just of the one God, or Goddess all things considered, though. And more willing than Queen had been, considering the lack of burn scars surrounding it. Interesting. Perhaps they had different rituals for imparting the Mark here?

“Well, go on then,” I said, almost shooing her with a hand gesture, truly not sure what she was waiting for. She seemed to hesitate, but then turned to the water and started doing as she was told. 

I watched as she did so, focusing on her Mark as much as I could. I'd be lying if I said the sight of her running the water over her breasts wasn't distracting, after all. Still I managed, and leant down on the ground, copying the shape of the Mark and the symbols within it on the forest floor. 

It was circular, with 4 lines crossing its surface. Within each was a symbol that was fairly easy to recognise, though their meaning eluded me. A heart on the top left, a skull on the top right, conjoined hands on the bottom left, and what I could only guess was a flag on the bottom right. 

By the time I finished the copy, she was done washing and had started on her clothes. Watching her bent over away from me, I found my eyes drawn to the swell of her arse and the pussy that was so easily visible. 

I shook my head as I felt my body respond. Now was very much not the time. The enemy might well be closer than I thought, not to mention the whole 'she just lost everything' situation. Instead, I focused on the drawing I'd made. 

The difference with Queen's was stark. Hers had all contained letters, the names of the respective god or goddess. Kate's, rather, seemed more… descriptive, maybe? Abstract? I found my eyes drawn to the skull. Death, most likely. The girl had been glowing like a sun after killing the goblin, that wasn't something I'd forget any time soon. 

How did it work, though? What actually happened beyond the light show? Something to figure out later. First things first. 

"Kate!" I said, and the girl looked back at me over her shoulder. Her face was still dirty, somehow, and I sighed. "don't forget your face and then get over here." She looked confused for a moment before shrugging and throwing her clothes onto the shore and dunking herself. 

I chuckled at that. It was practical if nothing else, though I imagined she'd regret it later when she tried to dry her hair while on the road. 

It wasn’t long before she joined me after slipping back on her pants. Her shirt was laid out on another rock, catching the heat of the sun, which made sense but having her breasts bared wasn’t doing much good for my ability to focus. Did this world not know shame? Another thing to figure out, though I wasn’t sure if I should just come out and ask about it.

“So, as you know I am not from this world,” I said as she sat before me. The catgirl nodded, her eyes focussed steadily on mine. “That means I have no knowledge of this one,” I continued. Kate didn’t pick up on the obvious hint, and I sighed again. “Tell me about this ‘dark lord’.”

“H-he,” she hesitated, her confidence seemingly shattering in an instant, “He’s terrible. A mage so strong… with an army. I-I don’t know much. Just… I’ve seen them. His army, I mean. More than I could count. All waiting to, to do what they did to my home. And my friends…” She fell almost silent, mumbling a bit here and there as I considered her words.

The so-called Dark Lord was clearly well established, though if the monsters I’d seen back in town were indicative of the quality of his forces this might be easier than I expected. Numbers counted for much, but I had long ago learned how to deal with that. Kate was still mumbling, so I snapped my fingers again.

“His troops, what are they like?” I asked, and the girl shrugged almost helplessly before explaining that she’d seen many more types in her vision, though she wasn’t able to give many details. That tidbit was interesting by itself, being possessed by a Goddess  might have some severe after effects. Another thing to figure out when we weren’t likely being hunted.

“Alright. Now then, what are you?” I asked. It was the easiest way to lead all this into races, after all. She blinked, clearly surprised, before shrugging.

“I’m a Mikare?” she said, almost asking it. I shrugged.

“Sure. All Mikare have the ears and tail?” She nodded, but then shook her head with an awkward grin.

“Well, there are Mikare like me, and then there’s Mikare who have long ears and a small fluffy tail.” She mimed long ears standing straight up from her head. Ah, that was interesting but clear enough. Catgirls and bunny girls, both called the same. That was sure to never ever be confusing.

“Any other races, beyond the monsters?” I asked, and the girl seemed to think for a bit.

“There’s the Iwiw, they live to the east. They’re sort of like us, but their ears are weak and floppy.” She twitched her ears a few times, probably for emphasis, before continuing. “They also smell really bad and tend to stick together in groups. W-we used to have a trader that’d come by every couple of moons that brought his entire family wherever he went.”

Sounds like there's dog people as well, though they were excluded from the Mikare for some reason. Curiouser and curiouser. Kate seemed ready to say more though, so I didn't interrupt her and instead merely nodded. 

"The light-touched live to the west. Arrogant people that live very long. I've never seen one though so… I only really know the stories. I think the last Heroine was from there?" I raised an eyebrow at that, but she must’ve missed it.

“That’s all I really know, there’s more. I know that much, because there’s six great nations right? And well, we Mikare are just one of them and I think they’re all of a different race so there’s at least six, right?”

“I wouldn’t know,” I said, my tone as dry as sand. She flushed, quickly apologising but I waved that away. Besides, she was already wrong. If the Mikare were two races that shared a nation, then there wasn’t anything that said other nations weren’t doing the same thing.

No, if it was anything like my old world I was thinking at least ten races. Humans, for one, hadn’t come up yet. Then probably orcs, harpies. Maybe the dragon people and merfolk weren’t near extinction here either. Things to keep in mind, depending on what I ended up doing.

“Enough of that,” I said, cutting off her apologies before I leaned down and shoved some leaves and branches away. Then, I sank my finger into the sand.

“The sun rises in the east, and sets in the west?” I asked, just to confirm. She nodded. That, at least, was the same. “Alright. We are here.” I gestured to the dot, before moving my hand left, westward, and making another. “Here, was your home.” Kate tracked my finger diligently with her eyes as she nodded along. “What else is around?”

Kate quickly moved closer, and I swallowed as her breasts bounced with the movement. Damn hormones. Would be great if I could turn those off. She quickly made another couple dots. A city to the north of her home, a couple more villages to the south. Another city, farther east. Then she drew a couple lines. Roads, and I hummed as I thought about those.

It’d make travel easier, but if we were being tracked it could be risky.

Leaning back, I considered our options as I looked over the clearing. Going North would be faster, and from what Kate said both cities were a lot bigger than her town. That most likely meant guards, or even a proper garrison. With some luck, it’d even mean mages that I could use to learn about the magic of this world. My eyes narrowed.

“Kate,” I said softly, something in my voice causing her to fall silent. Her ears stood up in attention as she shivered. “Your knife is three steps behind you, blade turned towards the water. When I say go, you grab it. Be ready.”

My eyes were still locked on the yellow pair I’d seen in the brush. I leaned over towards my sword, confirming it was within easy reach as I considered the likely nature of our attacker. It wasn’t a goblin, of that I was certain. Nothing I’d seen earlier hinted at them possessing an ounce of subtlety. This one did. It also, most likely, wasn’t alone.

“GO!”

I shot to my feet as Kate rolled backwards, her hand already reaching for her weapon as the shrubbery to my left almost exploded as a black shadow shot out. But my sword was already in motion.

The monster crashed against it, its own blades meeting mine with far too much force for its human-like size. I grunted, but didn’t hesitate as I punched at its hooded head. It ducked low, a blade slashing at my armour but the metal on my leg held.

I slashed down, and the creature dodged backwards. I could feel its gaze as it judged the last few blows. A long, almost whip-like tail swished from side to side behind it.

This one was dangerous, and I glanced to my right to see Kate on the backfoot. She was dodging, and doing so seemingly with ease, but she also wasn’t going to win unless she could get a hit in. 

Glancing back at my own opponent, I quickly brought up my sword to block its renewed attack. A single blade met mine, and my eyes widened as a clawed hand shot towards my face.

I leaned backwards, grunting as the claws struck my armour. The metal tore beneath their strength. The creature hissed as it disengaged, but I didn’t let it. Instead of waiting, I stepped forward quickly, slashing at it. It dodged, bending backwards at the waist.

Easier than I expected. I grinned, and kicked hard at its leg with my metal boot. 

Its shriek echoed through the clearing, but I didn’t wait to see what heard it as I stepped closer, crashing my foot into its belly as I slashed at its throat.

Another blade blocked mine, and I quickly stepped backwards.

The other one stood above its companion, and I risked glancing over to see Kate coming towards us. She seemed unharmed, just breathing heavily. Thank Amyra for small blessings.
I stepped to the left as I started circling the two creatures. The one I’d injured was working itself to its feet, but its leg was clearly broken. It really would be smartest if the other one would’ve left it, but it seemed they had some heart.

Kate mirrored my movements, circling from the opposite end. Good. She was the lesser threat, so if the monster intended to break out that’d be the direction they tried. Considering the speed I’d seen before, a ruined leg would more than tilt the odds in our favour. No need for magic, even.

That was good. Wasting it on just these two, even if they seemed to be quite skilled, would have been a loss I could ill afford. Now I could save my strength for an actual battle when it came.

“Surrender,” I said. I’m not sure why. Habit, perhaps. The monsters froze. The healthy one glanced at its companion, and I let them have the moment. If we could prevent this from escalating, it’d mean less risk.

“You’d kill us,” the wounded one said in a surprisingly clear and feminine voice.

“I wouldn’t, upon my honour.” My answer was simple and came easy. Kate was looking at me like I was crazy, but I ignored her.

“Whose honour?” the healthy one asked, and I smiled.

“I have long forgotten my name, as where I am from we use titles. Titles given to us by others, who define what we are based on what they know of us.” I wasn’t even lying. I hadn’t been called by my ‘name’ since… I couldn’t even remember, really. “As for my titles, I have carried many. Friend. Brother. Leader. Saviour. That is the honour under which I swear.”

I stepped to the side, gesturing to the brush where the first attack came from.

“Go back from whence you came. With her in that state, it’ll take you days to reach your forces, by which time we’ll have reached safety.” The creature hesitated, and I took another step to the side to give them more space.

“Let’s do it,” the wounded one whispered. They moved, slowly.

Kate was freaking out, but a glance had her settle down with a grimace. I waited as the monsters came closer. I turned along with them as they passed.

I saw their posture relax, just a step away from me.

I took that step, my blade already rising. They tensed, and the wounded one cried out as her friend turned towards me. Its sword came up to block my strike.

I swung low, and my blade tasted blood.

They crashed down, gasping in pain. The betrayal in their eyes was clear, but I couldn’t let it bother me.

“Honour?” one of them gasped out. I chuckled.

“To be a friend is to do what you must to help them. To be a brother is to protect those who can’t protect themselves. To lead means to make choices you wouldn’t want, to create a future for your people. To be a saviour is to be successful at the other roles.” I stepped closer, gesturing at Kate to join me. It took a moment, she was staring at me with a look that seemed torn between horror and worship.

“Those titles then lead to others.” I planted my boot on its chest as the other drew its last breath. “I do not know what happens when you die, but if you see your master again then tell him this. My titles, the ones that matter to him? Murderer. Monster. Conqueror. This is my world now, so he’d better step up, or step down.”

I nodded at Kate and mimed stabbing. She barely hesitated before sinking her knife into the creature, not even giving it time to really respond beyond a gasp. The golden glow overtook her once more, and I picked up the corpses before throwing them in the river.

It was time to move on, and I knew just where to go.