I'm gently woken up by distant, muffled bell sounds that slowly become more real and close, but the rise in loudness is so slow that I don't even realize that I'm already awake. I just stay in bed, staring at the ceiling as my mind drifts with fantasies of churches.

"You're already awake, so get up, handsome," a mischievous female voice whispers gently, and my eyes start to focus on the dark outline of someone that's oddly short standing on my chest.

I notice long ears, the side bulges of large, juicy breasts, and wide hips with carrot legs, reminding me of the pictures of female Greenskin goblins back in the books at school, but these are the actual soulful goblins, not the soulless, ugly monsters Sis and I killed.

Then I blink, and the shade is gone, making me confused, but now I'm fully awake, so I sit up and start to leave, but then I remember to get dressed first.

I open the door and see that Georgo is right outside, his hand lifted as he was about to knock.

"Oh, hey…" he hums and snorts.

"I heard a female voice, and I think that I saw a female goblin on top of me," I immediately share with a concerned frown.

And he awkwardly scratches the back of his head as he explains, "Yeah, that's… 'Shade.' Nobody knows who she is, but she helps people wake up on time. She might belong to someone in the Housekeeping Services."

"'Belong'?" I immediately repeat with a frown.

He nods, now sounding rather confident of his assumption. "Yeah, like a familiar. There aren't any goblin Magi in the Royal Army, so it must be a familiar, or something."

"Right, got it," I grunt in understanding.

Familiars are a living being bonded to the master's soul, but turning a soulful into a familiar is taboo, so that goblin was likely born as a monster. It'd be very hypocritical of beastmen if we accepted others being made into slaves.

She kinda had a sexy outline, though.

Then he continues, "So, let's eat breakfast, then I'll take you to the Lifeforce training."

And I brighten up with a smile as my stomach cheers happily. "Alright, thanks."

"Y-yeah…" he awkwardly hums back and looks away.

 

We're back again at the Mess Hall, but now it's full of people eating, and the mini waiters and waitresses are running all over the table, entering and leaving little "elevators" to bring food or take back the dirty plates.

Most of them seem to be goblins, but I see humans, beastmen, and even a female dwarf. She has similar curves to Shade, but she has the face of someone who would bite your hand in reply to flirting, though she's still kinda cute.

I guess the demonic agitation is gone, but not the thirst.

And considering how there's a good number of Magi women here, and that they like to dress skimpily, I'm feeling uncomfortably aroused.

Better than uncontrollably aroused!

Georgo takes me to a corner where visibly less well-dressed youngsters are eating, and they give me less curious looks than the other Magi, though some seem like they'd take issue with me sitting beside them.

"Yo, Georgo, who's dat?" a youth very casually asks out loud.

And the pimpled young man stiffens up a bit as he answers, "Fiubun, and he's a Magus Trainee like us."

But the youth just raises an eyebrow in disbelief. "You serious?"

"I passed the test," I grunt, sounding a bit more aggressive than I wanted.

Easy, beast-me. Or maybe it's corrupted-me talking?

"Alright…" the youth hums back with a frown. I'm getting the feeling that he'd complain about my smell if I got too close to him.

I think I'm older than them, but not by much. Still, beastmen mature and grow faster, so these youngsters are all thin little sticks compared to me. At least in school, there were other full beastmen to talk to.

And so Georgo wisely takes me to the end of the table, a good meter away from anyone else. A surprisingly cute-looking mini goblin waitress walks over to us and stops while holding her feather pen against a little notepad.

"The standard," Georgo requests with a sigh.

"Same," I grunt, not feeling like asking for the menu.

The waitress doesn't even do anything, the place she's standing on just sinks into the table and she disappears. I look under the tablecloth and see that there's nothing there, then I hear a snort, so I sit up again and see that Georgo is holding back a chuckle while the waitress is visibly grinning.

"What? I'm just curious," I whisper, a little embarrassed.

"Everyone is," the waitress wryly replies, then she disappears again into the table for a second and comes back carrying my breakfast.

 

As we walk across a long corridor, I notice something curious, so I lower my voice as best as I can and whisper to Georgo, "Why is everyone here so hot?"

He chuckles a bit and answers me honestly, "Well, when you have so much magic available, it's hard to justify not prettying yourself up."

And I hum thoughtfully, "Oh… so maybe Pufaia used magic on herself to be hot like that."

Now Georgo stiffly looks around and lowers his tone as he replies, "Yeah, but don't you ever say that to a female Magus to her face. She's going to turn you into a toad."

"Can they do that?" I question innocently.

And he earnestly cautions me, "You bet they can, especially a Vivimagus like Grand Pufaia. An Enhancer Transfigurator is a very popular specialization."

A Vivimagus/Vivicist is someone who can manipulate Lifeforce, an Enhancer is a Vivicist that can enhance their body, and a Transfigurator is someone that can alter their or someone else's body. I guess it just makes sense to specialize in body magic like that.

Pufaia might even be able to turn herself into a mass of steel-like muscles with super speed, though I imagine Sis is the kind of woman that'd use such magic and not someone so delicate and feminine like Pufaia.

"Why does she wear glasses, then?" I wonder out loud.

"Fashion choice," Georgo immediately replies, sounding as if the answer was obvious, so I don't feel like arguing.

 

We come out of the dormitory and into a pretty but too "unnatural" garden. Everything, even every single leaf, is immaculately curated, but I just plainly prefer my crooked dark trees of the Dark Forest by far.

The actually interesting part is the ghostly illusions of animals moving about, and there's even a ghost band playing a soothing song on a small stage surrounded by benches, which seems to be a popular spot for couples.

Then I look up and notice that we seem to be at the foot of the white mountain, and I have to really stretch my neck to be able to see the peak, which is a dizzying feeling that makes me feel very small. Kind of a cool thing, though.

"Where are we, actually? I took a Tunnel here, so I don't even know what this place is called," I ask out loud as I stare at the complicated golden castle complex far above us.

Georgo stops beside me and mimics my staring as he answers, "It's a dormitory for the reserves. Once our classes begin, we'll be sent up there as that's where the Academy is. The Kingsguard and Grand Magi are allowed to live in the castle, too, so they get to meet with the Princes and Princesses."

And I suddenly feel a bit intimidated, but it's not because of the humongous size of the white mountain or the castle complex with its innumerable towers… it's the last part of Georgo's speech that concerns me.

I don't want to meet with any royalty.

 

The training compound is a very ominous place as it's covered in a huge black bubble with light-blue streaks that move like the reflections of water. Really cool to look at, though.

The entrance is guarded by two shiny men, and they ask us for our IDs, but the one who receives mine does a triple-take. Apparently, even guards know that there has been no beastman Magus before.

But they let us pass by simply touching the barrier with a sparkly blue key, which opens up a hole in the barrier for us to cross.

"How did you get yours to look so cool?" Georgo asks me as the hole closes behind us. The card-Georgo looks very bland as he stares at the infinite without moving, so I understand why he's curious.

"Grand Magus Pufaia altered mine," I happily brag a little bit.

"I'm actually starting to get envious," he mumbles then pouts at his bland card-Georgo.

"Yeah, I get why," I sympathetically reply, and he even frowns for a second.

Anyway, the inside of the barrier is dark, so there are lights everywhere… hold up, floating lights. Well, floating candlelights without a candle. No… floating candlelights that follow you if you get too close.

"Why is it following me?" I worriedly ask Georgo as I cautiously step away from the little floating flame.

He chuckles and helpfully answers like always, "Spirit lights are mischievous like that, but you can order them to stay in place."

"Okay, please don't follow me, Mr. Light," I stiffly request with a frown.

But the little candlelight seems to dim for a bit and drop a few centimeters, instantly making me feel bad.

"Wait, I changed my mind. Do what you feel like," I hastily yield then sigh awkwardly.

And the candlelight doubles in size then seems to float more steadily.

"You're such a softie," Georgo amusedly remarks.

"My fur sure is," I grumble back, embarrassed because I think I really am soft in both meanings. But then I become serious again and honestly ask, "But I'm curious. Why are the candles here like this but not in the dormitory?"

And he seems happy to answer,"Lots of stray magical energies around here, so these Spirit Lights feed on them and keep the air clean. Also, occasionally, a spell-spirit goes rogue, and they're usually turned into another Spirit Light."

"Man, there's just magic everywhere around here," I remark as I look around.

And he excitedly explains, "Yeah, the lakes over here are magical, so when the water evaporates and turns into rain, it covers everything with magic."

"So that's why there's water flowing everywhere," I hum in realization, though there's no water inside this bubble.

"Yeah, they're capturing the rain," he adds with a nod.

And I snort. "You're actually a good guide, thanks."

"Y-you're welcome, man," he stiffly hums as he looks away like a shy girl.

 

The training compound is a group of very tough-looking buildings, but they're almost head-to-toe covered in illusions with varying levels of detail and skill, creating a patchwork that looks so obviously fake it's like walking inside a world made of drawings. My magicsight is going crazy, which is annoying me a bit, but it's also fascinating.

Georgo takes the candle and me to a large, covered arena, which is basically just a circular field of sand large enough to hold hundreds of people. And it's being used by a few dozen soldiers training with melee weapons, but a few of them are clearly being affected by magic considering they've become muscular giants.

Size, muscles, speed, and even the toughness of their skin are the things that I assume they can alter using Lifeforce seeing how they're fighting. But most of them are full beasmen, so I guess they aren't Magi.

Then I notice something odd. "What's up with their hair? Why are they letting their hair grow?" I question confusedly and glance at Georgo.

But this time, he's also confused. "What? It's just hair. Why are you bald?"

I jerk my head toward him and exclaim, "I'm not bald, I have fur!"

"Yeah, and they also have hair," he cheekily points out.

"Hmph…" I grunt and cross my arms as I stare at them. "These city beastmen are all fancy, I see. They even wear clothes."

And Georgo snorts. "Let's just go."

There's one brown wolf beastman who's over by the stands, simply watching over the soldiers with a very stern gaze. He screams of "rugged," and he's also wearing a red sash over his shoulder with a white wolf and sword stamped on it, which I think is the symbol of the royal army, so it's pretty obvious that he's the coach around here.

He suddenly turns to us as he notices our approach, then he narrows his eyes at me and starts coming our way. He's a big guy, definitely taller and much more muscular than I am, and his yellow eyes are so striking it almost makes me pull my claws out in reflex. He's definitely the real deal in terms of glares.

But that's not all. For some reason, wolf men make feel tense and aggressive. It's not like we're a cat and a dog, so I don't get why I feel that way, but maybe the Shadah made us act hostile to each just because they have a sick sense of humor. Wouldn't be too crazy of an idea considering how they were back then.

At least he doesn't have hair, so he doesn't look silly to me.

Then his eyes turn to the candlelight, and it suddenly flashes with a burst of flame then dims and hides behind me.

Is it… being shy?

Georgo snorts softly then clams up once the wolf's eyes fall on him.

Then we stop before each other, the wolf staring intensely at me now, and Georgo stiffly introduces, "Instructor Ulpare, this is Fiubun, a Magus Trainee."

"'Magus'?" he repeats, his voice so low and hoarse I bet he's a heavy smoker.

And the short young man bravely answers without stuttering once, "Yes, that's right. Grand Magus Pufaia told me to bring him here because he needs to learn how to use his Lifeforce in four days."

"A Magus that can't use his Lifeforce?" Ulpare huskily questions as he turns to me and crosses his thick, furry arms.

"I passed the test yesterday," I answer briefly. I'm starting to find it annoying how everyone reacts to me being a Magus.

"Hmph… fine," he grunts and immediately moves on, "But you can't learn that in four days unless you go through Blood Boil."

"That doesn't nice," I blurt out concernedly.

And he chuckles loudly, showing that his long white fangs have actually been sharpened. "Haha! You'll be fine, you scaredy cat. It figuratively boils your blood, but I bet you'll even like it."

"I'll leave you two to it, then," Georgo hesitantly announces and attempts to sneakily retreat.

But Ulpare turns to him and harshly points out, "You're skimping your Lifeforce training, Magus Trainee Georgo."

And his back instantly straightens as he becomes stiff as a board in fear. "I… I need to study for the written test!"

So Ulpare lowers his tone further until it's almost into a clear growl. "Then I'll expect you to join us after the date, and tell your other Trainee friends the same. Remember, I'm also the instructor at the Academy when classes are on."

"Yes, sir," he reflexively replies and almost salutes, then he turns around and walks so stiffly it's almost like he's marching.

Now the brown wolf man turns to me, and his tone could be considered gentle compared to how he spoke to Georgo. "I'll cast Blood Boil on you, and it'll stimulate your Lifeforce, making it overflow, which should be enough to teach you how to sense it."

"You know how to cast spells?" I ask before I can stop myself.

And he casually grunts back, "No, but I have an idol that does."

Then he reaches for a little sack hanging onto his hip and puts his hand in it, but he doesn't stop, and his whole arm is swallowed by the little sack that's about the size of his fist. He searches for something in there for a moment, then suddenly pulls out a little wooden bust of a muscular orc with his arms up and roaring in rage.

"Do you have any sources or magical energies in you?" he asks as I gawk at both the idol and the sack.

"I do," I hum absentmindedly. Then I blink and answer more seriously, "I have two sources, energy from a Strangler's flower, and Grand Magus Pufaia cast a spell called Dryad Masha's Unscarrer and Unscrambler on my black arm." So I pull out both of my sources and offer them, one on each palm.

He extends his hands and takes them, then puts them down on the stands as he continues, "The spell will be fine. Stopping it for a few minutes won't do anything. But 'Strangler' energy? Dunno what that is. Can you store it somewhere?"

"Not that I know of," I hum concernedly.

And he frowns at me. "You're pretty crazy to use an energy you can't store. But what does it do? This spell will make you berzerk, and I don't want you actually strangling me because you lost control of it."

I actually understand that this could be dangerous, so I answer truthfully, "It makes me a bit faster and stronger, and I can push out red veins that mess with people."

And his reaction is to shrug. "Sounds… mild. Alright, gather the energy on your right arm and I'll wrap some anti-magic chains on it."

Then he reaches into his magic bag again and pulls out some weird-looking chains. It's like they're blurry, making it hard to look at them, but I can actually make out every detail of them. They're just "hard" to look at, for some reason.

Maybe it's messing with my magicsight?

"Ready for this, boy?" he asks with a sadistic grin.

But I just sigh. "Are we ever ready? Just hit me."

And he snorts. "Good answer."

Then he wraps the chains around my right arm. I see that it has a padlock without a keyhole, just a button with a thumbprint on it, and a rotating dial on the side that goes from 1 to 10. I gather my Strangler energy like I was told to, and once he closes the lock, it suddenly feels extremely hard to move the energy around.

"That's it? I thought you were going to put it on my neck, or something," I question curiously.

"Only prisoners. This should be fine for you, boy," he soberly answers as he fiddles with the chains to make sure they don't fall off.

"Alright," I hum.

Once he's done, he glances over behind me and warns, "'Candle,' back away; I'm starting it now." And the little floating flame flies up high to join their friends. Then Ulpare raises the idol until it's at eye level with me and orders, "Grimgor's Idol, make this tiger boy's blood boil!"

"WAAGH!" the orc idol roars as it suddenly begins to move.

Then everything becomes red.

"WAAAAAAAGH!" I roar in absolute bliss, raising my arms into the sky just like the idol was.

I'm at the top of the world. I just feel amazing. I'm the fastest hunter in the forest, the strongest tiger of my whole race, and the biggest cock in the universe!

No… I'm the fucking Archmagus! I'm the fucking ruler of everything! And I can create life with my cum!

I turn to my atrophied black arm and fill it with energy, making the muscles grow and bulge like never before. Then the semi-transparent vines that cover it start popping out like veins, and they writhe in happiness as they're fed the most nutritious meal they've ever had.

"Holy shit, boy!" Ulpare suddenly growls and reaches for the chain, then he grabs the padlock and turns the dial from 5 to 10.

I immediately feel a painful pressure on my black arm as it's squeezed dry of all blood, making it atrophy again while the vines wither and let out soft squeaks of sadness. It also dampens my mood greatly, bringing me back from heaven and slamming my face against the wet mud.

I don't really dislike mud, though, it's just unpleasant to fall into it.

"Any more and your arm would explode!" he chastises me, and his voice is so harsh it almost feels like a slap to the face.

"Huh…" I quietly hum, a bit dazed, feeling like I'm mostly sane again, and I notice that my blood is still boiling a bit, just not uncontrollably anymore. Then I turn to my right, chained arm, and frown. "Wasn't this supposed to be an 'antimagic' chain?"

And he frustratedly answers, "Yes! But you're a goddamn monster and overpowered the enchantment. I guess you really are fit to be a Magus, after all."

I… don't know how to take this, so I just quietly hum, "Cool… but now what?"

He breathes in deeply and exhales loudly, calming himself, then he assumes a stern teaching tone again. "Are you still feeling different? Any of the euphoria from before I turned the dial?"

I nod. "Yeah, a bit."

But that seems to frustrate him a bit. "Yehws. The chain is at max power and you're still feeling the boil…" he whispers as he facepalms, but then he makes a pensive face. "But I guess that's helpful… Focus on the boiling. You manipulated your Lifeforce when you made your arm bulge, so you not only can sense it already, but you can manipulate it."

"Huh…" I hum and frown.

It felt so natural, though. Maybe too natural. So natural that I don't even realize when I do it.

So I raise my black arm again and stare at it in wonder.

"I think your arm didn't explode because of the transformation," Ulpare remarks, also staring at it.

"What is this transformation, actually?" I ask reflexively.

But he just snorts. "You tell me. I only know that something obviously magical happened to it, like Morphism."

I think I have the right to brag about this, but I use a serious tone instead of smug. "I used this arm to stop a demonic arm turned into a blade covered in black flames. The area that's black was split open right in the middle."

"You're too young to be fighting demons," he remarks skeptically.

"I came from Hatarvros, and I survived the demonic attack," I grunt while I continue to stare at my arm, starting to feel offended.

And he grunts, making me realize we're both two beasts just grunting to each other, "Alright. Demons are walking monsters, so your arm might have become a bit like them even though it looks so thin."

"That makes sense. They shrugged off bullets and wounds like nothing," I agree absentmindedly.

"Focus on the boil, boy," he puts me back on the path.

I try to remember what I just did with my arm, but it all happened so fast that there's not much to remember.

Maybe I should focus on the bliss. It reminds me a bit of when we took a bite out of the mimic. Hunting, fighting, winning, and killing. The smell of blood, sweat, and soil. It all activates the beast in me and makes me feel at the top of the world, even if I feel disgusted afterward.

But there's one other thing that more consistently makes me feel such bliss: fucking.

Sis' and Margit's pussies are the best things ever. Slamming my cock into their wet insides and then cumming inside them was the highlight of my life. I just wish I was more aggressive with seducing Mom before I left, but I definitely wasn't in my best mind to flirt with her. Still, sex is a more powerful emotion to me than violence.

But why not both?

Sex and killing. Violent sex and violent killing… But what about… rape…?

Pufaia…

I wanna rape her.

The corruption is still there within me, it's just dormant and easily contained, but I can't deny that I want to rape someone… and thinking about this stirs something within me.

Then I feel the boil attempt to break free, but the "pressure" from the antimagic chain keeps it contained.

Oh, Wretch's cunt… don't tell me that I'll need to imagine rape every time I want to manipulate Lifeforce, now?

But now something starts to "itch" within me. It's different from the itching of the Unscarrer spell, and it may be more similar to a muscle that wants to be stretched, but it's still making me uncomfortable.

What is even happening to me?

Ulpare notices my frown of frustration and gives some encouragement, "Lifeforce is in your blood, boy. Your arm is just a place where you gathered it, so the boil should be strongest around your heart."

Yes, the boil, the desire to rape, the bliss of sex, the excitement of killing, it all shows itself near my heart. Yet I still can't grab this goddamn Lifeforce.

This is actually hard, but maybe the antimagic chain is getting in the way.

"Can you lower the chain's pressure?" I tentatively ask.

"It's called suppression, but yes, I can turn it down one level," he assuredly answers, then he reaches over then turns the dial.

And the change is instant.

The bliss comes back, and I let out a toothy grin, which I normally suppress because it scares people. Now Ulpare stares at me with stern, narrowed eyes, but he lets me do as I please because I'm not being manic again, so I turn to my arm and carefully push my "boiling blood" into it.

I don't even feel afraid of my dark desires anymore. It seems that I need their help to harness this hidden power within me, and I'll do anything for power. My family is still back in Hatarvros, and I need power to bring them to safety. I'll even save the city myself if I have to!

So I'll embrace this demonic corruption and harness it in whatever way I need!

I want to rape Pufaia!

At first, it feels like I'm just flexing my arm, which is painful since it's still crippled, but then I get a weird sensation of something hot entering my muscles, slowly filling them up as if it was some sort of sludge.

Yes! Thank you, Pufaia, for being so rape-worthy!

And Ulpare suddenly remarks, sounding very annoyed, "You Magi are both lightning and thunder. You know it takes a month for a soldier to learn this?"

But I think I've earned even more bragging rights. "I've been obsessed with magic my whole life. I need to be good at this."

"You definitely aren't a normal beastman," he wryly continues.

"I like being weird," I boldly confess.

But he lowers his tone and immediately replies, "Don't call yourself weird."

And I snort, but he's serious, so I clam it up. "Weird" is a bad word for the pious, and it seems like he might be one of them.

Still, I like him, even though he's a wolf.

Then we fall silent as I continue to focus on the boiling, slowly returning my arm to its past glory, and I even regain movement in my hand. But a couple of minutes later, the spell starts to run out, and so my arm begins to return to how it was.

Suddenly, a wave of tiredness washes over me, so I refill my stamina with a good dose of Strangler energy, but I can't replenish the energy anymore, so I'm worried about running out of it since it's so useful.

I should ask Georgo about magic shops… and also somewhere to buy clothes, but is he even from around here?

Then Ulpare takes off the chains and hands me my sources again as he gives me restrained praise, "Alright, boy. You've felt your Lifeforce, manipulated it, and even used it to boost your muscles like a real Enhancer, so now all you need to do is to replicate that without using Blood Boil. I'll trust you to train on your own for the rest of the day because I have to watch over the other soldiers, but I recommend doing it somewhere quiet to help you concentrate."

And I earnestly reply, "Thank you, Instructor Ulpare. You helped a lot."

He snorts and wryly grunts, "Thank yourself, you crazy fucker. Now go, comrade."

Then I walk away, but I say goodbye to the little candlelight before I leave.

 

I return to my room with a happy stride, and when I enter, I see that Georgo is spreading a set of books all over our table, which I assume is to start studying for the written test.

"You're back, already?" he confusedly questions.

"He told me to practice somewhere quiet," I briefly answer.

And he glances at the books. "Well, I'm going to study, so here's better than anywhere, really."

Then my tail attempts to escape my robes as an idea fills me with hope.

"Do you mind if I study with you?" I politely ask.

"Sure…" he hums with a shrug.

So I grin happily. "Thanks, comrade."

And he just nods shyly.

 

But I soon learn that I'm not that smart.

"I'm sorry… I don't get it," I apologize with a sigh.

And he amicably reassures me, "It's alright. I heard that teaching someone also helps you learn."

I notice that there's a clock above the doorway, and it says it's almost lunchtime.

So I ask the young guide again, "After we eat, I'm going out to buy some clothes. Do you know of a cheap place? Also, I'm interested in magic flower shops."

"Uh… I could go with you…" he tentatively suggests.

How romantic.

"I'd appreciate it," I answer and flash a grin.

 

I eat a lot. Like a lot. I know that everyone back in Hatarvros is going through hard times, so I won't waste even a little bit of food, and then I'll grow strong enough to save everyone.

After that, we go out, Georgo wants us to take a bus.

"What's wrong with walking?" I honestly question.

"That's a bit far," he points out.

"I don't mind…" I worriedly state.

But he insists, "The bus is cheap."

And I nervously reply, "I-is it? We just walk everywhere in Hatarvros."

 

The buses are made of wood here, so I guess that not even in the capital they'd waste precious metals to make vehicles. And it's actually cheap, just five leafies for a passage.

Then the bus starts moving, and I immediately grab a bar as I lose my balance. "Wow, this is weird…" I grunt and chuckle softly.

Georgo makes a complicated expression. He wants to laugh but I think he's too polite to, so he just awkwardly stares at me while his face strains.

"Just… step forward slowly," he hesitantly instructs.

And I stiffly follow, but my heavy steps are a bit too loud, so I also make sure to step lightly. I still attract attention from the other passengers, anyway, forcing Georgo to hold his mouth to muffle his giggling.

Thankfully, we get a seat, and now at least I don't have to hold my balance, but the shaking is still making me feel weird. I just hope I don't get dizzy and puke.

 

As we cross the city, I get to see one of Rediromoh's supposedly famous lakes, and it actually looks cool. It has a striking light blue color, and it seems rather clear even though there's so much traffic around them, including people swimming in it, but then I see the outline of what seems to be ruins deep under the water, and it puzzles me.

"Are those ruins under the lake?" I question the reliable guide.

"Yeah. They say it's old Angless ruins, so you aren't allowed to explore them," he helpfully answers.

Of course, the priests would prohibit it. They hate the Pre-Shattering age, for some reason.

Then Georgo happily continues, "But it's odd that there are ruins inside the lakes, so we assume this mountain was formed after the Shattering, and it destroyed an Angless city when it rose, but by the time it was found by the Shadah there were no more humans living here anymore, so who knows what really happened."

"Are you a city guide, or something?" I jokingly ask.

"What? I just like… history, you know?" he replies with a frown.

"Not complaining. I just find it funny." I wryly remark.

"But why is it funny?" he questions as he stares intensely, sounding a bit offended.

And I awkwardly scratch my furry ear. "Uh… I don't know. Sorry…"

Then he snorts smugly and drops it.

I don't want to let an awkward silence settle in, so I move on, "Are you from around here? You seem to know a lot."

And he answers rather wistfully, "No, I'm from the north, the High Mountains of Kikudo, but I have an uncle here, so he showed me the city and let me stay before I took the test."

"Isn't that near Khandhut's Plane?" I ask as I glance at him.

"Yeah, it's the main port for Warpships with a transport route that goes there," he answers with a small smile.

But now it's my time to be wistful. "Balmy. The only time we saw Warpships was when they were going into a Tear above the town."

And he starts to become excited. "We see that all the time, but it's either military or transport. I like the military ones more because they turn the barriers on before opening the Tunnel."

I think the test was the first time I ever saw a barrier, so I ask him about them to fill in the time as the bus travels.

 

We go to a shop specialized in beastman clothing, but we have to ask the deer attendant for help because we're just two boys without a lick of fashion sense.

"I'm fine with you undressing in front of me to make this faster," she calmly states as she looks me up and down.

If my corruption was still active, I'd immediately get a boner at that, but now I just feel happy I get a pretty woman to ogle at my balls and sheath as I change clothes. Maybe I could be daring and let cock out right in front of her, but it'd mess up the clothes since it drips a lot of juice whenever it gets hard, and I don't feel like flirting right now.

So I focus on the clothes.

Robes are the most practical, and they also fit the Magus theme, so I get two, but I also buy some casual shirts and baggy pants that don't mess with my fur, then I choose a pair of the cheapest shoes and boots they have. A thousand leafies of my five gone.

After that, we go to a magic flower shop, and I ask for a Strangler.

"What do you need a Strangler for?" the shopkeeper concernedly questions. He's a prim and proper human man, and something tells me he's the snooty kind.

I start to feel defensive because I don't want anyone prying into my business, but it's bad to get angry at someone selling you stuff. Still, I don't like it, and I decide to push back with the only tool I have: my ID.

"I'm a Magus Trainee, and what I do with magic is private," I confidently answer and show the card's back, which has the moving symbol of the Royal Magi.

I can almost hear him groan internally as he holds back an eye roll, but he still backs off and politely apologizes, "Forgive me, I didn't mean to pry. I'll go get it right away."

"What do you need it for? I've never heard of this flower," Georgo quietly questions as the shopkeep leaves.

"They have an energy that I know how to use," I answer briefly.

And he hums thoughtfully.

One flower, two hundred leafies. Spicy, but I need it. The Strangler's energy makes me more active, and I can use it to refill my stamina, so it's too useful to let it run out.

 

Once we return to the dormitory, it's almost time for dinner, so I decide to take a bath, and Georgo follows because why not.

"The unisex?" he worriedly questions as I begin to cross its entrance.

"Why not? Might get lucky and see a woman naked," I answer with a shrug.

But he seems uncertain, and I don't know why. Eventually, he gives in and follows me, making me grin, but I don't show it to him to not hurt his pride.

And we really get lucky as there are some hot Magi girls, the slutty kind that unashamedly stares at my hard cock as I slowly wash it up and down. Then I spot a pretty little thing hiding her bits with her hands as her slutty friends unashamedly shave their pussies in front of the glass, and once our eyes meet, her legs start to quiver in fear.

I stroke my cock a few times as I enjoy torturing her a bit, then I simply move on, and I find Georgo also hiding his bits just like the shy girl.

He just needs to clear up a bit and I bet he'd become a lady killer with how slender he is. Not that I'm a master of seduction to know for sure, but I'm not ashamed to look at my comrades' cocks and say they look cute.

They might not like it or understand it's actually a compliment, but, as the Scriptures of Love say, "you should occasionally remind your loved ones you support them in case they forget," and I love my comrades.

 

Then we have dinner, followed by some more studying before I start to get sleepy, so I go to bed before Georgo, the little smarty-pants, who stays to study some more.

But I suddenly wake up in the middle of the night, and I immediately realize that I'm not in my bed anymore.

I sit up in a fright, all my muscles hurting from sleeping on something stiff, and I try to look around, but there's nothing around me, only darkness… and a single floating candle to my left.

I suddenly hear the sound of metal rustling, so I look down and see that each of my limbs is wrapped in chains that disappear under the wooden table I'm on. Then I notice that my left arm is back to being normal-colored and muscular again, so this means that I'm somewhere similar to the Dream Realm, and I let out a sigh of relief.

"Why are you sighing? Your torment has only started," a male, nasal voice reaches my ears, and I jerk my head towards the source, but I only see darkness.

It sounded awfully sadistic, so I try to summon a water spear on instinct, but my sources aren't in me anymore, and neither can I feel my Strangler energy.

"So jumpy!" the voice teasingly exclaims then snickers wickedly.

My mind starts to race with the possibilities of what might be going on, but I like none of the options that come to me.

And the voice teases me again, "Oh! You almost found out who I am! But you need to make your decision. The only hint I can give is that I'm one of the options you just thought of."

He can read my mind?!

Then I remember that Gra-ah also read my memories, but it affected me when he did it, and this person is also doing it constantly, though, a Magus could have trapped my mind inside some sort of magical place that gave them more powers, so anything is possible, really.

And the voice gleefully replies, "Correct answer! Anything is possible, but I didn't trap your mind, so you're wrong on a technicality."

"Who are you?!" I shout angrily. Even if this isn't real, I don't like what's going on.

"It's funnier if I don't tell you," the voice dryly replies.

"Why are you tormenting me?" I question this insanity.

"It's funnier if I don't tell you," the voice repeats, holding back a sadistic laugh.

And I start to get incensed. "I'm just a nobody! A beastman child of nobody important! I never hurt anybody, so why are you doing this to me?!"

"Precisely because you're a nobody…" he slowly answers, then I hear a step, and he finally comes into the light of the floating candle. He's… an ugly, wrinkly, small-cocked, naked Ulap human.

His race makes him tall and slender like an elven Fae, but his skin is peach-colored, his face and head are covered in scraggly, gray beard and hair, and he has numerous, ugly, blue, discolored, tribal tattoos all over his body, which have gained a rather sickly greenish hue. But the worst part is his crooked, smug, ugly grin that infuriates me, for some reason.

"What…?" I growl, my voice lowering in rising anger, and I strain against my chains, but they're too short so I can't even get out of the table. "So you're just evil? Like a demon?"

And he snickers like a naughty child, "Hehehehe… now, that's funny, but you likely won't get the joke for a while." Then he suddenly becomes a lot more serious, and even the nasality of his tone reduces. "But to finish my answer to your previous question, the fact that you're the child of nobody important is why your current circumstances are so… interesting."

"My life isn't 'interesting,'" I reply with a snarl.

But he just gleefully continues, "Not from your perspective, no, so I won't bother explaining any more than this. Let's just get down to business, shall we?"

I lean away from him and try to raise my fists defensively, but the chains are too short for that.

And he snorts at my attempt to look threatening. "Enough of that," he casually hums, and the chains suddenly pull me back and spread my limbs apart, restraining all of my movement.

I grit my teeth and try to access my Lifeforce, but I feel no boiling in my blood.

And the Ulap just flashes a smug grin then leans forward and whispers, his tone dripping with delight, "You're actually a bore to talk to, so I'll just do it and get this over with. You'll even thank me later; they all do."

Then his palm approaches my face, and I suddenly lose consciousness.

 

The Touched drifter enters a cave to get some respite from the Hateful Sun endlessly bearing down upon his back, but the location seems free of monsters and also comfortable enough that he decides to meditate. His heart is becoming restless, so it's time to perform some spiritual grooming to keep his inner powers under control.

He pulls out a long, silver needle from under his dusty robes, then he conjures a black flame with his fingers and infuses it into the needle, covering it with the magical fire. Now it's ready to open a path into his mind, so he raises the upper lid of his right eye, then slowly inserts the needle in the space above the eye with practiced ease.

After long, uncomfortable seconds, the needle hits bone, but the black flame ensures it's dissolved on touch, so the tip is soon free to penetrate deeper, and then it finally touches the ectoplasm, the liquid where a soul resides. The nail connects the soul to the world of the living while the black flame drains power, so the Touched drifter only needs to guide them toward the right spot, and the corruption starts to drain by itself.

But all that power would be wasted if it was simply discarded upon the sand, so the drifter holds a finger in front of the tip of the needle coming out of his eye, and the corruption starts to gather right above it. A small sphere of pure evil; a liquid darkness that taints the very reality just by existing, but also a type of physical, raw power.

So the drifter pulls his finger down and pushes the sphere towards his belly. He hasn't eaten in a month, and it might take him another before he comes across any food, so the power will allow him to create nourishment from nothing while also not altering his perfectly human body.

Then the Silent Watcher turns its all-encompassing gaze towards us, and the vision stops.

"Enough, Wyrd," They command, and I'm freed from this nightmare.

 

I wake up to the morning bells, breathing heavily, but overall feeling well-rested and awake.

What keeps me in bed is the realization of what just happened.

That was Wyrd, the Evil God of Prophecies. He's also one of the Trickster Gods, and the priests have driven a big stake into our minds that says that dealing with them is heresy and punishable with death.

But what he showed me… is something that I don't want to ignore…