What was a girl supposed to bring to her first adventure?

Under normal circumstances, preparations would include armor, weapons, potions, class accessories, and a variety of basic survival gear: a waterskin, rations, and a sleeping bag. But Ari wasn’t a normal adventurer … however much she would have preferred to be.

[Monster Layer]. Even two full days after her eighteenth birthday, and her bestowal, Ari’s head hurt whenever she thought about the class she’d received. Why her? Ari had never been a promiscuous girl, a person obsessed with sex. And while classes weren’t always given based on how fitting they were to an individual, there was usually some kind of suitability between class and user. 

The gods must have a strange appraisal of her.

Her eighteenth birthday—her bestowal party—had been so mortifying. On discovering her class at midnight, she hadn’t told anyone, of course. But they knew something was up. Keeping one’s class a secret wasn’t rare, so Ari hadn’t given herself away by being tight-lipped, but her shock had surely been revealing. Though, it wasn’t like they would come to the correct conclusion. Ari had heard of all kinds of strange classes, but never something like this.

She clung to the hope that ‘rare’ meant ‘good’. However unpalatable her class appeared, maybe it was strong.

Her skills did seem useful.

[Monster Laying System]: For both user and engaged targets, health is replaced with {Stimulation}, and mana is replaced with {Pleasure}. {Stimulation} indicates proximity to climax, and reaching climax decides victor. Higher {Pleasure} at the end of an encounter results in greater experience and drop yield, or in the case of defeat, results in further detriments.

Ari didn’t know what ‘detriments’ meant, but seeing how a ‘lost encounter’ for a person with a normal class could mean death, she got the feeling losing would be more forgiving than normal. Though, not something she wanted to aim for—at the very minimum, it meant she wouldn’t receive loot or experience. 

[Transform]: Convert target monster into a more pliable form, a humanoid monster-girl equivalent.

Back when Ari had first inspected her skills, her brain had nearly broken reading her ‘system description’ skill and not knowing [Transform] existed. Because some monsters—most—were rather horrifying. Ten-foot tall spider monsters, amalgamations of animated rock … she shuddered at the implication of ‘fighting’ those. This skill, at least, meant her class was still absurd, but somewhat reasonable.

‘Reasonable’. Ari’s standards had been set low, to be considering anything about her circumstances reasonable.

And the last of her starter skills:

[Dexterous Fingers]: Activate to deal increased {Stimulation} for a short duration.

Which Ari supposed was her first ‘combat skill’. The implications had her face searing. To think she’d have her fingers wiggling around inside a monster girl, bringing them to climax … was this seriously her life now?

She guessed it was. However astoundingly weird her class, Ari had always wanted to be an adventurer, and this hiccup in her plans wouldn’t stop her. She’d get over it. And sure, it posed all kinds of insane problems, like who the heck would want to party up with her, but she’d take it a step at a time. Adventurers pushed forward no matter the odds.

But back to the matter at hand. Ari’s first expedition.

She hadn’t prepared as thoroughly as she might have otherwise. Adventuring equipment, potions, and so on, were expensive, and Ari had the distinct feeling they wouldn’t be much use to her. She’d traipsed out into the Forest of the Golden Lake dressed for a hike: backpack, thick boots, water, and other essentials. She’d brought along a weak health potion just in case—but that was where her preparations for a ‘real’ adventure ended. 

I wonder if a health potion helps with … {Stimulation}. Ari’s nose wrinkled, both because she doubted it, and at the reminder of how her {HP} had changed to {Stimulation}.

And that wasn’t all that had changed when it came to her status, either.

===

Arianne Baxleson - Lv. 1

Human

{Stimulation: 0/15}

{Pleasure: 0/100}

Constitution: E-

Skill: F

Charm: F-

===

Her stats had changed, not just her {HP} and {MP}. Where a person would normally have stats of defense, attack, and magic, Ari had constitution, skill, and charm. She could see the logic behind the changes … constitution would be how resistant she was to pleasure, skill how efficient she could provide it to others, and charm, the more ephemeral stat, in the same way ‘magic’ was the outlier stat for a normal adventurer. Each was an analog to its mundane equivalent.

It felt a bit insulting to see her skill stat labeled as an ‘F’, if she were being honest … but she was level one. Both in the literal sense, and in a more metaphorical way. Ari wasn’t the most experienced of girls.

She trekked forward, taking in the sights of the Forest of the Golden Lake. Verdant trees surrounded her on all sides, leaves fluttering from the gentle breeze caressing her skin and running through her hair. Birds chirped and insects buzzed, providing a calming ambiance. She glanced back at the trail behind her, and it was as empty as ever.

The Forest was considered as 'newbie' of an adventuring zone as they came—as demonstrated by how there was a trail at all. Certainly wouldn't be a guarantee in the more dangerous areas, further along in her career.

The air was crisp and clean, filled with the fresh scents of nature. It  made Ari feel as if she were in another world entirely. It was peaceful here, peaceful enough Ari wanted to stand still and bask in the warmth of the sun.

The serenity was deceptive. While not the most dangerous of adventuring zones, the Forest of the Golden Lake was a deadly hunting grounds ... a place only a person with a combat class would venture out alone, looking to hone their skills and gain experience. Normal people steered well clear.

It’s got to be any second now. 

Ari had ventured pretty deep into the Forest, by now; the trail was starting to thin out, vegetation overtaking the edges. If she wanted a quick encounter, she could swerve off and head into the forest proper, but she didn’t want to get lost, not for her first adventure. So the slower method of wandering along a well-trodden path was the more prudent decision.

A prickle on her neck alerted her to the inevitable encounter. She stiffened, then turned, eyes darting as they sought out  whatever had set her nerves on edge.

There, obscured in the vegetation, yellow feline eyes stared at her.

Ari shrugged off her backpack, then sent an [Inspect] the creature’s way.

[ Deft-foot Fire Leopard - Lv. 1 ]

The black-spotted, sand-colored big cat approached, muscles coiled and with a predator gaze fixated on Ari. It left singed, black paw-prints on the ground, and the creature’s fuzzy feet radiated flames that licked at the surrounding plant-life.

Ari stood frozen, enraptured by its stare, and the elegance—and fantasticalness—of the creature’s form. She might have seen all kinds of monsters in encyclopedias and adventuring books over the years, but that didn’t mean she’d seen many in person.

It took some effort to shake off its ensnaring gaze, but she did. She’d known she wanted to be an adventurer for a long time, so she had training in controlling her reactions. Though the rest of that training, or most of it, went to waste, considering her class.

The monster crouched, muscles coiling as it prepared to pounce, and Ari finally spurred into action. Her hand shot up, and she activated [Transform].

An explosion of white smoke filled the air, briefly obscuring her target from view. She startled, not having expected the skill to come with so much visual side-effect. The thick smoke disappeared unnaturally fast, drifting away and revealing the result of the monster’s transformation.

What was left in the creature’s place was …

Well. What the skill suggested.

A leopard girl.