"So... in essence, 'Master' sent us to a wild goose chase?" Asami inquired in a tone dripping with venomous sarcasm as Nik and Ray simultaneously raised their eyebrows in mild astonishment. 'This saying is present in this world, too?' But aside the slight surprise, the orangish glow of the setting sun reflected over Nik's light tanned skin while he nodded, "To summarise, yes. You all failed to bring the pre-existing maps of the forest, which points to your completely unprepared nature. Next, it should be common knowledge that grassman spirit demons had been purged from this side of the forest a few years ago, which speaks wonder about every one of your general knowledge." Begin Nik, the wooden tubs matching the number of girls under Nik's teaching, let out a soft gurgling sound as if something viscous was boiling within.

Meanwhile, only Gojira seemed unaffected by Nik's words while the other girls showed varying expression. The ones knowing Nik for the longest showed slightly annoyed expression but the clueless ones like Ning'er, Ziyun, and Xiao Xue showed expressions filled with awe and reverence. "Now, your real training begins. Each one of you is to enter that herbal bath. For your comfort, I would be away scouting the region. The entirety of your bodies is needed to remain within the tub until the last speckle of medicine is absorbed." Pointing towards Klas, Nik smiled gently as the girls were already flushed. "I have instructed Klas and she will determine when the bath is to be concluded. Ye Ray will follow me and learn some basic techniques while you guys continue."

"This bath would prove effective even to you, so be sure to scrub your frustrations out~" Nik sent his voice to Gojira as she nodded plainly. While she wasn't sent on a goose chase, she still looked slightly annoyed for reasons unknown. Once Nik had finished his piece, he waited for queries with Korra taking the lead.

"Teach? How 'clotheless' do we need to be?"

Without any hesitation or ounce of shame, Nik snapped out a reply, "Fully." The speed and determination within his answer raised a few brows with Ziyun, Ning'er, and Xiao Xue looking at each other and then rest of their senior sisters with a slightly embarrassed expression. Consider their surprise when they found out that Ryu'er this time didn't share their sentiment and instead nodded resolutely.

"So... Master would be scouting, right? It will only be us, girls, right?" Lanruo inquired with a strange smile as all the gazes focused on Nik, who shrugged, "I can stay if that's your wish."

"N-no!"

Ziyun blurted out as Nik nodded and showed a sad expression that seemed to twist Ziyun's heart. Before she could refute, Nik let out a soft sigh, full of emotions that even seemed to affect the remaining two maidens, and whispered, "I see. Be sure to train well. This medicinal bath will become your routine from now on. Ye Ray, follow me. We shall depart."

"Yes, Teacher Huyan Nik."

Ray smiled and followed Nik out while the remaining girls looked at each other. Korra seemed to be the most outgoing and instantly stripped before jumping into the middle tub before yelping, "Ouch- this is slightly hot~! Hmm, but not bad!" With her rock-solid body talking the lead, the others soon found their courage and not to be left out and required to strip once all have occupied their tubs, Ziyun, Ning'er, and Xiao Xue took part in the trend but instead of jumping around naked, a few demure ladies picked their top to cover their fronts until they dipped into the bath and finally experiencing how hot the liquid boiled. Since they were required to even dip their faces in, many felt sour but still followed the instructions. After all, except for Gojira, everyone felt an immediate effect on their tired bodies.

---

"I feel it extremely hard to believe that you would just walk away~" Ray grinned and tiptoed around Nik. The succubus already felt satisfied by feeding the first pair of spirit rings required to awaken the true form of his martial spirits. Eight pairs of spirit ring to go. 

At Ray's words, Nik sighed deeply, "I spent so much on those medicinal baths, of course, I intended to peek," completely unabashed, the apostle continued, "But your appearance doesn't conform with that plan. If I peek, there is a chance that you'll peek, too." Rolling his eyes, Ray persuaded, "I am not interested in girls, and remember, we and our harem bathed together."

"That's different. I don't mind baths but peeking is out of the question. Only I can peek at my girls, not even a male, heck, even a female succubus first needs to have a round with me, enter my glorious harem, and then become eligible to accompany in peeking."

"Heh~ So boring!" Ray shrugged while Nik nodded, "Call me old fashioned but I don't like peeping toms other than me!" Nik exclaimed while hanging out with Ray.

"So... there is a group of Sun kittens right beside the lake that grow extremely lazy and cute by the nighttime. Wanna go sightseeing?"

"Isn't it dangerous? I mean... they all are bathing."

"Oh, don't worry about them. I planted an inscription pattern surrounding the camp that would go act like an annoying alarm clock if anyone spirit demon enters the region. We won't be that far either way and the girls are stronger than me... in a way."

{A/N: Spirit monster, demons, and beasts are one and the same thing.}

"But..." Ray seemed slightly hesitant, "why don't we just enjoy in the lake? We can swim around, you know. I am not too much into monsters and stuff... aside for a few special cases."

Furrowing his brows, Nik calmly regarded Ray, and just when even Ray started to feel uncomfortable by his gaze, Nik opened his mouth, "You Heretic. Sun Kittens have glowing golden furs that seamlessly merge with the brown-gold stripes on their back and with their large green eyes and thick furry tails make them the cutest of the kitten kind around this portion of the forest. This, and the fact that the Sun Kittens are extremely domestic in nature and their natural scent works as a repellent for other spirit beasts make them a companion far greater than dogs in my homeworld. Although I don't have any means to bring a polite sun kitten with me in a manner similar to how I am able to take away my partners, you better believe that I won't let you bad mouth them."

Nik stated in a manner so stern that tongue-tied Ray and the Yar within the succubus. Blinking, Ray couldn't help but feel that this version of Nik was... normal... and yet slightly eccentric. Tilting his head, Ray whispered in his defense, "But I didn't bad mouth them..." 

As if looking at an atheist fool, Nik crossed his arm and smiled in confidence as high his belief in petting cute animals in the multiverse, "Not willing to accommodate a sun kitten is as stupid as not willing to accommodate a handsome youth as hung like a horse, in your case. Just follow me... you'll know soon enough."

Nodding in a dazed manner, Ray couldn't help but complain internally. 'I am already accommodating a hung man with a stupid handsome face talking about kittens!'

The duo's walk continued for another four minutes where Ray finally decided to truly 'accommodate' Nik and humored him by inquiring about the sun kittens, their natural habitats, food, mating cycle, and stuff like that to which Nik showed uncharacteristic enthusiasm. In reality, Nik had already burned information of every spirit beast recorded within the library just to find out actual pet categories within. He had long heard about the professions such as Beast Tamers and other summoning professions which allows the host to bring various beasts of the multiverse around with any troubles. If he could have, Nik would have brought Ignit around in a heartbeat. But he couldn't do so... still, that didn't hinder Nik from finally enjoying something that was far higher than any hobby to Nik. Petting animals and making them smile was a way of living that allowed Nik to cater to various girls. Sure, his partners were complex beings, but that is also the reason why having pets had been a lifelong dream for Nik. 

When Nik finally inquired if Ray knew anything about the profession of his dreams, Ray showed a strange expression before showing him a mission on the guild page. An A-Rank mission to be precise.

[Title: Hunt

Rank: A

Description:

Hunt the host named Nik Faran. Following is the known description of the target...

Current Homeworld Coordinate: unknown.

Rewards: Profession Scroll (Celestial Summoner)

]

Nik's expression turned bleak for a moment before he spoke with determination.

"All right, it looks like I know what I need to do... get strong enough to hunt down the existence who posted the bounty."

"Or, wait until the auction. The 'Team' Absolute and Infallible would surely have something to your liking..." Ray sighed, "If you have something worthy of exchange, of course."

"My expertise in sexual engagements," Nik stated plainly.

"Something other than that. The information you are playing with is too dangerous~" Ray smirked as they finally chanced upon the golden feline fluffs that even seemed to enthrall Ray as they purred softly in harmony, making the listeners feel extremely relaxed and languid. The strangest part was...

"Yeah, they are the size of the ordinary cat... but in fact, their appearance is that of a kitten. So, they are giant kittens in a manner," Nik smiled with a tinge of pride leaking through his words but the moment Ray looked towards Nik, the succubus was surprised to find out Nik completely lost as he continued to look at the group of kittens with a foolish grin and slightly hazy gaze. "They look so relaxed... so calming, right?" Nik inquired in a hushed whisper. Meanwhile, his own spirits seemed mystified by their appearance. From the moment they became Nik's spirits, they were destined to follow the benevolent path of petting.

"Come, let's feed them. At night, they barely have the strength but their nature and scent never attracted any predator. While they are sleeping, they would usually be exhausted by the morning."

Nik whispered as he gave Ray a can of cat food, which he had conveniently stored within his inventory from the beginning. Slightly doubtful of the effectiveness of cat food, Ray couldn't share Nik's confidence as he stepped out and opened the can only to hear a curious mewl, stiffening Nik in the process.

Turning back, Nik matched gazes with a silver-furred, cat-sized kitten. Its fur merged with the pure white stripes on its back while the end of the tail also remained covered in unblemished white fur. This was the first time Nik came across such a species but with a smile so charming that it even made Ray's and Yar's heart thump, he took out a bowl and pushed down the cat food from the can into the bowl before raising it towards the kitten. Purring loudly, the kitten scrunched its chubby and fluffy physique before jumping towards Nik from top of the branch and landed on his head elegantly before stepping down onto his arms and finally feasting on the dinner.

Completely charmed, Nik gulped as he stayed still, unwilling to move or commit anything that might startle the kitten while his heart pumped at a high pace.

He so wanted to pet this one, too~