{Alex}

After a passable meal, Gotrat helped me put together my tent. Sadly, that was not included in the price, and I had no earthly idea what I was doing. He kept asking me questions about my home what magic we used and why I wasn’t under contract. I tried to deflect as much as I could as I used half my mind to track the mana pool in my body slowly moving up. Once it was full, I’d have to try to make some coin now that I knew what I was doing with it. It felt so natural using it or maybe I was on easy mode here with all these fools. I remembered some of the things I learned in school about metals and how they interacted. It should prove to be useful here. Can I make a magnet only using iron? So many things to try. I needed to get more coins and more metal. Step two complete, step three get laid… Step three find a home. I should be able to do both. Why not? Once the mage had left and I had an almost full pool I went to two men sitting by the fire. One was poking the fire with a stick and the other was facing out into the darkness. “Hello there.” Both looked at me skeptically. One had a scar running across his face and the other had arrows on his back. That is about all I cared to notice about them. “I see you have arrows, my friend. Can I sharpen them for you?” He looked at me with a frown.

“How much?” He crossed his rather large arms.

“How much do they charge in town?” he sighed and growled at me.

“A copper an arrow.” I beamed at him. Couldn’t tell if I pulled it off without looking evil this time, but I was sure the firelight didn’t help.

“How about we say five copper for twenty arrows.” He looked at me blankly.

“Why go cheaper? We are in the sticks.” I beamed at him

“I need to train my metal magic. So cheaper. Also, if I fuck up you aren’t out a whole lot.” He nodded and counted out the arrows and copper. I took them and started sharpening each one. It didn’t remove any metal, just worked to compact the edge. It felt nice, but I was nearly empty after it was done. I would need more mana if I was to pull this off. At the very least I wouldn’t have trouble sleeping tonight. He took one of the arrows and tested the edge.

“Good work mage. Mind if I give you the rest to play with?” I shook my head and yawned.

“Sorry, not much mana. I can do them as we go tomorrow. Feel free to tell your friends, I could use the work and practice.” He looked after me beaming. I was bone tired, but that worked like a charm. Get a customer base, earn coins, and get metal. Get a reputation as the good go-to guy. I have the time. The word should get back to that tiger goddess and the way she blushed at me...

The next morning, I woke up and checked my pool. If felt slightly larger. No that isn’t right. It felt deeper. Like there was more of it. My mana veins seemed tougher, and I felt slightly stronger. The zinc in my pocket was smaller and I must have taken it in somehow. I looked at it closely and saw that half of it was gone. Maybe that is why my mana felt tougher. I’d have to ask the mage about this. I walked to the campfire and saw the arrow man from last night. He poked another faceless man who walked to me. “Hello there.” I smiled at him.

I ate like a horse. That sword had a deep crack and he paid two silver to make sure he didn’t have to scrap it. I wonder what they do with scrap? Maybe I can get some to play with. I saw my tiger goddess and waved. She waved back and blushed looking away. Sexy as hell. I tried and failed not to lick my canine teeth. It felt like a lion licking it’s chops and she blushed brighter as she walked quickly past. I’d have to be careful not to push my luck as she could probably break me in half without too much effort. People would come and go throughout the day as we moved asking me to fix this or sharpen that. It netted me a few more silver and a handful of copper. Each time I’d underbid the price they would tell me that they would have to pay in the city. It didn’t cost me anything and it seemed to make my mana stronger. No that wasn’t right. It made the mana easier to use. Like my mind was getting used to using it. It went like this over the next week. I would fix this or that, get paid, and go on. I did buy myself new clothes and even a bedroll. The ground was not suitable for someone like me. Everyone in the caravan seemed to welcome my presence and would openly wave or talk to me. I would catch Yen looking at me from time to time or sniffing the air when I walked past. I was starting to smell a little. God, I missed having a shower every day. I did get by with a bucket of cold water. That cost me three copper every time, but it beat smelling like a pig. I was doing my normal thing that evening of helping out for pocket change when Scarface and arrow man came to me.

“Hay, come with us.” I wasn’t about to be mugged or told off for making eyes at Yen. They still seemed friendly as they took me to the edge of camp. I saw a small green man tied up and half dead. “This is our way of saying thanks. Kill it so you can get stronger.” He handed me a knife. I felt bad for the little green goblin. It was going to die anyway and if not me then who. I grit my teeth and slashed at its head hoping to make it quick and painless. It was not and took three slashes to the brain. I felt sick. I didn’t like killing things. “Now next time if you aim your knife here,” He pointed at a place on the goblin’s neck. “It will die quicker unless you were trying to make it suffer. I wouldn’t blame you for that. They are nasty little bastards.” I looked at him shocked.

“Noted. What do you mean next time?” I gulped trying not to throw up dinner.

“Me and some of the others want you to get stronger so you can do more with your mana.” I would have to do this again. Well fuck. I just nodded and tried to wipe the purple blood off my arms and face. It had bled a lot. What the hell was wrong with these people? I stood up and felt something in my mana pool, it felt the slightest bit deeper. The men started working on the body taking it apart.

“What are you doing?” I asked looking away quickly.

“Goblins have useful parts. I think this one may have a core. They don’t sell for much, but every little bit helps.” I smiled interested again in what they were doing.

“What do these cores do?” I felt the spark of a key I needed for my plan. They explained that the core processed mana and then gave me a rundown on the other parts they could get off the goblin. There was a core, a tiny gem-like sphere in the middle of the creature’s chest. I paid them three copper for it. It would only fetch me two copper if I tried to sell it in town, but looking at the small green gem and probing it with my mana, I felt something strange. The mana went in and stayed for a short while before coming back out slowly. I wonder if metal could be used to hold it in place for longer. I would have to ask that mage. I had long since stopped caring about his name as it no longer mattered. What mattered was this small green ball of information I needed to figure out. I smiled at it in the campfire light. “Hello, beautiful.”

I woke up the next morning and found Mage. I still didn’t care enough to remember his name. “Hey bud, I have a few questions.” He marked his book again and smiled at me.

“Can we trade now that we are a few days away from the city?” I nodded. “Me first. Does your world have magic?”

“No. we use technology to make do. My turn,” I found out everything about mana. Turns out the metal can be used to hold mana inside or rather I think the metal acts as an insulator. I would have to test that though. Infusing mana into objects is often the job of an enchanter. I would have to try to get that as soon as I could. I wonder if the type of metal mattered. He went on to tell me about the cores and how he thought they could be used to imbue powers and effects into weapons and armor. Interesting, I would have to do a lot of work to figure everything thing. Now I needed metal to play with. Would have to buy some. “I only have a few questions left my friend, but they are on a personal level.”

“I thought you said you were only into women?” He laughed and I smiled at the idiot.

“About that. What do your people do if you get an STD?” He looked at me puzzled. “A sexually transmitted disease.” His face didn't change. “If you have sex with someone, can you get sick or give them a sickness.” He clapped and smiled.

“Oh. That, we use magic to cure anything aside from babies. You will have to deal with any kids you have. That is unless you plan to sleep with a beast kin.” He laughed and I smiled.

“What is wrong with that?” He frowned at me and then shrugged.

“It is... frowned on. A lot of humans view them as animals as most can’t use magic and some even have.” he leaned in so he couldn’t be overheard over the moving wagons. “Monster cores.” I gave a real smile and knew it looked evil. I didn’t care or notice him back away. I felt another key to this world land in my lap. I got lost in my thoughts as the day moved on around me. I would need to visit the shop and get some junk metal to play with and then maybe tonight I would try to plant a seed in someone’s mind.

We stopped for the day, and I found a rusty broken sword that was given to me for a copper. It was just trash that would have been sold for scrap, but I was able to remove the rust and mold it into a small bar. I put it into my bag and peeled off a small wire to wrap around the core. It didn’t take long and somehow it felt right wrapping it around the widest part. I closed my eyes when done and felt something strange. It had a small well of mana. The metal, mostly iron had a slight leak of mana around the side. It was pulling in mana through the top and I could pull it out through the bottom. I quickly turned it into a bracelet and a picture popped into my mind and I smiled at it.

NEW SKILL UNLOCKED: ENCHANTING. YOU ARE NOW ABLE TO IMBUE ITEMS USING MONSTER CORES.

I had a greater understanding of the world and how to make items. This would help my low mana issue. Somehow I now knew that gold and other rare metals would fix the mana leak. I could also use runes to enhance things. What the hell were runes? How did I suddenly know all this? This world had better not be messing with my brain. The sun had set and I knew most of the camp had gone to bed. All except my target and another one watching the fire. I knew Yen would be walking around looking into the dark. The other one at the fire would be Scarface. I smiled and waved as I walked up to him. “Hello, friend.” He waved back smiling at me.

“Hi, Alex. What can I do for you?” When did he learn my name? Doesn’t matter.

“I had a question about Yen.” I knew she could hear us. I had watched her listening in on others from the same distance as we were now. I could almost picture her stopping to listen in.

“Is she bothering you? I know she can be a bit off-putting, but she has an order not to harm or bother anyone who is riding with us.” I smiled

“No not at all. Quite the opposite. I would rather she did bother me.” He frowned at me.

“You are a weird one. You would like someone like that.” I smiled, shrugged, and turned away.

“Very much so. I find her beautiful.” I smiled as I could almost picture her blushing. Normally, I never tried this hard to get someone, but it had been some time and I wanted to feel her ears and tail. I had a girlfriend back in high school who liked to wear cat ears when we were alone and I delighted in seeing those on her. Something about this beast woman was making my blood boil in a very good way. I could have tried to pay for a night with her from her owner, but that didn’t feel right. It would be no better than cranking one out. Much better to have her come to me. It stroked my ego when a woman lay in my bed, exhausted and happy.

I hadn’t expected her for the next few nights, but I had hopes. Some of the hunters gave me odd looks now but were happy to give me kills and work. I was starting to trade work for cores. The goblin core didn’t play nice with the other monster cores, and they would spark or leak mana. That being said, my bracelet now had four cores. It more than doubled the mana I had. We only had a week left and I was wondering if Yen had even heard me. I was slightly dejected when I crawled into my tent and froze. She was lying on my bedroll, nude and blushing. Her long tail swung back and forth as she looked over at me. “I was told you wanted to see more of me.” she purred her words. I smiled brightly as I started kissing those rock-like calves. She giggled and smiled at me.

“You are here on your own? No one told you to visit me?” she rolled over in the small tent. I smiled at those firm breasts that only bounced slightly and moved down to a patch of cute black hair over her dripping pussy.

“I could easily rip your arms and legs off if I wanted to.” I kissed her knees and moved up.

“Tell me something I don’t know.” I kissed high on her thigh making her gasp.

“I can smell every time you get turned on.” I kissed higher as she bit her finger. “You only get turned on when I’m around.” She whimpered as I lightly kissed her lower lips. “You don’t even seem to care when Luhea is around.” The pilot of that beautiful knight. I licked up the outside letting my tongue flick her clit. She arched her back and drew me closer. “Gods, that feels grrrrreat.” she rolled the Rs and I tried not to laugh as I thought of Tony the tiger. I let one of my hands cup her toned ass as I let my fingers play with the lower part of her cave of wonders. My tongue licked up and down before dipping in with my teasing fingers. “Yes.” she whimpered “There.” I felt her claw-like hands dig into my hair as she pulled me close. She started rocking her hips into my mouth and tongue. I let my other hand squeeze her ass as she pushed into me. I felt her pinch my fingers tightly as she growled softly. She lay back panting looking down at me. “Gods, I wish I had started doing this on that first night.” I smiled and moved up, removing my shirt.

“I wish you had done so too. We would have had more time to play.” I stopped at her breasts and started kissing and teasing her nipples. She moaned and growled at me as she held my head there. I was rock hard as her toe claws pulled my pants down. With a smile I pulled away. “I still have my shoes on. It may make things hard. She pulled me up and looked deep into my eyes before grabbing my cock.

“Nothing can be as hard as this thing is.” I kissed her neck as she gave me a few playful tugs. I reached down and removed my pants and shoes. They were tossed in a pile near the door of my tiny tent. She groaned as she pushed my throbbing cock down to meet her tight tunnel. I smiled into her neck as I bit it lightly. Suddenly she growled and I felt pain on my neck. She had bitten me hard enough to bleed. It made me shudder with delight as I rubbed on the outside of her soaking wet womanhood.

“Tell me what you want,” I said as I looked into her eyes. Her pupils were wide and seemed to be filled with lust.

“What?” I kissed her softly and pulled back.

“I won’t put it in unless you tell me what you want.” I was expecting a little dirty talk, but she pulled in and whispered in my ear.

“I want you.” It made my dick twitch and suddenly I was inside. She was tight and wet in all the right ways. I growled as I pushed in deeper. She hugged me and lifted her hips to meet mine. We kissed and I let my tongue dive into her mouth, and she purred deeply as I flicked it across her teeth. I could feel four sharp points in her mouth. She had sharp cat-like teeth that I knew would feel nice on my dick. It turned me on even more if that was possible. I twitched inside her and she growled sending waves through both of us. Suddenly I was on the edge.

“I’m getting close. Where do you want it?” She wrapped her legs around me and pulled me in close and hard making me burst at the same time I felt her tighten almost painfully around me. I kissed her hard as I pumped everything, I had into her. She shook and shuddered below me. Once we had both come down a little, I pulled out making her growl softly. I lay on my bedroll, and she started to grab her clothes. “Where are you going?” she smiled at me.

“We had our fun. Now I need to get to my bed.” I kissed the nape of her neck.

“Stay and let me hold you.” she looked back at me blushing.

“You want me to stay?” I pulled her back so I could spoon her. She was a bit large but still felt nice. “Most humans just want sex if they want anything at all.” I stroked her side and kissed her shoulder.

“Do I seem like most humans?” She shrugged. “Can I touch your ears?” Another shrug. I reached up and started softly petting them. It turned into me petting her hair. Soon though she relaxed and was fast asleep. I kissed her neck softly and pulled the bedroll over us. I drifted off to sleep with the scent of her in my nose. God, she smelled nice. Like flowers and something wild. I needed this. It was everything I hoped for and far much more.

The next morning, I found she had left before I had woken. That was a tad upsetting. I had hoped for a morning romp or at least sharing breakfast. I packed up my tent and was going to the back of my wagon when I was stopped by Captain. He wanted to trade me a larger tent rental in exchange for fixing one of the wagon wheels. It only took a few minutes to fix the metal rim. He seemed happy and said he would have someone set it up for me. It seems like my plan was working a bit too well. If I wasn’t careful, he may try to enslave me or force me to stay with them. Not sure how as I learned that the collar had to be put on by the willing hands of the slave. I was going to do my best to make sure that wouldn’t happen. The best trap needs bait, but any prey can avoid a trap if they know that it is there. Just as we were about to head out a scout came up excited about something. It looked like Arrow. He waved at me as he ran up to the Knight's pilot. She had been explaining the working to me with half of her top unbuttoned. I was not impressed with her, but the information I was pumping out of her was worth its weight in gold. If she had cat ears or even God forbid slit eyes, I may have gone for it. Sadly, she was just a boring human. If a man has a chance at steak, why would he care about a McDonald’s burger? I smiled thinking about that sexy tiger. Would she want another night with me? God, I hoped so. “Commander Deveros, a giant is on our trail.” she stood up fast, a broad grin on her face.

“Really, how big?” she looked over at me and winked. He sighed as he looked at me.

“About thirty to thirty-five feet tall.” I knew the measurements were off, but my brain was giving me a way to understand what they were talking about. She clapped and jumped up and down in a way that would have looked enthralling in my old world, but here made her look silly. She was only human after all. Now if she had a tail. Maybe something was wrong with me, but I felt a deep connection to Yen and this girl didn’t hold a candle to my sexy cereal mascot. She was Grrrreat. I inwardly laughed as I watched her jump into her Knight, and it stand. Now that was a thing of beauty. I watched the red knight stand tall and reach for a sword longer than a bus. The amount of strength that would take to lift that alone boggled my mind. I licked my chops looking at the mech. God, I hope that that idiot didn’t think I was looking at her that way. The Knight stepped to the back of the wagon circle and took a stance. A huge form came out of the trees at us and roared. Seeing a thirty-foot man holding a redwood as a club is unnerving, to say the least. I watched as the Knight ran awkwardly at the giant. I mean did anyone really look at how humans walk? The hips were so wide that it made her almost walk like a lizard. I pulled out my notebook and charcoal stick and started making notes. Let the shoulders out a little. Add guards to the shoulders, and hip skirts to protect the joints. Maybe a backpack to allow for attachments. Oh, hip and shoulder attachments. God so much to play with. The people of this world were real idiots.

I watched the knight stop just shy of the oversized man. He was ugly. Thirty-five feet tall only dressed in a loincloth. Pale gray skin and oversized limbs. His feet looked like tree trunks that seemed slow to move and his hands looked as large as a wagon. I was very happy it had a loincloth on as seeing his tree trunk was not on my bucket list. She brought her sword up in a wide swing and the monster backed off bringing up his tree to block it. She bounced off and safe to say I was more than disappointed in how she piloted that work of art. If she had an ounce of intelligence, she would have parried his blow and gutted the creature. In place, she took several blows to that beautiful Mech. Just wrong on every level. I growled a little at the damage that could have been easily avoided. The idiot walked back once she had finished off the lazy monster. It wasn’t right. She stopped and lay down next to me as though hoping for purse. I walked past the foolish woman and started looking over the Knight. She didn’t deserve this honor; she didn’t earn this power. I looked back at the pilot with scorn in my eye and she flinched back. She knew she had hurt this baby. I relented and got into my own wagon. That baby needed a lot of work to bring it back to full health and I wouldn’t do that for free. Someone would have to pay.

That night I went to my tent after dinner to find the idiot McDonalds there in my bedroll. She was nude and looked as appetizing as a three-copper burger. I frowned at her. “Can I help you?” She blushed and tried to cover up.

“You aren’t happy to see me?” I sighed.

“Sorry, not in the mood tonight. Please get dressed and leave.” She started crying softly. It was an obvious ploy. She was a child compared to the women back home. A mental midget when I have been playing with grandmasters. The women of my old world knew how to menilite a man's feelings. I went back to the campfire and waited until she had left. Sadly, my tiger stayed away tonight.

The next morning Captain came to me to ask me to repair the Knight. I would need to use the mage as a battery. He agreed and was soon passed out on the ground and the dents were gone. I didn’t know enough about the inner workings to fix or work on those, but that would come with time. I was able to see where the engine was. It sat just behind the pilot and was a large egg shape. From the looks of things, it took in mana and the pilot acted as a brain for how it moved and where the power went. This did use the mana of the pilot. McDonalds kept her distance from me and refused to look my way. I was delighted by this. They paid me five gold for fixing her fuck up and I would not argue with any of that.