Archive of Our Own ^beta

I wasn’t expecting the world to change on a Tuesday. Isn’t that supposed to be the joke? ‘For me, it was Tuesday?’ But it was, and it did. It started innocuously enough. I was browsing the internet after work, and stumbled across a post banner on one of my forums.

“Anybody know anything about this game?” the post read, with a picture of the ad displayed.

>Save the world! Or destroy it! Find your Waifu or Husbondo, wield awesome magical powers, affect the course of nations, and be home in time for lunch! Champions of Ronde awaits!< the ad read, in bright neon colors.

“If anybody knows anything about this game, I’d like to know. Something funny about it.” The post went on.

I sighed, and glanced at the ad. The artwork was of a typical jrpg style, and I almost browsed past it, but the artwork was really high quality. The artwork intrigued me, though I couldn’t say why.

This forum has really good mods, so this isn’t an ad. Why not. I decided.

“Probably just the usual moba trash.” I mumbled, but I went looking, running it through the usual internet searches. I couldn’t help but hope, you know?

I was hoping to avoid the main webpage itself, but no such luck. Like a center of gravity, it extended links to everywhere that moved near it, and the main website opened. I had a brief glimpse of an age verification popup, and vague images of anime styled artwork, and then world went blurry, a spinning shifting vortex of color and I was hit with a feeling of falling. I flailed my arms wildly, tumbling backwards. A short fall and panicked flailing later, and my butt landed hard on something yielding. I groaned, looking up and around at the dim grey nothingness that surrounded me.

“What the hell…?” I muttered to myself. I wasn’t really panicked, not yet. It was just so impossible I couldn’t really come to grips with it. I don’t know what I expected, but a voice form thin air certainly wasn’t it.

“Oh? Huh, she said she was going to ask, but I didn’t expect a hit so soon. Hello there!” The voice echoed in the air around me, neither loud nor quiet, male nor female. It simply… was.

“Uh… hi?” I replied dumbly. Every time I thought that we were definitely at peak impossible, something whizzed right past it.

“Hello there!” The voice repeated, somehow seeming closer, despite still being all around me. “Welcome to Ronde! Well, you’re not there yet, but this is the antechamber, so it still counts. Now, let’s check you over.”

A feeling of buzzing flurry around me, and then a satisfied hum. “Mm, yes, yes. Good, your soul is definitely compatible! Right, on you go! She’ll be waiting for you, much easier for her to explain everything. Great to have another one, Tah!”

“Wait, what-” My words were cut off as I felt a numbness flow over me, and I watched in disbelief as my body slowly dissolved into glittering motes of light, and the world went dark around me.

A sensation of moving without movement and a feeling of warmth and comfort surrounded me. I could feel myself being compressed, squeezed, my whole form kneaded and pushed into a new shape. As quickly as it started it ended and the world burst into light and color around me. A woman’s voice, high and soft, gave a shocked cry, and I spun around to see who was in the room with me.

My body felt strange and nothing moved the way it should. My body felt wrong. Deeply, incredibly wrong. I wobbled, then flailed, trying to catch my balance, but everything was off, was wrong. My legs tangled in cloth and I fell hard on my butt with a loud thud. The woman’s voice gave a sharp high pained “Ow!”

Oh… oh no… no… way…?

I looked down slowly, and felt a creeping shock of horror as I saw the prominent jut of breasts pressing firmly outwards from my chest, tenting blue and cream fabric proudly outwards. My eyes widened in shock. I lifted my hands to my chest, only to see and feel small delicate feminine hands reach up and squeeze the swelling mounds of flesh. The shock of contact, soft full squeezable… between my legs, was…?!

“What… the… hell?!” The woman’s voice, high and sweet and melodious spilled out of my lips.

Without warning, I heard the running sound of footsteps, and the fusuma door to the room slammed open. Standing in the doorway was a stunningly gorgeous woman with vaguely Asian features, somewhere between 18 and 22, wearing what looked like a fetish miko costume. White and red kimono style top, the upper slopes of her generous breasts exposed as she wore her top off the shoulders, threatening to fall off. A very short pleated red skirt, showing off her long legs, clad in white thigh high tabi stockings strewn with a pink cherry blossom pattern, and red platform okobo sandals. Her hair was a bright red-orange, and on top of her head fox ears twitched and flicked. Her eyes were golden yellow with slitted pupils and her cheeks bore three red ‘whisker’ markings. A red-orange tail with a white tip flicked back and forth behind her with visible agitation.

My mouth fell open in shock as my brain short circuited. A… fox girl?! An actual shrine maiden fox girl?!

Her voice was a sultry purr and she smiled brightly as she knelt down next to me.

“Well hello there, beautiful~. I’m so happy you’ve come to join me!” I stared at her, my eyes widening in complete disbelief.

“Ah! Sorry! I forgot to turn off that stupid skill!” Her gaze unfocused for a moment, and then her whole posture seemed to shift subtly. It was as though she’d turned off a too bright light. Her whole body seemed to relax; her posture and body losing a subtle teasing accent I hadn’t noticed until it vanished.

She gave me what looked like an embarrassed smile, her ears flicking rapidly as she tugged the loosely draped folds of her top higher, covering her generous curves more securely.

“Sorry, sorry!” She turned back to me, smiling, her voice no longer the husky sultry purr of a living fantasy. “I forget Kaede does that when it’s active! I haven’t had visitors in… a while!”

She looked me over, her gaze appraising. “Hm. So! I imagine you’ve got some questions! I’ve got a few answers, though not as many as I’d like! But first… I bet you’re worried if you can go home!” she nodded to herself. “Good news, the answer is yes! And it lets me explain a bit of this world! So! Hold up your hand in front of you, and say ‘Status!’ I mean, really, you don’t need to say it, just think it, but it’s best to start simple.”

I boggled at this impossibly gorgeous woman, then looked down at the twin swell of my… breasts!? Then back up at her.

“Ah. I guess you were a boy too.” She smiled. “Don’t worry, just do what I say, and you’ll see.”

I felt so completely lost and dazed with so much coming at me I couldn’t really think what else to do, so I followed her order. Holding out my hand, noting the long fingered feminine hand with its oval nails, this slender arm encased in clinging sleeve of an elaborate fantasy… dress? Robe? What was I even wearing?

The strange high voice of the mystery woman stammered out “S-Status?”

I felt a spark of something strange flower inside me, and then a translucent blue-green ‘screen’ opened in front of me.

Name: Caelynna Araren

Equipment:

Smallclothes [Equipped]

Healer’s Outfit [Equipped]

Mage’s Staff

Holy Symbol

“N-no way…” I stared at the screen in shock.

Power, Defense, Speed, Recovery… HP and SP?!

I jerked my head back up to the foxgirl. “I’m in an Isekai?!”

She smiled brightly at me. “Now you’re getting it! Welcome to Ronde! I’ll be your host, my name is… well in Ronde its Kaede, but in the other world it’s Mike. What’s yours?”

My brain was slowly starting to fit together and had (mostly) stopped bluescreening by this point.

“Uh… Dustin….” I blinked and shook my head; I needed an answer to one fact with immediate urgency. “No, wait, why am I a girl?! Why are you a girl?!” I yelled. My voice definitely did not sound right shrieking like that, it made me wince.

The foxgirl… Kaede? Mike? …in front of me gave a little embarrassed half smile, her ears flicking to the side and back and looked away. “Ah heh. Well I guess that would be a little more important to some folks.”

She cleared her throat and assumed a lecturing tone. “You and I are in the body of women because the jokester who put us here wants, and I am quoting him directly, “to see what happens when the tropes come true.”

“What does that mean?!” I protested angrily, though at a slightly less ear cracking pitch.

“It means that the entity… which is the only name I have for him, by the way… has put us into the bodies of common isekai tropes, in a world which has a functional System, and plans to let us ‘run wild.’ Apparently just so he can see what happens. A bit Loki like, honestly. From the way he phrased it, I’m betting you read a lot of isekai and LitRPG?”

I looked down, feeling oddly embarrassed. “I wouldn’t say a lot…” I muttered.

Mike laughed, and it was a wonderful tingly sound. “Ah huh. Well, I’m not proud, I admit I read all the isekai. Watch a bunch too, even the really bad ones.”

“How are you ok with this?!” I yelled.

Mike raised her eyebrows and pointed at my still open status screen. “Because I can leave any time I want to and because it’s an isekai. An isekai with a functional System! And part of any System fantasy is…?” She looked at me expectantly.

“Um…” I glanced back at the screen. “We’re… massively OP?”

Mike sat back on her heels and nodded, folding her arms under her breasts in satisfaction. Her ears twitched in what I could only describe as a ‘smug’ way.

“Exactly.” She said.

I looked back at my status screen, frowning.

“What’s OP about this?” I asked, puzzled.

“Well that’s the joker in the deck. See down there?” She pointed at my screen, under Unique Skill. “I call it the ‘name skill.’ Go ahead and poke it.”

Hesitantly, I did.

A subscreen opened.

<Unique Skill: Caelynna Araren. While equipped the user gains the following Boons and effects:

Boons:

Incorruptible. Unnatural Mental influence is removed.

Graceful. User gains 5% bonus to DEF & SPD. User gains +10% bonus to agility tasks and social tasks.

Magical Prodigy. User gains an additional +10% bonus to use Magic & Magic effects.

White Magic Prodigy. User gains an additional +15% bonus to use White Magic & White Magic effects.

T̶̘̥̍̉͝r̶̫̲̘͝i̷̺͈̱̋̀͠c̸̱̈́k̵̮̺̏ś̴̘̣t̵̳̳͌̃̽e̴̼̯̔̓ŕ̸̫͖͎̈̕'̵̛ͅṡ̴̲̩͉ ̶̟͗B̸̲͙́̀o̴̝̯͗̈́͐o̷̫̦͛n̷̛̝̳̫̈́̑s:

• Ũ̴̧̹̘͗s̷̥̯͊̅̓e̷̟̤̽͑r̸̜̅͐ ̷̰̺̽g̵̡͕̠̾͝a̵̱̅́ĩ̷̹͂̂ṋ̴͚̊͝s̸̱̓̀͜ ̷̪̿+̶̹̫̒̄͘2̴̮́̚0̵̰̌̽̐ͅ0̷̤̘̼̐%̸̭̬̓ ̸̖̲̄̅e̴̼̲̰̔̑x̵̰̰̻͆p̸̛̼͖̋.̷̤͔͐͛̈́
• U̵̢̞͘ͅs̵͈͕͚̍̀ẽ̴̗͖r̸̢̥͂ ̷̛͎̖͆g̵̞͙͝å̵̯̈́͝ì̶̖̘͖n̴̛̥̓s̸̲̘͚̒̋ ̴̱͊̽+̷̱̼͉̕2̶͓̭͓̈́0̸̺̻̗̐͘͝0̶̱͎̓%̵̡͑̉ ̶͒̅͋ͅs̵̯͈͌̉k̸̝͕̬̋̀i̸̩͈̺͋l̴͓̮̙̈̅͗l̴̠͆̃ ̵͖̾̽͠g̴͚̙͇̃r̶̡̽̿o̵̫̺͆w̶̲̌̓t̵͉̓͂ẖ̶͉͗͆̈́.̷̳͚̻̄̀

W̸̢̖̽a̶̖̫̬̕͝i̶̢͓̞̓̈́́f̵̹̓͗u̷͆̓͜ ̶̡̻̎T̶̨͕̦́̄̍ỳ̶̤̼̑͠p̶̞̏̚e̴̢͉̳͋̏͂ ̵̜̘̽B̷̺̉̀o̴̡̐n̷̝͚̾̍ù̸̳̘̍̀s̴̤̤̅:̵̬̆̽

• ̴̺̆Ù̸͓̥̈́́s̷̛͍͇̘̍̽e̴̛̠r̸̨̺̍ ̴͍͊͛̐g̸̦̽̃͝ă̷̪̯i̸̳̩̔̓̚n̸͓̫̈́s̶͈̳̓ ̶̼͂̊́Ç̵̤͑̚͜ó̶̘͝m̸͔̭̲̈m̶̛͈̟͂o̷̻̝̊̋̐n̵̡̛̩̭ ̷̨̯͑͂Ṣ̴̈́k̵̺̫̃͝i̷̲̗͗̈l̶̢͙̑̆͜ľ̴̹̘͔ ̸̰̞͗̐C̶̡̪̬̈́̂r̵͔͒̐a̵̗̬̤͂̏f̵̮͗̉͐t̵̡̘̉̆[̶͉͗͠H̴̡͚̀͆o̶͓͚͔̓ủ̶̬̞̂s̵̼͍̐͛͊e̵̢̧̞̚k̶̄̊̅ͅe̴̤̥̓̌̽͜ḛ̴̼̈́̈́̚p̵̺̜̈́̚͠i̶͈̒͛n̴̹̬͒́g̶̲̥̈̋̾]̴̡̝͐̕:̴̣̳̔[̴̮̖̔̑̀8̵̥̓]̴̢͛̾͊ ̴̯͝
• ̸̨̲͛Ù̸̪̐s̷̬̭̉̈͂ę̸̞͊r̷̫͐̍͝ ̶͖̹́͊̆g̴̳͂̕a̴̺̥͗̑i̶͚͗ṇ̵̀s̷̞̠̐̈͑ͅ ̷̣̞͖́C̵͍̼̻̆͛̍o̶̯̔̽́m̸̬̦̘̎m̵̧̖͗̕ǒ̵̤̐n̴̟̱̜̆ ̵̹̈́S̴̫̞̒͛͘k̴̢̃̈́ì̴̺l̴̪̠̱̎̌͛l̶̬̒̈ ̷̦̯̑̍̌͜C̷͙̤̜͆̓͝r̶̹̾a̶̡̿͗f̸̜̥̳͛̍̈́t̴̢̟̙́[̵͖̩̭̒̔C̶͙̺͑͂͝o̸̬̐̌o̸̯͛̀ḱ̷̡̡̜i̵̯̮̘̽͝n̷̗̦͂g̶͍̩̋̂̆]̸͚̱̓͜͠͝:̸͔̮̇[̵̰̙̙̅8̸͖̱͆̃̎]̸̥̣̯̈́̾̈
• ̴̸̯͖͓͎̹̑̀̈́̀̅U̸͋͜͝͝s̵̪̐e̴̤̚r̸̢̩̹̈̓̚ ̵̺̔g̵͓̐͌a̸̡͎͆̄̋i̸̮̓͆ṅ̸̼̩͘s̴̠̀́̆ ̴̰͌͌͝C̷͉̘͓̏o̸̯̟͛͐m̷̛̘̑̎m̵̢̰̿̓̉o̷̳̣̠͑̈́͝ṇ̸̨͂̇͝ ̸̠͎̭̏͝Ŝ̵͈̗̩̌ḳ̵͌͘i̴͔̯̹͗l̸͉̾̈́̔ĺ̷̯̥ ̸̢̻͎́̆͆[̶͈̊͛̽È̸̯m̷̭̤̂̈p̶̰̏̂a̵̼̪̓t̶͈̄͆̇ḧ̸̢͖́̄y̸̧̕]̷̧̀:̷͈̳͂͛͜[̸̣̼̖́1̶̟́͘͠0̷̘̻͑́͘]̷̭̉
• ̴̵̢͈̫̐͆Ú̷͈̋s̵̩̟̉e̵̳͒r̴̦͖͐̊ ̴̡̞̿g̵̢̨͕̊̚ą̸̭͔́i̶̝̙̔̑͌n̶̡͂ŝ̸̛̜̎ ̵͓̇C̸̘̍̉o̵͉̖͘͘m̴̤͒m̶̛͎͌ő̸̰̞̗͌̈n̵̞̟̑̓͠ ̵͓͗ͅS̶̹̥̻̎̿͂k̷̛̭̠̙̂i̸̙͓̿̄l̵͈̗̓l̶̳͎̓ ̵̖̀̋͗[̸̻͚̖̏͂Ĭ̸̪ṅ̴̼̠̙͠t̸̮̤̆̉͝i̸͔̺̼̅͛m̴̳̊̓͘i̴̢̝̎̂d̵͉̖͘a̷̼̙͆̕t̷͔͈͕́̆e̸͚͇͒]̵̼̐́͐:̵̜̇̋͝[̸̠͠1̷̘͓̱͂́0̴̝͆͘]̶̻͖͑̃

Banes: While equipped the user gains the following Banes and effects.

Cursed: Oujōdere.

Cursed: Idealistic.

Cursed: Optimistic.

Cursed: Unable to lie.

Cursed: Unable to swear.

Cursed: Soft Hearted.

Cursed: Horny.>

My eyes panned over the list. I frowned at the glitchy text then felt my eyes slowly widening as I pieced them together.

This… with the [Beautiful] Boon…?!

“Oh my god, this is a waifu!” I exclaimed in shock.

Mike burst out laughing. “Plus, you know, the Trickster’s Boon there. I think it’s all glitchy because we’re not ‘supposed’ to have them.” She added thoughtfully. “At least, nobody has ever noticed them, even when they really should have.”

She paused, then continued in a more teasing voice. “And yes, a waifu, but just one specific flavor of waifu. And if I had to guess, you are your exact chosen flavor of waifu.” She grinned mischievously at me. “I’d guess that’s why the last curse is there.” She pointed to the ‘Cursed: Horny.’ “You like girls who say ‘yes’.”

I felt my cheeks grow hot. “I don’t have to dignify that with a response.” I said.

“Hey, no real judgements! Look at me! Why do you think I look like this?!” She gestured at herself. “Ideal waifu.”

My mouth formed a soundless ‘o’ of sudden understanding. “So… so your unique skill… does?”

Mike’s ears flicked with embarrassment and she colored slightly. “Well, yeah. Sexpot kitsune tease. What else would it do?”

“Ok, no, no, no! Nope! I’m out of here!” I looked back to the menu. “This is too weird, I’m gone! Where’s the exit?! You said we could leave!”

Mike looked reluctant, but pointed at my status screen again. “I can’t touch your screen. Flick your finger up.”

I swiped up, and the info screen disappeared and the status screen closed and a new dialogue box popped up. It read simply:

<Leave Ronde? Yes/No>

I jabbed a finger at the ‘Yes’ button with angry force, and the world swam and shivered around me. I felt the strange alien body I’d been given dissolve, and the strange feeling of my body being kneaded, stretched, and shaped once more, and I found myself sitting back in my chair, looking at the age verification screen to Champions of Ronde, and the anime artwork.

I quickly glanced down at myself, then clutched at my groin. I gave a sigh of relief to find my normal male body with all its normal parts back in place.

I slowly raised my eyes back to the screen and stared at it. The anime avatars clustered in the background art were incredibly high quality. A fox girl dressed in miko clothes smiled out of the screen, a perfect match to Mike. Next to her, a smiling priestess with small elf ears stood modestly to the side, while a buxom elf, a magical witch girl, and a catgirl ninja posed nearby.

“Waifus…” I shook my head and stabbed at the browser close button. To my relief it did in fact close, rather than refusing to as I half expected, but my relief was short lived when I noticed a new icon on my desktop labeled “Return to Ronde.”

“Oh hell no!” I growled, and dragged the icon to the trash. This time, things did not work out as I had hoped. The icon simply pulled itself out of the trash, and settled back onto my desktop. I glared angrily at it, and jabbed the computer power button, breathing a sigh of relief when my computer shut down. The relief was short lived however, as my phone buzzed from the desk, cheerfully notifying me that “Return to Ronde” had been installed in my mobile apps.

“Why the hell would I want to become a waifu?!” I shouted at it, and hurled it across the room.

I breathed hard, my pulse slowly calming down. It doesn’t speak very well of me that I don’t want to become the girl that I want to waifu. I thought, feeling a creeping rush of shame. Gods, she’s an extreme doormat! A sudden thought stuck in my head. Though… she has Intimidation. Maxed out Intimidation. Why… would a waifu have that? I frowned, then shook my head. Ok, no, whatever, I’m never going to open that app anyway, the… Entity… can go suck camel dick! I decided, viciously happy with the swear. And if it decides to kidnap me, I’ll just leave again!

A thought struck me, and I headed back to the forums where the question had been asked that set me on this bizarre rollercoaster. Several replies, most to the extent of ‘never heard of it’ and ‘looks like moba trash.’ I angrily typed a blistering commentary about moba trash and bad ads, then reported the original poster for ad spam. I felt a little guilty… but not much.

Besides, if I’m saving someone else from this Entity, then so much the better! It’s for their own good! I rationalized.

Satisfied with myself, I went to bed.

I stayed strong for most of a month before giving in to morbid fascination. My work computer (mercifully) did not acquire a mysterious link to “Return to Ronde.” Not that it really needed too, my phone was in my pocket and sure enough, all attempts to remove the offending app had utterly failed. The same for my home computer. Even a full wipe and reinstall had greeted me with the app appearing without any action at all.

I even unplugged it from the net, and how is that fair!? Well. It’s not like have to open it, now do I?! I thought angrily.

Still, it was very strange that this… Entity… was so open handed. Usually in these sorts of stories, the person was kidnapped and forced into a new world, or murdered or simply killed in a freak accident. Also, it was unusual that there was someone else already there, and that the Entity appeared to be collecting people for its own reasons. Odd.

So much of this doesn’t make sense! And why did my waifu have intimidation 10! She’s a doormat! I shook my head angrily. Not thinking about that! But what’s the connection with an actual game online? I grumbled mentally.

But from that small niggling seed of doubt, it was a short hop to-

It’s not like anybody’s forcing me to log in.

-and from there to-

And what could it hurt, if it pulls me into Ronde again, I’ll just leave.

-and so I found myself staring at the website of Champions of Ronde once again. I scowled at the age verification page, then closed the tab and went searching for a wiki. To my surprise, I found one. I really hadn’t been expecting one. Isn’t that how the stories all go? There’s a mysterious game that no one else can find that pulls you in? No records, no information, a website that only you can access… but the wiki was filled with eager people shoveling their money into a freemium economy, and eagerly talking about the system.

Before I realized it, I found myself reading the system outlines…

Or perhaps that would be System outlines? Huh. This is… actually pretty interesting. I thought.

A layered skill system with each character having the ability to take multiple roleplaying and non-roleplaying classes. Core classes set baseline stats, while roleplay classes gave skill and xp bonuses. Leveling up gained class points to be spent in new core classes, while roleplay classes could be switched at will. Certain classes required levels in multiple different classes, some roleplay, some core, in order to acquire them.

So Caelynna’s ‘maid’ class gives bonuses to household tasks, and reduced SP consumption for skills and spells related to that. … Well, I don’t know what else I expected, really.

The magic system was a shock though!

Alright, how have they not been sued into oblivion!? This is just Magic the Gathering’s color wheel! Ok, if there’s one thing that fits ‘otherworldly supernatural game that defies explanation’ it’s the fact they haven’t been sued out of existence using IP like this!

Curiously, summoning magic and pets were all very high tier spells though, which was interesting.

That’s not very Magic the Gathering at all, frankly. Maybe they did that to lock the colors to their roles? I pondered.

Magic cost stamina points.

Odd. Certainly one way to limit the ‘run everywhere’ effect?

Any class could use magic, but some were much better at it than others. In addition, once you’d selected three adjacent colors, you couldn’t gain any more, due to ‘conflicts of mana.’ The five colors, White, Blue, Black, Red, and Green, all held to their typical flavor arcs and roles.

I suppose that’s why Caelynna is a ‘white’ mage. Or I suppose that’s White mage? I just assumed… I wonder what color Mike is then? I rolled my eyes as soon as I thought the question. Red, of course. She’s red. Passion, hedonism… maybe she’s a bit Green too for all the wild bestial traits?

The wiki confirmed my suspicions, or at least it confirmed that Red and Green were colors of passion and freedom.

But within each color there were links to classes, including roleplaying and crafting classes! An herbalist might use green magic for quick growth, or a toymaker might use blue magic for illusions. In addition, the spell list was shockingly huge, with a great many spells that seemed to have no use outside of roleplaying.

And no spells that are magic cards. Why on earth… Well, this certainly fits the ‘surreal impossibility’ I was expecting!

Heading back to the main website, I plugged in the usual 1900 age, and started looking around.

That’s odd. The cash shop isn’t the first thing splashed across the page. Refreshing, but odd.

Instead, the high-quality anime artwork continued, with glowing marketing speak of deep systems, involved lore… all the usual cruft you’d expect, but curiously there was also a link to the wiki that I’d just been on.

It was another week before I cracked and downloaded the game to my home computer. I paused, looking at the installer, then shook my head.

If it sends me back to Ronde, then I’ll just leave again! I thought angrily to myself.

It didn’t. The game opened and ran smoothly, a 3D isometric layout with beautiful anime styled avatars and graphics. The starting classes were all very simple, but there was also an enormous list of starting roleplaying careers, Herbalist, Carpenter, Maid, Smith… the list went on and on.

Without thinking, I selected my default build, a healer support, then stopped, staring at the screen with irritation. I ground my teeth and slowly backed out, selecting a Hunter with a Woodsman subclass, and Green magic.

“I am not a waifu in training!” I ground out.

The main square was busy with far more players than I had expected-

Though really, did I expect any players!? There’s not even supposed to be a wiki! I thought to myself.

-and it was easy to group up and go adventuring. I was lucky enough to find some folks who seemed like decent people, and by the end of the evening, I had to grudgingly admit to myself that I was having fun, even with the decidedly non-standard build I’d gone with, and not a dime spent in the cash shop.

The stat screen was hauntingly familiar to me. With a few minor exceptions, it was identical to what I’d seen after my Isekai jaunt.

“Nothing about this makes any sense!” I growled.

Of course, you could always return and ask Mike… my traitorous brain whispered to me.

“No! Absolutely not!” I glared at my computer, then went to read a book instead.

I lasted another week before I finally broke down. Call it morbid curiosity, call it some subtle enchantment, but it was a long weekend and I was bored. I tapped the ‘Return to Ronde’ app on my mobile phone.

I must be crazy. I thought as my body dissolved and my vision went dark.

Once more I was gripped with a sensation of moving without movement. This time the transition felt longer, and the sensations within the passage were more intense and detailed. The feeling of warmth and comfort swirled around me and the sensations of my body being compressed and kneaded were much more intense than previously. Since I had an idea what was happening, I could clearly feel the changes as I was massaged into a new shape.

The feel of pressure between my thighs, followed by a sudden release and a feeling of emptiness. The heavy weight steadily growing on my chest and steadily increasing sensitivity of my nipples. The feeling of my hips spreading apart and a luxurious feeling of a good stretch as my legs and arms were reshaped.

My vision returned in a rush, and I wobbled but remained standing this time, my changed voice letting out a little sigh of relief. I hesitantly looked around, feeling the familiar yet alien sensations of this new body.

I was standing in a spacious single square room with tatami mat floors. The walls were painted with a beautiful forest in the ukiyo-e style. A low western style bed with nightstand and dressers stood nearby. Ample light streamed in through large shoji style glass windows though which I could see a Japanese garden. Opposite the window, a fusama style sliding door painted with a forested woodland continued the pattern of the walls.

I was standing on what felt like tiptoe, my robes clinging to me. I hesitantly looked down past the jutting shelf of my breasts, lifting my foot up so I could see it. The tiptoe sensation was revealed to be a pair of low heeled fantasy waifu boots, my feet just as small and dainty as my hands.

“Oh. Of course. Well what else would I be wearing?” I said with a sigh, my alternate form voice just as high, sweet, and soft as I remembered. The boots were pretty and sexy while also being just barely on the believable side. Exactly what my ideal anime waifu would wear.

I held out my hand to call Status, and then swiped down to verify that the Exit option still existed. It did, and I nodded hesitantly. “Good. I think? I hope.”

Suddenly, I heard the sound of running feet outside my room once more. Before the fusuma door to my room could slam open, I slid it open myself to see Mike there, an expression of joyful excitement on her face.

“You came back!” She squealed, and lunged at me, wrapping her arms around me in a hug that made me acutely aware of the pressure of her breasts on mine, and the way I could see right down the cleavage her off the shoulder top revealed.

Oh. Not Mike then. Kaede.

“I’m so glad! I was worried you wouldn’t but I knew you’d just have to, and so…” she rubbed her cheek against mine then pulled back a little.

“Hello again, beautiful~ Now we can have all sorts of fun~” She smiled, her voice that husky purr from before. Obviously, she had that Unique name skill of hers activated again.

I pushed her away from me, my arms feeling surprisingly strong as I did so. “Mike, quit it! You’re creeping me out!”

She blinked, looking hurt for a moment, before she pulled up her status window and deactivated the skill.

“Ah, sorry, sorry!” her whole posture, attitude, and voice instantly changing from sultry sex kitten to exceptionally easy on the eyes female. “It’s easy to forget I have that skill active when there’s no one else around!”

She tugged her top into a slightly less revealing angle and clapped her hands. “So! You decided to come back! I hoped you would!”

She leaned forward. “So what was it? The power fantasies? The skill systems?”

I shuffled uncomfortably on my heels. “None of the above. I just had some questions that I figured you could answer.”

Mike took a step back, surprise on her features. “Huh. Well, I didn’t expect that. Alright, shoot. I’m here to answer.”

I waved my arms around vaguely, not quite sure where to start, finally choosing with “None of this makes any sense!”

Mike laughed and shrugged. “Well of course not! The Entity doesn’t make much sense! Bored demigod trickster kind of prank, honestly! It only really makes sense if you look at it from that angle.”

“But… but all of this…” I waved around again. “Where is this, anyway?”

Mike smiled. “Ah, now that question I can answer! This-” she waved grandly around the luxurious wooden hallway. “-is my shrine! What’s a kitsune miko without her shrine, right? It also seems to be a large house with rooms for… well, for anyone I want to invite! We can have a waifu club!

“We’re just outside of the city of Bryelle, which is a small city on the outskirts of the Kingdom of Tavenia, near the northern border. Kind of like a starter quest hub, only we’re way out in the boonies.

“It’s got an entry on the wiki too, but the entry is just a one-line stub. My shrine isn’t mentioned at all.”

“So… you just… hang out here?”

“Oh no! I’ve been out adventuring for the past few days! Every time I login, I go to the guild, and get a few quests! And sometimes I need to fight off monster attacks, since we’re outside the walls here. I just reached level fifteen!” She said proudly.

I blinked at her. “You’ve been here for weeks, and you’re only level fifteen? Even with 200% xp buff?!”

“Hey! It’s not as easy as it is in the game!” she said defensively. “You have to actually travel places! You get tired! You have to camp! This isn’t like a video game, you can’t just fast travel from place to place or have your toon walk there with a script! Plus, getting injured really hurts!” She pouted. “And healers are hard to come by!” She pointed at me. “Your pure white focus is actually really rare!”

I blinked slowly, then nodded. “I see.” I idly pushed a lock of light brown hair behind my ear, only to freeze in shock at the feeling of my fingers brushing along a pointed ear.

Mike laughed at my expression, her ears twitching. “Yeah, that takes getting used to. It’s still weird to feel my ears move on their own, or to hear from up here-” She pointed to the tall fox ears on her head.

“-rather than down here.” She pointed to the side of her head.

I blinked again in surprise and took a half step forward. “So you don’t…”

“Nope! No four ears, just these two.” She pointed to the top of her head again, then smoothed back the… hair? fur?... along the side of her head, revealing the uninterrupted plane of her skull.

She grinned. “It’s pretty cool, actually. I always thought four ears were dumb.”

“Huh.” I said, idly stroking my fingertips over the delicate point of my ears. Unpleasantly pleasant sensations made me stop abruptly. “Well, my status did say I was a half-elf…”

“Anyway, what else can I answer for you? Actually, why don’t we do a quest while I answer your questions?! That way you can think up more questions!” Mike practically vibrated with excitement.

I held up my hands. “Oh no, no! I just came for answers to my questions! Not to do… whatever this is!” I protested.

“But we can do both! Come on, pleeeease?” She pleaded, her hands clasped in front of her. “It’ll be easy, I saw a bunch of E rank quests on the board today, we’ll pick something super easy like picking flowers or gathering honey! And healers are super rare…”

I sighed. It was strange, but the idea was growing on me. I couldn’t say why, but it just felt suddenly reasonable. And Mike was clearly enjoying herself. I hung my head, my shoulder’s slumped in defeat. “I guess I’d better learn how to use equipment then.” I mumbled.

Mike jumped in the air, her fist overhead. “Yesss! This is gonna be awesome! Come on, let’s get you registered at the Adventurer’s Guild! Oh, equipment! Right, so, just hold out your hand, and think hard about the item you want to equip. If it’s in your inventory, it’ll appear.”

She waggled her fingers like a magician. “Nothing up my sleeves, no pockets…” She made a flourish, and beautiful oriental fans with metal edges appear in her hands. “Ta-dah!”

I blinked, then frowned in doubt.

No pockets? I looked down at the shelf of my breasts, and the way my robes clung to my body. Well of course. No pockets. After all, they might ruin the look of the skintight robe. I thought wryly.

Closing my eyes and holding out my hand, I thought about the items I’d seen on my equipment list. There was a soft ‘pop’ and a sudden weight settled in my hand. At the same time, something lightly settled onto my chest making me uncomfortably aware of my breasts.

A System notice popped up in my vision, even with my eyes closed.

<Notice:   You have equipped Mage’s Staff. POW +1, M.POW +2, DEF +1.

           You have equipped Holy Symbol. DEF +1. M.DEF +1.>

My eyes popped open in surprise and I looked at a classic wooden healer’s staff, curved into a hook at the top with a glowing blue gem hovering in the middle of the hook. Looking down at the swell of my chest, I saw that a gold necklace with a stylized sun rested lightly on the upper slopes of… of the uniboob my breasts pressed into my robes.

“Oh…!” I said softly in surprise, then hefted the staff. I gave a hesitant smile. “Well… that’s handy!”

“Isn’t it!? Yeah, you can just call up your equipment from your inventory anytime you need it. You don’t have unlimited space though, so be careful.”

“So… I guess everyone has the extradimensional storage space in this world?” I said, focusing on my staff and ‘pushing’ at it. It obligingly disappeared with a ‘pop’ of air.

“Oh, wow! You figured that out fast! Yeah, pretty much everybody does, though some have more and some have less.” She laughed. “No need for pockets in this world, everyone comes with their own!” She winked. “I’m pretty sure that ours are top rung.” She spun and headed down the hall again.

I took a step after her, and wobbled uncertainly in my fetish waifu boots. “Uh, hold up!” I said, catching myself against a door frame. “I don’t know how to walk in these stupid heels!”

Mike blinked, and then trotted back. I looked down at her solid sole okobo with envy.

She followed my gaze and smiled. “They’re heels too, you know. See the wedge?” She showed off her okobo, and I saw she was right. Platform wedge heels, easily higher than mine.

I blinked in surprise. With those platform heels that means… I’m taller than her?! Is she actually really short?!

“So, heels work like this.” She explained. “You just need to be a little careful of how you line up your feet. Heel, then toe. Make sure it’s firmly planted, then heel toe again. Your hips are going to sway, that’s natural. Then, just walk slowly, and you’ll pick it up in no time.”

She smiled mischievously. “You know, if it’s really bothering you, you could just activate your name skill. Then you wouldn’t have to worry about walking or feeling strange.”

I glared at her. “No thank you. It’s weird enough knowing I’m in the body of a woman, I have no desire to add mental compulsions!”

“Oh!” She clapped her hands. “That reminds me! You must be dying to know what you look like! Let’s go to my room, I’ve got a mirror you can use!”

She dashed off, then halted and gestured for me to follow. “Come on!”

I frowned, but I had to admit, I was curious… did I look like the anime priestess girl on the front page of Champions of Ronde? Like Mike looked like the foxgirl?

Gingerly, feeling my way down the hall in these sexy fetish boots, I followed after Mike.

My body was extremely different, which threw off my reactions, but it wasn’t too difficult. With a little coaching (and me finally letting my hips sway… just a little!) I managed to make very credible progress down the hall and into Mike’s room.

I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but when I saw the room, my reaction was ‘Oh, of course.’ Her room was an odd mix of feminine frilly, elegant Japanese simplicity, and whimsy. Contradictions that existed in elegant harmony. A low bed rested on tatami mats, with curving cherry blossom decorations scattered across the furniture. Clothes and items strewn apparently at random about the room, with elegant brushwork art of monsters and scenery displayed on the walls. Mike slipped off her okobo at the door, and I noted with idle amusement that I was indeed taller than her now that she was in stocking feet.

I stopped at the entrance to the room, frowning. Mike walked over to a large standing mirror then looked back at me.

She thwapped her forehead. “Oh, right. Sorry. Don’t worry about it, you can put them into your inventory, or just slip them off. They’re just shoes!”

I frowned, and then nervously stood on one foot, raising my other and slipping off the boot, revealing a tiny foot in white stockings.

<Notice:   Set bonus from Healer’s Outfit broken. DEF -2, M.DEF -2.>

I blinked in surprise seeing the sudden notice appear in the corner of my vision. I wobbled and grabbed the doorframe to steady myself, then hurriedly slipped off my other boot, dropping it to the floor beside its twin.

I sighed in relief, the awkward feeling of tiptoe vanishing. Though I noted that I was still taller than Kaede, even though we were both in our… quite literally! Stocking feet. I stepped into the room, and gingerly moved across the tatami mats towards the mirror, curious and apprehensive to finally see this strange body I was inhabiting.

Looking full into the mirror, my jaw fell open as I stared at the vision reflected back at me. Had I thought Mike was gorgeous? Sheer folly. The woman in the mirror was a living ideal, soft and feminine and heart stoppingly gorgeous. [Beautiful]? This was what the Boon called beautiful?! She was gorgeous.

The woman in the mirror was as far from the blandly pretty priestess picture on the Ronde website as the sun was from the moon, a faded copy of a copy of the real thing. She appeared to be around the same age as Mike, that nebulous 18-22 of all anime waifus, and with the same faintly Asian features.

Wide vibrant light blue eyes met my gaze, set in a delicate feminine oval. Soft pouted lips kissed with a hint of pink, open in a soundless ‘o’ of surprise. The delicate tips of pointed ears peeked out from silken light brown hair which  framed her face before falling to her hips in a sheeting cascade.

On her head, she wore a low cap that combined elements of wimple and miter into a vaguely ‘religious’ theme.

Clad in a stereotypical priestess outfit colored blue, cream, and gold, her robes somehow contrived to be both modest and indecently revealing. Though every inch of skin was covered, it clung tightly enough to reveal every curve and swell of her body. Her skirt fell to her ankles, though the slits on the sides of her skirt revealed flashes of long shapely legs encased in white stockings ending in the tiny high arched feet. Flowing oversleeves with tight undersleeves that ended in a point over the top of her hand.

The soft roundness of her shoulders, the long slender arms, and the delicate graceful hands bespoke a fragile femininity. Her breasts were large, almost as large as Mike’s. They pressed proudly outwards against her robe, stretching the fabric into a ‘uniboob’. Their size made her waist, already slender and small, seem even smaller. The gentle flare of her hips rounded out the bottom of an idealized hourglass.

I stared at her figure in wonder, my hand lifting to slowly trace the reflection in the mirror. It was as though a fantasy I had not known I possessed had been pulled from my head and made flesh. How could this… be me!?

“This… I…” my voice suddenly made perfect sense, the sweet and high tones a perfect match to her. My hands, small and slender and delicate, the soft oval nails grown just past the tips of her fingers, exactly as hers should be.

Waifu… I thought, struck dumb once more. The perfect waifu…

Mike gently shook me. “Hey. Hey, earth to Dustin?”

I shook my head, breaking the spell of beauty and looked over to her. “Wha?”

“You’ve been staring at yourself for, like, half a glass now.”

“What? I have? Wait, what’s a glass?”

Mike laughed. “Ah, sorry, I get so used to using local measurements! They don’t use clocks here, after all. A ‘glass’ is short for hourglass. An hour. So ‘half a glass’ is just half an hour.” She grinned at me. “I mean… not that I blame you, I guess. I know I’ve spent a lot of time just looking at myself. Hey, I know!” she clapped her hands again. We can get you a mirror at the town when we get you registered at the guild!”

“What? What would I use the mirror for? Where would I put it?”

Mike giggled. “Your room, silly! The one you appeared in!”

“But I don’t need-” I began.

Mike cut me off. “None of that, I saw how you reacted. You definitely want a mirror, girl. And I’ve got plenty of cash from the grinding I’ve been doing.”

“But I’m not staying!” I protested.

Mike smiled mischievously. “Ok, we’ll go with that. Then I’m just decorating a friend’s room for fun.”

She pushed me away from the mirror and towards the open door. “Come on, I can’t wait to introduce you to the local clerk! She’s so hot!”

Stopping at the doorway to put on our shoes, I gingerly followed Mike, slowly gaining confidence with my new heels.

We exited the building that Mike called a shrine, which was more like a Japanese mansion than anything I’d associate with a shrine, with several outbuildings containing dozens of rooms and hallways surrounding a neatly landscaped stone garden with a pond in the center. However, as we headed towards the front of the complex, there was a neat gravel path with several torii arches over it, and cherry blossom trees surrounding the pathway, with what was clearly a small temple and shrine just before the mansion gardens.

“So… do you know how to be a miko?” I asked, struck by the image.

“Eh, sort of? Kaede knows everything about it, and I spend most of my time with her active. I guess I’ve kind of picked up a little from her.” She replied breezily.

Beyond the torii the gravel path led to a stone brick road, and about a kilometer beyond that the walls of a city rose on the horizon. A steady stream of wagon and foot traffic streamed past on the road, both heading to and from the city gate in the distance. I felt a little queasy as several wagon drivers almost had an accident staring at us as we stepped out from under the shrine’s torii. Mike seemed almost to revel in it. She led the way onto the highway, and we headed towards the city gate in the distance.

“I still don’t understand why you’re so ok with this?!” I asked in bafflement. “Like… the way you talked about it, it’s like Kaede is almost another person, but you enjoy being her?!”

“Hm, it’s hard to explain.” Mike said. “But the short answer is, yes, I do. Kaede is… very open with her emotions. Very passionate and vibrantly alive. That feels really good. Plus, it’s just plain enjoyable to be so blatantly powerful, even at such a low level.”

“Powerful? What’s your class, anyway?” I asked.

“Oh, I’m a [Medium], subclass [Shrine Maiden]. Sort of a ghostbuster kind of thing, mostly blue and black magic. I started off as a [Entertainer], then leveled up [Crafter], and finally I was able to unlock [Medium].”

She took a few steps over towards the edge of the highway and posed dramatically. “I call upon the spirits of life and death, ward and protect us from the realms beyond!” Glowing mystic sigils of magical energy appeared around her as she chanted, her hands rapidly moving through a series of mudra. The air whirled around her and flickers of dark lightning filled the air. “Fiends of the hells, begone from this place!” She grinned, dropping the pose. The magical energies instantly dissipated.

I stumbled a few steps back, boggling at the obviously very real and powerful magic she was wielding. It was one thing to see graphics in a video game, or read a description, but quite another to see and feel the magic in person!

The traffic on the highway behind us barely seemed to notice, though I heard a few shouted complaints of “Quiet down!” and “Damn adventurers!”

I, on the other hand, was considerably less blasé about the whole thing. “W-wow… that… looks like the special effects artists went all out!” I stammered, wide eyed.

Despite the genuine awe I felt, her overacting was really entertaining and actually pretty funny. When I’d recovered myself, I gave a little clap of approval. “Very impressive!” I said with a grin.

“Thank you! Kaede makes it really easy to ham it up.” She replied with a cheerful smile.

We continued our interrupted journey towards the city.

It was a very strange sensation, I was keenly feeling the awareness of my new body. The way my hips swayed and rolled, the shift and soft sway of my breasts, and the swirling behind me as my long curtain of hair trailed behind me. It was distinctly… enjoyable, in a sensual way.

I bit my lower lip in thought as the memory of this body in the mirror floated through my head.

What does she look like walking? What does this body look like in motion? The way my hips sway, the soft shift of my breasts with each step…

A strange alien and yet intimately familiar feeling swept over me, the feeling of arousal strong and sharp. A familiar yet alien emptiness and hunger between my thighs, and the sudden awareness my nipples poked firmly into the cups of my bra.

So this is what it feels like for a woman to be aroused. I mused to myself.

I snuck a quick peek at my chest, suddenly worried that the subtle peak of arousal was visible. To my relief,  the soft curve of my dress’s uniboob remained uninterrupted.

I shook my head to clear it, and turned back to Kaede to ask more questions. Partly to distract me from this strange and weirdly enjoyable body, and partly… out of pure exotic fascination. I was really here in a real isekai! Sure, I might not be the dashing hero with OP sword and spell, but… Kaede’s display had opened my eyes and I wondered…

Could I do magic like that?! What would it feel like?!

Mike excitedly talked and gestured as I listened. This place really did seem like a manifested version of the Champions of Ronde game. Random dungeons with cores that generated monstrous monsters, adventurers who hunted the monsters to supply the cities with monster parts and the magic crystals (called ‘materia’) that made your average ordinary fantasy life possible… there was even a Demon King somewhere in the middle of the world! It was an MMO world through and through.

Just before we reached the city gates, Mike said “So, when we get to the gate, the guards will ask you why you’re here. You don’t need to show them your status screen, but they will ask you to swear on a truth stone that you don’t intend anything harmful to the city or its citizens.”

“Oop! I’d better get in character.” She added softly to herself.

Her eyes lost focus for a second and I heard her whisper [Kaede Mayaki] to herself. Instantly her entire demeanor shifted. Her walk shifted into a sultry sway, and her voice took on a husky purr. It was obvious that she’d just activated her name skill, though she hadn’t opened her status screen at all.

“Aaahmmm~” She hummed softly. “That’s so much better!” She stretched her arms over her head in a luxurious stretch, letting her top slide off her shoulders, revealing the upper slopes of her breasts again.

“Mm, Mike is nice, but he’s so tightly wound!” she purred.

“Ok, that is super creepy.” I said to her, taking a step back. “You are Mike, you know.”

She looked at me with an almost pitying expression. “Of course dear~, but when I’m like this, I’m Kaede.”

I frowned uncomfortably, but by then we had reached the line of travelers waiting to gain entry to the city. I suddenly realized something that had been percolating in the back of my head. I was… short! Well… perhaps not exactly short, but… well I was average female sized, and that meant most everyone else around me was taller! In some cases, considerably taller! I was suddenly extremely glad for the modest height gain from my heels!

Well of course I’m short. I thought suddenly, with wry realization. If I am my own waifu, then I am precisely 162 centimeters tall in stocking feet.

Just as Kaede had said, when we got to the gates, the guards asked my business, and had me swear on a little grey-brown stone engraved with runes.

Unlike what Kaede had said, I noticed that Kaede was very well known to the guards! She laughed and teased and…

Say it. She’s flirting with them! I thought uncomfortably. And they’re flirting right back. I thought with a strange mélange of emotions.

Kaede’s actions made things go much smoother, but I really wasn’t sure how I felt about that. A little queasy, perhaps? But, well…

It’s none of my business. I decided firmly.

The guard’s eyes lingered on my body and especially my chest. In fact, now that I was paying attention, every male near me was sneaking admiring glances at me and Kaede. It was a strange feeling, to be so blatantly ogled, and yet… the memory of this body in the mirror… no, I didn’t blame the guard at all for taking his time.

“Do you swear that you intend the people, city, and structures of Brylle no harm now or in the future? Is your inventory free of all harmful, dangerous, or risky items?” the guard asked with a bored monotone drawl.

I placed my palm on the stone and said I did not and it was, in order. When I did, the stone pulsed with light, and I could feel a wave of energy travel through me and back to the stone, which shimmered with a soft cerulean glow.

“Welcome to Brylle.” The guard paused, then gave a friendly but lecherous grin to Kaede. “You and your friend are welcome to join us for drinks after our shift?”

Is he… oh my god, I’m being flirted with?! I thought with astonishment. Why am I shocked, the only time his eyes left me was when they were undressing Kaede! Regardless, I could feel my cheeks heating with what was definitely an obvious blush.

“Sorry, boys!” Kaede blew the group a kiss and winked as she led me away. “Can’t do the drinks tonight, but later sounds fun! I’ll have to ask Caelynna if she wants to come though. Thanks again for your time!”” She turned away and smiled teasingly at me.

“I am not going out for drinks with them!” I said firmly but quietly once I was sure we were out of earshot.

Kaede shrugged easily. “Suit yourself. Pretty girls get advantages, it would be a shame to throw them out just because you’re a prude.”

Past the city gates, another fact that had been tugging at my mind finally started to make itself noticed. Everyone around us… no one here was ugly. Average was actually pretty rare! I found myself staring with considerable interest at the attractive women in form fitting quasi-medieval outfits passing in the streets around me. If anything, average in this world seemed to be… easy on the eyes.

I tugged on Mike’s sleeve. “Mike… everyone’s pretty! Does everyone in this world have the [Beautiful] trait?”

Kaede blinked and looked at me in surprise. “Kaede, dear. I’m Kaede right now. And I don’t know. I don’t think so? We’re meant to be special, I’m sure!”

The city bustled with activity, a busy market square with shop keepers hawking their wares. Well-tended and clean streets… and no smell!

“How do they keep it so clean?!” I asked in bafflement.

“Are you complaining?” Kaede said with a grin. She went on before I could deny it. “Low level punishments involve civic duty. That, plus a working sewer system and simple spellcraft that most everyone knows can keep a city clean with little work.”

We finally reached the adventurer’s guild after several more minutes of walking. It was a large building fronting a plaza in what felt like a middle class neighborhood. It looked like a town hall had crashed into a tavern inn and never gotten untangled. Within, tables filled with adventurers of all classes dressed in stereotypical fantasy adventurer garb drank and gambled and traded tall tales.

I stared around in open wonder and more than a bit of gleeful enjoyment. It was all so real. So alive. In a way no video game or novel ever had been. I was really here in a real adventurer’s guild! And sure enough, everyone-

Even the men!

-were attractive, at a minimum!

The view is certainly nice I thought to myself, eyeing a scantily dressed girl who could only be a jrpg [Thief], and another who wore the archetypical giant floppy hat of a [Wizard], dressed in revealing robes.

Tighter and more revealing than mine! I thought, feeling very slightly less self-conscious.

Even the men’s clothing-

More like costumes! I thought critically.

-was tight and/or revealing. Bare chests and muscled abdomens abounded, as well as impractically oversized half plate.

Reinforcing the awareness that ‘pretty’ was the norm, the sight of two very beautiful women-

Or should that be [Beautiful]? I thought to myself.

-entering didn’t make the noise do more than dip slightly before returning to full volume.

Admittedly, a fair bit of that volume was a roar of welcome, raised glasses and a cheer from several tables. “Kaede’s here! Eeeey, Kaede! Come drink with us, Kaede! Who’s your pretty friend Kaede!? Kaede, come quest with us!”

Kaede laughed and waved to everyone, then raised her voice to be heard over the roar.

“Sorry boys!” She sang out.

And I was mostly boys… but not all boys I noticed… who knew her.

Or should that be ‘knew’? I wondered snippily.

“I came to get my friend registered!” She gestured to me. “So I can’t today! Raincheck though!”

Kaede turned to me, and then laughed delightedly. “Close your mouth, you look like a tourist!” She giggled. “Actually, it really suits you, newbie!” she pointed to the rear where a long counter staffed by a very pretty receptionist stood next to a huge board filled with flyers. “That’s Leni! See her?!”

She’s almost as pretty as Mike or me… huh. Am I… actually pleased that I’m prettier than her?!

She wore the fantasy equivalent of an office lady’s uniform, which was just as clingy tight as all the clothes… the costumes… I’d seen.

She also wore what was clearly a professionally polite smile. Something that transcended worlds, apparently.

“I see her.” I had to raise my voice slightly to be heard over the rumble.

“Yes, that’s her! See what I mean about her?!” Kaede grabbed my hand and pulled me along towards the counter at the back.

I stared around as I was dragged towards the back counter. A new thought started to slowly pierce my newbie tourist mind. Everybody’s armor is so impractical! The view is sure nice, I admit, that [Thief] girl’s bare stomach is… mm… but…! And nobody is wearing a helmet!

We reached the rear, and Kaede waved energetically to the girl at the counter. “Hi Leni! I’m here to register a friend! She’s a healer!” She said excitedly, turning and presenting me as though I was a show piece.

Leni looked me over curiously, then nodded professionally. “Well, we’re always glad to have a healer on the books. Are you registered with any other guild?”

I shook my head.

“That’s fine then.” Leni nodded and slipped into a smoothly prepared spiel about the guild dues, how the ranking and bounty system worked and the expectations of a new member. It was all very ordinary and standard… frankly out of most isekai.

A lettered ranking system from E through A, further subdivided into plus and minus.

No ‘S’ rank? That’s interesting.

A related quest and bounty system, ranked the same, which limited the quests you could and couldn’t accept. Monthly dues, and a cut of the bounties and requests filed. Monster part sales and skill training for a variety of useful skills. And lastly, running interference, acting as an advocate, and acting as a go-between for the adventurers and the city political system.

Very neatly organized though, and the reality of living this rather than simply reading it or watching it was quite different from simply reading about it on a screen. That, and there didn’t seem to be a boy turning us into a harem yet.

Once Leni was done with her explanation, and I’d agreed I understood the terms, Kaede pulled something from her inventory, dropping a few small colorful rainbow crystals onto the counter.

I guess this is ‘materia’, huh? I thought. I peered at it curiously and then blinked in surprise as my System window flickered into life.

<Notice:   Materia: [Low-Grade. Common Item].

The crystal core from a monster.>

The window vanished, and I blinked in confusion, even though neither of the other girls had mentioned it. Now where did that come from? I wondered.

Leni neatly sorted and counted them, then nodded and said to me “This will cover your filing fee and the 1^st month’s dues. Please do not forget your dues! If you are three months in arrears, you will be dropped from the rolls, and will need to pay your back fees before you can re-register!” she said sternly. “I’ll bring out the registration slate now.”

She dipped below the counter and came up with a stone slate inscribed with glyphs. I could feel the magic energy pulsing from it. “Just place your palm here, and we’ll register you.” She said politely, gesturing to the center of the slate.

I placed my slender palm on the slate, and the glyphs lit up, flickering with soft blue light. My status screen opened and closed on its own in a blink, and the slate gave a soft chime, and a sheet of paper, about the size of an index card, slid out of the side.

Leni picked it up and glanced at it, then gave a small sigh and shook her head once before handing it over. I frowned at her in confusion, but she didn’t elaborate, and Kaede didn’t say anything.

I looked at it curiously. At first, the fantasy alphabet on the card was just a meaningless jumble of alien characters, but then there was a strange shifting sensation in my head. I swayed on my feet, the world going blurry for a second before something snapped into place, and suddenly the words were perfectly comprehensible.

It was an abbreviated version of my skills and abilities, stating that I was a duly registered adventurer, rank E-. A level 1 half-elf healer named Caelynna Araren. At the bottom right of the card was a small picture that looked like it had been done with a woodblock print.

It confirmed what the mirror in Mike’s room had shown. I really do look like the priestess on the webpage. I thought as I stared at the picture.

“Thank you.” I said to Leni as I took the card.

“Do not lose your guild card!” Leni said sternly. “It is an accepted identification at all guild branches and for any government that recognizes the Guild’s authority! If you lose it, you’ll have to re-register and pay the registration fee again!”

I blinked and promised that I would take good care of it, then ‘pushed’ it into my inventory.

Leni cleared her throat and gestured at the quest board. “Now I would suggest that you pick some lower level quests for your first few tasks, at least until the guild has a chance to properly assess your skill.”

The way she emphasized properly made me frown again in confusion, but she didn’t say anything else and I didn’t get a chance to ask questions as Kaede bounced on her feet with excitement. “Great, now let’s pick a quest! There are always a few low levels ones, and I saw several good ones just yesterday!”

She dragged me over to the board, and starting looking it over. I examined the posted bills curiously spotting the usual fetch quests, gatherer quests, extermination missions, rat tail kills, and courier missions. Apparently, adventurers in this world were odd jobbers just like in video games. I peered closer at a flyer that requested the skin of a giant snake and a cockatrice beak. Interesting. So monsters in this world really were regularly harvested for money and material components.

Kaede finally snatched down a flyer with a giant bee on it. “Here we go! Honey recovery! A little combat, a little easy gathering!” She grinned. “Come on, let’s go!”

We registered our intent to complete the quest with Leni, and then headed back to the city gates and out of town.

As we left the gates behind us, Kaede turned to me with a more serious expression. “You should activate your name skill too! Those bonuses aren’t just for show, you know, and quick leveling is the whole point of this exercise.”

“Oh no, there’s no way I’m going to start acting like that.” I pointed at her. “You saw my status screen! Those are curses!”

Kaede gave another stretch that pushed her breasts close to my eyes. “Hardly curses dear. More like useful tips and guidelines! But honestly…”

My head felt strange and found that I was having trouble focusing. Kaede’s eyes were so large and seemed to draw my eyes, glowing golden.

“You really should activate your skill.” She continued. “Without it, something terrible might happen! Your healing is enhanced, and you gain so much xp, don’t you think it just makes sense? It would be a shame to miss out on all that, just because you’re a little bit worried.”

“But… the… the curse…” I stuttered. The world seemed thick and filled with glue, and it was getting hard to think. I couldn’t really even remember why it was so important that I didn’t activate my skill.

“It’s hardly a curse, dear. I find mine quite enjoyable, and I’m sure you will too if you just give it a chance.” Her voice was honey and milk and I found myself nodding along.

“Mike is still here.” She tapped her generous bosom. “I’m not less, I’m Kaede plus Mike.” Her smile was so friendly and warm… had her teeth always been that sharp… no, I must be imagining it…

It did make sense. And we were here to level… weren’t we? Of course I should take advantage of the free xp…

I opened my status screen and tapped my name skill.

<Notice:   You have activated Unique Skill: Caelynna Araren.>

System messages of penalties and bonuses spammed my vision, but I was barely aware of the steady ping of notices. Instead my mind felt as though something was squeezing my thoughts, something opening up inside me and kneading at my mind the same way my body was reshaped when I transferred to Ronde. I staggered, and clutched at my head, feeling new thoughts and emotions flower within me, other thoughts crushed to dust and vanish.

My posture was all wrong, so improper and casual! I was a healer! It was important to keep the proper image! And Kaede was so… so flagrant about herself! It made me tingle all through in my secret places just to see her like that!

The tingle grew into a steady ache of… oh it made me blush even to think it! My secret places grew moist and I bit my lower lip, trying to clamp down on that pleasant/unpleasant yearning. But my curse was my curse! It was undeniable that I was… horny!

I immediately adjusted my posture to a properly modest stance, feeling a sigh of relief as my body shifted into a comfortable posture, a feeling of fluid grace flowing through me. I summoned my staff from inventory, and felt even better as my hands naturally moved together into a demure pose in front of me as I held it.

Yes, this is right. Of course this is! Why was I having so much trouble walking, I should have done this from the start! Kaede was right!

I turned to thank her, feeling a gushing flow of gratitude towards her.

<Notice:   Boon |Incorruptible| has removed unnatural mental influence.>

I suddenly became aware of a fuzzy haze around my thoughts even as it dissipated in a cold wind of reality. Things suddenly snapped into focus, and I became aware of just how strange I had just acted!

I stopped dead, staring at Kaede, staring at the glowing notice in the corner of my vision.

What?! What was that?! This was… This was…?!

A knowing flowered inside me, my eyes widened in horror. I could see what she had done! This… this wasn’t what Dustin had wanted at all! Kaede had tricked me! She had used some sort of Kitsune trickery and made me turn on my name skill!

Kaede stared at me in confusion. “What?”

I glared at her, feeling horribly ashamed and embarrassed, but so incredibly, righteously, angry! How dare she!?

“You tricked me!” I accused angrily. “Dustin would never have agreed to this! How dare you!?” I felt the righteous anger bubbling up in my chest, and Kaede staggered back a few paces. I advanced on her as she retreated, shaking my staff in her face angrily.

“I thought we were friends?!” I squeaked angrily.

“W-we are! Caelynna, this was for your own good!”

“I will not be lectured too by a… a…” I couldn’t find the words; they’d been scoured from my mind. I wanted to use such words but I couldn’t even remember them!

“A bad friend!” I finally settled on, which felt like the strongest condemnation I could give. Kaede’s ears and tail wilted under my tirade.

“I will not be party to this!” I swiped open my status, Kaede grabbed my hand before I could touch my name skill.

“No! Caelynna, this is for your own good! Think of the xp! Think of the skill boosts! What if I were to get hurt! You need those skill buffs!”

I wavered. It was incredibly, so very incredibly important to heal. To prevent harm to others!

What if someone was hurt because of me!? Because I couldn’t heal in time or well enough!? I felt my heart squeeze inside me. Healing was surely more important… wasn’t it?

I shook my head firmly. No! Dustin had had his choice stolen from him; that was more important.

My heart squeezed tightly, and I clutched a hand over my bosom, feeling tears spring to my eyes.

Oh this is so hard! But Dustin’s choice is more important than any abstract healing I might be able to do!

I opened my eyes and returned Kaede’s stare. “No! This is wrong! I can’t let you do this!” I fought Kaede’s grip. She tried to stop me, and I turned to her and unleashed the full force of my glare on her. She released me immediately, staggering backwards, and I jabbed my name skill.

<Notice:   You have deactivated Unique Skill: Caelynna Araren.>

Once more a spam of system notices of removed penalties and bonuses scrolled past, but it was impossible to pay attention to them. I staggered once more as my mind was suddenly released from a vice, skills flowing out of my head like water, and dimly remembered thoughts that seemed to be made of spun light danced in my head.

My god, she’s a complete goody two-shoes! I thought. And good thing for me too! She was almost crying at the thought of existing without my permission!

Strangely, I felt… really good. Refreshed even. Caelynna’s thoughts were so… so nice it was like my mind had taken a bath in floral scented spring water.

Kaede let out a little ‘tch’ of annoyance. “Well that’s ruined it! A perfectly good cheat skill, but no you’re too much of a goody two-shoes to use it! 200% xp! Boosted healing! But noooo, it’s all ‘permission’ and ‘consent’!”

Kaede sulked fiercely, her ears laid back on her head.

I rounded on her. “What. The. Actual. HELL, Mike?!” I shouted at her.

“Kaede! I told you, It’s Kaede when I’m in the groove!” She snapped.

“The hell it is! Does Mike even exist like that?!” I shouted.

Her sulk grew even stronger. “Of ­course he does! He turned off the skill to make you more at ease when you arrived! I’m him, but more! I wasn’t lying to you! Just… shading the truth a bit.”

“A bit!?” I shrieked. “The hell you say! Do you even realize how mad Caelynna was at you?! How furious I am!?”

Kaede’s ears drooped. “I didn’t think she’d be that mad. She was scary…”

Intimidation… Caelynna has intimidation. I thought inanely. The memory kept playing in my head, over and over. Caelynna’s furious rage, the clarity that let her see through Kaede’s deception, the way Kaede had staggered back from her accusation, and underlying everything, a furious steel core of Caelynna’s will.

She’s… she’s actually kind of badass! I thought in shock.

Kaede sulked by the road. “So now what? Are we just going to drop the quest? Just because you had a conscience attack? You know we have to pay the quest abandonment fee.”

I ground my teeth together, and then slowly a thought came into focus in my head. Caelynna had willingly left. Kaede dropped her name skill because Mike wanted to. Whatever weird skill or trait Kaede had, Caelynna cut through it like butter. Caelynna would never do something that I didn’t want… and I still needed to learn more about this world!

I’m safer as Caelynna. Everyone around me is safer too. The thought ran around in my head.

And the bonus xp and magic boost are fucking sweet. I thought with a stab of greedy guilt at the thought of the fun of such blatant cheat powers.

And… and it had felt really good to be so happy and optimistic and… and strong willed, damn it.

Did I really think Caelynna was a complete doormat? She actually believes! I wish I had half her willpower. … and I can have all of it. I thought.

“I can’t believe I’m doing this.” I muttered as I opened my status window again. Kaede watched me, her eyes slowly widening.

I tapped my name skill again.

<Notice:   You have activated Unique Skill: Caelynna Araren.>

Once more the flood of System notifications flooded through me, the penalties and bonuses that made me into Caelynna. The squeezing crushing feeling as my mind was reshaped, feeling the sourness the bitterness and anger vanish in a flood of light, the knowledge of rough and crude language and manners scoured from my head in a wash of giddy optimism. Feeling the need to shift and straighten my posture once more, the proper and polite way to speak and act. My hands folded together in front of me and I felt a joyous smile float over my lips. And the tingly yearning ache of… I bit my lip, and focused.

Oh, yes! It feels so good to be like this! The world feels so much more alive and positive! Oh it’s so good that he trusts me!

My heart squeezed once more in joy. I let out a long happy sigh. I turned to Kaede, and felt my face slipping into an angry frown. Kaede’s eyes widened and she skipped back a step from my displeasure.

I pointed my finger at her. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten.” I snapped at her. “Dustin has given me a sacred trust, and I will not betray it! I’m very good at spotting your tricks!” I stalked forward and shook my finger sternly in her face. “And if you ever do anything like that again…” I fumbled for a suitably drastic punishment. Once more, I couldn’t clearly remember what Dustin might have wanted to say. Something fierce.

“Then we are not friends!” I finished loudly, giving a sharp nod. The look on Kaede’s face convinced me that she was convinced, and also convinced me that Dustin’s intentions had been conveyed properly. I stepped back.

“Good. Now. Let’s go help those poor people who posted the request for honey! I’m sure someone needs it for medicine, so we should hurry!” It was so dreadfully important to help! What if the medicine was needed urgently!? I hurried down the road, my heels clicking smoothly on the stone brick.

“Hey! Wait!” Kaede shouted from behind me, the hurried running sounds behind me of her okobo on the stone road. “We haven’t even set up our party yet!”

I stopped and turned to her; my eyes wide. “Oh! Well yes of course we must do that!” I paused, and felt the heat of a blush rising to my cheeks.

How rude of me! I just ran right off without saying anything!

“Um… how do I do that?” I said, feeling the heat of my blush increasing.

Kaede caught up with me, her bosom heaving slightly from the exertion. “Oh spirits bless, you’re blushing?! You are adorable!” She squealed and flung her arms around me in a hug, rubbing her cheek against mine.

I felt the tingling heat slowly building in my secret parts as her cheek and breasts rubbed against mine before she pulled back.

“Oh~ Is that heat from the hug or from something else~” her husky purr teased at me.

I ducked my head in embarrassment. She’s so shameless! And then, like a flower blooming in my mind, pieces slowly began to fit together in my head.

I looked up into Kaede’s golden fox’s eyes, and saw. She was so lonely!

All of this… this charade is… is just to take me on a date!

The tingling rush redoubled, and I felt my nipples harden into peaks, and I flushed even brighter, looking down.

Kaede knows my curses, she knows it’s not just something else… she will be ruthless in exploiting them… but do I mind? She is very beautiful- My lips twitched with suppressed amusement. The world itself likely says so with a trait on her character sheet if she’s like me! And she is so lonely… I shook my head, my long hair swirling around me, then gently pushed Kaede back.

I looked at her, tipping my head to the side, thinking.

Kaede frowned. “What? Are you going to get mad again? It was just a little skinship between friends!”

Oh what an outrageous lie! I sighed in exasperation and stomped my foot in frustration.

“I am trying to decide if I should accept the date you’ve taken me on, and if I want to sleep with you when we camp for the night.” I said with a slight touch of heat.

I was rewarded with Kaede’s cheeks turning bright scarlet, as red as the skirt of her miko outfit. I tipped my head to the side again, my finger on my chin thoughtfully.

“Wh-what?! I have no idea what you mean!” She protested.

Oh she’s so transparent. I thought with amusement. Or… maybe she’s not, actually, and it’s just me? But if I can help her loneliness… yes. But not with false pretenses.

“Yes. The answer is yes to the first. As to the second… well. We’ll see tonight.” I smiled brightly at her. I reached out and took her hand in mine. “Let’s go on a questing date.”

“T-this isn’t-”

I looked at her and frowned slightly. “Kaede. I said yes. Don’t make me take it back.”

She looked down, and her blush spread down her chest. “Stupid unfair waifu powers, totally cheating.” She muttered to herself, probably thinking I couldn’t hear her.

I smiled at her, squeezing her hand in mine. “I don’t like to see anyone in pain, Kaede. And despite your trickery, I think we can be friends.” I turned to her, holding both of her hands in mine. “And you don’t need to worry, you don’t have to be lonely anymore.”

Kaede blinked and her eyes were suspiciously bright. “B-but, when you turn off your name skill-”

I tsked and wagged my finger at her. “What was it you said? I’m still Dustin, just more? If Dustin truly wasn’t ok with this, at least on some deep level, I couldn’t say these things.” I danced a few steps back from her. “So maybe stop trying to trick him, because you’re on a date with me now.”

Kaede looked down, the blush still obvious on her cheeks and chest, and nodded shyly.

Ah, blessed fate, to see a shy kitsune! And all I had to do was make them tell the truth. How beautifully poetic.

We resumed walking down the road, this time holding hands. Kaede’s natural vivacious energy began to return as we traveled.

“So. Um. The way you set up a party…” Kaede timidly resumed our interrupted lecture, showing the party formation in the System interface. A few swiped screens, accept or reject, and we were a party!

<Notice:   Kaede Mayaki has joined your party. Quest experience points gained will be evenly split among all party members.>

“So! How long until we get there?” I asked.

“Um… about 3 hours.” She said. “It’s a ways out. Here. I marked it on my map.” She held out her hand and her eyes unfocused slightly, and a moment later a small scroll appeared in it. She unrolled it, revealing a colorful map. She pointed out the general location and the honey hunting ground, and then our location.

“I’m surprised there’s no auto updating map feature, or a fast travel system.” I said curiously.

Kaede shrugged, twirling. “More time to get to know you! More time for questions!” She tapped my nose and danced backwards a bit. “You should ask more; Dustin will want to know!”

“Oh! Yes, of course he will!” I agreed. “But I also want to know about our quest! How about this, how do we sleep?”

“Oh!” She got that unfocused look I was starting to realize meant she was accessing her inventory, and then there was suddenly a small sparkling bead in her fingers.

“This here, see?” She held it out

I peered at it. It looked like a glass marble, but filled with shifting multicolored smoke. I looked up at her. “What is it?” I questioned.

Kaede laughed fondly. “Newbie. Use your [Scrutinize] skill.”

I frowned and went to open up my status screen. Kaede stopped me hastily. “No no, not like that! I really should have shown you this earlier. Look at it really hard and think about the skill you want to use. It helps to say the name too. As you get used to it, it starts to feel really natural, just the intention of ‘knowing’ or ‘doing’ a skill will activate it!”

“Hm.” I tapped my chin thoughtfully, and nodded, closing my status window again. Following her instructions, I leaned down to look at the marble and focused, pretending not to notice when Kaede shifted closer, putting her cleavage into viewing range.

“[Scrutinize]” I said under my breath.

Like when I’d first opened my status window, I felt something shift inside me, and a text box opened up in front of me.

<Item:          Magic Tent: [High-Grade. Common Item]

A magical shelter, compressed into bead form.>

“Hm! Magic tent?” I looked up at her curiously.

“Yep! Looks like a marble. Drop it, and a rainbow-colored dome tent thing pops up. Big enough to sleep five. It’s opaque, comfy, keeps out the weather, and muffles sound really well.” She grinned and waggled her eyebrows at me. I flushed and looked away, granting her the victory. I straightened up and cleared my throat.

“Useful, I suppose. I’m surprised I didn’t get more information about it; all it told me was that it was a magical shelter.”

Kaede grinned. “Well, duh! Your [Scrutinize] is, what, level one? Two?”

“Two, I think?”

Kaede nodded. “Level it up a few times, and you’ll get deluged with information if you want it.” She closed her palm, and there was a twinkle of light as the magic tent vanished back into her inventory.

“Well, good. That tent sounds very useful!” I said.

Kaede grinned at me mischievously. “I’m glad to know you think so~” She purred.

I knew it! I’m not imagining it! Her teeth are sharper when she’s being like this!

I glanced away, fidgeting with my skirt. “Ah… w-what about bedding though?!”

Kaede affected an innocent look. “Oh no! Whoopsie! I forgot! I guess you’ll just have to share mine tonight~” she moved closer, running her hand along my arm. “We can keep each other warm~”

My blush grew brighter. “I haven’t said yes yet, Kaede! Please do not presume that I will simply… give my first time to you so easily!” I said primly.

“Oh my gods, are you really?!”

I looked back at her, frowning. “I am most certainly a virgin as Caelynna! Unless you think I’ve spent time inhabiting the body of a half-elf healer in other fantasy worlds?!” I said sharply.

Another thought slowly wormed my way into my awareness, and a web of connections blossomed.

“Kaede… you… are a self-described sexpot kitsune tease, right?”

She twirled in front of me, arms out stretched. “That’s me~” She trilled.

“So… others have said ‘yes,’ haven’t they?” I pressed.

She dropped her arms and frowned at me in puzzlement. “Are you… are you jealous?!” She blinked.

I flushed. I opened my mouth to deny it, and felt my brain lock up. I simply couldn’t get the words out!

After all, I might be jealous?

I stopped, backtracked, and then finally nodded shyly. “Maybe a little?”

She came up to me and wrapped me in another hug. “Aww, don’t worry, Caelynna~ I’ll be gentle~”

I pushed her back, angrily huffing and crossing my arms under my breasts. “I haven’t said yes yet, Kaede!” I said sharply.

“You haven’t said yes, yet~” She purred, tapping my chest with her fingertip.

I glared at her. “If I say yes, Kaede. Consent is sexy.”

She pouted at me. “You are no fun when you’re like this.”

I paused, stung, then smiled back blandly. “If that were true, you wouldn’t still be trying so hard.”

Kaede skipped back a few steps and pointed her finger at me. “This is exactly what I mean by being no fun! You keep being all… insightful!”

I smiled at her blandly but my gentle smile slowly wilted. “You’re not easy to deal with yourself. You keep… dodging! Kaede, you have slept with lots of people in Ronde, yes?”

“Maybe, one or two… or fifty or so, it’s hard to keep track.” She grinned teasingly.

Whichever skill it was that let me identify her trickery and lies-

Probably [Empathy] now that I think about it… huh. That means I’ve been using [Empathy] just by instinct! No status screen or speaking… or notice of skill use.

-confirmed that she wasn’t lying… not precisely. She definitely had not slept with fifty people or more! But she’d certainly had quite a few liaisons. I nodded.

“Ok, then that’s a problem.”

Kaede stopped dead in her tracks, giving me a flat stare. “Caelynna, you cannot expect me to be a virgin. Let alone monogamous!”

I stomped my foot in frustration. “This is not about that! This is about the fact that you are still so very lonely!”

The veils of whimsy and carefree joy Kaede wove about herself gusted back for a brief moment. The surprise and hurt of my insight flickered over her features before she wove the veils back around herself.

“W-what are you talking about?! I’m Kaede Mayaki! Party girl of Acheron! Everyone as the guild knows me! Most everyone in the town knows me!” She danced a little forward and traced a fingertip over my bosom. “Most everyone has slept with me, too~” she purred.

Hah. She’s lying about sleeping with everyone. I knew she wasn’t as promiscuous as she pretended. I pressed my lips together. Right. If she’s like that, then I need to be like this.

I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around her in a gentle hug, our breasts mushing together softly. It was hard to ignore the sudden jab of my physical yearning, but I put all my [Empathy] into making the hug one of friendship.

“It’s ok.” I whispered into the side of her head, confident her kitsune ears would hear me. “You don’t have to put up a front with me. I will be your friend, regardless of if we never have sex at all.”

Kaede pushed me back roughly. “Stop it! Stop doing that!” she said sharply.

I stepped forward. “No. You asked for Caelynna. This-” I patted my bosom “-is Caelynna too. You are hurting and in pain. I am a healer Kaede. Simply bedding me, while undeniably fun for you-” I blushed, compelled to add “-and me… will not ease that hurt.”

I tipped my head to the side, and tapped my chin. “In fact, in my professional judgement, it would make it worse. You would always be wondering if I was just your friend for the sex, if my friendship was real at all. To answer that, you have to answer the question… ‘do you really want to be friends at all?’.”

<Notice:   [Kaede Mayaki] has been treated. You have gained xp! Bonus applied, 90 xp awarded.

Practice requirements met! Synergy from [Empathy] in effect. Skill [Healing] has increased to [3].>

I blinked in surprise at the notice screen. Oh! So I can get xp just by doing normal tasks!? I looked up, but Kaede didn’t seem to have noticed, looking down at her feet with her ears wilted and flicking wildly.

We resumed walking towards the quest location, each of us silent as we pondered our thoughts.

Kaede finally broke the silence. “Do you want to be friends with me?” She said, with a voice that was so heartbreakingly vulnerable I immediately turned to her and hugged her tightly.

“Oh yes, Kaede! Of course I do! You’re funny and pretty and easy to be around and smart! Of course I want to be friends with you!” I responded instantly.

The words were out of my mouth before I’d even thought about them. It was just so incredibly natural to say those things! And more, it felt good to mean them so unreservedly!

“You’re not… just saying that, are you?” she said hesitantly.

I pulled back from the hug to look in her eyes. “Kaede.” I said very seriously. “Remember my curses? The ones above the… the…” I paused and took a breath. “The horny?” I managed to get out,  blushing furiously.

She twitched a smile. “Well~” She drew out the word. “It was the one most on my mind….”

I crossed my arms under my breasts and glared at her, tapping my foot.

Kaede immediately held up her hands and backed up a step. “Ok, ok! Geeze you’re scary like that… Yes. I do. So yes. You don’t lie. You can’t.” She shook her head, and rolled her eyes. “Which is just weird, I’ll have you know, that’s like not having a tail or mobile ears!” She smiled with the more familiar Kaede energy.

I smiled back at her, and hugged her again. “Well, we all have our burdens to bear, don’t we? Not all of us can be kitsune shrine maidens.”

Kaede tossed her hair with a hand, affected a pose of tragic endurance. “Alas! Such is a heavy weight to bear; I shall have to endure it for the sake of all the little people who aren’t me!”

“Good.” I nodded firmly. “I’m glad we’ve settled that. So now we’re friends! No take backsies!” I shook my finger sternly.

Kaede giggled like I’d made a joke. I frowned in puzzlement, replaying the conversation in my head, and my eyes slowly widened.

“Oh my gosh! I didn’t… even really intend to be so cutsie…”

Kaede’s eyes widened in turn, then she burst into giggles pulling me into a hug. “Spirits above, you are just precious! I’m so glad Dustin turned his name skill back on!” She pulled back. “You know, I was sure that you’d say ‘ara ara’ when you first activated your name skill. But you haven’t done it once!” Kaede said with an aggrieved air.

I giggled. “That does sound like something I’d do, doesn’t it? Ara~? Ara Ara~?” I giggled as I saw a spark of interest flare to life in Kaede’s golden eyes.

She wagged her finger at me. “Don’t point that at me unless you intend to use it, missy!”

I pinched my lips closed, nodding. I felt a tiny thrill of pleasure shoot through me as I saw the obvious look of disappointment in Kaede’s eyes.

We resumed the trip towards the honey fields, and I got a few more questions answered. Kaede was quite knowledgeable, as was to be expected.

Items from the cash shop didn’t translate.

“How could they?” Kaede asked. “They show up on our characters in the game, and they’re not us. In fact, when I tried to create ‘kaede’, I was told that the username is already in use. But it’s not just that, I’ve never seen cash shop items anywhere, and no one I’ve asked has even heard of anything like them.”

Not everyone in this world dressed like adventurers, but everyone Kaede had ever met was more attractive than average, and dressed the part.

“I’m not sure if it’s just the way the world is structured or if it’s related to the Loki figure or what, but everyone in this world is at least ok looking, scaling up to gorgeous. Armor is… well what we’re wearing, honestly. This-” She gestured to her fetish miko costume. “-is armor. Your robes are armor. The tight leather bustier and microskirt we saw on the female thief back in the Adventurer’s guild is armor.” She grinned; her teeth sharp. “You’d look good in that outfit, actually. Adventurer armor… well it looks like does in an anime!” She paused, then added “A very fanservice anime, truthfully. Still, very equal opportunity, did you see the boy thieves? Yummy!”

I flushed at that, feeling an uncomfortable squirm. Dustin would not like the fact that I found boys quite yummy indeed. Looking down brought a thought to my head though, and I stopped, lifting up my feet to look at the heels of my boots.

Kaede nodded. “Yes, exactly, like that! It’s all part of the outfit! Girl’s wear heels, nobody wears a helmet, long hair flowing in the wind… this definitely isn’t our world, it doesn’t even pretend to be our world!”

I paused, frowning. “Do you think it’s maybe… some kind of play world?”

Kaede laughed. “Maybe, I suppose. I for one am not complaining too much!”

I frowned thoughtfully and shelfed that troubling thought for a later date.

Events in the game didn’t translate.

“So as near as I can tell-” Kaede continued “-we’re not so much ‘in the game’ as we are… kind of alongside it? This world looks almost identical to the web game, but events, special items, other players… none of them show up here. It’s like this world is at the opening of the game.”

The web game was oddly static and long lasting, and surprisingly durable.

“The players even talk about it; it’s been out for fifteen years! Regular updates, better graphics, but never anything that breaks balance. Expanded world zones, but never anything that’s truly ‘new’ to the world. I have a theory about that, actually. I think… and this would be crazy, if I weren’t a kitsune shrine maiden right now… that the Entity made and maintains the game, somehow.”

Mike had found the game through pure random chance, an ad when he had been reading another terrible isekai.

“It was fun. It is fun. It’s more fun to ‘play’ as me though, so I’ve mostly stopped logging in.”

Time was wonky here, but in general, time moved faster here than in the other world.

“I don’t really know how it works. At first, I thought it was just like game time. 1 hour is a day in the game. And when I first arrived, that was exactly what happened. I was here for four days? 4 hours had passed back home. But ever since you arrived, things are screwy. Sometimes I’ll spend weeks here and only an hour has passed. Sometimes I’ll spend a week there, and no time has passed here.” She shrugged. “I don’t know what’s going on. But mostly, we don’t need to worry too much about spending time here.”

Mike lived on the west coast of Australia.

“I don’t think… it would feel really really weird to meet back in the other world. I mean, I guess we could, but…” she shook her head. “…but it would feel super weird. And it’s not that I don’t have an accent, it’s that we both have a new accent. We’re speaking Ronden!”

That threw me for a loop! Not only did I just magically know another alphabet, I had been speaking another language so fluently I didn’t even realize it! Once I’d tried to listen to it rather than just ‘know’ it, it sounded a little like Urdu. And Kaede confirmed that we could still speak it when we returned to the other world.

“In fact, it’s super cool! We can read all those background signs and flavor text in the game!”

Kaede the character didn’t seem to have family, or any backstory, but there was no confusion or questions over her shrine or her presence.

“Yeah, I did ask. They all said that I’d moved into an abandoned shrine outside the city walls about five years ago and made my home there. I can’t say I want to push any harder… I like my shrine! And I’d be really nervous about meeting family!”

There didn’t seem to be any threat of an oatmeal bland boy showing up and en-hareming us.

“I mean, the Entity said that he wanted to see what ‘real’ waifu’s do. He already knows what happens if an oatmeal boy is introduced! And anyway, I like boys just as much as girls. So if it happens, since I know the tropes, I can just be honest and upfront, save all that running around and stupid embarrassment!” She tapped her lips in thought. “Plus, if he’s as enslaved to the tropes as we are, he’ll actually be super sweet and nice, if dumber than a post.”

I really wasn’t sure how I felt about that… though a boy who was super sweet and nice did sound… nice. I could tell Dustin wouldn’t be at all wild about that though, so it was totally off the table, if it ever even happened.

Kaede had no serious plans for anything, outside of exploring the world and enjoying herself.

“Why would I? The adventure always comes to the isekai, and I’m not nearly high enough level yet. And just living here is intoxicating!”

The larger locations in the game world matched the locations in this world, but the encounter locations shifted, and what was in the game wasn’t always what was in this world.

“Like my shrine. It’s not in the game world at all.”

We were technically very under-leveled for our age and class!

“Yeah, most people get to around level 20 to 30 around age 25 or so, and then just stop leveling. City living and ordinary skill use don’t challenge you like adventuring does. Even the best adventurers in the guild hall are only around level 40 or so. But that does mean that they look at us with pity, since we’re so ‘old’ and such a low level.”

“Wait, but…” I protested “But you said the guild receptionist was really nice! And… and she just sent us out here like it was nothing!?”

Kaede smiled wryly. “This is a quest your average fifteen-year-old is expected to be doing. Not adults.” She pointed to me and her. “We’re definitely adults. Maybe young, I’d guess we’re around late teens, early twenties, if age means anything at all to waifus… but yeah. She’s polite, and very kind. If you had been Caelynna back then, you’d have picked up on that.”

She continued “Adventurers of all sorts will pick up these quests, they’re acceptable money, but this is… I guess you could say the quest level we’re doing is like an ‘entry level’ or ‘part time’ job in this world.”

I walked on in silence, chewing that over.

“So… does that mean… wait, but-!” I said, suddenly struck by a thought. “How can we-?!”

I blinked, feeling a sudden knowing appear in my mind. The System ‘turned on’ when a person reached their 16^th birthday.

Kaede laughed. “I can see by the look in your face, your [Lore] skill just answered a question for you.” She grinned. “It’s a trip, isn’t it? Knowing stuff without knowing you know!” She did a little twirl and faced me, walking backwards.

“It’ll happen with your other skills too, especially for our class and adventuring skills.”

The sun dipped into late afternoon as we slowly ambled our way down the highway. The terrain slowly shifted to gently rolling hills with sparse woodlands, the walls of the city vanished behind folds in the landscape. Neither of us grew tired, and I could feel a bit of a guilty thrill at that. I’d just walked something like twelve miles in heels! I wasn’t just pretty, I was actually in really good shape!

A system display suddenly popped up in front of my eyes. I jerked back, blinking in surprise.

<Notice:  

Caelynn Arareni:

Half-elf        Adept      Level 1    Status: HEALTHY

HP: 104/104

SP: 29/32>

Oh! I was wondering about my stats, and there it is. Hm? 3 points of SP…? The hike! The walk… of course! It takes stamina to walk places!

A short while later, a sign post beside the highway drew into view, and Kaede pointed at it.

“There’s our stop.”

I peered at the sign.

>Caution! Giant Bees! Threat E. Threat D in groups.<

“Nice of them to label the danger.” I said, impressed with the level of courtesy and order it showed.

“It is! I suppose it’s a bit game-like but… well, this world has a System. I guess it just makes sense.” She took a breath, then nodded. “Right, we’re close now. Quick refresher. You don’t need to open your status to use your skills. You should look at your weapon and magic skills though! You’ll know how to use them by instinct, but it can feel very unnerving for your body to move without your input if you don’t know what it’s doing!”

That was a little strange, but no stranger than having my mind reshaped into an idealistic healer priestess. I opened my status, and poked the white magic skill.

<Notice:   White Magic 1.

White magic revolves around the principles of Order, Protection, Healing, Light, and Law. It is aspected with the element of Earth. It is strong in defense and weak in offense.

Spells known: None.>

I felt a brief spike of panic as I saw the “none” listed in spells, quickly followed by a sudden… not quite a memory. It was like being reminded of something that I’d half forgotten. I could improvise my spells, using the natural flow of White magic and my intent. Spells would develop as I learned how to repeat the improvised effects I’d created. The knowledge was right there, waiting for me to look for it, but once I’d seen it, it was the most natural thing in the world to know it.

I staggered a bit, feeling a strange doubling of mental states. Of course I know how to use white magic! And at the same time, this was all new, and a rush of excited pleasure realizing I could really heal! I could really cast magical spells that protected and supported others! They were improvised sure, but they would work!

“Wow, this is… a lot!” I murmured, my head spinning. “But more importantly… Earth magic?! White is… earth magic?! That’s not right!” I said.

Kaede laughed. “Yeah, it’s cool! See, White is earth, Green is water, Red is fire, Blue is air, and Black is void. We can cast way more than just the spell list from the game! Don’t worry though, once you improvised a few spells, and you’ll pick up them up right away. Each spell is a sub skill, just like the specialties in common skills. Improv spells are more expensive, so there’s always value in using the skill if you have it.”

I blinked, feeling that odd double knowledge. I did know that! And yet… I hadn’t at all. I bit my lip in confusion. I’m not… really Caelynna was I? Or am I…  am I a meld of… of this fantasy waifu, of Caelynna, and Dustin? Dustin with a Caelynna overlay? Caelynna with a Dustin overlay? I shook my head. This was more complicated than I had thought. It was undeniably easier to think of myself as Caelynna now that my name skill was active, but clearly that was not entirely the truth… and yet disturbingly not entirely false!

Kaede had me practice the magic she thought we’d be using, protection and some sort of healing. I felt a bit foolish, seeking a well of liquid light inside my body and wishing at it very hard, but sure enough, my body moved without conscious intent, my mouth started speaking chants I hadn’t known I knew.

A few repetitions, and the System pinged me after I’d finished practicing.

<Notice:   Common white magic spell Learned. [Barrier] 1.

           Common white magic spell Learned. [Purification] 1.

           Common white magic spell Learned. [Heal] 1.>

I could feel my SP drop with each spell. It was troubling that I didn’t know the exact value of my SP, but I could tell roughly where I was purely by instinct. And I knew that I was tired after that! I gave a quick glance at my status.

<Notice:

Caelynn Arareni:

Half-elf        Adept      Level 1         Status: HEALTHY

HP: 104/104

SP: 5/32>

Woah! Improvised spells really are way more costly!

Kaede grinned and pulled a small vial of glowing blue liquid out of her inventory and handed it over. “I bet you’re beat. Here, try this.”

I took the potion cautiously and sipped it. It tasted faintly sweet and vaguely citrus-y, a bit like an energy drink. A soothing feeling of fullness and energy spread through me, restoring an emptiness I hadn’t realized I was feeling. My eyes widened and I quickly swallowed the whole vial, feeling the vague feeling of ‘tiredness’ vanish as my SP maxed out.

Oh wow! My SP is full! I thought in surprise. “How much do these heal?!” I squeaked in shock.

Kaede laughed. “50 SP. Not that much, in the grand scheme of things, but we are pretty low level!”

Next, Kaede had me ‘attack’ her with my staff. I felt so incredibly awkward and unhappy doing so. A healer isn’t supposed to hurt anyone! I found myself  thinking, even as my body responded with more than just the random flailing swings that I was confident Dustin would have produced. It was strange, just as Kaede had warned, but also weirdly empowering.

So, there’s considerably more to me than just an idealized waifu! Fit and battle trained. I giggled to myself. Poor Dustin, no wonder he was so confused that I had a spine!

Once I was ready, Kaede stepped off the highway and we headed up the trail into the woods. A buzzing sound steadily grew louder as we hiked.

And a short while after that, I caught sight of my first bee. It was easily as big as my head, and the stinger in its tail was frighteningly large. An info window popped up next to it as I stared at the bee, wide eyed.

<Notice:  

Giant Bee:

Bee Harvester         Monster    Level ??        Status: NEUTRAL

HP: 32/32

SP: 5/5>

I clutched my staff nervously, glancing over at Kaede.

She grinned at me. “Yeah, they’re big suckers. Strictly speaking, they’re not bees. They can’t be, earth bees don’t carry honey inside them!”

“We have to cut them up to harvest it?!” I squeaked.

“Well, yeah. We’re monster hunters, remember? Professional adventurers! Besides, if we don’t, they dissolve into miasma which generates dungeons.” Her expression grew slightly more serious. “Ready?”

I nodded; my knuckles white on my staff. “Ready!” I squeaked out.

“Cast first, that’ll draw its attention, and I’ll defend you.”

I nodded, gripping my staff tightly, then took a deep breath and started my chant.

“Holy light, ward us! [Barrier]!” Magical sigils, glowing a brilliant golden white, appeared in the air. It felt… good. It felt amazing, the feel of pure white magic flowing through my body, of shaping it into a spell designed to protect and aid.

So this is how Caelynna feels all the time I thought.

I also felt the slow loss of my SP, but that was a minor thing compared to the bee. The bee immediately noticed my casting. Before my spell had even completed, its eyes flashed red and it rushed us. Kaede was ready, elaborately painted and beribboned fans appearing in her hands and snapping open to reveal razored metal edges. She twirled and swayed, her movements like a sensual ballet. With each step of her dance, lightning quick strikes landed on the bee, leaving red lines in its carapace.

The light of my spell coalesced into a globe around us, then faded into invisibility. The bee flung itself madly at us, and the [Barrier] flared into existence, a honeycomb pattern visible.

Kaede cheered. “Aw yeah, healer princess light barrier! We’re invincible now!”

I felt a gush of pleasure and gratitude that she found my help so useful.

The battle was short lived, for which I was grateful. I could feel my barrier drawing power from me with each blow the bee hammered against it. I didn’t feel tired like before, but my SP was hardly infinite!

Hm, I’d better check!

No sooner had I thought it than my answer appeared in front of me.

<Notice:

Caelynn Arareni:

Half-elf        Adept      Level 1         Status: HEALTHY

HP: 104/104

SP: 22/32>

Oh! 22 SP left! Yes, that… that feels about right. That’s good! Wow, spells really are more efficient than improv casting!

Until my SP was gone or until I stopped paying the cost my barrier would last. The bee fell to the ground, buzzed fitfully, and then fell still.

<Notice:

     You have defeated [Giant Bee]. You have gained xp! Bonus applied, 225 xp awarded.

LEVEL UP! You have reached level 2! Core Stats Advanced. +5 Skill points, +1 Class point.>

A rush of energy hit me, like I’d just had the most potent caffeine drink injected directly into my veins. I felt… amazing. Stronger, faster… better in every way imaginable!

I swayed, my hand flying to my mouth. “Ara ara!”

Kaede’s head snapped around to look at me, her eyes wide with glee. “You said it!” She giggled, bouncing on her feet. “You actually said it! Oh, I know that look! You just leveled up!” Her war fans vanished into her inventory, and she clapped her hands together gleefully, bouncing on the balls of her feet, making her breasts jiggle. “Isn’t it the most amazing feeling?!”

I nodded dumbly. I couldn’t do much else. I definitely wanted to do that again!

“Well! Assign your class level, and let me show you how to harvest this monster!”

“Um… I’d rather hold off… if that’s ok? We’re kind of in the middle of something?”

Kaede blinked in surprise and then shrugged. “Sure? I like to get my hit right away, but I guess we can wait. Your level up should have restored all your HP, so it should be fine. You really should spend your class points though; you only get the base HP and SP increases otherwise. The class increases are always better. Oh!”

She abruptly held out her hand and a small vial of blue liquid appeared in her palm with a glitter of light. “Here, have another S-potion, you’ll need it.”

I drank it down, enjoying the fizzy feeling of energy flowing through me. My status reported the change.

<Notice:  

Caelynn Arareni:

Half-elf        Adept      Level 2         Status: HEALTHY

HP: 115/115

SP: 35/35>

Kaede turned back to the bee and knelt down next to it with fluid grace, a small knife appearing in her hands. She gingerly started cutting. I thought I was going to be sick for sure, but all I felt was a mild curiosity. It was important that I learn this! I knelt down beside Kaede to watch. She explained her actions as she worked.

“So you have to crack the carapace like this… oops.” She sighed. “Well, my [Gathering] skill is pretty crap. Anyway!” She plunged her hands deeper into the bee, and rummaged around.

“So usually right around center of mass, you’ll find their materia. Hah!” she pulled her hands out, dripping with pinkish goo, a small crystal of materia between her fingers. “That’s the most valuable part, but we came for the honey.” The materia vanished with the little twinkle of light into her inventory. She returned to the bee, and split its carapace even further. “Tch. If I was better at this, we could sell the carapace, the stinger, the poison glands… almost the whole thing, really. As it is…” she pulled out an actual giant honeycomb, dripping with golden honey. “Here we go! One down, nine to go!” The honeycomb vanished into her inventory as well.

<Notice:  Study requirements met. Gained Common Skill Survival[Gathering], rank [1].>

I blinked in surprise as the skill notice flickered past my vision. It seems gaining skills is quite easy… or… is that maybe my OP nature? I shall have to ask.

Kaede stood up, and grimaced at the mess on her hands. As she did, the bee’s corpse dissolved into pale grey mist, and then faded away.

“That’s a good thing.” She said. “If the corpse was still intact, the mist would be dark black. If you see dark black miasma, you know that a big spawn or dungeon’s not far off. Grey like that, no worries.” She shook her hands, flinging drops of goo. “Doesn’t seem fair it doesn’t take the goo on my hands though.” She sighed, her breasts heaving. “But I guess if it did, we couldn’t harvest monster parts for sale.” Her eyes lit up with an idea. “Hey, wait! Can you use that [Purification] spell on me!?”

I frowned in confusion. “I… guess so, but why? You’re status clear… aren’t you?!” A sudden worry seized my heart. What if I’d missed something?! What if she was sick and I hadn’t noticed!? What if-

Kaede laughed, and shook her head. “Relax, relax! I’m fine!”

I stared at her intently, my whole body expressing worry and doubt. I felt that odd ‘twist’ in my head of a skill activating, and suddenly a status screen popped up in front of me.

<Notice:  

Kaede Mayaki:

Beast-kin (Vulpin)    Medium    Level 15   Status: HEALTHY

HP: 614/650

SP: 79/85>

She held up her hand, palm out. “Honest! We don’t like being sick any more than anyone else!”

Curious, she can’t see my appraisal? I wonder what the difference is?

The status screen confirmed what she’d said, as did my [Empathy], and I felt a huge rush of relief. It was shocking how powerful my healer’s urges came through… but really that was only proper wasn’t it? It was right to want to heal and protect!

“Spirits, you really are the priestess waifu.” Kaede muttered, then continued in a louder voice. “No, just try and purify me. I bet it will get rid of this goo!”

I frowned even deeper, staring at the goo on her hands. “I don’t know Kaede, holy magic isn’t for taking baths…” I said doubtfully.

“Trust me! I’m a kitsune!” She said, her teeth sharp and grinning.

“Ok…” I said doubtfully. I held my staff in front of me, and focused on her hands. “Holy light, grant us your blessing, cleanse the impurity from our bodies.” I chanted. Glowing golden white light flooded my soul, and magical sigils whirled  around me.

<Notice:   Synergy from [Maid] subclass has allowed you to modify your white magic. You have created the [White Magic] spell [Clean]. You have gained xp! Bonus applied, 90 xp awarded. Practice requirements met! Skill [White Magic] has increased to [2].>

Kaede’s body glowed, and when the light faded a moment later, her hands were completely clean, as were her hair and clothes. There wasn’t even a trace of the travel dust we’d kicked up on our walk here.

“Oh yeah!” Kaede jumped in the air again, fist extended. “Take that, System! We’re gonna hack you!”

I gaped at her; then burst into giggles. She was just so funny sometimes! And a cleaning spell really is phenomenally useful! Especially when camping! I slapped a hand over my mouth, my eyes wide as I suddenly was hit by the image of Kaede bathing nude in the stream. Oh. Oh my! Maybe I don’t want to use this spell… no! No, bad Caelynna! Keep it together! I shook my head and tried to focus on the issue. I can create spells! And I get experience and skill points for it!

“Come on, let’s round up the rest. I think we can finish before sundown!” She skipped into the woods, arms swinging and sleeves fluttering behind her.

I trailed after her, bemused and still slightly dazed.

A short walk into the forest following the sound of buzzing and we located another bee. This one was hovering around a small patch of flowers.

“It’s strange…” I said. “They’re too big to get nectar from those flowers, aren’t they?”

Kaede shrugged carelessly. “It’s an isekai system world with monsters! It doesn’t have to make sense.”

I pressed my lips together. It should make sense though! There’s a System even! Provided by the gods themselves! That’s the very essence of ‘ordered logic’! I thought to myself.

“Ready?” Kaede asked me.

“What? Oh! Yes! I’m sorry, I’m ready!”

“Hey, don’t space out on me just yet! Now, just like before! Go!”

I started casting [Barrier] again. As before, the bee’s eyes flashed red and it rushed at me before I’d even finished my chant. As before, Kaede slid smoothly in front of me, her war fans whirling and ribbons flying.

Unlike before, from the woods around us, an ominous angry buzz erupted, more like a roar than a hum, and nine more bees swarmed towards us from out of the trees!

I gave a little shriek of fear even as my [Barrier] solidified into the bubble of light. “Kaede! Kaede!”

“I see them.” Her voice was grim.

“W-what do we do!?” I quavered.

“We fight. We win. We’re isekai heroines!” She gave a loud “Kyah!” And leaped forward. Her fan exploded into a blazing flame of red and pale green, and the bee exploded with a roar of fire and wind.

Kaede leaped backwards, three stingers narrowly grazing the space where she’d been. She held out her hand, and two glowing blue bottles appeared in them.

“Here! S-Potions!” She shouted, and roughly tossed them at me. I gave a little shriek and fumbled at them, my staff bobbling in my hands.

My concentration wavered, and the [Barrier] wobbled. Three stingers jabbed through the shield and buried themselves in Kaede.

“Kaede!?” I shrieked. Purple black mist rose up around her, and she staggered, looking desperately ill.

In point of fact, she looks like she’s got a video game status effect. I thought franticly. Like poison!

Kaede gathered herself and a whirling series of strikes pushed back the bees. “We can do this! Caelynna, we can do this!” She leapt forward, her war fans slashing across multiple bees at once.

I could feel tears in my eyes as I desperately chanted the spell for [Purification].

I failed! I was so proud and now Kaede is hurt and it’s all my fault! What good am I as a healer?!

The hammering slam of bee impacts on my [Barrier] drained my stamina with a steady tic, and the [Purification] chant took so long! But finally it was done, and the golden white aura shimmered around Kaede, the purple black mist wreathing her body vanishing in the holy light.

My relief was short lived, as a combined bee attack pierced my barrier once more, gouging long cuts on Kaede.

“Hit them! You’re staff isn’t just for decoration, hit them!” Kaede screamed at me. “A [Heal] is better than prevention right now!”

I raised my staff and flailed at the bees, missing repeatedly as they dipped and wove around my strikes. I found myself screaming wildly at the bees, terror and fury pumping through my veins. It was a shock when my staff connected, and even more so when the bee splattered across the clearing!

I took the break to hurriedly chant a [Heal]. “Holy light, grant us your blessing, renew our life force!”

Golden light and spiraling runes flared, and I saw Kaede’s wounds close. Briefly, I felt confident and cocky, but my pride was rapidly punctured as two more bees pierced through my [Barrier] and stabbed me. I saw and felt the purple black miasma floating up around me, and immediately felt sick to my stomach. I looked down at the blood pooling on my dress.

Oh. So that’s what HP loss feels like. Oh. I thought, feeling the pain stab into me. I deserve this. A good healer wouldn’t have let Kaede down-

“Hey!” A sharp stinging slap from Kaede across my cheek brought me back to reality. “Snap out of it! Time for the princess healer woe routine later! Healing now! Kill bees now!”

“R-right! Right!” I slammed my staff into the bees over and over, alternating with hurried [Heal]s. I could feel the rapid gain and loss of my HP on a rollercoaster, even without needing to watch a steadily shrinking bar.

I realizing that I was screaming “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” as tears streamed down my face. I wasn’t even sure who I was apologizing too.

I am such a failure! I have to be at fault for this, if only I can somehow make it right!

The fight became a blur of pain and traded blows, hurried spells and the citrus-y taste of S-potions. The bees stabbing at us as Kaede yelled at me to keep my stamina up. The world became a haze of pain and poison narrowing to the bees in front of me and Kaede’s whirling red flame of hair and tail, flares of elemental power arcing from her fans.

I could feel my HP ticking lower and lower as each red blotch on my robes marked stinger stabs. Is this it? Am I going to die!? No, I don’t want to die, I can’t let Kaede down!

And then, suddenly, it was over. I looked around wildly, but there were no more bees. The buzzing was gone, and a stack of bee corpses was piled around us. I slumped to the ground, feet splayed out to either side of my hips, panting, feeling the heave of my breasts with each gasping breath. I hurt everywhere, and I could feel every one of my lost HP.

<Notice:   You have defeated [Giant Bee] × 10. You have gained xp! Bonus applied, 2025 xp awarded.

LEVEL UP! You have reached level 3! Core Stats Advanced. +5 Skill points, +1 Class point.

LEVEL UP! You have reached level 4! Core Stats Advanced. +5 Skill points, +1 Class point.

LEVEL UP! You have reached level 5! Core Stats Advanced. +5 Skill points, +1 Class point.

<Class promotion available!>

LEVEL UP! You have reached level 6! Core Stats Advanced. +5 Skill points, +1 Class point.

LEVEL UP! You have reached level 7! Core Stats Advanced. +5 Skill points, +1 Class point.

LEVEL UP! You have reached level 8! Core Stats Advanced. +5 Skill points, +1 Class point.

Practice requirements met! Skill [Staff] has increased to [2].

Practice requirements met! Skill [Staff] has increased to [3].

Practice requirements met! Skill [White Magic] has increased to [3].

Practice requirements met! Skill [Barrier] has increased to [4].

Practice requirements met! Skill [Purification] has increased to [3].

Practice requirements met! Skill [Heal] has increased to [5].>

The fizzing feeling of power flowed through me overwhelmingly intense and powerful. I could literally feel my body and mind improving as the level up messages rolled in. It was intoxicating, and I reveled in it. I immediately felt my HP return, all the painful bloody wounds on my body closing with a release of pain so sharp it was like pleasure. Then the [Poison] status hit me, making me wretch painfully. I heard Kaede echoing me, and I hurriedly cast [Purify] on both of us.

<Warning! One(1) SP remaining! You are [Exhausted]!>

The purple-black miasma cleared and Kaede and I both let out a gasp of relief in unison.

Without conscious thought, I used [Scrutinize], the status notices floating in front of me surprising me when they appeared.

<Notice:

Kaede Mayaki: Beast-kin (Vulpin) Medium     Level 17   Status: EXHAUSTED

HP: 672/707

SP: 5/142

Notice:

Caelynna Araren: Half-elf  Healer     Level 8         Status: EXHAUSTED

HP: 235/247

SP: 1/46>

Kaede spoke first. “Woah. What a rush!” She said enthusiastically.

“A rush!?” I squeaked, furiously turning to her. “Kaede that was dangerous! Somebody could have gotten badly hurt!” I yelled.

Kaede grinned, her teeth sharp. “But we didn’t! And both of us leveled!”

I could feel the correcting ‘nudge’ of my curse steering my thoughts. Kaede was right. We had gotten through it. That was… that was the right way to think about it, wasn’t it? Things always turn out right in the end! I frowned. But I’d felt the nudge, so that wasn’t how I’d normally think.

“I don’t think… I don’t think Dustin would agree with you though… somebody…” that odd ‘nudge’ in my mind again. “Could have gotten really badly hurt! I was… I was really scared, Kaede!”

Kaede looked to the side, her ears flicking, and her tail swishing. I could see she was fighting to say something, and when she turned back, her teeth were blunt again. “Caelynna, I’m sorry. I was…” she took a breath and pushed on. “I was scared too.”

With a rush, my [Empathy] informed me that Kaede was fighting herself to say this, to be… honest with me. I felt a gush of joy that she was willing to be so open with me!

“But we had to win. It was scary and dangerous and I…” she swallowed and I could see how much the effort was costing her. “I screwed up. There weren’t supposed to be so many all at once. But you see, that’s why we had to win. And we did!”

My eyes widened in surprise. Why hadn’t I thought of that!? I don’t know- the nudge felt more like a shove this time. But, we come back when we die?!

Another flicker of a Skill activating, and I suddenly knew that only extremely powerful magic brought the dead back to life, and only recently dead at that!

I stalled. My curse was affecting me. I knew it was, I’d just felt it several times.

Was it possible…? We could have died?!

The mental shove almost knocked me over, and this time I could feel the shift. I was supposed to be optimistic! It wasn’t just hard to foresee a bad outcome; it was close to impossible for me! I suddenly realized this was how Kaede must be feeling right this second, fighting with her party girl devil-may-care persona and the very real fear…

Her struggle touched my heart. I reached over and placed my hand over hers. “Kaede… thank you! I… I didn’t realize how much being Kaede is a performance. You can be honest with me…” I stopped and laughed softly. “But then you wouldn’t be yourself, would you? The devil-may-care party girl…” I leaned over and hugged her tightly. “Thank you for telling me this. You don’t know how much it means to me!”

Kaede’s teeth sharpened and she grinned wickedly. “You could make it up to me, you know?” She leaned in and rubbed her cheek against mine, the scent of her hair tickling my nose.

I shivered all over, feeling a guilty gush of hunger in my body. I pulled back and sighed, then smiled at her wistfully.

Should I tease her? Would she like that? Oh but that feels so wrong… but that’s who she is! … and I’m Caelynna right now. She knows that. So… so I will be Caelynna! I thought.

I patted her hand neutrally and let it go. “I’m glad you’re feeling better. We should butcher these bees before they dissolve.” I said plainly.

Kaede’s eyes got wide and she looked back at the pile of corpses. “Oh spirits, you’re right!” She lurched over to the pile, her butchery knife appearing in her hand. She set too with a will, and soon the crack and splorch of butchering filled the air.

Really, the sounds should have made me ill, but with subtle nudge from my name skill, all I could feel was relief that we’d survived. Relief that we’d survived and I’d somehow dodged Kaede’s propositions yet again.

And a tiny guilty glow of pleasure that we’d gotten closer, that I could see a little more of her heart. And a little more of my curses too, as worrying as that was.

Surely it’s not bad to be an idealistic optimist? Is it?

Kaede continued to work steadily on the pile of corpses, the sound of splorching crunching cracking chitin filling the air. I could see that she managed to save a few of the giant stingers with the poison gland, glowing faintly green of course. A few pieces of chitin, less badly damaged than most, also vanished into her inventory.

The system pinged me just as Kaede finished the last of her harvesting. She looked up, smears of purple and black bug ichor across her cheeks.

<Notice:  Study requirements met. Gained Common Skill Survival[Gathering] has increased to [2].>

“So… Any chance of a [Purification], bestie?” Kaede smiled at me sweetly.

I blinked at her, and then shook my head. “Kaede, I’m exhausted! Literally! With the status to prove it! So are you! I’ll be happy to give you a magic bath, but I can’t do anything until I have SP back!”

She blinked, and then rummaged in her inventory briefly, giving a disappointed pout. “Right. Ok, out of S-potions, and low on SP. It’s definitely camping time.” She huffed in frustration. “it’s irritating that SP won’t recover when you level even though HP does!” She shook her fist at the sky and said “Come on, get with the times System!” She stood up and stretched, her hands pressing the small of her back, then her ears suddenly perked up and she looked at me happily.

“You can cook, right?! That was on your sheet?!” She bounced a little.

“Uh…” I felt the awareness of my skills floating up in my mind as she asked the question. “Yes?” I said cautiously.

“Oh thank the spirits, this is going to be so much better! I am so bad at cooking!” She tugged my hand and led me away from the bug hunting ground, as the bee corpses started to vanish into light grey wisps of smoke behind us.

A short walk later, we came to a small clearing near a creek, with what looked like…

“Is this a camp site?!” I asked in surprise.

“Well yeah!” Kaede said. “It’s a well-known hunting spot, so of course hunters have a little camp site here. It’s not popular enough to have a lodge or anything. Some of the really popular sites have full-fledged adventurer guild houses onsite! Those are hard to get into though, they’ve got a waiting list and everything!”

She dropped the shining bead of the magic tent, which expanded instantly into a shimmering opaque soap bubble dome around us. A few more drops and pillows, blankets, a mattress-

Just one, I see, just like she said. Plenty large though.

-and a full set of cooking equipment appeared, followed by bags of raw vegetables and meat. In short order, the ‘rough’ camping site was transformed into something closer to a fully equipped luxury camp site.

“Wow!” I said, looking around and clapping my hands in delight. “This is… actually really nice!” I giggled, examining the cooking pots and food supplies, feeling the skill activation as [Cooking] fed me guidance on what and how to prepare.

It was a strange feeling actually. Unlike the faint push and knowing of my [White magic] and [Staff] combat, using [Cooking] was more like a gentle but irresistible force guiding my actions and thoughts. I knew how to season and prepare the meat. I must dice the vegetables in a specific way!

Since I could barely boil water in my other life I wasn’t exactly going to object. [Cooking 8] must mean something after all, but it was such a strange sensation.

The sun vanished into the tops of the trees as Kaede finished unpacking. Kaede stretched and then said “I’m going to go get clean by the stream.” She grinned, her teeth sharp. “You can watch if you like…” she said teasingly. I gave her a frustrated glare and returned my cooking.

“Suit yourself. Back soon!” Kaede said, wiggling her fingers at me as she walked off.

My efforts at the cookfire were soon rewarded with the delicious scent of bubbling stew. I was honestly surprised how easy it was!

Ok, so the [Cooking] skill is actually pretty awesome. Just… instant knowledge and guidance! I thought, feeling a little guilty at just how easy it was, and how many years of progress this would represent if I had gained the skill legitimately.

Kaede walked back into view, much cleaner and damper, still rubbing her hair and tail with a towel.

“Kaede?” I asked, struck by the thought.

“Hm?” She looked at me questioningly.

“How long would it take a normal person to gain a skill rank of 8?”

Kaede scrunched up her face in thought. “Depends on how much they were devoted to it, and how the RNG rolled, but around seven or eight years, I suppose.”

I winced, and Kaede smiled gently. “You’re feeling guilty for your skills, huh?”

I nodded feeling my ears drooping with embarrassment. “It just feels like cheating to suddenly be so good!” I suddenly looked up. “I bet I could open a restaurant or something!”

Kaede shrugged carelessly. “You probably could. Hard to get the money unless you go hunting first, and even harder to convince someone that you deserve the money… your level isn’t nearly high enough to justify that kind of skill. And you don’t exactly look like you’ve had a lot of experience, you know.”

She looked down, and her ears drooped a little.

My hand flew to my mouth. Oh my! I thought.

My [Empathy] informed me in no uncertain terms, that Kaede had definitely been underestimated, and belittled because of her apparent age and ignorance.

I chewed over that for a bit, then said “You got even with them though, didn’t you?”

Kaede’s head jerked up, her ears at alert, her eyes wide, slowly narrowing. “I forgot you can do that!” She wrapped her arms around herself.

I immediately came over to her and gave her an apology hug.

She’s a kitsune, I didn’t think she could resist getting even with someone who wronged her. I thought.

I squirmed uncomfortably at that thought. Kaede could be… cruel if she was riled up!

I took a breath and continued. “So it’s…” I gagged on the word. I just could not lie and tell her it was fine.

I pressed my lips together. “Kaede, did they learn a lesson? Did they learn the lesson that it’s wrong to underestimate someone? Did you… did they get hurt permanently?”

Kaede’s eyes got wide. “No! I mean, yes, but…” Her eyes narrowed, and she looked positively feral for a moment. “They learned about underestimation, yes. And none of them were permanently injured.”

I squirmed uncomfortably, feeling my heart squeeze. It was incredibly painful to hear she’s hurt someone, even if…

Even if they deserved it. She taught them not to do it again though, just like a proper trickster. And if I’m honest -and I can’t help but be that- asking a kitsune never to be mean is… like asking the sky not to be blue.

I took another breath and let it out slowly. “So it’s… well justice was done.” I continued, relieved that I did indeed believe it to be true. “And now I’m here, so we can share the pain.” I gave her another apology hug. “I’m sorry Kaede, I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories. I’m still… I’m sorry.”

Kaede was still in my arms for a moment, then she ran her finger slowly down my back.

“You could make it up to me~” she purred softly in my ear, and then squeezed my butt.

I yelped in mingled surprise, shock, and embarrassment. I fell backwards, scrambling away from her, panting a little.

My body was definitely interested, but gosh darn it, why did she have to be such a… a… kitsune! I returned to the cookfire, my face red as a tomato, and focused on the food.

Kaede came up behind me and leaned over my shoulder. “Aww, you’re so cute when you do that!” she teased.

I muttered at the pot “I suppose I deserved that for poking a sore spot on a kitsune.”

Kaede was silent for a long moment, then said sulkily “I didn’t do it because you poked me.”

I turned to her, my eyebrows rising in surprise. She’s not lying exactly… not exactly. I crossed my arms and narrowed my eyes, my foot tapping.

She jerked, her ears twitching wildly. “It’s true!” She said.

I felt that little shift inside me that I was starting to recognize as a skill activating.

Kaede’s ears immediately wilted. “Don’t look at me like that! It’s… it’s mostly true!” She said defensively.

Intimidation then. I wish she’d stop lying like that! My frown deepened.

Kaede wilted even further. “It’s half true!” She said, defensively. “Spirits it is unfair that you can do that!” She took a breath, which made her body shift in a very pleasing way.

Oh yes, I am most definitely interested. I thought with a mental sigh. She’ll be very aware of that- oh! There she goes already, shifting her posture to show off her body to me.

I reached out and very gently placed a hand on her upper chest and pushed her backwards. “Alright. I accept you didn’t do it just because I poked a sore spot.” I felt a twinge of guilt. That was cruel of me, I should… well I’m Caelynna, of course it matters to me!

Kaede nodded, then took my hand in hers and leaned in again, displaying her breasts, her grin showing sharp teeth when my gaze was drawn downwards.

“I did it because I like you. I like you, like you.” She said, pulling my hand slowly down her chest.

My eyes flared wide, and I staggered back a step pulling my hand out of her grip, my breathing ragged.

She’s not lying! She’s… she likes me likes me?! I thought in panic.

I stared at her with wide eyes, my voice trembling as I said “Kaede, you barely know me! I- I know you w-want to… to… d-do… that with me, b-but…!”

Kaede’s grin was practically evil. “Aw, you really are adorable.” She said, advancing on me.

“Anyway, that’s where you’re wrong.” She continued. “I do know you. I know your archetype. You’re the sweet pure good girl, the one who feels bad when even the slightest thing goes wrong, who feels guilty over things that aren’t her fault, that wants to hug the world. The one who only ever sees the best in others. You are an archetypical waifu. And if you think about it, you know me just as well, for the same reason.”

She took a skipping step back and posed on one leg, her arms spread wide.

I swallowed, feeling the blush on my face getting even more intense. I did know her. The ‘naughty’ woman, with a soft tender romantic side. Teasing and mischievous to hide a wounded and sensitive heart.

“B-but…” I stammered out. “T-that’s not entirely true! I’m… I want… I like…!” I gave an embarrassed squeal and hid my face in my hands. I couldn’t even get it out, it was so naughty!

I felt Kaede pull me into a warm hug, her breasts pressed against mine. She whispered into my ear “Don’t you know that ‘good girls’ want it too? Where do you think ‘holding hands’ and ‘watching fireworks together’ leads? Where do you think the heroines want it to lead?”

“T-that’s-!” I jerked backwards and pushed her away, but I couldn’t deny she was right. The only real difference here was that I could feel it! I was… thirsty, but looking at my behavior from outside, I hadn’t done anything that the heroine didn’t do.

Kaede’s teeth were very sharp as she grinned at me in the firelight. “So I know you very well, miss Caelynna. And I like what I know a great deal.”

“B-but! I’m not really Caelynna! I’m Dustin! This is just… just a fiction! A skill!”

Kaede giggled softly. “If you didn’t like good girl waifus, you wouldn’t have become one. The entity chooses our forms based on our tastes; he told me so. You might not be an ojoudere in the other world, but you couldn’t have become one if you weren’t compatible. Besides, you are Caelynna now.”

She stepped back and sighed wistfully, the intensity of her suddenly dwindling. “If you weren’t” she said bluntly “you’d already have fallen into bed with me. My skills can’t get a grip on you.”

I went from trembling embarrassed interest at the confession scene to incandescent white hot rage in the space of an eyeblink. She’d been trying to use her influence skills on me! On me! How… how dare she! I was so mad I could feel myself spluttering, at a loss for words.

Kaede skipped backwards, her eyes going wide. “W-what? What’d I do?!” She looked around wildly, and I practically shrieked with rage as I flew towards her, my tiny fists pounding on her furiously.

“How dare you!? HOW DARE YOU!? You said you wouldn’t use those skills on me! You promised me! HOW DARE YOU!?” My voice was a shaking thunderstorm of pure rage. “WE ARE NOT FRIENDS! DO YOU HEAR ME! I AM… I AM DONE WITH YOU!” I shrieked at her.

Kaede cowered before me, tears springing into her eyes. “Caelynna! Caelynna, wait no! I didn’t! I’m not! This is just me! I wouldn’t!”

“YOU! YOU!....” I lost the ability to speak, how dare she! And… and she must be using some new skill on me, since I couldn’t even tell she was lying!

I pulled my staff from inventory with a thought and started raining blows on Kaede’s head. “I’m… I’m… I’m going to UNFRIEND you!” I shrieked furiously.

Kaede grabbed my staff and yanked me close, till I was staring into her yellow eyes. “Caelynna! I. Am. Not. Using. [Bewitch]. On you!”

I struggled furiously in her grip. “And now you’re hiding your lies from me! I… I HATE YOU!” I yanked furiously at my staff to pull it from her grip.

Kaede stumbled backwards as though I’d punched her in the gut. Her face was ash pale and I saw tears streaming down her cheeks. She looked devastated.

It was that, more than anything, that broke through to me. She was crying. I’d made Kaede cry! It… a kitsune never cried! Could it be… she was… she was telling me the truth?! I stared at her open mouthed, stunned by the thought.

Her voice hiccupped as she fought back the tears. “I-if you really feel that way… I… I suppose… I’ll have to accept it. I guess…” her ears were flat to her skull and the tear tracks trickled down her cheeks in the firelight. She sniffled hard. “I guess I deserve that. Why would a good girl ever like a kitsune.”

A crushing wave of guilt immediately rolled over me, like a dense fog. How could I?! I said such terrible things to her too! And… and I promised to be her friend! Oh I’m such a terrible person! My staff vanished into my inventory with another thought and I rushed forward, babbling apologies. Tears streamed down my cheeks.

“Oh Kaede, I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! I thought… I see now that you meant your attempt to seduce me on the road! Oh this is all my fault, I’m so sorry!” I hiccupped a sobbing apology, and hugged her tightly to me.

Kaede sobbed with genuine heartfelt pain. My [Empathy] cut my heart open like a knife, Kaede’s sobbing pain tearing into me.

She means it, she promised she wouldn’t… and then I accused her! This is my fault, I hurt her! Oh how could I, I’m such a terrible person!

We clung to each other while the storm of emotions rolled through us.

She sobbed an apology to me, a confession of sorts, her guilt and angst over her skills and how they worked, her fear that nobody really liked her at all, her confusion and hurt about how she might have ruined her friendship with me, how she wasn’t sure who she was anymore, how she’d found it so easy to live as Kaede because Kaede was so sure of herself.

I sobbed an apology to her, spilling my heart to her and promising that I would never mistrust her again, that I was her friend, that whoever she was, she was still a good person, I knew she was. But under it all I realized…

She is the archetype. She is exactly what she appears to be. I thought. If you know waifus, you know her… I thought, as I listened to her.

<Notice:   [Kaede Mayaki] has been treated. You have gained xp! Bonus applied, 90 xp awarded.>

I stiffened, my eyes going wide, then leaned into the hug and held her close. I can help. I can really help her! Caelynna or Dustin or whoever I am, my friend is in pain and I can help!

I felt that stab of guilt wash through me, and welcomed it this time. I deserve this for not trusting her. She was right, I am the good girl… and I’m going to heal her to make this right!

We held each other for a long time, as Kaede’s sobs finally eased.

“You’re… you’re not mad anymore?” She asked, her voice pitiful and sad, her eyes venerable, huge and golden in the firelight.

“No, Kaede, I’m not mad anymore. Maybe mad at myself for not trusting a friend.” I hugged her again.

“T-that’s good.” She sniffled again. “Because I think dinner is burning.” She said, a faint smile on her lips.

“Oh no!” I spun around and rushed over to the fire, hurriedly banking the fire and shifting the food away from the heat. I could feel my [Cooking] skill activate, and for the first time, saw a genuine ‘mundane’ magic. Under my hands, the gentle coaxing and skilled manipulation of my actions brought the burnt cinders of the stew and ash brown vegetables back to unburnt, unruined food, as though time was running in reverse.

I could feel the effort it took, the tiny amount of SP that I’d regained instantly drained by the effort, but after a short time, it was as though the food had never been ruined at all.

<Warning! Four(4) SP remaining! You are [Exhausted]!>

I sagged to the ground, letting out a tired-

I giggled to myself. You mean [Exhausted]

-sigh.

Welcome back, my [Exhausted] status. I hefted the food off the heat entirely, and said wearily. “Well. The food is done.” I smiled at Kaede with a weary but satisfied expression.

“So!” She clapped her hands together. “We should probably eat before something else comes up!” She said. A quick wipe of her face with her sleeves, and it was as though nothing had happened, all traces of her crying jag wiped from existence.

Kaede came over eagerly, her tail wagging, and her eyes sparkling with anticipation, spooning the simple meal onto her plate, and inhaling deeply, her eyes closed.

“Ah, this smells so good! I’m so jealous, Caelynna! I couldn’t even get my cooking to 5^th level, and everything tasted like ash! And you… you just fixed a disaster worse than my first attempt!”

Wow, she got over her hurt fast. I thought. I guess that’s part of her archetype too. Or… did she? Is she just used to hiding it all deep down? I thought. I felt the ‘twist’ of [Empathy] activating within me, and I suddenly saw it. She was definitely still hurt by my thoughtless actions. The stab of guilt in my gut redoubled.

I should never have doubted her. We’re friends!

Kaede was hiding it, but she hid it so cleverly, behind a façade of true happiness. She lived in the moment, purely because to do otherwise meant she’d be feeling every wound too intensely.

She’s every bit the sweet girly good hearted maiden I am, just wrapped in a different wrapper. The spark of interest in me perked up, and I felt my body respond. My [Empathy] activated and tweaked me.

Yes. I am interested, Kaede. I finally admitted to myself. But I can’t sleep with you. I thought sadly. Not yet. Not until you know we’re friends without the… the event you want. A blush swept over my cheeks.

Kaede poked me gently. “Hello? Caelynna? Aren’t you going to eat?” She grinned her teeth sharp again. “Or is this you drugging me to get me into bed?”

I looked up into her golden eyes, and the smile I gave her was tinged with such sadness that she sat back suddenly, her eyes wide.

“Woah, hey! What’s… what’s this!? It’s cool! You didn’t mean it, we’re cool now! It’s cool! We hugged and everything!”

I plastered a smile on my face and nodded, my heart heavy. “We’re cool.” I said.

But I can’t sleep with you tonight, Kaede. I’m so sorry. I thought. Though whether I was sorry I couldn’t get with the impossibly gorgeous foxgirl or that I’d hurt her, I couldn’t say. Probably both.

Kaede frowned, and then set her bowl down. “Come here.” She reached out to take my hands in hers. “I want to show you something.” She smiled and squeezed my hands. “It’s not fireworks, but it’s just as pretty.”

She led me outside the dome of the tent and pointed into the sky, squeezing my hand as she did so.

I looked up, and my breath caught in my throat, my hand darting to my bosom, feeling my heart squeeze in awe.

Floating overhead two moons glowed in the night sky surrounded by a sky cracked with stars and glimmering with rainbow nebula. The larger moon was waxing, almost completely full, and had a faint reddish tint. The other, slightly smaller moon, was just starting to wane and shone with a soft blueish tint.

Together they were… the whole scene was glorious. It was better than fireworks, it was like seeing into infinity. I didn’t realize I was crying with joy until Kaede reached up and lightly brushed the tears off my cheeks.

“Told you.” She said softly, smiling at me. “Ronde is really… really beautiful.” I was too entranced with the sky to notice that she was staring at me as she whispered the words.

A timeless moment later, the awe that held me enthralled to the night sky faded enough for me to look away from the sky. “Wow.” I said again softly. “That is  amazing. Is every night like this?!”

Kaede smiled and nodded. “Yep.” She looked up at the sky and sighed in satisfaction. “It’s not as nice in the city, and tonight is especially beautiful, but it’s always a show worth seeing.” She looked back at me. “Now! I can’t believe I’m mentioning this, but you haven’t talked about your level up at all. I know this must be driving you crazy!”

I gasped, my eyes going wide. I had forgotten all about it, but now that she mentioned it…

Kaede laughed softly. “You did forget about it.” She shook her head in amused wonder. “Amazing. The second best part of being in an isekai, and you’ve completely forgotten!” She took me by the hand and dragged me into the tent. “Let’s get you leveled up, girl!”

A moment later, we sat cross legged in the center of the tent with bowls of food in our lap. “Right.” Kaede began. “How much do you remember from the web game?”

“Uhm… most of it, really? I think?”

Kaede nodded. “Ok, good. So it’s almost identical. But there’s juuust enough differences to mess you up. One of them is that you can have more control over the skills and talents. Oh! And even a maxed out skill doesn’t mean you always succeed! Some kind of RNG in this world, I guess? And there’s no limit to how many skills and talents you can have active. I’ll try and cover all the bases, but really the System is very forgiving and friendly, you can just study the interface and it will tell you more.”

My eyebrows rose at the mention of skills. Unlimited? All my skill talents active at the same time? That’s… nice! Talents only unlock at skill level five, but… goodness, my name skill must have given me a lot of talents!

She clapped her hands. “So! You know what the magic power and physical power do. Out of combat, strength isn’t affected. I’m sorry to say that even with high physical power you’ll never lift a bolder over your head or punch through a mountain.” She tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Unless you’re attacking the mountain, I guess? Or if you take the [Athletics] skill with the strength talents, of course! Same goes for your intelligence, you won’t be a super-genius unless you pour points into the thinky skills like [Academics] and [Lore] and buy thinky talents. High level fights can rearrange landscapes, but those are really rare.”

I blinked, and a tiny smile slipped onto my face. “‘Thinky’ skills?” I said mildly, amusement coloring my voice.

Kaede laughed. “Well look at me!” She gestured to herself. “Do I look like a brainiac?!”

I tipped my head to the side and opened my mouth, but Kaede hurriedly put a finger on my lips. “Ok, right, stop. Sorry. I forgot who I was talking to for a second. Alright, so I put a few points into thinky skills.” She said almost guiltily.

I giggled. “A few? If it’s like Heroes of Ronde, that means you’ve got a minimum of 5 levels in them!” I paused, then impulsively added “Does it work?”

Kaede grinned, her teeth sharp. “You’re going to give me a straight line like that?! Of course it did, I am the greatest genius in Ronde!”

I felt the subtle twist of my [Empathy] skill activating, and realized that though she was exaggerating-

Of course she is. She’s Kaede, after all… I thought wryly.

-she was equally proud of herself.

So it works! She’s… smarter as Kaede! I felt a little shiver run through me. I wasn’t sure I liked that! Strength… strength was one thing, I’d already had my body transformed… but now that I thought about it, my mind had already been transformed as well! I was Caelynna now, for as long as I kept my name skill active. My compulsions and thoughts were very different from Dustin’s!

But I don’t… think I actually mind it. Dustin does, of course. But… and I could be smarter?! Who wouldn’t want that!? And… she said it works. That means… she’s really smart. Probably… probably smarter than me. I felt a strange twist of envy and fear, and quickly quashed it.

She’s not like that. I thought, feeling the press of ‘Caelynna’ on me. Then I paused, and suddenly realized I would know. She’s… really not like that. She is smarter than me, and… and I’m ok with that?! Because I just know she’s not a bad person? Wow…

“So, what does it feel like?” I asked curiously.

“Being a genius?” Kaede laughed teasingly.

I smiled tolerantly and nodded.

“It’s…” She sobered, and I could see her teeth blunt slightly. “It’s strange. It’s like… everything is clearer. More vivid and obvious. I still feel like me, but it’s like… like I’m a better me.”

“So it happens when you become Kaede physically? Even without the name skill?”

She shook her head. “Oh no! I have to be Kaede for it to kick in. But it’s almost intoxicating. I’ve come to Ronde several times just to think through something in the other world, just to get a better perspective.” She smiled wryly. “Though sometimes that backfires.” She frowned. “Actually, a lot of the natives look down on people with these Talents. ‘Too smart for our own good’ they say.” Her ears drooped. “I’ve got a wicked sense of humor, and some of the plans that I come up with make Mike unhappy.”

I paused. “I’m a little surprised you can recognize that.” I said after a moment.

Kaede blinked at me. “What do you mean? I remember what Mike thinks, he remembers what I think. It’s like I said! I’m still Mike, but… more! Really, we’re the same person at base. We draw from the same well. So of course I can recognize that others think I’m a bit cruel sometimes. I mean, they’re wrong of course!” She grinned at me; her teeth sharp.

My [Empathy] pinged me strongly and I saw through her teasing jest. She did think she was a bad person! I frowned and reached over to squeeze her hand in mine. “Kaede.” I said seriously. “Would you hurt someone who didn’t deserve it? Would you hurt someone more than they had hurt you?”

Kaede recoiled. “What?! No! Of course not, what are you saying?!”

I smiled gently and squeezed her hand. “I’m showing you than you’re not as wicked and cruel as you think you are. You are a good person. And I know this to be true.”

I knew this from the previous revelation about her trickery and the lessons she taught, and I knew it because my [Empathy] told me so. And now it was my turn to show her how a sweet good girl gave lessons.

Kaede sat there, her golden eyes wide as she stared at me.

The System chimed.

<Notice:   [Kaede Mayaki] has been treated. You have gained xp! Bonus applied, 90 xp awarded.

LEVEL UP! You have reached level 9! Core Stats Advanced. +5 Skill points. +1 Class point.>

The intoxicating rush of energy flowed through me, and I ruthlessly forced my body to ignore it, not wanting to distract Kaede. This was important to her!

She shivered all over, and I caught a glimmer of unshed tears in her eyes. She wiped at her eyes, and grimaced. “Damn you. And thank you.” She said quietly, then leaned over and gave me a soft hug.

I felt a giddy feeling of warmth spreading through me, and couldn’t help the wide smile that spread across my face. It felt so good to help like this! I didn’t even doubt it, Dustin would really like this feeling!

Or… maybe he does like this feeling? What Kaede said… am I really… Dustin? I shook my head in irritation. This was not helpful, and I knew for a fact that many of the things that made me Caelynna were artificial!

“So we can turn ourselves into geniuses, or lift boulders over our heads, but only if we take the Talents to do so.” I said thoughtfully.

Kaede pulled back and laughed. “We’re back to the lesson? Alright. Well, technically yes. But you’d need to hyperspecialize, really ruin any coherent or good build. Nobody would do that. In point of fact, almost no one puts points into those talents.” She scowled. “Those idiots at the guild could sorely use a few knowledge talents!” she grumbled.

I blinked in surprise. “Oh? That’s interesting!” I flushed guiltily. “We were talking about builds and mechanics! I’m sorry, I keep getting side tracked!”

Kaede grinned mischievously and patted my thigh. “It’s ok, you’re cute when you’re excited.”

I flushed even more brightly and looked down at my lap. “Thank you, I think.” I murmured.

“So!” Kaede went on. “Same setup. All your stats go up naturally at a rate depending on what class you currently are.”

I nodded. I knew from the game that your current class also added a bonus on top of the stats created from natural leveling.

“If you level up without picking a new class when you’re eligible, your stats increase from ‘ghost’ levels. If you change class, the ghost levels change to the new class.” She bounced excitedly. “So, what level are you?!” She asked.

“Oh! Ah, I pinged 9^th.”

“Oh, that’s great! Five levels in a core class and you can unlock the first tier of choices! Now, if I had to guess, your archetype says ‘all the way to Saintess’, which is actually a very straightforward build. You’re just a mage that focuses on [White magic]. Medium was a little tricker, with several prerequisites.”

“And the skill points? Are the they the same?” I asked.

Kaede nodded. “Yeah, you can choose to level any skill you like. Talents open up at 5^th level, like you said. Most everyone in this world just practices the skill for a little while and the System gives it to them. They almost always save their skill points for ‘important’ skills. I think that’s dumb. We’re in an isekai! But I warn you, it feels downright strange when you take points in skills you never used. Just… knowledge forcing its way into you! Kind of cool though. Skills get stupid expensive at the higher levels though.”

Kaede snapped her fingers. “Actually, I have the perfect example!” She grinned wickedly and pointed at me. “You’re a priestess. So, what are you a priestess of?” She asked pointedly.

I found myself answering before her words had even properly penetrated. “There’s only one true church, so strictly speaking, I’m only an acolyte, not a priestess.” I began apologetically. “I’m on my pilgrimage to… to gain…” My eyes widened as I felt the words tumble out of me. This was knowledge I knew, that was somehow integral to me, and yet I’d never known any of this until Kaede asked me!

“…to gain the rights to call myself a Deacon of the Church of Watchful Light. Then I can call myself a true priestess!” I trailed off, my mind suddenly filling with religious trivia and facts that were surely common knowledge…?!

Weren’t they? But… but until this very moment, I didn’t know that I knew any of that! Hm! I’ve already felt that with [Cooking]! [Empathy] too, I suppose, though I haven’t tried to use those talents.

“Wouldn’t that make you a deaconess?” Kaede asked curiously.

“Well yes, it would. But there are five ranks between a deacon and a priest, and the average layperson doesn’t care that much, so it’s much easier not to confuse the issue when a congregant is looking for spiritual counsel.”

I slipped my fingers to my lips and blushed lightly. “My goodness, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to ramble like that!”

Kaede threw back her head and laughed. “And that was just with [Religion] 2! So how does it feel so suddenly learn that you’re religious!?”

I paused in thought. “Strange. Poor Dustin, to have a religious conversion on the road! He’s not religious at all you know!” I giggled, then sobered. “But… it’s just so natural. I know that I shouldn’t know this, I can feel it’s new, and yet… it’s as though I’ve always known it! You’re right, that is a strange feeling!” I tapped my lips and then said “Does it feel that way too when you take the intelligence talents?”

Kaede squirmed. “No. Not really, more like… ah! I know! You know how sometimes you’re thinking hard about something, and can’t grasp it, but then later you suddenly just know what you were trying to figure out? It’s like that, only all at once. That feeling of ‘I’m an idiot!’ only… it’s because you’re suddenly not an idiot. You’re smarter than you were before.”

I frowned. “That seems… troubling. Going back to how you were…?”

Kaede shrugged. “Not really? It’s just… how you’ve always been. It’s so subtle you don’t even notice it. I only really notice when I come back and suddenly something that was confusing is easy to understand.”

“Doesn’t that worry you though?” I said.

Kaede shrugged. “Why should it? I can be Kaede anytime I want if I feel like I’m missing something. Being smart is nice, but I’ll be honest-” She grinned and winked at me. “Just for a bit!” She continued. “My intelligence gets me into more trouble than it solves. ‘Too smart for my own good’, remember?”

I frowned in confusion. It seemed different to me, somehow, but it was clear she really didn’t feel off or creepy about the fact that she was literally less intelligent… even if not stupid… when she wasn’t Kaede.

But then… she says she really doesn’t think of Kaede as someone else. So… it’s not like she becomes someone else who is smarter, or is forced to become stupid. I wonder if that makes it ok?

“So we can spend skill points to up our skills, and pick talents as they unlock.” I said.

“Yep!” Kaede nodded happily. “Final choices are final, barring some god’s intervention I guess, so pick carefully the first time. There’s class trainers and advice and even entire books on the best way to level, famous historical builds, and stuff like that. The guild has a few useful guidebooks on offer, and I’m sure there’s more out there. But since you’ve read the wiki, I’m sure you know all about it.”

I shrugged. “I… don’t actually know much about the support builds.”

“What?! Seriously!?” Kaede’s eyes got wide.

“I… I picked hunter. And woodsman. I… I didn’t want to…”

Kaede said “Oooh!” With a soft understanding tone. “Well, then I guess it’s up to you. Wait, or go with the support build.” She fidgeted then said “Honestly, healer really suits you, and your personality.”

I pressed my lips together and shook my head in frustration. “I know that! I’m… Caelynna is a waifu, it’s obvious what my class choices should be.”

Kaede giggled. “That’s funny! You don’t want anyone telling you what to do?” she giggled again. “Caelynna, don’t choose something you don’t want just to prove ‘them’ wrong. And trust me, I know how hilarious that sounds coming from a kitsune!”

She leaned in and grew more serious. “You’re looking at it the wrong way. You’re not being told to pick healer. You are suited to being a healer, and so you became one. That’s how it works for natives of this world, that’s how it works for us as well.”

I thought about that for a long moment, then slowly nodded. I took a deep breath, nodded, and held out my hand. “Status.”

My window popped open in front of me, and I looked it over thoughtfully.

Name: Caelynna Araren

Equipment:

High Quality Smallclothes

Healer’s Outfit

Mage’s Staff

Holy Symbol

<Notice:   You have 8 unspent Class points. You have 40 unspent Skill points. You qualify for a class change.>

That’s interesting, the Boons & Banes of my name skill were collapsed. I can tell [Oujōdere] covers the ‘no swearing’ and ‘manners’, but [Pure Hearted] also covers ‘no swearing’ and adds in ‘honesty’. And of course [Kind Hearted] is my sweet good girl nature.

Seeing all those Talents and the boosts from my Waifu Name Skill was strange. Just looking at them, suddenly I knew what they did as though I’d always known. Just like when I looked at my [White magic] and [Staff] skills.

[Heart’s Secret] let me know what mattered most to a person, [A Peek Inside] let me know what a person’s true motives were.

Oh, that’s what I was doing with Kaede then!

[Skeptics’ Ear] let me know if they were lying, dependent on my [Empathy] skill… which given what level it was at meant I almost always knew if they were lying.

So that’s why Kaede couldn’t lie to me. That and [Incorruptible]. Wow, I really am a Kitsune buster!

[Subtle Menace] made people believe I was much more dangerous than I really was. [Scary] amped that ability up so even people who would normally laugh it off couldn’t. [Steely Gaze] let me pin somebody in place like a superpowered stare down. [Chef’s Insight] meant I always knew when something was off in the kitchen, or what could be added to a recipe to make it better. [Kitchen Luck] was how I’d unwound the cooking disaster. That and the [Maid] Subclass which gave all my [Cooking] & [Housekeeping] skills a buff.

Now I really want to try to cook something besides camp stew! Maybe I can ask Kaede to use her kitchen?! I was faintly aware that this was definitely a compulsion from my name skill… but cooking just sounded like fun! And I’ve got a level 8 [Cooking]! I bet I could make something really good! I giggled softly to myself. I guess even perfect waifus enjoy showing off! Quietly and modestly, of course.

[Housekeeper’s Eye] let me know when something was off or wrong about a household I was caring for, and how best to fix it. And [Swift Cleaner] meant that if I set my mind to it, that house would be sparkling clean with supernatural speed.

Gosh, I wish Dustin had that ability!

[Graceful] gave a modest bonus my defense and speed as well as to agility and social tasks.

And [Beautiful]… Beautiful gave me a bonus to any social interaction if people were inclined to like me, and a penalty if they weren’t.

I looked up at Kaede, a question in my eyes. She grinned, already knowing what I was going to say.

“Just like the game. Swipe left, then down.”

Sure enough, there it was. It was becoming clear that the game had much more to do with this world than could ever be attributed to chance. I tapped through.

<Available Classes:   You are qualified for the following classes:

Brawler, Archer, Scout, Crafter, Entertainer, Freelancer, Mage.>

I tapped at each one of the classes to make sure, but they were exactly like the web game. Very much “what it says on the tin”, with freelancer being a jack of all trades. I bit my lip in indecision, but I could feel my [Honesty] Bane pushing me to accept what I already knew. I did want to play a support healer. Maybe it was just Caelynna talking, but I was Caelynna currently, so…

I leveled Adept to five as required and then poured all my remaining class points into Mage. It was a strange feeling. A bit like the caffeine high of leveling up but subtly different as I could feel my body changing in difficult to describe ways.

When I’d recovered from the positively sinful rush of the levelup, I glanced over my updated stat sheet, biting my lower lip thoughtfully.

Name: Caelynna Araren

<Notice:   You have 40 unspent Skill points.>

Ignoring my skills and gear, which of course didn’t change, It’s definitely different than before. Power went down a point from where my ghost stats had me, but my Magic Power went way up. As expected from a Mage, I guess. I thought as I browsed.

But now the hard part. Where do I put all those skill points?! I should think about this carefully. I pondered. These aren’t extra skill points, they’re the same skill points that anyone in this world gets. I only gain skills that I practice supernaturally quickly. But then… what skills should I focus on? Wouldn’t it be better to wait until I leveled a few skills that I want? But then I just gain more points… oh this is hard! I groused to myself.

I took a breath and rubbed my chin. Alright, self. We’re Caelynna now… what do we want to learn?

When asked that way, the answer was suddenly obvious. [Green magic], [Scrutinize], [Lore] and [Religion]. Pouring points into [Lore] would even help answer questions that I hadn’t even thought to ask yet! And since [Religion] was a subset of [Lore], and [Scrutinize] was a subset of [Awareness], it would just make sense to put points in them.

Opening [Green Magic] was cheap, only 4 points. The purchase was also accompanied by a host of glowing green motes swirling up around me like I’d been dosed in pixie dust!

Kaede clapped her hands. “Ooh, green magic? Good choice! Lots of buffs and debuffs in there.” She said enthusiastically.

I blinked and tipped my head to the side in confusion. “Don’t you have green magic?” I asked curiously.

“No? Why would I? That’s all about water, nature, growth, plants and animals and stuff.” She tapped her chest. “Red, Black, and Blue for me. Fire and passion, ghosts and binding, illusion and trickery.”

“Black? You do black magic?!” I gaped at her in confusion. “But…” I snapped my mouth shut as my [Empathy] slapped me upside the head. I would hurt her if I implied she was a bad person! I’d just spent quite a lot of effort easing that hurt!

She said she’s a ghostbuster! What else would a ghostbuster use?! Wait, but if that’s so… yes, that’s what I should say!

“Oh! Wow, I’m dumb!” I giggled. “Of course a ghostbuster has black magic! I just got done telling you you’re a good person, and then I go and get all bigoted about black magic!”

I smiled at her and repeated my own words from earlier. “It’s all in how you use it, right?” I bowed to her, seated. “I was a fool, Kaede sempai. Thank you for educating me, please forgive this foolish kohai.”

The faint hurt on Kaede’s face faded, and I breathed a sigh of relief inside followed by an internal groan as Kaede’s teeth sharpened and her grin became positively feral.

“If that’s how you really feel-” She said “-I can suggest ways to make it up to me…?” She scooted over and placed her hand high on my thigh.

I could feel the ache and need pulse in me, but it slapped hard against my previous decision. I couldn’t sleep with her! It hurt to think that, but I just couldn’t! I knew down to my bones that it would only lead to her thinking that I wasn’t really her friend, just her seduction toy!

I gently lifted her hand in mine and held it, looking deeply into her eyes. “If that is really what you want?” I said, and felt a new skill activate. I wasn’t sure which one, but I hoped it was [Healing].

I saw the flickering indecision in Kaede’s eyes as she sat back on her heels, frowning at me.

“What are you… what are you doing to me? I… you’re not saying no but… but I do want to bed you! You even said it would be fun! What… what are you doing to me?!” Her brow furrowed in hurt and confusion. “I… I want to have sex with you! Of course I do! Why… why are you making me doubt that?!”

“Do you want me to be your friend that you have sex with, or just another conquest that you talked into bed?” I asked softly. “Would you really be ok with blackmailing the sweet good girl into your bed?”

Kaede jerked back with a flinch. I squeezed her hand and continued to hold her gaze. Mentally, I crossed my fingers and hoped like all heck that my Skills weren’t leading me wrong.

“I’ll follow your lead here, Kaede?” I tipped my head to the side in question.

Kaede’s tail lashed back and forth behind her, and I could see the conflict in her eyes.

Please be right, please be right. I begged my Skill.

Kaede sank back and the System pinged me. I hid a massive sigh of relief and then squashed a triumphant smile.

<Notice:   [Kaede Mayaki] has been treated. You have gained xp! Bonus applied, 90 xp awarded.>

“Alright.” She said grumpily. “But only because that means you are interested! Don’t pretend otherwise, your nipples could cut diamond right now!”

I let out a gasp, and hurriedly wrapped my arm around my breasts. Now that Kaede had mentioned it, I could feel them pressing against my smallclothes. I felt the blush sweep over my face and the tips of my ears tingled with how intense the embarrassment was. I curled into a little ball of shame.

“Oh gawd, I’m going to die!” I whimpered in mortification, burying my face in my hands, feeling the radiant heat of my blush on my palms.

Kaede burst into a fit of laughter, clutching her stomach and rolling around on the ground. “Oh spirits, your face! Oh I wish you could see your face right now!! Oh this is almost worth not getting to molest you!”

I closed my eyes tightly in embarrassment and looked away from Kaede’s victorious smirk.

Focus, Caelynna! I thought fiercely and returned to my skill choices, pushing the embarrassment into a small corner of my mind.

I’m going to be using green magic a lot, and just a little practice will level it up quickly, so let’s put our points elsewhere for now. I thought.

[Awareness] took 8 points to reach level 2. The number ticked up, and I felt… I wasn’t sure, exactly. A faint increase in the general ‘everything’ around me?

I looked at my stat sheet and felt my heart sink. I’d forgotten that if the prime skill was lower than the sub-skills, the sub-skills wouldn’t rise at all!

I gritted my teeth. I did want to be more aware, and now that I’d raised it… well I wasn’t getting those points back. Thinking about raising it again brought up the point cost in my mind.

Ouch! Sixteen points to reach level three?! Ok, hang on. Do I really want to put points in [Lore] instead of [Religion]?

The answer was almost immediate, and I could feel the firm ‘nudge’ of my name skill. Yes, I really did. Even if it was “inefficient”.

A point gained in [Lore], and I’d already spent half my skill points!

I could open a new skill… but I really didn’t see the need for anything else. I was… I was going to be a Saintess healer. Strictly speaking, I didn’t even need [Lore], it was irrelevant. It was just what I wanted.

And Dustin will want to know more about the world. So we both want this. Or… I guess if Kaede is right, both of me want this. And one way to do that is focus on [Awareness] to learn. I bet there’s a synergy between [Awareness] and [Lore] even, learning more about the world by observing it.

I quickly willed the points to [Awareness] before I could overthink myself into paralysis. My skill sheet now read:

<Notice:   You have 4 unspent Skill points.>

From 40 to 4 in one go. I thought wryly. Nothing I want that I can afford to buy anymore. Into the bank with you. Easy come, easy go. And I can always change things latter.

I froze in realization at the thought. When… just when did I decide that I’d be coming back?! But there it was. This honesty thing is… disconcerting. But… I want to return, I want to power up and learn more and… and… the heat of blush my took on a nova intensity with the thought. I want to make love to Kaede.

I opened my eyes and looked back to Kaede, who was watching me intently.

“Well?” She said expectantly.

“Well, I spent the points.” I said, nodding.

“And?”

I sighed. “And I guess I’m going to be a saintess healer.”

Kaede clapped her hands together in excitement. “Hah ha! Yes~ this is going to be the best party ever!”

I smiled and thought. It does seem like that could be… fun. Actually. Even if we never do… it.

“Well, let me grind some of my skills a little before bed, if I’m going to do this.” I said and stood up.

Kaede frowned. “Now? You want to fight now?”

“Huh?!” I asked in startlement. “No of course not! I’m just going to use [Scrutinize] on everything around the camp! I don’t have any books or anything to read so I can’t grind [Lore], and I don’t want to spar just before we go to bed!”

Kaede sat back, her brow furrowed. “You’re grinding [Scrutinize]? But why? It’ll just naturally level up as you use it!”

I blinked, my head tipped to the side in confusion. “But that’s because you’re using it. If I use it more, it goes up more, and everyone knows [Scrutinize] type skills are always OP in these stories?”

Kaede shook her head. “I don’t see the point, but… sure. Let’s grind [Scrutinize]!” She clapped her hands and hopped to her feet in one graceful movement.

We exited the tent, and I spent the next several minutes looking intently at random grass, rocks, and the sky overhead. As expected, the notice screen that popped up for each item was largely empty except for a bland name, though I did have a few surprises as my [Herbalism] skill gave me tidbits of information that [Scrutinize] didn’t.

Really, there’s a surprising amount of interaction between the skills. Far more than the web game! I thought.

“I feel like I got more information from [Scrutinize] when we were fighting?” I asked in puzzlement.

“Oh well that’s probably because we’re grouped up. Group [Scrutinize] means you can piggyback off mine. At least with stuff regarding things like fighting. That’s what the book I read said, anyway. Or maybe it’s my [Lore] telling me, it often feels the same.” Kaede replied.

Oh. Huh, that’s interesting.

The sky remained glorious, but as expected [Scrutinize] didn’t tell me a whole lot of anything. It was amusing to see the moons named and labeled by scrutinize, the red one was Rubeus and the blue one was Caesius. No grade was listed and their rarity was listed as ‘Unique’. The description was simply “A Celestial Body”. The stars and nebula were labeled as [Unknown] with no description at all.

However, I did experience that strange ‘knowing without knowing’ sensation that Kaede had described. Though scrutinize named the moons for me, suddenly I thought I know that already. And I did! I just… knew their names! I wasn’t sure if that was [Scrutinize] or [Lore] though.

It must have been [Lore], I didn’t know they existed before tonight!

It was amusing to see such a bland description for something so beautiful though.

I briefly wondered where I really was, in the grand cosmos. Was this another world? Was it in my universe but very far away? Was the System just for this world, or for other worlds too?

I shook my head in frustration. Baring being able to talk to the Entity once more, there was just no way to know. And if it really was just having a lol at our expense… that didn’t seem very likely.

I snorted in amusement. Of course, if this is a truly typical isekai, then there’s some grand power struggle afoot and we’ve been conscripted as pawns on some obscure chessboard.

I paused a moment in thought. How did I feel about that? Would I really want to help?

It was a moment before I realized with surprise that my compulsions hadn’t kicked me in the head, demanding that I go out and save the world right this instant. It honestly didn’t seem… to matter that much. I bit my lip in puzzlement, then shook my head again.

There’s just no way to know, until I find out. And… and I guess I really do want to know! It… would be kind of cool to be an epic anime hero… I looked down and sighed, watching the swell of my breasts rise and fall. Even if I have to wear a waifu’s body to do it.

Looking back up at the night sky and using [Scrutinize] again, I felt the same ‘knowing’ happen when I looked at the stars as well. I suddenly knew several constellations, as well as knowing that I didn’t know several more! This time I knew that wasn’t [Scrutinize], as there was no accompanying tag with name and rarity. Not for the constellations, at least.

This must be what’s happening when I know how to walk or speak or… or the things that are just common knowledge for Caelynna. I just… know how the world works. I can blend in without asking awkward question, even as I’m learning everything for the first time! I thought with a start.

<Notice:   Practice requirements met. [Scrutinize] has increased to 3.>

“Hah!” I clapped my hands together happily.

“Oh, did it just pop?” Asked Kaede.

I nodded. “Yep! Just got it!”

<Warning!: Status Effect: [SP Drain] in effect. REC reduced to 0.>

“Hwuah?!” I jerked, and then spun around looking wildly into the dark. “What’s going on?! Are we being attacked?”

Kaede was instantly alert, her warfans flicked out and twirling as she slowly surveyed the area around us. “What happened?” She said worriedly.

“I just got hit with an SP Drain!” I exclaimed.

Kaede laughed, her whole body relaxing. Her fans disappeared with a flick. “Oh. That’s just the system beddy-bye alert. You’ve had a really long day. So have I, but-” She abruptly broke off, her eyes flicking to the side, then back to me. “And there it is.” She smiled wryly.

“It’s simple.” She explained. “If you stay up too long, or, you know, pull an all-nighter, your Recovery stat goes in the dumpster, and your SP starts ticking down. That’s the System saying ‘go to bed or else’.” She grinned. “In some cases the ‘or else’ is ‘or else get a big stockpile of SP potions so you can pull an all-nighter!”

She clapped her hands. “So! It’s late! System says so. Let’s go to bed.” She frowned in mingled frustration and sadness. “I guess this means I won’t be able to tease you though, since you’re so low on SP.” She sighed tragically. “There go my grand plans for a nighttime seduction!”

I blinked, my mouth dropping open in shock at her blatant statement, only to suddenly be hit with a massive yawn. My name skill prodded me firmly, forcing my hand to lift to cover my mouth, and making me exclaim softly “Oh my! Excuse me!”

I flushed, and lowered my hand.

How very Caelynna of me. How very properly waifu of me.

The spark of interest in Kaede’s bright yellow eyes was obvious, but she gently took my hand and led me back into the tent.

She giggled softly. “Come on sleepy-head.”

I looked nervously at the blankets and camp mattress, before my body hit me with another truly massive yawn, and my name skill forced my actions once more.

Kaede gave me a teasing look, but he teeth weren’t quite as sharp as they might have been as she said “[Kitsune’s Honor]. I won’t molest you while you sleep. I prefer my partners to be awake.”

“Oh…” I felt a surreal sense of softness float over me. “What’s… that’s a Skill? What’s it do?” I murmured, laying on the mattress and yawning again.

<Notice:   Boon |Incorruptible| has removed unnatural mental influence.>

I jerked up in alarm. “Kaede?! What did you do!” I glared at her in shock.

Kaede made placating motions. “It means I have to keep my promise. If you were anyone else, you’d also trust me to keep my promise. So.” She smile sheepishly. “I guess you’ll just have to trust me the old fashioned way.”

I tried to think about it, but a huge yawn hit me in the middle.

<Warning! Ten(10) SP remaining! You are [Exhausted]!>

“Oh…” I said, the world fading slightly into a fuzzy haze.

Every time I don’t trust her, it turns out I was the one in the wrong. Or she just needed a talking too, or a friend… I’m so tired of the ups and downs. I’m just tired. And I guess I do trust her after all.

“I guess… I’ll do that…” I said faintly, and then the weight of my eyelids was too much.

<Warning! 0 SP remaining! Status [Sleep] Applied!

Notice:

     Status Effect: [SP Drain] removed.

REC set to 22.>

The system message blinked in the corner of my vision, and then there was only soft warm blackness.

The next morning’s light woke me. Overhead, the dome of the magic tent had turned a misty white that cast a soft glow through the interior. The first thing that really came clear to me was that I felt good. Amazingly, astonishingly good. Nothing hurt. Nothing ached. I felt more rested and vitalized than I’d felt in… forever.

In addition, my mind felt clear, sharp. I wasn’t confused about where I was or what had happened, despite how surreal and strange my new reality remained.  I moved to sit up, and sharp reminders of just how surreal my situation was washed through me. The heavy weight of my breasts, the strange liquid feeling of my hips and spine, the absence between my thighs. Followed immediately by the press of compulsions on my mind, the strangeness of my body immediately fading into thin air, while one hand was forced to my mouth as I yawned in what I assumed was a remarkably delicate and ladylike way.

As is only proper. I found myself thinking.

Oh. How… odd! So the compulsions really are always there! I am just Dustin… only Caelynna-fied.

My other arm stretched overhead and I felt a wonderful luxurious stretch in my back as I did. I blinked slowly, a feeling of mental equilibrium returning.

Well. Good morning, Caelynna? I thought to myself.

An incredibly coarse snore from my side made me glance down, to see Kaede sprawled like a starfish across the thin camp mattress. What made me do a double take however was the fact that she had changed her clothes for something that looked…

Well! It looks like she wants to make her position very clear to me! I snorted and thought. As if it wasn’t already. Honestly, Kaede!  A large surge of interest filled me, and an even larger surge of embarrassment colored my cheeks and ears a soft pink.

A lacy translucent very red babydoll nighty draped over a truly glorious pair of breasts, perfectly hemispherical with pale pink nipples. The narrow pinch of her waist and toned softness of her stomach lead to the swell of her hips which were graced with a pair of impossibly skimpy panties in the most hair raising, eye searing red. Her body was on full display, clearly by intention! I flicked my eyes away quickly, feeling my blush growing even more intensive, along with the urgent thrumming ache within me.

How flagrant! Red panties! She’s so… so shameless! I thought, even while the image would not leave my mind!

I was on the verge of opening my mouth to scold her for such flagrant behavior, when I suddenly noticed that the only blanket had been tucked neatly around me. I blinked in surprise, lifting it, then glanced quickly over at the sprawled starfish of my friend, before again flicking my eyes away in embarrassment.

She left me the blanket? She… tucked me in! She didn’t even… I know I would have woken up if she tried to molest me!

I pressed my lips together and shook my head, pushing the uncomfortable thoughts to the side.

She promised she wouldn’t! I decided to trust her. I thought with conviction and nodded firmly to myself.

 I gingerly got up, draping the blanket over her, and crept to the camp stove to start breakfast.

It was easier to not think about the confused mix of emotions I felt when I thought about the blanket and her outfit. Much easier indeed to simply cook!

Wild berries and flour, and a helping dash of kitchen magic and soon a delicious aroma was rising from the griddle. I realized that I was humming happily as I let my [Cooking] skill and Talents transform the simple ingredients into a mouthwatering breakfast feast.

Cold cuts warmed to the perfect temperature, pancakes and syrup from ancient rations, withered and dried fruit transformed into fresh picked produce… if this is what cooking at level 8 could do, what on earth could a level 10 accomplish?! I thought in astonishment, as my skill piloted my body around the cooking fire.

It wasn’t uncomfortable, but the feeling was very much as Kaede has described it. I simply knew what to do next, on a level so instinctive it happened without effort or even much thought, even though I found myself constantly wondering ‘but how do I even know how to do this?!’.

I let out a shocked ‘eep’ when arms wrapped around my waist and I felt the warm press of Kaede’s breasts against my back from behind.

“Good morning indeed! Breakfast in bed, Caelynna? You really know how to treat a girl.” Kaede’s soft purring lilt in my ear was ruined by the sound of an enormous yawn and morning breath right into my ear.

I burst into giggles, my hand covering my lips. I turned around in her grip, resolutely keeping my eyes on her face and no lower.

“Good morning, Kaede.” I said. “If you’ll be patient just a little longer, I’ll have breakfast for both of us.” And placing my palm gently just above her breasts, I pressed her gently but firmly away. The look of disappointment on her face was almost enough to make me relent, I felt so very bad about making her feel so!

But then, am I supposed to feel bad because that’s what a good girl does, or because of how I think? I can’t… really feel the edges of the compulsions anymore. Only for really big things. Like… like… oh what was it?! What was I so worried about in our fight yesterday?!

Kaede broke my chain of thought. “So, no good morning kiss?” She asked teasingly, hopefully.

I froze. It is traditional to give a kiss for a good date. And this was a really nice date! But I need her to know we’re friends first! That I’m not here just because she’s sexy! My curse squeezed at my mind, compelling the thought Well, not just because she’s sexy.

I stood there frozen in indecision, Kaede’s eyes slowly grew wider, and a mischievous smile played around her lips, sharp teeth showing as her smile grew wider.

“Oh this is precious.” She wrapped her arms around my shoulders and leaned in. “You don’t need to say yes, Caelynna. You don’t need to say no. Just don’t move.”

And I still had no idea what to do!

And then she kissed me.

Her lips were soft and warm and my whole body tingled, the feel of her warm curves pressed against mine sent my mind into a spinning tangle. I could feel my toes curl with pleasure, my body tingling in a way I’d never experienced before, a shivering interest that seemed to make stars dance in my head. Kaede’s tongue teased lightly against my lips, and I was so shocked! But the ache inside me demanded I answer.

But would that be best for Kaede?! I thought frantically.

Kaede pulled back from the kiss, and her slitted amber eyes danced with amusement and pleasure. She licked her lips slowly as she stared at me.

“Ok.” She said softly. “I can work with this. It doesn’t have to be now. But you didn’t say no.” She whispered softly.

I turned back to the food, too quickly. “W-We should eat! I-it’s a long walk back!” I blithered, my cheeks feeling nova hot with my blush.

I don’t want to say no! W-we’re friends though, I can’t compromise her mental health just because I want… that! I whimpered mentally.

Dustin! Yes, that’s right, I should ask Dustin! I thought frantically. I-if it’s ok with him, then maybe… maybe it would be ok? No, surely he’ll just want to leave! Yes! That’s best, then we can both have time to cool off! I fell onto the excuse with desperate force.

My body autopiloted the serving, hot pancakes, meat and fruit landing on two plates with almost… or perhaps entirely… magical speed.

When Kaede’s eyes took in the food, her eyes went even wider. “Oh… Oh wow! This… this is what high level [Cooking] can do?! We… this is fresh fruit?! How?! There wasn’t anything like this in my supplies, I know it!”

She stuffed her mouth full with a bite, and her eyes rolled in pleasure, her ears and tail shivering. “Oooomuh… sou guuud.” She moaned happily.

I rolled my eyes and lightly tapped her wrist with my spatula. “Don’t’ talk with your mouth open.” I chided her.

She rolled her eyes at me, and mouthed something muffled that I swore was ‘Yes, mom’.

I took my own plate and took a bite. A very ladylike genteel bite. The flavor exploded across my tongue, and my eyes rolled in pleasure.

So good! I had no idea… so good!

I dug into my food, only my curse restraining me from completely pigging out.

Oh yes, I definitely want to cook other things now! This is better than… than anything I’ve ever had!

Kaede giggled, and swallowed her mouthful. “You are adorable like this, you know. You clearly want to stuff yourself, but you make sure that you don’t take bites too big, or stuff your mouth too full. There’s not a single drop of syrup on you.” She gave me an accusatory stare, before licking a drop off one of her breasts, giving me another mischievous grin.

I deliberately looked away. “I’m not taking credit for it, this is just the effects of my name Skill. It would be like… like taking credit for being pretty! I can’t take pride in that, I was made this way!”

Kaede smiled smugly. “But you don’t object to it, do you?” she said slyly.

I opened my mouth to say that Dustin would certainly object, and found that I couldn’t get the words out.

Because they would be a lie, and I wasn’t able to do that! Both halves of me agreed. It was nice to be pretty! So instead I stuffed my mouth with another bite of breakfast, and chewed, letting the harmony of flavors distract me from uncomfortable questions.

Shortly after breakfast, certain biological needs suddenly made themselves strongly felt, and I squirmed strongly, suddenly realizing that I was going to have to rely on skills to do something I had no idea how to handle! In a fantasy world. As a girl.

Kaede grinned once more. “Morning toilet huh? Alright, let me get dressed we’ll go together.”

My eyes widened in shock. “Kaede! I refuse to use the toilet with you watching me!” I shrieked in muffled horror.

Kaede burst into laughter, her rich husky purr caressing the sound, making her seem even more vibrantly alive. “Oh spirits, you’re adorable!” She sobered slightly. “No, Caelynna, I’m not going to watch you poop!” she burst out laughing again. “I’m going with you, because there are monsters out there! It’s why cities have walls you know! It’s not likely, but it’s not unheard of, and so if we go as a group, we can watch each other’s backs. And not the booty!”

I felt myself flush with embarrassment and a slight shame. It was so silly of me to think she wanted to watch that. She clearly did not get her kicks from that, my [Empathy] was very clear.

Which only brought up the other problem.

Kaede was already grinning. “Don’t worry, it’s.. well it’s not just like it is for boys, but it’s pretty much the same. Just let your name Skill guide you.”

She led me towards a small copse of trees and bushes nearby, which provided a remarkably nice shelter from any prying eyes. I tried to ‘let it happen’.

And it did. My name skill guided my body smoothly. But in doing so, it threw the divide between ‘me’ and my name skill into sharp relief.

I squatted down and my hands hitched my robes up around my waist, revealing long legs clad in white stockings, and the undeniable straps of a garter belt.

My name skill informed me, demanded I know, that this was normal, was natural and what I should expect. Even so, I still found myself fascinated by the lacy straps of the garter belt and the thigh squish my stockings created as they clung to my upper thighs. While my thoughts were paralyzed with the sight, my name skill continued to guide my hands. I slid down my panties, revealing them to be skimpy French cut lacy white silken things, and a flush spread over my cheeks.

How incredibly naughty of me! I’m almost as brazen as Kaede! It was at once a new thought, a sudden revelation, and yet something that I had ‘always’ known, that was as normal as breathing to me.

The biology of the thing was very similar, and at the same time very different. But at the end of the day, it was something that everyone has done uncountable times. Indeed, my name skill informed me that I shouldn’t think about it at all! It was, oddly, a strange connection with this ‘other me’, this fantasy waifu… she also did these things! She was also… normal.

And when it was over, I knew immediately that I should use the [Clean] spell, granting both a bath and an intimate cleaning. It simplified an unpleasant necessity of normal life into a simple snap of the fingers.

And then all that was left was the tantalizing memory of skimpy pure white panties, flawless thighs, garter belt straps and clinging white stockings hanging in my mind. That, and the feel of lacy silk pressed against my most intimate parts… and the tingling memory of a kiss. My fingers lightly traced my lips, feeling the ghost of the kiss echoing in memory.

“Oh! Oh oh!” Kaede’s voice distracted me, clapping her hands from somewhere in the bushes. “That was [Clean]! Do me, do me next!”

I jerked in surprise and flushed with embarrassment, yanking my fingertips from my lips as though they had shocked me. I hurriedly repeated the chant to the [Clean] spell, and a glowing white gold light flared among the bushes, briefly outlining Kaede’s form a distance away.

She popped out of the bushes a short moment later, practically dancing with excitement. I had to force myself to look away from her body, still on full display from her indecently sheer and revealing babydoll and those shameless red panties.

Am I really any different? I found myself thinking. My panties are almost as shameless, and just as skimpy, just in white… which is… better? Somehow? Because red is just so… so blatant! The heat of my blush felt like a nova. At least my breasts aren’t bare to the world!

Kaede, seemingly unaware of my thoughts, gushed at me. “That was amazing! Your magic is amazing Caelynna! You have no idea how much better that is than looking for a leaf or bark! And it doubled as a bath!”

I looked down. “I’m happy I could help.” I said with a small voice.

I could feel the push of my Name [Skill] shaping my actions, I was ‘supposed’ to be embarrassed by her gushing praise, and, well, I was.

“I really wish I could use white magic now! Spirits! I thought dealing with ghosts and souls was cool, but the usefulness of white is just off the charts!”

I coughed and flailed for a topic to change the subject, grasping randomly. “So! Monster attacks? You don’t seem worried about camping! Or living outside the walls!”

Kaede blinked, and shook her head at the sudden change of topic. “Oh. Well, I warded my shrine, of course, and the tents are warded too. The average person can’t do that, at least not every night. And of course sometimes monsters get in anyway, but that’s ok, it’s just more xp for me. Us now, I mean!”

She clapped her hands. “So, let’s get ready to go home.” She ducked into the tent, and I followed. Kaede looked over her shoulder, and the grin she gave me was sharp toothed and sly.

“You stay here, and you’ll be watching me undress. You sure you want that?” She teased.

I flushed red and spun around facing the tent edge.

Unfair! She’s practically naked already!

Kaede’s laughter tickled my ears and I could hear soft rustling behind me. I fumbled for a topic so I wouldn’t think about what was happening behind me.

“So! [Kitsune’s Honor]! What’s that? Why’d you use it?!” I babbled.

“Hm?” The rustling paused and then resumed. “Well, it’s useful… and it’s in character, I guess. If I swear something with [Kitsune’s Honor] I have to keep my promise. But, you see, I’m allowed to keep it in a way that I can interpret very flexibly. Useful in all kinds of ways. And I could see it was important to you, and I wanted to show you that I meant it.”

I let out a soft little ‘hah’ of understanding. How very… kitsune of her. I thought mildly.

“Ok. You can turn around now, I’m dressed.” She said. I turned around to see her tugging the top of her miko costume into place.

“I still don’t understand how that thing doesn’t fall off!” I grumbled.

Kaede laughed. “I don’t know! I just chalk it up to how clothes are magic in this world. For example, your robes are form fitting in a very pleasing way.” She grinned teasingly at me. “But there’s no zipper or laces. It’s as though it was sewn onto you, form fitting. With your curves, the only way to take your clothes off is to use the inventory action.”

I blinked in surprise, and felt that now familiar nudge of the [Lore] Skill activating. That was exactly how I had to get undressed! Or dressed, for that matter.

“But that doesn’t make any sense! With [Inventory] you can just dress or undress-“. I paused, shocked into silence by a sudden realization.

“You… you were teasing me! You didn’t have to ‘get dressed’ at all!” I accused her.

She gave her foxy grin, and posed. “Guilty~” She sang.

I glared at her, crossing my arms. “Kaede!” I said sharply. “You have made your interest clear! You do not need to keep advertising it!”

Kaede flinched briefly, then gave a giggle and shrugged. “Maybe not, but it’s fun to do it, and maybe it’ll chip away at your resistance if I keep reminding you.”

I frowned and started tapping my foot. “Or maybe-“ I said sharply “-you’ll just make me angry!” I felt my [Intimidate] flare briefly.

Kaede flinched again, then paused, her lips pressing tightly together. “Maybe.” She said, moving towards me. “But I don’t think so. That kiss tells me otherwise.” She swayed forward, her tail twitching behind her. “And I can be determined too, when I see something I want.”

I shook my head firmly. “No, Kaede. I’m not going to give in to blackmail. I’m not sleeping with you just because you’re here either.”

“Oh we’re not going to be doing much sleeping.” She said teasingly.

I placed a hand firmly on her chest and pushed back. “No, Kaede. Enough. Let’s just… let’s get packed up and go turn in our quest.”

Kaede sighed and relented, but I could see the faintest hint of a satisfied smile on her lips the whole time we packed up.

With an Inventory, packing up was a complete breeze. Hiking without a backpack, but taking along a carload of equipment!

Heck, I’d like to have this power back in my world! I thought.

I paused a moment in surprise. Now… that’s interesting. My world? Isn’t it Dustin’s world? I’m Caelynna aren’t I?

I could feel the squirming of the compulsions around my brain, but it was becoming increasingly obvious that I wasn’t actually mind wiped or replaced.

I’m still Dustin! Just… a Dustin who knows how to walk in heels, cook and clean flawlessly, with embarrassingly idealized waifu traits. A Dustin who thinks like a waifu priestess. Who knows things a waifu would know. I thought.

I pushed that thought down and away. It led to very uncomfortable thoughts that I didn’t like at all.

With our camp packed away, we headed towards the road, back through the forest where we’d fought the bees. I entertained myself by using [Scrutinize] on everything.

Regular checks of my skill point progress revealed that using the skill on something I’d already used it on wasn’t going to get me much in the way of a reward. Which I supposed to fair, though it bothered me a little to know that there was more information to be gained, I just couldn’t access it yet. Still it was vaguely amusing to read the descriptions of plants and rocks and things.

My musings were brought to an abrupt halt as Kaede stopped, and held up her hand, her posture tense.

“Something’s wrong.” She said, her ears twitching this way and that. “Hear it? The forest should be loud.”

I looked around in confusion and suddenly realized she was right. The only sound I could hear was the faint swoosh of air through the trees.

I bit my lip nervously, and then decided caution was the better part of valor, beginning the chant for [Barrier].

With sudden high pitched war cries and shrieks, the bushes in the undergrowth shook and three tiny green pygmy figures burst out, each wearing dirty loincloths and waving crude spears and bows. An arrow glanced off the silvery white bubble of my [Barrier] spell. I popped off a [Scrutinize] on instinct.

<Notice:  

Goblin Brute:

Goblin          Monster    Level ??   Status: HOSTILE

HP: 53/53

SP: 17/17>

“Goblins?!” I yelled in shock, as my [Scrutinize] kicked in.

“Goblins.” Kaede said grimly, her warfans appearing in her hands.

“Were they supposed to be here?!” I squeaked with fright, clutching at my staff nervously.

“No. But they are here. So let’s do this.” Kaede’s voice was full of quiet determination. With a shout, her warfans ignited with swirling red and pale green flames, lashing arcs of magic at the goblin closest to us. The goblin fell back shrieking, his crude spear in flames only for the other two to replace him immediately. Their headlong rush was halted abruptly as they smacked face first into the [Barrier], which shook fiercely, but held. I could feel my SP drop precipitously from the impact, but the pause gave Kaede time to score a burning slash across the face of the one in the lead, cutting his spear in two.

I instantly felt tears spring to my eyes as Kaede scored her hit.

The poor things. They’re only puppets for Chaos, but still… the poor things!

This was just as bad with the bees! I found myself repeating “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!” as I fought them, even while I committed unspeakable violence on them.

I thought we were doing fairly well honestly, until the other three goblins that had been hiding in the bushes appeared behind us hurling spears.

Things got a lot worse rapidly after that. The battle devolved into screams (mostly mine), shouts (mostly Kaede), apologies (all mine), and a whole lot of shrieks (the goblins). Hurried healing chants, vicious staff knocks to the head and side, and flashes of Kaede moving faster than my eye could follow filled my vision. I wanted to vomit, the smell of roasted goblin flesh was like a burning garbage pile, and both of us had bloody stab wounds on us by the time it was over.

Is this it?! Am I going to die here?! I found myself thinking again. Bees and goblins and I’m done?! How is this fair?! I wailed in my head, as I slammed my staff into another disgustingly durable goblin skull.

My HP touched single digits several times, and I was starting to feel the genuine terror of an empty SP pool when the last goblin finally fell back, burning and sliced into pieces. I sat down hard where I stood and panted. The now familiar rush of a level up hit me hard and I shuddered all over as I felt the upgrades flow through me.

<Notice:   You have defeated [Goblin Brute] ×6. You have gained xp! Bonus applied, 450 xp awarded.

LEVEL UP! You have reached level 10! Core Stats Advanced. +5 Skill points, +1 Class point.>

The blood and ichor on my clothes and body instantly faded into nothing as my wounds healed from the rush of a level up, while next to me, I could hear Kaede’s delirious moan of pleasure indicating that she’d just leveled up as well.

I felt an irrational anger that the level up didn’t affect my SP pool, as I was once again struck with an [Exhausted] Status effect. At least this time, sitting and resting was a viable course of action.

After several deep breaths and a slowly increasing awareness of the way my breasts strained at my robes as I did so, I looked over at Kaede. “Are you ok?” I managed.

Kaede grinned at me. “I’m better than ok! I just hit level 19!” She said exultantly, throwing her arms over her head in triumph.

I groaned and buried my face in my hands, then checked my status.

<Notice:  

Caelynn Arareni:

Half-elf        Mage       Level 10        Status: EXHAUSTED

HP: 321/321

SP: 4/62>

“Well, I made it to level 10.” I said with a heavy sigh, and groaned. “How can I feel this bad with 300+ hit points?”

Slow clapping from the edge of the woods made me jerk my head up in surprise, as a man who’s costume and appearance screamed ‘rogue bandit thug’ stepped out of the shadows. While his bare abdomen revealed a delicious set of abs-

Where the heck did that thought come from?! Focus Caelynna, this guy is majorly bad news! Gods, this is not the time to discover that I like boys too!

-and a wonderfully firm butt in tight leather pants-

Seriously, focus, girl!!

-the pink mohawk, scarred (shockingly ugly!) face, drawn knife, and half extended tongue managed to finally work its way past my [Horny] curse sozzled mind.

<Notice:  

Jaxurn Enimen:

Human      Pirate          Level 30        Status: HOSTILE

HP: 891/891

SP: 297/297>

Kaede said “Jax.” With the tone of someone discovering that they’d just stepped in monster dung.

My head snapped to her in shock. “You know him!?” I squeaked in surprise.

“Oh, she knows me alright!” Jax snarled, stepping fully into the field, and kicking a goblin corpse so hard I could hear bone crack.

Kaede leapt up, and Jax threw his hand out. I felt a pulse of magic, and suddenly I couldn’t move!

Jax slowly strode forward, and I could feel my stomach drop.

This is so incredibly seriously bad. I thought.

It was almost a relief, the fog of ‘horny’ that had been floating around my head blew away in the cold sharp air of suddenly very real danger.

Jax poked Kaede in the chest then gripped one of her breasts and squeezed. So hard I could see the pain in her eyes! He seemed… angry though, so incredibly angry and not at all horny like he should be! I blinked again in surprise, realizing he was… short!

He leaned in to sneer in Kaede’s face. “You know what you did to me, you bitch!” He slapped her breast and dropped his hand, the anger visibly swelling for a moment. “I haven’t had a moment’s relief since you cursed me! And since you have no other use, you can at least give me a few xp.”

Oh move, please move! I begged my body, feeling faint tingling prickles of pins and needles all through my arms and legs.

 He sneered again. “And you know, I hear when you kill a witch, all the spells they laid vanish, so there’s that as well.”

There was a sudden pop from inside my mind.

<Notice:   Boon |Incorruptible| has removed unnatural mental influence.>

          The flicker in my status window made me blink in surprise, and the pins and needles vanished from my arms and legs. Jax was still distracted by his taunting of  Kaede, his face pushed up to her nose.

He’s shorter than me?! I thought in shock, then another thought flowed after it. Oh no. Oh, Kaede… did you mock a short man after denying him?!

“How do you like that, bitch!” Jax spat into Kaede’s face, little flecks of spittle flying onto her cheek. “I picked up a little something after your gift to me!”

I cleared my throat, and took a single step forward, lifting my hand to place on his chest, pushing him back from Kaede.

“I think it would be nice if you gave my friend some space.” I said, with a soft smile.

The look of frozen horror in Kaede’s eyes transformed to one of gleeful malice, though she remained utterly frozen in place.

Jax on the other hand looked like he’d seen a ghost. His face went sheet white, and he stared at me in horror.

“You can’t be moving! What the fuck, you’re not even level 10?!” He shouted, scrambling backwards from my mild smile.

I continued to give him a calm smile, but felt my gaze sharpen at his incredibly crass and crude language. “I see you’ve been watching us for a while. I just pinged 10^th, actually.” I said.

Jax bumped up against a tree and squirmed as though he wanted to vanish into the bark.

I had no idea a waifu stare could be so potent. Or… or maybe this is my [Intimidation]? I thought. The moment I did, I could feel the truth of it. And given what I had just learned…

I wonder if… I can actually do this? Can I… can I really stare down a level thirty [Pirate]?! Can I… can I princess-fu him?!

“You and I need to have a little talk.” I said as sweetly as I could.

<Notice:   Talent [Steely Gaze] has successfully pinned [Jaxurn Enimen] for 1 minute.>

Hah. I thought with satisfaction.

“I need you to understand this.” I said calmly. “Now, I’m sure you have a reason to be angry at my friend.”

In fact… that poor man. I felt a sudden rush of sympathy. If Kaede did what I think she did to him… ok. If I’m going to do this, I’m going to do this the waifu way!

“But that is no excuse for what you clearly wanted to do. I can tell, you thought I was nice. You thought we were easy to prey. You need to understand.” I moved closer, still feeling slightly confused that he was shorter than me.

“We try to be nice. In fact, I can’t really help being nice most of the time. But what I cannot fail to be is kind.”

I could feel the confusion boiling under Jax’s eyes, almost managing to displace the fear, but he couldn’t move, still pinned by my waifu gaze attack.

“I know. People get those confused. You mistake ‘nice’ for ‘kind’, you think nice is a pushover. That I fold like wet paper because I can’t bear violence.” I shook my head, a sad smile on my face. “We try to be nice. I really want to be! But I can see you’re not the sort who can read the wind easily. So let me try to be as clear as I can. I will never fail to be kind. And kind, Jaxom, means that I don’t gloat. I don’t shout, I don’t terrorize, I don’t threaten. I just act. And if we find that you’re acting on these evil impulses again, we will kill you.” I motioned to where Kaede stood frozen by Jax’s spell.

“It will be quick, it will be painless, and you won’t see us coming. You’ll just stop existing. That is what it means to be kind. Nice, means that I’m going to ask for a Stamina potion now.”

I could feel the fear, confusion, and bafflement boiling off of him now, and I knew Kaede’s mind must be whirling in complete bewilderment. I held out my hand, and when he didn’t place a potion in it, I frowned at him.

The smell of urine reached my nose, and I realized with shock that he’d just wet himself. He hurriedly held out his hand, a small potion vial appearing in it, and he dropped it into my palm.

“H-here!” He practically shouted. “What the fuck do you want that for?!” His voice practically cracked with terror.

I popped the cork and downed it with one smooth swallow.

<Notice:   Greater SP Potion drunk. 100 SP restored.>

Oh! He has some nice supplies! I thought briefly.

I reached out, and focused on my white magic. A shimmering glow surrounded my hand. “Don’t. Move.” I stared into Jax’s eyes. “I can’t be sure that I get the last of your curse if you move.”

“What?!” He said in horrified confusion.

I reached up to his head, and felt with my white magic. A dark thread of vicious anger and spite flickering with blue and black floating in my vision, and I smiled triumphantly.

“Gotcha.” I said softly, and grabbed. The spellthread writhed in my hand like a worm, and I pulled. Jax wailed long and loud, which slowly trailed off into a soft whimper of confusion and then awe.

I closed my fist, and crushed the spellthread worm in my hand. A flash of silver white light, and the last threads of Jaxom’s curse vanished.

<Notice:   Synergy from [Religion] skill has allowed you to modify your white magic. You have created the [White Magic] spell [Disenchant]. You have gained xp! Bonus applied, 90 xp awarded. Practice requirements met! Skill [White Magic] has increased to [4].>

I let out a long sigh of relief, letting my hand drop. I could feel that I’d burned through all the SP I’d regained from the potion and then some… but it was worth it! I’d removed his curse.

“Now.” I said with a soft smile. “You no longer have a reason to hunt us. And you know what happens if you do. I suggest you try your fortunes elsewhere. I would be very sad, if I was forced to be kind today.”

Jax jerked his head up and down, gabbled something that I couldn’t catch, and then spun to the side and bolted towards the road.

I let out a long sigh, and felt my [Intimidate] fade.

A moment later, the system chimed for my attention.

<Notice:   You have defeated [Jaxurn Enimen]. You have gained xp! Bonus applied, 2025 xp awarded.

LEVEL UP! You have reached level 11! Core Stats Advanced. +5 Skill points, +1 Class point.

LEVEL UP! You have reached level 12! Core Stats Advanced. +5 Skill points, +1 Class point.

LEVEL UP! You have reached level 13! Core Stats Advanced. +5 Skill points, +1 Class point.>

I swayed and sat down hard from the level rush as my body was infused with energy, improving every aspect of my being. Combined with the release of tension and shock of the encounter, I found myself trembling fiercely.

“Oh! My! GODS!” Kaede shrieked with joy, and I was suddenly tackled from behind as she engulfed me with a ferocious hug.

“I just reached level TWENTY!” She shrieked in my ear. “Do you have any IDEA how AMAZING you were?! You just stared down a level THIRTY adventurer like it was NOTHING!”

I let out a long shuddering sigh. “Thank you, I think. I just…” I turned to Kaede, and frowned lightly at her. “Kaede!” I said sharply. “Did you curse that poor man with impotence?!”

Kaede froze, and her ears slowly wilted, then suddenly jerked upright again. “I did!” She said defiantly. “And he deserved it and I would do it again!”

I noted that she turned away from me when she said it though, as though afraid to meet my eyes.

I turned to look at the path that Jax made into the woods as he fled at top speed. I thought about our discussion last night, and what it meant that Kaede had cursed him… I nodded slowly.

“Ok.” I reached up and patted her hand lightly. “Ok. I… we are not the same people. But… but I guess everything turned out ok in the end!” I said, feeling a little surge of optimism, definitely boosted by my name skill’s mental shaping.

“That’s right! We leveled up, and you stopped him! I don’t understand why you freed him though?! We should have killed him! Caelynna… don’t you understand, he was going to rape us!”

I could feel my name skill gently push me away from a thought. I frowned in puzzlement, and shook my head to clear it. The thought just… wouldn’t come into focus. I nodded firmly back to Kaede. “That’s why I had to do what I did!” I said fiercely. “He can’t be allowed to do that sort of thing!”

Kaede had a strange look on her face as she nodded slowly. “Yes… I guess that’s true.” Her expression cleared, and she pulled me into another hug. “You really were amazing!”

I felt myself blushing. “It’s really…” I stopped, unable to continue. I wanted to brush off the compliment, but… it really had been pretty amazing. “I can’t really take credit for it, it’s just how I was made.” I settled on, staring at the ground. I couldn’t deny though… it had been an incredibly potent feeling to make a bad man just… give up and then go away.

Kaede laughed. “Made into a badass heroine? Sure!” She stood up and held out her hand to me. “Come on, heroine. Let’s go home.” She hoisted me to my feet easily, then looked around at the goblins. “Well. Let’s go home after we get our loot!” and her butchering knife flickered into her hand, and a slightly greedy smile flickered over her lips.

A short and extremely messy time later, we were a single [Uncommon]  and several [Common] grade materia richer. I took a short rest to get a little stamina back, and then cast another [Clean] to remove the mess.

The goblin corpses dissolved into pale grey mist and vanished. I was a little surprised how easy that had been for me. They were humanoid monsters, after all! But the gentle pressure of my name skill kept the disgust at a far distance, assuring me that they were creations of elemental chaos, and not ‘real’. This was just… a chore. Messy. Dirty. Smelly. All those, yes, but not… not like… I felt a shudder sweep over me as my name skill pressed a horror into my mind.

Not like a spider, or a mouse! I found myself thinking.

I stopped, my mouth dropping open. Oh my god, Caelynna, are we…?! The horror and disgust roared through me again as I poked at the thought. Oh my god, I’m scared of little spiders?! How incredibly… I giggled softly to myself. How incredibly stereotypical of me. Oh no! A spider! Excuse me while I butcher this goblin! I giggled again, louder.

Kaede looked at me curiously. “What’s funny?”

I smiled brightly at her. “I just learned that I’m scared of spiders and mice.”

Kaede’s brow furrowed. “Oh…kay? That’s… that’s funny?”

I shook my head, repressing another giggle. “I suppose you’re not scared of them at all, but yes. I am. And it’s funny because we just got done disassembling six demi human probably sentient monsters, and I just… don’t care at all. But a little bitty spider?!”

I shuddered all over, feeling a chill sweep up my spine at just the thought, then giggled again. “It’s just so… so stereotypical. So silly. I can’t believe the Entity added that detail to me!”

Kaede’s eyes suddenly went wide in understanding. “Oh! Oh wow! Oh that’s… kind of cool! Of course you would be scared of them! Probably bugs too?”

I shuddered all over, and then nodded. “Yep, those too!”

Kaede smirked. “You know, you should be careful… with my illusion magic…” She trailed off with a wicked sharp toothed smile.

I glared at her, and stomped my foot. “Kaede! Don’t you dare!” She scooted backwards, giggling, her hands raised. “Ok, ok! Don’t fire the [Intimidation] cannon at me! It’s just… funny, you know?!” She grinned, her teeth still sharp.

I sighed and then smiled. “It is… actually. It’s so strange, you know? I can feel the shape of the compulsion! How this is really unnatural, but it’s how I should be, so… I am! Or, rather, it’s how Caelynna should be, how the innocent good girl should behave.”

“You don’t sound too unhappy about it?” Kaede said curiously.

“I’m not. I’m not sure if that’s because of Caelynna, or because it’s just so funny. It’ll probably be a lot less funny if we have to fight big bugs though!”

Kaede giggled. “Or mice.”

I shuddered all over again. “Or mice.” I agreed.

With the materia packed away and our mess [Clean]ed up, we headed back towards the ‘big city’. It was a long but pleasant walk back, and we talked about nothing in particular and everything as we made our way back. I flirted with the idea of holding Kaede’s hand several times, but always shied away from the idea. It just… wasn’t the right time. I just couldn’t bring myself to do that!

Many hours later, we approached the city gate and gained entrance once more. The sun was heading into late afternoon making the shadows long. I felt a strange thrill of pride and excitement, flashing my guild card to the guards, and being waved in. The guards still took their time looking though, and that felt both very strange and…

Kind of good, honestly! It’s nice to be admired like that, though I suppose it can cause trouble too. But I’m really an adventurer! Just like a real hero! ine. Real heroine, I guess!

A short walk and familiar walk through the streets, and we reached the Adventurer’s Guild once more. Judging by the crowd, it was just after the evening rush, but there was still plenty of people there. As before, Kaede’s entrance heralded a wave of greetings. Greetings that were-

Frankly lewd, honestly! I thought with a huff, and felt my honesty curse poke me sharply in the brain. And how is that any different from yourself? You’ve been sneaking glimpses of her chest and thighs the whole way home! You’re thinking of… of that just as much as any of these people are! I chided myself, feeling a heated blush rushing to my cheeks.

And besides, those men are positively yummy, Light bless me, just look at those abs! I can understand why Kaede- My brain stuttered to a halt, and I came to a standstill in the center of the room. I like… boys?! Well of course I like boys. Remember what I thought about Jaxom’s abs? Oh my god, I like boys?! The two conflicting thoughts ricocheted back and forth inside my head.

“Hey? Ronde to Caelynna?” Kaede’s gentle voice pulled me out of my shocked reverie. “What’s up, you looked like you were a million miles away?”

The blush on my cheeks could have heated a sauna. I looked away from Kaede’s golden eyes, and stammered “I-I really…” My curse compelled me ruthlessly, I couldn’t even get out the polite phrase ‘it’s nothing’. “Please, I don’t want to talk about it right now!” I stammered out.

“Hoooooo?” Kaede drawled softly. “Well, you know I can’t resist a lead like that.” She purred into my ear. “But alright, I’ll let you have your peace… for now.” She smiled at me with her teeth definitely looking ‘mischief sharp’. Taking my hand in hers, she led us towards the receptionist’s desk, where Leni waited for us expectantly.

“Hello you two. Welcome back. I trust you were successful?” She asked politely.

Kaede smiled widely. “Oh you bet!” she produced the combs of honey, placing them on a plate which Leni provided. Leni nodded. “As expected, you do not disappoint. I trust you leveled up?” She asked.

I blinked in surprise. My [Empathy] was telling me she didn’t think we’d leveled up at all! But we had!

I nodded hesitantly. “Yes, actually. Do we… report that?”

Leni smiled at me. “Yes. Whenever you would like to update your records with the Guild, just let us know.” She reached down and pulled out the magical slate that she had had me use to record my Guild membership card the first time. She gestured to it. “Just place your hand here as before. Your membership card will automatically update with the… erm, new information.”

I frowned in confusion at her odd wording and placed my hand on the slate. The same process repeated, my status window opened and closed in a blink, and the slate glowed softly. I pulled my guild card from my inventory and examined it. Sure enough, all my stats and level had updated.

“My goodness, level thirteen already. What a talented adventurer you must be.” She smiled blandly, and then looked at Kaede sternly. “Now, Miss Kaede, if you are quite done with your trickery, was there anything else you’d like to report?”

Like a flash of lightning, understanding flickered through me. She had thought that my level was Kaede playing a trick! She didn’t think I was truly level one at all! She didn’t pity me, she was just waiting for the trick to finish playing out!

I looked at Kaede, my eyes wide, and my [Empathy] instantly read her shock and surprise. What she said however…

Kaede’s ears wilted as though she was ashamed. “Aw shucks!” She said. “You figured it out! And here I thought it was such a good trick!”

What a load of hucky! I thought with astonishment. You’re a surprised as I am! I glanced over to Leni, but she seemed to buy it! I looked back to Kaede, and read her faint hurt and disappointment.

Wow, she’s quick! I thought. She already figured it out. Leni doesn’t trust her, because she’s a Kitsune. She’s been waiting for a trick or a prank.

Leni nodded professionally. “It was quite amusing, yes. But I’ve been a receptionist a long time, I’m well aware a young lady of this age could never be first level.”

I reached out and squeezed Kaede’s hand, giving her a smile before turning to Leni. “It’s ok.” I said to her. “She’s my friend.”

I could feel the gush of genuine emotion and joy from Kaede at my words, and that made me all gooey inside.

Kaede smiled brightly, her teeth sharp once more. “So!” She leaned over the desk, her arm resting on the countertop. “First thing! We encountered six goblins! So that’s a little dangerous! I don’t think there’s a dungeon break, or even a new dungeon out there, but I’m reporting it! Second thing!” Her face grew much more serious. “I am filing an official complaint against Jaxom. He tried to jump us while we were engaged with the goblins. We faced him down, and convinced him to leave, but I’m reporting it. I told you that he was trouble!”

Leni’s face grew grave. “So you’re filing an official complaint?”

Kaede nodded seriously. “I am!”

Leni frowned. “You realize that there will be an inquiry? That magic will be used to ascertain the truth of the matter?”

I could read the subtext there even without super powered skills, but my [Empathy] spoke up anyway, informed me that Leni was warning Kaede about her trickery.

Rude! She’s telling the truth! I huffed in irritation. Someone was doubting my friend!

I found myself speaking without being aware I was going to. “I will vouch for these events as well! He did try to assault us!”

Leni looked at me in surprise, her expression clearly shifting from extreme skepticism to honest worry.

“If a priestess is willing to vouch for this, this is a serious matter indeed.” She looked between us. “But how did you manage to escape?! Jaxom is level thirty!”

I felt a surge of irritation again. She doesn’t trust Kaede just because she’s a kitsune?! And I get a pass because I’m a priestess!? Rude!

Kaede started to spin a tale about a clever ambush and use of goblins traps. I stared at her in awe of how quickly and elegantly she could lie.

<Notice:   Boon |Incorruptible| has removed unnatural mental influence.>

My fell open in utter shock. Kaede… Kaede was using trickery to convince Leni that the things which had actually happened were a lie, and the lie was the truth! It was… it was amazing! She was using Leni’s own beliefs that a Kitsune would trick her… to trick her! It was amazing! It was…

I guess she really is a genius! I thought in awe.

I kept shooting glances between her and Leni, but Leni seemed to be completely swallowing this outrageous … bullpucky! I forced my mouth closed and listened.

Thank goodness Kaede doesn’t expect me to back her up on this! She knows I can’t lie! I started to squirm uncomfortably, feeling the sharp edges of my compulsion pressing at me. But this is sort of lying… not saying anything… I could speak up… I should speak up!

Just as I opened my mouth to say something, Kaede grabbed my hand and waved at Leni. “So that’s our report, and we’re super tired! We’re going to have a long bath and then we’ll come back to pick up our reward! Byeeee~” and she dragged me along behind her, pulling me out the door and into the street.

“Phew!” She said, wiping her forehead. “That was close, I could see you almost blew the whole thing!”

“Kaede!” I sad in outrage. “You can’t just lie like that?!”

“Hooo?” Kaede grinned at me. “Then what did I finish doing just now?”

I spun around in a circle clenching my fists then stamped my foot in frustrated outrage. “Ooooh! Don’t you dare think that I’ll agree to this! If they ask me, I will tell them the truth!”

Kaede grinned at me. “But if you do that, then Jaxom’s friends will have words with us, and they’ll think you’re lying. No level thirteen could hope to win a stare down with a level thirty!”

I glared at her so fiercely that Kaede stumbled back from the force of my [Intimidation]. “I. Can not. Lie!” I shouted at her.

Kaede rallied and replied “It doesn’t matter!” forcefully, leaning into my face. “They don’t know that, and nobody would believe you. The truth is simply unbelievable!” Her eyes narrowed and a dark shadow flickered across her face. “You’re friends with a Kitsune, after all.”

My outrage instantly switched subjects. “How dare they! How dare they! You… you’re a good person! Just because you’re a kitsune they think… Oooh, I want to give them a piece of my mind!” I stomped my foot in frustration. “It’s outrageous!”

Kaede suddenly swept me up into a tight hug, my breasts squishing against hers. She whispered into my ear “You are my best friend in the whole world, Caelynna, you know that? You don’t know what it means to me that you feel like that about me.”

I could feel myself blushing furiously at the genuine emotion in her voice. I wrapped my arms around her to hug her back, enjoying the closeness. Her breath was hot on the point of my ear, and I felt my whole body shiver with embarrassed pleasure, my insides going gooey to hear Kaede being so honest.

Oh my gosh, do I really find honesty to be hot?! I thought with even more intense embarrassment. Oh… I see. It’s not honesty that’s doing it, it’s the intense shared emotion. Ok… that’s… sure. That’s hot. I conceded, hugging Kaede closer to me.

I finally pulled back gently, and smiled at her. “So. You dragged me out here with that lie about baths. What do you really want to do?”

Kaede looked at me with wide eyes. “What do you mean?! My shrine has baths!!” She said with outrage.

My eyes widened. “It does?!”

Kaede laughed proudly. “Of course it does! Stereotypical Japanese shrine mansion, right out of an isekai! Of course I have an onsen on my shrine grounds!”

“O-oh…” I stammered out. “O-of course…?”

Kaede looked at me, her head tipped to the side and her eyes slowly widened in thought. “You… didn’t know I wasn’t lying there! So I can trick your [Empathy], by being truthful! Hoooo~? Now that’s interesting…”

I felt a shiver of unease, but before I could think about it, Kaede grabbed my hand and pulled me along towards the city gates. When we reached the gates though, Kaede stopped cold staring at a handsome looking guard. She licked her lips quietly, and I heard her mutter “He’s new.” To herself.

She turned to me and squeezed my hand. “Just a second, I’ll be right back.”

My eyes widened as I realized what she was about to do. “Kaede, you can’t seriously-“

But she was already gone, swaying up to the guards, approaching the same guard I remembered letting us into the city this morning.

“Hey, Anselm.” Her voice was friendly and husky at once. She smiled up at the guards. “Who’s your new friend?”

The guard, Anselm, chuckled. “New guy.” He turned to the guard that had caught Kaede’s interest. “I told you about her.” Anselm said to the new person with a grin.

The man’s reaction was not at all what I’d expected, a wry grin and a roll of the eyes. “So you did.” He stuck out his hand to Kaede. “Wymar son of Adam.” Kaede took his hand in both of hers, and stepped close, pressing her breasts against Wymar.

“Hellooo there~. My name is Kaede. Want to be friends?”

Wymar let out a startled laugh, and took a quick step back. He looked over at Anselm and said “You weren’t kidding!” He turned back to Kaede and said “Miss Kaede. I’m not interested. I have a partner.”

Kaede opened her mouth and Wymar laughed nervously, holding up a hand. “And she’s not interested in a threesome!”

Kaede’s mouth shut with a click and she backed up a step. The look of disappointment on her face was palpable. “Oh. If you’re sure…?” She trailed off, her hands still holding Wymar’s hand.

Wymar gave her an… almost soft look, and firmly pulled his hand from hers. “Yes, I’m quite sure.”

The sigh Kaede gave could have shaken the heavens, and her flounce was a thing to be admired, but she simply nodded. “Too bad.”

“Me and the boys would be interested?” Anselm said happily. “Your little friend is welcome too?” He nodded towards me.

My eyes grew huge and I backed up a step, stammering apologies and denials.

Anselm chuckled, then turned to Kaede. “You and your friend are an odd pair.”

Kaede nodded and skipped over to my side, taking my hand in hers. “This is Caelynna! She’s good people! Well, sorry boys, but I’ll take a rain check.” She gave another disappointed look at Wymar, sighed, and then pulled me with her through the gate, waving goodbye.

I squirmed awkwardly, mentally wringing my hands together. She told me that she was… was like that. But she took ‘no’ so easily! That guard must have brain rot! I’m glad he didn’t say yes! Oh gods, what am I even thinking, she’s been very honest. If we… if we ever do that, she’ll never be just mine!

And how did I feel about that… I didn’t own her, why… was that important to me?

The trip back to the shrine was quick, and we were soon through the Torii gate, up the manicured landscape and gravel path, to the covered wooden walkways. Out the back, just as Kaede had promised, there was a large pool of steaming milky water surrounded by a wide stone courtyard with a high solid bamboo fence all around.

Kaede immediately went over to a small stone patio under a covered roof where I saw folded towels and wooden tubs filled with soap and hygiene bottles.

Quite a bit more than for just a single person. I noted. It’s like… the house is expecting company.

Kaede focused on her inventory and without warning her clothes vanished! I shrieked in embarrassment and looked away quickly. Behind me, I could hear Kaede’s wicked giggle.

“You’re going to have to look at some point Caelynna.” Her voice came from behind me. “We’re going to be bathing. And what can it hurt, we’re both girls. I don’t have anything you can’t see in a mirror you know.”

I felt the heated blush sweep over my features, the tips of my half elven ears tingling. “It’s not the same at all!” I said angrily. “And you know it! Especially when you’ve been so… so blatant about your interest!”

Behind me I could hear the sound of water being poured and dumped, and what sounded like scrubbing, followed shortly by another gush of water. I could hear the sound of bare wet footsteps on stone behind me and then Kaede’s hand resting on my shoulder, her warm purring voice in my ear.

“And yours too, darling. I know that, too.” She released my shoulder and I could hear her step back. “But this really is just a bath, Caelynna. Unless you…” she choked off what she had been going to say and I heard her take a deep breath. “[Kitsune’s Honor], this is just a bath.”

<Notice:   Boon |Incorruptible| has removed unnatural mental influence.>

I chewed my lower lip, then nodded. She had to keep her word. And these baths do look oh so tempting!

I turned around, doing my best to avoid looking at her, and feeling a stab of disappointment when I realized she was wearing a towel wrapped around her torso.

The teasing laughter in her golden eyes when she saw my expression made my blush come rushing back. I hurried over to the stone patio and picked up a bucket of toiletries.

Now how do I…

I found myself thinking, followed by a sudden rush of knowing.

Ah, of course. Just like Kaede showed me.

I willed my equipment and clothing into my inventory.

<Notice:   You have unequipped Smallclothes. -1 SPD, -1 REC.

You have unequipped Healer’s Outfit. DEF -2, M.DEF -2.

You have unequipped Mage’s Staff. POW -1, M.POW -2, DEF -1.

           You have unequipped Holy Symbol. DEF -1. M.DEF -1.>

The chill evening air made my skin ripple with gooseflesh. I could practically feel Kaede’s gaze burning into my back, as I hurriedly wrapped a towel around my torso, feeling a surge of pride and pleasure at the glimpse of flawless skin, the elegant curves of my body and proud jut of my breasts before I tucked a towel around myself.

<Notice:   You have equipped Towel. +1 M.DEF>

I giggled softly. Sure. A towel is good for magical defense. Why not?

Behind me, there was a loud splosh of water and the long sigh of Kaede’s voiceless pleasure. I spun around in surprise to find that she had already sunk herself into the pool, the milky water hiding her body as effectively as a towel. A small washcloth rested on her head, directly between her ears which were limp with obvious pleasure.

Just like an anime… I thought with amusement. But… wasn’t she looking? But…

Kaede lazily called out to me. “You can just use a [Clean] if you don’t want to get nude, but it’s a pool, Caelynna dear.” She smiled teasingly.

I frowned, chewing at my lower lip. It is rude to get into a public pool without cleaning yourself off! But I can’t… she’s not… I stomped my tiny foot angrily. I can’t be naked in front of her! But I really want to experience these baths! But I just can’t get naked in front of her! It’s not who I am!

I nodded firmly to myself, then cast a [Clean] spell on myself, swiftly wrapped my long hair up into a hastily twisted knot, then hurried over to the pool still wearing my towel.

“Kaede, please close your eyes?” I asked pleadingly.

Kaede’s eyes grew wide and the she burst into giggles. “Oh spirits below, you are just the most precious thing!” She quickly got herself under control, looking up at me, her smile bright and her teeth mischief sharp.

“Sure!” She said.

“R-really?” I asked nervously.

“Of course! But in exchange… you have to tell me why you turned beet red in the adventuring guild and didn’t want to talk about it, hmm?” She leaned forward, her breasts mushed against the side of the rock pool.

I instantly felt myself flush with embarrassment so strong the tips of my ears tingled.

I swallowed a few times, finally managing to whisper the words.

“Some of the boys in the guild were super cute.”

Kaede nodded, her eyes bright and expectant. “Ho? And?”

I blinked in confusion. “And… what?” I said hesitantly.

It was Kaede’s turn to look confused. “And so what made you so embarrassed?! Which one did you want to jump?! Most of the boys in the guild are cute, but which one made you blush like that?!”

I fidgeted on the edge of the pool. “No one! That’s… that’s it? They’re really cute and… and so…” I could feel my blush getting worse. “And so I like boys!” I finally burst out, my cheeks crimson and my eyes locked on the pool’s edge.

Kaede’s eyes slowly widened in disbelief. She suddenly fell back into the pool laughing wildly.

“Oh my spirits, you are the most adorable thing! You realized the boys were cute… and that’s what’s making you blush?!” she said, half choking on her laughter.

My embarrassment slowly morphed into anger. “Well… yes!” I said heatedly, stomping my foot. “It’s embarrassing!”

Kaede’s laughter redoubled, and she clutched her stomach, rolling from side to side in the pool.

I scowled at her. “Stop it! Stop laughing!” I knelt down by the pool and splashed her angrily.

Kaede clapped her hands over her mouth to stifle her laughter, her golden eyes suspiciously bright with repressed amusement. She took several deep breaths-

What a nice view! I thought.

-and then nodded, lowering her hands, only a small giggle slipping out between her fingers. “Ok. I promised.” She turned around ostentatiously, and said “You may now enter the pool. I’m not looking!”

I took a deep breath to steel my nerves, and then whipped off the towel and slipped into the heated water, my eyes fixed on Kaede’s head to make sure she didn’t look!

Kaede didn’t look, and so I sank into the milky water and sighed in blissful pleasure. The water definitely did take some strain off my back, and my whole body tingled with a very enjoyable warmth, the hot mineral smell of the water filling my nose, and the milky whiteness of the water hiding my body very effectively. The view of my swell of my breasts vanishing under the milky white water was also quite enjoyable, and I felt a little swell of pride. Plus, the weight off my back gave me a new appreciation for the usefulness of my bra!

Kaede finally got herself under control. She turned around, smiling mischievously at me. “So, you’ve just discovered that you think boys are cute! That’s adorable.” She said. “But I won’t pretend that I’m immune. I was a little shocked at how interested I was too when it happened.”

I blinked at her, my eyes wide in surprise. “You?! Embarrassed?!”

She shrugged, stretching her arms over her head. “Yep. I’m Kaede, but I remember being Mike… or maybe I still am Mike, but Kaede-fied? I don’t know, I don’t think about it much because it’s confusing. But yes, it was shocking. But I got over myself. Or maybe being Kaede convinced me to get over myself.” She splashed the water idly with a hand. “It is amusing though, isn’t it? I’m the sexy kitsune tease, but I was shocked to learn I was interested in boys. Isn’t that hilarious?” She laughed lightly.

“Anyway” she continued “It’s really not that surprising if you think about it. We’re waifus! It’s no surprise that you like boys, you’d hardly make a good waifu if you didn’t! And boys always think girls kissing is hot, so of course you think girls are hot too.” Kade shook her head and smiled at me with a tolerant softness that set my hackles on edge.

I crossed my arms over my stomach and sank into the water. “I don’t know. That sounds….” I trailed off, my thought finishing ‘strange’. I couldn’t say that though, that would be rude! And what she said did make a lot of sense.

It’s no fun to have a harem if the girls aren’t willing to snuggle with each other. I thought wryly.

Kaede shrugged and paddled over to me, settling next to me. Her hip casually bumped mine. She looked me up and down frankly, then said “You know, we’re almost the same size. I wonder if we can wear each other’s clothes?”

I blinked in surprise. The idea hasn’t occurred to me, but now that she’d mentioned it…. I tapped my chin thoughtfully, my head tipping to the side. “Hm! I hadn’t considered that. What brought that on?

Kaede shrugged again. “Just comparing.” She grinned at me, an avaricious look in her eyes.

I sighed, sinking lower into the water, glad that the milky white concealed my curves from her. Despite myself, I found I was a little intrigued by the idea. Her miko outfit was just the cutest thing!

“I suppose… we can try?” I said hesitantly. “You’re a little shorter than me, but it could work… though I certainly don’t want to wear your top off the shoulders like you do!”

Kaede gave a teasing smile. “Aw, why not!? You have the most gorgeous breasts! I’m glad you’re a half-elf, otherwise you’d probably be way smaller.”

“K-Kaede!” I shrieked in protest, my arms wrapping around my breasts protectively, scooting away from her like a crab.

She smiled at me brightly, her teeth sharp. “I have eyes Caelynna, and our clothes are not… hmm… particularly tailored for concealment.” She giggled, then said “I feel bad for the poor elf girl!” sitting back on the pool shelf and leaning her head against the pool rim.

“Huh? Elf girl? Who?”

“The one who’s going to join our waifu club, of course!”

I splashed upright, keeping my arm tightly wrapped around my breasts. “Wait, there are more?!” My mind instantly flashed back to the number of bathing tubs and towels.

“Well of course! It just makes sense, the entity said tropes, plural. I really don’t think he’ll stop at just two. Plus, there’s 5 bedrooms in my shrine! Actually, now that I think about it, maybe that’s why time between the other world and Ronde has gone all wonky? Maybe once all the waifu’s have arrived it will stabilize.”

I blinked, struck by the idea and suddenly extremely curious. “Hm. I never really thought about it like that. I guess so…” I tapped my lips thoughtfully. “And the trope is that they all elves really large breasts, isn’t it? I wonder if that’s why I’m a half-elf instead of a human?”

Kaede giggled. “Because your ideal waifu has large tits?”

I flushed scarlet. “Kaede, please! Language!”

Kaede laughed and said “What?! Just because you can’t swear doesn’t mean I’m not going to have a potty mouth! Sassy kitsune hawtness. no way I’m ever going to be a ‘good girl’ even if I’m wearing your clothes!” She sat back on her hands, and looked up at the ceiling. “So, busty blonde archer girl…” She said idly.

I shook my head thoughtfully. “You know… Actually, I don’t think we should pity her. I don’t actually think she’ll be unhappy. I mean… if you look at it realistically, we both have large breasts.”

Kaede looked down to where the curve of my breasts disappeared into the milky white water. “Yes, I know. I have eyes, like I said.” She grinned wickedly.

If it weren’t for the heat of the hot springs, I knew I’d be blushing furiously. What made it worse was that I could feel my arousal spike again, my nipples hardening into stiff nubs that pressed into the flesh of my forearm.

I took a few deep breaths to compose myself, grateful that as a ‘good girl’ archetype, I could force my own passions to be quiet. Or at least, quietER.

“A-anyway!” I continued. “We’re both pretty large! And I do feel it in my back… but from what I’ve heard, I don’t think that it’s anywhere near as painful as it would be in the real world. So I think the busty elf… well, that’s who she most wants to bed in the world, her ideal of the ‘perfect anime woman.’ So I don’t think her chest will be nearly as much of a burden as it ‘should’, since her name skill will ensure that… well, that it’s perfectly natural and normal… and… desired-” I was grateful to heat of the pool for keeping my blush from showing. “-to her. Which is definitely to her benefit! So, what do you think?” I asked, feeling the compulsion of my name dictating the proper polite actions.

Kaede said eagerly “Yeah, that sounds right, but I gotta tell you! You reminded me, we can go back to the real world like this.” She gestured to her body.

“What?!” I jerked upright; my eyes large.

“Yeah!” Her ears flicked down and she glanced sideways, looking oddly shy. “I, uh… already did it once by accident.” The rare kitsune blush was ever charming. “So, I already know you’re right about that! The girls-“ She cupped her breasts and squeezed gently. “-are definitely heavier and bouncier over there.”

“Hold on, stop, go back!” I waved my hands wildly. “How do you go back as this?! How do you do it accidentally?!” I blurted.

“Oh! Well, it’s easy. You just logout with your name skill still active. Poof, kitsune in the real world.”

I frowned even more. “You were still a foxgirl…? Did your clothes translate too?”

Kaede nodded. “Yeah, ears, tail, outfit, everything! The spirits were super quiet over there. Could barely do any magic.”

“You can do magic in our world?!” I said with wide eyed shock.

Kaede looked at me with a condescending look. “Well yeah! How do you think we got here? Magic must work in our world, or how’d we wind up like this?”

“I… that… never occurred to me.” I stumbled.

“Aw.” Kaede reached over and patted my head. “Don’t worry, you’d have figured it out yourself, your sempai is just a bit ahead of you!”

“But, wait, does that mean that our Skills and Talents work too!?” I couldn’t help but be a little excited by that. If I could return with [Cooking] and [Housekeeping] still active…! Even lessened, it would be amazing!

And that would make such a nice thank you gift for Dustin, for letting me take him on an adventure!

          Kaede laughed. “Well, sort of? There’s no System there, and some of the talents and perks don’t work? I don’t know if the System replaces natural laws like physics, or if it’s in addition too, but I definitely still had my Skills, and something like my Talents from the native magic? It’s incredibly weak though. Not that there’s a lot of ghostbusting to do over there. I thought about going to a con to ‘cosplay’ as… well, me. But Mike had to get up early, and it never really came up again.”

          I frowned. “I still don’t understand how you could accidentally forget who you are?!”

          Kaede was silent for a long moment, then said “I suppose… Mike and me, we’re just… two halves. It’s easy to forget who I am, when I’m always me? Think about it, how natural does it feel to be you right now?” She lifted a hand to point a finger at me.

I squirmed uncomfortably. I did feel normal… natural, even! But surely that was just because of my name skill! It was important that I ask Dustin things, ask him if… if I could…

I sank down into the hot spring up to my nose so that my raging blush wouldn’t cause even more awkward questions! Luckily, Kaede was distracted looking up into the evening sky, soaking in the warmth of the hot spring and I was able to compose myself before she looked down.

“So?” She asked. “What do you think? Pretty awesome, right?”

“Um. Well, do you mean-“

“Everything. I mean everything. Even the scary bits just add spice, am I right?!”

I pressed my lips together and swirled my hands thorough the water to give myself time to think.

It was fun. Not… not in the moment but… it was fun. And leveling up felt amazing. And… just how much good could I do if I kept at it?!

I lifted my hands from the water and looked down at them, marveling. All the power to protect and heal… and I could grow even stronger? What… could a Saintess do in this world? I shook my head in irritation trying to shake away the temptation.

“I have to ask Dustin. Then I’ll know.” I finally said.

Kaede laughed triumphantly, the wicked smile on her face telling me that was confident she’d already won.

I looked away, and sank into the bath again, deliberately losing myself in the enjoyment of the hot springs and the smell of mineral water. The feel of the cool night air, and the heat of the baths soothed all the aches and pains of the trip that I’d barely been aware of, and I drifted for a timeless period.

Kaede interrupted, as she was wont to do. “Alright, that’s enough. Getting pruney.” She said, standing up and letting water sluicing off her naked body. I immediately turned my face away, pressing my lips together.

My what a fine sight. She’s so proud of her body! A little thrill of guilt shot through me. And am I any different? For shame, Caelynna!

Kaede stepped out of the bath and shook herself. A swirl of pale aqua wind mana whirled around her, spraying water across the bath’s courtyard. I shrieked in wordless protest as I was hit with a mini rainstorm.

“Kaede!” I shouted at her.

“What?” She said to all-to-innocently. “You’re already wet, you won’t melt!” She flashed me a smile, and then turned away. “I’ll be in my room. If you choose to leave, let me know.” She said over her shoulder.

I watched the hypnotic sway of her naked backside and her now dry and very floofy tail as she vanished into the main building.

Irritating! Impossible woman! I splashed at the surface of the pool in frustration. And the worst of it is that she knows it!

I huffed angrily and crossed my arms under my breasts. The warm heat of the pool made it impossible to stay angry though, and I found myself drifting. I shook my head, and splashed to the edge of the pool and out, shivering in the cool night air. I grabbed my towel and hurriedly wiped myself dry, glad that I hadn’t let my hair down.

Honestly, washing my hair is a whole night’s event! I thought, then giggled. Dustin will learn that it’s not just a brush off excuse when he comes back!

I twirled my finger idly in my hair, frowning. I suppose… I should consider that, actually. It’s… it’s been almost a full day! I got the answers to Dustin’s questions, and I have a lot of questions for him. I sighed. I need to give back what I’ve borrowed.

I contemplated turning off my name skill right there in the baths, but somehow that felt wrong. Even though Dustin would remember everything that I’d done, somehow I didn’t want to be naked ‘in front’ of him! I placed the towels over a hanging rack to dry, and then summoned my clothes from my inventory, enjoying the shivery cling of my priestess outfit and smallclothes as they appeared on my body.

I swayed my way back to my room, the soft sound of my heels striking the pavement and hallway accompanying me.

If Dustin agrees, I should cook dinner for Kaede! As… as a goodbye gift. Just in case Dustin doesn’t want to return. An incredible surge of sadness washed over me at the thought, taking me by surprise.

Have I really grown to like this so much?! I was… I was only going on one adventure! Just to answer Dustin’s questions!

I shook my head to dispel the thoughts as I reached my room, sliding open the fusama door, and stepping inside. Taking a deep breath, I deactivated my name skill before I could think about it too much.

A rush swept over me, the same molding and shifting and warping that I’d felt, much in reverse. Dustin ‘I’ popped to the surface of my mind, feeling very strange, and once more as though my body was deeply unnatural. I remembered everything that had happened, even what … Caelynna… had been thinking, but it all took on a very different cast, like suddenly looking at something under different lighting.

“Holy crap!” I said with shock, staggering on my suddenly alien high heels and sitting down hard on the edge of the bed. My whole body vibrated with repressed arousal, arousal that was only now just starting to fade.

And more, the whole adventure, even though it was the simplest of arcs… it was exciting, and dangerous and… so much better than any video game I might imagine. And I want to know more! I want to see more! Despite the danger that Jaxom represented, that Caelynna seems utterly blind to… the thought of another adventure, of being a super powered healer in a magical world… it was intoxicating!

But most of all-

“My god, she’s a fucking hornball!” burst from my lips, sounding surreal in her high sweet voice. “I… I didn’t know it felt like that!” My whole body tingled and trembled in a very enjoyable way, and I was intensely aware of the hot wetness between my thighs.

And this is how she feels normally! I shuddered, hugging myself, and taking deep breaths to calm myself. It was quite impressive, actually, and spoke to a phenomenal willpower to keep herself in check as she did! If I had felt like that…! I bit my lower lip in thought. Well, Kaede would not have slept alone in the tent last night!

The memory of Kaede’s perfect butt and fluffy fox tail swaying as she left the bath floated through my mind, followed by the firm swell of her bust as she turned to the side and the teasing mischievous grin she offered as she did so.

Oh no, she would not have slept alone at all!

When I finally calmed down I said “Well… that was a trip and a half!” I laughed, and heard it come out as a soft high pitched giggle.

“So… Miss Caelynna… you want to…” I laughed again. “I can’t believe I’m even having this ‘conversation’! Alright, I’ve got to ask, since you’re not thinking about this… you want to bang Kaede! You want permission to bang Kaede! Well, you can tell that I’m all in on that plan! But aren’t you supposed to be pure pureness, miss priestess?! How can you even think about fucking her?! For what it’s worth, hell yeah! Of course I want to get busy with a hot fox chick who wants to jump my bones! If I have to be a woman to do that, that seems like a cheap price to pay! I even get free yuri with it! But how are you ok with this?! I mean… I’m going to remember everything! Aren’t you supposed to ‘ara ara’ and declare ‘now I can never be a bride’?”

I mentally touched my name skill again, feeling my brain warp and twist, reshaped and molded into Caelynna’s horny sweet kindness once more.

I staggered, blinking rapidly, bringing myself under control. My hand flew to my chest, and I felt a rush of confused emotions.

He became me again! So easily! He… it never even occurred to him that I might not… he trusts me! He… He likes the adventure we went on!

But even so…!

I could feel a hot blush roaring over my features, remembering Dustin’s… crude language! His blatant crassness about such an intimate topic!

It’s like he wants to embarrass me! And… and I’m nice! This is… this is normal! Isn’t it…? I know I’m cursed to be horny, but… but he acted like it was the worst he’d ever felt!

I squirmed with embarrassment, realizing that I was avoiding the question he’d asked. Am I really ok with him watching me?! Or… I guess remembering is the right word?

I bit my lip in indecision. But then… we exist at the tolerance of each other. Kaede thinks we’re the same person, just… just different. And… and he’s got to be ok with me remembering his embarrassing and intimate moments! The memory of some of Dustin’s worst moments flitted through my mind, and I felt an intense sympathy and sadness grip my heart. I so wished I could squeeze his hand in sympathy!

I gasped in sudden thought. I can squeeze his hand in sympathy! Or at least… I tapped my name skill to return Dustin.

The rippling shift flowed through my mind, and I blinked in shock, my mind once more morphing into Dustin. I whimpered, feeling the raging fire of her arousal, even stronger now that she was thinking about sex.

I sat, breathing heavily. “Good lord, girl, just go get laid, this can’t be healthy for either of us!” I panted softly. But she had brought up a good point.

We… we’re  going to be sharing memories. I remember her remembering some of my most cringe moments. And… she’s so sweet about it. She cares so very much. I pressed my lips together.

It does feel nice. To know someone cares that much. But she’s dodging the issue again. Saying that it’s fine if I decide. Fine. I like being… remembering? Whichever. Maybe Kaede is right. We feel like different people, but we share the same mind and memory… body even!

I laid a hand on the swell of my bosom, looking down at the proud swell of my breasts. “If we’re ok with this, then I’m ok with ‘you’ banging a hot foxgirl. Alright? But you’re the purity sue priestess! Ask yourself if you’re ok with me remembering! Don’t ask me if it’s fine!”

I tapped my name skill again, and my mind was once more reshaped into Caelynna.

I gasped, blinking in surprise and faint hurt. Why must he be so crass about this!? He trusts me… just because of who I am? Aren’t I a waifu? Doesn’t that mean… I’m his waifu? I… I am the priestess, the good girl! I recognize that about myself… even the System recognizes that about me! It’s on my character sheet! But I’ve been having such naughty thoughts!

No, that’s not true, it’s the curse! I nodded angrily to myself. It’s just the curse! I should pray about this, and ask for guidance! I folded my hands together in front of my bosom and closed my eyes, feeling a sense of gentle peace and faint euphoria float over me as I did so. As though I was basking in a beam of golden light.

<Notice:   You have learned the [White Magic] spell [Holy Guidance]. You have gained xp! Bonus applied, 90 xp awarded. Practice requirements met! Skill [White Magic] has increased to [4].

Status effect [Holy Guidance] applied. +13 M.POW, +15 M.DEF. Variable bonus to mental skills requiring calmness and clear thought.>

I laughed lightly and then brushed aside the skill notice, the calm peace floating through me.

Oh… oh how… strange!

It wasn’t as though I was speaking with anyone, or words formed in my mind, things simply felt… clearer. Easier to understand. I was trying to justify myself. I wanted to sleep with Kaede. That was the truth of it. There was no judgement, no cruel gods on high denying pleasure, merely the question “Will this cause harm to any?” But more importantly…

Is this being true to myself? I am the sweet good girl waifu! Shouldn’t… shouldn’t this bother me?!

In the clarity of this… ‘prayer’ that was apparently a spell, the memory of Kaede’s words drifted back to me.

‘Where do you think ‘holding hands’ and ‘watching fireworks’ leads? Where do you want it to lead?’

The answer came clearly once I’d asked it. I do. I want it to lead there, but… but it can’t just be a one night stand! It can’t be because she’s got the itch like I have the itch, and it mustn’t be because she wants a notch on her belt!

And as to Dustin… Dustin is ok with this. And… and if I’m his waifu, then we’re already soul mates. Already bonded. What could be more of a soul mate than a man who literally lives in my head! And I live in his!

My eyes popped open and I felt a glorious feeling of revelation, a clarity of purpose that I’d been missing. I popped to my feet, my lips firming, and turned to the door.

I need to ask Kaede if she’s just having sex, or if this is… if this is making love. I thought as I hurriedly strode down the halls towards Kaede’s room.

That’s the answer to Dustin’s question. I am… horny.

The blush swept over my cheeks and made my ears tingle with warmth.

And I’m also the sweet kind good girl. That means I’m not quite the waifu that Dustin thinks I am, but we’re still linked. And we want to make love to Kaede! But it can’t just be an… an entertainment! It must be something more.

I could feel my heart twist and ache inside. I wanted it to mean something more than a night’s entertainment, but Kaede… what would she say?!

I reached her door, and raised a hand to knock, but then found myself hesitating.

I just don’t know if I can do this! What if she says it’s just for fun? What if this is all just a big joke to her?

My worries were rudely interrupted as the door slid open to reveal Kaede standing there in her stocking feet. Her golden slitted eyes were wide with surprise as she stared up at me, her mouth slightly open. I felt a blush rising to my cheeks, and looked down and away. I slowly lowered my hand, folding my hands together in front of me.

“Can… we talk?” I said hesitantly.

Kaede smiled hesitantly, her eyes sparkling with interest, which I could see slowly fade as she took in my expression. She nodded, and then moved out of the way, gesturing me to join her.

I swallowed nervously and slipped off my boots at her doorway, brushing away the System notification of stat change. A brief amusement blossomed in my mind. It was so normal to see the System everywhere, even my memory of Dustin took it for granted now.

Kaede ushered me into her room, and then gestured to a pillow to. “Take a seat.” She said.

My [Empathy] informed me that she was nervous, a little worried and scared. It was a little amusing actually, I wasn’t here to say no, but…

I nodded again, wiggling my legs under me. “It’s nothing bad, I promise. Though… I am going to ask some… very embarrassing questions.” I blushed.

Kaede’s tail immediately started to wag, and her eyes lit with mischievous light.

“Oooh?” She asked, leaning forward to tease me with the sight of her breasts.

I sighed, and looked into her eyes. “Alright, so I’m interested. I’m a little scared, and a lot nervous, but more than any of that Kaede… I need to know that this is… this is important to you! I… I refuse to be just another notch on your belt! You’re so pretty, you could have as many of those as you want! If we’re going to… to…” The heat of my blush could have set the room on fire, I was sure.

I pushed through the embarrassment to finish my thought. “If we’re going to do that, then I need to know that it’s important to you! I don’t mind that you’re not a virgin! Honest! But I need to know that I’m not just another conquest!” I finished.

Kaede sat back, her eyes wide, and I could tell she was flummoxed. She gaped at me like a fish for several moments, and then said “Well. I wasn’t expecting that.” In a soft voice. She looked down at the floor thoughtfully, gathering her thoughts.

Finally, she looked up and cupped my cheek with her palm. The touch of her skin on mine was electric and I couldn’t stop thinking about how soft her hand was on my cheek.

Her eyes were filled with a nervous pain as she said softly “I won’t promise that you’ll be my only. You know that. I know that’s why you’re asking. So… are friends important?” She took a deep breath and withdrew her palm, and I found myself aching to feel it again.

“I can promise that you’re special. I do know that this is important to me. I respect that it’s important to you! And you are important to me. We’re friends. I think we’re even besties, though it’s true I haven’t known you very long at all. And besties are very important. Is… is that enough?” Her voice was filled with a heartbreaking hope and an honest intensity that took my breath away.

I swallowed nervously.

Was it enough? Would it be enough?! I… “I don’t know. I… I want it to be, but I need to think about it. May… may I have a few days? Please?”

The look of joy when I said I wanted too, followed by the look of disappointment in her eyes was sharp, but I could see she still held hope.

And… and to be honest, I hope too. But…?

Kaede leaned back and nodded. “I want you to think about it.” She smiled the mischievous crooked smile of hers, and said “So go think.”

I nodded, and got up. I slipped on my boots at the door, and then bowed to her in farewell.

Just like a proper waifu, I guess. I thought as I headed back to my room. And now it’s just me and Dustin, alone with our thoughts. I scuffed my boot on the floor morosely. I wish I could cook something! I just know I think better when I-

I came to a stop in the hallway, my eyes widening in sudden realization.

Wait a minute! I can! I can just… go back to Dustin’s apartment! I wanted to cook for him, and what better place to think in private than an entire universe away from Kaede!

I swiped open my System interface, and tapped the logout button. The world went dark and swam around me, and then a fraction of a second later I was standing back in Dustin’s apartment, holding his phone in my hands.

<!!WARNING!!:   Transit to non-System brane! System unavailable! System bonuses unavailable! No System benefits active! Return to previous brane to reactivate System!>

I blinked in surprise at the bright red flashing message that appeared before my eyes before fading much more slowly than a normal System message.

Kaede didn’t mention the warning message! Instinctively, I tapped to open my System interface, and the warning message flashed at me once more.

I bit my lower lip in concern. Do I even still have my skills?! No, wait, calm down Caelynna! Kaede said that she still had her skills and could still use magic. There’s still magic in this world! Just… just no System.

I tried to push Dustin’s phone into my inventory by habit, and the pulsing warning of System unavailability flashed again. I huffed in frustration and stomped my foot.

“Honestly, I don’t know how Dustin puts up with this!” I looked down at myself, wondering where I could put the phone before suddenly realizing that I had quite literally nowhere I could put things. I couldn’t even undress without tearing my clothes off!

And Kaede was right about another thing. I thought irritably. My breasts really do feel heavier. Just my foot stomp made them jiggle! Really, this universe is terribly inconvenient! I grumbled to myself before carefully placing the phone on a nearby desk. A desk that was notably higher than it had been when I was Dustin!

I really am so much shorter than Dustin! I took a deep breath and wrinkled my nose in disgust. “Oh honestly, Dustin! Don’t you clean in here?! You really do need a waifu!” I giggled to myself, then carefully picked my way to the sparse kitchen, browsing through the mostly empty pantry and refrigerator-

really, ice crystals and an inventory are so much more convenient!

-before finally pulling out the bare materials for a salad and pasta chicken. I stepped back and put my hands on my hips, surveying the scanty supplies and bare kitchen.

I can’t even buy anything! I huffed again in frustration, feeling my lips twist into a decided pout.

Even if I could access my inventory, they don’t take materia. I can’t access Dustin’s wallet, there’s only that horrible ‘grocery store’… and Dustin doesn’t have any kitchen tools to speak of! Honestly! I shook my head in disbelief before stepping up to my chosen battlefield and setting to work.

As the flashing System message had warned me, none of my kitchen talents worked. Knowing it, and experiencing it first-hand however, were very different! Using my talents was so instinctive that I reached for them without even thinking about it. Their failure to activate was like stepping off a flight of a stairs not expecting to have reached the bottom yet, only to discovery you’ve reached the landing. A stumbling ‘oh wait’ as your body caught up with reality. I could still feel the faint ghostly touch of magic though, a faint echo that subtly enhanced my abilities. Fortunately, I didn’t burn anything or badly mangle the food, though I did note the work took twice as long as I felt it should!

Which, frankly, gave me the time I’d wanted to think about Kaede, and her request. It was all a tangled blur, but the genuine emotion in her eyes. The fact she wanted…

Friends with benefits. Isn’t that what Dustin’s world says? Do I want that? Of course I want the physical pleasure, but…

But besties. She called me her bestie. I thought, my cheeks and ears heating with the force of my blush. And… and I think I like that a lot.

When the food was done and the kitchen mess cleared away, I finally had my answer.

Yes. Yes, Kaede, besties is enough. At least for now. Maybe… maybe someday in the future you’ll want more, but even the holy Light can’t know that. And so we move forward as best we can…

“With our eyes open.” I said softly, clasping my hands together in prayer. I felt a very faint gust of that peace and euphoria that my [Holy Guidance] spell granted me in the other world, and even though the effect didn’t feel even a tenth of its power in the other world it still settled my mind immensely. It was still jarring not to have the usual System messages confirming exact numerical values though.

I finished my prayer and put my hands on my hips letting out a satisfied sigh. Then I wrinkled my nose again looking around at the mess Dustin had left. “Ugh. Well I suppose I can help him clean up a bit as payment too… and since I’ve confirmed that I can do spells…”

I picked my way through the wreckage of a middle aged man’s tiny box apartment, and started casting [Clean] on dirty laundry, the floor, the counters, everything I could. My SP ran out almost immediately, but while I waited for it to refresh, I worked on folding the now clean laundry,-

What was he thinking wearing this for the third time?!

-putting things away, and being as helpful as I could think to be. By time I was done, the place smelled so much better, and everything was back in its place for the first time in-

How long has it been since Dustin cleaned? I thought, rummaging through my memory. Surely it hasn’t been since he moved in? I guess he just doesn’t remember!

-in a long time! I nodded and sighed once more in satisfaction, surveying the much improved living space with my hands on my hips.

“There! I think he’ll like that. This is thanks for… well, for everything!” I clapped my hands together and stepped over to where Dustin’s phone rested on the desk. I picked it up, and stopped, struck by a sudden thought. I lifted the phone and clicked to the ‘camera’ app, then carefully set the timer and stood in the hallway, my hands folded in front of me as the device offered up a soft ‘click’.

I smiled and stepped back over, confirming that I had in fact taken a photo of me.

I wonder if it will stay the same when Dustin returns? How deep is the magic here? If it stays, I hope Dustin likes it! I smiled and then swiped back to the main menu and tapped the “Return to Ronde” button.

The transition was quick, even quicker than leaving had been, the transition a mere blink of blackness and empty void before I popped into existence in my bedroom. There was sunlight slanting into my room, a long shaft of bright yellow across the floorboards. Clearly I’d been gone for a while.

          Maybe a day. Maybe longer! I thought. I bit my lower lip with worry. Time really does flow differently! I hope I… I hope we won’t keep Kaede waiting too long!

I opened my menu then paused, and closed it again thoughtfully.

Kaede said I didn’t always need to open it. Not even for this. So let’s try…

“Now, please accept my thanks! It’s time I returned what I borrowed, and thanked you properly! Please enjoy the hospitality that I’ve left you!” I announced. I focused on my name, and thought end. The now familiar mental twist and squeezing, the kneading and pressure that reshaped my mind flowed over me, and Dustin bobbed to the surface of our mind once more.

I staggered, leaning against the wall. “Woah, girl! Get ahold of yourself! I know you think you’re doing me a favor, but cleaning my apartment?! Cooking me a whole meal!? A photo of yourself?!” I rolled my eyes. “You’re going too far with your generosity…” I muttered, then swiped at the ‘logout’ in irritation.

The world vanished into void and I could feel myself beginning to change. My clothes wisped away, Caelynna’s clinging skintight robes and underwear vanishing into nothing, leaving the void around me chill and cold. The physical change was… different this time. More concentrated, more physical. Perhaps that was just because I’d spent so much time as Caelynna, but I could feel myself growing thicker, bulging, swelling outwards. My shoulders popped as they widened, my hips ached and shifted as they pulled themselves inwards even as my waist expanded. The strange thickness sprouting between my legs unfurling from the small nub of warmth and wetness between my thighs and then hardening into a full proud shaft, as my thighs pulled together, the feeling of a void just behind my belly fading away into nothingness as my body filled outwards. My features shifted as they were reshaped, my lips feeling strangely thin and odd, and everything felt… rougher. Thicker, somehow.

Cloth brushed against my body, my underwear appearing followed by the slightly scratchy feel of jeans and worn t-shirt weaving themselves into existence around me. My feet were squeezed by slightly too tight sneakers, and then my apartment popped into vivid color around me as I re-entered my original world.

I swayed slightly, catching my balance. The aftermath of Caelynna’s raging arousal remained, but was already starting to fade. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that… especially given that I was planning to return and have sex with Kaede as soon as I was done here.

Caelynna had been very insistent…

I took a deep breath to calm myself, then frowned in puzzlement, and sniffed again. It really did smell cleaner. Fresher. And there was a distinct odor of food wafting from the kitchen, which made my stomach rumble.

Thanks again, Caelynna. I thought wryly. I guess I really should take better care of the place.

But under all those scents-

or lack of them, actually

-there was a faint… flowery indefinable ‘feminine’ smell. It smelled… for lack of a better term, like Caelynna. I didn’t remember smelling like anything as Caelynna… and anyway it was absurd, how could somebody who used [Clean] constantly smell like anything?!

I looked down at the phone in my hand, feeling a slight sense of dislocation, remembering Caelynna’s memory of holding that same phone, so much larger in her hand. I swiped to the photo folder, and there she was. Like an anime girl brought to life in the real world.

I stared at her, feeling my own arousal returning. I wonderingly traced the outline of her face and body with a finger.

She really is just… so perfect. So beautiful. The ideal waifu. The perfect priestess. I smiled, then tapped a few buttons replacing my current phone wallpaper with the image she’d gifted me. “Thanks, Caelynna. This might be the best gift yet.”

I tucked the phone away and started towards the kitchen. I still felt oddly out of place in my own body. I shook my head.

I really must have spent too long as Caelynna, it feels strange to be male again! I thought with a soft laugh.

But a quick glance in the hall mirror told me that it was not just my imagination. I stopped, staring at my face in confusion. I looked… thinner. I yanked up my t-shirt and stared down at my stomach. The slight paunch of ‘not-going-to-the-gym’ was gone. While I would never call this body fit or ripped, the excess padding was just… gone!

Holy shit! Instant diet plan, just turn into an anime waifu!

I looked… well honestly I looked like those oatmeal anime boys looked. Skinny, undeveloped, pale and…

Well, I look like I did when I was a teenager, I guess. I thought. I wonder if being Caelynna made me younger as well?

The tiny wrinkles in the corner of my eyes, and mixed strands of grey in my hair convinced me that that was not what was going on however. I was just… thinner. Somehow!

I laughed and slapped my now flat (if very skinny) stomach. “Well hell, Caelynna! This is a win win win for both of us!” I laughed again and headed into the kitchen to see what [Cooking] 8 meant in a world without a System.

 It turned out, it was good, but it wasn’t magical. I really didn’t have a whole lot of options in my kitchen honestly. The food was far better than I could have made, probably better than a restaurant. Just… it didn’t compare to eating breakfast with Kaede.

But if you tell me what to buy, I’ll go to that ‘scary’ supermarket for you, Caelynna. Thanks for the meal, and everything else.

I laughed to myself and threw the dishes in the sink. I paused, feeling a guilty niggle at the back of my head. What would Caelynna think? Do you really want to leave that kind of mess for her again?

I sighed the weight of the world and cleaned up my mess then checked the phone again. From my perspective, it hadn’t been that long at all, barely thirty minutes. But who knew how much time had elapsed back on Ronde? I nodded to myself. I’d known what I was going to do, and it felt largely as though Caelynna was avoiding the issue of her own desires.

“Perhaps she really is more of me than I thought.” I muttered to myself, and tapped the ‘Login’ button on my phone again.

The change was quick but just as intense before. There was a feeling of softness swirling around me, wrapping me up and sinking into me as though bonding with my essence. So soft, her skin, so soft, her voice and manner.

The molding of my flesh, the way I could feel my limbs grow longer even as I lost height. The pouty plump feel of my lips, and the void between my legs. The swelling pulse of widening hips and jutting bosom.

I dropped into existence back in my room, facing a full length mirror. My mouth dropped open in surprise as I stared at the living waifu reflected back at me.

“Kaede…” I muttered to myself, then laughed. “She said she wanted to give us a mirror?! And here it is!”

I closed my eyes and willed my name skill to activate.

The compression and squeeze as my mind was reshaped into Caelynna was growing familiar now, the compulsions and cleaning felt quicker, somehow. Perhaps it was that Dustin was no longer scared to become me… and in truth, I was no longer scared that he would refuse to become me either. We had settled on… an arrangement. It was a strange arrangement, but it was oddly comfortable. I smiled at my reflection in the mirror, and traced the frame with a fingertip.

“Kaede… this was so nice of you! And you didn’t need too, but…” I felt my heart squeeze happily, my hands clasped over my bosom. “Thank you! I do hope you’re in!”

I turned and stepped out into the hallway, hurrying towards Kaede’s room, the sound of my heels on the floor a soft clatter in my ears.

The light through the windows was slanting into late evening, the soft orange glow of a sunset just visible, long orange streaks of light painting the floorboards a golden brown. I turned the corner and felt my heart leap with excitement and happiness. Light glowed through the paper walls of Kaede’s room.

She’s here! Oh I hope she didn’t have to wait too long! I took so long to decide!

I tapped lightly on the door.

“Caelynna?!” Kaede’s voice came from inside. “Just a second!”

I could hear the soft sounds of hurried movement from within, and then the door slammed to the side, the excited and smiling face of the sexy foxgirl looking up at me. The way her top slipped off her shoulders made it clear it was Kaede… Mike seemed to spend most of his time here as Kaede, in fact…

“You came back!” She said with glee. “Soooooo~?” She looked up at me, blinking those golden fox eyes, her tail slowly wagging behind her.

I felt the blush roar to my cheeks and up to my ears. I looked down and shuffled my feet awkwardly. “So… yes?” I said with a whisper.

“Yes?!” squeaked with excitement, then gave a little hop. Her tail’s motion picked up speed.

I forced myself to look up and into her eyes. “Yes.” I said, and stepped into her room.

Kade’s tail wagged faster and faster. The smile on her face was brighter than the sun, and I noted her teeth were quite sharp.

She went up on her tiptoes to whisper into my ear. “Oh I am going to show you such a good time, Caelynna Araren.” Her voice a cooing sultry purr of anticipation.