Some concepts are so interesting that they could be painted into real life, taking their meaning to the next level, while at the same time, creating a cause of conflict. For example, beauty is a concept. While I find someone beautiful, another may find the same person ugly. There may be a clash of opinions here but some concepts truly cannot be argued upon, such as facts.

Like the fact that I was sitting in a dark alleyway with an abomination, some kids, a walking bush named Satel, and my companion Rookie. Anyone could agree this is a very absurd setting.

“So…why did you bring that?” I pointed at the…thing towering over us.

“It’s not a ‘that’! It’s a ‘her’! She has a name, you know? Hmpf, you should be lucky that I do not want to disappoint my dearest beloved by acting like a brute here, but should we clash, I will show no merc- Ow! Ouch! Mercy!” I started to strangle Lard midway but his neck was so hard to pinpoint that I wasn’t even sure if I was holding his neck or not.

“Quit talking nonsense and answer me.” I shook him a bit then let go of him. I sighed as I massage my temples in vain since I was wearing a mask and there wasn’t even anything to massage.

After a few seconds of fixing himself up, Lard started to explain, “Musclella is Master Absicus’ niece.”

“What?” I looked up to the monster as soon as he said that. Even without eyes, I could still feel searing pain coming from my eyeholes. “What does that have to do with bringing her here?”

“Well, you have delegated the crucial task of finding out what muscle magic is to me the one and only Vakasa of the Darkness. As expected of my extreme competence, I, Vakasa of the Darkness, was able to find the source – Protein!”

“We already know that.”

“Oh…Cough.”

“Is that it?”

“Of course not! Behold, ladies and gentlemen.” Lard raised his hands to his so-called girlfriend as if he was presenting a statue to a king and announced, “She is the key to getting protein!”

“And how is she the key?” Satel impatiently asked.

“Let me finish, little girl! Musclella’s father is one of the city’s Head of Protein Production!”

…

“Come again?” I asked.

“I said her father is one of the person in charge of making proteins,” Lard repeated.

I rubbed my chin for a few seconds and slowly nodded.

“…Eh? Why are you doing that?”

“I was just thinking and accepting that the real Lard was kidnapped by a demon and replaced with a fake one. After all, I didn’t think the real Lard would be this useful.”

“What do you mean ‘accepting’?!” Lard retorted.

“Why would a demon kidnap HIM?” Satel furiously poked Lard’s belly with a finger.

I turned to the she-monster and asked, “Is what he said true?”

Musclella nodded happily like a dog as she sat on the ground while leaning against a small house. I still couldn’t get over the fact that she’s almost as big as that house.

No, wait. It all makes sense now.

“Where are the proteins produced at?” I started my line of questions.

“Big workshops,” Muscella responded.

“What is protein made of?”

“Me not know.”

“That doesn’t matter. What matters is if you can get us into one of these workshops. Can you?”

“Me not sure. Big men only allowed. Thin man and small people not big. Big men see thin man and small people easy.”

‘You’d look too obvious’ is probably what she’s trying to say. Not only was I noticeable physically, I was also easy to spot magically. Bicepticus himself was able to detect my magic from afar since I had no countermeasures in place to protect against muscle magic…At least, for now.

My thoughts drifted and eventually I realized I was just staring at Satel. Slowly turning to Rookie, my mind formulated a foolproof plan.

“Would he look obvious?” I pointed at Rookie.

“No. Man is big. Big men and man ok.”

“Boss?” Rookie asked as I changed the topic to him.

“Why’s this guy relevant to getting us in? Do we use him to break into a workshop?” Satel leaned in and whispered to me.

“I have an idea, but this would mean that only you and I will be able to get into the workshop,” I answered.

Kendra was leaning close to Satel and me, intently listening to our conversation. As soon as I finished, she interjected, “Wait, what about me? The production of protein is a heavily guarded secret!”

“No matter what you say, I really can’t bring you.”

“But why?”

“Because…” I looked at Rookie and cracked a smile in my mind.

*

*

*

“Just to let you know, I am extremely uncomfortable with this,” Satel said as she looked up to me. Her back was tightly pressed against my body as we struggled to not suffocate in claustrophobia.

“Weren’t you trapped in a tree for centuries?” I retorted as I held my arms around Satel. “Also, don’t you fairies do this often?”

“Like I said, why can’t I just leave my body?”

“If we get caught like this, we’ll probably just get a few angry guards after us. But if they see a fairy, the entire continent will be after us.”

“Ugh…if I have no choice-..Eee!” Satel cried as the fleshy walls dripped juice on her head.

“My apologies but both of you are moving too much,” Rookie’s voice boomed within our ‘ride’.

At this moment, I was experiencing what it’s like to be a fairy taking over a body. In other words, I was inside Rookie’s body. Being a simple monster made of rotted food, Rookie has little to no important organs inside his body so hollowing his insides for space wouldn’t kill him.

Although the idea in my mind sounded good, in practice, this was a horrifying idea. My robes were being wet by weird liquefied undead fluids. However, it was too late to turn back now as we were close to one of the biggest protein workshops in Rallas.

Coincidentally, it happened to be The Tower of Arm’s upper floor. This was probably why Bicepticus didn’t allow outsiders inside the upper floors.

I poked a small hole to see what was going on outside. Lard was going up the stairs along with Musclella. Since he was an acolyte, he was allowed until the entrance of the workshop.

“This is it, my beautiful lady. You risk yourself for me, and for that, I am eternally grateful!” Lard made a bow that would make even his own mother cringe but Musclella was flattered.

“Har har. Funny round man.” Musclella laughed and used her huge hands to lightly pet Lard.

Rookie, on the other hand, was disguised as a muscleman. Luckily for us, the sorcerers of the Sorcerer City States were progressives who only think that as long as one had muscles, one could be a sorcerer.

Muscella pushed the massive doors guarding the upper floor of the Tower of Arms. According to her, the doors are so heavy, only the strongest of the strong could open the doors.

“If what she said is true, does that mean protein isn’t mass produced?” Satel whispered to me.

“Perhaps the workshops have machines?” I answered back.

I had thought that the small hole I used to peek out of was suddenly obscured, but it turned out that the room was simply dark. Despite the lack of light, there was a lot of noise that could be heard. There were…lots of mooing.

“…Cows?” Satel asked me with a hushed tone.

Musclella and Rookie brought torches with them and lighted them up, giving me vision once again. From what I could see, there were lots of tables with massive buckets lying everywhere. Not only were there buckets everywhere, there were also weird yellow semisolid fluid splattered everywhere.

“Rookie, ask Musclella what those yellow goo are,” I ordered Rookie and he complied. He echoed my question to Musclella and she stopped in her tracks.

“These….protein.” Musclella pointed at the goo.

T…these are the things these musclemen were chugging? Questions started to flood my head.

“Where are the other musclemen?” Rookie echoed my question.

“Strong men go tests. Congratulate new Master Sorcerers.”

“Only the highest ranking sorcerers can make the protein?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because that.” Muscella pointed up on a platform. It looked like a fighting arena or a boxing ring. The monster girl led us up to the platform to give us a closer look.

“Where are the guards for this place anyway?”

“Me is guard.” Musclella proudly pointed at her brickwall-like chest with her thumb.

“Oh…”

“You want protein?” She asked Rookie.

“Yes. Shall I scoop that weird goo off the floor?” Rookie replied.

“No. Fresh protein best protein. Bigger muscles. Be bigger. Funny round boyfriend’s friends must get bigger.”

“Why are you sniffling?” Satel asked me with an annoyed tone as she elbowed my ribs.

“It’s just that I haven’t seen a monster care that much about another being for a long time…” I wiped nonexistent tears off my mask’s eyeholes.

“She’s just a muscleman, not a monster.”

“Forget it. Rookie, get Musclella to make us some protein,” I ordered.

“Wait, Boss. Wouldn’t it be better if we make it ourselves?” Rookie’s voice boomed inside his body, allowing us to hear his voice but not outsiders. It’s an odd ability, but useful in moments where I needed to stick myself inside a…No, never mind. It’s only useful in this very moment. I will never do this ever again.

“Lady Musclella, I wish to implore you to show me how to produce protein,” Rookie requested.

“Ha! Ha! Maybe you not know. Make protein need two big men. One big man hold Mooscly back. One big man to muscle protein out.”

What? I couldn’t understand what she said. What is a ‘Mooscly’?

“Come. You will muscle protein out. Me hold her back,” Musclella instructed as she took some chains off the wall.

I didn’t know what Musclella was up to, but looking at the opposite side of the arena, there was a big magic-enchanted steel gate keeping something in. The chains Musclella was holding was leading towards inside whatever the gate was keeping in and I could tell that the chains were made from mithril. It was dark so it was hard to see what was in the other side of the gate.

“Now. Me will pull stick.” Musclella grab onto a lever. “Me push it down. Exit go bye bye.”

“…P-Pardon me? Why will the exit go ‘bye bye’? How will the exit come back?” Rookie looked around the indoor fighting arena. The entire thing was caged in with mithril bars. Something wasn’t right here.

“Knock Mooscly out.”

“What is a Mooscly?”

“That,” Musclella answered as she pulled down the lever. The steel gate rose up, and a colossus rose up from the shadows. At the same time, the entrance that we came from closed.

Although I was impressed with Musclella since she had the ability to make mini earthquakes whenever she walked, this thing was on a different level. In fact, I will now stop referring to Musclella as a ‘monster’. This thing is what anyone would call a ‘monster’.

“..It’s…” Satel was left speechless.

“…A lady colossus minotaur,” I finished her sentence.