She stretched then twisted her head back and forth. “So, the way I see it… either you’re just an asshole, or you had a reason to do this.”

He didn’t trust his voice so he just took out the sphere he had earned earlier and showed it to her. Her eyes widened and her demeanor changed instantly.

“Oh! Why didn’t you say so! You wanted to fight me, huh?”

He shuddered at how casually she said that. Why would he want to fight with a girl, any girl?

She laughed then ran her hands seductively down the length of her body. “It’s understandable. I’m a good catch, don’t you think?”

Scott blushed then nodded slowly. What was he supposed to say right now! Why had he become a complete idiot in front of this random beautiful girl?

The girl tapped her chin lightly then grinned. “You know, you’re the first human who didn’t just rush toward me like a perverted idiot. It’s almost too bad that I have to brutally murder you now.”

He immediately tried to find a better way to deal with this situation! He did not want to fight her if he did not have to, especially since he had a strong feeling that she would beat his ass.

After a brief few seconds of performing mental gymnastics the only thing that came to mind was the food he had stuck in his inventory on one of his trips back to the cabin. “Wouldn’t you rather have a nice picnic?”

“Picnic…?” She looked at him in confusion.

Scott pulled out a basket of fruit, some bread, and a large chunk of ham. “Sure.”

The girl shook her head then her cheeks tinged pink. “Don’t try to fool me into that. It’s a sweet gesture, but I refuse to take food from a human I don’t know.”

Scott tore off a piece of ham and started to chew on it. “But… it’s so good.”

“It is?” A hint of drool began to escape her lips. Was she hungry for real, or did she just like to eat? He did not know, but this was a good sign.

Dragon-turtles began to make whining noises. She looked down at them then sighed. “You’re right. He did pick on you. Even if he’s being nice to me, he was an asshole to the rest of you.”

“Do they want something to eat? I have apples and bananas?”

She asked the turtles and they began to drool too. He had never seen a turtle actually drool before. Was that even possible? This was beyond bizarre.

Scott began taking out all the food he had packed. The cabin always restocked with food whenever he went outside and returned so he had stocked plenty of it in his inventory.

By the time he was done, there were at least twenty turtles and one absurdly attractive girl sitting in a semi-circle around Scott. “I’m sorry that I was being such an ass to you and your friends.”

The girl swallowed a large piece of ham then smiled. “Don’t worry about it. Fighting is something monsters do all the time. They were just mad that they couldn’t beat you.”

“I’m glad that they aren’t mad. It feels weird for me to just attack random creatures, especially cool looking ones.”

She grinned at him. The turtles looked at him and flashed toothy smiles. Apparently they understood human speech just fine. Food and flattery had won them over quite easily. Scott looked at the jagged, carnivorous, smiles of the turtles then grinned back.

The girl spoke up. “My name is Scarlet. I’m the queen of these whiny turtles. Did you really want to capture me?”

“I’m not sure how to explain my purpose. I’m foreign to these lands and was just following instructions that I was given.”

“Instructions given by whom?”

Scott called up a menu screen and showed it to her. She blinked. “Oh, you’re an outlander!”

“Outlander?”

She nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, people who come from another world. They are picked to come here for various reasons.”

“People here know about this?”

“Of course. Most people just think of your kind as foreigners wandering the land.”

“What do you think?”

Scarlet smiled. “I don’t know, yet. I’ve only met a few foreigners and they were all perverted assholes that wanted to have sex with me. As if! That’s reserved only for someone who I can trust.”

“Yeah, I hear you. You’re incredibly pretty, but come on guys. Have some tact.”

Her cheeks tinged pink again. “You think I’m pretty?”

“Incredibly pretty, yes.”

She looked down at the ground then sighed. “You’re so nice. You’ve fed us, and apologized even though you didn’t have to.”

“You seem like a nice bunch. I didn’t actually want to hurt anyone; it’s just that I keep getting told that I need to do things. For instance, I was supposed to fight and defeat the turtles here until a boss monster appeared.”

“Yeah, that’s how it works. Prove your strength against her people and the queen will appear so that she can kick your ass.”

“Well, you certainly look like you can kick some ass.”

She giggled at him then shook her head rapidly. The pink tinge on her cheeks turned bright red. “Yeah, I’m strong. I’m a dragon after all.”

“Yeah, that’s what I find odd about this. Growing up I always had a fascination for dragons. They were mostly mythological back home, but they were cool.”

“Really? You like dragons? Most humans hate us!” She leaned forward and looked at him excitedly.

“Why would they hate you?”

She sighed. “Humans hate monsters in general, but dragons are very strong. We’re highly intelligent and only get stronger in time. A lot of the older dragon monsters will take up residence somewhere and demand tribute from humans and other monsters alike.”

“Do they protect the area from outside aggression?”

“Usually, yes.”

Scott smiled. “Well, depending on what the dragon demands, wouldn’t that be a good arrangement?”

“You think so?” She looked at him curiously.

He nodded. “If the dragon isn’t being too demanding, they are essentially just offering their services to everyone living in the region. Sure, they might demand to be seen as the lord of the area or something, but if they provide stability and a place for all people to grow and become stronger then why hate them?”

The dragon-turtles looked at him strangely. Their eyes began to shimmer and then to Scott’s astonishment they began to cry. “What…?”

Scarlet stared at him open mouthed for a moment then took a deep breath. “Wow, you really think so?”

“Sure. Essentially it’s no different than someone taking charge and defending a territory. It keeps out foreign invaders and allows people to build a better life. It might piss people off at first, but if the one ruling the area is a good ruler and largely leaves people alone it does more good than harm.”

The dragon-girl looked away. She began to chew on her lower lip a little and gripped a hunk of her hair. While she did this, the turtles gathered round their queen and simply looked at her.

Finally, she looked at Scott again and said. “Why did you want to capture me?”

“Like I said, I was instructed to capture a boss monster. Ultimately, I suppose this means that I am meant to become a monster trainer. I’m still learning about this world.”

Scarlet sighed then sucked in her lower lip again. The turtles nodded at her then she looked back to Scott. “What would you do if you did capture me?”

“I’m not sure. Fight, train, and get stronger. Maybe conquer the world. I really don’t know.”

“You… want to capture me so you can conquer the world?” She girl began to breathe heavily, her chest heaving up and down.

“Sure, why not? At the least, maybe someday I’ll start my own fortress city or something. I really don’t know what this world has to offer.” It was all just a game, so why not, right?

She grinned at him then blushed even more deeply. “That’s an interesting proposition. If you did take over the world or start a fortress city, would you let dragons visit?”

“If they can behave in public, I would be fine with it. Anyone who isn’t being an asshole could visit, or even live there.”

Scarlet’s eyes widened. “You would build a city where monsters can live like humans?”

“Sure, if they can behave themselves. Of course, humans could live there too but they would have to behave as well.”

She whispered, “A city of our own?”

“You really mean it?”

“If it’s at all possible, but it would take a long time. Something like that would probably cost a lot of money, time, and effort. This is literally my first time visiting this world. Besides, I would want to travel for a long time and see a lot of the world before I settled into one spot.”

Her eyes began to water and her lip quivered. “Would… would you promise to let my turtles come live there?”

“They seem nice enough, and they’re your people. Obviously, they would be welcome.”

The turtles threw their heads back and growled loudly. Scarlet smiled brightly at him. “One last question.”

“OK.”

She leaned forward again, her face bright red and her lips parted. “I’m a monster and a queen of my people. I would need an heir someday.”

“You want to have my babies?” Scott was a little disturbed by how quickly this had escalated.

Scarlet giggled then nodded. “Yeah… we would need to mate frequently.”

“I’m not sure. I mean I have no problem with the whole mating part or anything, but… are you sure that you want to have my babies? You don’t even know me?” Scott took a slow drink of water.

“I know, but you’re the first human to come along that I really want to breed with.”

She had said that so casually that Scott nearly choked on his beverage. When he managed to stop coughing he looked up and said. “I can promise you that if we get along and honestly like each other, I will be happy to … mate with you. We just need to get to know each other before we start having children or anything.”

Scarlet smiled softly. “That’s fair. If that’s your answer then I will gladly give myself to you.”

Scott felt a soft, warm, sensation fill his body. A new message screen appeared. It told him that he had conquered Scarlet, the Dragon Queen. However, he could not accept her offer to become his property without seeing her secret.

“Uhm… this message screen says I have to see your secret before I can accept you.”

“My secret? Oh, yeah. I suppose that’s fair.”

Scarlet stood up then thrust her arms down and made fists. She screamed and an incredible magical force erupted from her body. It washed over the area and nearly knocked Scott over. A blindingly bright light radiated from the core of her body for a moment then she changed.

Scott watched as the gorgeous, and entirely human seeming, girl shifted. She grew slightly taller, wings sprouted from her back, and a long tail with a spear-like point sprouted from just above her ass. Her ears took on an elfin look, and her finger nails became claws.

Scarlet’s skin became iridescent as tiny, nearly imperceptible, scales covered her body. Honestly, it looked more like she had been coated in glitter. She took a deep breath then covered her breasts with one arm. “This is what I really look like.”

She was bigger, more powerful in appearance, but despite the wings and tail she did not seem much different than before. “This is my secret. I know that humans don’t like to mate with mon—“

Scott interjected, “Wow, you were pretty before, but now you’re just awesome.” He really appreciated the graphics engine of this game world! She looked incredibly hot!

“Wah…?” She looked at him, shock evident on her face.

“You, you really don’t mind how I look?”

He leaned back then stared at her incredulously. Had she never seen herself in a mirror? She was like an absurdly erotic fitness model with batwings! “Mind? What are you talking about? You’re freaking hot!”

Her hand flew to her mouth and her eyes widened to ludicrous proportions. “No human has ever thought that I looked good in this form.”

“That can’t be true. You’re so pretty it almost hurts to look at you. Your skin is shining in the sun, your hair looks like you stepped out of a salon, and just thinking about the rest of you makes me need a cold shower.” His shyness had worn off, in case you did not notice.

The blush that she had sported earlier returned with a vengeance now. She seemed to be having trouble forming words. All she could do was gurgle.

Scott thought that he had overstepped by saying such things, but he quickly learned otherwise. The dragon-girl hurled herself forward faster than he could react. She wrapped her arms tightly around him and held him in a potentially bone-crushing embrace.

He mumbled something about needing air and her only response was, “Our babies will be so pretty!”

It was his turn to widen his eyes to ludicrous proportions. However, it was not due so much to the fact that he had heard her say such a thing, as the fact that she was crushing him like a soda can.

Slender but powerful arms slid back and away from the man. “There is only one thing left. You need to lay claim to your property.”

Scott was not certain what she meant but when the girl took two steps back then dropped to the ground he began to suspect it would be something perverted. She sat on her heels, leaned back and held her body up off the ground with one hand. The other hand slipped over to rest casually atop her slit.

“Please, complete the contract.”

He stared at the overtly sexual position that she was in for a moment then realized what he was supposed to do. The knowledge of what the situation required surfaced in his mind. He was still developing proper awareness of all the information he had obtained today. Now that this situation had arisen, he had begun to access the deeper knowledge. He followed the directions explicitly.