Change his life, see a new world. The life of a hero in a fantasy world sounded like it would be an uplifting and amazing experience. It was too bad that this brave new world was essentially no different than the world that he had grown up in, in some ways. If you had no money, life was tough.

When you are tossed into a brave new world with nothing but the clothes on your back things tend to be rough. Still, at least it was an interesting world.

Whenever he learned something new, a little message screen would pop up to tell him about the new skill. If he found an interesting item, made a friend, or earned some money something similar would happen.

This would happen so frequently that he expected to see it happen for every little thing that he did. When a triumphant fanfare echoed from his stall in a public bathroom after completing a call of nature, it had been rather disturbing. The announcer who had proclaimed, “You acquired lubricated condoms!” when he finished purchasing some of them for his first quest in this world had provided the opportunity to undergo a particularly embarrassing moment.

Since then he had sought out quests that allowed him to leave town. He did not intend to receive any more vibrant fanfares for surviving the lunch hour special at Tasty’s Taco Terror. He certainly did not want someone hearing about it every time he bought condoms or laxatives! No wonder people farmed out jobs like that.

“Master, what do you mean I can’t go with you?” Scarlet, pouted at him.

“Sorry, the job specifies no pets allowed. It’s only for one day.”

“I’ve only known you two weeks! This is so sudden. I’ll miss you way too much! What am I supposed to do while you’re off working on a farm!” She thrust her hands up for emphasis then snorted loudly.

“I don’t know, work out? Watch TV? Get a job of your own?”

“J-job? You mean work? I’m a dragon! I am meant to rule, not do manual labor!” She pressed her thighs together, crossed one arm over her magnificent breasts, and then looked away from him.

He sighed. “You know, you don’t have to be a waitress, right? There’s no reason to let random guys grab your ass for tips.”

She pouted at him then shook her head. “This is unacceptable! I don’t want to be separated from you when you’re here! What if you end up liking the job, huh? What about our plans, master!”

“This is for those plans Scarlet. We need the money, and fighting monsters right now will get me killed even with you helping. I haven’t managed to beat even one more monster since that first one. We’ve tried it repeatedly. I’m just not ready, yet. Even those damned rabbits kick my ass. Hell, the steel-fang wolf that popped up out of nowhere kicked the crap out of you.”

Her face turned the same color as her name. That was an unpleasant memory, she had won the fight quickly but the wolf had done serious damage with its stealth paralysis attack and hideous agility. At level twenty-two she was roughly equivalent to a naked unarmed human who was around the mid three hundreds level-wise. A steel-fang wolf was a level ninety monster that lived in the mountains far from the area. Even so, it would not even be in her league if they were to fight normally. However, its special abilities and sudden attack had taken her off guard.

Scott was still level one, but very close to gaining a level. If only he’d just keep trying, they could make it work. Yes, rabbits were a challenge to him at the moment, and normal wolves were practically a death sentence, but he only needed to defeat a few more rabbits. It would not be that hard if they made the effort to find rabbits that were off to themselves. Though, that was actually a rarity. Rabbits tended to run in groups.

They had tried using her overwhelming power to hunt large groups of rabbits, but even at her skill-level it took several seconds to kill a few rabbits. Every four seconds would cost him twenty-two mana. A small herd of rabbits could take as long as twelve to twenty seconds. That would suck out half his mana right there. If they called for friends the fight might not end quickly enough, and Scarlet would be sent back to her world due to his lack of mana to manifest her during battle.

When that had happened he had been unable to call her back for a minimum of one hour, even if he had the mana to do so. If she was forced to depart like that in the middle of a swarm Scott would die. He’d had to use his Serenity ability twice already to avoid a gruesome death at the hand of dozens of murderous rabbits.

While he had gained a few experience points when she fought like that, it was miniscule. If he did not do serious injury to an opponent during a fight, or perform a major support function, he would receive only one experience point per battle. Even if she killed twenty rabbits during a fight, he received only one point!

The meat, skin, and horns were worth collecting and selling, but the shops only bought those items in bulk. Due to their common nature those items were extremely easy to acquire. A bundle of sixty skins, the least that they would accept at one time, was worth only a single silver coin. The horns were worth more, twenty-four horns per silver. The meat was roughly half a copper per pound.

Selling the meat might have been a good way to earn extra money if they were able to butcher them properly. However, neither of them had great skill with cooking, skinning, or even simple knife work. The meat came out mangled and difficult to sell. Only loot-meat seemed to be worth acquiring at the moment.

When scarlet killed the rabbits they only dropped a few measly copper coins, if they dropped any at all. Her level was too high for any real reward. They had spent an entire day hunting. Scott had gained only twelve more experience points and nearly died twice. They had earned fifty-four copper from loot drops and about three more silver for their efforts after selling the loot. It was only slightly better than pulling weeds!

Scarlet had suggested that they join together with other adventurers to go hunting but the hunters in this town had all proven to be complete assholes, or idiots. Sometimes they were both. They were also rare. Few people stayed in the area long since rabbits were too weak for most adventurers to be interested in fighting. Dedicated hunters tended to go after much stronger prey in the area, as well.

Scarlet frowned cutely then said, “How much does it pay?”

“Twelve silver plus room and board.”

She blinked then stared openly at him. “Twelve silver! The best job we’ve gotten so far only paid a few hundred copper. There has to be a catch!”

“Maybe, but twelve silver would help out a lot, right?”

The dragon girl performed a few quick calculations. “That’s enough to buy me that cute little faux-ruby ring.”

“Yes, or a few low-quality healing potions and a wood bracelet. We’ll actually be able to hunt when this job is done.”

“Well, yes.” The dragon girl sighed softly. The ruby ring would have looked ever so nice on her finger. Still, it made sense to buy Scott light armor like a bracelet. The wood bracelets in the town armory increased durability by fifty percent, which was pretty good for common wood.

His biggest issue at the moment was that he took too much damage from simple attacks. The bracelet might help.

She pouted again. “I still want to go with you.”

He pulled the petulant girl in for a warm hug then kissed her on the forehead. “I know, but we need this Scarlet. This is hopefully our last low-level job. I am very close to leveling. Even one more level could mean the difference between hunting full-time and working as wait-staff and dishwashers.”

She kissed him on the nose, her typical reward and method of acquiescence, and then nodded. “Alright, master. I guess I can’t really say anything anyway. I’m the pet after all. Still, can you at least send me home till you come back? I’ll miss you too much otherwise.”

Scott held her tightly and she knew the answer. He really was a good master.

Softly, he kissed her on the lips. She closed her eyes and he whispered, “Scarlet, I bid you depart.”

She gasped loudly then grew silent as her body dispersed into motes of light. She had been sent back to her home world until he called for her again. Her turtles probably missed her anyway, so it would be a nice reunion.

Monsters lived in their own reality, and came here to train and find human mates. When a monster was banished or slain it was forced back to its home reality until it could return, an event known as respawning.

He truly hated to do that. It did not hurt her, but it did remind them both that she was ultimately different than he was. He was human and she was a monster who existed to serve his needs.

*****

“Oh, I see. All you want me to do is milk your cow?” Scott looked to Mr. Oldman, the owner of the farm.

The elderly man smiled beatifically, in the way of ancient farmers, and said “Yes, she’s a wonderful heifer. It’s her season for milking and I’m too old to do it right. The arthritis among other things.”

“Right, that’s what I’m here for!”

The old man laughed gently, but coughed long and hard afterward. Even in a fantasy world, old age took its toll. “My cow is a feisty one. How are your hands, son? They aren’t cold are they?”

Scott shook his head. “No, it’s pretty warm out.”

“Good. My cow hates cold hands. She can’t stand them. Warm hands make her happy; sometimes a little too happy.”

“I’ll… keep that in mind, sir.”

Mr. Oldman pointed to a barn in the distance then smiled. “She’s over there. Doesn’t come out to the pasture much when she’s in her season. Everything you need is in the barn.”

“Right. I’ll get to it then.”

The old man watched him walk away then sighed. “Oh, to be sixty years younger.”

Scott did not think anything was strange or unusual about going to a barn to milk a cow. That is where cows tended to hang out when being milked. No, what disturbed him was the fact that it did not look like a barn on the inside.

The outside of the barn had been a simple red and white wooden affair. Nothing about what he had seen there prepared him for the opulence that the inside provided. Barns were supposed to have dirt or perhaps concrete floors. They smelled of animals and hay.

This barn had a polished marble floor and what Scott could only assume was a mini-bar. “What the hell? Who keeps a cow in a place like this?”

“Hey, what’s wrong with my barn?”

Scott looked toward the voice and found that he could not tear his eyes away from the sight standing before him. The girl was quite pretty. She appeared to be in her late teens to early twenties. Her soft brown eyes, and white-blond hair streaked with light pink highlights, would have been right at home in a trendy night club. He thought that the black collar she wore was interesting. Of course, the small cowbell that was attached to the collar was a cute touch, too.

Of course, her hair and eyes were not the assets that kept his attention so firmly rooted. He really could not help but stare. The poor girl had to experience crippling back pain frequently.

“It’s a nice barn, really.” Scott put up both hands in a placating manner. He did not want to offend the farmer’s daughter, or whoever she was.

She smiled at him. “I’m glad. I don’t get much company here since my owner took sick.”

“Owner…?” Did he hear her right?

“Yeah, I really like Mr. Oldman. It’s terrible that he’s barely able to get out of bed recently, but I’ve needed to be milked for a while.”

Scott’s expression must have caused her some discomfort because she blushed. “I, well, I tried to milk myself but it doesn’t really work well without help. It’s hard for me to aim properly. The milk goes everywhere.”

“Oh! But, you’re not worried about that! You must be here for a reason. No one really comes to visit me.”

“Well, I was asked to milk the cow…” Scott had yet to see a cow and he suspected that he had been tricked, especially with what she was saying about milking.

“Really! That’s wonderful! I swear, I thought I was going to burst!”

Scott would have said something but the girl immediately unbuttoned her top and let her massive mammaries swing free. ”Look at how swollen my udders are!”

The sudden change in the conversation caused his eyes to widen so quickly that they threatened to pop out of their sockets. “Yeah, definitely swollen.”

She nodded at him then leaned back to allow him to inspect her talent. “I think we’ll get a lot of milk today, but…”

“But?” Scott nodded and questioned at the same time. He was still trying to process what was happening. Did this girl really expect him to milk her?

“I can’t do it on my own. I’ve tried it all day and nothing comes out. You’re going to have to help me relieve all this tension.”

“I can do that, I think.”

She bounced up and down a little then asked, “Really? That’s so nice of you. Let’s go upstairs and get started.”

Scott followed the ‘cow’ upstairs and was surprised by two things that he discovered. The first thing was that the normal seeming girl had a tail, more specifically a cow’s tail. The second thing was that the upstairs area was a well-appointed bedroom. His not-entirely-bovine companion quickly stripped off her outer garments then stood before him wearing nothing but black lacey panties.

She placed her hands on her curvaceous hips then struck a pose. “I’m not just any cow you know. I’ve won three blue ribbons at the town fair.”

“Well, you’re definitely the prettiest cow I’ve seen.”

“Thank you! You are too sweet. The farmer is usually all business, but you seem like a really nice guy.”

Her tail whisked back and forth behind her for a short time before she gestured to her bed. “We should get started.”

“Absolutely.” Scott moved forward with all the restraint he could muster. The entire time his mind screamed to him, “It’s a trap!”

He heard those fateful words repeatedly and they did not stop even after the cow-girl flopped down on the bed. When she arched her back a bit and presented her breasts Scott carefully placed a hand down atop those great monuments to femininity.

The cow whimpered a little then pouted up at him. “See, they are so sensitive right now. Be gentle, OK?”

“I’ll try, but if I hurt you let me know?”

She smiled brightly at him then put her hands behind her head and closed her eyes. Scott took this as a signal to perform a tension releasing massage, not that it was doing anything for his own growing tension!

“Mmm, so warm.”

“Excuse me?”

She did not open her eyes, but did answer. “Your hands, they’re really warm.”

“You like that?”

The cow nodded gently then wiggled around on the bed a little. Scott took that as a signal to talk less, and massage more.