The dirt road was dusty and rough, and it crunched under your feet with every step. You were jogging. Monica kept the pace, mimicking how you had your hands at either side of your torso. She showed an amusement with how she followed every step, her lips curled slightly upwards as she would bump her hip against yours, her tail caressing your calves every other step.

With a pause, your eyes glanced out and towards the left side, past Monica. Not much farther away than the dirt road, there was a light forest and tall grass. You knew the area should be relatively safe; after all, you could see the wooden watchtowers a hundred meters or so farther out into the wilderness.

But at the same time, it was clear this was not as safe as Violet. There was no city, no wall, and no fields of easy view of any potential threats leading all the way out to nearly a mile. No, this village was small, with barely thirty or so homes throughout, and not even a center. It was small enough that you'd managed to jog your way around it twice for your training warmup. The houses seemed almost brittle, made of wood and rocks. The only real protection they appeared to have from the outside world was some trenches and low fences.

The only safety coming along with you was Monica, as the others were currently a bit occupied.

"Let's go back," you called out as your breath began to strain.

Monica pouted a little, rolling her eyes but nodding. She leaned down, her arm wrapping around your hip as she pulled you closer. A long breath followed as she leaned into your neck, sniffing it once, and then licking it. The gesture made you shiver a little. "More," she declared. "Rick no tired."

Your lips jaw clenched slightly. "Fine, one more loop."

"Twice."

"One."

"Twice."

You stomped your foot, frowning. "One time, and that's final."

Monica crossed her arms and frowned back.

After the second loop, you took a stop to catch your breath at the public fountain that was near the village's centre. You drenched your head in the cool water, and inwardly wondered if today you'd end up dragging the others back or not since you were probably going to feel beat up the whole way.

"Good Rick," Monica proclaimed with a purr, patting your wet hair as she went to the fountain and took some water. You looked at her as she swayed her tail smugly, and it made you want to roll your eyes a little.

Instead, you reached down into the fountain's nozzle and squeezed the tip, making it spray the water at Monica's face. The feline yowled and leapt away from the fountain, batting at her face to push the water away. Her face scrunched into a scowl as you chuckled. She approached, and you raised an eyebrow, preparing yourself to spray her with water again.

She didn't give you a chance, for as soon as you'd opened the faucet, she'd jumped over the spraying water and straight at you. Your eyes widened as her hands grasped your shoulders. Before you could even fall, she'd twisted, putting herself between you and the ground. Her arms were silk-covered steel, and she hugged you against her chest. "Bad Rick," she now proclaimed, leaning forward and licking your face.

You struggled.

It was futile.

By the time she was done, your hair was thoroughly licked, standing on its edge as if glued into position. Worse still, Monica’s body blocked any attempt for you to reach the fountain and clean up your face and hair from her morning breath. It made you want to scowl at her- you'd get her yet, and the fact she was that much smugger than before nailed the idea down into a certainty.

The small camp area that'd been used to spend the night was in sight, and as you approached, you saw Diane and Kat first. Kat was laying on her back, shirtless, exposing lightly tanned skin and a lithe figure that her baggy clothes rarely revealed. Your alpha knelt besides her, her hands glowing as she pressed her palms against Kat's lower back. The human breathed slowly and steadily, and she almost looked asleep.

Monica strode right in. "Diane, Rick tired."

The nurse didn't look up, only nodding. "Raven," she said, her voice strained.

"Monica, over here. I have the tasty food."

"Tasty food, yes, Monica good."

"Indeed."

Raven had a big plastic smile on her lips as she pulled some chocolate out of the backpack, tossing the piece at the very happy cat. Monica plopped down

"Got struck by lightning?" You glanced at Tomas; the young man looked amused.

"Went for a run, Monica opted to... help."

"Oh, then I won't get in your way, you should do your stretches while you're still warm."

You glanced his way, frowning slightly, and hesitated as you remembered what Tomas looked like when he hadn't been wearing a shirt. "Right, any suggestions?"

"For training? If you're going to do a bunch of cardio and running, you should definitely get yourself some good running shoes, you don't want to have to trek with the same ones." A little pause. "Oh, and add some talc to the inside of your shoes, keeps them dry for longer."

"Oh, huh, thanks."

"Don't mention it." Tomas shook his head. "It's sort of the least I can do when..."

Your eyes turned back towards Raven as she kept her lips upturned as if through will alone- but that smile that didn't reach her eyes, and she kept herself poised and firm, talking in slow, steady words. Next to her was Kiara, the Succubus looking bored out of her mind, and barely even paying attention. In front, there were three monstergirls, Sara, Coco, and Liz. The three feralborn girls that Kat and Tomas owned. The trio were severely nervous and tense, eyes darting between Raven and Monica, but nodding at every uttered word.

Were they learning anything at all? "How's Sara progressing?"

"She's learnt a couple of new words," Tomas said leisurely, taking a long second as he turned to glance at Kat and Diane. "Do you figure that's... common?"

"According to Diane? Yes," you muttered, scratching your chin. "Where's Mr. Gabriel anyways?"

"Went to take a walk."

Standing still, arms crossed, and feeling an awkward silence spread, your eyes kept flickering at Kat and Diane, and at the glowing hands on the sleeping young woman. A long sigh followed. "Better get washed up and ready to hit the road."

"Right, definitely should do that." Tomas jumped a little, hurrying off towards the tent. You suspected he'd taken your words to be for himself.

Shrugging, you opted to find something to get rid of Monica's breath and clean up.

It would be only an hour later that you'd set out to follow the unkept dirt road; another three before Monica's bored walking turned into sudden attentiveness. Her head snapped to the side, sniffing loudly. "Riiiick," she quickly said, grinning as she tugged your sleeve. "Weak, close, please?"

Frowning, you glanced at the others. "Monica picked up on a scent." Your words came out softly, pointing over your shoulder and towards the forest. "Says it's a prey feral, shouldn't be too far away."

"Sara picked one up too." Tomas nodded.

"Anyone volunteering to hunt?"

"I'm sticking to gramps."

"I'll... stick to them as well."

"Then I'll be off, I'll catch up if things get delayed again."

"Sure thing."

Glancing at Monica and pointing out, you hopped off of the dirt road, summoning the other monstergirls. "Monica caught a trail, says they're weak, going to see if we can do a quick hunt."

Diane glanced around, nodding and quickly moving to stand next to you. Kiara just yawned and walked, appearing all too bored to really focus on anything. Raven however, immediately took to her spider form. "Let us hunt, Monica." She hurried forward, taking point a good ten meters ahead, her head swivelling this way and that, looking for a target.

Kiara snorted, but said nothing.

Monica just grinned and moved slightly ahead to match Raven's pace. Slowly they were gaining distance from you, and gaining on the likely prey.

"Ok, I can't be the only one who thinks that's weird."

"Raven has... certainly started behaving differently." Diane nodded a little, her lips tightening marginally. "Did anything happen...?"

"I was hoping you could tell me." As you say this, Kiara chortled. "Amusing?"

"I can certainly see why you kept getting a chuckle out of every time I failed at guessing at your secret."

That made you frown slightly. "Are you going to share your theories?"

Kiara laughed. "Not for free or unless you admit you can't figure it out, Maaaaster~." Your jaw tightened as you could feel your teeth grinding with one another. Your brows lowered and you glared at her as she chuckled louder still. "I'm thinking that I want that orgy in exchange for the answer... Does that seem fair? Exchanging two boons for one orgy?"

Two? You hesitated a second- oh, right, you'd left the subject unspoken back then. And she hadn't forgotten.

"You should order her, Master."

"Sure, go ahead." Kiara shrugged lightly, pausing a second, arching a brow as she turned towards Diane. "See? He has some principles."

"I'm mostly trying to think up something you might prefer other than a public orgy."

"Not gonna happen, Rick." Kiara laughed all the harder, spreading her wings and leaning down a bit. "Ah, this was fun, should I go do overwatch?"

"Go ahead."

The sigh was contained until Kiara had taken to the air and gotten herself into a decent altitude overhead. Rubbing the bridge of your nose, you glanced at Diane. "Any clues?"

"None come to mind, Master. I've seen monstergirls react negatively to their tamers, but this doesn't quite feel like it." A moment of hesitation. "Either that or she is better at hiding it."

"What does a monstergirl loathing her tamer look like?"

"They remain inside their ball all the time they can get away with, willingly. Most monstergirls will obey regardless, but they tend to seek to hurry up to Sadie's, sleeping off most of the time in their device."

"Hm... the only time she requested be kept in her ball was when I was taming any of the others."

"Which is normal for those that don't enjoy being on the sideline, or whose libido just isn't up there." Diane rubbed her chin in thought. "Either way, it seems to me she's afraid of something, her heart rate and stress have been quite high these past few days. Maybe Master should use some trust-building exercises?"

"Like letting her fall backwards?"

"Well, no, that won't work for a monstergirl much, we're too tough to get too hurt over something like that." She shook her head. "Maybe the other way around, show her you trust her?"

"By falling back into her hands?"

"I've been thinking about what... you did with Kiara." Diane took a long second, pausing, lips thinning. "Of what you do with her, repeatedly."

"You don't really like me doing it, huh."

"Not the point, Master." Diane coughed loudly, glancing around and focusing on the trees for a second. "I've noticed she sometimes ties her partner up when it's one of us girls, maybe that might make the taming more enjoyable and show trust? Let her tie your wrists? She should be done with your spider-silk set of clothes soon, maybe propose it as a reward?"

Glancing at her with an arched brow, you kept your focus on her for several seconds. "I thought tamers being submissive was bad?"

"Most definitely not as bad as eating their monstergirl's..."

With the sound of ruffling leaves, both of you broke the conversation, looking around and trying to figure out the source. Further ahead, you saw Monica and Raven had leapt upon something that had failed at trying to hide; there was a screeching sound that followed before a bright flash of red light. Your shoulders relaxed. "Seems they found the feral. That was far closer to the road than I thought it'd be."

"It's likely to become worse the further south we go, Master. Alazea is the size of New Bark more or less, and Ebony is only larger than that due to the ranch and the mine. I doubt there are many tamers that take those roads."

That threw you for a loop. "What size are they compared to New Bark or Violet?"

"Violet is definitely larger than both, by a decent margin."

Sighing, you nodded. You didn't much like the smaller villages, as the lack of a wall or of clear presence of security was far more unnerving than you'd thought yourself able to admit. But the thought was pushed aside as you spotted Monica and Raven returning. Monica was ecstatic, grinning from ear to ear, and holding a red and white ball she handed over. "No kill, catch."

"Good Monica."

She nodded eagerly, leaning in to rub her cheek against your own, causing you to chuckle a little.

"It was a Titmouse, Master Rick, an easy hunt. She was alone, however, must have broken away from a nest." Raven kept that tight artificial smile as she bowed her head, returning to her human form and bowing again.

"You did well too, Raven, thanks for the help."

"It was my pleasure, Master Rick."

"Diane told me the work on the spider-silk clothes is almost done?"

"Yes, Master Rick, the shirt will be ready by tomorrow, and the pants should be done before we reach Alazea. Will that be all, Master Rick? Should I scout ahead of the group and keep a lookout?"

"No, Raven, but thank you for offering."

"It's my pleasure, Master Rick."

Hearing Kiara snicker as she returned to the ground, you felt like you wanted to groan very very loudly.

"Yo, Rick." Kat's voice rung with a hushed tone, the young woman approaching with a gait that had lowered shoulders and a nervous gaze. "Mind if I kidnap Diane for a moment?"

"If you keep doing that, I will start charging for the consultation."

"It's just a quick couple questions."

"...sure." You glanced back down at the piece of paper you'd been scratching notes onto as you glanced at the elemental stone in your palm.

There were three main options you were trying to parse through. The first would be to find someone to sell the thing to and thus be able to potentially acquire a stronger monstergirl for the team. The second option was to purchase a monstergirl that could use the elemental rock to evolve. The third was to buy a monstergirl without using the funds from selling the stone, and the bonus money would be used for something else, like better equipment.

You'd yet to find anything that caught your attention in either direction, and more cumbersome was that you couldn't really take a look at the market while being entirely out of range of any updates on what might be available or not. Tomas had commented that back when he'd bought Freya, the offer had been posted on the local net by a local farmer having wanted to sell her back then.

Still, the whole notion was always awkward. "Whatever's available" was to be avoided at all costs, and with the current harem composition and dynamics, you had to be careful. The last thing you needed would be another Kiara, or a Monica who would be more willing to show her position by force.

And sure, the dex entries absolutely-

"Master?"

"Hm?"

Diane plopped down onto your lap, forcing you to pull the paper away. A quick glance from her told you everything you needed to know- she'd spotted the numbers.

"So what did Kat ask about?"

"Cosmetic modifications," Diane replied. "But I had to turn her down. It would require daily sessions and I'm sure you wouldn't have approved of me spending so much time on that, Master."

"Oh, right, cosmetic changes." You nodded a little, putting down the little notebook and reaching for her hips. "I'm sure I've got a wrinkle or two you'd like to iron out."

"Would you let me?"

"No, just joking, I like not looking like a teenager, thanks," you chuckled, wrapping your arms a little around her waist and feeling her snuggle closer. "I hadn't thought of cosmetic adjustments. How far can they go?"

"I can't think of any limitation, so long as things remain within the standard human proportions and functionality." Diane shrugged. "The only real limit would be time. I can only really change a tiny bit at a time, so something like completely changing someone's face and hair colour would take... maybe a couple of months of intensive work? I'm sure a more talented flesh crafter would take less, but those tend to be painful."

"Huh." Placing your chin against her shoulder, you closed your eyes and sighed. "Have you thought about the prospective new recruit?"

"I was thinking maybe a Pidgy? They're weak, but they can evolve into plenty of varied fliers." She hesitated a little. "Though Monica might end up eating her."

"She's a good girl, I doubt it'd come to that." A little sigh escaped you. "I wouldn't doubt however her ability to traumatize a potential new girl."

"Any of the basic three fliers would fill out Master's need for aerial capabilities, at least in the long term." Diane shook her head. "My concern would be more about Sadie's."

"What about Sadie's?"

"Well, it's not very far, only a couple of months away. Buying a girl and then losing her during Sadie's would not be ideal."

That got you to stop for a moment and frown, crossing your arms and tightening your grip on the nurse. She wriggled a little but remained quiet, clearly waiting for you. It took a minute or so before you managed to chew through the answer properly. "I can't sit on my ass two whole months waiting for Sadie's to pass, to say nothing that I'd need to challenge the gym over at Ebony according to what I agreed over at Violet. That time is better-spent training and getting the potential new member integrated... if we find any."

"That seems reasonable, Master, just keep in mind that whoever you pick might impact how the harem operates on a... day to day basis."

"I kinda expected that would happen when someone new would get added."

Diane squirmed a little. "I meant... in how the harem behaves."

"Explain?"

"Currently there are no factions in the harem. Monica is Monica, and Raven tries to strictly stick to your orders. That leaves Kiara on her own and me... well, on my own as well," she muttered, her fingers tracing figures on your knees. "I don't doubt any new girl would look to get whatever she can, but... once harems start to grow then members start to stick to those they like more."

"Oh fuck me."

"With pleasure, Master."

She giggled as you nudged her hands away from your belt. "Not what I meant."

"I'm no psychic, how could I eeever hope to tell?"

"Smartass." You bit her shoulder, causing her to squirm. "I meant the whole harem dynamic thing, it's a nightmare as it is currently, can't imagine how much more complicated it'll get once you lot start ganging up on me."

"Well, that's because you're a great Master and you get involved with our emotional wellbeing." Diane turned on your lap, straddling it as she wrapped her arms around your neck, looking into your eyes with vibrant violet eyes. "Most tamers don't do that."

That surprised you a bit. "They don't? What does the normal tamer do?"

"Mostly leave things to their Alpha." She leaned in, kissing your neck. "Would my handsome Master want that? To just let his cute nurse do all the work? Just relax and lay back as I take care of aaaall of your needs?"

Sighing a little, you had a hard time denying her soft touch wasn't having an effect on you. With an exaggerated roll of your eyes, you reached down and grabbed her ass, squeezing it, getting her to slowly hump against your groin. "So, what would be a good example of how 'normal' people do it?"

"Miss Catherine would be a close enough example."

Wait, what?