"There's a village not far from here," Adam says during breakfast. "Caleb and I can't go in it, but if we stay here, you could probably head in and pick up some supplies for us. We all need some new clothes, for starters."

Yeah… our clothes are getting a bit worn-out. We could also use a couple of supplies, since we've been living on the road for a month and a half, now.

"How far is it?" I ask.

"About six hours, walking," he answers. "It probably isn't safe for us to get any closer to the edge of the forest this close to the village."

We've been walking along a small river the last couple of weeks, going through a massive forest. I suppose it's only natural we'd eventually come to a village along the river.

"It's on the river," he says. "So just follow it, and you'll get there. We'll wait for you a few days, just in case it takes a few to get everything. However, there's something you should know. There are beastborn and beastkin in this world. They're humanoid people, but have animal characteristics to them. The difference between beastborn and beastkin is how beastly they are. A beastkin has more beast in their nature, and will act more like it. That doesn't mean the beastborn don't carry characteristics or personality traits, they're just not as pronounced as a beastkin's.

"The village ahead," he says. "Is a village of otter beastborns, judging by their scent and the sounds I'm hearing. Beastborn, regardless of species, tend to have hairless bodies, so don't be surprised that they're not all hairy. An otter beastkin, on the other hand, would definitely have a hairy body – on both sexes.

"For maturity," he says. "Beastborn tend to follow a more human maturation process, while beastkin tend to have a mix of the two. So an otter beastkin might reach full sexual maturity by nine or ten and die of old age by thirty, an otter beastborn would probably enter puberty around ten to twelve, and die of old age between fifty and seventy."

"Nine or ten?"

"Wild otters live up to sixteen years," he says. "And reach full sexual maturity around two and three, for female and male, respectively. Humans generally begin maturing sexually around ten to twelve at standard, and finish around four years later, at standard. Technically, an otter beastborn could probably finish puberty when they're seven or eight, if they're an early bloomer. To them, though, that's adulthood, not childhood, even though a human would still be a child.

"The village ahead," he says. "Is a beastborn village, though, so be prepared for only small differences on them. Slight webbing to the hands and feet, and probably long, muscled tails. They're likely heavy into fishing, seeing as that will probably make up the majority of their diet."

"Alright," I say.

He tells me what items to pick up, gives me what should be enough money to cover the costs, then I start following the river, leaving the forest after about four hours. Another hour and a half or so passes before I see someone fishing by the river, the village in the distance.

He's got a thick tail with brown fur, small ears and nose, slight webbing between his fingers, and is roughly four feet tall. He's got brown hair on his head as well, though it looks a lot thicker and softer than I'm used to seeing in a person.

Across the river from him is a man about five feet tall, with small, rounded ears on the top of his head, a muscular build, and a fishing rod. They're yelling at each other, arguing about who is going to catch the biggest fish.

Martin Otter Beastborn Fisherman Kevin Bear Beastborn Fisherman

"Ha!" Kevin yells. "As if a small otter like you could ever catch a fish half the size of the beauty I caught last week! It'd be too heavy for your puny little frame to hold! You'd never get it out of the water!"

"Ha!" Martin yells back. "Bigger isn't always better! You never catch as many fish as I do! Why, just yesterday, I sat down, and within ten second had a fish! Ten minutes later, I had enough to feed my family! Didn't you only catch one fish in that time?"

There's another village on the opposite side of the river from the first one… which is presumably where the Bear Beastborn live.

And it appears that these two do not like each other.

"Huh?" Martin turns his head, eyes widening. "Human! Hi! Ignore the brute on the other side of the river, he doesn't know what it's like to have fun."

"At least my people don't slide around in the mud just to get into the water!"

"At least my people can swim underwater!" Martin yells back, then sniffs the air, his little nose twitching as he looks back at me. "You smell like a demon and a half-dragon. Companions of yours?"

"They stayed a few hours into the forest," I hold my hands up. "They don't want trouble, and sent me to see about buying some supplies. If my companions are a problem, then I'll return and let them know, and we'll seek out another settlement."

"How far are they?" He asks.

"Four hours into the forest," I answer. "We don't want to cause any problems, so they stayed behind. We just need a few supplies, including some clothes."

Though it doesn't look like they'd probably have clothes in our size, since we're all average in size.

"The otters are too small for ya!" Kevin yells. "They'd have to make you clothes! We might not be as tall as you, but we're at least taller than them! Come over to my village! We'll get you sorted right quick! Just keep your friends away, and we won't have trouble!"

"If we wanted trouble!" I call across to him. "They would have come, themselves! I came because I'm the human, and the weakest of the lot."

"Uh-huh," Martin bobs his head up and down. He's got a long neck. Can he turn it around the way an otter can? "Your Total Level is only 1. As a human, that isn't very impressive."

"He's probably stronger than you, though!" The Bear Beastborn yells.

The two of them reenter their bickering match as a female beastborn approaches me from the direction of the village.

Kayla Otter Beastborn Fisherman

"Hello," she smiles at me. "We heard the conversation in the village. We tell Martin to fish farther away from the village, but he tends to forget as soon as he sees one of their kind, and they sit down and bicker for hours before finally getting to fishing. As long as your allies remain within the forest, and you don't act against us, we'll be happy to make some clothes for you. For your team, we'd have to guess, so they won't fit like yours."

"They're around my size," I say. "Maybe a little bit bigger, but not by much, so clothes that fit me would probably just need a little bit extra for them."

"Alright," she smiles, then looks at Martin. "Get fishing, or your wife says you won't get dinner tonight."

"I'm catching more fish than you!" Martin yells to Kevin, casting his line.

She rolls her eyes, then leads me into the village. While the bears built their home of stone on the edge of the river, the otters built theirs of sticks, branches, and thatch on the river itself, on wooden platforms.

"The Beaver Beastborn helped us with ours," she tells me as I look around. "They're further up the river, and are amazing when it comes to doing lumber. I highly recommend ignoring the bears, though – they're just brutes."

The Beastborn look at me nervously, but mostly keep it to whispers and quiet chatter as I pass by. Kayla takes me to a hut, where another Beastborn has me strip to my underwear and starts taking my measurements, muttering to himself as he pokes my body several times.

Probably not by accident, though he doesn't come off that way.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," he mutters one time, apparently forgetting to do it quietly enough so I can't understand him. "Helping out a demon and a half-dragon. Humans, I don't have an issue with, they're easy enough, the rare occasions they come by, but those things? Let's just hope I do a good job, so they won't come back and rape and eat us."

"Adam and Caleb wouldn't do that," I say, and he freezes up, realizing I heard him. "Caleb is more interested in exploring the world, and Adam just wants to find a place to settle down and live without fear of being attacked. I got chased out of the last city we were in because of my association with Adam, who was buying me a coin pouch so I could store my money. We met Caleb on our first morning traveling, when he dropped on Adam after going through the portal to leave the demon realms."

"Sure, sure," he says. "So you stuck with him? Couldn't you just, y'know, leave them? They aren't pleasant folk, you know."

"Adam and Caleb are quite nice people," I say. "Adam casts a perimeter around us every night, so we don't have to worry about being attacked, and will keep watch when we're in dangerous area, even if he's got his perimeter up. They both go hunting for animals for us to eat, and have taught me how to make a snare to catch small game. Both have helped me with fighting with a sword and using martial arts, and if it weren't for Adam, I wouldn't have learned a few things as quickly as I did, after coming here."

"Coming here?" He tilts his head to the side. "You from another world?"

"Yeah," I nod. "I arrived the day before we got kicked out. Was walking into my kitchen at home, to make myself something for dinner, and found myself here."

"You speak Common quite well for someone who's only been here a month and a half."

"I learn quickly," I tell him. "When there's a need. There was a need for me to learn Common, so I could communicate in this new world, and so, I learned quickly."

"Ah," he bobs his head up and down, then starts measuring me again. "So who is the leader in your party?"

"I am."

"I would have thought it the half-dragon," he says. "The strongest, fiercest member. Dragons aren't creatures who like to be underneath others. If not the dragon, then the demon. The human, above both? Interesting concept. To think that you would be the leader, and them, the followers. That's quite interesting. So what's it like, having sex with a demon and a half-dragon? If you're the leader of the party, you dominate, which much be weird for them, since they'd likely prefer to be the dominants, when it comes to dealing with other species. I must know how you managed to pull that off. What is that look for?"

"Why did you assume I'm having sex with them?" I ask.

"You're not?" He asks. "I thought you were just well-bathed, and that was why I couldn't smell it. Interesting. Are they refusing to have sex with you on top? I can't imagine them just letting you be on top, you know – it isn't in their nature to let other species dominate them. In fact, it's odd they haven't dominated you yet. How comes?"

"Why are you assuming they're wanting sex with me?" I ask.

I mean, they probably are, considering they both admitted to think I'm cute a few times, and I don't think they realized they did so, and so pretended to ignore that.

"I can't see any other reason a demon and a half-dragon would not only get along, but also travel freely with a human, especially when he's not their own sex toy."

"And you're assuming I'd want to have sex with them?"

"Well," he says. "Both of them are clearly quite attractive, judging by their species, and you are gay, so…"

"And you're assuming my sexuality?"

"Everyone knows Vaefar only brings gays to this world," he bobs his head up and down. "Gays and lesbians, yes, indeed. Not even the bisexuals, just those who fully swing at their own sex. So you've been traveling for a month and a half with a demon and a half-dragon, who are both quite attractive, and who would likely only be interested in a human for sex or food, and you're telling me you haven't gotten off with them once? I find that hard to believe, yes I do."

"I haven't," I say. "This conversation is making me quite uncomfortable, sir."

"I'm just confused, is all," he says. "Have you even gotten off? On your own, I mean – not through wet dreams."

If I had wet dreams, I'd have to clean that up, and they'd certainly notice. I made sure they were asleep, left the perimeter, got a fair distance away, and took care of business, just like with going to the bathroom. Then, I washed up in the river. I did not want them knowing I did that.

Now that I think about it… wouldn't they have need, too?

"That's kind of personal."

"Sorry," he says. "Here in our village, everyone knows pretty much everything. So you really don't do it with them? If you got wet dreams, I'm sure they'd know. Have they been making any form of teasing to you in a sexual context?"

"Can we get two shirts for me," I say. "Two for Adam, and then two pairs of pants for each of the three of us?"

"What about the other?"

"Demons generally don't wear clothes," I say. "And he's gotten comfortable wearing pants, but has stayed shirtless since he accidentally destroyed his shirt, taking on his demonic form to show me what it looks like."

"So the demon does wear clothes," he mutters. "I thought that most odd, that he was here to get clothes for all three of them, when demons don't wear clothes, like species who partake of human societal norms do. Usually. Some don't. The demon must really like Jamie, to wear clothes for him."

He does know I can hear him, right?

"Done with the measurements," he says, though I think he measured me several times over. "I can have the outfits ready for you in two days. But we don't take human money, not in this village! You'll have to work for it."

"Work for it how?"

After that conversation, I'm a bit concerned by what he has in mind. I am not prostituting myself for clothes. If he wants me to do that, I'll leave now and let Adam and Caleb know that we'll have to go somewhere else.

"Fish, of course," he says. "Or you can help us repair some huts. That would be useful. Also, some of the others want you to prove yourself, before I make you clothes, since you travel with a demon and a half-dragon, yet apparently aren't in a sexual relationship with them, for some strange reason. That's still odd, since I can't fathom a reason they'd want to travel with a human and each other, other than that."

"Probably because one just wants to travel the world, and the other just wants to find a place he can live in peace?" I suggest. "And I'm supporting both of them in it without judging them?"

"Yeah, I doubt it," he says. "Like something like those would change their nature. Let's go. They want you to do the first step to proving yourself now. Since it's almost nightfall, we'll have dinner after, then you can sleep in a guest hut tonight. Tomorrow morning, you can start working."

"Prove myself how?" I ask.

Instead of answering, he just leaves the hut, so I get dressed and follow him out. He leads me across the walkways and to the edge of the village, where a group of the otters are standing, watching. There's a boy who's probably around ten sitting on the edge, unclothed, looking bored.

"Here's your opponent," the elder otter tells him, gesturing to me, then looks at me. "Jamie, welcome. You are going to compete against Dez. He is the best at holding his breath underwater in our village, able to sustain it for roughly eight minutes – the amount of time a full-blooded otter can. Our people can typically hold it for around five minutes, or the average between a health human and a healthy otter.

"The two of you," he says. "Will go underwater at the same time. If you surface to catch your breath, you will have to return underwater within thirty seconds. If you surface no more than twice before he surfaces to catch his breath, we will make the clothes. If you don't, you may try again before breakfast."

In other words, a maximum of one minute of catching my breath, and seven minutes underwater, in three sessions, giving me a little more than two minutes in each session underwater. I've never tried holding my breath underwater before, though, so two minutes might be stretching it for me.

Then again, with Limitless Adaptation, I might barely be able to make it.

"How absurd!" A Bear Beastborn yells from across the river. "All we'd make him do is arm-wrestle us!"

"You're just jealous we can hold our breaths longer than you!" The elder yells back. "And that we're better fishermen than you, too!"

"You might be able to catch more, but we catch bigger!"

This again…

They argue for a couple of minutes, then one of the other otters looks at me.

"If you fail," he says. "You will be allowed to try again before your next meal. We will allow you four total attempts. Those are all the rules. If you fail to do it by the fourth, you will have to leave the village. If you succeed, we'll begin making the clothes for you, but you'll also have to work it off. We've got a few jobs around the village that we could use a bigger person for, and-"

"HA! At least we don't have to rely on another species to help us construct stuff! We're tall enough and strong enough to do it on our own!"

Oh, my goodness! These two villages do not get along! Why are they even built across from each other in the first place? They can apparently hear each other from across the river!

I mean, it's not that far across, just a hundred feet or so from village to village, but still. That's some damn good hearing. Do real otters and bears have that good of hearing? I don't think they do…

Then again, this is also a world with beastborn, beastkin, demons, half-dragons, elves, dwarfs, magic, a System… so 'real' is also pretty subjective.

Factoring in that the thirty seconds of extra breath time won't allow me to fully recover, I'll stay underwater for less time in the second and third session. I'm not sure how well my Limitless Adaptation would enable to me adapt to that, but it's possible that, by the third or fourth attempt, I'd succeed.

"They seem like they'll be at it awhile," I look at the kid, Dez, as the other adults around us start yelling at the other village. "Want to get started?"

He looks at me, then slides into the water. I strip off my clothes and do the same, then he counts from three to one with his fingers as we both prepare, and we both go down under the water. I open my eyes, since the water is super-clear, and stare at him. He stares back at me with his big, light brown eyes eyes.

From the people above, I can tell that the Otter Beastborn are slender, in addition to being quite short, and the older they are, the darker their eyes.

One thing I learned from my younger brothers is that even underwater, someone can still be tickled. I wonder if otters are ticklish.

Not even thirty seconds after we're underwater, I'm standing in front of him, and he's looking at me curiously. I reach out and start tickling his sides, and he squirms, pushing backwards. I swim forward, gaining the Swimming Skill at Level 2, and tickle him again. He opens his mouth, probably to say something, then opens his eyes wide and quickly swims to the surface. I follow him up, and he breathes heavily.

"Cheater!"

"The rules never said we couldn't make the other go up sooner," I tell him. "So that was within the rules, so it wasn't cheating. If you would like to try again, this time with the rule stating no one can do anything to cause one of us to surface, then I'd be happy to change to that. Since that rule was never stated, I wanted to make sure we got it implemented, so that you or they couldn't do anything to make me surface early.

"Thirty seconds isn't enough for me to recover fully, which means that each time I come to the surface, I'll be down less than the last time I was submerged. This rule ensures that you or they can't make me surface early, if I'm down long enough to seem like I might beat you. However, it also protects you, to ensure I can't guarantee victory by making you surface early."

He thinks about it for a few moments, then nods.

"Try again?" I ask. "Since they're apparently still arguing."

"The bears are stupid," he mutters. "They think that because they're bigger than us, they're better, too."

"You know," I say. "They probably think that you guys think that because you're able to catch more fish and swim better, that you think you're better than them. If both sides think the other thinks the other is better, and so wants to one-up that side by proving how they're better, both sides will never get along. Sometimes, compromise has to be made."

"Compromise?"

"Yes," I nod. "I had to compromise a lot, growing up. Learned to deal with arguments. I have fourteen older siblings-" his eyes widen. "And was the first biological child my parents had together. My mother had adopted several, while my dad had adopted several and sired a few, before I was born. I have eight more younger biological siblings, and five more adopted younger siblings. I learned to close up most or all loopholes, and how to work things out between vastly different personalities."

"That's a huge litter."

"I guess it would be," I smile. "So ready?"

He nods, and we get ready, then go back under. I hold my breath as long as possible, even past the point where I feel like I can't hold it anymore, until my body forces me to the surface. I suck in air as well as I can, not sure how long I'm actually above, but go back down, hoping I didn't hit thirty seconds.

Dez doesn't do anything, so I assume I kept it under thirty seconds, and focus on staying under as long as possible again. Just before I know I absolutely have to return to the surface, a message appears in my vision. When I return to the surface, sucking in more air, another message pops into my view, but I ignore it until I'm back on the bottom of the river.

New Skill! Efficient Lungs Passive Your lungs are able to process out more impurities, as well as convert some of the pollutants into the resources your body needs New Skill! Extra Breaths Passive Every breath you take is more efficient, taking less time to suck the air into your lungs New Skill! Bigger Breaths Passive You're able to take bigger breaths than normal

So I gained two Skills while above, not one. I guess I was too focused on getting my breath back and going back under that I didn't notice the first one.

The three new Skills likely won't help me this time, as I doubt I'll even hit seven minutes total underwater. Six might be a stretch, actually.

Tomorrow morning, on the other hand… I might win.

When I absolutely must, I return to the surface, taking in several deep breaths, noticing that they are, indeed, a little bit better than before. My head spins for a moment, but it clears up quickly, and Dez returns to the surface, staring at me.

"You lasted six and a half minutes," he says, then looks at the others.

There are more of them there, including teens and younger children, and they're all yelling across the river to the bears, and I'm pretty sure that there are more of them, too.

He looks back at me, looking a little agitated.

"I know what you said," he says. "But it's really offensive for them to be telling us we're weak and puny."

"Compared to them, you probably are," I say, then smile. "But you know why, right? They're just jealous you're able to catch fish faster, and can swim better. There's always someone better than you. I'm the weakest member of my party."

"You are?"

"You know what my party is, right?"

"Yeah," he nods. "I overheard them talking. A demon and a half-dragon. Oh. You're… probably the weakest person in miles."

"Indeed," I smile at him. "But want to know something else?"

He nods.

"Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. "There are things I can do that the half-dragon – easily the strongest person I've met so far – can't do. For instance: he can't raise a single eyebrow by itself. I can. He probably also wouldn't have gained the Efficient Lungs Skill the first time he went underwater after gaining access to the System. Tomorrow, before breakfast, I'm either going to come close to beating you, or will beat you."

"You're on!"