Mature Content Warning: Combat and swearing. Be advised

Author's Notes: This chapter is short, no excused. It was designed to basically provide a little more training and slightly better equipment for the team. Also, it returned to the original purpose of Scott being an adventurer.

The final chapter of this volume is next, though there will be an epilogue. At the end of the epilogue I will try to put up stats for Scott and the girls. I'll leave everyone else's stats vague. There will also be a character reference sheet so you can keep track of all these people. I read through everything and did not notice any reason for the confusion other than the fact that so many were introduced. A character cast sheet could help.

After posting the epilogue I will take a break for a week or so. Volume II will begin then. In the meantime I'll update another chapter of I Hate You Master, and work on the official release for my story with this kind of setting.

It will be entirely different from this, as it will focus more on adventuring, taming, and catching cute monster girls. I'll post the first episode of that up here when it's done, to see if it seems like something anyone would willingly read.

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The sounds of the forest were often those of birds singing and the buzzing of insects. However, the subtle music of nature was overcome by a louder and more intrusive sound. It was the sound of a man fleeing in terror.

Henry wheezed and coughed. He was desperately trying to catch his breath. The would-be ruler of the world felt as though he had been running for several days non-stop. He knew that he had to keep moving or that blond freak would catch him.

Those thoughts in mind, he staggered around the trunk of a large oak tree and saw the one sight that he had hoped to avoid.

"You, Stay away from me!" Henry shouted in a girlish high pitched voice, and he did not care about how ridiculous he sounded.

The blond man walked out of the shadows of the forest and leveled a glare so menacing that Henry felt as though he would have a heart attack. "You failed.” said the man.

Henry backed up, his hands coming up in front of him. "No! I..:"

"You failed!" snapped the Dark Empire general. A wave of psychic energy raced outward from his now outstretched hand.

The hapless human tool was flung backwards with incredible force. He was pressed back into the oak tree that he had just passed.

The crushing force of the dark general continued unabated for a full minute as Henry felt his eyes begin to bleed and his rib cage was forcefully pressed inward.

Henry was slowly strangling due to being unable to breathe. The pressure exerted by the general was absolute. Worse yet, the almost casual way that the blond man had done this was evidence that he was not using anything resembling to his full power.

Henry tried to mouth something to the dark general. He desperately needed something, anything, to save himself.

"What was that? I can't hear you?" said the general. A menacing sneer slowly formed on his face. He watched Henry continue to silently beg for a moment, but then an evil glint came to his eyes. He relented slightly on the energy radiating from him.

"I-I said. I’ll p-please.” rasped the man, a hint of blood coming to his lips. He began babbling out anything that came to mind and eventually said something that the general was intrigued to hear.

Jaedu, the Dark General, stared at the broken thing before him. A calculating look came to his eyes. “Anything? You’ll do anything? Hmm...?”

Henry began bawling like a baby while repeating his desire to do anything he could. This might be his only chance. The Dark General began to laugh in a cold, dark, way that set Henry’s teeth on edge and made his anal sphincter clench. Anything, huh...

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Chapter 16: Creatures of the Woods

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A knight, a warrior in gleaming black armor whose sword stood for righteousness, whose baking skills had become legend had chosen to take his vassals out to hunt down the source of the local disappearances.

Scott had sent Yoko, his newest girl, ahead to scout the terrain. He wanted the faux-samurai to feel useful after all.

His other girls were spread out in a wide wedge formation. He had Makina up front on point, and Nina was across from him on the left. There was a good five meter interval between each of them. Not as much as he would like, but in forest terrain it was best to stick a little closer. That would keep everyone in view and allow for proper hand signals if necessary.

Cerene was up above the tree-line acting as eyes in the sky for the harem. She could not see much in the dense forest, but at least she could watch for wild flying Demi-Humans.

From recent scouting of the forest they had tracked down the creatures the townspeople had seen. They had taken down about six of them yesterday, and followed them back to their encampment.

It was a war band of green and grey-skinned creatures Scott wanted to call goblins. The threat was nothing major if it were so. The six they had defeated were pitifully easy to deal with. After battling creatures like Creamy and the Water-Fiend, simple goblins were mere fodder. They existed solely as portable loot carriers.

The problem lied in that he did not know how many more of them were hiding in the woods and cave nearby. For all he knew there were several more encampments. Though, he did not believe that to be likely. A truly large force of such creatures if they were hostile, and several dead new tamers with only one girl to protect them attested to the hostility, would have attacked the town by now.

Yoko came back a few minutes later and crouched down while waiting for the group to catch up to her position. When they arrived she gave a report.

In a low tone she informed the group, "I've seen about fifteen of them up ahead. A few tents made out of hides... I’m not even going to think about what kind since there aren't supposed to be too many game animals in this part of the country."

Scott blanched inside his armor and sighed. The noise came out mechanically to the group, causing the girls to turn their heads to him. "Let's go. We'll circle the camp once at a distance, then move in from separate directions to corral them in the center. Hopefully we'll take down a few of their scouts if they bothered to have any, so that they can't warn the main body back at the cave."

Cerene watched the group move forward and started to go to the left. She considered the movement of her group below, but remembered what her master had told her. If he did not signal for her, she was supposed to keep going north.

The girl carefully continued on but stopped short a few moments later when she noticed the encampment. Settling into a treetop to watch without the ugly critters below seeing her, she waited to see what would happen.

Her eyes were able to spot her group despite the relatively thick foliage and she noted that they seemed to be giving the camp a wide berth. A few minutes later they started circling around, but Nina remained at the original position.

The girl did not know what else to do, so she kept watching. The group left Makina in another spot, and then the new girl that had attacked her master was at another spot. Scott kept walking for a short distance and then looked up in the air and waved his arm. That was the signal. She glided down to see what he wanted.

"Cerene, the rest of us are going to try and corral whatever the hell they are in the center of their camp and take them all down." said Scott.

The girl nodded. "Whatcha got for me, boss?"

"Can you watch in the air for any reinforcements that seem to be coming, and give a signal for me? All of the girls know to look for you and are waiting in a place where they can clearly see the sky." said the man. The girl could not see his smirk under his black helmet.

Scott showed her the signal he had devised. Basically, she would raise one arm into the air and then slice it forward. She would keep doing it till she saw them move out.

She flapped her wings to get back to her perch then waited for Scott's signal. When he gave it, she rose into the air high enough to be seen or at least she hoped so, and signaled with her arm.

With a violent scream echoing mechanically from his helmet Scott raced forward with sword drawn to begin the hoped for massacre. He readily cut down one startled goblin. His brutal attack neatly split its skull and ripped part of it away. He used an expert turn of his blade to free it from the stump of the creature’s neck.

Nina raced in and used her chain whip to good effect, trapping the arm of one goblin and reeling it in for a solid punch to its face. With a scream of pain it fell to the ground clutching its ruined nose. A swift downward kick crushed its chesty, and one more slam of her fist turned the already mangled face into a fine mushy pulp.

Makina's first goblin did not survive nearly as long, since one solid dynamic punch to its body sent it flying away to smash against two other goblins that had tried to get out of bed. They all fell over in a tangle of limbs and curses.

Yoko easily cut through three of them as she charged the center mass of the creatures. Her swordsmanship was superior to Scott’s and she never once had her blade become stuck in her opponent. The neatly bisected creatures slid apart with a sick wet sound.

Half their number was already dead or dying and they screeched in fear and rage. The goblins tried to rally each other into a killing frenzy.

Scott found the leader of the goblins to be slightly more skilled as the red clad creature managed to slip its spear through his guard and hit his visor dead center.

Unfortunately for the creature, cerametal armor and its component parts were far too tough for its diminutive strength. The creature managed to scratch his target, but the carbon steel long sword that flashed down did far more to its skull.

With their leader down, the other remaining goblins were quickly destroyed and that particular threat ended.

Scott and the girls looted the camp for any valuables and were happy to discover a few odd bits and pieces of jewelry. They even discovered one or two D-packs. Further, several D-balls were in the biggest tent. They were arranged on a makeshift table with lit candles like they were supposed to be some kind of offering.

'Hmmm, and what have we here...’

The man scanned the balls. Two were empty, but the other three housed girls that had been stuck in their balls for who knew how long.

He set the balls into his pouch and nodded. P-chan would no doubt pay him a nice tidy sum for actually sending her some more girls to research. It was part of their arrangement after all. He was supposed to send her any girls he found that were not going to be part of his harem, especially elf girls.

It did not offend his sensibilities quite as much to hand them over to the dimensionally displaced dark elf. He knew where these particular girls would be. If Ru was treated with dignity and respect then he knew these girls probably would be, too.

"Ok, good job everyone, let's move out." he said, after putting out the small camp fire the creatures had built. They were done here.

It took a few minutes to reorganize as the girls had only that day begun to learn how to travel in hostile terrain with group without being cluster fucked.

The cave itself would not prove to be much more difficult. The superior force that descended upon them came quickly, silently, and with deadly intent. Scott and his girls were outnumbered, but they simply had far too much skill and power to utilize at their discretion.

By the time the sun had begun to set, the team was already leaving the forest and heading off to inform the guild. The threat had been handled and they could send the local police force out to check the forests to find any leftovers. For once Scott's team had finally found an easy win.

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"Whoa... are you sure?" Scott asked Analise over the vid-phone. The image of the professor in question nodded and smiled. "Yes, that's the going rate in the country on average and I did promise you compensation for any girls that you sent."

The man nodded. After he had checked with the training center to see if any of the girls had living tamers to go back to he had settled in for a proper taming session with his girls. The next morning he had called up P-chan.

"Seriously...” said Scott. He had no idea about the amount of money a tamer could get for random Demi-Humans who he found or captured. He was expecting the equivalent of a few hundred bucks, not a few thousand. Why the fuck wasn’t he running around the woods capturing these girls? Oh, yeah. He did not like slavery. Bummer.

"Yep, while Cat and Bunnygirls are rather common, that Frostmelon wasn't." replied the woman cheerfully. Heck, if anything she had stiffed him on the prices a little. The going rate was not necessarily what he could have gotten for the rare girl.

"Take into account that each of them was at least level twenty or higher. You earned your pay." explained the professor.

"Sure, fine. But, three hundred thousand credits? I mean...” said Scott. Sure he had quickly split that between him and the girls. He kept half for the cost of their general living expenses. The rest was split equally between the four, girls. Still, they had earned that much just for finding a couple of balled girls?

"It's a fair price. If anything had you sold them on the open market you could have gotten more." informed the woman.

Scott nodded. He had figured that, but he would rather they find a good home more or less. If he had to be involved with that disturbing aspect of the world, at least the girls would have a decent chance with the naughty professor.

"Did you get your bonus for the mission?" asked the woman curiously. Now that Scott was a Knight Errant of the guild, he would be getting much higher commission rates. His time was far more valuable after all.

"Yeah, I was a little surprised at what they think my time is worth now." said the man with a chuckle.

Analise chuckled herself in response. "So any plans for your new found wealth?"

Scott smiled. "Yeah, I’m going shopping for equipment for myself and the girls at the guild today." With the twenty-five percent discount he received for purchasing gear from the guild, he might even be able to afford more than a pair of socks.

"Alright then, I’ll let you go. Be good or good at it...” she said, an attempt at sounding like him.

Scott grinned at her and then said, "Oh, you know it, baby."

A light pink tone rose upon her cheeks. "Uh, yes... Anyway, have a nice day."

The man smiled at her antics, payback was a bitch. He had not forgotten her water bottle antics back when they first met.

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"You gave him a field promotion?" asked the voice from the other side of the line.

Aaron nodded at the Head of the Adventurer's Guild Commission Authority. "Yes, his actions, and personal sense of ethics seemed to warrant the situation."

The man sighed and shook his wizened head. "That may be so, and I won't dispute it... but he hasn't been trained properly."

The less wizened, but far older man answered, "Yes, and as I knighted him, I must take responsibility for his tutelage."

"Very well then, I’ll allow it. Understand though, that he has to take the trial at some point before the year is out." informed the commission head.

"Understood, sir. I'm sure he'll pass with flying colors." stated Aaron.

The commissioner sighed while rubbing the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger, "Let us hope so. The last thing we need is to have to explain why the newest knight, is also the first one to not pass the trials in over sixty years."

Aaron conceded the point to the man, and they said their goodbyes.

"Hmm, boy... let's hope you're the fast learner that Analise makes you out to be.” said Aaron.

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Scott checked his bank account and whistled lightly to himself. "Papa's gonna eat tonight!"

He had brought the girls along into the guild headquarters, but had been told that they had to be balled inside the guild unless they were in a training area.

So, he took down notes on what the girls might want from, and sent them off to enjoy their day. They had done well, and they deserved a reward.

He wandered down to the local knight's armory, bypassing the standard gear shop entirely, and his eyes lit up. It was like being a kid in a candy store. A candy store full of implements of death and pain. JOY!

The whole store room was sectioned off with display model weapons and armor shown via three dimensional holographic images. It was like he had found himself in a beautiful dream filled with sci-fi weapons.

Sadly, though, he turned away from these after a moment and wandered over to the Demi-Human equipment section.

"Lessee, I can spend about a hundred and eighty thousand credits today. Well, I could spend more but I think we might want to be able to eat till my next pay day." mumbled the man.

The first thing he looked up was collars. He did not want to risk his girls getting captured or lost so he got four of the ones with GPS mod chips inside them.

"Some kind of body armor might be nice for them." he thought a moment later.

When he found nothing that really screamed, “Pick Me; pick Me.” he decided against that idea.

What he did find that was useful was a beginner's guide to white magic. "Something for Cerene there...”

After that he wandered over to the teaching machine section. He sighed a few minutes later. The only ones they had in stock that he wanted cost too much. That was always the way, was it not?

A few minutes later he found a much cheaper selection of training manuals though, and he smiled. "Guess for now, the girls will have to learn things the good old fashioned way.”

He purchased roughly twenty of these, manuals were not particularly pricey, and stuffed them in his cart.

Scott then went over to the weapons section and considered getting the girls something. A few minutes of considering changed his mind.

The weapons were good, but the only one beside himself that needed an upgrade was Cerene. Makina was a dedicated unarmed fighter, Nina’s weapon was some kind of legendary whip, and Yoko would cry if she had to give up her wooden sword. He took out his pocket scanner and fiddled through Cerene’s data for a moment.

"We need some ranged fire support...” said the man aloud. He checked through the holographic displays until he found a weapon for her that he could afford. The one he wanted was far outside his price range currently.

“She's a bit clumsy, but maybe she can learn to use this. It would definitely help with her special attack aiming.”

He purchased the light element enchanted chakram then grinned. "Heh, Cerene warrior princess."

The thought that since her main weapon right now in senshi form was a thrown spinning tiara had crossed his mind after all. The flat metal hoop would be perfect for training since it had a wickedly sharp edge.

“Ok, that takes care of the girls. Now for big daddy.” he said.

The first thing he bought was a weapon upgrade. He wanted that heavy elemental pulse gun. Unfortunately, his weapon license for such things was still on a thirty day waiting list. There was also the fact that he did not have two million credits to use for such an extravagance. He settled on an enchanted silver broadsword instead.

Supposedly, it was made with fighting infernal Demi-Humans in mind. He hoped it would actually at least sting a Fiend a little.

He found his cash running low after that and was not able to afford to buy new armor. Though, now he had something to shoot for as one display had a set of armor with stats that made him drool. The price tag had the opposite effect.

Shopping done for the day, the man headed out to begin a proper training regime with his girls.

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