Ortlande, the largest city in the Southern Marche. One of the largest cities in the world, it was home to over four million people, human and Demi-Human alike. Further, it was also home to the prestigious Orange Cup tournament. Numerous fighting arenas operated throughout the area, a factor that lead many people to seek Ortlande out as the first destination in the Merikan Demi-Human sports leagues.

The ultimate winner of the cup, won the right to challenge the other major tournaments without further qualifiers. In that respect, tournament winners were granted permanent entrance into the national tournament circuit.

Aspiring teams without a tournament win on their hands would need to pay exorbitant entrance fees, and go through several qualifying matches, just to earn the right to be placed on the official roster for an individual tournament.

John and his harem drove up to the city gates at noon, and settled in for a long wait. Each vehicle entering the city would be thoroughly searched. Ortlande was under a form of martial law while the tournament took place.

Due to the proliferation of high-powered Demi-Humans in town, police presence needed to be high as well. At any moment a stray Hyperion Wave, or a rogue Tsunami might crash down on the city courtesy of an annoyed Demi-Human. In some tournament seasons entire city blocks were destroyed due solely to petty arguments.

“Master, what are we doing after we get into town?” asked Kara. She had finally stepped down from her spot on the gun position to stretch her beautiful legs. They would probably have to wait at least another hour before they could move forward to the next check point on the road into town. Her legs could use the break.

John leaned his head out the window. “We’ll report to the local headquarters of my sponsor. They have a room set aside for us.”

“Ah, good. It would have been nearly impossible to get a room anywhere in the city otherwise,” said Kara.

They continued to chat freely for a time. It remained a moderately pleasant and professional discourse, yet, in the eyes of one person watching it the scene was quite frustrating.

Tera looked at Kara and fought down a sigh. She had no personal interest in their master, but it would have been nice to be able to chat so freely with the man. She rarely had the chance to talk to a human without being ordered around.

Kara and John, two cold people who thought only of their positions, Tera could not understand the obvious nature of their growing bond. The banter between them was almost friendly at times.

“Doesn’t matter...” mumbled Tera. She pressed her thighs together and fought down a growing urge that she knew would need to be attended to at some point soon. Her master barely touched her in the short few weeks since he claimed her. His simple actions kept her from regressing, but the sensations building within her were a concern that she could not overlook. As much as she hated the man, she needed him to fulfill his obligation as her master.

Tera looked away from the politely chatting duo then looked toward Mindi. The Kraken was doing worse than she was, she was certain of it. She steadfastly refused to ask for a taming. John never asked them directly. He left it up to them to make such decisions.

Mindi had not spoken all morning, but she would occasionally slide her hands between her thighs when she thought that no one was looking. The gesture was not as subtle as she thought it to be, as Tera noticed it frequently. For all Mindi's bluster and anger, she would need to ask for a proper taming soon.

*****

The spacious townhouse on the outskirts of town proved to be the perfect accommodation for John and his team. The six bedroom house was quite spacious, and everyone could have their own private room. Compared to living out of tents and the back of a truck, it was quite a luxurious set-up.

The private residential area that they were granted access to sported a fishing pond and a swimming pool, two things that Mindi loved greatly. As a Kraken, the water was like her second home. In recent weeks she'd not had the occasion to go for a proper swim. Her tentacles practically quivered at the idea.

Honey enjoyed the flowers at the corporate garden, though she refused to go there unless John went with her. Her strange obsession in that regard proved to be a source of confusion and annoyance for the man, but he accepted it as one of her immature quirks.

Kara liked the military style gun range. It was well appointed and offered pop up targets. She'd been itching to get a little target practice in, but until now she'd been unable to scratch that particular itch.

Both Mindi and Kara chose to go visit their preferred places, a decision that left John, Tera, and Honey alone while they walked through the park.

The Succubuzz flittered about quickly, the sights and scents of the garden made her quite happy. While she wandered around enjoying the flowers, her harem sister Tera fidgeted and made slight noises of discomfort. She was attempting to bring up a very important topic with her hated master, but found it difficult to do so.

Each time she started to speak, she stopped. How could she broach the subject to the man? What did she say to him? Was she supposed to say something like, “Excuse me, asshole, could you please stick your hateful penis into my butt?”

She thought of such things and occasionally fought down a giggle. Whatever she said, she knew she would not say it exactly in that manner. Tera was in a bad situation at present. John aggravated her to no end, but she needed to be tamed. The lack of human interaction was quite draining on her psyche.

Had he been a more kind and caring man she might have been able to survive without a more intimate touch for several more weeks. However, he was quite cold and logical most of the time. Their lack of closeness, and mutual disinterest in cuddling, were a serious detriment to their tenuous bond.

Tera risked a glance at the man. What she saw confused her. He wore a strangely focused expression on his face. She turned to see what he was looking at, and of course it was Honey. What was it about that insect that fascinated him so much?

When the man actually cracked the barest hint of a smile, her eyes widened in surprise. Was he actually in a good mood?

She could not stand it anymore. His outright bizarre behavior was disconcerting. “Master... why do you always look at Honey like that?”

John shook his head as though he were trying to clear away some sort of mental debris. He turned to look at the fiery girl. “What are you asking about?”

Tera sighed in annoyance then said, “It’s just... You always look at Honey in a way that you never look at any of the rest of us, even Kara.”

“Do I?” John was not the sort of man to casually disregard someone’s questions. A lesser man might have tried to tell her to mind her own business, or deny that he did such a thing. In truth, her question was a known element. He'd been attempting to answer it as well.

“Yes, you almost seem happy when you look at her,” said Tera in an accusatory tone of voice.

The man turned to look at the happy hybrid Demi-Human then let out a soft breath. “In truth, I was not certain until this morning."

"You didn't know why?" asked Tera.

"No. It was a mystery," said John.

She leaned in close to him and looked at him curiously. "So, you figured it out?"

John nodded slowly then narrowed his eyes slightly before saying, "She reminds me of someone.”

Nostalgia? This bastard could feel nostalgia? Tera could scarcely believe it! She simply had to learn more! “Who, master?”

He tilted his head to the side. “Does it matter?”

“Yes,” said Tera without hesitation. If there was a woman in the world who could make him act this way, Tera want to know who she was, and how she did it. The man almost seemed like a normal human being when he looked at Honey.

“I see.” He turned back to Tera and granted her a short nod of recognition.

The girl’s face immediately began to take on a rosy color. He was being oddly indulgent today.

“You wish to know all of my secrets then?” asked John candidly.

“If you would not mind sharing,” Tera was strangely excited now. He was actually talking with her, just like he talked with Kara! Not that she cared about that, or anything. He was John after all. She hated him in every conceivable way.

John acquired a thoughtful expression. “Have you ever had a friend?”

“A friend? I... well, I don’t really know.” Truth be told, she had not. She'd become slightly close to a few of her harem sisters, but most battle harems changed members frequently. She'd never been afforded the luxury of actual friends.

John pointed to a bench. She followed him over to it, and then they sat together. Tera was both thrilled and confused by this simple acceptance. What caused him to treat her as more than a scantily clad tool? She did not want to argue against it, but admittedly it was nice to actually be able to have a conversation.

John watched Honey silently for a while as she hummed merrily and sniffed at flowers. Tera nearly gave up hope that he would speak, but suddenly he began to do so. “I spent the entirety of my childhood training to me a mage. I do not mean that metaphorically. Save for moments of sleeping, eating, and other necessities, I was forced to train.”

“Really?” asked Tera.

He nodded once, curtly. “During that time, I had neither friends nor any legitimate understanding of what friendship was."

She looked at him in doe-eyed fascination as he continued to discuss his earlier life with her. The strangeness of the moment was overruled by the mild joy she felt upon discovering that he'd actually had a childhood. For a while she'd thought that he simply appeared one day, fully grown and logical.

John continued, "I barely knew that there was an outside world. I rarely left the family estate.”

Tera listened to his story, as he continued. She remained fascinated by his upbringing. She learned about how he would be whipped for the least infraction. He was required to do everything exactly right on the first attempt or his punishments would become ever more severe. Everything in his life revolved around his dictated purpose, and the place it would allow him. A thing that did not perform as it should perform held no purpose or place in this world.

John looked up at the bright blue sky. “One day, when I was twelve years old, I was training alone in the back garden. A shadow crossed my path. I had not seen my father in days, or even one of the servants since the day before, and I could not help but wonder what the shadow belonged to.”

“Did you find out?” asked Tera.

He nodded. “Yes, it was a young Demi-Human girl. Probably just a little younger than you, but older than me at the time.”

“Oh?” This was certainly interesting.

John looked at Honey then down at the ground. “The girl was some sort of insect Demi-Human, a Hunni."

"Hunni?" asked Tera.

"A bee girl known for producing honey and controlling bee hives," John said before gesturing toward Honey. "One of the constituent species that comprise her genetic structure."

"Oh, I see," said Tera.

John stopped speaking for a moment, and watched Honey as she wandered around the garden. When he finally spoke again, he said, "She was one of the Demi-Humans who worked in the garden. I would see them sometimes, but none of them ever came near me until that day.”

"What happened?" asked Tera.

John tilted his head to the side. "I was a foolish child prone to bouts of emotion. As it turned out, she'd heard me during one of my useless fits of crying and come to see if I needed help."

"You? You cried?" asked Tera. Was he even capable of human emotion?

"I did all manner of pointless things as a child," said John. "I grew out of it."

Tera stared at him as though he'd grown a second head. Who would have thought that he had possessed both a childhood and a set of working human emotions!

"Then what happened?" asked Tera, excited to learn more.

John closed his eyes lightly then he snorted slightly before opening them once more. His face calm and his manner collected, he said, "I made a friend."