I walked forward a little while my wounds still hurt, although I had consumed a drink and had prepared an herb that had healing effects.
Despite that, I still had wounds on my body that didn't let me move quickly. The pain was a constant reminder of the recent battles, a dull pulse that spread from the deep cuts on my arms to the bruises on my ribs.
Every step was a negotiation with my own body, an effort to maintain the balance between moving forward and collapsing.
Leaf was still on my shoulder, using the excuse that she was still exhausted, so I let her keep resting a while longer.
Her small body curled up against my neck, her soft and ragged breathing revealing the exhaustion we shared.
But, at one moment, a person seemed to be on the path. She was a few meters from us, but the fog didn't let me see well, so I could only hear the voice of that woman who was a few meters away.
The air smelled of stale dampness, of distant rot, and the ground under my boots crunched with withered leaves
I kept walking a little more until I heard that she was crying or... she was whispering something. Her words came fragmented, like distorted echoes in the fog.
—Haa... haaa... quick, quick, I must go to the dance... But the fog... the fog stops me... ahh... ¡GUUAaaaaauuuuuuAAAUuauauuau!
She screamed and ran toward where we were. But she had turned into a monster. Her head was in her hands, which held it from the chest, stretched forward.
Her other half of the body had become half animal: her feet were those of a wolf, just like her tail. Her breasts were still the same, just like her hands, but the rest wasn't.
It seemed she had transformed into a werewolf because of the fog. The creature was a grotesque abomination, a hybrid of woman and beast, with skin mottled with grayish fur and bloodshot eyes that glowed with irrational fury. Her claws tore the air, and a stench of putrid flesh emanated from her deformed form.
I dodged the attack she was about to give me with one of her kicks. I unsheathed my sword and cut her in half. For some reason, I seemed to have become much more agile with the sword; maybe from fighting so many monsters and from what had happened with the piper, which had given me much more experience.
The edge of my weapon cut the air with a sharp whistle, impacting her torso with a precision that surprised even me. The hot blood splashed the ground, mixing with the fog, and the severed body writhed in agony before dissolving into a black and steaming puddle. My heart pounded hard, not only from the danger, but from that new fluidity in my movements, as if every previous battle had carved a sharper warrior into me.
We kept walking and I climbed the street stairs. I saw through the streets overturned barrels and women in parts that still moved because of the fog; others that only had half their body.
The scenes were a tapestry of horror: limbs convulsing in pools of blood, decapitated torsos that crawled with broken nails, glassy eyes that kept blinking in the gloom. The fog didn't just hide; it corrupted, transformed life into macabre parodies of existence. The wind brought distant moans, a chorus of souls trapped in an eternal limbo.
We reached where there were two detours. I followed the left path and, in that one, in a few meters, there was a door. Upon opening it, I could see in the distance a bonfire that flickered like a beacon in the darkness. Its orange light cut through the fog, promising a respite in the midst of the chaos.
—Leaf, finally we can return to the sacred forest to rest and to be able to level up for a moment, to come back here.
I walked while Leaf followed me. We reached the bonfire and I lit it. Upon lighting it at once, I used it and teleported to the sacred forest. The portal opened with a burst of green light, enveloping us in a whirlwind of energy that dispelled the stench of rot and deposited us in a world of serene greenery.
Upon arriving, I go immediately to see the rabbit. Upon arriving, he greets me as always, with that calm voice
—Hello, it seems you have arrived from another of your many trips, but this time you have many, many more souls than last time. And apparently, another person arrived too. Wouldn't it be because of your influence? Well, it doesn't matter. If you're looking for her, she is in the tree that is next to the walls. She must be there; she always stays there, reading or sometimes taking short little breaks.
—Thank you very much, but I came to tell you if you can help me level up.
—Ahh, of course. I see you have a total of three million souls. I see you have worked hard defeating monsters, hahaha. Well, how many souls do you want to use to level up?
—I want a total of... about five hundred thousand souls.
—Good.
Upon saying that, I feel how my whole body increases in power. A wave of energy runs through my veins, strengthening muscles, sharpening senses, expanding my essence. It's as if the world became sharper, more manageable.
—Now you are level thirty-five. Good luck on your journey.
—Thank you very much, rabbit.
I headed toward where the person who had just arrived was supposedly, but for me it should be my teacher Dorothy.
While walking toward that tree where the rabbit had told me, I saw that it was true. There she was. I could tell by her hair, which could be seen: that coppery brown hair that anyone could recognize from afar. It shone under the filtered light of the treetops, a river of bronze that fell in soft waves over her shoulders.
Getting close enough, I could see that she was standing, leaning against that tree. She wore, as always, her purple dress that was open at the shoulders, that covered her legs and presented a white piece on her chest to cover it. And she also wore purple stockings that snaked up to her thighs, and also, how could I forget, that purple and drooping witch hat with feathers that cut the base of the cone, and finally she wore a yellow ribbon tied on the left part of her hair.
Everything matched her. She looked really beautiful, although well, I don't know if I should say it like that, since well, in any case, he is a man in a woman's body. That duality was part of her enigma: feminine grace enveloping a masculine spirit, a contradiction that made her even more fascinating in this world of illusions and transformations.
Getting close enough to her, she sees me out of the corner of her eye.
—Hello, how are you, my little student?
She said with a low, hoarse voice.
—I'm a little tired, but I'm fine. We have already reached the Rotten Burg. Tomorrow itself I will go again to explore a little.
—You know, I know you are not strong enough yet, but that's why you have your teacher, and I see you are growing well. That's why I'm going to tell you our plans.
—Plans?
—Yes, after all, your teacher also has to do something, right? Well, as I was saying, my plan is to conquer the whole world. A plan for this enormous sorcerer. So you have to help me, and that's why I will also help you defeat the princesses, so that later I can rule this world.
I was left speechless upon hearing that proposal. It was ambitious, bold, an echo of power that resonated with my own internal battles.
—Mmm, alright. I will help you.
—Thank you very much, my student. Now I need to get souls to regain all my magical power. Kukukuku.
—Don't worry, teacher. If it's for that, I am willing to help you. Just wait, I'll take off my clothes for a moment.
—Well done, student... Wait.
She becomes completely in shock upon seeing how I began to undress in front of her, although I don't mind, since in the house she was the one who took the initiative, so it shouldn't matter to her what I was about to do.
I show her my lower part. She seemed to already know what she had to do, so she asks me to lie down against the tree, starting to give me oral sex.
She began to suck my penis little by little. It seemed like it was her first time; her tongue movements were a little clumsy, but at the same time they were exciting. Little by little, until I came inside her mouth.
And she seemed like she didn't dislike it, but still she didn't like it either.
—Mmm, women's bodies are terrifying... I can't believe I can swallow that slimy thing.
Upon finishing, her body glowed and it seemed she leveled up, maybe because I gave her a hundred thousand of the souls from the many I had collected in all the days I fought with the monsters.
—Mmm, thanks. Now I think I am level forty-nine or higher. Well, I don't know.
She said that while still unable to get the taste of semen out of her mouth.
But now I should also level up Leaf to set off again toward the adventure.