The Turtle Rex was fairly angered by the repeated plasma shots, but they did not penetrate its shell. However, when the shots landed on exposed skin, they tore right through. This let the two of them quickly kill the rex before it could charge over to them.
Next up was Ackbar. He pulled out a small white crystal, and held it in his hands. The gem began glowing brightly, before a white wolf appeared next to him. That must be the animal that he got from Sharon.
Since I knew how huntsmen worked thanks to Celeste, I knew that both the wolf and Ackbar had to have the same level. Fighting against a rex like that would be suicide, and they seemed to agree. Their target was a large insect about one meter long, with fly-like wings on its back supporting a long, caterpillar body.
Ackbar’s wolf had apparently not evolved yet, nor learned any of Sharon’s cultivation methods. It charged in head first, biting and clawing at the otherwise docile creature while Ackbar himself took out a rifle from his inventory. The only attack that the insect seemed capable of making was spitting a green glob of goo at the wolf, which appeared to cause it some pain. It was probably either poison or acid, both of which we’d be able to treat once they came back up to the ship.
Soon, the caterfly was dead, but the wolf was almost covered in the green goo that it had been spitting at him. Ackbar requested an emergency evac for himself and his companion, and I had Yang meet them at the medbay, telling her over the comms that she would be needed to heal. She didn’t seem that pleased with the idea, but still accepted it and rushed towards the medbay.
Ackbar and his wolf arrived, and quickly went to meet them, while Sharon led the other two around on what could only be described as another one of her ‘recruitment drives’. She summoned a pair of boulder lizards, and had them pin down one of the turtle rexes. Rexi? Rexors? I’ll just keep calling them rexes for now.
Anyways, the two giant lizards pinned down a turtle rex and she walked over to it. The creature seemed furious at this turn of events, trying to snap its giant jaws to bite at either of the creatures restraining it, or Sharon herself. However, the shape of its shell prevented it from turning its neck far enough to bite the lizards. As for Sharon, she stayed just out of reach.
She simply stood there, letting it bite at her, waiting for it to calm down. After about ten minutes of trying, and failing to get her, the rex gradually brought its neck back towards the shell, its limbs doing the same. It seemed that if the creature couldn’t get her, it wanted to make sure she couldn’t hurt it either. However, she simply began talking to it.
Since she wasn’t speaking into her comm, I wasn’t sure what she was saying to the dinosaur. However, she continued talking, occasionally nodding or shaking her head while Saren and Lorenz watched with confused expressions. Eventually, the turtle rex gradually poked its head back out, while Sharon walked forward. I saw her petting its large head, as if saying it was a good boy, before it vanished in a stream of blue lights that rushed into her body.
Her recruitment program continued like that until she had recruited two pairs of turtle rexes, two pairs of giant condors, and two pairs of mammoths. Although, they had to teleport to a different part of the planet to get the mammoths, since they were not native to the region they initially went to. After getting the three animal types, she found an area to place two dozen rabbits, another for a dozen wolves, some snakes, and finally a pair of large crows.
With that taken care of, they teleport to another region, but with Yin joining them this time. Surprisingly, Yin was in her bird form from the moment she arrived, and her body began to glow as she shot up into the skies. The area they appeared at this time was the one most densely packed with monsters in the entire planet, so there was no doubt that she was going to go for a super-sized storm.
A separate screen appeared that watched Yin as she flew into the clouds. Her body began hovering, wind and water rotating around her as sparks flew off her body. Her eyes closed as she began channeling her magic, drawing it in with her cultivation techniques and sending it back out with her racial powers. There was no immediate effect, but after five minutes the clouds around her began to darken. After ten minutes the storm began as a heavy rain with intermittent thunder. After twenty minutes, Sharon and the others were called back because the wind was beginning to grow too heavy for them to stay there. At the half hour mark, the effects became visible to us from the ship, without even using the scanner to watch.
Dark, swirling clouds slowly gathered at Yin’s location, gradually spreading out as she fed the storm, and the storm in turn fed her. After roughly an hour, the storm seemed to be at its peak. Small tornados had appeared beneath the clouds, lightning striking along the surface randomly. Looking at Yin in the small ring of calm weather at the center, she seemed to be struggling to maintain the storm at its current size. Even still, her offensive power in terms of area attacks had already completely dominated the rest of our group.
“Yin, that’s enough.” I sent a message to her through the comms, which Celeste assured me would still work given her position. I could tell how difficult it was for her to maintain this storm, because every now and then her head would whip from side to side with a pained expression, while her wings trembled.
She stubbornly held it for another five minutes before the lightning around her body faded. The storm gradually shrank down, but looked like it would take a long time before it completely faded away. If she had cast it over the ocean, perhaps it would have become a true hurricane, and no longer need her to fuel it.
After she let go of the spell, Celeste immediately teleported her back up to the ship. Out of concern, I rushed to the teleport bay to check on her. There were too many things that could go wrong from overusing your abilities, as I had personally experienced. Thankfully, when I arrived she was just out of breath, already back in her human form.
“I’m fine.. John…” She panted out, soaked from head to toe. I did not purposely pay attention to it, I swear, but her dress clinged to her body a lot more when it was wet, nearly having the same effect as a white shirt. Must not look, must not look… Okay, so I looked. Happy?
Yes.
Oh, nobody asked you, Malthan! Go back to your ogling!
Well, if you insist. The goddesses of beauty and breasts are looking for someone to judge. If you ask real nice, I might even give you a peek.
Stop! No, don’t! I am doing my best to avoid looking at the girls I already have around me. And I’m not doing very well with that either!
I did ask if you wanted advice, you know? But noo, you rejected it.
Who would want advice from the god of madness?! You’d just end up telling me to sleep with them both!
...What's your point?
...You were, weren’t you? Dammit, knew I shouldn’t have expected anything else from a god of madness..
I've got a bet running with the god of harems to see how long you last. He says you don't have what it takes to run a harem. Come on, don't you want to prove him wrong?
No, no I do not. I will take the advice of the wise elder and not attempt to take the harem route. At this point, I’m not even surprised that there is a god of harems.
Well... fine. At least you aren't one of those guys naturally surrounded by a harem but completely oblivious to it. Though your own rejection is annoying in its own way.
I’m not sure if that is a compliment or not. However, while I was chatting with Malthan, I forgot that my line of sight still led directly to Yin. Naturally, she did not know that the view was being covered with the blue screens of the god talking to me. I could see her cheeks redden as she spoke out softly. “John..?”
“Huh?” I blinked and looked at her, realizing that it must have seemed like I was staring.
“If you wanted to look…” I shall ignore the rest of that, as I quickly moved back towards the bridge. Everything was fine now, nothing to see here.
Hahaha! Man, I was wondering how long that'd take. Totally worth it. Now, where were we, ladies?
>
Chapter 29 - The Birds and the Beasts
We stayed in orbit around this planet for roughly six hours until the storm finally dissipated fully. I was quite shocked by the damage that occurred during that period, as I was watching the life signs blink out one by one under the storm. Sure, several creatures managed to find shelter or hide underground to avoid the destruction, but many didn’t have that option.
There were even a few monsters that appeared within the storm, snakes made of lightning that twisted about inside the clouds. Or birds made of rain that flew through the skies. A magic storm was nothing to laugh at, truly. Leaving aside the initial damage, the monsters formed from the excess mana would be enough to cause troubles for an area.
By the time the storm had ended, and the monsters created left for other areas, over half of the life forms that had been below were wiped out. “Scan the area for the corpse of a large monster, let’s see if there is something suitable for Yang to use in her quest.” As I spoke, Yin walked into the room, her dress now completely dry. She gave me a gentle smile, and then looked in surprise in front of her. Likely the rewards for her quest.
“John… help?” She furrowed her brows and looked to me, likely wanting me to help her decide on what she would get for her rewards.
“What level of reward were you given?”
“Medium favor…”
I was pleasantly surprised by that, and nodded my head. She might have qualified for a large favor if she had started the storm over the ocean, but her patron might have taken that into account. “Hmm… How about an item that will boost your magic?” I didn’t know all of her skills, but if there was anything in particular that she wanted she wouldn’t have asked for my advice.
Yin smiled slightly, and nodded her head. I was interested in seeing how this would look, since the only other time I had seen a god grant an item was when Aria trolled me with that gold coin. Soon, a thunderous roar filled the room, after which a lightning bolt descended from the metal ceiling and struck Yin’s hand. She jumped back in shock, but did not seem to be in any pain.
After the lightning vanished, a glowing golden ring with swirling ornate patterns appeared on her finger. Even without actively using my Mana Sense or Aura Sight, I could feel a strong magic being emitted from that ring. Unlike the one given to Talia, this seemed to be a proper enchanted item.
Yin looked down to the ring, and nodded her head. “Ring… good.” Her smile widened a bit as she looked at it. I wasn’t sure what the effects of the ring were, but since a medium favor meant an item of superior level, it was most likely better than anything I could create, even if I had the best materials.
“We’ll let you test it out on the next planet.” I said, and then turned towards the front. “Results of the scan?”
“None of the monsters appear suitable for your request, captain. However, one of the local animals was caught in the storm and died, and should fit what you wanted.” One of the crewmen spoke up, pressing a few buttons and showing a creature appear on the screen. This creature was an adult turtle rex, and appeared to have taken a lightning bolt right between the eyes before it had the chance to hide in its shell.
“Alright, it’ll have to do. Celeste?”
“Understood.” She smiled, and went off to the teleport bay. Naturally she knew my plan, to send the creature to the cargo hold for Yang to work on it.
Pressing the button for the comms again, I spoke up. “What’s the progress at the medbay?”
It was Ackbar that answered me this time. “Yang is proceeding with the treatment, but it is going slowly. Right now, it seems that she can only prolong it.” I could tell that he was upset from his tone. This was like losing a new partner your first night on the job.
“I’ll be right down.” My healing spells are more powerful than the ones Celeste taught Yang, so I should be able to do better. Standing up, I quickly moved out of the bridge and headed down to the medbay. When I got there, I found the white wolf lying on the operating table, half of its skin melted and revealing the muscle and bone beneath.
I couldn’t help but frown at this sight. The insect’s acid had been considerably more powerful than I originally thought. Still, I should be able to help with this much. Yang was currently crouched down over its body, frantically pouring her magic in to try to save it. “That’s enough, Yang. I’ll take over from here.” I patted the bird girl on her back, and she looked up to me with watery eyes.
“Please, Master… can you save him?” She pleaded with me, and I could tell that she would be acting the same no matter what was on this table, as long as it was something that she was asked to heal and couldn’t. A life entrusted to her, she was not willing to let it go so easily.
“I’ll do my best.” I smiled to her, nodding my head. She gave a faint smile in return, finally backing up. Without Yang’s constant healing, the wolf was immediately racked with severe pain, crying out.
Looking at the wolf, I put my hand above one of its wounds, and used the strongest healing formula I knew with my Nature Magic. I watched as the muscles began slowly knitting themselves back together, skin stretching out to cover the wounds. Since the wolf was so low level, only two castings of this would be enough to finish this treatment. If it weren’t for the nature of its injuries being acid, then even Yang’s treatment would have been enough to fully heal it.
After the second casting, and the injuries had all closed up, there were several burn scars, which I helped heal over using a burn heal formula. Although there was nothing I could do to help it regrow the lost fur, it was much better now than it had been before. “That should do for now. If anything else happens, let me know.”
Ackbar smiled, petting the wolf with one hand, while the wolf itself slowly sat up, carefully as if to avoid the possibility of lingering pain. “Thank you, Captain.” Closing his eyes, he poured a bit of magic into the wolf, causing it to revert to the same white crystal he had summoned it from.
Looking back at Yang, she was also smiling brightly, relieved that the wolf was no longer in danger. “There’s a creature waiting for you in the cargo bay.” I told her, and she looked up at me in confusion. “For you to work on for your quest.”
“Oh…” She nodded, slowly rising to her feet and walking out the door.
From there, I went back to the bridge, and returned to the captain’s chair of unparalleled comfort. I swear the only reason they made this chair so well is so that the captain would not avoid his duties. It’s like they had some plot in mind!
By the time I returned to the bridge, Yin had already left, so I wasn’t able to ask about the effects of her ring. I could always just call her on the comms, but that seemed like a bit much just for idle curiosity. I’m sure if she needed me, she would find me easily enough. And man… sometimes I both love and hate being right.
That night, our last night in this system before the generator upgrade was complete, I retired to my room like normal. However, this time there was no Yo already napping on my bed like she had been doing since the Seraglio, but Yin and Sharon sitting there in thin white negligee. I had a bad feeling about this, but I could not help but admire how they looked through that material.
Sharon, being the obviously more talkative one of the pair, started. “So… we’ve been talking.” She paused for a moment as she said that. “Okay, I’ve been talking mostly, and Yin has been giving me short answers, but still. We decided that five weeks of trying to get you to look at us was enough.” Well, I’m in trouble now.
“John… choose?” Yin looked up at me with a hopeful expression, though I could see a bit of regret mixed in as well.
“I…” I looked at the two of them, and thought it through. It really had been five weeks since they began their little ‘contest’. Though I had been busy with captain things and training during that time, but still. “I can’t… I mean, you both are really sweet, and I like you both. But if I pick one of you over the other, won’t the one not chosen get hurt? This is a small
ship, relatively speaking, and I don’t want any bad feelings between us…”
Sharon let out a ‘tch’ sound, clicking her tongue while Yin wore a big smile. “I won…”
“Yeah, yeah. It was pretty obvious he’d say something like that. Fine, fine, you tell him.” Sharon sulked on the side of the bed, crossing her arms under her bust, which was much more effective in the transparent outfit.
Yin nodded her head slightly, putting her hands in her lap. “John…” She closed her eyes and focused, likely recalling a script she had prepared before hand. “We… decided that we did not want to fight over you anymore. Sharon and I are… friends. We know that whoever ‘lost’ would be hurt… and we did not want that either. We… both feel very strongly for you, and so… we have decided to share.”
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