《Reincarnation as ???》


 Chapter 1 - Life as An Ant

    Hiya everyone. My name is Kabuto, Kabuto Amagi to be exact, and I am just your ordinary run-of-the-mill high school student.


    That is, until I got hit by a truck, only to be sent to another world just like those fantasy novels I used to read.


    Problem is, instead of reincarnated as a pure and adorable baby like in those stories, I am reincarnated as an ant instead.


    Yeah, you read that right. An ant. And not even a magical one. It''s just an ordinary run-of-the-mill ant.


    Who would''ve thought a fantasy world would still have these annoying little buggers.


    So now, I am stuck working day and night, carrying food for the queen ant.


    Truly a fate worse than death.


    But then, as the days gone by, I realize that my body has gotten bigger than the other ants. And as days turned into months, I have grown to be five times as big as the rest of the worker ants.


    Thank God the ants barely have any intelligence, so they still don''t notice anything odd about me.


    Still, the fact that this is happening means that I have a way out of this hellhole.


    Yes, I must grow bigger and bigger. Bigger means stronger and stronger means I would not die in this new world.


    So, I wait. I wait and I wait until I get so big I cannot use the usual tunnels the other ants use. I have to dig them out myself.


    At this point, I no longer do my grunt work as a worker ant. Instead, I just rob whatever food the other ants bring with them--while they are away from the nest of course, don''t want to get mobbed by the other ants since I am still not that confident with the level my strength is right now.


    And then, one day, I do the unthinkable. I bite an ant''s head off and chew on the damn thing.


    And it tastes delicious.


    I know I should be horrified, since this is basically ant cannibalism, not to mention eating ants, yuck, but for some reason I don''t really care.


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    All I know is that the worker ants are good enough for my food source.


    So then I begin the hunt. With my body now seven times as big as one of them, killing them and then eating them becomes a walk in the park.  They are never that aggressive to begin with, since the ones trained for battle are the soldier ants.


    The hunting days continue, and I notice how my growth is getting much faster than before. I conclude this is because of my new diet. The ants are much more nutritious than the tiny food they carry.


    And then I realize that I am indeed a magical ant.


    I suppose the universe wasn''t cruel enough to just abandon me in this world without any special ability.


    As I eat more and more, my size grows tremendously. Now, I am twenty times as big as a normal ant.


    Thus, I decide it is time to commit regicide.


    The queen always stays in the nest, birthing new little ants every day. She is guarded by a horde of warrior ants; ants with much more aggressiveness and much more powerful sting.  Even with my level of strength, I still have a fair chance to lose against them.


    However, I intend to mitigate that by doing a surprise attack. I dug out a tunnel right above the room where the queen resides. And then I dug down, dropping right where the whole party is.


    I stab the queen right away, causing mass confusing among the ranks of the soldier ants. Then, I easily slaughter them one by one, as they watch their beloved queen die.


    And after that, a feast.


    It takes me a whole day to eat the whole party, but it is well worth it. Their skin was deliciously crunchy and their meat was appetizingly juicy.


    I let out a long yawn, if ants can even yawn, as I feel really sleepy all of a sudden. Must be all the food coming into my stomach.


    And so I fall into a deep slumber.

 Chapter 2 - Life as A Worm

    When I wake up, I am no longer an ant.


    Instead, I am now a worm.


    Wow, what a major improvement, am I right? Ahahahahaha...


    ...Yeah, this sucks.


    As a worm, my movement slows considerably. I am limited to move by crawling on my belly, unlike an ant who has legs.


    And I no longer possess a natural weapon to defend myself with like the ant''s stinger.


    Oh well, at least my size has increased. Now I''d say it''s about 50 times bigger than a normal ant. Pretty big for a worm.


    I see the remaining ants scattering about around me, confused on the disappearance of their queen and the existence of a worm in her place.


    I suppose I might as well partake in this dessert.


    I slowly move my now sluggish body towards them, opening my mouth in the intention to swallow them whole. However, I fail to do so due to the fact that they are smart enough to tell my murderous intent and the fact that they are much faster than me in movement.


    Being a worm really, really sucks.


    But then, a certain thought suddenly crosses my mind.


    That being a worm makes you able to suck hard.


    Literally.


    A vacuum appears inside my mouth, sucking in the air in front of it, and in turn, the running ants. Its force is sufficient enough to suck nearly all the ants without any problem, leaving only the faraway ants that are too far gone to be sucked in already.


    If its this kind of suck, then I can get behind it.


    Now, my next course of action is clear; to go to other ant nests and devour all the ants there. It should be easy with this fancy new ability of mine.


    But first, I should clear out this place.


    -------------------------------------


    After spending half a day hunting down any remaining  rebellious ants that refuse to enter the glorious empire that is my stomach,, I head out in search for another ant nest to feed off. Carefully, I hide myself from the watchful gaze of the birds above by camouflaging myself among the greeneries, seeing how I''m green myself. When one of them would fly too close to my position, I would quickly dug a hole to the ground and hide myself there.


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    Really, this whole thing feels like I''m playing a stealth game. Never really was a fan of them myself, preferring games where you can just beat the crap out of your enemies, preferably in a badass way.


    One day, I will grow big enough to devour you all. So you just watch out, you birds. Your days are numbered.


    And thus a month passes, with me having committed systematic cleansing on about fifty ant nests. My wriggling body has also grown much bigger. Now it''s around the size of three pens standing side by side. The birds no longer dare to harass me, though I still can''t get to them either with their wing flap strength outmatching my sucking power.


    With this larger body, I can get a better view on the forest where I got reincarnated. It seems to be some sort of tropical forest. I am lucky it doesn''t seem to have a high rain rate since rain droplets is still quite painful for me.


    I am also thankful for the fact that it is tropical, meaning I don''t have to deal with winter. I don''t even know what worms do at winter. Just lay down and die, I suppose?


    With no more ant nest around, I move to the food above the trees. I can eat the leaves but I still prefer eating the various worms and bugs thriving on them.


    After another few weeks, I finally get big enough to eat bird egg.


    Perhaps I can yet harm the birds themselves, but I can harm their precious children.


    And I can''t imagine just how much of a boost to my growth a bird egg will give.


    So I scheme to wait until the birds leave their nest in search of food. And at the moment where no one is looking, I crawl to one of the eggs, open my mouth wide, and swallow the damn thing whole.


    It tastes absolutely delicious.


    With my bulging stomach, I climb downwards, going straight away to my hidey-hole.


    And then, I feel it once more. The irresistible sensation of drowsiness.


    It''s time for me to evolve once more.

 Chapter 3 - Life as A... Psychic Cocoon?

    When I wake up, I am already a cocoon.


    Not just any cocoon either. My body is now as big as a small cat.


    Thanks to this growth, my hidey-hole has collapsed, burying me underneath dirt and sand.


    And add to the fact that I am a goddamn immobile cocoon, with no legs and arms.


    I am stuck here, ain''t I?


    I try to wiggle my body left and right. It works but it does nothing to free me from this earth prison.


    Is that it? Is this how I am going to end? Just because the universe is a giant dick who collapses a cave over me while I''m asleep?


    As I slip further and further into the endless abyss that is named despair, I suddenly have an epiphany.


    I know now what I should do to escape.


    Concentrating, I focus my thoughts around me.


    And then, I let it explode.


    And explode it did.


    As I roll out from the dust, I let out a shout of joy... that is, if I could do that as a cocoon.


    I am now psychic.


    To be exact, I can now perform psychokinesis; exerting force, moving things just by my mind.


    I''ve always wanted to do this back in the real world. Imagine how much more convenient life will be with this ability. Want to get a drink? You can bring the soda can from the refrigerator just by your mind, without moving a single step from your chair. Carrying a heavy bag with you? Just lift it with your thought and free your shoulders from that burden.


    Oh, and of course you can use it to flip girls'' skirt up but you don''t hear it for me. No sir, I am a perfect gentleman.


    Anyway, returning to the present, I decide I should play around with this power some more; see its limitations and all that.


    And what a wonderful coincidence. Those noisy birds are right there perched on those branches.


    First, I try pulling them towards me. Doesn''t work. Too far away, I suppose.


    Then, I send some rocks flying towards them. The rocks'' speed is too slow to catch them off guard. They all manage to flap away before they hit their soft bodies.


    Damn those birds! Even with psychic power, I still can''t reach my fang into them!


    I roll towards the other branch where they have landed. I notice how my rolling speed is far higher than my belly-crawling speed when I was still a worm.


    And then, I have another epiphany.


    Concentrating all my thoughts towards my body, I slowly levitate myself away from the ground.


    And then, I fling myself at the birds. This time, the distance is zero since I am levitating my own body, thus preserving its maximum power from dissipating due to distance.


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    The birds don''t see me coming. When they leap away, it''s already too late. I am already close enough to wrap one of them in my telekinesis.


    It lets a squeak as it falls down with me. Then, before it can do anything else, I tackle it with my hard, spiked body.


    And that is how I get my first bird meal.


    However, the cocoon only has a small hole for my mouth. I can no longer swallow things whole like when I was a worm. I have to tear apart the bird''s meat piece and piece as a result.


    What a bother.


    ------------------------------------------


    And thus my bird hunting days begin. One by one, they all fall to my trick. It is such a joy to get revenge on them after all they had done to me when I was still a worm.


    In a month, not a single chirp is heard in the vicinity.


    By the way, during my hunt, I finally meet what you would call a "monster".


    It was some type of plant, but it could walk around and was carnivorous. It devoured a deer when I discovered it.


    I am not sure I can take it on the way I am now, which is all the more reason I should grow even further.


    And to do that, I need to hunt something bigger.


    Perhaps I should follow its lead and hunt some deer myself too.


    And just when I think of that, a deer flashes by.


    Another glorious coincidence.


    Quickly, I levitate after it., moving around my spikes so that it mainly juts on the front.


    Yeah, I discovered I can do that just a few days ago.


    Eventually, the deer rests in a nearby lake, as it lowers its graceful head to have a nice cool water to drink.


    I strike without mercy; my spikes hitting it right in the jugular. They pierce, making me somewhat stuck on the deer''s neck. Not for long though as it goes into a frenzy right away. I fall down to the ground right before it kicks me--with great strength, mind you-- right into the lake. Luckily, my cocoon is hard enough to handle that blow though it still hurts like a bitch.


    Quickly, I levitate myself out of the water. The deer is still there, tossing and turning like no other. I don''t bother to attack again. I already know it''s doomed to die. It has lost too much blood already.


    And so, I eat my first deer. Once again, slicing it to pieces takes a lot of work, even with telekinesis.


    But it was all worth it for after that, I can feel that it''s time for me to evolve once more.

 Chapter 4 - Life as A Pretty Pretty Butterfly

    When I regain my consciousness, my cocoon body is gone.


    Instead, it has been replaced by the next step of its metamorphosis.


    A butterfly.


    Or, to be exact, a chimera butterfly.


    My form now has various parts from other insects; the mouth of a moth, the stinger of a bee, and the antennae of a butterfly.


    And now my size is as big as a normal human would be.


    I believe I just transformed into a monster.


    I concentrated my mind . The pebbles in front of me float effortlessly on the air.


    Yep, still got my telekinesis. Wonderful.


    I also find out that I have gained some other new abilities. There''s the obvious bee stinger, and there''s the not-so-obvious dust from wing. The frogs near the lake fall asleep the instant they got covered by it.


    Oh, and I can also fly easier now. Back when I was a cocoon, I had to employ my telekinesis to do so but now I can just fly with my wings, meaning I can use telekinesis while flying far easier now.


    Satisfied with my newfound strength, I decide to try it out against a worthy foe.


    The plant monster.


    ---------------------------------------------


    I find the thing soon after. It is currently feasting on a deer it just caught.


    I open by giving it a nice dose of my wing dust. At first, it doesn''t seem to be affected, but eventually, its movement slows before stopping completely.


    I suppose the dust will take longer to be effective if the enemy is stronger.


    Using this chance, I aim my stinger at the poor sod and fire off the sting. It pierces right through its leaf head.


    Pretty good. But no side effect? Maybe poison won''t work against plant-type creatures.


    Satisfied, I use my telekinesis to rip apart its body.


    That was easier than I thought.


    -------------------------------------------------


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    After eating the monster, I realize now it''s the perfect moment for me to explore more of my surroundings. I should assess my options first before deciding on what I should do from now. Surely I can''t just live the rest of my life eating creatures in this forest.


    Just when I am about to leave the scene, I hear a rustle coming from the bushes behind me. Quickly, I turn my body around, alert for any possibility for an enemy appearing.


    However, the only one who appears is a little girl.


    Yes, a little girl. Out here in the middle of nowhere.


    I blink multiple times to make sure I''m not seeing things.


    Her appearance is, for a lack of a better word, wretched. Her dress and cloak are in tatters, her face and hair are covered in dirt, and one of her ankles is bleeding.


    Her expression instantly turns into terror when she sees me. At first, I am confused by that but I realize I now look like a big bad insect monster.


    And then, she runs away.


    That is, if limping pitifully can be called running away.


    "Wait!" I shout, before I notice that my mouth is not equipped with the capability to speak words, turning my plea into a horrendous shriek.


    Great, now I really look like a monster.


    Quickly, I chase after her. I am not letting her go in that terrible state. She will just end up dead sooner or later.


    And she is the first human I find in this new world. If I can somehow manage to communicate with her, I can gain some precious information about the state of this land.


    Thus, I scatter my wing dust, putting her into a deep sleep.


    Gently, I lift her up by biting her cloak. First, I should carry her to a cave I found earlier. There, she will be well hidden from the wild animals and monsters around here.


    And after that... well... I''ll think of something.

 Chapter 5 - Life With The Little Girl

    "Uuuu..."


    The girl wakes up at last. Quickly, I leave the scene to peek at her from the cave entrance.


    She blinks once and twice, until she notices the pebbles arrayed in front of her.


    They are shaped like a present box, with fruits laying on the inside. And then, near them, another group of pebbles are arranged like the shape of a moth-butterfly.


    Of course, it was me who did that. If I can''t communicate with words, then I will communicate with images instead.


    Now, to see her reaction.


    "A present? From... the monster?"


    At this moment, I present myself. Slowly, of course. Don''t want to scare her after all.


    She gasps when she sees my appearance; fear etched on her face. I counter this by making the most cute and pathetic face I can possibly do as a chimera butterfly.


    "You... you are not a bad monster?"


    I let out a tiny shriek in response.


    "I see. I am sorry for thinking you are bad, Mr. Moth."


    I come closer to her, letting her touch my insect body.


    It feels nice.


    -------------------------------------


    After that, we have dinner with the fruits I have gathered. She eats the fruits with a happy smile on her face. I try not to eat too many fruits so that she will get a bigger share.


    "Mr. Moth." She speaks while she''s peeling her banana. "Would you happen to know the way back to the village?"


    The village? So there is a village around here.


    "You see, I was supposed to gather herbs in the forest for mama. But I got lost, and now I don''t know how to go back. And the herbs are all gone too..."


    Her scarlet eyes are starting to get watery.


    Before any tears can fall off, she wipes them with the sleeve of her red cloak.


    "N-nevermind. Of course a monster like Mr. Moth wouldn''t know about the village."


    It is decided. I''m going to look for the village tomorrow.


    -----------------------------------------------


    Welp. Turns out the village is pretty damn far from where the cave is.


    I am quite amazed that the girl has managed to stay alive while walking all the way from the village to the cave. That''s at least 10 km or so.


    Though this does explain why I haven''t seen any other humans during those long days before I evolve to this butterfly form.


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    Anyway, I find the village, and with it, the edge of the forest.


    It''s your typical village you see in your RPG games; wooden housing, a sparse population, etc.


    I can''t get any closer without scaring the villagers so I can only peek at them from the forest trees.


    If only I had evolved to a more domestic animal like a cat or a dog...


    Oh well, at least now I know where to return the girl to.


    --------------------------------------------


    "Really, Mr. Moth? You know the way to my village?"


    Her eyes glitter with joy looking at my pebble drawing. It shows an arrow pointing to a house.


    I shriek happily.


    "Yay, you''re the best, Mr. Moth!"


    I smile inwardly as she gives me a big hug. Gone are her apprehension for my ugly form.


    --------------------------------


    We depart right in the morning next day. Seeing how my form doesn''t exactly allow her to climb on my back while I am flying, I will have to carry her using my telekinesis.


    "Waaah, we''re so high in the air!" she shouts as we lift off from the ground. I am proud how she isn''t afraid of the heights at all.


    I make sure no predatorial or other dangerous creatures would get anywhere close to her location. From mischievous monkeys to monster plants, all either fall to my sleeping dust or to my telekinesis. Yes, I now can perform telekinesis on two objects at once. The trick is to split your concentration to both objects. At first, it''s hard and not exactly stable, but now I trust myself enough to carry the little girl safely.


    When we get close to her village, we land down near the forest. She understands at I cannot show myself to the villagers.


    "Thank you so much, Mr. Moth! I will never forget your kindness!"


    She gives me a parting kiss--not in the mouth of course, but on my body--before running towards the village.


    One good deed finished, I return to the depths of the forest.


    I have to evolve once more. I cannot go among the humans looking like this.


    I just hope I will obtain a better looking form next time.

 Chapter 6 - Life as A Little Chicken

    A month has passed since my meeting with the little girl. Since then, I''ve been devouring anything that I come across; deer, monkeys, plant monsters, birds, and even the fishes and crocodiles in the rivers and lakes. And yet, I still haven''t obtained that sleepy sensation once more.


    Perhaps it''s harder because I''m bigger and more advanced now? I have no idea.


    Still, I wish I can hurry this up. I''m really anxious to talk with the humans of this world.


    One day, however, something odd happens to my body.


    I start to feel nauseous, like I''m going to puke any second. At first, I take a rest to combat it, attributing the disease''s appearance due to me overeating and overexerting myself. However, after my rest, the feeling will not go away.


    Sick of this, I try to just puke whatever is making me feel like this.


    And what comes out is an egg.


    No, it''s not the bird eggs I''ve been eating. Sure, the size is about the same but it has a strange purple color to it.


    And then, it cracks. One crack, two cracks, three cracks, I can only watch with fascination as it slowly opens itself.


    And what''s inside is something I would never expect.


    A little yellow chick.


    Yep, I just gave birth to a chicken.


    ------------------------------------------------


    After playing with the little bugger for a day, I have discovered an interesting fact about it.


    If you look at the cute little thing, it''s an ordinary chick no matter how you look at it.


    However, I can somehow control its movement. And not just that. If I stretch my mind towards it, I can move my consciousness to it, making me control the chick mainly while my butterfly body is on remote mode.


    It''s truly fascinating.


    And with this, I can infiltrate the human village at last.


    ---------------------------------------


    "Hyaa! Hyaa! Come here, little chicken!"


    "Ahahahahaha, get them, Nick!"


    I run away as fast as I can from the rampaging little monsters. Really, just my luck. I have to stumble upon them right when I enter the village.


    I manage to slip into a locked building from the gap at the bottom of the door. I take a long breath, resting my poor legs after running so hard from those darn kids.


    Huh, it seems I''m now in the village''s warehouse. I see stacks of wheat stored inside. So they have farms around here, it seems.


    After making sure I no longer hear the kids'' voice outside, I come out from the building.


    I gotta find her right away.


    ----------------------------------


    After sneaking into every single house, once or twice driven away from the owner, I now know that she is not in the village right now.


    Perhaps she''s working in the farms? Should be worth a try.


    Logically, the farms should be on the opposite end of the village. I don''t think they would risk building them so near to the forest.


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    Oh, what''s that in the distance? Looks like a carriage is about to go.


    Carriages, huh? I see this world is still pretty technologically backward.


    Quickly, I hitch a ride in the back side.


    "That will be all, young man," said the big man with a beard to the young man driving the carriage. "Now, don''t forget to give my regards to Katherine, now will ya?"


    "Ha, I know! I know! Still not giving up, huh? I don''t think Sis will ever marry you. Big strong man like you ain''t simply her type, y''know."


    "Hah, what do you know about romance, you little brat? You''re a mere fifteen and yet you already talk like an adult!"


    "Haha, sure, sure!"


    The young man laughs as he signals to his horses to start moving. He gives a hearty wave to the old man as he leaves the village.


    I myself am just chilling in the back of the carriage.


    --------------------------------


    The young man whistles cheerfully as he goes past the farms. I stealthily climb left and right on the back of the carriage, looking for any signs of the young girl. So far, I only see adult men and women working. No little girl on sight.


    Now I have a choice. Either to stay here and go look for her or just ride along this carriage to its destination, which I believe should be the place where they sell their goods, perhaps a city of some sorts.


    Hmm, what to do? What to do?


    I can still feel my link to my butterfly body, which I left right at the edge of the forest.


    I am not sure what would happen to me if I were to die in this chick body. Would my consciousness be transferred to my butterfly body or would I just go to the netherworld? Obviously, it''s too risky to test it.


    Also, there''s a range limit to this ability of mine. The further both bodies are separated, the weaker the link becomes. At this range, I don''t think I can do a full consciousness transfer. I can only vaguely order the butterfly body around.


    ...Fine, I suppose I''ll just...


    "GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"


    What, what in the...


    The loud roar comes from above. I look upwards and I see--


    "A-a dragon! I-it''s a dragon!" the young man shouts.


    He is right. It is indeed a dragon.


    A massive one in fact thought what dragon is small anyways?


    It is heading straight towards the village.


    "It''s Lady Mira''s dragon! Lady Mira''s coming to our village!"


    Without spending any second uselessly, the young man jumps off the carriage and runs back towards the village.


    ...Damn, he just leaves me behind. Now I have to run all the way back too.


    But I have no choice in the matter. I am not going to miss what seems to be a major event like this.


    Sorry, little girl, but we have to meet a little bit later.

 Chapter 7 - Mira

    When I arrive back at the village, there is already a crowd of people standing in the middle of it. All of their eyes are locked towards the red dragon that has landed in front of them. And on said dragon is a single figure perched; the villagers looking at her in awe.


    Quickly, I sneak under the villagers'' legs; to get a better view on the dragon and its rider.


    The girl, or the young woman seeing how she seems to be around the twenties in age, doesn''t really have any fancy armor like I have imagined a dragon rider would wear. Instead, she wears an ordinary-looking pair of yellowish grey shirt and long skirt.


    The most striking feature of hers is her green hair and eyes, contrasting with the villagers who all have normal-colored hair and eyes.


    "Here! Here is the girl, Lady Mira!"


    The villagers quickly make path for the source of the voice, revealing a pair of old man and woman and a little girl with them.


    And the little girl is someone I know well.


    The dragon rider jumped down, before slowly approaching the old couple and the little girl. Then, she crouches down and stares at the little girl right at her terror-filled eyes.


    "It''s alright. You''re going to be fine," she whispers at her.


    Then, she pats her head before taking her right hand. The girl follows her with great reluctance.


    I don''t understand. What is going on here exactly? Where is she going to take her?


    Damn, I want to rescue her but I''m not sure if I want to risk it. That bitch has a motherfucking dragon with her.


    "Mom, where is she taking her?" one of nearby little kids asks his mother.


    "Shh, to the capital, of course. She''s going to have her trial there," she answers.


    Wait, trial? What trial? What is she guilty of?


    This whole thing is fishy as fuck.


    Even so, in the end, I can only watch as the two leaves with the dragon. I still am not strong enough to challenge her as I am.


    "Haha, serves her right!" The old man who had brought her speaks. "Now, she will be exposed as the demon she really is!"


    "That''s right, my dear!" The old woman answers him. "I always knew that little brat was a problem the first time I saw her!"


    She? A demon? A little girl as innocent and adorable as she is?


    You must be out of your mind, old man.


    "It''s a good thing I reported her to the capital! Demons like her should be hanged right away! Damn demons trying to pass themselves off as humans!" the old man continues.


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    You... you are the one who made this happen? You just doomed an adorable little girl for execution?


    ...I would''ve punched you if I weren''t a chicken.


    And if you were to go inside the forest one day, well, suffice to say my butterfly body will have lots of fun with you.


    But for now, I have to retreat.


    ------------------------------------------------


    And so I continue my feeding frenzy. I eat anything that I come across.


    But, it has no effect whatsoever. Both my butterfly body and my chicken body are not growing at all.


    I was afraid of this. It seems I need to expand my source of food.


    I need to eat a human.


    I know what you think. "Eating a human is such a horrifying thing!"


    I used to think so too, back in my old world.


    But now, after being a devouring monster for so long, the idea seems to be not that bad.


    I mean, it''s the cycle of life, right? The strong devours the weak and all that.


    And I have to do this. I must go save her as soon as possible.


    And so I use my chicken body to go look for that damn old man. If I am going to eat a man, I''m going to eat the assholes first.


    After wandering around in the village, I find that his house is conveniently located near the forest. This means I can easily grab him and get out without the rest of the villagers getting on into me.


    I wait until nighttime where everybody''s asleep. And then, I use my butterfly body to fly towards their house and use telekinesis to lift off their wooden roof.


    The couple can only watch in horror as I do so. And with that expression, they scream and scream for help.


    But it is of no use, for I shoot them with my stingers right away, killing them instantly.


    And then, I carry their bodies to the forest far away from the village, to be eaten as my dinner.


    And what a wonderful dinner it is. I did not expect human flesh to be this delicious.


    After that, I feel it. I feel that sensation once more. The sensation of evolution.


    This time, however, I can transfer my consciousness to the chicken as the butterfly falls into slumber.


    Thus, I progress towards the next stage of my evolution.


    I just hope the change would not take so long.

 Chapter 8 - Fairies

    I did it!


    Finally, I did it!


    I now have a human body!


    ...


    Well, not exactly since I still have two giant butterfly wings stuck on my back.


    But it doesn''t matter because I can retract them, thus making me look like a normal human!


    The first thing I do is to run to the nearest lake to see my reflection on the water.


    Hmm, not really bad looking, if I say so myself. Too scrawny though. Perhaps that''s because I''m a butterfly? Though, there are girls who like that kind of feminine-looking boys.


    Then, I realize that I am utterly naked. I can see my junk hanging from my crotch.


    Guess I''ll have to fix that if I want to fit in among the other humans.


    ------------------------------------------


    Well, it''s a bit loose (and a little bit smelly too), but this fits fine enough.


    I''m glad I had the foresight to bring the old couple''s drawers with me too. They don''t really have much clothes though, must be quite poor.


    Now, how shall I get to the capital?


    I assume the villagers would have people going there frequently, like with that young man. But I don''t think I can just hitch on one of them. They won''t recognize my face and will ask questions. And there''s the fact that I''m wearing the old man''s clothes, which may raise suspicion.


    Should I just walk then? The capital seems quite far and--


    Oh wait, I am such a dumbass. I have WINGS, goddamnit!


    Then it''s decided. I shall leave this evening. Best be not seen with my wings if a traveler on the road happens to look up. Hopefully, the night''s darkness will aid me in concealing myself.


    --------------------------------------------


    Well, my flight so far has been quite uneventful. Not a single living thing on sight.


    Oh, except my chicken body that I bring with me, of course. Don''t want to leave the poor little guy behind. And it''s not like he couldn''t be useful for gathering information and spying, due to its small body.


    The night is pretty warm. I suppose this part of the land is tropical.


    The skies are clear. You can see the moon and the stars shining brightly. How beautiful they are.


    The road I''m following so far hasn''t branched, which is a good thing considering I wouldn''t know which road to choose if they do branch; at least without the help of a sign telling which way is to the capital.


    Then, I notice something in the distance. Lights, peeking out from under the blanket of darkness in the distance.


    A town is close.


    -------------------------


    When I arrive there, the town is mostly asleep, except for a couple of bars and inns here and there.


    I certainly don''t think this is the capital. Sure, it''s bigger than the village but it''s still not big enough to be one.


    I enter one of the awake establishment to ask for confirmation.


    "Ahahahahaha, of course not! Our dear ol'' town is certainly no match for the good ol'' capital! The capital is bigger than this place, and it has this huge giant there right on the middle of it! Used to be the palace of the Fairy Queen before Lady Mira  kicked her butt outta there."


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    What''s this about the Fairy Queen?


    I decide to ask more. This is a good chance to gain more lore info on this world.


    "Ah, you really are not from here, are you, Mister?" The bartender pours some drink into my glass. "On the house. Sit tight. This is gonna be a long one."


    I gladly drink the concoction he has so kindly given to me for free. I don''t have any human money after all.


    "You see, back in the old days, the capital used to be a thick and deep forest. We called it "The Forest of The Lost", for anyone who enters it never comes back outside. It was the fault of the fairies, you see. They lived in that forest and their kid had no sense for human rights whatsoever. They would just play around and kidnap whomever they liked, especially the menfolk whom they loved to tempt away from their lawful wives."


    The bartender paused his speech to pour another drink, this time for himself.


    "One day, they became more uppity than usual. They started going out from the forest to nearby villages, bewitching any human male they liked. Us humans were powerless against them, since they possessed wicked magic that we could never rival. We appealed for help to the king, but those folks at the court were too corrupt to care about us small folks. And we were too poor to purchase the help of a decent mercenary group."


    The bartender drank from his glass, finishing it off in a single gulp.


    "And then, she appeared. Our great and beautiful Lady Mira. ''Course, back then, she was just a simple traveler. But even then, folks could already tell she was special. She had a certain aura to her that told you that she wasn''t just any simple adventurer. After seeing the injustice committed by the fairies, she entered the forest by herself. And the rest is history."


    "W-wait, so you don''t know how she defeated the Fairy Queen?" I ask. This is the most important part. I need to have clues on what she''s capable off.


    "Not exactly. But I reckon it had something to do with her dragon. I remember hearing from the folks living near the forest that it was the one who burned the darn thing down, making way for the capital right now."


    Fire-breathing dragon? Thanks old man, it''s not like anyone already knows about that.


    "Well," I rise from my seat, "Thanks for the story. At any rate, I have to leave now."


    "Oi, this is in the middle of the night, you know? You''re not staying?"


    "No, no, I prefer travelling in the night. Less distractions that way."


    The bartender sighs. "Just be careful, lad. I know the roads are safe now since Lady Mira took charge but there may still be one or two unscrupulous sorts out there walking around."


    "I know, I know. Oh, and thanks for the drink too."


    And then, I leave the tavern; new knowledge fresh inside my mind.

 Chapter 9 - More Fairies

    Morning comes while I am still on the road.


    And like a bat, I decide to take my rest.


    I sleep nicely under a breezy and cool tree. Well, my human body is. My chicken body has been resting in my pocket all this time so it gets the turn to carry my consciousness now.


    I see a couple of carriages pass by while I am asleep. It seems this road is more populated than the former.


    Then, I get an idea. Why don''t I just hitch a ride on one of those? In a town central to trade like this, it won''t be too odd for a stranger to hitch a ride, no?


    So, I wake myself up, and wait until the next carriage passes by.


    -----------------------------------------


    "Hey, boy, we''re here!"


    Groggily, I open my eyes. Only my human body though. My chick body is already up and ready looking at the scenery before us.


    And what a scenery it is.


    We enter a massive arc made out of what seems to be a huge tree root. I cannot imagine what kind of tree is big enough to have roots as big as those.


    Around us many people gather; other travelers either by their own carriages or by foot. There really are so many of them I understand why this is the capital of this country.


    "Look boy, that''s the Yggdrasil over there."


    Then, I see it. The tree that is big enough to have said roots.


    Its size is impossibly giant, from its thickness to its tall, dwarfing even the tallest skyscrapers I know of in my previous world. It keeps going to the point that I can''t see the top at all. And they''re lucky it doesn''t come with branches, or else the whole city will be covered by their shadows.


    "Beautiful, ain''t it?" the carriage driver says, "Used to belong to the Fairy Queen before Lady Mira kicked her arse into oblivion. If you''re interested, you can enter, though you won''t be able to get to the higher floors."


    I thank him for the info before bailing out from the carriage, running as fast as I can towards the giant tree.


    I have an almost assurance that the little girl is being held there.


    As I run along, I don''t just focus all my thoughts on the tree. I also obverse my nearby surroundings. The entire city is made by wood. Not a single house has any stone in their construction. Some of the houses are in your usual form, while others are in the form of treehouses.


    They really have repurposed the entire fairy forest at their dwellings.


    This Mira, just who is she exactly?


    ---------------------------------------


    No gates bar the way to the giant tree, and not a single soldier is seen standing on guard. Is this lady naive or is she just so confident of her capabilities that she welcomes anyone who dares to sneak around her castle? Or maybe the security is all inside, waiting until the thief is caught off-guard by the lax security on the front?


    At any rate, I enter the tree, right alongside a couple of other people. Some has the look of a tourist in them while others look like they have a job to be accomplished in this place, going straight to the upper floors via the elevators.


    Yes, there are elevators here. But instead of made of steel and powered by electricity, it''s instead made out of wood and powered by magic, or at least that''s what I think powers it. There are dozens of small, circular notches on the wooden walls. You just step into one of them and say where do you want to go and the wooden platform below will move upwards/downwards and take you where you want to go.


    I try riding one of them myself.


    "Take me to... umm, Lady Mira''s throne."


    It doesn''t move.


    "Lady''s Mira''s chamber?"


    still no movement.


    "Lady Mira''s bedroom?"


    Absolutely no movement.


    "Lady Mira''s bathroom?"


    No way it''s going to move.


    Letting out a little chuckle after playing the joke, I decide to change the question.


    "Bring me to the highest floor you can bring me to."


    The platform moves.


    --------------------------------------------------


    I come out a minute later; my stomach feeling a tiny bit queensy due to the sudden upward acceleration.


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    The corridor I come out to has not a single soul in it, making it feel somewhat eerie.


    I can hear my own steps echoing as I walk on the wooden floor.


    Then, I walk into a clearing of some sorts where there''s a balcony where you can go outside.


    And wow, what a wonderful sight it is.


    I am now around 300 meter high from the ground. The houses now look like tiny toys from this distance. And I can see the clouds clearly if I look up.


    Well, time to fly upwards, I suppose.


    I take off after releasing my wings. Carefully, I fly upwards, not wanting to be caught off-guard by any strong winds that may come in this high altitude skies.


    But then, I am blindsided by something else.


    Without any warning, my body freezes. I can not move a single inch. I can only watch as I fall down from the skies right towards the balcony where I had lifted off from.


    The landing hurts. But it doesn''t hurt so much that it unables me from sending my consciousness to the chick I keep in my pocket. With the little body, I run away, leaving my human body behind.


    "My, my, a butterfly man. What is a butterfly man doing here?"


    With my shared consciousness I see the girl that has suddenly appeared near my human body.


    She wears a poofy and, quite frankly, ridiculous looking green dress that ends right at her knees, only to be continued by a little showing of her drawers; those pumpkin pants used to be worn as underwear. She also has a long and wavy green hair and a pair of bright and shining green eyes.


    But the most important part is that she has a pair of bug wings behind her back.


    A fairy.


    "Butterfly man, butterfly man, what are you doing here, butterfly man?" She dances around my paralyzed body like it''s just a broken doll.


    Then, I find that my human body''s mouth can move.


    "I... wish... to meet... Lady Mira..." I say at once. I didn''t exactly lie. I also want to meet her though it''s not my primary goal now.


    "Ohohohooh? Wish to meet Mira? Wish to meet Mira, you say? Ohohohoho!"


    She begins to kick my human body with her barefoot feet as she dances around it.


    "No you''re not! No you''re not! Bad liars are bad! Bad liars are bad!"


    Her kicks aren''t particularly strong or even damaging, but it still hurts my pride to be kicked around like that.


    "If you really wish to meet her, you''d ask for an audience! An audience! Yes, an audience!"


    "T-then... I ask for an audience..."


    "Too late! Too late! An intruder won''t get an audience! Intruders will be brought to Milady to be judged!"


    "Well... isn''t that... convenient?"


    "There''s nothing convenient about it, Mr. Butterfly Man! Mira''s gonna dissect ya, find out how in the world a man can become a butterfly! Yes, yes, there is no "butterfly man" race in this world, so you have to be an anomaly! Outsiders!  Dangerous Outsiders! Yes, yes, Mira will judge all dangerous Outsiders, just like that little girl!"


    I was right! She is here!


    But what does she mean by "Outsiders", exactly?


    "In fact, speaking about that little girl, Mira and her friends should''ve finished the judging right now! That means you can have your turn right away! Well, aren''t you one lucky butterfly man!"


    She grabs my two arms, lifting my whole body as she files upwards. Surprisingly, she''s strong enough to do so without any real difficulty, as she''s still humming cheerily to herself as my human body goes higher and higher. I can only watch from below in my chick body.


    I just hope my mind''s connection is strong enough. I should try to redirect all my concentration to maintaining the human body''s sight, hearing, and capacity of speech. The rest is paralyzed anyways.


    And if anything happens, I must be ready to abandon my connection with my human body. I just hope it works how I think it will work.


    ------------------------------------


    PS: Had lots of fun writing the dialogue for our new fairy. xD

 Chapter 10 - Interrogation

    It has been around 15 minutes since she took my body away. I had thought she would take me straight to the very top but she instead landed on a higher balcony, bringing me in back into the tree.


    From there, she brought me into some sort of a garden. And in that garden, there were a horde of girls frolicking among the flowers. They all wear green dresses, though theirs are a simple and sensible ones as opposed to the fairy''s almost clownish one. But the one thing that strikes me the most is how everyone has a crown of flowers on her head.


    They immediately swarm the fairy with questions when they notice she is carrying my body.


    "My! Who is that you''re carrying around?" one of them asks.


    "Hehehe! It''s a gift for Lady Mira!"


    She drops my body on the floor like it''s a mere rag of flour.


    "Uwaaa, it''s a butterfly man!"


    "Butterfly man!"


    "Butterfly man!"


    They all circle around me, wide-eyed with their curiosity.


    "Wow, what beautiful wings!"


    "What gorgeous hair!"


    "Even if he''s a man, he''s still beautiful!


    ...I am not sure whether I should feel happy hearing that or not.


    "H-hey, h-how''s it going?" I meekly answer.


    "Oh, he''s awake!"


    "That''s no good!"


    "Yeah! Intruders are dangerous! Dangerous people shouldn''t be awake!"


    Without warning, the flowers on their head all instantly grow; their stem elongating to bring the flower heads right above my head. And then, the flowers open, emitting some sort of pollen right onto my face.


    And I suddenly feel really sleepy.


    Fuck, this is just like my own wing dust!


    I try to keep my consciousness but the pollen is just too overwhelming to fight with. I decide to bring back most of my consciousness to my wide awake chick body, leaving only the bare minimum in the human body.


    And then, the vision goes blank.


    --------------------------------------------------


    When I manage to regain the vision of my human body, it''s already around thirty minutes later.


    And, right on front of me, sits the familiar figure of the woman called Mira.


    "Oh, you''re awake. I was afraid the dryads had gone overboard with their sleeping pollen."


    She gives a warm smile. Yet, she doesn''t approach me. Instead, she still sits on what I assume to be her throne.


    I try to move my body but it''s still as paralyzed as ever.


    "First of all, I am sorry that I cannot release your bind for now," she continues, as if she can read my thoughts. "Security measure. I do not know what you are capable of yet so I cannot take any chances."


    She says all that in a calm tone, as if she has done this many times before.


    "Now, let us just get straight to the point. Tell me who you are, what you are, and what are you doing trying to climb this castle without permission?"


    "W-well, I-I''m..."


    I am not sure what to say here.


    Should I tell her the truth? That I came from another world? That I was originally an ant?


    ...No. Why am I even thinking about this? I''m not here to be interrogated! I''m here to save the little girl!


    "I''m here... I''m here to save the little girl!" I shout, eliciting an eyebrow raise from her.


    "Hmm, are you talking about Alicia, by any chance?" she replies.


    Alicia? Now that she mentions it, I don''t even know her name!


    "Y-yeah, that''s her! Little girl with a blond hair about eight years old with red eyes!"


    "Then, you have nothing to worry," she answers with a smile, "She has passed her judgement and she has been declared not-guilty."


    "R-really?"


    "Indeed. But I suggest you focus on your own judgement right now, that is, if you do not wish to be executed right away." She leans forward; her eyes glinting dangerously.


    I gulp.


    "Now then, tell me how you end up with those wings of yours. I am pretty sure there is no such thing as a butterfly man race."


    "It''s... it''s..." I stutter, trying to think up of some bullshit reasoning I can use. "It''s... magic! Yeah, I created it out of magic!"


    "Oh, really?" she responds, seemingly not amused with my answer. "Tina, if you would..."


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    "Dispel."


    I look to the left just to notice that there are someone else in the room besides Mira.


    It is a girl around eighteen years of age, wearing a simple one piece dress accompanied with a blue cloak. On her neck she wears a talisman and on her head she wears a tiara; both made out of gold and peppered with precious gems. She has a long white hair tied into little braids that reaches her waist.


    The first thing I take notice is how she has the look of a royal queen who is detached to her subjects. Even when she casts her dispel spell to me, she does it as if she''s doing it to a mere ant.


    "No change," she speaks, "Definitely biological."


    "W-well, of course!" I interrupt her. "I-it''s dispel proof after all!"


    And then, betraying my expectations, the icy girl laughs. At first, it''s just a small giggle which she tries to suppress by covering her mouth with her right hands but eventually it turns into a full-blown laugh.


    "You. You really do not know whom you are speaking to, do you?" she says, still with tears on her eyes from laughter.


    "N-no?" I answer timidly.


    "I am Tina. Tina Kalavina. Former princess of the now non-existent Graham Empire. The Queen of All Magic. Yes, I possess the potential for magic far beyond any ordinary mages. And I know all magic that humankind has ever known. There is not a single way your pathetic wings will resist my dispel spell if it''s truly created out of magic."


    ...Oh crap. I am now stuck with not just Mira but with her as well. If she''s truly as strong as she says she is, then I will have not even a ghost of a chance going against her. I don''t even know anything, not a single thing about magic in this world.


    "Tina, Mira, let me use my ability to him."


    ...Oh man, another one?


    I turn my head towards the right of Mira, right across where Tina is sitting. There, another girl is perched on her seat. This one, in contrast to Tina''s cool silvery-blue appearance, wears a bright red dress. She has no amulet on her neck, but she has a crown instead of a tiara on her head. Her hair is golden, about the same length as Tina''s but hers is not braided at all. The most striking thing about her however is her blood red-yellowish eyes. It seems to gaze and pierce right through your brain, drilling to reach whatever hidden secrets you wish to keep there.


    "You hear that?" Mira speaks. "If you refuse to tell the truth, then she can simply rip the truth right from your head. Of course, that means she will get to see everything. Every embarrassing things you''ve experienced will be served on a platter to her. So, for your own good, please, just tell us the truth."


    ...Crap, I guess I have no choice...


    W-wait, I do have a choice! I can just...


    "No." I answer. "I am under no obligation to tell anything to you all."


    Mira sighs. The girl in the red dress rises from her seat.


    "Then, I''ll take this over."


    Slowly, she walks towards me, her boots echo with every step like it''s the countdown to my doom.


    Too bad she doesn''t know that I can just transfer my consciousness out from this body, back to my free little chicken body below.


    You can''t mind read something that has no consciousness after all.


    The transfer finishes right when she puts her hand on top of my head. After that, I know no further since I have cut any connection I have with the human body, just in case she can read through my mind that is in the chick through my mind left behind in my human body.


    After that, I run. I run as fast I can out of this goddamn place.


    Luckily, there are stairs I can take. Unluckily, there are many, many stairs to take.


    No matter, I just have to make due with I have!


    After what seems to feel like ages, I finally make it to the first floor. Quickly, I run out of the tree and back into the city.


    Only then, I can finally take my sweet, sweet rest.


    And now, I realize that I am now screwed. Stuck with this chicken body who I don''t even know can grow any further.


    Well, at least the little girl is safe, if her words are to be believed.

 Chapter 11 - Demon Queen

    "Wake up..."


    "Wake up, boya..."


    "U-uuurgghhh, who..."


    I groggily open my eyes.


    All that greets me is fog and mist, stretching endlessly as far as my eyes can see.


    I look below to see that I am now somehow standing on water.


    I look upwards to see that the skies are covered with mist too.


    Where in the world am I? The last thing I remember doing is taking a nap after running away from Ygddrasil.


    "You''re awake now? Then..."


    The mist begins to coagulate, slowly but surely forming into the figure of a person right in front of me.


    And damn, what a hot figure that is.


    She wears barely anything to protect her modesty; her breasts'' valley of pleasure are totally exposed thanks to her tiny bikini-like covering and I can see the shape of her unmentionable easily through the tight-fitting bikini bottom she wears. The leggings she wears only helps on accentuating the erotic effect.


    Man, I just realize that this is the first time I got to see a sight like this in this fantasy world. Even though I had been resurrected in a way that resembles all those fantasy LNs I used to read, I never got to enjoy something like this all this time. All the girls I''ve seen dressed modestly.


    Now this is more like the fantasy LN world I know.


    After feasting my unpure eyes on her two most erotic spots, I look at her face. And to my surprise, she has long ears that accompany her long white hair.


    An elf! And a dark elf at that, judging from her tanned skin!


    I now also notice that I haven''t seen any non-human races during my short stay among the humans. Perhaps the elves are living far away from Mira''s country?


    "Hello, Outsider. My name is Lilith. I am a dark elf, as you can see, and I wish to offer you a proposition. A proposition of alliance, to be exact."


    She puts her right hand on her left temple before putting her right foot backward and doing a graceful bow towards me.


    I say graceful yet her breasts shake heavily while she does it, as if they have a mind of their own.


    No matter how you look at it, they are enormous. Bigger than D-Cup for sure. E-Cup? F-Cup? I just hope her back doesn''t hurt carrying those around.


    Thinking about it, this is also the first time I see a well-endowed woman since I arrived at this world. The village mothers are only around C-cup at best, while the younger ones have even smaller breasts. Easy example would be that dragon rider woman and her friends. She, a young adult around her twenties, only has a pair of B-cups. The girl in the red dress that looks to be around seventeen only has a pair of As. And her color opposite, the ice cold one, has no noticeable breasts whatsoever.


    This world really is different from the LNs I have read, where any non-loli characters would have sizeable breasts.


    As a breast lover, I am really disappointed.


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    ...


    H-hey, what am I thinking? Why am I thinking about breasts now? I should be asking her about this "alliance" of hers! ...Hell, before that, I should ask about who the hell she is and where did she take me to!


    "Judging from your expression, you don''t seem to trust me, do you, boya?"


    She straightens herself from her bow, once again making her breasts bounce wildly.


    "Very well. Then I shall begin by telling you a little history of this world."


    And then, my vision goes white.


    ----------------------------------


    When I can see once again, I am no longer inside the fog like I was before. Instead, I am overlooking a huge dark plain where two forces are standing against each other.


    The one on the right is composed of all of the various monsters you can find in fantasy stories or games; zombies, skeletons, goblins, ogres, up to a massive pitch-black dragon standing behind all of them. On top of said dragon is a dark elf, and she looks exactly the same like the girl who has been talking to me.


    The one on the left, on the other hand, is mostly composed of golems of varying sizes and elementals. Fire, earth, wind, lightning, wood, even light and darkness; it has them all. It also has a dragon of its own, though its size is nothing compared to the black dragon''s.


    ...Wait, I know that dragon! That''s...


    I fly towards the red dragon. Somehow, I just know that I can fly in this vision.


    Yeah, that''s her! That''s Mira riding the dragon!


    And beside the dragon there are also two other majestic creatures. One seems to be some sort of a lion with beak and wings. Its fur is pure white while its eyes are golden. The other one is obvious though. A flaming golden-red bird you would call a phoenix.


    Then, I notice two other familiar figures among this army. The two other girls present at my interrogation.


    The cold blue one is floating on the back of the ranks while the red one is leading the charge right in the frontline of the army.


    "Enjoying the view?"


    I jump as I hear the voice right from behind me. I turn around to see the dark elf with a big grin on her face.


    "As you can see, I had some experience fighting those three. And yes, I lost to them. Big time in fact. Their powers were too big for me and my army to handle."


    She snaps her fingers and with it, the vision vanishes, returning to the previous fog-obscured lake.


    "Sorry, can''t show you the battle now. Gotta keep my trump card hidden after all."


    She smiles. I know she''s not going to show it until I agree to be her ally.


    "So, how about it? Will you be my ally, the Demon Queen, to retake the human world from them, the Three Heroes?"


    She gives her hand, signalling for a handshake.


    I have no idea how to respond.

 Chapter 12 - History Lesson

    "W-wait, don''t be too hasty here!" I take the third option.


    "Hmm, too hasty? What is too hasty about my actions?" she replies.


    "Well, for starters, how in the world do you even know about me? I don''t recall ever meeting you before and I am sure as hell that I''m not famous enough for any random strangers to know about me!"


    She merely giggles in response to my passionate questioning.


    "Why, I have been watching you, of course!"


    "W-wait, what?" I answer. "Since when?"


    "Oh, I dunno, somewhere around when you were busy eating everything you could find in that forest," she answers casually, "I have ears and eyes around the world, you know. That forest is no exception."


    "S-so, all this time--"


    "Yes, I have been watching. But I chose not to introduce myself since I am still not sure whether or not I should risk myself by revealing my existence to you. The Three Heroes still don''t know that I am still alive after all. But then, you try to infiltrate one of their headquarters, setting yourself up against their enemies. At this point I decide to try my luck in recruiting you to join my side."


    "And if I refuse?"


    "Well..." she sighs. "If you do, there are two ways out of this predicament. First is to forget everything and think of all of this as an unrecallable dream. You have to willingly forget though as this dream is quite different from your ordinary one. And the other one is the unpleasant option of my crow familiar jabbing its fangs into your little chicken''s throat if you refuse to forget."


    This bitch! she''s threatening me!


    "Oh, don''t look at me like that! I am not ready to expose myself to them just yet! I have to survive too you know!" she defends herself.


    Yeah, no. This smells like you''re just using me to further your own goals rather than actually helping me.


    "I have another thing to ask." I look at her straight at the eyes. "If I join you, I''m just going to be dragged into your demon-human war, ain''t I? Sorry, but no. I have no interest in that. All I want is to save the little girl and she''s already declared not-guilty by those three. So I have no business with them anymore. Now my goal is back to merely surviving and evolving back until I can make another human body."


    Hearing that, her expression turns that of a roaring laughter.


    "Oh, oh, how naive you are! You think the girl is safe? Perhaps she''s not executed but that only means she''s going to be brainwashed to become their enforcers! There''s no going back to her old life for that kid!"


    "W-wait, brainwashed?" I ask. That came out of the left field.


    "Yes! Did you meet a fairy while you''re there?"


    I nod. Who will forget that one annoying girl? Bitch keeps kicking me while I''m down.


    "She''s Titania! The great and powerful Fairy Queen in the flesh! And look what happens to her now! Robbed from her wisdom, she''s reduced to a giggling puppy for Mira to play with!"


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    N-no way! That immature fairy... the Fairy Queen?


    But that explains something. Was she the one who paralyzed me? If she''s really the Fairy Queen, then she should possess enough powers to do so!


    "Yes, that is how the Three Heroes operate! They will destroy or brainwash anyone standing on their path to utopia, be it demons or humans! Not only demons suffer underneath their tyranny! After they defeated me and my kin, they began cleansing the human world from any of those they deem ''unworthy''. And thus the old order is no more and they stand tall as the rulers of the human world!"


    This... this is too much info for me to take at once!


    ...Okay, if she''s really talking the truth, then I really need to go back in there and save her! No way I''m going to let her be turned into a puppet!


    But what if she''s just saying this just to turn me to her side?


    Damn, I got no damn clue on what''s going on in this world!


    "So, how about it? What is your decision?"


    "...Fine. Let''s say I decide to join you. Then what?"


    "Then, my crow will carry you right away to my hidden lair. There, you will be feed the most nutritious things so you will evolve to a strong being, strong enough to challenge the Three Heroes."


    "Then, wouldn''t that make you at risk?" I answer. "At that point, I reckon I will be strong enough to beat you to a pulp."


    She laughs. "True. But you won''t. I don''t think you''re the kind of person who will kill people just because you can. And you''ll want me to help you fight against the Three Heroes."


    "But my goal isn''t to fight them. It''s just to save her. Once I am strong enough to do so, I won''t need your help. And I will leave you to your own fate."


    "Oh, but you do have to fight them. They will hunt you to the ends of the earth once they know what level of power you possess. You are a threat to their dominion and they will have to end you lest they risk ending themselves."


    "You... you really are confident that they''re that evil, aren''t you?"


    "I am always confident on the truth." She smiles.


    I close my eyes and draw a deep breath.


    "Fine. I agree. I''ll go to your place."


    "Wonderful!" She suddenly leaps at me and hugs me, crushing her ginormous boobs onto my chest. I can even feel her hardened nipples on the front. And what a nice scent she has! I can just smell it forever!


    Then she releases me, but not before planting a kiss on my cheek.


    "Time to wake up now! The crow should be right there when you wake up!"


    And with that, my vision grows black.

 Chapter 13 - Feeding Frenzy

    When I wake up, the crow is already there.


    In fact, it seems like it''s been watching me all this time while I am sleeping.


    I chirp to greet it. It caws back in response.


    And then, it immediately leaps at me, grabbing me by the strong grip of its talons.


    It must be a ridiculous sight, for a crow to carry a chick like this. Thankfully, the night already comes thus no one would ever see us flying inside the darkness.


    I myself do not know where the crow is taking us, and the crow itself seems to be not that interested in sharing. But I can  only trust it lest I will fall down to my death.


    For hours we fly through the warm air of the night, though it may be less or more considering it''s hard to tell how much time has flied away when you''re in this situation. The crow never shows a sign of hesitation. It knows exactly where it wants to go.


    Slowly, I can make out a silhouette of a mountain in front of us. Is that where the demon queen is hiding? On the mountains inside a cave somewhere?


    As the mountain approaches the crow begins to increase its altitude. Perhaps it''s heading to its peak? Is that where the demon queen is?


    My prediction turns wrong once it descends towards a cliff inside the mountains. It keeps descending and descending, until moonlight no longer shines on the cliff walls and we are left with absolute darkness around us.


    And then, I feel it. An odd sensation like I just passed through something.


    Was that... a barrier? Perhaps it hid the demon queen''s presence?!


    After that, we finally reach land. The crow releases me from its grip.


    Darkness is still enveloping us however.


    But then, light comes.


    My eyes reflectively close themselves due to the sudden overexposure. And when I open them back, I can now see clearly where I am standing right now.


    I am inside some sort of valley, with towering cliffs to my left and right and long passages to my front and back. The light comes from the rocky walls itself, from some kind of light-giving moss growing there. It''s obviously magical, since it just turned on by itself like it''s some kind of a light bulb.


    "Hello! Hello! Can you hear me down there?"


    There it is. There''s the familiar voice.


    I want to respond but I can only chirp back.


    "...Oh, that''s right. You''re a chicken still. Of course you won''t be able to answer. Silly me!"


    It seems she finally notices the fault of her logic.


    "So, let''s get working on fixing that, shall we? In that valley, there should be many worms laying around. They are no ordinary worms though. They''re bursting with magic inside. So, if you eat them, I''m sure you can evolve right away! So go on! Eat them all!"


    ...Damn, I somewhat feel like i''m being treated as a pet by her.


    Oh well, it''s not like I don''t want to eat or anything. I just realize how starved I am since I haven''t been eating for a while.


    I see some worms right in front of me. Quickly, they become my meal mere seconds later.


    Hmm, they are definitely delicious. And I can already feel their magical power entering throughout my body.


    More worms show up. They too become a part of me soon enough.


    And then I see still more of them all around me. The Queen really set this place up for my feeding ground, didn''t she?


    Of course, I devour them all too.


    And then, I feel it. That feeling of evolution once more.


    I am surprised it took so little. When I still had my butterfly body, this little guy won''t evolve at all no matter how much I fed it.


    Perhaps now that the butterfly body is gone the path is opened for him? Or perhaps it has something to do with the fact that I''m having an all magic worm diet right now?


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    Who knows? Who cares?


    All I know is I can finally evolve further.


    ------------------------------------------------------------


    "My, what a wonderful-looking rooster you are!"


    As you can guess from the Demon Queen''s remark, I am now a rooster.


    ...This feels less like an evolution and more like simply growing up.


    Still, I won''t complain. This only means that the next stage would finally be an actual evolution.


    More worms I devour. One hundred, two hundred, I don''t know. I have lost count a long time ago.


    And then, I evolve once more.


    --------------------------------------------------------


    "Congratulations! You just become a cockatrice!" the Demon Queen joyfully announces.


    It''s true. I have now transformed to a giant chicken-like creature at the size that rivals a grown man. My feathers are no longer soft white things rather than sharp and golden.


    "Now you should be able to turn your enemies to stone just by your breath! Now why don''t you try it on those worms?"


    I do as she says. They do indeed turn into stone just by a single blow from my breath.


    "Wonderful! Wonderful! Now you''re well-equipped to tackle the next course of your evolutionary meal!"


    The next course?


    "Please welcome, Gerald The Foolish Adventurer!"


    And then, a dark light manifests right in front of me.


    It carries a human along with it.


    He is in a terrible state. His face is full of bruises and wounds while his robe is tattered in many places. He reeks of blood and sweat. He clearly hasn''t taken a bath in a long, long time.


    Oh, and his arms and legs are bound together by some kind of force that I cannot see.


    The prisoner of the Demon Queen, I assume.


    "Poor Gerald here tried to impress his girlfriend back at his village by going here, thinking he''s gonna bring back a trophy from a monster rumored to live here. However, little did he know, said monster was my cute little familiar, and surely I could not allow any greedy human to come and harm it. So he ended up being my prisoner. I tried to break him in many ways but all he did was shouting his precious Queen Tina''s name over and over again. What an idiot! As if she would ever hear him!"


    "So now, I decide to just get it over with and give him to you, my dear! Feel free to tease him a little bit before you eat him!"


    The man opens his eyes slowly, only for his face to go white as he sees what stands in front of him.


    "A-a cockatrice! Y-you... you finally did it, Demon Queen! You finally decide to end me! Ahaha...ahahahahahahaha! I win!"


    I have no idea what this madman is saying.


    "Yes! You fail to make me break! Now you''re just going to kill me! But by doing so, you have just declared war against Lady Tina! Yes, she will avenge my death! And what a sweet revenge it will be!"


    "And I don''t even need to die for that to happen! Right now, my dear Lilia would''ve noticed that I''ve gone missing and would''ve contacted the guards for sure! And they will file their report, which will end up bringing attention to this place! Yes, your days are numbered, you filthy demoness!"


    Yep, this guy has lost it.


    So I''m supposed to eat this guy, huh? I suppose I''ll have to in order to go human once more.


    Might as well end his suffering right now.


    With a quick slash of my beak, I tear his neck apart.


    And then, I devour him.

 Chapter 14 - Him

    When I wake up from my evolution once more, I have become a human.


    Just as expected.


    My body now is much more muscular and "macho" than my butterfly body, perhaps owning to the fact that I have evolved from a majestic cockatrice instead of a fragile moth-butterfly.


    And like before, attributes from my former self still remain. I can feel wings sticking out from my back and my breath still turns living things into stone.


    I hear a slow clap coming from behind.


    "My my, you''re quite a looker as a human."


    The one who speaks is, of course, the Demon Queen. She makes her appearance at last.


    I notice that her gaze goes all over my body, like she is checking me out or something.


    And then I realize I am buck naked right now.


    No wonder there''s a little blush plastered on her face.


    "So, how long are you going to admire my new body?"


    Her blush grows.


    Even a Demon Queen like her still can get embarrassed. Doesn''t she have male incubus monsters she can ogle or something?


    "Apologies. It''s just that you''re unexpectedly well-toned compared to your previous butterfly body."


    "Yeah, no kidding." I answer. "It''s like I''m a bodybuilder or something." I say as I look at my muscles.


    "The cockatrice is known for having quite a powerful physical strength. Perhaps that strength carries over to your human body," she explains.


    "Perhaps?" I notice the doubt in her voice. "You don''t know how my evolution works either?"


    "Unfortunately." She sighs. "Perhaps only him knows the rules and laws on how evolving Outsiders work."


    "Him?" I ask.


    "I''ll explain while we walk inside."


    As we walk through the valley, she tells me about how there was another with the same ability as mine in this world, back when the demons and humans were still at war. Like me, he could grow and evolve to a more powerful creature the more he devours. And with that power, he quickly gained strength that rivaled the strongest personages of both humans and demons.


    "Back then, I was still the Demon Princess, since my father, the Demon Lord, was still alive," she explains.


    I didn''t think that demons could have families too. Guess they really are not that different from humans.


    "My first meeting with him was on the battlefield. I was leading our demonic forces to take a certain dungeon in order to convert it for our base of operations. Of course, that certain dungeon turned out to be his home."


    She suddenly looks downward with a blush on her face, as if she is embarrassed.


    "As you would''ve guessed, he defeated me soundly in battle. And he did not merely overpower me. He made me feel ashamed, something that had never happened to my nigh-invincible self."


    "And then, I fell in love with him."


    "Funny, isn''t it? Falling in love with an enemy you''re supposed to defeat?" she says with a sarcastic tone. "But that was what happened. Of course, I didn''t know right away that I had fallen for him. I merely thought that my attraction to him was because of his strength, something that is natural to us demonfolk since we respect strength above all else."


    "I begged him to join our side but he refused, saying that he really had no wish to join in this human-demon conflict. He only wished to live his days peacefully."


    "So I retreated, hoping one day he would change his mind."


    "Ah, here we are."


    She interrupts her own story by placing her palm on a wall that has suddenly appeared in front of us. I must have not been noticing how far we''ve walked; too busy being engrossed in her story.


    She recites some spell before the wall vanishes, allowing us to enter.


    "Welcome to my hidden dungeon."


    The inside is also illuminated with the same kind of moss that illuminates the outside.


    The path is tiny, only fit for one person at a time so she has to walk in front of me since she''s leading the way.


    This, of course, leads to me being able to ogle her voluptuous ass all day along.


    I just consider this payment for her ogling my naked body before.


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    "So, where was I?"


    "The part where you leave him," I answer, still ogling that sweet sweet booty.


    "Right. So, we continued with the war against the humans.  Demons, being superior in both strength and magic compared to humans, eventually start to win against them. One by one their territories fall to our forces."


    "But then, the humans discovered the magic called Hero Summoning."


    "With it, they summoned powerful humans from other worlds they dubbed Heroes. And they turned them against us. All of those Heroes thought they were doing good by repelling us demons, turning a blind eye against the corruption that consumed the human world; the corruption my father wished to burn to the ground by ruling over the humans."


    "Soon, the balance tipped back to our defeat. Even my father ended up mortally wounded by a group of those Heroes."


    "Thus  I was forced to beg for his help once more. I told him I would offer everything, even my body, if he would help my race win this war."


    "But then, he answered that he only demanded that he would be allowed to consume my father, the Demon Lord."


    "At first, I refused but my weakened father agreed. He said he would sacrifice himself if it''s for the good of his race."


    "And so he ate him, gaining immeasurable power as a result. With it, he fulfilled his end of the bargain. He easily killed and hunted all of the heroes."


    "That is, until he met with those three. Yes, it was the same three you met back inside that tree."


    "I may call them Heroes but only one of them, Maya, is actually a human from another world. Tina was a princess from one of the human kingdoms and Mira was a mere peasant from some backwater human country. However, the three of them possessed power beyond those of even the Heroes possessed."


    "Their battle was one for the legends. Mountains were toppled, lands were split open, borders were redrawn. I was not there to help him since he requested that I stayed behind, knowing that my power was so little compared to him that I would only become a bother."


    "In the end, he lost. Even with the power given to him by my father, he still lost."


    "It wasn''t for nothing though. He managed to push the three to their limits, making them disappear from the war for quite some time, no doubt to recover their strength."


    "If only... if only I had gone to the offensive, chasing after them while they were weak instead of just staying passive..."


    Her story ends with her voice dying down to a sad whimper and sob. To think that the Queen of All Demons would show weakness like this...


    In the end she is still a girl deep inside, I suppose. She must be hurt terribly by the loss of her lover.


    ...


    Goddamn that guy. How could he refuse such a hot piece of ass like her?  Look at those boobs and ass. It''s every man''s dream to have a girlfriend with that hotness. He doesn''t know what he''s missing out.


    Especially that ass. The way they emphasize her naughty bit that was only covered by her tight black thong is simply divine.


    "Finally! Here we are in the main cave! Would you prefer if--- oh my..."


    She turns red as a tomato once she turns her gaze at me.


    No, to be exact, at the lower half of my body.


    "Does my body please you that much?" she asks.


    "Truthfully, yes. Me and my little pal right here are really happy you are proud enough to show off your beautiful form without covering it up by unnecessary clothing."


    "I am happy then if you''re happy." She blushes even more. "I love wearing this clothing. It gives me much freedom of movement. I have no idea why humans love wearing cumbersome clothing, like those three heroes who wear dresses even in a fight."


    "Well, it''s not like they have anything to show off."


    "Hehe, true. At least I have the advantage over them when it comes to physical looks."


    Meanwhile, at the same moment, the Three Heroes sneeze at the same time.

 Chapter 15 - Learning Magic

    "Well, enough about that." She changes the conversation. "Like I said before, this is the main cave of my hidden base. Now, tell me, do you see anything peculiar in here?"


    I do as she says. I look around, squinting my eyes to see any hidden details that I might have missed.


    Nope, nothing out of the ordinary! It''s just a big cave with swirling road that goes all the way down to the bottom.


    "You don''t see it?" she says with a grin.


    See what! I don''t see anything!


    "Then, my spell is working perfectly."


    She snaps her finger.


    "What the...!"


    In front of me stands a huge pitch-black pillar. It''s as wide as at least five humans and it stands proud right from the bottom of the cave. Its surface is scratched with various symbols, no doubt something magical in nature. It spins slowly without making any sound whatsoever.


    H-how could I have missed such an object? It sits right in front of me the whole time!


    "Invisibility magic." She explains. "My last case protection if any intruder manages to reach this place. Of course, it''s absolutely useless against the Three Heroes, especially Tina, but hey, if they are here, then my plan is pretty much over anyways."


    Invisibility magic, eh? I''d love to have that. I can already think a couple of situations where it would become extremely useful including to spy at girls when they change their clothes or take a bath


    "This pillar is my trump card against the Three Heroes. With it, I can finally stand a chance against them."


    This thing? I don''t see anything special about it.


    "Not now though. It will still take a little bit more time until it matures."


    I am at lost on what she''s saying right now.


    "Oh, apologies. I forget to tell what this pillar''s function is, don''t I?" she says after she notices my dumb expression. "It''s to gather magic, you see."


    ''Gather magic? From the environment, you mean?" I guess.


    "Yes. But not from the environment here, or else the Three Heroes will discover this place right away due to its lower-than-usual mana concentration. No, it gathers magic from another world, or to be exact, the space in-between. Mana exists there, and with that pillar I can draw it here and store it for my battle against the Three Heroes. I invented this pillar by myself, by the way. Not even Tina knows of its existence."


    As expected from the Demon Queen! Not only she''s a babe, but she has wonderful brains too!


    "Queen! You have returned!"


    A squeaky voice comes out of nowhere, startling me who had thought we''re all alone in this place.


    Then, a goblin comes out from the bottom, running as fast as his tiny legs would take him upwards to where we are standing.


    "Welcome back, my Queen!" he gives a bow that just looks plain ridiculous on him.


    "Ah, Grotto. Good timing. Please lead this young man to that room and give him that clothing for him to wear."


    "So, this is the boy, my Queen?"


    "Yes, he is indeed, Grotto."


    "Wonderful! Wonderful!"


    The goblin deftly comes at me and shakes my hand, not caring the least that I am not wearing any clothes right now.


    "I am truly, truly grateful that Milord had decided to help our Queen!"


    "U-uh, yeah, sure." I say, not sure on how to respond.


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    He releases my hand before bowing once more, this time towards me.


    "Please, follow me, Milord."


    I give an unsure glance towards the Queen.


    "Do not worry. Grotto here is my most faithful butler. He has served our family for a long time. He''ll take you to your room. After you''ve gotten clothed, we can talk further."


    And so the goblin named Grotto takes me to my room, which is quite a nicely decorated cavern-room, with a bed and other of the usual stuff you see in a bedroom. But the best thing is that it has a bookcase filled with all sorts of magic books. Finally! I can learn about the magic in this world!


    "Please wait a moment. I shall bring Milord''s clothes right away."


    The goblin exits with a bow before closing the door behind him.


    Quickly, I reach towards the book titled "Introduction to Magic".


    Let''s see here...


    Well, first of all, magic is a process in which one uses mana to bring otherwordly phenomenon to the world. Nothing I don''t already know there. Mana exists both on the outside and the inside. The world itself has mana floating in the air but our bodies also have their internal mana. A mage would commonly use their internal mana for the fuel for their magic. It is doable for a mage to use external mana instead, but gathering mana from the outside to the inside is impractical and dangerous, since the mage will need to hold all that mana inside his body, making him susceptible of mana poisoning, a sickness that happens if one has too much mana inside him. And if one has so much more mana inside him than he can handle, he can explode into pieces, as his body fails to keep the mana together.


    The amount of mana one has naturally can differ variantly. One can be born with much higher natural mana than his peers, making his potential to harness magic better. This leads to kingdoms rising with rulers with high magic potential in their bloodlines. They protect the others that lack their talent in exchange for their high status.


    Mages can be split into two schools. One is the traditional pure magic one and the other is the mage-warrior one, combining magic with psychical prowess.  The pure magician is more knowledgeable in magic than their more psychical brethren. However, they are weak once they''re exposed, unlike the warrior-mage who can still fight back.


    "Milord, I bring you some clothes."


    My reading is interrupted by a knock on the door.


    I open it to see Grotto holding a bundle of clothes on his hand.


    I thank him, refusing his offer to dress me, saying I can dress myself just fine.


    "Very well then. The Queen says feel free to read the books in Milord''s room. If Milord has anything to ask, then Milord should go to her."


    He bows once again like before.


    I look at the clothes he brings me. It''s a white shirt with long grey pants and a grey-green cloak. A very simplistic clothing fit for a traveler.


    Then, I realize something.


    He hasn''t brought me any underwear.


    Did the Demon Queen forget or what?


    Ah, no matter. The pants are soft enough it wouldn''t be a bother.


    It will be a bother though if he has a boner since it will clearly be visible to any girls who look at his crotch without anything holding it back.

 Chapter 16 - My Next Stage of Evolution

    I continue my study of magic.


    The Many Kinds of Magic


    For layman unknowledgeable to the arts and ways of the arcane, magic will merely look like a bunch of hocus-pocus and rituals and magic circles and tomes. However, magic fundamentally can be divided into three times depending on its method of activation.


    1. Simple Magic


    This kind of magic can be cast simply by hand or wand gestures and a few magic words, and sometimes, if the caster is advanced enough, even without any of those. It''s the most commonly used magic since it doesn''t take much to cast at all, making it perfect for any situation. However, magic in this category is usually limited in its variety.


    2. Ritual Magic


    This kind of magic needs to have runes to be cast, either symbols or circles or both. It takes more time to cast, due to its necessity for a setup. It is potentially more powerful than simple magic however.


    3. Tool Magic


    This kind of magic is aided by certain magical objects that allow its casting. Of course, said magical objects need to be made by other mages first. This magic can be as powerful as ritual magic. However, the creation of the tool will be more difficult the more powerful the spell is.


    Hmm, pretty standard stuff. Nothing too weird or unexpected..


    I look at the other books to see that they''re about various magic spells and how to perform them.


    I start at the most basic ones. Basic fire, basic water, basic earth, basic wind, and basic lightning.


    And I can''t cast any of them.


    What the hell? I''ve done the hand movement and the chant just as the books tell me to!


    Accepting defeat, I decide to go to the Demon Queen''s place to ask her about this conondrum.


    -----------------------------------------------------


    I walk back out to where the pillar was. Conveniently, the Demon Queen is right there. She''s touching the pillar with her two hands while closing her eyes. Perhaps she''s checking how the energy gathering is doing?


    "Excuse me! Demon Queen!"


    She opens her eyes. She then removes her hands from the pillar before turning towards me.


    "Oh, apologies. I was connecting with the pillar there. And my, you look good in those. Glad to see I''ve chosen the right clothing for you."


    "You didn''t get me an underwear though." I deadpan.


    "I don''t think it''s necessary. Really, why do humans wear underwear anyway? Why bother wearing two layers of clothing?"


    ...You know, that''s quite a good question. It probably looks absurd to someone who isn''t familiar with human culture.


    "To protect our naughty parts, of course," I explain sagely. I should try to bring her to humanity''s point of view. "For men like me, we may get turned on if we see a cute girl. And it won''t do at all if said girl sees our little elephant expanding right in front of her."


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    "Hmm, human girls are odd," she replies with a thoughtful look on her face. "Why would they be disturbed that a man is showing that he''s attracted to her?"


    "Perhaps she''s embarrassed," I reply back, "You yourself blushed when you saw my private part after all."


    "True." Her face turns a little red as she says that. Maybe she''s remembering the sight of my little elephant right now. "Doesn''t mean I don''t like looking at it though."


    Man, this girl is really sexually honest. I would never be able to find a girl like her back in my old world.


    "Well, enough about that." I end the topic. "I come here to ask about the reason why I cannot cast any magic at all. Not even the most basic ones. Had done all the movements needed as dictated by your books and it didn''t do anything."


    She sighs. "I see. I was afraid of that."


    "Wait, you mean you already know I won''t be able to cast magic?"


    "I had a suspicion," she answers, "Your form before this was that of a cockatrice. And cockatrices cannot cast magic. Nor most of monsters out there for a fact."


    "But I''m a human now!"


    "Not really. You still have cockatrice part in you. And it means it had ''overwritten'' your human part that allows you to cast magic."


    "Damn! Just my luck!" I say in exasperation. I was this close to learning magic and now my hopes and dreams are ruined forever!


    "Oh, don''t be so disappointed." She consoles me. "It''s not like you cannot evolve some more."


    ...That is true. Who says this is the limit to my transformation? I''ll just have to evolve into something that can use magic!


    "Tell me, what kind of monsters can use magic?" I ask eagerly.


    "Well... you''re looking at one right now."


    "Wait, but you''re--"


    "The Demon Queen, yes. But my real species is Dark Elf. And the elven folk is a kind of monster, even though they have humanoid form."


    I see. So one path I can choose is to become an elf. And I suppose I would eat an elf to do so.


    "I already know what you think." She grins triumphantly. "You want to eat some elves, do you?"


    I nod to her question.


    "Then let us depart at once. I know just the perfect place for the hunt."


    In that moment, her eyes flash with a dangerous glint. I think she may have some vendetta with the elves.


    Oh well, not my business. I don''t care what history she has with them. What I care is how the elves will serve perfectly as my food for my next stage of growth. I am glad if that also means I can help her settle her score with them.


    "Let''s go out to the valley first. We''''ll make our journey from there."

 Chapter 17 - Of Summoning and Familiars

    When we arrive at the valley, it is still dark outside. I don''t know if it''s really midnight or it''s just some sort of spell that protects the valley from the sun''s light. I ask the Queen about it and she answers that it''s the latter. Turns out her kind prefers the night over the day so she designs the barrier that way.


    Speaking of the barrier, she teaches me that it''s an example of ritual magic. She had drawn runes all around her hiding place, obscuring it from anyone outside unless she allows that person to come in like that villager. The rune works by casting the illusion that changes the landscape, making outsiders think that there''s no valley nor cave. And like she says, it''s useless against high-ranking magicians since they can tell easily that it''s all an illusion, due to them being more "in tune" with magic. Being more in tune means you have higher sensitivity to anything magical, meaning they can easily tell the magic of the illusion. And once you know it''s an illusion, dispelling it isn''t hard at all.


    "Now, let me demonstrate a little magic."


    "Summoning: Blood-Red Griffin!" She claps her hand together as she declares her spell.


    A magic circle appears on the ground in front of her. And before you can say "wow!", a beastly figure leaps out of it.


    It is definitely, like the spell chant suggests, a griffin. And its feathers are blood-red, just like the spell chant says it would be.


    It towers over both of us. It easily reaches around the size of an elephant, or even more.


    The magic circle vanishes afterwards.


    The creature roars loudly as if it announces its own entrance.


    "Shh, be silent!" The Queen commands. "You don''t need to roar! I can see clearly that you''ve come! Really, you''re just one big attention-seeker, aren''t you?"


    The beast lowers its head, ashamed by the Queen''s rebuke.


    "Now, listen carefully. Tonight, we''re going to take a little ride. But not just you and me. This guy right here will come along too."


    Noticing my presence, the beast immediately inches closer towards me. Threatened by the beast''s massive size, I take a couple of steps backwards. It then sniffs me like it is a dog or something.


    "Hush, don''t be so paranoid! He is my dear friend! He''s not a dangerous person!"


    Uh, I am not so sure about the "dear friend"  part but we''re indeed allies, at least for now. So I stay put and let her settle everything out.


    "Good boy! Good boy!" She strokes the are near its ears, calming it down and making it take a seat like a good dog on the ground.


    "Now--" She looks towards me. "Let''s go. We''re riding this thing tonight."


    She climbs upwards towards the beast''s back. I cannot help but noticing how her butt wiggles tantalizingly while she does so.


    "Oh my, getting turned on already? Was it my cute bum?" she says teasingly while she sits atop the beast.


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    Yeah, there''s a bulge on my pants. It''s nowhere near my full boner but it''s already visible.


    ...I really need some underwear.


    Ignoring that little problem, I climb up the beast following the Queen. It''s surprisingly easy with my strong muscles. I don''t think it''d be that easy if I am still my old human self in the old world.


    "Now, hug me tight. This guy flies quite fast and hard."


    ...Wait, hug?


    "What''s the matter? Embarrassed?" she asks playfully.


    "W-well... I never hugged a girl before so I don''t know where to start."


    ...Why did I say that?


    "Ahahaha, it''s easy! Just put your arms around my stomach!"


    I do as she says after I move my sitting position at right behind her. I can feel the smoothness of her skin right away, since she isn''t wearing anything to cover her stomach. I can also smell the enticing scent  coming from her hair and body, stimulating a certain part on my lower body once again.


    Damn, is this how girls smell like or is it just her unique body scent?


    "Hang tight now!"


    Immediately after, the griffin runs forward at an alarmingly fast speed. I would''ve fallen off if not for the fact that I''m hugging the Demon Queen right now.


    The beast then leaped into the air, flapping its majestic wings as it flies upwards.


    ------------------------------------------------------


    On the way, the Queen explains how summoning works. First of all, summoning only works towards your familiar, so you gotta make a pact with the beasts you want to summon first to make them yours. The pact depends on the individual beast itself so you have to learn what it wants.


    "Any limits on how many beasts you can summon at once?" I ask.


    "Theoretically, no," she answers, "But of course you''re limited to how many beasts you made a pact with. Oh, and storing your beast to be summoned continuously takes mana from you, and the stronger the beasts the more it takes."


    "Storing? I thought--"


    "No, we don''t teleport them straight from somewhere else. We store them first in what we call ''familiar space'' and then we summon straight out of it."


    "I see. So, I assume they won''t consume any mana if they are being summoned since they exist in the real world?"


    "Yes. But that doesn''t mean that I cannot inject my mana into them if they need it in the middle of battle."


    "How about the other way around? Absorbing their mana into your own?"


    "That is also possible."


    Interesting. I see one possible use for this familiar system that others might have not thought of.


    I really should get that elf body so I can start using magic. I can''t wait to try my idea out.

 Chapter 18 - Geography Lesson With Elves

    "So, where are we going exactly?" I ask.


    "To the place where our prey lives, of course," she answers cheerfully.


    "No shit, I know that. What I''m asking is where are those pointy-eared bitches live?"


    "Hmm, do you know how this world looks like in the first place?"


    "W-well..." I stutter. I just realized that I still had no idea about the overall geography of this world.


    I feel a pang of shame hitting me straight at my heart.


    "First, let''s start from where you came to this world the first time. That whole forest was called The Great Equator Forest, since it sits right on the middle of the world, thus gaining its tropical climate."


    "The forest, and the territory around it is the domain of Mira. Used to be ruled by a bunch of little kingdoms but they were ''united'' by Mira''s hands. Well, more like she just waltzed it into each one of their castles and threatened their kings to surrender their throne. Some did peacefully but the others... well, let''s just say her pet had a good taste of their noble blood."


    It seems that green-haired woman is one hardcore motherfucker.


    "The next one is Tina''s domain, situated on the north.  Back then, it was ruled by the Great Graham Empire, a nation so powerful it enveloped nearly all of the northern hemisphere. Tina was that Empire''s princess, so I suppose it is fitting that she ends up ruling the place anyway, just without the Empire. But I digress."


    "Now, the Empire also had another name. The Empire of Magic, for it had mastery of magic far beyond any other countries in the world. Its citizens enjoyed a higher standard of living thanks to said magic, and its armies were unrivaled in its magical strength. It could''ve easily taken over the equator kingdoms, if not for the fact that it''s preoccupied with fighting our forces together with them."


    "Your demon army?" I ask for clarification.


    "Yes. Our kind lives in the south of the equator. Used to be not like that though. We used to live in the north before the Empire drove our kind out. Ironically, their actions ended up uniting our race together, giving us the strength that rivaled even them."


    "Drove you out? Why?"


    "Our ways weren''t exactly compatible with theirs. We were seen as barbarians and heretics, only fit to be conquered and oppressed. Easiest example would be in the way we dress. We demons like to dress lightly, with fabric only covering the most necessary parts. However, the Empire loves to dress heavily, covering everything they find ''indecent'' on their human body. They find our way abhorrent and perverted, to the point that demons are seen as tempters stealing ''the good folks'' from their husbands and wives."


    "I can certainly see that." I respond, looking at the way she dresses.


    "So, the south. Now, it''s the territory of Maya, the one with the red dress. Like I told you before, it used to be our land before the Three Heroes put and end to that. Now, she had brought humans to stay there. The place is still pretty sparse overall though."


    "And the place we''re going? The elves--I don''t hear you mentioning them."


    "The elves are subspecies of demonkind. Like me, I''m a dark elf. Demon Queen is more of a title than an actual species."


    "Wait, I thought you said that elves are related to monsters."


    "Demons are intelligent monsters. The way you are right now makes you a perfectly serviceable demon, though you have your own subspecies classification."


    "Back to the elves then. Where are they? The north, the equator, or the south?"


    "The south."


    "I thought the Three Heroes--"


    "They didn''t wipe everyone out. They were some that were spared, like the wood elves we''re going to meet. They spared them because they betrayed us, signing a pact with the Heroes not to participate in the conflict," she says with anger in her voice.


    "Then, this is about revenge?"


    "...Yes, this is about revenge."


    ------------------------------------------------------------------------


    "Welcome to the Forest Hidden In The Fog."


    The name is certainly fitting, for I can only see the fog below me. I don''t even see any forest or trees.


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    The griffin lands as ordered by the Queen. Then, she returns it to her familiar dimension by a simple clap and incantation, just like the way she summoned the creature.


    "Now, take my hand."


    "Huh?"


    "I said, take my hand. This is very important."


    I shrug and do as she says, grabbing her left hand tight with my right hand. I can feel just how smooth her skin is.


    "Now, we''ll stay like this until I say otherwise. The forest is, as you undoubtedly have guessed, enchanted, with a spell that makes anyone who enters it to be lost. Then they will be at mercy of the elves as they wander around forever until they die of dehydration or starvation. Yes, the elves will deny them the appearance of any water source or food in the forest. And if they feel especially cruel, they will give water and food, just to poison them, giving the human a slow and agonizing death."


    I gulp. Sounds pretty scary indeed.


    "Luckily, I know the counterspell to their charm. I have to cast it constantly though, and I can only cast it on myself so that is why we must hold hands, in order for you to get the effect too."


    "Got it. So, hold hands always," I summarize.


    -------------------------------------------------------------


    The walk inside the forest seems to take hours, and the Queen stays mostly quiet  throughout it, only speaking to tell me about the poisonous plants and water sources that appear. The elves are really ingenious with the way they disguise their poison. I can only tell the difference if I look really close at the fruits. And the poisoned water sources look exactly the same like your usual body of water, only that it doesn''t have any living being in it, like fishes or water lilies. Any thirsty traveler would just drink that fresh-looking water right away, without a doubt.


    My meditations are broken when the Queen suddenly stops without any warning whatsoever.


    "Shh, do you hear that?"


    "Hear what?"


    "The footsteps. They''re coming."


    I focus my hearing. No good, I can''t hear anything, especially with all the forest noises around us. I think that pointy ears may have given her super hearing or something.


    "I am Morgan, the Queen of All Demons!" she shouts. "I come here in peace! I have no desire to harm you all!"


    Her loud voice is instantly dampened by the thick foliage and fog all around us.


    "What do you want here, filthy dark elf?"


    The respond comes from above. I look up but I cannot see anyone there. Just where are they hiding?


    "Mercy. I wish for the amnesty of the Three Heroes and since your kind is their followers I thought--"


    "We are not their followers, dark elf."


    The respond now comes from behind. I look there and once again, I see nobody.


    "Then, I ask for a meeting with Freya. She can vouch for my character in front of the Heroes."


    "Your tongue is unworthy of speaking Lady Freya''s name, dark elf."


    An arrow shoots out from the left of Morgan, aimed right towards her head.


    "Watch--"


    She catches it with her left hand without even looking at the thing.


    "Very well then. You guys want to do this the hard way, I suppose."


    She claps her hands together. Arrows made of darkness appear all around her, before shooting off towards their targets.


    One, two, three, four, five. Five screams of agony are heard when they hit their marks.


    Then, five thumps are heard as each of their bodies falls to the ground.


    They are all female elves, clad in a quite indecent green dresses; with low cuts that show off their cleavages and skirts that end right below their butt. With the way their bodies are situated on the ground, I can clearly see the panties of each and every single of them. Seems like they''re really fond of tight, striped panties since they all wear those, only differing in color.


    "I trust you know what to do know?" Morgan asks with a smile.


    Yes indeed. I can feel my saliva forming already.

 Chapter 19 - A New Egg

    The next half hour is pure heaven. Pure gourmet heaven.


    Never before have I eaten such a delicious, juicy meat. Never before have I tasted such exhilarating sweetness.


    It is far above the level of the two humans I ate back then. Their meat tasted like coal compared to this, this heavenly meal.


    If the low level elven grunt tastes like this, then I can''t imagine how delicious their upper echelons can be.


    Ooh, I can hardly wait to eat them!


    As I am eating the downed elves, I notice that Morgan is looking at me with a satisfied look on her face. I suppose she really is glad she can exact her revenge.


    When I finish, my stomach feels like it''s about to burst, quite a rare occurrence for a big eater like me. Must be all the magic they possess.


    "How do you feel?" Morgan asks.


    "Great! Very great! I''ve never eaten meat this delicious before!"


    "Do you feel any drowsiness?"


    Oh, she''s asking if I''m going to evolve.


    "No worries! I can still keep going!" I answer with a big, hearty smile.


    "Good. But we''re not going any deeper tonight."


    "Wait, why? But we have come this far and--"


    "I don''t want to risk pushing the elves any further," she answers with a grave look on her face. "Even though they say they don''t follow the Three Heroes, I know they''ll report to them if they know I have returned. I''m only here to pick off the scouts like the ones you just ate. They should be enough to fulfill the requirement of your next evolution. I can feed you the rest of the energy requirement back at the base."


    "But... you can take them! You can take them all! You easily dispatched five of them just like that! You''re the Demon Queen! You are more than enough match for them!" I protest. I really, really want to eat more of that elven meat.


    "No, those guys are amateurs. The guards protecting Freya, and Freya herself, are a different matter entirely. Originally, I intended to be taken to her as a prisoner, so that I can launch a surprise attack against her. But alas, she has wizened up a bit from her arrogant self. She now orders anyone to be shot on sight, no prisoners. Now, if I go there, she will be alerted to my presence. There are many more scouts and guards the closer we get to their village and it''s impossible to not be detected by them. Maybe they can''t take me on at once, but they sure can send a message to the Three Heroes about my return. And then, they will come here, out for our blood."


    Listening Morgan''s explanation, I can only curse silently at those three bitches. Really? Why must they be such a nuisance?


    "So, we''ll return at once before any other of the scouts come by. They will notice the disappearance of the five, of course, but they won''t think of me to blame right away."


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    Reluctantly, I nod to her in agreement. I recognize my own weakness. I must evolve further and further until one day, I can take on those three whores and make them into my food.


    One day.


    --------------------------------------------------------


    When we arrive outside the forest, it is daytime already. I have almost forgotten how daytime feels, being stuck in dark places for what seems like ages. Ah, the sun feels nice on my skin.


    Morgan summons her griffin once more. And just like before, we ride it back home to the base.


    However, in the way I suddenly feel nauseous. Really nauseous. Like I am going to puke any second.


    "M-Morgan, p-please land for a moment."


    "Eh, what''s the matter?" she asks. "Why are your face so pale?"


    "A-air sickness. I need the-the ground. Right now. Bad. Don''t want to--puke on you."


    Accepting that I do indeed look like I''m going to puke, she orders the griffin to land straight away.


    Quickly, I jump off the creature onto the ground.


    And then, I puke. Right then and right there.


    However, what came out isn''t the elves'' chewed body parts, that would be just plain nasty, but an egg came out instead. Its size is huge, almost as big as my body yet somehow it fits going through my mouth. Maybe it expands once it''s out from my stomach?


    "What the hell is--"


    Then, it hits me.


    It''s the same thing! It''s the same thing with the chicken!


    I''m going to get a new body to control!


    I shout with joy, earning a really confused look from Morgan.


    "D-did you just... lay and egg? Only it came from your mouth and not from your... behind?"


    "Yes! Yes I did!" I grab her two hands excitedly. That does nothing to soothe her confusion.


    After that, I explain how I am capable of birthing a new body that shares the same consciousness with me. She says she already knows that, but she didn''t expect I would birth it via an egg, especially an egg this big of a size.


    "Could this mean that you can have a secondary body as big as your primary body? I thought you''re stuck with little animals like the chick," she theorizes.


    "Yes! That''s the best part!" I answer with a raging excitement. "I can''t wait to see what''s inside!"


    But that will have to wait since it won''t hatch right away. We end up carrying it with us of course, back to the base. No sense waiting for it to hatch right on the middle of nowhere.


    I have just the hunch that I am going to be very pleased with this new body.

 Chapter 20 - Viola

    A few days have passed since I produce the egg. We''re now back at the base, with the egg and me staying neatly in my room. My time is mostly spent sleeping on my bed, hugging the egg tightly like it''s some sort of pillow.


    I know, I know it''s odd. But for some reason, I just simply have to do that. It''s like... a compulsion... an instinct, if you will.


    The egg has a really nice texture to it; smooth without any bumps that makes it uncomfortable to grope it. It has a nice color too; purple with little star-like dots to it. It emits a warm atmosphere, probably due to the fact that it has a pulsating life inside it.


    Aaah, I wish this egg would hatch soon!


    And just when I think about that for the hundredth time, a crack forms on the surface of the egg.


    O-Oh God, it''s happening! The egg is--


    Another crack appears. Then another. Then another. Then another. I peek inside but I cannot make of anything since it''s too dark.


    The egg begins to move on its own, making me release it from my clutch. It rolls off my bed and to the floor, making more cracking noises as it does so.


    Then, something pops out from it, opening a hole that is long due.


    And that something is a hand. And not just any hand. It''s a human hand.


    And, judging by its delicate look, it belongs to a female human.


    D-did I actually--


    I leap off my bed. With my heart thumping like crazy, I help destroying what remains of the outer shell of the egg.


    And I did. I really, really did.


    I now have a humanoid female for my second body.


    I say humanoid since it has pointy ears so it is an elf instead of a human.


    The body is really gorgeous, on the level of a beauty of a supermodel or even more. It is, as you would expect, absolutely naked at the moment, so I can see every detail of its body. It has a somewhat small breast, especially compared to Morgan''s, but they''re perky and look pretty lewd, as if they invite you to grab them. I especially love the way her long blonde hair covers them just enough so that it entices your imagination. Its skin is smooth and creamy white; its cheeks have cute as hell dimples on them; its lips are just made to be kissed; its brown eyes are the epitome of innocence.


    "U-uuuu..."


    She''s waking up!


    She blinks a few times before registering that I am standing right in front of her. Then, her expression changes into that of pure joy, as she jumps forwards and gives me a great big hug.


    "Master! I am so glad to meet you at last!"


    E-eh, what is this girl doing? I don''t-- O-oh, right. A second body has its own consciousness too. I''ve played with the chick before without me controlling it.


    "Master! Master!"


    I can feel her breasts pressing to my chest. Even they''re small, they''re still capable of turning me on, what with how perky they are. Her sweet feminine scent doesn''t help either.


    "Name me Master! Name me!" She looks up towards me, giving me a cute look that I''m weak to.


    Oh fine, let''s see, your name will be...


    "Viola. You''re now Viola." I say to her.


    "Yay, Viola! What a nice name!" she answers cheerfully. Well, at least she''s happy about the name I just thought of in the spur of the moment.


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    The girl releases me before she kneels down on her legs and says "Viola the elf, at your service, Master."


    <del>Hmm, she can service me indeed</del> "F-fine, then I''ll take over your body for a second."


    I connect my mind with hers. Then, I inject some of my consciousness to it, overriding hers.


    It works perfectly. Now I am in control of her body.


    Ah, it works! It works!


    Oh, so her mind can still speak. Interesting.


    I release my consciousness, returning the driver seat to her once again.


    After that little experimenting, I call Grotto, the goblin manservant, to give her some clothes. At first he is confused. Why does a girl suddenly appear in my room? He even thinks she''s an intruder at first. But I calm his fears, saying that she is my second body. She is absolutely under my command.


    "Very well then, milord. Then, I assume milord will also want me to take the liberty to inform the Queen of this joyful event?"


    "Yes, please do." I answer.


    After a few moments of waiting, he returns with Morgan in tow. Naturally, she will be curious to see my new body.


    "A-a girl?" she gapes in awe.


    "Yes, a girl," I answer, "An elven one at that. Maybe this is because I ate those elves back at that forest."


    "B-but, you''re supposed to evolve into one. Not give birth to one!"


    I don''t know why she sounds so exasperated for. Having a second body is a great boon. Well, sure, I still can''t do magic but I can possess her to do it or just teach her magic so that she can do it herself.


    "Anyway, you got the clothes, Grotto?" I ask the little goblin.


    "Here it is, milord," the little bugger hands the bundle on his hands over.


    ''Wait, this is--"


    "Yes. It''s the same as the elves on that forest had worn," Morgan answers.


    True. It''s the same indecent green dress the elves had. It even comes with the green striped panties.


    Wonder why Morgan has this clothes on her.


    Oh well, who cares?


    I tell Viola to wear them, which she does so happily. She wears the panties first, which fits nicely on her quite petite butt.


    "Ahn~"


    The panties suddenly tighten, becoming so form-fitting that I can see her cameltoe clearly. And it now doesn''t even cover her butt in the entirety, leaving a little butt crack showing.


    "I see the spell works," Morgan says. "It''s a spell that adjusts clothes to the wearer''s size."


    She says the wearer''s size but the panties now look like it''s two sizes too small for her!


    And is that some blush on her cheeks?


    Viola wears the green dress now. And like before, the dress becomes smaller, exposing her small cleavage and her long sexy legs as it ends just right below her butt, with a little glimpse of her green panties on the front and the back.


    "How do I look, Master?" Viola says after she finishes putting on the clothes.


    "Very cute." I compliment her, which makes her blush and giggle.


    After that, our magic lesson begins.

 Chapter 21 - The Cheating Heroes

    Beyond my expectations, Viola manages to learn all the basic magic I teach her quickly. With just a couple of tries, she masters the basic fire, water, earth, wind, and lightning spells. I don''t know if this is due to her being an elf, thus probably having a higher innate talent with magic,  or it''s just her own natural talent. At any rate, this means she can go learn the more complex stuff immediately.


    The first spell I teach her is [Rock Body]. This spell uses the Earth element to augment the hardness of your own body, making it as hard as a rock like the name suggests. This spell is the last resort of mages if some warrior manages to get through your offensive spells to strike at you directly. It will only do good if your opponents are just some ordinary swordsmen though. A more magic-oriented one can just imbue their weapons with their magic, making it sharp enough to pierce through your defense. Hell, even a strong enough warrior is enough..


    That is why I teach her this spell as her second. [Barrier]. It casts a--you called it-- barrier in front of the caster, protecting her from anything coming from that direction. The difference between this spell and [Rock Body] is that it doesn''t cover the user''s entire body. In exchange, it has a more powerful stopping potential. [Rock Body] is sorta weak to magic attacks while this spell can stop both physical and magical attacks.


    The third spell is [Wind Walk]. It increases your movement speed and-- that''s pretty much it. Doesn''t seem so impressive but it will surely come handy in a fight.


    Oh, and by the way, have you noticed how [Rock Body] and [Wind Walk] have elements, Earth and Wind respectively, attached to it while [Barrier] doesn''t? That''s because both [Rock Body] and [Wind Walk] are offshoots of Earth and Wind magic, while [Barrier] is a non-elemental magic.


    She masters them all in just a month''s time. Morgan says that ordinarily, mastering one spell of that level will take at least a month, so three months at the very least. She does it merely with a third of the usual time. I am more and more amazed with her ability. At this rate, maybe she can even--


    "If you have any ideas of her surpassing Tina, think again. That girl... she''s a monster of magic. In just one year, she manages to master all known magic, a feat that no other mages have ever done in a lifetime."


    "W-wait, seriously?"


    "I''m not joking here. Before she took up the mantle as one of the Three Heroes, she was merely a sickly princess, living her days on her bed attended by her servants.  She hadn''t had any training in magic whatsoever, that is, until Maya visited her. She then stole her from the palace, and when Tina returned, she was strong enough to overthrow the king, her own father, by herself. And I''d like to remind you that the palace was full of high-level mages so it was no easy feat."


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    "And of course, there''s the fact that I''ve witnessed with my own eyes and body the power of her magic. And your little elven girl is still far, far from her level."


    ...In short, she is a cheat character.


    I have no clue how she became one. Usually only guys from other worlds like me got to be one in this kind of stories.


    Unless...


    "Morgan, you said that Maya is an Outsider just like me, right?"


    "Yes, yes I did," she answers.


    "And I still know nothing about her except that she has some creepy mind reading abilities. I have a hunch that she is the most important member of the Three Heroes."


    She sighs hearing my exclamation.


    "My knowledge of her is, sadly, almost as limited as yours."


    "But why? You fought her before!"


    "I did. But even then, I still cannot explain her powers."


    She turns away from me, folding her hands below her enormous chest.


    "You see, her powers... I can''t even say if they''re magic."


    "What do you mean?" I ask.


    "I mean that I sense not a single trace of magic from her or her attacks. In all aspects, she''s just an ordinary human."


    She sighs once more before continuing her explanation.


    "Let me explain her power. She''s capable of producing a force to repel or pull all kinds of things, from the flesh, to magical constructs, to raw energy, and even spirits and the like. You think that sounds simple and basic but you won''t think so once every single of your attacks got diverted or deflected back at you.  With that power, I didn''t even manage to put a hole on her pretty dress."


    "Hmm, that sounds like gravity manipulation, or telekinesis in general." I comment.


    "...Wait, I used to be able to do telekinesis!" I exclaim, referring to when I still have my moth body.


    "No, no, that is different. I can still feel you spending mana when you do it. She, on the other hand, doesn''t need any mana at all, which makes it even more terrifying. That means she can do it infinitely at the worst case scenario."


    "Oh..." Now, I feel dejected.


    "Anyway, the only other thing I know is that she was summoned by the Graham Empire. And that''s about it."


    Maya, huh? Another mysterious cheat character has appeared.


    Goddamnit, I''m starting to think my own evolution cheat is inferior to theirs.


    "Don''t look so worried," Morgan suddenly says, "I have a plan to deal with them. We just have to bide our time until my pillar gathers enough energy."


    I just hope she knows what she is doing.

 Chapter 22 - Battle Training Part 1

    "How about a practice battle?"


    "With you?"


    "Yeah, with me. I''m the strongest magic user around after all. Why not test your mettle against me? If you can''t win, then you''re still far away from defeating Tina."


    And thus, this is how I end up standing face to face against Morgan in the valley, with me controlling the girl elf''s body.


    "Yay! Go Master go! Don''t lose to her!"


    ...With her screaming into my ears internally.


    I suppose this didn''t happen back then because the other consciousness was just a little chicken.


    "Watch my movement carefully and learn!" I order her. I intend to make her be able to fight independently without my orders.


    "Of course Master, you don''t have to tell me that! I''m always watching you after all!"


    ...Well, that doesn''t sound disturbing at all.


    I never have really tried this body before, seeing how I left it to the Viola all the time. But now, after I tried doing some movement with it, I notice how light it is compared to my original body. It''s certainly more of an agile type over my original body''s strength type.


    And, the most important thing is, how I flash my panties at the slightest movement I do.


    Really, why must the elves make their skirts so short?  Are they a race of exhibitionists or something?


    Oh well, who cares anyway? I just feel the feeling of my dress lifting up a little bit disturbing, that''s all.


    And there''s the matter with the panties. Morgan said it was designed to fit the way the elves intended them to be. True, what I saw with the five elves I''ve eaten, they were pretty tight, but I doubt they were this tight. They are so tight I feel this strange, bothersome tingling feeling on my crotch while wearing it. I don''t know how Viola doesn''t complain about it.


    "Well, Master, at first I wanted to complain but after wearing it for some time, it began to feel good!"


    Ah, thank you for the clarification, Viola.


    ...Wait, you can hear my thoughts?


    "Of course, Master! I can hear it loud and clear!"


    T-this is only when I occupy your body, right?


    "Yes, Master! Our consciousness occupy the same space after all!"


    Whew, dodged a bullet there. I thought my privacy is gone forever.


    "What''s the matter, Master? You can trust Viola with any secrets you have! I won''t tell everyone!"


    Oh, shut up, slave! I don''t trust you that much yet!


    "Hyaaa, I''m sorry! I''m sorry! Please don''t be angry, Master!"


    I can somehow sense she''s sobbing inside my head, even though she''s just a consciousness.


    This is really weird.


    Oh well, enough about that. Time to focus my thoughts to the battlefield.


    I see Morgan standing proudly at some distance away from me. She''s still as beautiful as ever, but now I sense a sinister presence accompanying that beauty. She really is ready for battle, I suppose.


    I begin by casting [Wind Walk}. Using its speed, I back away as far as possible as long as I can still see her in my sights.


    "Retreating first? Wise move. You know you''re outclassed in terms of raw strength so you put as much distance as you can between us." Morgan explains. "However..."


    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    She claps her hands together and instantly a flurry of arrows made out of darkness appear in front of her. They all go straight towards me.


    I clap my hands back, casting [Barrier] to block all the arrows. It does the job but it shatters soon afterwards, not being able to stay solid after absorbing so many blows from her spell.


    "Pretty good. You know how to use one of the basic defenses of a mage against other mage''s projectiles. Unfortunately, not every attack magic is that straightforward."


    She claps her hand once again. This time however, no arrows appear. Instead, a shadow crawls right underneath her, elongating itself towards where I am.


    I can''t possibly block a shadow I just run away from it. Too bad its speed is much faster than mine even with my [Wind Walk] active.


    My last resort is to jump into the air to avoid it.


    And that is what it has expected me to do.


    It surges out from the ground when it is right underneath me. It manifests into a sword, with its sharp edge going straight at me.


    I cast [Rock Body] just in time so that my left foot can land safely on its tip. Now I''m standing on it like a ballerina, with my other foot right up the air as I try to keep my balance.


    I bet my panties are really exposed right now.


    ...Wait, why am I thinking about my panties at this critical time? Get it together, dammit!


    "Wonderful! You seem to have flexibility, something rarely any mage ever possesses," Morgan praises me.


    I jump forward, off the sword which disappears soon afterwards, landing on my two hands before doing a flip to exchange them with my feet. Wow, this body really is agile.


    Time for me to attack. I cast an intermediate level fire spell, sending a fire pillar straight towards Morgan.


    "Come on now. You know that won''t work on me."


    She blocks my spell with a simple [Barrier] of her own.


    Just like what I''ve expected.


    While she is blocking my fire spell, I''ve cast two other spells towards her; one of wind and one of lightning. They are angled differently, so she has to cast two [Barrier] spells to block them completely. And there''s simply no time for that.


    "Clever! But not clever enough!"


    She spreads her arms, one for each spells. And somehow she summons two barriers right at the end of her palms, blocking my attacks perfectly.


    "H-hey, how did you-- You don''t even use your clapping movement!" I say in astonishment.


    "Why, didn''t one of my books tell you about the advanced way of casting? This time I only use a single hand for a spell. Sure, it raises the mana cost considerably but it''s definitely handy in a pinch."


    I think back to my studies. Hmm, I think I''ve heard about that before...


    "Anyway, now it''s time for you to learn how to handle close combat as a mage. Now I shall fight you like a warrior instead of a fellow magician like I''ve been doing so far."


    Out of nowhere, she manifests a sword made out of darkness on her right hand. It doesn''t even have a solid form. It''s more like a wiggling mass of darkness shaped like a sword.


    And then, she charges towards me with an impressive speed.


    Crap, I''m not ready at all!