After cleaning up, Fenrir decided to while away the remaining time before lunch helping move supplies indoors. While he worked, surrounded by his succubi, he found himself surprised by how much he enjoyed it. Not the work itself, but the banter and camaraderie between the succubi, and occasionally, himself. 'Feels like a family. Not everyone gets along perfectly, but everyone would bleed for each other without hesitation,' he thought, watching as Kira squawked in indignation at Aimi, who by pulling her hair had created a momentary distraction so she could steal the sack Kira had been intending to carry right out from under her, leaving the red-haired succubus to carry a heavier box instead. Giggling mischievously, Aimi beat a hasty retreat into the castle, pursued by her rather less amused sister.

  Fenrir lifted his own crate to one shoulder and followed. 'I guess this new life is a second chance in more ways than one. Dad did his best, but it never felt quite like a family. Hard to put my finger on it, but there's something here that I never had, before.' He stepped into the storage room, where Lilli and Violetta were hard at work stacking the various bags and boxes the others brought in. As he did so, Aimi ducked around him and streaked back out to the courtyard, still pursued by Kira, who was promising dire vengeance once she caught her. Her tone betrayed the fact that she wasn't really angry, and the unconcerned amusement from the other succubi seemed to indicate that events like this were not entirely uncommon.

  "Ah, put that right here, Master," Lilli said, indicating a space between two stacks of boxes, before turning back to her task of attempting to keep a pile of burp sacks from colpsing into disarray. Pcing his load in the empty space, Fenrir spared a moment to assist her before returning to the courtyard, noticing as he did so that Violetta seemed less afraid of him than she had been earlier. While she avoided his gaze, she seemed able to keep working despite his close proximity. As per his earlier decision, he left her severely alone until she was comfortable enough around him to initiate conversation herself.

  After helping steady the tottering pile of bags, Fenrir turned to Lilli. "It's getting close to lunchtime. I can finish up here if you want to start preparing lunch."

  Lilli stretched, the movement threatening to entirely free her breasts from the scant confines of her top, and looked around at the progress made so far. "Very well. We got more done than I had expected. No doubt due to your assistance, Master."

  Fenrir shrugged off her gratitude by pointing out that he had had nothing else to do before shooing her and Violetta out of the door towards the kitchens. He then returned to work, and before long Chellise was summoning everyone to lunch.

  After a quick lunch, Fenrir made his way back out to the courtyard, where he found Katari already waiting for him. "My lord," she said in greeting, but this time with only a slight bow. Clearly she had not forgotten his earlier instruction.

  "Katari," Fenrir nodded in return. "As I demonstrated so thoroughly yesterday, my skill with weapons other than my cws is sorely cking. Do you think you can teach me to effectively wield this axe I'm carrying?"

  Katari took a moment to answer. "I believe so... I am most familiar with the sword, but I learned to wield many of the more common weapons with fair proficiency. It will not happen in a day, or even a week, however."

  "I expected as much," Fenrir agreed. "I don't want quick-and-dirty instructions. I want to learn properly, however long that takes."

  "Good. First, I need to know just how strong you are."

  Fenrir cocked his head slightly. "Didn't our duel teach you that?"

  "Our duel taught me how skilled you are, not how strong you are. Most refer to this kind of strength as levels. Do you know how to check yours?"

  "I do." Turning his awareness inward, Fenrir was surprised to see just how much he had grown. His monster level had jumped by six full levels, and his Barbarian css had enjoyed a meteoric rise of eleven levels, putting him at Monster Level 11, and Barbarian Level 23. He could sense a budding potential in his Barbarian css, a feeling he wasn't quite sure what to make of, and even his Assassin css, which he had used the least, had risen to Level 12. Communicating the gist of this to Katari, he waited as she considered how best to proceed.

  "You are strange indeed. Even Light-races do not often gain more than one css, and for a Dark-race to do so is almost unheard of beyond the various Demon Kings and those few who approach them in power. Yet you, who retive to even the least of them is weak as a new-born, already have two, and you speak as though you expect to gain even more. Just what are you?" Katari asked, looking at him with something akin to awe.

  "Something new," Fenrir shrugged. "I'm not sure how I'll develop in future, but I'll take that as it comes. I do know that I have much growing to do to realize my full potential." From the corner of his eye he spotted Kira coming over from where she had been working, a question clear on her face. But before she could say anything, Fenrir spoke again. "Ah, yes, I also want you to instruct all of my followers in at least the basics of melee combat. Some, like Kira here, will want all the training you can give her, but make sure everyone can at least swing a sword without hurting themselves."

  "That will take some time," Katari answered doubtfully.

  "Yes. I don't expect you to do it immediately, just work on it as the opportunity presents itself. Truth be told, I'll soon be going on an extended scouting trip, and I'll be taking you with me at least part of the way, so with the exception of Kira, who's coming along as well, you'll have to wait until we get back to train anyone else." He looked over at Kira, who was beaming in delight at the prospect of martial training.

  "Thanks, boss! That's exactly what I was going to ask," Kira chirped happily.

  "I thought that might have been what was on your mind. Get back to work for the present, you'll get your turn soon enough," Fenrir told her, giving her a light swat on the ass to hurry her on her way. With a squeal and a giggle, Kira practically skipped back to her task of helping move supplies indoors. He watched her go with a smile on his face, turning back to Katari just in time to see her hiding a wistful expression. He regarded her a moment, wondering whether to ask about it, but deciding not to, he stated instead, "I'm ready for my first lesson now if you are."

  Shaking herself free of her thoughts, she replied, "Then let us begin." And for the rest of the afternoon, Katari put him through various exercises, teaching him everything from how and where to hold his axe to the basics of proper footwork. It was exhausting work, but fulfilling, and Fenrir felt his css level rising from the training, albeit slowly. That potential in Barbarian niggled at the back of his mind again, but he put it aside for the present. Despite what he had told Katari, he wanted to learn as quickly as possible, so he applied himself with vigor to her instruction.

  By the time they stopped, the sun was low above the peaks to the west, and the succubi were finishing up for the day. They had made a fair dent in their task, but Fenrir estimated it would take at least half a day more to remove the st of the gear. As he watched, he saw Yumiko draw a bucket of water from the well and carry it into the half-ruined stables, where the three horses were being kept.

  Scanning the rest of the courtyard, his eyes fell on the corpse of the yeti, still ying where the oni had left it. "Katari, what is so valuable about a yeti body that your raiding party carried both with them?"

  Katari looked up in surprise. "Why, their fur, of course."

  "But in that case, wouldn't it make more sense to skin them where they y and just take the hide, rather than carry the extra weight of flesh, bone, and organs?"

  "As to that, we were on the hunt, so we had no time to stop to skin them while light remained to trail what had killed them. Yeti hide is exceptionally tough and to remove it whole and undamaged takes long enough that it was deemed wiser to bring the bodies whole and skin them once we made camp for the night. Also, several of the younger bulls wanted to try yeti meat. It is tough and not very good to eat, but despite that a myth persists that to eat its meat imbues one with the strength of the yeti."

  "Ah, I see. Well, help me skin this one before it starts to rot," Fenrir said, walking over to stand above the mass of fur and flesh. Without wasting any time, he buried a cw in the yeti's neck, and began the task of removing the hide from the body. Katari drew her dagger, and after testing its edge, assisted. The yeti the oni had left was the one he had killed with cws to the back of the neck, so its hide was for the most part undamaged. 'Nice of them to leave me the nicer hide,' he mused as he cut a slit down the interior of one great forearm.

  Katari gave him several tips as they worked, the first one rather hesitant as though she were afraid he would be displeased by her temerity, but when he accepted her advice with no sign of anger or embarrassment she gradually directed their joint efforts more and more until she was satisfied the hide was being removed as cleanly as possible. Between them the task was completed soon after the long twilight had commenced.

  "Do you know how to cure the hide?" Fenrir asked, rolling it into a thick bundle.

  "Yes. At least, I have seen it done many times, but I have never cured a hide myself," Katari replied.

  "Hmm, well, I have several deer hides upon which you can practice if you feel you might ruin this one. Tomorrow I want you to work on that."

  "Yes, my lord." Katari followed him towards the kitchens, waiting momentarily as he set the hide down next to the deer pelts he had saved from his previous hunts.

  Fenrir noticed that she always stayed two paces behind him and slightly to his right. 'Must be an oni thing. They do seem to be a bit more obsessed with customs and formality than even Safara, though that's not really a fair comparison since Safara's basically had her life turned upside down and shaken vigorously these st few days. If she was amongst her own people or even just in more familiar surroundings, her behavior would likely be significantly different.'

  "Ah, perfect timing, Master," Lilli said as they entered the kitchens. "I was just about to send someone to fetch you. Dinner is ready."

  After the meal, Fenrir sought out Safara. He noticed that while she still did not engage in their conversation, she seemed much more comfortable among the succubi. "Good evening, Safara," he greeted her.

  "Good evening, E'nas," she replied rather absentmindedly, most of her attention on the tome she was poring over. Noting down several runes in a notebook, she pced her quill aside and gave him her attention. "What do you need?"

  Fenrir took a seat beside her, asking as he did so, "What does E'nas mean? You called me that earlier today as well."

  Safara blushed prettily. "It's... Well, if you must know, it's high elven for respected one. Like sir in the common tongue, but" -her voice dropped to almost a whisper as she continued- "it's not used as frequently since it carries considerably more weight."

  Fenrir tried to suppress his smile at her embarrassment but could not entirely keep the amusement out of his voice as he replied, "I see. And how is your research coming along?"

  Safara briefly gred up at him for ughing at her, but without any real heat. "I haven't found anything so far, but I can't tell you anything for certain one way or another quite yet. It won't be simple, I know that much."

  "Well, keep at it. Tomorrow, that is. You've been bent over your books all day, and the more tired you become, the more likely you are to miss something important, so right now, rex and enjoy the evening."

  She said nothing, but the direwolf saw the dubious expression on her face. "Oh, come now, you can enjoy your evening without burying yourself in your books. Listen to Koreen, for example." He indicated the succubus in question, who was animatedly reting a story to the succubi around her. As he began to listen, he quickly realized that it was actually quite interesting. The blue-skinned succubus had a comedic style of delivery which added greatly to the story she was telling, and a gnce down at Safara revealed that she had noticed this as well.

  "Well... I suppose there are worse ways to spend an evening..." she murmured.

  "That's the spirit." Fenrir leaned back against the wall, pulling her close with one arm around her shoulders. Initially she tensed in surprise, but after only a token effort to remain aloof she quickly ended up rexing into his side as she listened to the story along with Fenrir, her entire attitude that of soft contentment.

  TheBestofSome