I awoke three times during my rest. The first was when Velvese laid down on the bed, apparently encouraged to join us by Shuzshu. The second time was when Shuzshu got up to go hunting. And the third time was when I felt like it was time to get up.

  However, there was a certain difficulty to that idea. There was a very large lizard laying on me, having taken Shuzshu’s spot once she left. Cold blooded, but cool to the touch rather than actually cold. She was sleeping quite soundly, and rather than waking her I decided to take the moment to examine her face a bit. If I had to compare her to a type of reptile I knew, she looked similar to a skink, or perhaps a monitor lizard? Maybe a bit of gecko? Maybe like…a raptor from one of those old dinosaur movies I watched, back before they discovered they had feathers.

  There were little frills above her eyes, almost like little eyelashes. Some of them were missing from the left side, though that was to be expected. I traced her scars with my eyes, looking at the details of them. They were old, smooth scars. Not jagged. Clearly done with a sharp weapon. There were four scars, traveling from her brow down to her neck.

  Judging from the depth, the strike had gone for her neck, but she had moved with the attack and attempted to dodge, causing the blades to be dragged up her face rather than plunge into her neck.

  Looking downward, I could see the shoulder of her missing arm. There was a bit of stub left. It was clear that they had only bandaged the wound and left it. It was the same case with her legs, which I had looked at more closely when putting on the temporary prosthetics.

  I could practically recreate the order of events. She was a swordsman, dual wielding judging from her movements and grip. Her opponent used a clawed weapon and…some sort of heavy blade in the off hand. A strike to the neck with the claws, barely being dodged. A counter attack, but the blood blinding the one eye causes it to miss its mark and be deflected by the claws. Her guard was open, the heavy blade sweeps upwards, removing the arm.

  She staggers back, trying to defend herself with the other blade, but her balance is thrown completely off and she’s not sure why. They attack before she can even register what she’s lost. The claw tangles her remaining blade, and as she falls backwards he sweeps her legs, catching her at the knees.

  The blade must have been extremely sharp to sever limbs. Probably orichalcum, since giving a slave adamantine weapons would be extremely expensive. Or maybe it was some rich bastard who gets off on fighting slaves.

  Her eyes slightly opened and she took a moment to register where she was. Suddenly her eyes snapped open and she jolted upright. “I’m…sorry…master…”

  I had to put a hand out to keep her from falling off the bed. “Please don’t call me master. It uh…makes me feel weird.”

  “You…dislike it?” She was looking down in what could be shame, but it was pretty obvious she was looking at me.

  “I…well…hm.” I cleared my throat. “That is not the problem. It is…well, it just sounds kinky the way you say it.”

  “Kinky?” She had quite a puzzled expression.

  I shook my head a bit, trying to move so as to sit up but not throw her off the bed. “It…it’s hard to explain. You make it sound…sexual.”

  Her expression was rather blank, and then I watched as the sides of her face turned a rather rosy color. “I…” She shifted a bit. “Well… I don’t mind…”

  I wasn’t sure how to respond to that. I cleared my throat again. “Anyways…uhm… If you feel up to it, I would like to prep you and perform the surgery.”

  That caused her to freeze up. “S-surgery?”

  “Yes. I have to do quite a bit in order to prepare you for actual prosthetics.” I stood up a bit and took a deep breath. “Head down to the bathroom. It’ll be easier to clean up afterwards,” I said before heading out of the room.

  “Surgery?” I heard her repeat, but I paid her no mind.

  I prepared quite a number of things, including as much gauze and bandages as I had. Then I began filling the tub with water. I could sterilize the water and boil it with magic, though it would be better if I had some sort of pure alcohol. If I planned to make doing surgery a habit, I should probably distill my own.

  There was also a bit of bedding set down next to the basin, which was as good as a bed as she was going to get doing the ordeal. “Will it…hurt?”

  Turning to the doorway, I saw her standing there, shaking slightly. “No. Though you’re going to be very sore for a few days, it won’t hurt.” I pulled out several bottles of liquids.

  “What…are those?”

  “This is a paralytic to keep you from moving during the procedure,” I said, beginning to gesture at the bottles, “This is a numbing agent so that you don’t feel anything. This is a mild hallucinogenic so that you remain calm and don’t suffer. And these four are healing potions. Now, come in here and sit.”

  She swallowed as she slowly made her way in and awkwardly sat down on the cushion. “Have you…done this before?”

  “Surgery? Yes. This surgery in specific?” I hesitated. “No.” I put my coat off to the side, pulling out the three adamantine rods as well as all the other bits of things that were going to go inside her. I sterilized the water in the tub, and then brought it to a boil. Just doing that took over half of my mana.

  “Must you?”

  I looked at her for a moment, before pulling a tray and several tools from my coat. “Do you want your mobility back?” The last thing I did was pull out an extremely large doctor's smock.

  “Yes…” she said softly.

  “Then there’s your answer.” I put a cloth over my mouth. It wasn’t as good as a mask, but it would work well enough thanks to magic. “First, drink this.” I handed her a healing potion. It would slowly help her heal during and after the surgery. The other three would be used directly on the wounds during the surgery.

  She simply nodded and drank it.

  “Then drink this one, this one, and this one, and then lay down, close your eyes, and get comfortable. You’ll feel a bit weird for a few minutes, and then everything will be fine.” Numbing agent first, then the hallucinogen, and finally the paralytic.

  She did as she was told, and then laid down. While I waited for the potions to take effect, I went about sterilizing everything that I would use and making sure my hands were clean. This was going to be a very annoying and messy few hours.

  ~

  After several hours, I was finally finished. It was at the same time easier than I thought it would be, and harder than I thought it would be. But it was done. Now it would just be the waiting for her to recover, and the building of the prosthetics. Cleaning up was also going to take a while. The smock was essentially ruined, but it was single use only. Many of the tools would also simply be used as scrap. I also had to clean Velvese.

  Once I had finished cleaning myself, I started to clean up the lizard. But as I did, I had to wonder…why does an Archanist have surgery skills? Why is that part of the knowledge that was forced upon me? Was it from Artificer, because they could make prosthetics? Or was it from Alchemist? I had never heard of either one of those doing surgery of any sort. Maybe it was because I was a combination of the two, I gained some other skills?

  Professions were still such a mystery.

  Once I was satisfied we were both clean, I gently picked her up and carried her upstairs. However, that’s when I hesitated. It would be another five or six hours before she started to truly wake up, but where to put her. My bed? I glanced into one of the other rooms. If I wanted to put her there, I would have to make the bed. That was too much work. That was also just an excuse, but I wasn’t going to dwell on it.

  I laid her down before going downstairs to get my coat and her temporary prosthetics. She would have to stay in bed for a few days while she completely healed. As I was coming out of the bathroom, Shuzshu entered. “Ah, good timing.”

  Immediately I saw the hairs of her mane stand up and she bristled. “Blood.”

  “I just finished with Velvese,” I quickly explained, seeing her reaction. “The surgery went well and she’s upstairs, resting.” I watched as the tension slowly left her and she began putting things down. “She won’t be able to do anything for the next six hours, and it will take a day or two before she’s well enough to do anything.”

  “But she is alright?” Her clothes hit the floor and I subconsciously looked away.

  “Yes, she’s fine.” I cleared my throat a bit. “I want you to not go hunting for the next few days, so that you can help her while I build her prosthetics.”

  She looked reluctant, shifting a bit back and forth. “Mmnng… Do I have to?”

  “You’re the one that wanted her so bad,” I said as I started to head back upstairs.

  She quickly followed me. “Do you not like her?”

  I paused and looked back at her. “If I didn’t like her, would I have gone through so much effort? I don’t dislike her, but I don’t know enough about her to form an opinion.”

  She moved up closer to me, towering over me as she usually did. “Do you like me?”

  I looked up at her for a moment. “Of course I like you. I-” the L word caught in my throat. “I just… I really care so much about you,” I said softly.

  Suddenly she wrapped her arms around me and lifted me. I couldn’t see where she was going, but I was aware that we were moving. Until we weren’t. There was silence for a few seconds, and just before I was about to say something, she spoke, “She’s in our bed.”

  “Well, where else would I have put her? None of the other beds are made.” I paused, a thought dawning on me, “I don’t even know if we have sheets for the other beds.”

  “How long will she sleep?”

  “The paralytic should wear off in four hours. The numbing agent should last another eight or nine. And the hallucinogenic…uhh… I think it should have worn off by now?” It was a bit hard to speak considering she was holding my head against her bosom.

  “Hallusawhat?” She pulled me away from her body to look down at me.

  “Hallucinogenic. A type of drug that stimulates your brain and alters your state of consciousness. The one I used mainly consists of scopolamine.” Although that had been the last that I had, as well as the numbing agent.

  “I…don’t know what that is…” the Gnoll admitted as she sat down on the bed, putting me on her lap.

  It wasn’t the most comfortable of places to be at first, but after shifting around I managed to get into a sitting position while I explained. “It essentially means that she won’t remember the surgery. Or at least won’t remember most of it. For her, the last thing she’ll remember is drinking the potions and maybe laying down, then she’ll wake up in the bed.”

  “Couldn’t you just…use a sleeping potion?”

  “I don’t have any of those made.”

  “But you have a hallusinathingy?” She had quite the suspicious look on her face.

  I sighed a bit. “Scopolamine in small doses helps with motion sickness. There was someone from my old team who couldn’t ride on a wagon without getting sick.”

  She gave me a look that told me she was still unsure, but decided that was a good enough reason. “Alright…”

  “I’m honestly mostly out of potions now… I’ve got two healing potions. One paralytic, a grease bottle, and a fire tar potion.” I was mostly talking to myself, making a verbal note of it.

  There was a bit of silence as the two of us sat there. I was honestly enjoying the feeling of her fur. It wasn’t as soft as it was after the bath, but it still had a nice texture. “I have twenty-seven gold, and the stones,” Shuzshu said suddenly.

  “Oh.” I blinked a bit, having to sit up. “Then I can start work on the prosthetics.” As I tried to get up I was prevented.

  She had not let me go. “No. Sleep now.”

  I paused, glancing out the window. The sun had long gone down, and so I just sighed and nodded. “Alright. Tomorrow, then.”

  With a nod, she laid back, pulling me on top of her as she did. It was a bit of an odd thing. “Sleep.”

  “I’m still dressed.”

  There were a few moments of silence before she suddenly picked me up and put me down next to the bed. “Undress,” she demanded, actually frowning at me.

  I couldn’t help but chuckle as I began preparations for bed. “Do my clothes offend you so much?”

  “Clothes are annoying.” Her hand suddenly touched my bare back. “Especially when I want to look at you.”

  A shiver ran up my spine. I cleared my throat, unsure of what to really say. Sure, I was in decent shape, but did that make the Gnoll attracted to me? I had no idea what her tastes were, but apparently I fit enough of them. “Well, I can honestly say the same.”

  “You said I was beautiful.” Suddenly I was yanked back and once again placed on top of her. I realized that she was not even really on the bed fully, as Velvese was occupying some of the it. But even if the lizard wasn’t here, Shuzshu did not fit on the bed.

  After thinking about it for a moment. “Maybe we should move the other beds in here?” I suggested. “That way you can actually fit.”

  “Why do we even need a bed? Just put everything on the floor.”

  I chuckled a bit. “We could also do that, yeah.” I looked over at Velvese, noting how her breathing was steady and she was still unmoving. She would probably wake in the morning very confused.

  ~

  Not just confused, apparently, as I was awoken by complaints. “It hurts…”

  Her and Shuzshu had apparently been talking for a little bit. “You must bear with it.”

  Opening my eyes, I could see Velvese had sat up and was gently touching the rod that was protruding from her the stump of her arm. “I can feel it…it hurts and feels weird…”

  “It will for a while,” I said with a yawn, sitting up a bit. “Your body will assimilate to it over the course of today and tomorrow.”

  “Will it…always hurt?” the lizard asked, glancing at me and then again at the rod.

  “No. The pain you’re feeling is the lingering remnants of having the bones broken and carved.” I slowly got off of Shuzshu and rubbed my face. “Once it heals, you won’t hurt.”

  “Broken…and carved?” Shuzshu asked, sitting up.

  “Well, yes, how else am I going to get it to attach?” I started to get dressed as I explained, “There are runes carved into both the adamantine rod and her bones that will encourage the merging.”

  “This is…part of me?” The lizard was full of questions, but that was to be expected.

  “Yes,” I said, nodding. “You can think of it as your bones and skin. When the prosthetics are done, they will attach to these exposed bones.”

  Both of them were staring at the exposed rods.

  “I’m going to be working on the prosthetics today, and probably tomorrow. When I’m done, you should be fine enough to move around.” I picked up my coat, not bothering to put it on. “But until then, you’re… You shouldn’t move too much.”

  “I will help you,” Shuzshu said with a large smile.

  The lizard gave me a look, an almost pleading look, as if asking for me to save her from the big Gnoll. However I had things I needed to do. “Shuzshu, please bring the stones up to my lab, so I can start working,” I said before heading up the stairs to the attic.

  There was a very long process of removing everything from my coat and laying it out. Not just for the prosthetics, but everything for my gauntlets and the rest of the arm armor. As I was doing that, Shuzshu came up. “Stones.”

  I looked at them, and nodded. Two of them looked nearly identical, while the other was slightly bigger. “Drakes?” I asked, a bit puzzled.

  She nodded. “Nest.”

  I quickly cast Analyze on the three stones, and it was a bit surprising. “They’re all Tier Ten?”

  There was a grin on her face. “Good axe. And they were lazy.”

  “Ah, so you caught them off guard,” I said as I placed the stones onto the table. With them, I could work on the circuitry. I had to know what sort of stone I was going to have if I wanted to accurately design circuitry around it.

  Shuzshu ran down the stairs after leaving a pile of gold on the table. There were a total of twenty coins, so she probably kept the other seven. I tossed them in my coat before sitting down to work. There was so much work to do.

  With something like a prosthetic, the circuitry and structure had to be done at the same time. There would be a core similar to bone structure, with the circuitry around it and connected to the shell. Shuzshu brought me food at a few points, but those breaks were short and I didn’t truly stop working until the sun went down.

  It was honestly a fun challenge. Most of the day was spent on designing and making the circuitry of the prosthetic legs, as well as the design for the legs themselves. I had to really focus on these designs as they were so different from anything I had ever made. The circuitry would probably not have taken as long if I used the old style, but I wanted to both test out my new electroplating method, and study its efficiency in something so taxing.

  As for the actual construction, the stones were located just above the knee, and the tips of the adamantine rods would actually touch them to be the start of the circuit. Lizardfolk legs had a couple differences from humans; digitigrade for one, clawed for the other. Working out where the knees would go took a bit of math, and they had to be sturdy and flexible in how they swiveled and bent. Then to the ankles, which needed an even larger range of motion.

  The feet were mildly based on what I had seen of lizardfolk, so rather large and reptilian. Overall I may have taken a bit of liberty and made them more raptor in appearance. I just couldn’t get the thought out of my head of how much she resembled a dinosaur. And of course they could be clawed, but I left those off for now. Those would need good materials.

  I had just started to work on the circuitry for the arm when Shuzshu came up. “Sleep time,” she announced.

  There was a thought to protest, but I realized that the Gnoll was not about to let me argue. “Alright,” I said as I put things down. Walking down the stairs and into the bedroom I was met with quite a sight. The bed frame was nowhere to be found, and the floor was a sea of mattresses, pillows, and blankets.

  There was a very comfortable looking lizard snoozing on some sort of nest made of pillows and blankets, and the large Gnoll soon joined her, making a nice and comfortable looking area. She looked over at me expectantly, patting the bed near her. I chuckled a bit, making my own preparations for bed.

  Shuzshu just watched me, smiling and every now and then patting the bed. “Is this what you two did today? Bought more bedding?”

  “Yes,” she responded proudly. “We also tried many food stalls. I could not find the sandwich place she spoke of.”

  “It’s a street over,” I explained, sitting down on the blankets. It was an absolute mess of sheets and pillows, but I had to admit it was comfortable. She probably spent a lot on it.

  “Mmm…” She moved over to me before knocking me over and laying on me.

  I grunted softly, finding that she had curled herself around me. “You could just…wait for me to lay down.”

  “That’s no fun…” she said softly.

  “So you just like knocking me over?” I started petting her, running my fingers through her mane.

  “Yes…” I felt her tongue against my chest.

  “And you like how I taste?”

  “Yes…” She licked her chops. “Tasty.”

  I let out a nervous chuckle. I wasn’t sure how to feel about something her size saying that about me, but I wasn’t exactly worried about it. With that we finally settled into sleep.

  ~

  In the morning I awoke to my body being an odd mixture of cool and warm. It took me a few moments to realize why, but when I glanced around I found the reason. On one side was a Lizardfolk, and on the other was a Gnoll. I wondered when Velvese had moved from her nest to come lay against me, as she had done it without waking me.

  However, the two of them had woken me up with their soft conversation. “It…doesn’t hurt now…” the lizard said softly, and I watched as she grabbed one of the rods and gave it a rather vigorous jostling. “Still feels…weird…”

  “It’s got some nerve connection,” I said groggily, trying to fully wake up. Both of them seemed to jolt a bit at my words. There was this feeling of having come in at the tail end of a conversation, and now they were worried about how long I had been listening.

  “Uhm…nerve…connection?” Velvese asked cautiously.

  “Yes. Nerves.” I rubbed my face a bit. “Nerves are little fibers all throughout your body that allow you to feel, using electrochemical transmission and-” I stopped, looking at the two of them. They both looked so confused. “And a bunch of other stuff.”

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “See? Smart,” Shuzshu said with a smug expression.

  The lizard nodded in response. “Smart.”

  I looked at the two of them for a moment. “Alright, yes. I’m smart. Now, would you kindly get off me so I can get back to work?”

  Again they both jolted a bit, as if realizing where they were. It made sense for Velvese to do that, but I was curious as to why Shuzshu had the same reaction. But thankfully both of them did move and allowed me to get up.

  I reached down, grabbing hold of one of the rods jutting out from Velvese’s leg. She froze up a bit. “Does this hurt?”

  She shook her head. “N-no.”

  I tried to twist it a bit and jostle it. “This?”

  Again she shook her head, unable to get any words out.

  I nodded. “Alright. Then you should be good enough,” I said as I stood up. I didn’t bother getting dressed yet as I went up the stairs. I heard the two of them converse in hushed tones for a moment until I returned, carrying the two prosthetics.

  The lizard's eyes went wide as she stared at them. “Pretty…” she mumbled.

  That was something I agreed with. The end product had them appearing quite beautiful. “Alright, so this is going to feel extremely weird. Because of the nerves and stuff, and you’re going to feel the magic from the stones invading your body.”

  I knelt down, putting one prosthetic leg down as I started a final check to make sure everything was in order. “Will it…hurt?”

  “No,” I said, but I paused. “It shouldn’t. If it does, it means that there’s something wrong, so tell me immediately. It should just feel really weird.” She nodded in response, and with a bit of a shove and a twist there was a chunk sound and she gasped.

  I waited for a moment, watching her. She was shaking a bit, her eyes closed, and a…bit of drool coming from her mouth. “Mmng…” She shifted a bit as if she was uncomfortable. “That…that is…nng.”

  “Does it hurt?” I asked softly.

  Her head shook side to side. “N-no.”

  With a nod, I grabbed the other leg. With a shove and a twist, it connected as well and she inhaled sharply, twisting and turning her body. “Should take a few moments to connect.” I had a hand laid down on what would be her calf, waiting to see the results.

  Velvese was panting, her hand gripping tightly at the sheets. “It…ah…nng…” Her legs pressed together, and that’s when it occurred to me. She had just…orgasmed? Twice?

  “Uh…” I cleared my throat a bit. The sudden rush of magic and new sensations running up her legs and directly to her spinal cord had probably stimulated a whole bunch of things.

  “M- mmmaster…” she breathed, her eyes opening slightly to look at me.

  That was a look I had only ever experienced once before, from Shuzshu. Shortly before she rather vigorously had her way with me. Thinking of the Gnoll, I looked over at her, only to see her giving me a rather interesting type of smile. “What’s with that look?”

  “It looks like she liked that,” the Gnoll teased.

  I cleared my throat, and stood up. “Yes, well. She’ll need a few minutes to-” I had to stop myself from making a comment, and change my wording, “-adjust to the legs.”

  “Master…” I glanced at the lizard, who was reaching out to me. “Come here…please…”

  I hesitated, but did move closer. “Yes, Velvese?”

  She reached up, and much to my surprise, grabbed hold of my underwear. “You can’t just…leave me…after doing such a thing to me…”

  If this progressed any further, I knew exactly where it would go. However, as soon as I tried to step back, I bumped into Shuzshu. I looked up at the Gnoll, a bit confused. “He is shy,” she said and I actually felt my face heat up a bit. “He has had so many nights to take me, but has not done so.”

  “Shuzshu that- I…” I really couldn’t argue with that. Although I did not expect that she had been waiting on me to initiate.

  “At least…kiss?” I heard the lizard mumble from below me. “Please…master?”

  “He is very good at kisses,” Shuzshu said with a nod.

  “I’m being ganged up on,” I said, a bit bewildered. I looked at Shuzshu, and then down at Velvese, a little confused at the standing of things. But after taking a deep breath, I nodded slightly. “Alright. Alright, let go first.”

  Velvese had a grip on my undergarments and I was a bit worried that she was going to rip them, as a certain Gnoll had done. “Kiss her lots,” the Gnoll said. “She wants to taste your mouth.”

  I looked back at the Shuzshu. “What the hell have you two been talking about while I’ve been working?” Suddenly I was pushed down. Again. “Oof.” This Gnoll was really a fan of shoving me around. As I rolled over, there was a lizard that rolled over on top of me.

  She was straddling me, her hand moving over my chest. There was a certain hungry look in her eyes as she stared down at me.

  “Was I not going fast enough for you?” I asked before placing my hand on top of hers. “What an impatient lizard.” I glanced past her at the Gnoll. “You two have that in common. At least judging by that movement, the legs are functioning well.”

  “Do you…not want me to…master?”

  “Gods, you’re calling me that on purpose just to get to me, aren’t you?” I reached up, gently placing my hand on her cheek. “Just come here.”

  Her eyes closed as she slowly brought her face towards mine. As she came closer, I put my other arm around her. She actually almost missed, and I had to nudge her mouth a bit more downward. She tensed up when contact was made, but with some gentle encouragement with my mouth she relaxed. It was slow and extremely hesitant. A very different contrast to how it had been the first time with the Gnoll.

  It was a bit…leathery feeling. Her mouth smooth and cool against my lips. She pulled away several times, trying to figure out the proper approach, trying to figure out how she was supposed to move. It was rather amusing watching her with mostly closed eyes. It was awkward, but enjoyable.

  While I kept a hand on her cheek, my other hand resting on her back, she could not figure out what to do with hers. She touched my arm, touched my face, touched my neck, my chest, my side…completely unable to figure out where she wanted to put it. Eventually she settled on putting it on my chest.

  Several minutes passed, and I was simply enjoying the mouth feel. She tasted of those kabobs that I was a fan of, probably having eaten them recently. Or maybe it was familiar because she was also a lizard? However the moment was ruined by Shuzshu. “And now, you sex.”

  Both Velvese and I froze, eyes opened. We both looked over at the Gnoll, who was sitting beside us, watching us. She had a grin on her face, and her tail was wagging. I was going to say something, but the lizard beat me to it, “Shuzshu…what…what are you…talking about?”

  “Sex,” she said with a smile. “First you do all the making out, and then you have sex.”

  The lizard went more red then I had yet to see her. “No!” she exclaimed, and scampered away from me. I got a brand new metallic knee to the stomach as she did so. She disappeared into blankets.

  Coughing a bit, I rubbed my stomach as I sat up. “Bit…too fast…Shuzshu,” I managed through the coughs. Shuzshu crawled over to me, concerned. “I’m alright.” I cleared my throat a bit, rubbing my stomach. “Not everyone goes at the same speed as you, you silly Gnoll.” I gave a soft touch to the nose.

  Her face scrunched up and she batted at my hand. “Fast? Fast how? First you make out, then you have sex. That’s how I’ve always seen it go.”

  I was trying not to laugh as I shook my head. “I think you need to learn a bit more, Shuzshu. Some people aren’t ready to immediately go into sex.” I got up as I spoke, moving to get dressed.

  The Gnoll narrowed her eyes at me as she watched. “If you aren’t going outside, why put clothes on?”

  “Comfort. And in case someone visits.” I took a deep breath, smoothing out my shirt. There were a few new little burns and stains on it from all the work I had been doing.

  “Do you not like kisses?” Shuzshu asked, sounding a bit hesitant.

  “I like them, but…” I paused, trying to think how to explain it. How do you explain intimacy issues? “I want to. I like them, I really do but I just… I struggle because… I don’t know how to really explain it. That even after so much there’s…there’s no guarantee you’ll stay.”

  “I’m not leaving…”

  I shook my head. “I know that. You say that. You say you won’t. But how many times do you think I’ve heard that? How many hundreds of times people have told me that they won’t leave. That we’ll stay together.” I looked back at her. “And yet…and yet when we met… I was alone. Again. All those people…none of them struck around.”

  The silence was heavy in the room.

  Taking a deep breath, I continued, “All of them. Just…gone. Most of their own choice. To leave me. Pretend we don’t know each other. Slander me. Hurt me. People who said they’d stay… In the end it was just…words. And I’m…I’m sorry that I can’t just…change. That I can’t just make myself believe that you won’t leave. Because Gods, do I hope you won’t leave.”

  I was watching her as she thought for a moment before crawling over towards me. If I didn’t know better, it would be quite the intimidating sight. I could barely see Velvese in the back, peeking out from under some blankets. The Gnoll came to a stop in front of me, looking up. “I want to stay.”

  “I want you to stay, too. But I can’t get rid of the fear you’re going to leave me.”

  Her arms wrapped around me as she pressed her head against my stomach. “I understand. Fear is strong. I just have to be stronger than your fear.”

  A smile tugged at my mouth as I ran my fingers through her mane. “I…look forward to that…” I said softly.

  Across the room I could still see the mostly hidden face of the lizard, her face still incredibly red. It looked like she wanted to join us, but her embarrassment was too much.

  However, as much as I would like to have stayed like this, I needed to work. I pat Shuzshu gently. “Alright. I have a lot to do.” I could tell she was reluctant to let go, but she slowly did. “Walk around a bit with Velvese, and get her clothes.” I paused. “And also get yourself some clothes. Some sturdy stuff for when you go questing.”

  I had thought to add a bit about loungewear, but since their apparent preferred state of dress at home was undressed, I didn’t bring it up. Instead, I headed upstairs and into the lab. I had to make the arm, and maybe start work on my own things before the end of the day.

  I might have actually gotten to start on my gauntlets, but Shuzshu and Velvese returned for lunch, giving me a lot of food. And doing a sort of impromptu fashion show of what they had bought. Which wasn’t a lot, but they wanted me to take the time to offer my opinion. Which was that I thought they looked good.

  Velvese looked especially good when I attached the arm to her after dinner. Thankfully there was no orgasmic experience for her this time, but it was still a massive rush of emotions for her. She twisted and flexed the arm, turning it this way and that. “I can…feel it…” she mumbled, tears welling up in her eyes.

  “Yeah, that’s the nerves I was talking about. You can feel your legs, too, right?” She nodded. “Same thing. Although it’s extremely dull, it will let you feel pressure, and touch to an extent. You won’t feel pain, or damage, but you will feel that something is wrong.” I was examining the arm, watching as she moved it about and slowly guiding her movements.

  Her arms suddenly wrapped around me and she pressed her mouth firmly against mine. It was much different than the kiss this morning; seems she had been practicing? It was a nice moment, but she pulled away quickly and…ran away?

  I blinked, watching her disappear down the stairs, a bit stunned. “At…least she’s…getting used to the legs,” I managed to say after a moment.

  Shuzshu laughed. “I can hunt tomorrow, yes?”

  “Yeah. We’ll give Velvese a day to get used to the limbs, and then the day after I want you to take her outside. Not hunting. Just, around. Do some like…exercising.” I rubbed my face a bit, trying to work out a sort of timeline.

  “And then after that, hunt?”

  I thought about it for a moment and then nodded. “Yes, once you get her some weapons.”

  Suddenly the Gnoll hugged me, picking me up. “She is strong. We will fight lots and make lots of money. And eat lots of food.” She was grinning as she carried me down the stairs. This was something that I was going to have to get used to. Thankfully there was no one to see me in this rather embarrassing situation.

  And then she threw me. I landed in a pile of pillows and blankets. Before I could even start to get up and untangle myself, there was a Gnoll on top of me. Again I didn’t have any time to react before her mouth pressed against mine. And then she shoved her tongue into my mouth. It was an extreme contrast comparing the Lizardfolk and the Gnoll’s way of making out.

  I put my hands on her sides, trying in vain to fight off her tongue. Her enthusiastic tongue did eventually calm down to a manageable level of tonguing, which was sort of a relief because I was worried that she was really going to shove it down my throat this time. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that thought.

  After a few minutes she pulled back, her tongue the last thing to leave my mouth. She was panting softly and looking down at me. Her breath was hot on my face, and a bit muggy. She turned her head to the side. “That’s how you make out.”

  Following her gaze, I saw Velvese, who had been watching. Her face was red, but she nodded in response.

  I was a bit stunned, unsure of what to say. Reaching up, I put my hands on the dogs cheeks and began to roughly rub and squish them. “Did you just use me as an example?”

  She made a few noises in response to my rubbing, but didn’t seem to dislike the rough handling. “Yesh,” she managed to say.

  “You silly dog,” I said, chuckling softly. The more I ruffled her face and neck the more she seemed to like it. There was a smile on her face and her eyes were closed. My attempts at punishment had turned into a reward for the Gnoll. She really was like a dog sometimes. “You are such a silly dog.”

  ~

  Shuzshu left early in the morning, leaving myself and the lizard to continue sleeping. At some point, Velvese had come over and put her head on my chest. She was never near me when I went to sleep, but it seemed that I was going to consistently wake up with her on me. I gently rubbed her head, running my hand down her neck a bit.

  The feel of scales is something quite pleasing. Smooth in one direction, but sharp in the other. Cool to the touch, and full of so many little ridges and textures. She squirmed slightly from the way I was caressing her neck, her eyes opening slightly. “Master…” she said softly.

  “Morning, Velvese.” I gently pet her head.

  “Why do I…not have a…pet name?” she said in that slow way of speaking.

  “Pet name?” I frowned a bit. “I think that Gnoll is filling your head up with nonsense.” I tapped her on the forehead. “Maybe I should start calling you silly lizard?”

  Her brow furrowed and her cheeks puffed in response.

  “Silly lizzy?” I suggested with a smirk on my face.

  She let out a huff and rolled off of me, burying herself under blankets and pillows.

  I laughed a bit as I got up and dressed. Today seemed like a good day to do some training. Putting my gauntlets together wouldn’t take that long, so I should spend the morning working on my stamina.

  Once in the yard, I was quite surprised to see the entire area cleaned up, and half of it turned into a garden. Those little mice had been working hard it would seem. It was a lot of work that I wouldn’t have to do to prepare a small workout spot. Putting my shirt and coat to the side, I started marking out a general area, and putting down some stones. Then it was time to work.

  The most important thing about boxing is footwork. It was the first thing I would teach any prospective boxer. Move your damn feet. Unless you are actively blocking, or actively attacking, move. Then it was how to throw a punch without hurting yourself, and how to block with as little pain as possible. What I needed to work on now was step four, getting that endurance and stamina up, both physically and mentally.

  There was a big list that I used to have back in my coaching days, of what comes where and what should be trained in what step. Not like I train anyone but myself anymore, but it was important to have a sort of schedule. Something to follow.

  I spent an hour warming up, getting my body moving, doing a bit of footwork and light jabs at the air. And then it was probably my favorite and least favorite method of training; shadowboxing. But rather than using my own shadow, or a mirror, I could use a sort of visualization thanks to the clarity of mind brought from my profession.

  Every fight I had ever been in, or seen up close could be replicated. The reason it was my favorite training technique was because as a coach it showed flaws and habits in form, and you could even catch them yourself if you were paying attention. The reason I didn’t like it was the lack of feedback. You didn’t get the feeling of impact. But it was perfect for what I needed to do.

  I was thankful there was a well, and I knew the water was clean after giving it a quick Analysis. Maybe it was me being paranoid, but I had ruffled the feathers of some very powerful and vindictive people. Poisoning a well wasn’t beyond what they would do. But once I knew it was good, I made sure to stay hydrated. That was another thing that was important, unless you were some sort of musclehead and wanted to show off your muscles to the extreme. Always looked unhealthy to me.

  Several hours passed with me training, trying to push myself as far as I could go. Just to see where my limits were now. And I was disappointed. After seven years of adventuring, I was back to my starting years when it came to stamina. That was frustrating, but I could work on it. I spent the last half hour at a far less extreme pace, letting myself ease back into a normal state. It was getting close to noon by the time I had finished and washed off.

  Velvese had food. She had apparently found the sandwich stall and was extremely pleased with herself as she held out a sandwich to me. “Lunch…master.”

  I had honestly not expected her to go out. Nor had I expected that she had picked up some sort of belt-like collar similar to Shuzshu’s when they were out. I had no idea if that was her idea or the Gnolls. But it…should be fine. “Thank you. How was going out?”

  “It was…nice…” She shifted a bit as I started to eat. “Walking feels…weird…but not…uncomfortable.”

  “Good.” I wanted to give her a pat on the head, but she was a few feet taller than me, so that wasn’t an option. “Feel free to wander around as much as you want. It’ll take a while for your body to acclimate to the new limbs. Just stay safe.”

  She smiled and nodded, wandering off to do whatever it was she had been doing. Which, as I headed back up to the lab, seemed to be practicing footwork. My footwork. Apparently she had been watching me while I was shadowboxing.

  Back in the lab, I set to work. There were many parts to armor, and although I was only doing the arms, it was still going to take time. First, rebuilding the gauntlets; that was easy especially because I had removed the area for where the vials go. Then the vambrace, which was the part that would cover the forearms and elbow; this is where I put the vials, a total of twenty in each arm. With the new placement, I could remove my gauntlets and have my hands bare and still be able to use magic.

  Next was the couter, which was just a fancy way of saying elbow guard; it was a heavier duty piece of armor, meant to protect the joint as well as be able to deliver some painful blows. The part that protects the bicep is the rerebrace, protecting from under the pauldron down to the couter and connecting to the vambrace. The pauldron was the last part, covering the shoulder and part of my collarbone and down my back over my shoulder blade. I left it enough of a gap that it wouldn’t interfere with turning my head or touch my neck.

  The armor arms didn’t actually take that long, it was the circuitry that always took the longest. Three hours per arm, two of which were spent on just the circuitry. While this electroplating process showed huge promise, it was definitely a time sink.

  But, I had put it all together and was doing a test fit of it all when Shuzshu came up. She didn’t say anything, and just watched me as I twisted and moved my arms to make sure I still had full range movement. I didn’t need to do this. I knew everything fit. I knew everything would bend how I wanted it to. It was like…finding an old coat that you loved but hadn’t seen in years, putting it on to find it still fit perfectly.

  I felt like a missing piece of me had been restored.

  Then I activated them, the room suddenly becoming lit up by the subtle crackling of mana as they sprung to life. “No decrease in cost,” I muttered, noting that it still took half a vial to activate them, “But…a noticeable increase in power. At least double?” I mused.

  “No fair,” came the unhappy voice of a nearby Gnoll. “You got stronger.”

  “How can you tell?” I asked, looking over at her. It was something that I had been curious about.

  “I have a skill. It lets me gauge how strong someone is compared to me. But it’s super inaccurate, and doesn’t consider lots of different things, like environment, weapons, magic, potions, and stuff like that.”

  “But it counts my gauntlets?”

  She nodded a bit. “When they get all sparky, your strength spikes really high.” She looked a bit upset as she watched them crackling with energy. “Now you spiked way more…” She paused. “I don’t think I could beat you.”

  “Well, you couldn’t beat me before.”

  “I was tired and hurt,” she snapped. “And disorientated. And I didn’t have a weapon.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh at her getting so defensive. “What about Velvese?” I questioned, gesturing at the lizard that had come to investigate what was being talked about.

  “She is strong, but I would not lose.” She paused. “I think. I don’t know if my skill is able to count her new legs and arm, or if it’s basing her strength off before she was hurt.” The Gnoll was now unsure.

  “It’s a good thing to not rely on that skill too much. It sounds like there’s a lot it doesn’t look at.” I flexed my arms a bit, mildly surprised that the charge was still active.

  “Bed time,” Shuzshu said with a huff.

  “Yeah, I’m just timing how long my charge lasts now and then I will be down.” She frowned at me, and as if to say she didn’t believe me, she sat at the stairs, watching the spectacle. In the end, it took ten minutes. That was a jump of ten times. “So, same cost, double the power output, and ten times the time limit,” I said as I began removing the armor arms.

  “What are…they called…” Velvese asked, watching me curiously. She had not seen me fight yet.

  I paused. I had never given them a name. “Never really thought about it…” I said as I brought them down from the lab, placing them to the side in the bed room. “I don’t name any of the things I make.”

  “Sparky Fists!” Shuzshu exclaims.

  “No.”

  Immediately the Gnoll deflated.

  “How do you…make them…spark?” Velvese asked, looking over at the armor.

  “Ah, well-” I paused. “Do you know much about magic?”

  They both shook their heads.

  “Mm.” I thought for a moment on how to best describe it. “Alright, then I will try and keep the explanation simple. There are six main elements. Air, water, fire, earth, light, and darkness. There are also a few dozen sub-elements consisting of positively and negatively charged elemental fusions. I use the sub-element of storm, which is a positive connection of air and water, to generate lightning.”

  Shuzshu’s brow furrowed slightly and she scooted closer, which was an interesting sight. “How do storms have lightning? I was told it was like…the anger of Gods, but no God seems to say it was them?”

  “Is it…not the Gods?” Velvese asked, also apparently curious at the subject.

  “Well, Gods most definitely can use lightning, but that’s because they’re Gods. But naturally occurring lightning is caused by static build up from particles in the clouds crashing into each other.”

  Both of them stared blankly at me.

  So I started to explain the water cycle, things about clouds, friction, particles, static electricity, and the like. It was…oddly nostalgic. I remember when my children learned this in school, and had been so excited to share their knowledge… I always encouraged it, asking them questions like it was the first time I’d ever heard about it. It was well into the night before we finally settled down to sleep.

  ~

  We all got up together for once, just before the sun rose. Of course, I took the longest to get ready as I had to put on my new arm gauntlets. Maybe I did need to come up with a name? I wasn’t sure what to even call them. “Be sure to buy her some weapons,” I said as a simple reminder to Shuzshu.

  The two of them were going to go to the guild, to have Velvese register and then go out and do some light hunting to help get the lizard back into things. “Yes yes,” Shuzshu said, a little exasperated.

  I smiled a bit, giving her a pat on the back. “Keep her safe, alright? And if she starts having any problems, head back immediately.” Maybe I was being a bit too nagging, but it was important.

  “Yes. What will you do?” she asked, looking me over.

  As I was putting on my boots, I hummed a little. “Hmm…probably go see if the Kobold has put out any requests yet, and if not, tell her that I’m available to take requests. And then go fulfill the promise I made to go talk to the Spirits.”

  Her eyes narrowed and her ears folded back. “I do not like Spirits. I have not met nice ones.”

  “They’re fine. They’ve never done me any harm. Well, any harm that was actually intentional.” I looked vaguely around the room. “And besides, we have our very own nice little House Spirit, right?”

  “I have not met them,” Shuzshu said.

  I shrugged. “They are a quiet little thing. But they do such a good job taking care of the house and keeping clean, so I’m thankful they’re here.”

  She seemed to ponder a moment as I stepped out onto the street, the sun just starting its journey upwards. “I suppose I do not hate them,” she said eventually just before following me outside.

  With a chuckle and a shrug, we made our way down the street. We shortly split up. Shuzshu and Velvese went off to go and find her some weapons while I went to the guild. As I walked in I got a lot of strange looks. It had been a while since I’d been here, but I was unsure why most of the room was looking at me in displeasure.

  Making my way to a counter, I simply asked, “Are there any requests for me?”

  “No,” was their immediate response.

  I looked at the man behind the counter for a moment, curious about the hostility. But I was used to it. “Alright.” I turned and walked away. There were a number of things that could be the reason why everyone was suddenly so unfriendly, but I couldn’t be bothered to even begin to list them. I just had to chalk up the guild as a place I was unwelcomed.

  Stepping back out into the street, I started to retrace my path to head to Red Bottle. I should have just gone there first. Entering the familiar building, I could see the tail of the Kobold sticking out from behind the counter.

  A smile crept onto my face. “Eulreka?”

  Her head popped up and she stared at me for a moment before she grinned. “Arc! Hello, yes, welcome, do you need?”

  “Ah, no.” I walked over to the counter, mildly curious as to what the little lizard was up to, but not enough to ask. “I just wanted to let you know that I’m open to taking requests, so you can start submitting them.”

  Her head tilted to the side. “Yes, I have done so. Four times?”

  It was a struggle to not lose my smile. “Oh I see. Hm. Okay, then I’ll go check there.” So even the guild was purposefully suppressing her.

  She nodded. “Yes, yes. Have lots of requests.”

  I nodded as I left, making my way back to the guild. I was annoyed that the door was open, because I honestly wanted to knock it off its hinges. “Landerson!” I shouted, drawing everyone's attention, causing everyone to go silent. I took the moment to breathe, trying to stay calm.

  A door on the second floor opened and he looked down at me. “Yes, Archanist?”

  “Where are my requests?” I said, spreading my arms out. “That little lizard put in specific requests to the guild for me.” I didn’t give him a chance to reply. “Where are they?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said slowly, still looking down at me.

  “Of course you don’t,” I said, lowering my arms. “So, who would?” My gaze snapped to the people behind the counter. “Which among your staff are taking bribes to toss an Alchemist's requests?”

  Finally Landerson started to make his way down the stairs. “You think that a member of my staff is purposefully-”

  “Yes,” I snapped, interrupting him. “They are. So do your job and fix it. The poor state of every single guild I go to is ridiculous.” I turned and left without giving him a chance to argue or make excuses.

  Back at Red Bottle, I didn’t see the little lizard, but before I had a chance to call out or try to find her she appeared from the back room. Immediately she looked at me confused. “Problems?”

  “Ah, apparently the guild doesn’t have your requests, so I want you to let me know what you need,” I said as I approached the counter.

  She looked puzzled for a moment. “Okay. I need six leaf, handle root, black root, and blue bell. One silver per pound six leaf. Two silver per root cluster handle and black root. And fifty copper per blue bell.”

  “Alright,” I said with a smile. “I’ll come back with what I gather.”

  Her head bobbed up and down a few times in a rather enthusiastic motion. “Yes yes. I have many recipes that need these things. Lots and lots.”

  Chuckling, I nodded and said my farewells before leaving. I took a deep breath, glancing around before I started moving again. I could already tell today was going to get worse before it got better. So I decided not to bother and went home. I wanted to strike something, but that was a bad way to relieve stress.

  Walking into my home, I tossed my coat over the table and removed my gauntlets. I looked down at my hands, examining my knuckles. They always looked strange to me, no matter how much time passed. They weren’t tempered. Unscarred. Devoid of the marks of time. It bothered me.

  Tossing my shirt onto the pile I made my way into the backyard and just started to practice. Whatever Landerson was doing, it sure wasn’t his job. What did a guild master even do? Weren’t they supposed to manage the guild? Keep the guild members inline? He sure wasn’t doing any of that. But the question was, is it out of incompetence or maliciousness?

  “Arc?”

  The word broke me from my thoughts, immediately bringing me out of the training trance I had been in. Suddenly my body hurt, and I realized I was absolutely drenched in sweat. Looking over, I could see Shuzshu, looking at me from the doorway. “Yes?”

  She gave me a concerned look. “Are you alright?” she asked softly.

  I didn’t answer immediately. That was a rather complicated question, and I wasn’t sure if I could answer it properly. “No,” I said truthfully, taking a deep breath. The air was cool, and I realized that it was dark. It was no wonder my body hurt so much.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked, still not moving from her place blocking the door.

  That was another good question. “A lot,” I said after a moment. With a sigh I started to make my way towards her. “I need a bath.”

  For a moment it looked like she wasn’t going to get out of my way, which confused me. It seemed that she realized she was blocking me as she suddenly jolted and moved. “Can I help?”

  “With the bath, or everything else?” I asked as I passed her. There was a temptation to reach out to her for some sort of physical contact, but I felt gross and didn’t want to pass that on to her.

  “Everything else,” she said as she followed me.

  Going to my coat, I pulled out a healing potion and drank it. “Probably not. A lot of it’s up here,” I said as I tapped the side of my head.

  She had a look of confusion on her face. “What..about other stuff?”

  Looking over at her, I could see Velvese sitting at the bottom of the stairs, also looking concerned. They had probably been back for quite a while.

  “Mm…” I wasn’t entirely sure how either of them could help. “It’s all politics,” I said with a sigh. “Just keep in mind that the guild isn’t on your side, okay? Especially Landerson.”

  “The guild master?” Velvese asked, tilting her head to the side.

  “Yes, especially him.” Making my way to the bathroom, adding, “I don’t know if he’s just incompetent or a bad guy, but I don’t trust or like him.”

  “He is strong,” the Gnoll said from my side.

  I watched as the tub slowly filled. “Stronger than me?”

  She seemed to hesitate, and looking at her I thought I would find her with a look saying she didn’t want to say the truth, but instead she had a thoughtful look on her face, like she couldn’t decide. “I…don’t know.”

  That was definitely not the answer I was expecting. Landerson was over Rank Ten, even if he was weaker now than in his prime, he was still extremely powerful. I should aim with the goal of being able to defeat him.

  The bath was nice. It would have been nicer if Shuzshu and Velvese hadn’t joined in, but I really couldn’t complain since baths were not an everyday thing. We couldn’t waste the hot water. Though it was pretty obvious that the only reason the lizard was there was to look at me.

  Shuzshu didn’t shove me around that night, but that was probably because I sort of flopped onto the bed before she had the chance. I was exhausted, and I desperately just wanted to stop moving. It wasn’t long before I fell asleep.

  In the morning, we all made preparations for the day. “How did Velvese do yesterday?” I asked, not having done so last night.

  “Good,” Shuzshu said.

  I watched as Velvese equipped two rather large swords to her belt. As I had thought, she was a dual swordsman. I would have to ask her what her profession was later. I had designed the arm with the thought of her wielding a blade, but she had chosen heavier swords than I had thought. Adjustments would probably need to be made.

  As if sensing my gaze, Velvese looked over at me, noticing the way that I was studying her. “They work very well,” she said, moving her arm for emphasis. “I am…actually struggling to keep up with them, as they are faster and stronger than what I had…”

  “That’s a bit bothersome… Do you want me to adjust them?” I asked as I stepped out of the door.

  “No, no. I will just get better.”

  I turned back a bit to look at her, and was just about to speak when suddenly a burst of red blossomed from my chest. The sound hit a fraction of a second later. I’d been shot. I had actually been shot. By a gun. I had been shot by a gun. By a bullet. Gunslinger was a rare profession on the southern continent. I moved my arm upwards, just in time to feel the ping of a second round ricochet off the metal of my gauntlet.

  They had gone for the double tap. Parsing time between shots, it was a bolt action? The first shot had barely missed my heart because I turned towards Velvese, but that hurt. Looking just past my gauntlet I could see a figure, lying prone quite a distance down the street.

  With the hand not blocking my face, I quickly cast a dense ice sheet, angling it in just a way so that the third shot pinged upwards and over me as I ran towards them. Watching their bullet be deflected got quite a reaction out of them as they started to quickly get to their feet, firing another shot as they did. This shot was deflected, too, but I wasn’t sure if the sheet could take a third shot.

  Thankfully in his panic, the figure actually fumbled with their fifth bullet, but I wasn’t going to give them the chance to finish loading as I launched the ice sheet at them. They had to roll out of the way, dropping the rifle as they did, and getting to their feet. Reaching into their trench coat, because of course that’s what they were wearing, they pulled a revolver.

  However, by then I was on them. I backhanded the gun to the side, following the movement of the person's draw, which caused the firearm to swing wide and go off. Immediately I heard the ringing in my ears from having it fire so close, but I ignored that, delivering a metal fist to their gut. They had on armor, but the blow still caused them to double over slightly.

  I followed up by striking the shoulder of the arm holding the gun. That caused them to drop it. I kicked the gun away before it even hit the ground, not even looking at it. What came next could only be described as a one sided beat down. He had some hand-to-hand skills, but clearly no skills specializing in it. He might have some sort of gun-fu stuff, if that even existed, which is why I made sure he didn’t have his gun.

  Combat skills are very interesting, because they don’t translate. A Swordsman can’t use their sword skills on an axe. A Gunslinger can’t use most of their skills without a gun, if any. If gun-fu existed, it wouldn’t be very usable without a gun. Shuzshu was an exception to this because she had a broad profession, but that also probably meant she didn’t have any weapon specific skills.

  Whatever the case was, I was going to beat this man to death. Because he shot me. “You fucking shot me,” I said, the man still somehow standing. That was honestly surprising, but he did have armor under his coat, as well as the coat being armored itself. And I hadn’t charged my gauntlets.

  His hands were up in what I originally mistook as a sort of old fashioned boxing stance, but it was just the basic unarmed stance of this world. His breathing was ragged, and I could tell he was struggling to stay on his feet. I had knocked him in the head twice which had clearly rattled him.

  “You fucking shot me,” I repeated, slamming my first into his face again. I was starting to feel it now. There was a bullet in my chest. It had missed my heart, but had gone through a rib and clipped my lung judging by the difficulty I was having breathing. I needed to drink a healing potion.

  An extremely annoying thought hit me. Why hadn’t I charged my gauntlets? I was too used to being frugal. Too used to having so little. I was just about to activate my gauntlets to finish him off, but before I could, a huge axe swung over my head and bisected him.

  I staggered back a bit, reaching into my coat and pulled out my last healing potion and drank it. “Leave it,” I had to say, as Shuzshu was hitting the man over and over with her axe. She was pissed. But my words did manage to get to her and she stopped.

  Pulling off my gauntlet, I started to check the wound. My shirt was soaked in blood now, but the coat repelled it so it was clean. There was also a hole in the shirt. I had to reach into my coat again and pulled out a thin pair of pliers and a strip of leather. Putting the leather into my mouth and biting down, I dug the pliers into the hole.

  It hurt just as much as having actually been shot, but I had to pull it out. I needed to know if it had shrapnelled, and what it was made of. The first few attempts were shards of bone, which was also good to get out, but eventually I managed to get it. It looked like it was solid, and made of iron. That was a relief.

  The healing potion had stemmed the bleeding, but had not quite stopped it. I fumbled a bit as I removed my other gauntlet, realizing that I must have lost quite a bit of blood. But this was an extremely dangerous person. If I had gone for cover, or tried to break line of sight, he might have shot Velvese, or Shuzshu. Because I know for a fact that big Gnoll would have charged him, just like I had. But I didn’t know if she had a way to keep herself from being shot.

  “Fucking bastard shot me,” I muttered as I started to put some cloth over the wound. I had used the last of my bandages and gauze on Shuzshu’s arms. Thinking of the Gnoll, I looked up. She was standing over me, partly watching what I was doing, and partly watching the area. Her ears were twitching, twisting this way and that, and I could see the way she was gripping her axe. Velvese was there as well, scanning the area. “That surprised me,” I said, turning my attention back to the wound.

  “Who?” Shuzshu practically demanded, only occasionally glancing at me.

  “Maybe that Duke’s son. Maybe someone just doesn’t like me.” I paused. “Probably the Laslow and Tunslow corporation.” I would have to be satisfied with my makeshift bandages until the healing potion finished closing the wound.

  “Why?”

  “They don’t like that I’m working with the Kobold-” I stopped, my attention suddenly shifting to look further down the street. I quickly grabbed both the rifle and revolver the man had, going through his pockets to grab any ammunition he had. There was a guild card. “Maybe the guild,” I muttered as I stuffed it all into my coat before quickly making my way down towards Red Bottle, Shuzshu and Velvese following.