Shifter - Infinite Transformation-Chapter 88: In The Shadows
My spatial bracelet was filled to the brim. Well, actually, it wasn’t. It was emptier than it had been for a while now. Most carcasses had been sold at the Huntrice for what I could only presume to be a fair price. Then again, we had been lucky.
The Eserian was not a place that the Forea Alliance’s residents were allowed to enter at this point, which decreased the supply of the Eserian’s monsters greatly. We provided the Huntrice with premium items, resulting in a premium price. That, however, was nothing in comparison to what we earned from the information I sold.
Two gold chips and 55 silver chips, and a rank-up. Being E-Rank pushed my prestige across all of the Forea Alliance. What exactly that meant, I had yet to find out–except for a few basic privileges...like being considered ’worthy’–but there was no rush. I had more than enough time.
What surprised me most was that the elven receptionist trusted me. Sure, he knew I was not lying due to his special ability, but that didn’t mean he had to pay me out for the information before confirming it. Then again, he said that if I was somehow lying, he’d hunt me down himself. Not that that was going to happen, but it was oddly terrifying.
Hence, I walked hurriedly to the mansion where Fern, Clove, and Gareus of House Gaia were already waiting for me. Gareus was...I honestly didn’t know what to think of him. He did seem to care about the people of Cintre, but there was so much I couldn’t grasp about him. His strength, for example. I knew he was stronger than Fern and just about everyone I’d seen in the Eserian or the Forea Alliance, but he was not as powerful as the Nature Dragon mother, the Eserian itself, or the might wielded by the humans in Camp Ashborn.
He was not yet a Greater Being, which really didn’t mean anything. Not since I found out that he awakened the Earth Dragon Bloodline. It was weak, merely a droplet in an ocean of blood, but it was more potent than any other Bloodline coursing through his veins. He said that proudly, his chest pushed out, looking all high and mighty.
Talking to Gareus Gaia was interesting, to say the least. But I was also exhausted and stopped listening at some point. Fortunately, Fern and Clove managed to keep the Official of the Forea Alliance entertained until he allowed us to leave.
That was how we ended up in a small inn. We left the mansion and found a place in the nearest inn, of which there was only one in all of Cintre in the first place. We rented two rooms–Clove was adamant about that–and split up. My mate and I stayed together, while Clove curled up in his bed and fell asleep even before I managed to close the door to his room.
"I feel so light now that we’re done here." Fern sighed, discarding the heavy weight of responsibility at last. She leaned against me, her head nestled against my chest.
"Do you know what Gareus is going to do now? He never really mentioned the dungeon entrance, nor does he seem all that bothered by the Zetrian Empire’s advances." I asked before letting out a tired yawn.
Fern and I moved to our room, the fae clutching onto me. She looked as tired as I felt, but the glint in her eyes told me that sleep was the last thing she was thinking about. She rubbed her head against my chest, drenching me in her scent, bringing a smile to my lips.
"He probably reported our findings to House Gaia already. They’re either on the move to claim the dungeon entrance for themselves or to reinforce their standing among the other Houses through conquest. House Gaia is not one of the weakest Houses, but they’re on the lower end of the hierarchy. Gareus has a rare Bloodline. He is not weak either, but compared to the other Houses, he is." Fern shrugged, her hands moving across my chest. She caressed me and pulled on my clothes until we landed unceremoniously on the bed.
"House Gaia will probably try to grow stronger and earn a small fortune by conquering a few dozen floors of the Grand Dungeon before sharing the information with the other Houses." Our eyes met as she looked up, the corner of her lips curling into a bright, sultry smile. "But that won’t happen, will it?"
"No, it won’t. They won’t have the dungeon for themselves." I chuckled, pulling Fern even closer. My heart felt like it was about to burst with happiness. "The Huntrice was informed about the dungeon entrance. I don’t know much about politics, but your Houses felt too much like the Zetrian Empire’s nobility, so I thought..."
"You did well," Fern praised, her smooth and filigreed fingers mingling across my cheek, cupping it.
I planted a kiss on her forehead, my cheeks accidentally touching her horns. She let out a muffled moan, the tips of her ears turned red, and she tried to look away. But the monster within me awoke the moment I heard her. The connection between us flared up, and I threw Fern onto her back.
"I love you." I called out, half-whispering, half-growling.
Our lips met again, this time fiercer than before.
The Eserian no longer stopped us from being together. There was no danger. No threat to pay attention to.
It was just us and our desires.
***
The late evening was replaced by night, which was then replaced by the light of the first sun. It returned to illuminate the realm like always, yet it felt wrong. Like it was not supposed to be morning yet.
We hadn’t even slept yet. We were wide awake until late in the morning before exhaustion finally caught up to us.
Satisfied, our eyes closed and we fell into a deep slumber.
But not everything was as peaceful as the lives of all those resting in the small inn in Cintre. Danger lurked everywhere, and the Zetrian Empire and the Forea Alliance were not the only forces that kept an eye on the dungeon entrance in the Eserian.
More forces, far more dangerous than one may fathom, lurked in the shadows of the Eserian, as well as the Great Depths, and they were just waiting for the right moment to emerge. To conquer not only the Eserian but the entire realm. To make it theirs. Like it had been at the beginning of time.
