TRC - Book II: Searching for the Sky (Male x Monster Girls)

Chapter 2

Edited by: Old Fart

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As Kal stirred the pan's ingredients and prepared to cook up the small pile of meats he had picked out for his guest, he thought back to the events from almost two weeks ago that had gotten him into this situation...

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Standing before a heavy wooden door, Kal lifted large iron ring attached to it and let it fall, the sharp clang as it struck the metal plate echoing throughout the clearing around him. Looking up, he wondered why so many wizards he'd heard about lived in towers. Quite often, their homes were described as garish structures that stuck out from their surroundings in a way that made them impossible to ignore. The one in front of him was no different. Standing far above the trees in a small forest northwest of Carriston, it was easily seen from a great distance away. Then again, he couldn't judge them too harshly since he planned on setting up a small city in the middle of a mountain.

He felt the faint vibrations of people moving around inside the tower long before he could hear anyone through the thick oaken door.

"Master! Someone is at the door! Can I let them in?!" came a female voice from above.

Kal looked up just in time to see a flash of golden hair disappear into one of the tower's windows, followed by a faint grumbling response from someone further inside. A few seconds later a wizened old face emerged from the same opening.

"What do you want?" he said with a sneer.

"My name is Kal," he called up to the man, "I'm looking for someone to teach..."

"Go away! Come back in ten years when you've learned enough about magic to not waste my time." The old man ducked back inside just as Kal was about to respond.

The young mage sighed, he hadn't expected to be welcomed with open arms, but this was still disappointing. Even as he walked away, he knew that he couldn't give up. For a generous donation to the coffers of Carriston's lord, one of the viziers had told him of a mage who was known to be well versed in dreamwalking and Astral magics.

The lich that had dragged Ikuno into the Astral Plane and attacked her was still out there somewhere. Luckily, Azrin appeared to lose interest in Kal once he had exacted his revenge upon the oni. In the time since Ikuno returned to her shrine, there had been no sign of him. On the other hand, with Kal's pitiful knowledge of dreamwalking, the undead mage could be standing right next to him in astral form and Kal wouldn't have known.

That's why he needed this wizard. He wasn't very interested in learning how to dreamwalk, but he needed to be able to protect himself and prevent the lich from doing the same thing a second time.

"I'm not cheap! Bring a bunch of money when you come back!" came a yell from behind him.

Kal spun around and yelled back, "Money is not... a problem," he finished lamely. The man had already walked away from the window. He shook his head as he continued back towards where he had made camp.

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The heavy iron doorknocker crashed into the strike plate again the next day, this time Kal stepped back and looked up toward the window the man had spoken from yesterday. He only waited a few moments before a pretty blonde girl stuck her head out, her paws resting on the windowsill.

Wait... paws?

Kal looked again and, sure enough, there were paws instead of hands. As he looked closer he noticed that what he had thought was just blonde hair included two ears with rounded bottoms that hung down nearly to her jaw. Those ears cocked forward, and her head tilted to the side for a moment before a big grin split her face.