After gathering all the stuff, I head into the portal again. I see that Kiki is watching TV, and choose not to bother him for now. I move the portal back to the scholar’s study in the dungeon before walking back through it.
I have to walk around a bit, killing a few more monsters and grabbing their stones, before finally coming across the entrance. Unlike the doors of the boss rooms, the entrance to the dungeon is just a wall of fog.
“Jeez… Painful memories of being bad at video games…”
I chuckle and walk through it, expecting an absolutely insane boss fight on the other end, but thankfully it’s just the entrance.
There’s a dead forest around me, with black grass and dead trees taking up my entire view. About thirty meters away though, it turns into a normal forest. I fly up into the air and look around, seeing a sea of green with a small grey area where the dungeon is. Birds are flying above, as well as some weird winged lizards. Not dragons, mind you, these are about the same size as birds.
I see a city in the distance, surrounded by large walls, with a river flowing through the center. I decide to fly to the edge of the forest before grabbing Kiki, to see if he wants to head into the city with me.
After about twenty minutes of casual flying while reading the illusion book, I reach the end of the forest. I could’ve flown faster if I wanted to, but I wanted to at least become proficient with illusion magic before seeing Kiki again, just in case people in this world discriminate against Caitherians.
I slowly float down to the ground and land with a soft pad on some grass, right at the edge of the forest. There’s a small, ruined windmill a short distance away, blocking the view of the city. Walking around it, I estimate that it’ll still take about twenty minutes or so of walking to get to the city. It'll be nice to talk to Kiki for a bit while we walk.
I go to call the portal, only to sense someone looking at me, and stopping. I tap my staff against the ground and go to cast gravity magic on them, but their presence vanishes.
Having learned illusion magic, I’d be able to tell if they cast a spell to make themselves disappear, and I sense no trace of magic in the area. Still, I walk over to where they were, the ruined windmill.
I step over the rubble and smell the stench of rotting wood and stale air. The dust everywhere helps me locate what I suspected. There’s small footprints on the ground that simply vanish without a trace further in.
I walk around, tapping my staff on the ground to see if there’s any part that feels hollow, but no.
‘They must have access to teleportation magic.’
I shrug and walk back out of the windmill, swiping my hand and making the portal appear.
Arty walks into the portal, not noticing the pair of shimmering translucent eyes watching him from the windmill.
“Woah…”
A young-sounding feminine voice speaks softly, watching the portal with awe.
After walking back to earth, I’m a bit confused. The anime Kiki was watching is already on another episode… Did the time dilation wear off?
No, it’s probably an effect of the dungeon. Well, not that it matters. That company is way too evil to give a shit about an employee not showing up for work. They probably just assumed I quit. Which, I did!
…
Oh fuck… I’ll have to find a way to make money on earth…
…
That’s future me’s problem! The me of right now wants to bring Kiki on a walk!
I walk over to him and sit down beside him before kissing his cheek. He giggles and purrs while rubbing his cheek against mine.
“Hellooooooo!”
He kisses me back and wraps his arms around me before sitting on my lap. I scratch behind his ear while saying,
“So, I finally left the dungeon. I flew to the edge of the forest and am about to walk to the nearby city. You wanna come with, baby?”
He nods his head,
“Mhm! I’d love to! C’mon! Let’s go!”
He goes to run into the portal, trying to drag me with him, but I don’t budge. It’s kinda cute watching him struggle to pull me, but I pull him back and sit him back down on my lap.
“Nuhuh! Not yet. You can’t go there wearing that.”
I point to his current outfit. A baby blue sweater with leg warmers. Literally nothing else. His cheeks puff up cutely as he pouts. He asks me in a pleading tone,
“Why nyoooooooot?”
…
Fuck, that almost worked.
“You’ll stand out like a sore thumb, babe. Tell you what, how about we go on a shopping date here first? I’ll get you some comfy and more fitting clothing,”
He pouts and nuzzles against me, but I can see his tail wagging at the thought of going out. I giggle and pet him before saying,
“Alright. Can you sit with your back facing me?”
He looks up and tilts his head in confusion, but complies. He sits next to me and faces away, his tail swaying back and forth, and his ears flicking
Every now and then. I reach down and gently stroke his tail, causing him to straighten up and let out a cute, confused sound,
“N-Nya?!”
I stop and let go,
“Is that too uncomfortable?”
He shakes his head and assures me,
“No… just a little ticklish… if you wanna touch my tail, can you touch it a little more firmly?”
I giggle and joke with him,
“Not the only thing you like being firmly grasped…”
His cheeks flush red and his tail stands up straight. While it’s still, I cast that illusion magic on it, making sure it goes all the way to where it meets his body.
“Nya! How dare you! Stop embarrassing meeeeeee!”
He buries his face into his knees, giving me a chance to cast the spell on his ears next. I giggle a little at his reaction and rub his back. I lean in and see him smiling slightly, clearly enjoying my light teasing. I kiss his cheek and pat his back before saying,
“Why don’t you go look in the mirror real quick, baby?”
He tilts his head and stands up, walking over to the mirror. I chuckle to myself as his eyes go wide and his hands fly up to his head,
“NYAH?!? WHERE’D MY EARS GO?!”
I see him grabbing them and running his fingers up and down them, as he does, they come back into his view, his brain accepting that they exist now.
“Phew! I thought they vanished like mom said they would!”
I walk over and pat his butt,
“I cast illusion magic on them and your tail. This way, we can go out on our date without worrying about people staring!”
I smile at him as his eyes go wide. He nods his head rapidly and says,
“Yes yes yes! Pleeeeeease! I wanna try ramen, and takoyaki, sushi, and and uhhh… Oh! A hamburger!”
I giggle and pet his head while the little kitty bounces on his feet in excitement. I cup his cheeks and kiss him, smiling as he wraps his arms around me and melts into me. We pull back, but he chases my lips slightly. I smile at him and say,
“You’re the cutest, you know that?”
He shakes his head and nuzzles into my neck, his breath tickling it,
“Nyo. You are.”
I rub his back before saying,
“That sweater should be big enough on you to hide anything…”
I look at it. It goes down to his upper knee.
“Still, I’d like it if you wore some undies under it while we’re out.”
He puffs up his cheeks, then sighs and says,
“Ugh… Fiiiiiine… Do you have any that are super comfy? The ones back on Munoz are all super itchy and uncomfy…”
I nod my head,
“Undies here are generally pretty comfy, as long as they’re the right size. Mine may be a little big on you… If they are… I guess I’ll have to buy you some that’ll fit.”
He leans into me and says,
“Hehe… Thank you for taking care of me, masterrrr, Nya!”
…
…
…
“Alright. No more anime.”
“NYOOOOOOOO!”