"Myria? What's wrong?"

Myria says "Nothing's wrong, I did it!"

"Did what?"

Myria says "Well, I was practicing some of the moves from the recording when it happened!"

"When what happened?"

Myria says "It worked! I got a class! I am an archer now, master!"

"Great work! Congratulations! But stop calling me master!"

Myria says "Aww, but why? Ruby gets to call you master! And I did promise to serve you for the rest of my life! Besides, I'm useful now aren't I?"

"You were already useful, Myria, becoming an archer just makes you more useful. Ruby only calls me master to tease me."

Myria says "Is that what you think? You don't even realize, do you?"

"Realize what? What are you walking about?"

Myria says "Umm, I think I might die if I tell you. I think I should go get some sleep, goodnight, master!"

She quickly turns and leaves before I can stop her. What did she mean by that? Why does this just keep getting more and more confusing?

Giving up on trying to figure things out I try to enter meditation. Unfortunately, the thoughts keep creeping back in and I can't calm my mind enough. After an hour of failed attempts to meditate I lay down on the grass and sleep till dawn.

I wake up when the rising sun hits my eyelids. I get up and stretch out the kinks from sleeping on the ground. I move to where the others are sleeping and after restarting the fire I start cooking breakfast.

Drog says "Morning, master."

"Morning, Drog. Once you've eaten I want you to go west to the road and keep an eye on it. We will need to know when the road is clear so we can cross without being seen."

Drog says "Yes, master."

"I'll contact you with telepathy when we are getting close."

Drog says "Got it."

Once the food is done I give Drog his portion first, he is done eating and off to scout before the last person is even served. Once everyone has eaten we break camp and set off towards the road. I take point as we move out, and Myria moves up next to me.

"What are you doing?"

Myria says "I thought I would keep you company, master. Besides, there is still a lot you don't know about the tribes."

"Again with the master thing?"

Myria says "What, are you going to punish me?"

From the look on her face I am not sure if she wants to be punish or is just teasing me. Either way answering the question would just make it worse for me.

Myria says "Anyway there are eighteen major tribes and about twenty lesser tribes. You will only need to worry about the major tribes, they are the ones who can name the Beast King."

"Do I have to control all of them or just a majority?"

Myria says "You will need to subdue all of them, either through force or some other means. To be the Beast King all eighteen tribes must submit to you."

"Well, I don't want to have to conquer them by force, killing a lot of them would kind of defeat the purpose."

Myria says "You won't be able to do this without bloodshed. At the least you will have to kill a few champions."

"That would be fine, I just don't want to weaken the tribes too much before the invasion."

Myria says "Well, from strongest to weakest the tribes are; Ogre, Wolf, Lion, Bear, Tiger, Ape, Coyote, Fox, Jaguar, Badger, Bison, Lizard, Lynx, Monkey, Rat, Bunny, and Owl."

"Oh, there's a lion tribe? Do they look like me?"

Myria says "Um, I'm not sure how to put this, but no beastman really looks like you."

"What do you mean?"

Myria says "All the beastmen, of all tribes, have mostly human features. We have some fur and some markers, but our faces tend to be mostly human. I've never seen someone with basically the head of a cat other than you."

"Oh! Well, I guess that makes sense."

Myria says "Master, I meant no offense! I find you very attractive!"

"Erm, that wasn't what I meant. Krenocia told me I wasn't a beastman, she made me using the body of a humanoid mana beast."

Myria says "Humanoid mana beast? I've never heard of such a thing. Are there others?"

"I actually didn't think to ask her about it. I was kind of overwhelmed when we were having that conversation."

Myria says "Well, like I said earlier, you smell of pure cat, so I would suggest getting the four cat type tribes to submit first."

"I will keep that in mind, but it is too early to start planning that out. There are a number of other things to take care of before I start thinking about becoming the Beast King."

Myria says "Fair enough, master. I will be ready to offer my knowledge at any time. Or anything else you may want."

"Are you serious or is this just more teasing?"

Myria says "Master, I haven't once teased you."

I can feel my face burning as I realize what she means, and it is very very tempting. Now is not the time though, I will think about it later. We need to get across the road safely, I can think things through tonight when we camp.

"Myria, let me think about it."

Her only response is a blinding smile, she is definitely beautiful. There is no doubt I find her attractive, and thanks to anime I've always had a thing for bunny girls. The problem is Ruby, I don't want to hurt her, but I'm not even sure what she thinks about me.

Drog thinks 'Master!'

'What is it, Drog?'

Drog thinks 'Slavers! Lots of them!'

'How many?'

Drog thinks 'At least thirty wagons!'

'Which direction?'

Drog thinks 'Coming from the south.'

"Mericel!"

Mericel says "Yes Ash?"

"There is a party of slavers coming up the road from the south. Go get me an accurate count of their numbers."

Mericel says "Right away!"

Myria says "Are we going to fight them?"

"Yes, I hate slavers. Besides, your people might be on those wagons."