Monster Breeder

129. Day 6: Choices, Choices

“Then let me tell you what happened to us.” Suka proceeds to detail her day, from the skirmish with carnivorous Cactus folk, to the scrap with Sand Goblins, Isabella’s rescue, and the Sand Worm chase. Gabby listens with rapt attention as Suka tells us about Steeltooth, the Kobolds captured by the Goblin Sheikh, Opal’s abrupt evolution under pressure, and her own inspiration to initiate a trial by fire. Then everyone’s eyes glitter with understanding as she draws a certain object from behind her back to brandish before our eyes. “I was running on instinct the whole way, so I didn’t bat an eyelash when I felt the urge to grab a trophy from the Cactus Turret.”

“A TH—” Gabby’s eyes flash behind her spectacles as she jumps to her feet in astonishment, “TH-TH-THIRD-TIER CACTUS NEEDLE! GIMMIE, GIMMIE!!!”

Suka snatches the needle away from the greedy Goblin as Gabby makes a grab for it. “Not so fast, short stuff. I hope you haven’t forgotten what you put me through after I lost our bet yesterday, because I’m going to remember it for a long, long time. You know what they say, what goes around…”

Cums around, everyone seems to autocomplete in their minds.

“Yes, yes, yes, please, please, please,” Gabby begs the wolf girl on her knees, “I’ll do anything! Anything! W-we need it for the war, tell her Alex, we need it to win the war!”

I shrug, stifling a smile, “Sure, we need it, but that’s all the more reason for you to earn it from Suka no matter the cost.” I don’t want to give her an easy out when I like the way this scenario is headed.

With her appeal to me failed, Gabby returns her pleading gaze to Suka, who gives a lupine grin and a blatant eyebrow waggle, “I think you’ve got a very good idea of what I want.”

After a moment of hesitation, Gabby mumbles, “M-make me your b-bitch.”

“That’s the spirit!” Suka celebrates while twirling the needle in her fingers. “Keep that up and you’ll find this under your pillow in the morning.”

Humiliated, and maybe a little turned on, Gabby sits back on her heels and tries to hide the wetness running down her shapely legs as Suka finishes the story with how Isabella became a Desert Rose Dryad.

That factoid sparks a thought in my mind. Looking over, I see the Pitcher woman has coincidentally taken Megan’s spot on Jonny’s lap. The two of them are kissing with tongue while Jonny kneads her green ass with his fingers, and she grinds her core on his dick with her hands on his bulging hard pectorals. His touch drifts to the swell of her gravid belly, gently placing an affectionate hand over the burgeoning fruit of her union with another's seed, and, before my eyes, little white flowers bloom in the hair above her ear as the two of them make sweet… love?

I get Gabby’s attention and jerk my chin at the scene, “Do you think the secret to making Flower Dryads is…”

The Goblin girl catches my drift and nods solemnly.

“Hey, Jonny,” I call, “What do you think of that Pitcher plant?”

I trust my boyfriend not to put his foot in his mouth.

The young man pulls away from the kiss to blearily blink at me with lust-drunk eyes, but he gathers enough wits together to answer. “Who, Mulu? She’s adorable—shy, cute, and surprisingly gentle. She’ll make a great mother.”

Mulu flushes dark green as the number of flowers on her head doubles while she stares at Jonny with an awestruck gaze glistening with unshed moisture.

I keep my mouth shut, or else something about how difficult that description is to believe will slip out.

This Pitcher plant was raping Doug practically in front of his kids when I met her; a monster species I’ve seen take special pleasure in dissolving their live victims with acid. Squaring that knowledge with what Jonny is saying seems a stretch to say the least. But the more he talks and cuddles the plant monster, the less she seems like a cruel Pitcher and more like a soft-edged flowery maiden. It does make one wonder about the nature of monsters.

“What happened to Gale and I isn’t a long story,” Megan begins as she recounts her version of events from when we split, including her and Gale’s evolutions.

“Hot,” Suka says when the mouse girl gets to the part where she ‘meets’ Sue.

“You’re welcome to join us, later,” Megan invites with a sensual roll of her shoulder.

“Might take you up on that…” the wolf girl replies with a lick of her lips.

Ignoring their antics, I take up the mantle of resuming the tale through our battle with the Elderberry Tree and subsequent loss. “Considering Suka and Megan’s ascension to third tier as a result of their encounters, I think we have to prioritize evolving as many of our allies tomorrow as possible.”

*Cough* “Lesser Lupine Flamestalker is second tier,” Gabby eeks out before the flaming beauty levels a glare her way.

“Excuse me? What part of this is ‘Lesser?’” Suka says, motioning to her burning hair and smoking bod.

“Yeah, I’m a little confused,” I say, “How is Suka only second tier after surviving against both the Sandworm and Cactus Turret?”

“What she said!” Suka readily agrees with me. “Didn’t Megan fuck her way to third tier? That’s practically cheating… not that there’s anything wrong with that,” she hastily amends to keep in the little mouse’s good graces.

Megan nods in appreciation for being given face, then says, “I was surprised when I felt it after big sis had her way with me. It shouldn’t have been so easy, right?”

“Chalk it up to the smallfolk handicap,” Gabby says before scanning our faces and realizing we have no idea what she’s talking about. Adjusting her spectacles in preparation for some light exposition, she continues, “In terms of evolutionary requirements, prey monsters need ‘Encounters’ while predators ‘Hunt’ or ‘Slay’ or ‘Defeat.’ Think of it this way: simply surviving as low-tier smallfolk is difficult enough without extra stipulations.”

I think I understand. A prey monster becomes more powerful by escaping danger. A predator, on the other hand, must prove themselves dangerous. I wouldn’t say it to her face but, for a supposed ‘Flamestalker,’ how must ‘stalking’ did Suka do today?

The wolf girl shrugs, unconcerned. “Whatever. That just means I need to kill some strong monsters tomorrow, yeah?”

“Indeed. Maximizing our potential is imperative. However, the question is how to do so efficiently,” Gabby states.

“Let’s go by location, then narrow it down from there,” I suggest. “First is the Western Sea. I could attempt to defeat the Kraken early. That might net me a useful third tier ability for the war.”

“And it would leave us 'landlubbers' with a sizeable team to pursue other priority targets,” my Goblin wife says.

Right, very few of my companions can join me underwater. “We should be considering each option from the perspective of either sending me or a ‘B Team,’” I say, “Except the Western Sea, of course. I’m the only one who can tackle that mission.”

The rewards of that path may seem underwhelming, but it has the advantage of not having to do the job later. As a side note, conquering the shoreline would open a ‘path’ between Field Town and my Hometown. Once she's the strongest monster in the territory, Ariella could safeguard the shoreline with a mermaid guard patrol. It'd be safe to fish for the first time in our recent history. 

“If Vermillion wishes to venture under the mountain, Spindle will insist on accompanying, and advise on including as many allies in the campaign as possible.” 

“Possible earnings include at least one third tier encounter and possible Dark Magic spells,” Gabby adds.

“Not to mention ridding the region of a horrific fate,” I say. The last thing I want to see is a tide of Servitors coming to sweep away everything we’ve built after exhausting ourselves at war. If I don't tackle it before the war, it'll be my first priority afterward. “Next, let’s talk about my Hometown. While there isn’t a third tier encounter waiting for me there, they have a small army of mixed monsters. The mayor may be willing to lend us aid If I can convince him we have a shot at gaining control of the region. That said, as much as I want to see my family and friends, I’m not the only human available for the trip.”

“Your human boyfriend,” Suka says with a hungry glance over at the scene of the young man making love to a plant girl. “He’s a mighty fine specimen.”

“Yes, he’s a great boyfriend,” I say, “But I don’t expect him to change the mayor’s mind on his own. That will probably require some demonstration.”

“But he can fetch us that Electric Ewe you mentioned!” Megan exclaims, having caught my drift.

“Exactly. Jonny by himself, with a few Harpies as bodyguards, can pop over to our Hometown for a few hours. All he has to do is convince Mrs. Fleece to show us her magic for Gabby to copy." And to share her Electric Ewe mark with me... "She doesn’t have to fight in the war, just hop on over to spend the night in Field Town.”

"You mean Fieldton," Suka helpfully volunteers.

My only response at this point is a despondent glare. "Anyways, Dura needs to go with him. She's Human Hunter path, right? We need volunteers if we want a third tier Ogress by the day after tomorrow."

"Not necessarily," my Goblin wife explains. "Or not at first. Dura needs a minimum of three humans, and five would be better, true, but defeating third tier monsters is more urgent. Her score is at zero as of now since she didn't help us fight Aello."

"And she can't just beat up the big bird now because...?" Megan asks with a raised brow. 

"Because it wouldn't be life and death," the Apprentice Witch replies.

Hmm, maybe we can fly Dura to my Hometown at Sunset and cross our fingers she's evolved by morning. I'm really liking this plan. "Let's set that in stone. My Team is 'A' for Alex. Team 'B' is whoever I don't take with me, except for Team 'C,' which will be Jonny and a flock of Harpies headed for my hometown. They'll land him far enough away to not get attacked, then he walks in and grabs Mrs. Fleece along with anyone else who wants to join."

"Regarding the Misty Grove," Gabby says while tapping on her thick, avocado-colored thighs, "Can we safely eliminate it from the running?"

I shake my head. "There's no guaranteed third tier encounter, true, but we know there's a Library inside a dungeon hidden there that may be the key to understanding my origins. The Book of Monsters had to have come from there—"

"—And a Library may contain Grimoires," Spindle eagerly taps the many fingers of her four hands together.

"From my understanding, Flou, Olindia, and Brenda need Slime cores to evolve, not to mention the mysterious light I saw last time we stopped by." Only second tier cores and above will do for my gooey companions, though even first tier cores have their uses saving lives on the verge of death or replacing a destroyed Flou body. 

"It may be best to send a small exploratory team," Gabby suggests, "Unless we're risking our limited remaining time on this gambit." Tomorrow is our last chance to prepare for the war…

"Noted. Maybe we should take a return trip to Charlatan Forest. With Aello flying us over during the day, we can all go and knock down that big, barked bastard before lunch." It'd only take a few hours since we know where he is. "There's no sense sending the B Team to tackle this job; the Elderberry Tree is no weakling." Then thoughts of Mulu's gradual conversion to our side finally bear fruit in my mind, "If we do kill the Elder, what about the remaining Treefolk? Would they fight for us in exchange for amnesty?"

Mulu, still in cowgirl position atop Jonny, their limbs tangled, their bodies sweaty, his cum dribbling from her quim with his flaccid rod recovering between rounds, hears us and speaks, "It is possible. The Elder has ruled these woods as far back as anyone can remember. Seeing him slain would shock and frighten everyone. They'd surrender, and listen to a powerful monster willing to spare their lives."

That would also open a path directly to my Hometown. 

"How about we head straight for the Sheikh and pound him until he gives up all his slaves?" Suka asks. She seems eager to return to the Eastern Desert. "We could get the Lizardmen on our side, and they'd join us as long as we get rid of the Sandworm as well."

"Spindle has already volunteered to clean up that mess, and I'm allowing her to go alone." It's a testament to the Webling's intimidation factor that the only objections are our companions' incredulous stares.

"We could 'fish' for the Sandworm using me as bait," I say, earning more dumbfounded gazes. "With my defensive buffs, acid resistance, and Stone Skin, it can't digest me. Meanwhile, I'd be on the inside to tackle the monster it's protecting in its mouth."

"As crazy as that sounds, it just might work." Suka shrugs, flipping her flaming hair as she speaks, "And the Cactus Turret?"

I point at our captive Needle Mouse. He won’t even give us his name. "What if we're not enemies, little buddy?"

"Don't call me 'buddy.'"

"Do you have humans back home? Probably not many in the desert, huh?"

You're definitely not human..." He paused, hesitating.

"But I smell like one, right? Right? And I've got a human boyfriend if that's more to taste." I've got Lure and Allure in addition to my impressive endowments. Judging by the way he's biting his lip, it's working on him. "You must be treated well inside the Turret's walls if you're refusing this hard to betray even a word of information. That's something we have in common. Tell him, Megan."

The Denki Nezumi nods with a bob of her glowing blond head. "As you can plainly see, we literally have these predators eating out of our hands. If the Cactus Turret is so great, they'll want to partner with us. There's everything to gain and nothing to lose."

He's on the fence but not quite convinced. "What's in it for you, though?"

"I gain power from defeating or having sex with monsters. Hopefully, the Cactus Turret has some fuckable body parts?" His eyes fall on my rod as if confirming the theory. "Come on, you don't have to decide the fate of your home. It's not your job." I just want him to not sabotage us or attempt to escape. "Wouldn't you rather spend the night sucking on these than tied up in a cage?" I grab my milky gazongas and practically shove them in his face.

He's only a man... A small, mousy monster man. He can't resist amplified human pheromones and magically enhanced endowments. 

The mouse boy succumbs to my wiles and crawls into my arms after Suka releases him from his restraints. The dashing young male in cactus leathers drinks deep from my breasts and immediately the tension leaves his body (Pacification). I cradle him as he takes his fill while the pleasant warmth of nursing another spreads through my chest. When he's finally done, his eyelids are so heavy he falls asleep the moment I place him on a thick bed of soft grass (Plant Growth).

He seemed reluctant to join me, so I'd rather he didn't cause trouble tonight. I'll decide what to do with him in the morning. The best way to gain his trust will be to ally with his home.

"So, assuming the Cactus Turret is romanceable, that's another me-exclusive option."

Gabby nods. "It seems our most efficient course is to take a large group and try tackling two or three third tier monsters one after another. Well, I'll be busy preparing for my evolution. What's your opinion, Alex?"

If I go off on my own, I'll need to send the others on a B Team mission. With that in mind, I'll...