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Rain stood tall and tried to judge how much he had grown by. He towered above the ground, of course, but furrowing his brow and trying to measure how much he had changed, well, he didn't think he had changed by as much as he would have expected. Eight foot five inches, and a little bit perhaps?

It wasn't the kind of growth that eating hundreds of animals would have caused him to expect. He thought about that, rubbing his paw pad against his chin. If levelers caused more growth than monsters, and plants caused very little growth, then that suggested there was maybe some kind of hierarchy with how much he could gain from eating. A hierarchy that put levelers at the top as being worth the most, below that monsters with slightly less, further below that animals, and finally right at the bottom, plant mass, which was worth very little.

It made a certain amount of sense he supposed, monsters were different from animals, there was a clear line drawn between the two, everyone knew that, so why not here too?

It also explained why he had needed to eat so much to sate his hunger. He had been running around trying to put out a fire with a cupful of water, a fruitless endeavour, it was only when he had started to eat the cultists that the tide had turned and he had managed to regain control of himself. The cultists were just that much more filling than animals.

He had questions. Was he going to enter a comatose state every time he killed one of his killers? Would he wake up as a starved near mindless beast then too? That could be a problem. Finding a lot of livestock to eat was one thing, but if that wasn't enough what was he to do? Have a number of levelers or monsters prepared to eat for when he woke? He didn't want to be a danger to Lyra or Opal or… Red… He had almost eaten Red, the hunger had made him mad, irrational.

He didn't particularly want to go on a mindless rampage killing indiscriminately every time he got his revenge, in fact he very much did not. He had earned his control in the dungeon, overcoming the wild nature of what he had become in allowing a few of the prisoners of the Half-Goblin tribe to go. He wanted the choice, the ability to choose what he did at the very least. Being at the mercy of his own hunger did not allow that. ...Perhaps somehow filling a warehouse with food as a just in case emergency measure would be the simplest answer, some way to keep the raw predator in him at bay.

He held up his paw and rolled his digits, flexing his claws. The claws of a predator. There wasn’t any getting away from what he was, although one thing was missing since he had left Lynthia that reflected on his nature, and that was the copious amounts of blood he had been covered in. As soon as he had woken he had gone to do one of his most favourite things in the world, and one of Opal’s absolute least favourite things: a nice relaxing warm bath. He had even added bubble bath this time. It had been nice. He made a mental notice to ransack the mansion for the stuff before they left.

Relaxing baths and eating, two things he had been starved for in his past life. He was now enthusiastically making up for that as much as he was able. If he was to be what he was, a monster, a predator, he intended to at least have regular baths. He didn't want to completely lose his sense of civilization.

His eyes moved to his wrist where the hem of his shirt and coat began. The clothing had seen better days. There were many small tears in the fabric, not to mention the puncture holes the arrows and bolts had left dotted across his back, but it still didn't look bad on him due to how close it fit, especially now it had been cleaned of blood. He had tossed what he wore aside when he entered the bath and the cloth had floated off toward one end of the pool unnoticed. That is until Opal had asked him to retrieve it. He had done so and found that the same magical filter that cleansed the pool water of dirt had also thoroughly cleansed the clothing.

When the clothing dried he had reluctantly put it on at Opal’s insistence, reluctant because he still couldn't say he particularly liked the feeling of fabric against fur. The clothing had held up despite his growth, just, although he doubted it would be able to hold together if he grew any further. He knew he would soon outgrow it, maybe he could ask Lyra-

“It's ready!” called out Opal behind him. He turned to find her standing there, her hands on her hips.

She looked… different.

The Goblin girl was wearing a clean white blouse, a well fitted one at that. She had clearly found the clothing of one of the mansion's previous occupants, a Halfling if Rain had to guess, and had gone about making herself look, well, like a leveler, a wealthy one. She wore a frilly light white skirt that hung down to her ankles and had carefully tied ribbons into her hair. She had also found a wide brimmed hat from somewhere and had delicately perched it on her head.

“...What are you wearing?”

“Do you like it? I wanted to dress up like a snotty leveler! It was hard finding something that fit me though, you would not believe how much stuff I threw out.”

“And you dressed up like a leveler… why? What for?”

Opal tilted her head and smiled sweetly, holding her hands behind her back as she rocked on her heels. “Well, if we’re going to have a tea party like a bunch of levelers then I thought I had better go all out.”

He looked at the smiling Goblin, then he looked behind her at what she had been doing. A part of the Ranker’s quarters had been set out with a pair of sofas and a coffee table in the middle. The coffee table had a tea set on it along with a gently steaming teapot.

“We’re monsters Opal, doesn't this seem, I don't know, strange?”

“And who said monsters weren't allowed to have tea parties? We can steal anything from levelers and make it our own! If I want a tea party then I have a tea party, nobody can stop me, and if they try I’ll kick them in the knee.”

Rain opened his mouth to say that it made no sense, but then seeing a certain look in Opal’s he slowly closed it. For some reason the Goblin girl was set on having tea and if that made Opal happy he wasn't going to stop it from happening.

After a moment of hesitation he moved toward the coffee table and the sofas, shuffling by the table. He then gingerly lowered himself down, his massive size taking up most of the sofa and causing it to creak desperately under his weight.

He watched carefully as Opal hopped around the table and patted her dress down then carefully perched herself on the edge of the opposite sofa. She seemed excited to be having tea, more than Rain would have expected... strange.

“...How are you finding it, outside the dungeon? You can tell me honestly.”

Opal paused. “Hmm. I had some idea of what it would be like, there’s always been talk amongst monsters, memories of tales of the outside, but it’s different than how I imagined, for one that horrible endless sky.”

Rain nodded at that, Opal hadn’t had an easy time adjusting, the dungeon was a cramped mousehole compared to the vastness of the sky.

“But I guess what really pisses me off is seeing levelers just… living.”

“Living?”

She played with a lock of her hair. “Yes. In the dungeon it feels like you are in constant danger, you never know when some idiot overpowered leveler is going to stumble upon you and kill you to grow their stupid numbers, or some other monster trapped in there with you decides to turn you into lunch.”

“It’s…” Rain thought about telling her the other reason, the one that Lyra had nearly spoken aloud. But he caught her looking down at the ground her brow furrowed, there was hurt there, real hurt. He… couldn't tell her, not right now anyway.

She glanced back up at him. “I see them living Rain, living in that town, just living, they aren’t hunted, they aren't in constant danger, they are safe there. Safe, just safe… I…well seeing it I don’t know if I can forgive it.”

“I’m sorry you feel that way… I know it’s hard to see from the outside looking in, I think you taught me just how-... I didn't really grasp it before but seeing it as a monster changed things. When you are a leveler it’s just how things are and monsters are just monsters, free power waiting for the taking.”

She shrugged lightly. “The world is a hard place, kill or be killed, but it would be nice if there was something else someday for monsters, like how levelers have a safe place in that walled town where they won't be attacked, somewhere without that constant threat.”

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“A safe place for monsters? How would that even happen?”

“I don’t know, killing all the levelers in the entire world would be a good step I bet though.”

Rain blinked. She said it so casually. He stared at her as she lifted the teapot and carefully poured out two cups of tea.

“Even Lyra? She’s a leveler too, and a good person.”

“Well maybe not all levelers, she’s okay for a leveler, I guess. That fluffbutt is starting to get it. I've watched her, seen what she’s thinking, how she acts, she… she cares.”

“Don’t you think more levelers could be swayed like that?”

She remained silent and pushed one of the cups across the table. 

“You know how important levels are to levelers, if given the option they would always choose to increase them, the life of a smol Goblin like me wouldn't be even an afterthought. ”

Rain mused on that, he knew well how important levels were, they were Everything to levelers. For each their life's obsession for they defined the life you lived, he knew that harsh truth, it was ingrained in him, the system gave levelers power to save themselves, but it also made a hierarchy, a ruthless absolute hierarchy, one he had been trapped at the bottom of.

He gingerly reached out for the teacup and carefully, slowly, squeezed the handle between his paw pads, lifting it, trying very hard not to accidentally break or crush it. It took a surprising amount of concentration. He imagined he must look fairly absurd, a hulking wolf monster dwarfing a sofa and concentrating furiously on a tiny bone china teacup delicately held between index and thumb.

He eyed the liquid swirling inside and then lightly sipped it. Being his size a sip meant the entire cup was gone in one sip, but he did intend to sip it, and that was what counted.

He felt the hot liquid go down and warm him, it tasted pretty good, almost tangy. He glanced up at Opal, she was gulping at the cup, holding it in both hands, tipping it back and swallowing again and again as she drank the whole thing. He raised an eyebrow.

“I don't think that's how you are meant to drink tea Opal.”

She let out a sigh as she finished and wiped a few remaining drips from her mouth with the back of her hand. “It’s how a Gobbo drinks it, s’better than some levelers way.”

She swiftly grabbed the cups and poured more from the teapot. 

Rain watched then tugged at his shirt uncomfortably. “Is it getting a little warm in here or is it just me?” He wondered if wearing clothing over fur was finally catching up with him, 

He caught a mischievous smirk on the Goblin’s face before she quickly smothered it. he narrowed his eyes.

“N-no, it feels just fine in here! Totally normal!”

She pushed a freshly poured cup of tea across the table.

“Hmmm.”

Maybe the warmth was his imagination. He carefully took the teacup and lifted it to his lips and sipped it in one go again. This time he sensed something was definitely wrong. He felt warm and tense, his body tingling like his blood was up, his fur started to raise as the heat descended, down past his core and centering on his groin, rapidly blooming and spreading. He blinked and glanced down to see a defined bulge creeping along the inner thigh of his shorts, his length pouring from his sheath unprompted.

“What was in that tea that you…you ...” he stumbled on his words as he glanced up to find Opal wiggling in her seat, her breath coming in huffs, her face flushed, a line of drool was running down her chin from her lip. She gave him a starved look and swallowed, then her eyes alight with something akin to madness she stood and grabbed the teapot, lifted it up, and began chugging. 

Rain stared, one paw half lifted to stop her, already too late. The Goblin gulped and the last of the tea was gone.

She slammed the teapot back down on the table with a bang, her hand trembling. Then she nearly fell over, having to brace herself against the table as her wide brimmed hat fell from her head.

“HNyyyaaaahhh, gawwwwddddsss!” 

Her knees turned inward and her legs shook violently.

Rain's ears twitched as he heard the sound of fluids noisily splattering against the ground and his eyes were drawn to the front of her long white skirt where splotches of wetness were slowly spreading across the cloth. Her hands clutched at the fabric desperately as her mouth opened and her eyes rolled up, a long lush moan slipping from her lips as she trembled.

She turned desperate eyes on Rain as her climax came to an end.

“R-Rain! It’s so-! So-! P-please without you I’m gonna die, I’m- I’m- I need you in meeee!”

 

 

 

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