Chapter 17: Chapter 17: Feats of Heroism + Introducing Sprinkle

"It's for you, my Bucky," she giggled maniacally as the forest gremlin was suspended over her head. "Do it, please! Make it rain on my face!"

Ivy shuffled anxiously behind me. "She seems like a handful," she noted, and I couldn't disagree, but Autumn clearly didn't feel the same.

"Yesss!" she clapped. "Do it, Bucky!"

I sighed. This thing was definitely a monster, and if there is one person I trusted on whether or not I should kill something, it had to be Autumn. She was the one who knew everything about my mission. Still, it felt weirdly cruel. I winced slightly as I plunged the lance forward, collapsing the chest of the forest gremlin and causing it to practically burst like a bubble full of blood onto Sprinkle's face. She moaned loudly and fell to her knees like a moaning harlot, spreading the resulting mess all over her body as though it were a luxurious ointment.

"I'm not kissing you today," I stated matter-of-factly, more to myself than to her. She sobered up really quick.

"Wh-what?!"

"That's so mean!" Autumn protested on the unicorn girl's behalf. Both Ivy and I flashed a confused look at her.

Before I could say anything else, I felt the soul of the gremlin make its way through the lance's shaft and into my hands from where it streamed through my body until I felt it burning in my heart. Then, it happened:

Feat Selection Unlocked. Choose from one of the following core feats. The feat you choose will heavily influence your progression from this point onward:

1. Skulker: This sub-class feat allows the Apex Hero to cultivate supernaturally potent stealth-based skills and master the art of shadow-stepping.
2. Shifter: This sub-class feat allows the Apex Hero to shapeshift into monster forms based on the monster girls in his harem. Only available to those with the Harem Knight feat unlocked.
3. Evoker: This sub-class feat allows the Apex Hero to use offensive magic with incredible potency and biases uses of the Discover skill toward unlocking new spells and magic.
4. Crusher: This sub-class feat instantly adds +6 to strength and makes the Apex Hero proficient with all heavy melee weapons.
5. Breeder: This sub-class feat makes the Apex Hero a more effective breeder and allows him to cultivate aura-based powers that enhance the boons of monster girls in his harem. Only available to those with the Harem Knight feat unlocked.

"Holy shit," I said, surveying the options.

Autumn's eyes went wide as she recognized the look on my face as I scanned my HUD carefully, my eyes darting across the display.

"You unlocked your first row of feats," she said in an awed hush.

I couldn't even answer, I was reading them over and over again.

"What's going on?" Rainbow Sprinkle whined. "What's with that look, my Bucky?"

"Your Bucky is making a very important decision," Ivy said, also registering the magic of the moment.

"Do I have to decide right now?" I asked, looking over at Autumn, scratching my head as my face contorted at the pressure of having all three of them scrutinize me so closely as I considered my new options.

Autumn beamed excitedly at me. "Of course not, but I hope you do. Oh, tell me, tell me the options!"

"Do I have to read the whole description?" I asked, groaning.

She thumbed her chin, considering it. "Just the titles first. I likely know most of them, anyway."

Rainbow Sprinkle sidled up to me on her knees and wrapped her arms around my leg as I started listing them off. "Skulker, Shifter, Evoker, Crusher, Breeder," I said, "In that order, if it makes a difference."

"It doesn't," but her face twisted. "I don't know Shifter or Breeder, but I can guess at the latter," she said. "What does Shifter's description text say?"

I read the description off to her, and her eyes bulged as she covered her mouth with her little hands. "It has a prerequisite!" she gasped. "Then it's a prestige sub-class feat!"

"Breeder has the same thing. So I should take one of those?" I said.

Ivy chimed in. "Prestige feats generally are more powerful than standard feats," she said. "But if they offer perks you aren't interested in, you should skip it."

I squinted, weighing my options carefully. They all sounded pretty damn good. I liked the idea of Crusher, suddenly becoming super strong and ripped and an incredible warrior. That had obvious appeal, but so did Evoker. Casting spells was badass no matter how you sliced it, but I didn't gravitate much toward the spells I already did have, so I ruled that one out for the moment.

Skulker sounded cool, but it wasn't really my jam. I wasn't the sneaky type, and that style didn't do much to tempt me. And then there was the elephant in the room--Breeder. It synergized pretty well with the situation I had going on already, but I wasn't sure I really wanted to be known as the Apex Hero who took Breeder as his sub-class feat.

I breathed deep and made my selection. "I'm going with Shifter," I said. "It seems like the right choice. It's a prestige feat and it has a cool power attached."

Autumn nodded frantically. "Yes, yes!" she agreed. "That's a good choice, I can tell. Though I won't be able to coach you much in that one, since it's so rare. We'll be learning about it together as you progress."

I swallowed some nerves, feeling a chill ripple down my spine, into my core. Knowing Autumn would be just as clueless as me was a little anxiety-inducing, to be sure. I'd be flying blind with no one to help me along the path I chose. Still, it also seemed like fun to go in knowing nothing, learning by doing, and besides--the selection was already made.

I felt the energy of the monster souls resonating in my heart as my skin glowed softly and all three of the girls stared at me with wide, curious eyes.

"My Bucky?" Sprinkle asked, tugging on my pant leg. "Are you alright?"

I closed my eyes as the new power etched its way into my being. "Never better," I said, at the risk of sounding like a cliché. "Autumn, I'm a bit confused. How many girls can I mark now?" I asked.

But it wasn't Autumn that answered first.

Markable Girls: 2/3 slots remaining

I held up a hand to silence the catgirl. "Never mind, I just got my answer."

She grinned back at me. "Good, now mark her!" she said, pointing to Rainbow Sprinkle, whose eyes lit up at the suggestion.

"Mark me?" she said in a hopeful hush. "My Bucky, are you really going to do it?"

My face twisted despite my best efforts to contain my reservations.

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"Let's think about this very carefully," Ivy said, taking a step forward and putting a hand on my shoulder. She looked down at the unicorn girl with some trepidation as she regarded me. "Maybe you should do May Belle first and let our new friend gradually get used to your preferences."

"There's nothing to think about," Autumn huffed, hands resting on her hips. "This is necessary and important. We can find a way to mellow her out once she's back at the Sanctuary." And then she blushed, catching her bossy tone. "At least, that's my opinion."

I smiled at her. "Well, I'm not marking her in front of you. And I'm not doing it until she gets cleaned off," I said, looking down at the blood-soaked unicorn girl. "I mean, there are major hygiene concerns as things currently are."

"You're immune to all diseases now," Sprinkle pointed out as she started frantically kissing my pant leg. "It doesn't matter."

"It matters to me," I said, cringing a bit at the thought of it. "That part is non-negotiable."

"As you wish, my Bucky," she said, rising to her feet. "I love you so much. I can't wait until the day you love me, too."

I looked over to Ivy and Autumn. "I can mark two more girls now, and I'm pretty sure it's because of a feat I took. I have to assume that's how this works when it says +2 to markable girls. So, I'll start with Rainbow Sprinkle tonight," I started, swallowing a sore lump of fear in my throat at how that would change things, "and tomorrow I'll mark May Belle. After that, we'll all grind me up to level 15 over the next few days, doing whatever it takes to get there, and then I'll mark you, Autumn."

Autumn beamed at me happily. "I can't wait," she said sweetly, walking up to me and pecking me on the cheek. "Also, Rainbow Sprinkle, let me just say, I couldn't be more thrilled to meet you."

Sprinkle grinned back at her, blood on her teeth and streaking her face. "Can we be... friends?" she asked cautiously, looking the catgirl up and down.

Autumn clapped gleefully at the suggestion. "I would love nothing more!"

"I've never had a friend!" Sprinkle gasped. "Few things can see me, and those that can I usually don't want to be seen by. This is the happiest day of my life!" She got up on her tiptoes and kissed me deeply on the lips.

Immune to disease, immune to disease, immune to disease, I repeated in my head as I tasted the coppery blood of the gremlin on her lips. This chick was going to take some patience to domesticate, for lack of a better word--but then again, Daisy was a handful in her own way, and she folded pretty fast, so who could really say? I figured I might yet find a way to keep Sprinkle's darker impulses in check eventually, especially once I'd marked her. The sooner the better, I thought.

"Alright, then," I said. "Autumn, Ivy, you go home to the Sanctuary. I'm going to take Sprinkle to the stream and get her washed up and then... I'll mark her."

"Are you sure?" Ivy asked cautiously. "There's no real urgency. Maybe we're rushing things."

Sprinkle shot her a hurt look that made Ivy cringe guiltily. "Why do you hate me?" Sprinkle asked with dewy eyes.

Ivy quickly shook her head and hands to deny her, "N-no, it's not like that," she said. "It's just that... you may need some time to adjust to the way we do things is all."

Sprinkle frowned, and Autumn shot Ivy a dark look as she stroked the unicorn's rainbow hair. "Don't listen to her," Autumn said. "You're magnificent, and our hero is lucky to have you. Everyone's going to love you, Ivy included."

"Don't feed her ego too much," I laughed uncomfortably. "Alright then, let's get started. Girls, I'll see you back home in a bit. Let the others know what's going on for me, alright?"

"Should I warn May Belle that you will mark her next?" Ivy asked, moving past her nerves at last.

"Let me tell her," I said. "I think it's better coming from me."

She nodded. "Very well. We'll see you... both... back at the Sanctuary."

They left. "I can't follow you home," Sprinkle pouted at me as they walked away.

"Yes, you can," I grinned. "If you're willing, anyway. Once I mark you, you're bound to me, not the forest. You'll be free to go wherever you wish."

Her eyes opened so wide it made me flinch in surprise. "Is that true?" she asked, her voice shaky with a sudden and profound hope.

I grunted a sound of confirmation and jerked my head in a stiff nod. "According to Autumn, the catgirl."

"Catgirls know things," she said, grinning, a tear coming to her eye. "It... must be true, then."

I took her, hand-in-hand, to the bank of the stream where I fought the owlbear several nights ago. The sound of the running brook was surprisingly loud, much more overpowering than I remembered, but last time I was with five giggling girls, and this time it was only Sprinkle and me. We were quiet, and it was awkward, but she clung to me as tightly as a bride to her groom on her wedding night.

She released her grip on my hands as she took several steps into the stream, washing off the blood. It wiped away easily, and soon she was a perfect picture of fairytale beauty once again, and I felt my heart throbbing as I watched her bathe, her hands splashing water all over her face and breasts.

 I felt my nerves slip away as I undressed myself and waded into the cool water with her, resting my hands on her hips. She looked up at me with a look between love and fear.

"My Bucky?" she said pleadingly, fluttering her gorgeous eyelashes at me. My heart danced in my chest at I regarded her insane beauty.

"Yeah?" I asked, brushing a strand of hair out of her perfect face.

She looked into my eyes, full of nerves. "Please, my Bucky, my love... don't be gentle."

---

 

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