My tail wagged aggressively and my cheeks felt hot. My ears flattened to the sides and I giggled. "You really think so? Tama loves her so much! Serenity is everything to Tama!"

  David nodded as his eyes never left the blade, seemingly lost in the whirlpools on its surface. "I especially love the ethereal enchantment here." He pointed at one of the engravings on the blade itself. "It's activated by using wind and water together in a specific pattern. I assume it was made in the way you fight so it would activate naturally in combat. Such attention to detail showed the creator truly cared for their creation. I would even go so far as to say Talia herself might have made this blade."

  I paused at that and looked confused. "Nya, Talia? You mean guild master Talia?" I asked.

  "Yes. She is actually a master blacksmith and crafter, her enchantments alone put every enchanter to shame. There is a reason she is called the Forge of Fire. I hope one day I can come even close to her expertise in these matters. This blade work alone would put my best-crafted item to shame."

  I looked at him and while I didn't understand everything he said, I felt his passion and desire. It resonated deeply with me. I smiled at him dreamily before realizing this is what Tera was doing only a moment ago. My cheeks felt really hot again. "Can Tama ask David a question?" I asked timidly.

  "Sure, Tama. What do you want to know?" He looked at me with such patience and kindness, yet he had a tough exterior, his large chubby body hiding a lot of muscle.

  Jiggle once again entered my mind and I had to hold myself back from doing what Tera had done to me earlier. I wanted to kiss his lips, I didn't understand why, but I craved it so bad. My cheeks got even warmer and I looked away, a smile I couldn't hide bright on my face.

  My tail wrapped around my leg and squeezed as my ears fluttered nervously. "Well... Tama is, this is, Tama wants to know if..." Before she could finish, Saki called out, "All right, fine! We will go your way then!" "Good!" I heard Tera yell back.

  Saki yelled over to us, "All right, guys, come on, let's go kill some goblins!" I looked over at Saki as whatever I was just thinking about scattered from my mind. Try as I might, I couldn't remember what I was about to ask.

  Saki smiled at me in an almost knowing way before stating loudly, "Ready to go, Tama?" Her scowl returned almost instantly, but I couldn't shake the feeling that Saki had done that on purpose...

  "Sure, just one sec," David yelled back, causing me to look at him. He really was so cool... "What was it you wanted to ask me, Tama?" he asked casually, smiling at me. I felt my cheeks warm up and opened my mouth to answer him, not sure if it was my original question but not caring. "Well, Tama wants to..."

  Once again, before I could finish, Saki appeared beside us and cut me off with a wave. "Guys, if we don't hurry we are going to miss the deadline. A certain someone" she made a pointed look at me, "running off to hunt for a week really made our deadline short. Let's GO!" She grabbed my arm and began pulling me away from David and towards a waiting Tera.

  Tera looked slightly annoyed, throwing dirty looks at Saki. As we got closer she spoke. "That's right, we have to go. Can't waste even a second for a happy couple, can we, Saki?" Her voice dripped with bitterness, her distaste obvious. I just didn't understand why.

  David spoke up in an excited tone. "Finally, let's rock those little green menaces. I want to show Tama my new Stomp!"

  "Tama is excited to see David's new Stomp!" I said as I jumped up and down with my tail wagging excitedly. I looked over at Saki. "What do you think his Stomp thingy is!" I asked her.

  If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  Saki seemed to consider it for a moment. For some reason she looked very amused at me before responding. "Most likely he stomps on an enemy in an interesting way. Based on what I know of his and Tera's elements, I would assume he will coat his foot in a type of earth or metal, mix flame into it, and stomp."

  I paused for a moment. "So like Talia did when she blocked Serenity?" I asked curiously.

  Saki looked at me puzzled before her eyes widened and said, "I honestly didn't see that fight, Tama. It was so fast the only thing I caught was a few delayed sounds and the very end."

  I considered before stating, "If Saki couldn't see that fight, she would have never seen Sensei and Tama training! That was normal speed for us!"

  I heard a cough and shifted to see Tera coughing uncontrollably. She was looking at me between coughs and her eyes were dilated again. She seemed to be trying to say something, then forcing herself to cough to prevent speaking? "Em... Amaz... Perfe... I... You..."

  I looked at her puzzled, but after a long moment she managed to stop coughing and simply smiled. "Yes, Tama, your fight was certainly quick and amazing and..." She trailed off and turned away, seemingly shaking like she was cold.

  "Is Tera okay?" I asked.

  Saki spoke up. "She is fine. She is having trouble coming to terms with her life decisions." Saki's tone sounded almost sad, but after a moment she perked up, her ears and tail following suit as she looked over at me. "Let's go kill some goblins, Tama!"

  "Nya! TAMA IS SO EXCITED!" I yelled as I ran around in circles, making another lap around the town at finally going on a quest with Saki.

  I watched Tama vanish and reappear, then vanish again. I wondered where she went when she vanished. How slow was the world to her that she could just vanish from our sights for short bursts and travel such great distances?

  The thought of living in a world that was so much slower than me would drive me mad. Then again, with Tama that would explain so much.

  We ended up walking around to the other side of Drestor. I thought goblins would be in the forest, but the map clearly showed they were in an open plains around two days' travel from the town. A bit odd, but not really surprising.

  When Tama learned we weren't going in the forest, she seemed genuinely relieved. It made me slightly worried about what she saw there, the place she had called her home, that would make her so nervous about going back in.

  Still, we would have to return. I needed to find her Sensei. It was extremely important. Only he would be able to help me with my quest for vengeance.

  I looked over to Tera. She stared at Tama with reverence. At first I had thought Tera had only been interested sexually in Tama, but over time I had begun to suspect something else. The events at the guild hall kept playing through my head. I felt I was missing something.

  There was a single point somewhere in there that everything shifted. For the life of me I couldn't place it. The whole thing had been very chaotic, a very Tama thing I had realized.

  Regardless of what had happened, the evidence was clear. Tera no longer saw Tama sexually, in fact, I would go so far as to say she saw her almost like a deity. It was disconcerting to watch, especially because of how perceptive Tama was. I knew she noticed it, even if she said nothing.

  Though, knowing Tama, it was entirely possible she was misreading the whole situation. "Say, Tama, can I ask you a question?" I asked calmly.

  Tama, who was over fifty feet in front of us, randomly appearing next to things and looking at them before changing focus and suddenly vanishing again, appeared next to me. I made the mental note she heard me talking quietly from over fifty feet away and filed that away for later.

  "Tama loves all these neat things she found!" she said enthusiastically. She held up a few colorful rocks and a mushroom, as well as a literal speed lizard. I wasn't even going to question how she caught a speed lizard. It was Tama. I would be more impressed if she hadn't been able to catch it.

  "They are all very interesting, Tama, but I wanted to ask you about Tera," I asked, making sure to keep my tone neutral but not unkind.

  Tama looked at me for a second before appearing in front of David. "Can you hold my stuff, David?" she asked pleadingly. David simply smiled down at her and nodded. He held open a pouch at his waist, and the items seemed to flow into it automatically. David had a holder's bag, those are usually only for crafters.

  The way he had talked about Tama's sword earlier, Serenity, had been that of an artisan. He seems interested in combat and crafting, a rather fascinating individual I had taken as weak-willed. He was far more than he seemed. I needed to keep a closer eye on him.