NOVEL WEB ch.4: Things to consider
“Wow! Who would’ve thought Mr. Minnow was a sensitive guy!” Belle said happily, he was very touched from the act. “I want to be just like that!” holding his fists below his chin, Belle exclaimed. A look of determination as his eyes sparked.
The thought of Belle’s cute and innocent head on a body like Mr. Minnow’s hulking 7ft. one was pretty funny. “What? You want to be ripped like Mr. Minnow?” I said holding back my laughter.
“No- I want to be comfortable with expressing my emotions! That’s the sign of true beauty!” Belle said he leaned forward giving a peace sign and a huge grin. “But being tall would be fun! Maybe…. Like, ‘bow to my grand height mortals! ‘ heeeheehe!” he said lowering his voice and doing his best evil face.
“Good luck with your takeover ‘buff Cat’, just don’t eat me.” I chuckled. “I’m not big enough to be a meal.”
“Maybe not but I could go for a bag of chips or a velvet cookie!” He drooled before rushing off. “See ya, there’s a vending machine this Buff god has to convert!”
My stomach started growling at the thought of food. “Well it is lunch time, maybe they’ve got some thick slabs of fried pork!” I saw some yesterday while I perused the cafeteria for that steak. That steak was so godly, so juicy and tender, the flavor melting in my mouth that I hoped the pork would be equal.
Getting up from my desk, I jogged to the exit, turning into the doorway to almost tackling the lamia girl as she was entering. It took me a second or two to realize I’ll run into her so I tried to push myself toward to right of the door way. Seeing my approach faster than I did She somehow slid backwards as we messed each other by a few inches.
“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to- actually It was my fault. I should’ve moved slower.” Fear in my voice. What if she got hurt doing whatever she did to avoid me?
“It’s fine! This new body’s more sturdy then my old one.” She said coolly while doing an arm flex with the end of her tail. “Just be more careful next time, especially because I almost flattened a slime last time.” She joked. “Anyway, see ya stampede guy.” She called as she slithered around me.
That surprised me, normally people had something meaner to say but she was pretty chill about it. “Alright, I’ll watch my speedometer.” I called back.
“pfft! That was stupid” she smiled back as she teased.
At the cafeteria I found Mark and Kathy after finding pork cutlets as the little sign said, it even came with teriyaki sauce, I really wanted to devour it. It whispered to me that I would find prosperity eating it. The moment I sat down I bit down on one. CRUNCH. The breaded part was a savory crunchiness while the meat itself had a smooth texture. It was a dream, the sauce’s sweetness kept the meal from becoming too samey, that tears welled up in my eyes.
“Hey nice to see ya too man.” Mark said flatly, he sat there frozen in mid wave, giving me side eye.
“You know meat is life, Oliver’s got the right mindset!” Kathy said sagely while puffing out her feathers to look bigger.
“You guys would dive for a steak if it flew towards a running train!” Mark said annoyed.
“And waste a good slab of meat! Of course I’d rush it!” I said resolutely, my eyes full of determination.
“Exactly! No way is good steak going escape my claws!” Kathy proclaimed. Clenching her talons, full of hunger.
“And you guys say I’m weird! For loving the inherent beauty that all monster girls have. Yet here you are, drooling at hypothetical meat.” He said exasperated, as he held out both hands pointing at Kathy and me.
“Meat doesn’t have its own mind Mark.” I argued
“it also doesn’t have anything to do with sex you mon girl addict!” finished Kathy.
“Dam! And I thought I had an argument there….” He said as he held his chest and grasped at the air. “By the way, how’s gym treating you, that lowland still giving you trouble?” Mark asked, his face full of worry.
Kathy’s feathers puffed up as her mouth hang open in a ghastly desire to kill.
“That bad? I thought she’d leave you alone after last year’s sports rally.” Mark said with an irritated face. He seemed uncomfortable.
“Miss posh claims that I cheated! Me! Cheating! I’m the best flyer there could ever be! It’s not my fault us mountain Harpies are more aerodynamic! But Noooo! Miss twin dragon peaks blames her loss on me! Besides I'm not ready to be a mother.” Kathy said frustrated. Her feathers stood so high that it hid half her face.
“Then we’ll have to figure out what we can do. In the meantime, I know just the thing to help.” He said as he pulled a cola can from his bag, popping it open and flicking in a bendy straw. “Mwah! I give to you soda a la fridge!” he said while doing a low bow.
Kathy’s eyes grew three times their normal size as she took the cola, quickly taking the straw and taking a big gulp, feeling the bubbles in her mouth. “Ahhh! That hits the spot!” Kathy sang happily. Her voice becoming more melodic as if she had turned on a natural auto-tune in her throat. Even her feathers reverted to their non-puffy state as she took another sip of cola.
Mark ever the prepared had snuck in some soda, a brand of cola that in my original world was now only sold at amusement parks. Kathy loved it and claimed that this was the second reason the world brought her into existence.
But this confused me, there was never someone who picked a fight with Kathy, sure some where jealous of her athletic body or achievements as a runner back in my world. She did joke about sleeping with some of them, something about untwisting their panties? Maybe a rival from another school goes here instead? Whoever this mountain for tits was, she had mark feeling nervous and upset Kathy. I wasn’t happy about this, the last thing I’d want is my friends having trouble with some rando. Not in my old world or in this one.
“If you guys need help then I will step in. I’d rather you guys having fun then stressing about some boob.” I said sternly. My body was tensing up as I stared coldly beyond them.
They immediately froze. Both looking at each other, Mark’s face upset and Kathy’s of annoyance.
“Nah man, as much as we appreciate your offer. I can’t ask you to do that. You… have a lot on your plate” Mark shook his head.
“exactly! You have everything with your family and with your convergence nearing around the corner.” Kathy said in a rush. “besides we’ll be fine, she’s not going to eat me, I was just venting.” She added.
Frowning, they didn’t want to burden me with this problem. “I don’t like this.” I said with a narrowed eyes.
They both gave me serious looks, telling me that they wanted to handle it and to please worry about myself.
“Fine…. but if it gets out of hand, I’m not going to sit on my thumbs.” I relented flatly.
Following the school map I found in my bag, I soon found myself in front of the black counter at the front entrance. The counter sparked like polished jewel, it was very eye catching that the whole world seemed to disappear.
“Hello there young one, is there something you needed, is there an appointment or would you like to set one up?” came a very calm, dignified voice. It oozed, “I’m in Charge”, energy.
“Oh, uh- yeah! I have an appointment with a counselor, Miss Lavigne? I’m Oliver Roberts.” I said nervously. This lady was taller than me and she was sitting!
She looked at her computer which was an old style bulky monitor that was almost as big as a dresser. Even the keyboard she used would cover half my desk at home!
“Ah! Here you are. Good, good. You’re on time.” She said, very happy with being on time, even though I was fifteen minutes early. “let Miss Lavigne know you’re here. Please take a seat in our waiting room.” She said opening a door.
Walking in, the waiting room was pretty large with multiple seats of various shapes and sizes. There was a seat that looked similar to the couch the my lamia classmate uses only it was very long, maybe it’s for more than one? There was also few seats that were large oval stools with a curved backrest on the side. The stool sunk inward like something with some bulk would rest here. There were large chairs, maybe bigger than Mr. Minnow, some seats had a its backrest only have one support either on the left or right side. Maybe for people with a third leg?
After looking of a seat I found one my size near a door on the opposite side I entered in. the chair was a little hard but it eased my back as I leaned into it. “Ahhh. That hits the spot.” I really liked this chair, all the other chairs I sat in today felt like they were barely there and my back was starting to ache a bit. Shifting my back I felt a pinch as I pressed that one spot against the chair, immediately releasing some tension.
“I see you’re enjoying our Oni seat, it really does release all the stress one builds up throughout the day, doesn’t it?” said a sweet voice that sounded safe.
Looking to the door, I found a calming blue skinned woman dressed in a cardigan, white button blouse that barely contained her chest and a pencil skirt that hugged her hips. Looking up I saw she had shoulder length purple hair and a pair of tall and slightly thin horns pointing straight up on the top of her forehead. She wore a gentile smile the kind mothers have for toddlers but her eyes held joyful, hungry(?), curiosity that it surprised me.
“Uh, yeah… it loosened up a knot I had. Um and you are?” my voice was forced and super nervous. This lady gave me, motherly vibes but also a sense of desire, I didn’t like the idea of seeing mothers like that so I looked at the wall behind her.
“My, How rude of me.” The hunger or desire feeling weakened considerably. “I am your counselor, Miss Lavigne. As you can sense I’m a succubus, I meant no offense but you see your body is releasing a very condensed mana. I was a bit surprised, and it excited me.” She blushed, covering her mouth
Her office was very cozy, warm sunlight coming through the window a couple of shelves with books and little chibi figures from the anime, “Demon slaughter”, one in a green and black roble and another in pink robles. One of the books read, “The Empath and heart” in a font that looked like cursive but ended in a tail with a heart shape. A calendar hung on the wall with a picture of a blond man with a chiseled chin flashing a flirty smile while riding a huge shadowy black horse. There was a few framed photos of two kids smiling mischievously, one pink with blue hair and other with blue skin and red hair. She even had a picture of dog with its head tilted with huge eyes.
“I like cute things so I decorate with what’s cute.” She said raising her hand with a smirk as she knew I saw the blond guy. “Please take a seat. So Oliver, may I call you that?” she asked
“Yes, it’s fine to do so.” I said trying to be professional. I wasn’t sure what she was trying to do earlier but I wanted to be careful.
“Well Oliver, first, I just wanted to apologize to you. My intent was not to hurt you. I sensed your… ‘Thic’ mana and my instincts got excited.” She slowly looked at the wall with a small hungry smile. “you see succubui can feed off mana. Normally I can control myself but the amount you had was far more than other students I’ve seen over my 15 years here.” She sounded happy about this. “I’m sorry for spooking you.” She lightly bowed her head.
“It’s ok I guess, it was strange being greeted like that but I’m fine.” I said in my most friendly business voice.
“Beyond that, you’re here because I want to see how you’re adjusting to your coming convergence. Everything before it and after it, anything you want to share or not is fine. There is no limit to anything you can say.” She said patiently.
“So is having mana like mine bad?” I said bluntly. I had to know if I was in danger and if there was something I could do about it.
“No, not really.” She said relaxed. “In some cases you could say dense mana can protect you from magic to a degree. It’s not uncommon for someone to have thicker mana before converging, that just means your convergence is happening soon and a thicker mana can help you pin down what you might become. An estimate if you will.” She smiled.
“Right…” I mumbled to myself. the thought of changing spooked me, I wasn’t sure what to say or express. That’s when I shifted a pinching pain in my back reminded me of my weird dream. maybe that’s a safe middle ground? “…So could dreams, also relate to this convergence?” I asked slowly
“Why yes, dreams are how our minds hint to us or file through our thoughts.” She said sweetly.
“Then it might also give an idea? Of what I’ll become I mean?” I said unsure of what answer I wanted.
“No, not a full one. There have been people who believed because of their dream they would be a greater salamander. Only to become a normal lizardman.” She shrugged. “He did come out a nice shade of red though.” She cheerfully said, looking up in thought.
“Oh…” I said with disappointment. She waited to see if I had anything else to ask, not wanting to push anything. “Um… do you know anything about flying?” I asked.
“Magical flight yes, not so much about muscle powered flight.” She said curiously.
“I dreamt that I should be able to fly…. But I…” I looked away, I couldn’t finish it.
“Well, if you do gain the ability to fly then our P.E. classes can help you learn, magically or physically. If flying scares you, then you don’t have to do it. But it’s an experience that I suggest you try at least once.” She said while nodding her head.
“Then what is it like?” I asked wondering if it was as great as she said.
“The wind blowing in your hair feels liberating and my body feels light as a cloud. For me it makes me feel like nothing can hold me down as if the shackles of the world can’t hold me back any more.” She sighed happily thinking about it.
The thought of being free from burdens seemed like a good night’s sleep to me, I always felt better after a good rest. so I could see her point to some degree.
“I see, thank you for telling me. Maybe I’ll consider it…. Maybe.” I said not super sure if I truly would fly or not.
