~ Chapter 89: Anvil overboard! ~

[Tamara's point of view]

“Nyaaa... Pet me more! Pet me more!” I said as I snuggled in Shanteya's lap.

Out of all of them, she knew best how loved to be petted. Well, she and Illsy... My mate was a genius in finding my weak spots, to the point where I was envious I couldn't do the same!

“You are awfully active, aren't you?” she asked with a soft smile on her lips.

“Munyaaa~ Not really... I just have nothing to do...” I replied while letting my tail sway as it wished.

“True, we've been sailing like this for almost five days now. Sigh... I wonder when we will reach shore.” Shanteya said.

“Mmm... A week or so from now?” I replied half asleep.

“I wonder... Isn't that a bit too precise?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Nya~ Hm? Fish? You said fish? Where?” I asked her and perked up my ears.

I lifted my head up from her lap and quickly looked around, sniffing the air.

“No, I didn't say fish... Ah, never mind.” she gave up and ruffled my hair.

“Nya?” I twitched my ears and then laid back down in her lap.

Acting like a foolish kitten was always the best strategy in order make mortals see my 'slip up' as nothing more than a joke.

Who would believe that this Awakened nekatar was more than what they believed? Hm, but it was going be a long time before I revealed myself to them... A pleasant, normal life alongside Illsy was what I desired the most.

Ah... When was it that I made the decision to follow Illsy? Back then, right?

I remember it like it was yesterday... Mufufu!

When I was first found by Illsy, I appeared to be just a helpless little kitten. Injured, enslaved, meowing... who could deny my cuteness?! He saved me and then we traveled together. I desired to be nothing more than a simple pet to him. I was happy like that. He gave me fish, I let him pet me. It was a trade of equivalent exchange.

Well, lots of things happened afterwards, but the turning point of events was when Illsy fought The Darkness. Such strong will he had, it fascinated me~. Just like a hero from the old legends, he stood his ground and reclaimed what he had once lost. No matter the pain and struggle he had to go through, he never stopped and persevered... truly amazing.

Then he brought us on the boss-filled island. I nearly wanted to slap him over the head for his decision, but he kept us safe, and our lives never changed for the worse. Well, Zoreya managed to overcome her shyness little by little and mate with Illsy.

On the other hand, I was left outside of the 'wife group'. I didn't care at first, I had other things to focus on like cooking and becoming stronger. However, as days turned to weeks then months, and one year turned to two. After I nearly got turned into Sky God food and learned to hunt the big lizards with beams of light coming out of their eyes, I began to wonder if I should aim for more.

Illsy was getting comfortable with his wives, and I was still nothing more than a slave... In his eyes, I was a pet... or maybe he still saw me as a child because of my undeveloped body. The Unawakened nekatar anatomy was not one to please the human libido. Yet, I was already 18 years old now.

“Nya... This... is boring... no, frustrating?” I said as I stretched myself on top of a branch.

It was in the dead of night. Everyone was asleep except for me.

“Grrr!” a Giant Dayuk came close, thinking I was easy prey.

I merely looked at him and released my presence a bit.

The monster flinched and then dashed away as fast as he could. Normally, that was a bit too much, but I was too frustrated and let this slide. So far, in this life, I had yet to be embraced by a lover, and even I longed for it.

“Me? Wanting to mate? That's good one, nyahaha!” I chuckled, but then I stopped. “No way...” I shook my head. “I really want him? HIM?!”

I was at a loss of words... and thoughts.

I couldn't believe what I was feeling and who I was desiring. From what I could see and check, there wasn't anything wrong with my body or head. I wasn't technically in heat yet, but... but... but...

“Sigh...” I slumped down on my branch and looked up at the moon. “Is it one of you stupid gods who meddled in my affairs?” I groaned.

Well, I could not go up there and ask each and every one of them, so I decided to give it a go. In other words, if my feelings were true, I would feel the energy of 'love' flowing between me and Illsy, otherwise, there would be nothing there.

The only way to make sure of this was to get rid of my... childlike and beastly appearance. Illsy was clearly not interested or attracted in either of these two. So, that night... I allowed my body to Awaken.

This change happened to all nekatars who reached a power level of 500 according to the Temples, but this wasn't always true, there were a few more hidden conditions for this to happen. First of all, they had to accept the desire to change. Second of all, they had to hold within them a certain amount of Magic Energy. In Illsy's words, a Magic Energy Pool of over 30000 points was needed. Third of all, they had to survive the change... That last one was the reason why many nekatars refused to do it. We instinctively felt the fear of Awakening...

Well, it didn't really matter to me, I was a bit 'special'. I survived, but the change itself was painful enough to make me want to rip off the heads of all the bosses on the island, but by the time the sun was up, it was all over.

When I opened my eyes... the area I was in was a mess. Several trees were ripped in half. There were scratch marks everywhere. My fur and blood were scattered all around me. And a monster who didn't know any better got too close and ended up ripped apart. He was literally ripped apart and had its head crushed in by my fists. The sight was truly brutal, but it only made me hungry...

“Well... I should take a bath first, nya...” I said as I got up and stretched my arms a bit.

My clothes were in rags, and I was covered in fur. It appeared as though I had become quite similar to the type Illsy liked the most. Normally, nekatars, even Awakened ones, didn't have such big chests. It was strange, maybe some god really did interfere?

Either way, starting tomorrow, it was Tamara's turn to hunt Illsy! I was going to make sure if this man was worthy of me or not, but then again... I never hanged around people I didn't find worthy in the first place.

The official wives tried to stop me, but all failed miserably... None could stop the mighty Tamara from getting her fish, nya~!

A few days later, I had Illsy all to myself. Nothing like a cute female with a cat's charm to catch the male's attention.

As for the other wives, once the deed was done, and I was fully satisfied, they first thought Illsy a lesson and then drilled into me the laws of their group. I never saw Illsy run so fast. It was like he was being chased down by the Bringers of Apocalypse. Out of all of them, Shanteya's glare was really scawy~!

Well, returning to the present, I never expected Illsy and his other wives to have such a quick growth. Their strength was over-the-top ridiculous. None of the Legendary Bosses on the island could pose a threat for them now. I highly doubted even an army of Supremes could defeat them. Well, Illsy kept calling us Over Supremes, but I never understood what was up with that. It sounded like a childish name to give to a class. Fish Nuggets sounded better and tasty too! Mmm... fishy~

“Munya~ Right there! Behind the ears!” I said and stretched when Shanteya found a weak spot.

“Row row your boat! Gently down the stream~! Merely! Merely! Merely! Why are you hitting me in the spleen?!” Illsy sang.

Peeking back, I saw Nanya grinding her punch into him.

“Less groping my bottom and more paddling, you pantie snatching pervert!” she growled at him.

“Nya~ Illsy is a pervert, but you like it too...” I giggled.

“What?!” Nanya retorted, but her cheeks were bright red and her pointy tail sprung up from under the water.

“Nya~ Your moans are the loudest... then Zoreya's... Mmm, Shanteya and Ayuseya's are the same... Mine are so-so. Nya~ Right, my love?” I asked as I purred under the el'doraw's caress.

“I cannot deny your statement.” Illsy nodded.

Nanya punched him.

“Ouch!” he groaned.

“I don't moan... that loud.” she spoke in a very low tone of voice.

The other wives simply giggled and let them be.

“Now I'm the one who wants to find a ship or land faster...” Illsy grumbled.

“If you didn't EAT the whole island, maybe we wouldn't have found ourselves in this sort of situation?!” Nanya rebuked.

Truth be told, that was exactly what happened.

Four days ago, Illsy called us on the beach early in the morning and announced with a bright smile on his face that we would be leaving this island. He even made this raft, which wasn't as simple as it looked. It was enchanted by a Godlike Dungeon Lord, making it capable of withstanding incredible stress. After all, it survived to all the jumps and fishy attacks that happened until now. As for how it moved, it was pushed by the strength and speed of Illsyore and Nanya's legs. The speed was of several knots. We were traveling faster than a horse-drawn carriage on land. I like it because the wind was all fluttery through my hair.

When Illsy told us that we would leave the island, we all thought the raft was just a joke of his and that he was going to build some highly sophisticated and incredible boat. Or we would fly on Ayuseya's back. Instead, after we all got on the raft, he turned towards the island and ABSORBED it.

HE ABOSRBED the whole island, giving us literally no chance to reconsider this plan of his nya~! It was absurd, nya!

With the island suddenly gone, the water had to go somewhere. There was also a matter of the underwater volcanoes. Thus, we began to paddle for our lives away from there while being chased by a tsunami and avoiding shooting boulders of molten rock from under the sea.

I never paddled so fast in my life, nya!

Apparently, that was the only way to stop the ridiculous barrier surrounding the island. It was the loophole in the spell. Without an island and bosses to take Magic Energy from, it literally had no purpose to exist. Thus, it vanished into thin air...

That day, we swum for our dear lives... The beating we gave him afterwards was more or less the reason why Illsy ended up without a Magic Armor that day in the first place.

But I didn't see what the problem was. The others were just exaggerating over the gravity of this whole thing. Illsy's only fault was in making this poor excuse for a raft and not giving us a heads up before he swallowed the island.

At the very least, he had plenty of materials now to use for his Magic Academy, with which, we all agreed to help build... Nya, I was going to be the cooking teacher!

Hm, strange, but when one is relaxed and petted carefully, one's mind can think with ease... and sometimes, look back upon the past, nya...

[Ayuseya's point of view]

“Sigh...”

I looked up at the sky and saw no signs of birds or clouds of rain. The endless ocean was empty and calm... Not even the smallest ship in sight.

It was boring.

There was nothing to do on this little raft, nothing at all... Even my precious book collection had been read and reread so many times that I completely lost interest in it. Illsy wrote me a few stories from his own world, but his talent for writing and describing the beautiful was somewhat... lacking. On the other hand, his manuals and teaching guides were amazing, simple and easy to understand.

Therefore, when we reached shore, I was determined to find the closest library and raid it! I would buy all the books there or even better, I could just steal them! No... that would be bad. Illsy wouldn't want that.

Letting out another sigh, I looked back at my husband. He was swimming next to Nanya, both of them pushing this raft while they peddled with their feet. Normally, one wouldn't see this as being a very effective way of transport, but surprisingly, the raw power of their feet was at absurd levels already. We were moving faster than any boat I had the pleasure of sailing on.

Actually, they could pretty much lift this raft above their heads and run on top of the water, but then the continuous up and down motion would make all of a sick... And I can already imagine Tamara getting annoyed with this and starting hissing at them. It wouldn't be good for Shanteya either, she has to be careful... I thought.

Turning my gaze to the nekatar, I saw her enjoying her petting session with Shanteya. Next to her was Zoreya, who was staring into the depths of the ocean as if trying to find the secret to immortality. Her shield was stored within the small Crystal embedded in the back of her right hand. All of us had one, and it was hidden right under the skin. Illsy called it a 'small upgrade', but the rest of us saw it as an amazing thing.

The reason for this was so that we would all have quick access to our personalized items. Bothering Illsy and Nanya to take them out and store them every time become too much of a bother, and it wasn't very combat efficient either.

All the stuff we arrived with on the island had long been destroyed. Zoreya's armor alone was turned to dust several times. Once, during practice, she was left with nothing on, stark naked... Before she started crying from embarrassment, Illsy 'stole' her from the battlefield and locked us outside of his room. By the time we realized his TRUE intentions, it was already too late... Nanya complained the most about this incident.

To keep us safe and also raise our battle potential, Illsy made us special weapons and armors. He upgraded them every time we grew stronger, or he developed a new technology for them. Compared to what the most brilliant of blacksmiths of the three continents could make, Illsy's items were a million times better. Just my sword alone if given to Dankyun could easily increase his power by at least ten times.

As if being Over Supremes wasn't good enough... I thought and let out another sigh.

Of course, we promised ourselves not to abuse these items too much. We would use them only when we thought it to be absolutely necessary. For every other situation of dealing with Supremes and the occasional random group of bandits, we had simple weapons that could withstand a part of our unleashed power.

I doubted Illsy thought about this, but if we wanted to, we could easily conquer all the three continents in a matter of days. There was no force on them capable of withstanding our might.

Looking far into the distance, I began to think back at my time before I met Illsy. How I lived cursed to count the days until I fell prey to death's claws. How I once stood on the political seat of a Princess of Teslov yet having no actual strength to back it up. Then there were all those countless hours when I was forced to learn how to become the perfect wife and behave like a refined and elegant lady.

Truth be told, I was being trained to become an obedient little trophy wife, not a Queen... and certainly not a lover.

If my former tutors could see me now, they would certainly be outraged and demand me to be 'retrained'. They would certainly point out that flaunting over Illsy, wanting to be close to him, and sometimes expressing my desire to monopolize him was a behavior that shamed my status and family. As a Princess of Teslov, in their opinion, I was supposed to sit behind my husband, act all pretty and elegant like a porcelain doll or act in a way the nobles would not find disgraceful.

If only they knew that I have completely abandoned such a way of life... I thought and then giggled.

To be honest, I did not even care anymore about the battle for the throne or the fact that I was cured of a seemingly impossible to dispel curse. That part of my life was now over, and after so many nights with my husband and adventures alongside my friends, I decided that going back to my life as a Princess was going to be nothing but a death sentence for me.

Besides, Teslov did not deserve me or my power... And if those old geezers wanted to drag me back or use Illsy in any way or manner, I would be the one to rip their heads out, not Shanteya.

“Hm?” I stood up on the raft and looked into the distance.

“What is it?” Shanteya asked.

“Munya~ don't stop~ Pet me more!” the nekatar requested.

“I think I see something in the distance...” I pointed in front of me.

“Hm... there's a dot.” Zoreya said as she squinted her eyes.

“I'll go up and take a better look.” I told them.

Using wind magic, I flew up into the air and then looked into the distance. I wasn't wrong. There was something there, in the horizon.

“A SHIP! I SEE A SHIP!” I shouted excited.

Finally! The days of endless boredom had finally come to an end.

Stopping my spell, I fell back down on the raft.

Splash!

My landing was a bit rough, causing it to bob in the water, but the small craft held together.

“There's a ship!” I said again.

“Awesome!” Illsy raised a fist in the sky.

“Finally...” Nanya let out a sigh of exasperation.

“Hm, where's Zoreya?” Illsy asked suddenly.

Blinking surprised, I looked behind. The crusader was gone. The spot where she was sitting on just a moment ago was empty.

“She must have fallen in the water!” I said.

“Ah! Anvil overboard! Someone go and save my wife!” Illsy cried out.

I jumped into the water and used the flow of Magic Energy to propel myself towards her.

The woman in question was sinking like a rock in that full-plate armor of hers. I knew she didn't want to part with it, but still...

Zoreya! Don't drown! I thought.

Well, I was certain Illsy would save her at the last minute in the worst-case scenario, and she wasn't an idiot to let herself drown either.

I grabbed her by the plate on her back and pulled her up with me. Thanks to my speed and strength, I was able to swim back up to the surface quite fast.

“Over here!” I called out once I was out.

Pulling Zoreya's head above the water, she spat, and we swum over to the raft. Illsy pulled her up, and I got out of the water as well.

“Are you alright?” Illsy asked worried.

“I thought I was going to drown.” she said as water poured out of every hole in her armor.

“Come on, get out of that armor before you catch a cold.” Illsy said.

“Ah! No need to!” she shook her head, but he used Absorb and took it off.

Immediately, Zoreya's cheeks turned red, and she made a face as if she were about to cry.

“Hm...” Illsy squinted his eyes and put her armor back on.

Her expression turned into one of relief, then Illsy absorbed it again. Her face turned red. He put it back on. She calmed down again.

This cycle repeated a few times until Nanya had enough of it and slapped Illsy over the back of his head.

“Enough already! We need to get to that boat.” she said.

“Ouch... yes.” he replied rubbing the back of his head.

I giggled and gave Illsy a kiss on the cheek.

“Nanya's right. We had enough of this raft.” I smiled.

“Alright...” he nodded.

Thus, we headed towards the vessel I had spotted into the far distance. I was quite curious to know to which country or trade company it belonged to...