Chapter 305 (Patreon)

Chapter 305

Sophia and Maya were still working on their desert when the tiger came up with the idea of running an experiment. She created a big sandstorm, and both filled it with raw magic until it was so much that it caused an explosion. As a result of that, magic caused the sand to multiply and covered everything around them in it.

“I am slightly concerned about the fact that I ended up being alone with the two of you on the open sea.” Ari awkwardly scratched her cheek as she looked around before focusing on Chloe and Steph next to her. The trio stayed left behind on the boat and were currently watching for anything of interest on the ocean from the sitting area on the bow. “Well, Fen’s technically also still there, but he’s sleeping downstairs, so…”

“How terribly rude!” Steph instantly started pouting before looking at the fox-girl with teary eyes. “She hates us, Chloe!”

“I love both of you.” The jaguar lightly shook her head while rolling her eyes. “It’s just that you tried a total of 14 times to jump into the ocean so far because you thought you saw something moving.”

“I DID!” Steph got even louder.

“The water’s completely calm!” She simply stared back at her. “And Chloe, why did I have to be the one to grab and drag her back every single time when she was halfway over the railing already?!”

“Because there’s no reason for me to stop her?” The fox-girl tilted her head. “She’s strong and a talented swimmer. A bit of water isn’t going to hurt her.”

“Exactly!” Steph reacted with an energetic nod. “I wouldn’t have tried to jump into an ocean back on earth without magic.”

“Really?” The jaguar raised an eyebrow. “I seriously can’t imagine you being any calmer and less excited in your old world.”

“Oh, nonono.” She vigorously shook her head. “I still would’ve gotten just as excited, including to jump in the water, but past me wasn’t built to take a dip in the open sea, and I knew that. Here, that’s a different story, though~.”

“Your mind definitely was made for having a lot of magic and freedom, huh?” Ari wasn’t sure what else to say there.

“I was definitely born in the wrong world!” Steph showed her a massive smile. “Sophia bringing me here, meeting all of you, and receiving magic was, and will forever be, the best thing that happened to me!”

“…” The jaguar paused for a moment while taking in her absolutely genuine smile that was overflowing with pure joy. “It’s hard to stay upset with you.”

“Well, she is Sophia’s sister, so that makes sense.” Chloe had an easy explanation for why she felt that way.

“Yeah, that checks out.” Ari could follow her logic.

“Ehehe~.” As usual, Steph took it as a compliment when being compared to her sister.

“I’m actually a little surprised that you’re so against taking a swim.” The fox-girl lightly tilted her head while looking at Ari. “Aren’t jaguars supposed to be big fans of water?”

“So true!” The dog-girl reacted with a big nod. “Jaguars and tigers love to be in water!”

“Why do you think I like going to our hot springs so much?” Ari had no intention of denying it.

“Because they’re always a group of naked girls and you enjoy the view?” Steph looked right back at her.

“…” She paused for a second. “Okay, there might be more than one reason why I like it.”

“I like the honest Ari!” The dog-girl reacted with a chuckle.

“Yes, it’s cute.” Chloe agreed with her.

“Anyway, yes, I like swimming and water.” Ari got back on track. “I prefer lakes or rivers, though. Not the middle of the ocean. I don’t quite like it if I can’t see the ground below me. Especially because the ocean can be multiple kilometers deep and apparently houses something with the same power as griffins and stuff even YOU find creepy!” She looked back at Steph while remembering the eldritch horrors she had spoken about earlier.

“Honestly, fair enough.” The fox-girl couldn’t blame her for that.

“Those usually never come even close to the surface, though.” Steph didn’t see the issue.

“You can’t even imagine how little that detail changes things for me.”

“Ahaha…” The dog-girl simply scratched her cheek.

“Anyway, once we’re on the demon continent and we find a nice lake or river, going for a swim might be on the menu, but the ocean is out of the question.” Ari shook her head a couple of times.

“I’m definitely going to drag you into the first body of water once we’re on land again!” Steph had been successfully distracted.

“Sure~.” The jaguar was okay with that.

“Let’s go!”

“Why now all of a sudden?” Chloe tilted her head while looking at Ari. “I don’t remember you going into any other river or lake on our travels so far.”

“I mentioned before that I want to try and be a little more open once we’re not home anymore.” The jaguar scratched her cheek. “All of you are so unhinged that it’s pretty tiring to be the voice of reason. On the beastfolk continent, everyone knows that Anna's the princess and I'm her jaguar. I’m more than that now, but that’s the first impression. I do have somewhat of a serious personality at times, so I'm defaulting to giving off a proper image. On the demon continent, our status won't matter nearly as much, or maybe not at all, so I might as well give in to the bad influence you all are because it won’t matter.”

“Ohh!” Steph liked everything she just heard. “Right, I remember you saying that you want to let loose once we're in a new area. I can’t wait! Maya’s also loosened up a lot lately, so the demon continent will be amazing!”

“I’ll still chew off one of you ears if you go completely insane, though.” Ari stared at the dog-girl. “Important to remember there is that I’m as strong as you now, too.”

“R-Right.” She actually was a little intimidated.

“Speaking of, have you gotten used to your new powers already?” Chloe got interested in Ari’s current strength. “My magic increased by around four times my original strength, but even that is hard to control. I was only able to get used to it so quickly because I had already gone through it before when Steph shared her powers with me. Your increase is much more significant, so I can only imagine how hard it must be to control your magic now.”

“I actually haven’t really used my new strength yet.” The jaguar scratched her cheek. "I tried the other day, but it felt off to me, so I stopped for the timing being. I was concerned about accidentally destroying something. I probably need a training day in Sophia’s domain or something like that.”

“That’s a good idea.” Chloe liked her plan.

“Let’s make a biome together to get you used to it!” Steph’s eyes started sparkling. “The three of us!”

“Oh, that sounds lovely.” The fox-girl nodded a few times.

“I mean, that sounds fun, but I think the three of us are like the least compatible out of all of us in the group when it comes to making a domain.” She paused for a moment. “Like, I’m the one who hates all things cold the most, and you two prefer making such places…”

“We just talked about a lake or river for swimming, so let’s do that!” Steph didn’t need to do something involving the cold.

“Let me guess, a nude swimming place?” Ari could read her like an open book.

“Well, if you insist~.” She smirked at her. “Wasn’t my first idea, but it's to help you get used to your new magic, so I'm okay with helping you out in that in however way you want.”

“Shush.” The jaguar rolled her eyes.

“Ehehe~.” Steph appreciated the fact that she didn’t hear a no, so she decided to stop talking about it. “By the way, I’m hungry!”

“Not thirsty?” Chloe just had to do it.

“Always, but I could actually eat a bite!” The dog-girl gave a thumbs-up in her direction.

“It’s about time for lunch, huh?" The fox-girl reacted with a small smile.

“I guess I could eat a bite, too.” Now that the topic had shifted to that, Ari’s stomach felt like agreeing with the other two. “Yeah, how about we check the kitchen downstairs and see if there’s anything I could cook for us while the others are out?”

“I’d like lots of meat!” Right on cue, and still sounding sleepy, Fen stuck his head out from the stairs leading downstairs into the boat’s cabin.

“I kind of doubt we’ll be finding any fresh meat in the kitchen here.” The jaguar scratched her cheek. “I think we’d need to head back to the cottage first for that.”

“On it!” Now that he was hungry, the wolf immediately left to procure some meat and jumped through the portal on the boat that led back to Sophia’s domain.

“Sure.” The others simply watched him leave.

The trio went downstairs to see what other types of food were present in the swimming kitchen while Fen was procuring the protein so they could get started right away once the wolf was back.