Collisa (Outsider Book 1), page 20
“Yes!” he shouted, pumping his fist. With a laugh he activated the ability, noting its one minute cooldown.
In that strange way of abilities, almost of its own accord his hand dipped into his quiver and slipped four arrows into the hand holding his bow, almost faster than the eye could see. Then he was able to fit those arrows to the string and draw at a blurring speed, sending all four into the trunk of a nearby tree in about the time it would take to shoot two from his quiver.
Best yet, the ability remained active for 15 seconds, so he'd have more time to shoot enemies at melee range even after he'd shot the four arrows.
This was huge!
Zuri clapped her hands and shouted as she watched him use his ability. She might not know the specifics of it, but his obvious delight wasn't lost on her.
And her adorable toothy grin wasn't lost on him. With a laugh Dare once again dropped his bow and swept his tiny companion up in his arms, this time kissing the top of her head. “We should spend some time picking quality foraging ingredients and selecting our highest quality meats and have a feast tonight,” he told her.
The little goblin didn't answer, just hugged him back tightly with her face pressed to his shoulder. And when he tried to set her down she just held on even tighter.
The celebratory embrace started to turn awkward. Zuri might be on the tiny side of petite but she was very much a woman, and Dare became more aware of her large perky breasts pressed against his chest by the moment. Her slender but curvy little body was starting to feel better and better in his arms, and he felt himself subconsciously stroking up and down her back.
When he realized what he was doing he felt his cheeks heat and again tried to put her down, relieved when she finally let go. At which point he saw that her skin was darker green in her own blush.
He hastily cleared his throat. “At Level 10 you'll probably get an awesome ability too,” he told her. “I can't wait to see it.”
She enthusiastically made the level up noise and beamed at him, delicately sharp features adorable; he couldn't believe he'd ever thought they were off-putting.
Also, Dare couldn't help but notice that she was gaining more weight and muscle definition after over a week of getting plenty to eat. Where she'd been almost painfully skinny before now she was slender, her womanly curves more pronounced.
All in all Zuri seemed healthy and happy. Which he was pleased to see, glad that his companion was doing so well.
And she got another chance to eat even better that night, as Dare spent an hour preparing a feast just like he'd promised. Which considering the ability system, as it applied to cooking, was the equivalent of spending all day in the kitchen at home.
He'd recently found some super high quality mushrooms, the first food he'd found so far that gave a status buff when eaten. Which of course he'd tested with his Forage tree's Test Edibles ability, which he'd now improved to the point that he didn't even have to wait to see if something was safe.
Using the mushrooms for dinner was a waste, since the buff would wear off before morning without them getting any use out of it, but he didn't care. This was a celebration and they deserved the treat.
For the appetizer there was salad, although unfortunately with no dressing. It was accompanied by a thick juice, or more accurately pulp maybe, made from berries that he'd carefully squashed in the pottery jug.
For the main course he fried up mushrooms, boar and venison chunks, and a couple types of chopped tubers that very vaguely resembled turnips and carrots, along with herb greens for flavor. He even learned a new recipe with his cooking ability from it.
For dessert, he'd purchased a few pieces of hard candy back at the village when Zuri wasn't paying attention, as a surprise to give her later. He gave her one now, enjoying her delighted reaction, and showed her how to suck on it to make it last instead of immediately chewing it up.
It was a good evening. Probably the best he'd had on Collisa so far. Food and good companionship; sure, he would've liked some beer or a few shots to make the celebration a real party, and he wouldn't have said no to a warm body next to him when he went to bed, but it was still great.
Although he ended up getting one of those things after all.
Zuri matched his cheerful mood with surprising exuberance, and after filling their bellies with all the delicious food they began trying to find ways to entertain each other and make each other laugh without communicating.
Which worked surprisingly well.
His goblin companion was so adorable that every face she made, even the fiercest, just made him want to hug her. He tried his own silly faces, and was gratified when she rolled around on the ground, high pitched voice filling the clearing with peals of carefree laughter.
It was wonderful to hear.
After the laughter died down Zuri motioned eagerly to Dare's coin pouch, and getting the hint he spent a half hour or so showing her magic tricks. He even showed her how to do one or two herself, to her delight.
She was surprisingly dextrous and learned quickly, confirming his opinion of her intelligence. Although while she was clearly excited to learn and delighted when she got it right, she seemed slightly disappointed that there was no actual magic involved.
His companion didn't seem to want the celebration to end, but finally Dare had to give in to his exhaustion. He motioned to his tent and pantomimed sleeping, standing firm against her obvious disappointment as he headed to bed.
Zuri made for her tent too, which she'd taken to setting up right beside his. But to his surprise she only ducked inside long enough to pick up her bedroll, carrying it purposefully towards his tent.
“Umm,” he said uncertainly.
She looked at him pleadingly with those big yellow eyes as she pointed back at her tent. Then she shivered as if cold, and hung her head as if sad.
Was she saying she was lonely in her tent? He supposed he couldn't blame her, since he understood the feeling all too well.
Maybe it was a bad idea to let her sleep in his tent, especially considering his growing attraction for her, but he couldn't refuse that pleading face.
Besides, he was no saint. Hadn't he specifically told his unseen benefactor he wanted to sleep with as many women as he could? Or at least hinted at it. Or maybe she'd told him to do that . . . it had been long enough since his conversation with her in that unnerving gray void that he was starting to forget.
But none of that was the point. He was happy fucking slime girls and bunny girls for enjoyable casual sex, but Zuri was his friend. A companion he'd fought beside for over a week, building a bond of trust and camaraderie until he'd gladly put his life in her small hands. Someone he'd spent contented evenings beside the campfire with, just enjoying each other's company even if they couldn't really communicate.
Someone he'd found himself starting to deeply care about even though they'd only known each other for a short time. If he planned to take the next step with her he wanted it to mean something, for her sake as much as his.
Or maybe he was just falling back on the same uncertainties that had torpedoed his relationships on Earth.
So he took the coward's path. “Want to cuddle?” he asked, pointing at his tent. He then carefully made sure she was snugly tucked into her blankets on one side of the small space before climbing into his own bed.
Although after a few long seconds of awkward silence she silently scooted over to press against his side, and he couldn't resist the temptation to wrap an arm around her and pull her close to him over his covers.
“Good night, Zuri,” he whispered.
He could see her disappointment that this all that was going to happen, but she still made a contented noise as she pressed her face to his blanket-covered shoulder.
“Zuri mizzen egoka abur Dare,” she murmured tenderly, nuzzling his shoulder through the cloth. Then she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
Content in the peaceful feeling of holding the beautiful goblin woman in his arms, Dare soon joined her.
Chapter Ten
Abur
Dare had finally found a slime he hated.
Specifically, it was a Level 12 Vampire Slime. It didn't even pretend to take a pleasing form, oozing furiously after him as a giant blob. And rather than being transparent it was the hideous red of dried blood. As if there was a barely scabbed wound over its entire surface that seeped a viscous, blood-like slime that stretched out towards him in writhing pseudopods.
But what probably made it the most awful was that its attacks were almost the exact same as a slime girl's: Envelope, Stimulate, and Devour Gore, with only the last one being different. Except in this case he guessed that after being enveloped by the Vampire Slime, it would get his blood pumping wildly in agony and terror, then likely begin to drain him from every surface of his skin until he was shriveled up like a raisin.
It had another ability the slime girls didn't have, though: Split. Which Dare assumed meant that when it had consumed enough blood it would split into two of itself and go searching for more victims.
The oozing creature was surprisingly fast, too. Dare had decided to risk fighting the higher level enemy because its existence was a disgrace to the peaceful and helpful slime girls, only to realize that with its combination of sliding and rolling it could move faster than some lower level creatures using Charge.
So after he figured that out when he shot the thing, he was reduced to playing the part of tank and running around while Zuri nuked it from a distance. Even worse, the arrow he'd shot and his dagger attacks both did minimal damage to the monster.
He'd even whipped out Rapid Shot at one point when he'd managed a bit of breathing room, only to watch them sink into the foul slime without much more effect than a few trickles of blood from the monster and a few percentage points of health lost.
Dare and Zuri did have a few things going for them, though. The first was that the slime seemed drawn to the nearest enemy, so he had no problem kiting the hideous thing around so Zuri could do damage without issues.
The second was that when he said she was nuking the monster, he meant it literally.
The thing had to be vulnerable to Nature damage, the type Zuri's spells fell into, because while Dare's attacks seemed to do half their usual damage, hers did well over double. With every “Zap!” she shouted the Vampire Slime's health chunked down a healthy amount, and at this rate it would be over soon.
Sooner than he thought, it turned out.
When the monster was at 10% health it abruptly stopped chasing him and began to convulse and quiver with an alarming gurgling sound. Dare watched the bulges within its scab-like exterior churn and roil with increasing speed, and felt a sudden sense of foreboding.
“Look out!” he shouted, crossing the clearing with all his speed and throwing himself protectively over Zuri as she stood staring in shock.
A moment later the Vampire Slime exploded, coating every surface of the clearing and surrounding trees, including Dare, with a splash of putrid, viscous gore that reeked like meat left to rot for days in a swamp.
Was this its last ability, Split? A final “fuck you” to whatever killed it?
He didn't see any status effects on himself or Zuri, and the vile substance didn't seem caustic. It was just gross to the point he wanted to empty his guts.
“Gah,” he growled as he pushed to his feet and helped Zuri to hers. “I fucking hate that thing so much.”
Thankfully his companion had been spared the worst of the Split, with only a few splashes of gory slime on her tunic and skin. She began gingerly picking her way across the fouled ground to escape the mess.
Dare followed, swiping the blood off his reinforced leather coat. “I need to wash up right now, or I'm going to puke.” They reached blessedly clean ground, and he glanced in the direction of the nearby river, barely visible through the trees, then at Zuri. “Could you stay here for a second? I'll be right back.”
She just stared at him, of course, so he gestured for her to stay put and headed for the river. As he went he peeled off his armor, coat, tunic, and pants, pinning them under a rock in the water to soak before dunking in himself. He could see crimson streaks drifting away downstream as the filth covering him and his gear washed off, and floated facedown for a moment enjoying the sensation of cool, clean water over his skin.
Then he felt the water begin to warm up and swirl around him and his dirty clothes, and saw the bloodstains begin to fade.
Gasping, he surfaced and turned to see Zuri standing on the bank, casting her cleaning spell. Of course; in the heat of the moment while all covered in bloody slime he'd forgotten his companion had the spell.
His cheeks began to flush in embarrassment, and the flush deepened when he realized she was staring at his manhood with huge eyes.
Dare hastily covered himself; it took two hands. “I thought I told you to stay back while I bathed,” he said, trying to sound stern but coming off as more sheepish.
Zuri didn't seem to hear him; her creamy avocado skin began to flush a darker green, her pupils slightly dilated as she ran her eyes over his body, and she began very gently biting her lip with her pointy teeth, thighs rubbing together slowly. One hand started to move between her legs, then abruptly stopped.
Dare felt his blush deepen; he couldn't deny his growing attraction for his beautiful companion, nor was he blind to the fact that at the moment she was practically eye fucking him.
She was obviously horny, and he had to admit that he was more than a little horny himself. He hadn't visited the slime girls or gone out looking for bunny girls since finding Zuri; partly because he was reluctant to just ditch her so he could go get his dick wet, and partly because she was just as reluctant to be away from him and her watching him fuck would be beyond uncomfortable.
Ten days now, and he had a far more healthy libido on this world than he had on Earth; the sight of Zuri openly struggling not to jill off while staring at him was making his cock stir.
His companion finally seemed to snap out of it, flushing an even deeper green color in embarrassment, and she hastily motioned to him, saying a word in Goblin in a questioning tone.
“Clean?” he guessed, picking up his clothes and covering himself with them.
“Clean?” she repeated back at him; of course she had no idea if that was right. But she waved at her tunic, which had a few splashes of blood even though she'd been farther back, then at the river. “Clean,” she repeated.
He nodded. “Yeah, I think we got the right word.”
She nodded absently, the way she sometimes did when she couldn't understand a word he said but wanted to show she was listening. Then, to his consternation, she kicked off her shoes and began pulling her tunic over her head as she stepped into the water.
Dare stared for a moment longer than he should've, as the long sexy legs he remembered from before giving her the tunic came into view. Then he hastily fled the water.
“I'll, um, leave you to it!” he called over his shoulder as he headed for the safety of the trees.
“Dare!” Zuri called after him impatiently.
He stopped but stayed with his back to her. “What?”
Her voice became even more insistent. “Dare!”
Dare reluctantly turned, then his clothes slipped from limp fingers as he stared in shock and amazement, even though he should've expected it.
Zuri stood in ankle deep water, tunic discarded beside her. She'd also unwrapped the cloth covering her large breasts and let it fall at her feet, and now stood naked aside from her loincloth.
Her pale green skin looked soft and inviting, the small body he remembered from the first day now far more curvy and, without a doubt, sexy.
Dare swallowed, then dropped his eyes to her breasts.
They were beautiful perky globes, with small dark green nipples that were quickly stiffening in the chill of the water and the breeze blowing across them. And arousal, maybe. He was almost entranced staring at their perfection, pleasantly aware of his cock stiffening to attention to point straight at her.
Zuri, her eyes once again going huge at its sheer size, gave a pleased smile and stepped out of the water. She started towards him with a swaying walk, sexy hips drawing his gaze with every graceful movement and large boobs shifting hypnotically.
“Zuri,” he said in a strangled voice, cock visibly twitching.
“Shh,” she said sternly, yellow eyes fixed on his huge manhood. “Dare abur Zuri.”
Oh. Ohhhhh. He remembered her saying that before but having no idea what it meant. And now he thought he had a pretty good idea.
He closed his eyes with a quiet moan when his tiny companion, not seeming so timid at the moment, reached out and took him in her small hands, skin impossibly soft and gliding smoothly over his shaft thanks to its lotion-like slickness.
There was a benefit to having sex with a goblin who was barely taller than his waist; she could stand up straight as she delicately ran her tongue over his tip while continuing to jack him off.
“God, you're beautiful,” he said as he stared down at her yellow eyes looking up at him with gentle adoration as she bathed his already clean cock, coating it with warm saliva.
She smiled at him eagerly as her tiny hands jacked him off more quickly with a surprisingly firm grip. “Dare abur Zuri?”
“Fuck yes,” he moaned, resting his hand on her head and luxuriating in the silky soft feel of her jet black hair.
The tiny goblin wrapped her arms around his legs and with some effort took his massive girth into her mouth.
At first Dare was a bit nervous about that, thinking of her shark-like teeth. But ten days of putting his life in her hands had earned her a show of trust. And also the feel of her lips making a tight ring as she pushed onto the head of his cock was incredible.
Thankfully, in spite of his trepidations all he felt when he slid into her mouth was warmth and a wet tongue, then soon afterwards the sensation of the head of his cock pressing against the back of her throat.
Then, making him gasp with shock and pleasure, the indescribable feeling as, with a grunt of determination, Zuri pushed her lips farther and farther down his shaft as she forced it down her tiny throat, until finally her pointy little nose was pressed into his pubic hair.
