[The next morning…]
Marco slowly opened his eyes and lazily rubbed them, then he tried to turn around, however he felt something strong blocking his movements.
He looked down and found that he was tied up from Alice's tail, from the chest to toe, while she was still sleeping and hugging him. He smiled, and remembered his dream, then he caressed Alice's head and said.
Marco: Alice… It's morning, wake up.
Alice slightly moved and her grip on him increased.
Alice: Uhh… Just five more minutes… I mean… Just five more degrees…
Marco frowned at the familiar scene, which was quite coincidental since Alice was a lamia too...
Marco: '...No, I'm not doing a handjob to a snake's tail like in Monster Musume…'
Marco used Chakra Gate and bent the tail that was binding him, and Alice slowly woke up while Marco finally got out and deactivated the Gate.
Alice stirred her body and yawned.
Alice: Good morning…
Marco: Mornin', prepare yourself while I make something to eat.
Alice nodded and slithered out from the bed while Marco took his backpack. Thanks to Salamander's powers, he was able to control the fire at the perfection, making better meals.
Salamander: …The first use of my power was to cook… Who would have thought about it…
Marco: 'Don't worry about it, we can do great things in future.'
Sylph: Yaaaay! Almost everyone's together!
Gnome: …
Undine: …
Marco: 'Wait, "Almost"? I thought there were 4 of you.'
Sylph: No, no. We missed Lily!
Marco didn't had any memory about her, either she was not important or useful, or she is another change from the original story.
Undine: *Sigh* In the books there are only 4 of us, which you already got, but there is a 5th, the spirit of the lightning, there isn't any information about her because she always travels in the sky, probably you can find something on her at the Monster Lord's Castle.
Marco: 'Alright, that is interesting… I'll try to pick her, too. The more help I get the better it is.'
Marco was seriously interested in the subject, he never heard about a spirit of the lightning, however if she really travels in the sky, then it's normal that almost nobody got information about her.
Salamander: ...Seriously, what are you planning to do? Just using that transformation of yours could beat any monster, you are just a traveler…
Marco: 'Nothing much, just coexistence between monsters and humans.'
Salamander: So you want to try that too, well, it seems you can do better than our previous host. It looks like you already know how to manipulate the elements, so I don't think you need any explanation.
Marco: 'Yeah, but I appreciate the thought.'
Sylph: It's been 500 years since we last got together! Yaaay, I'm so happy! I know! Let's go on a picnic! I'll make the lunches, and we can climb a mountain! Then when we get to the top, we can all go 'Yahooooo!'! After a few seconds, you know, it echoes back!
Salamander: Make it stop!!
She summoned a flame on top of Sylph's head, and burned her hair.
Sylph: Kyaa!
Undine: It's obvious that you can use the other elements easily, you were able to use the most difficult power… The one of water, the most noble attribute. You should be able to easily master the simple, shallow power of fire.
Salamander: ...Oh, what was that?
Undine: He already knows how to use your fire by giving himself over to his fighting spirit, tch… Such a barbaric method of fighting… How can it be called anything other than simple and shallow?
*Sizzle* *Sizzle*
Meanwhile, Sylph's hair turned into a ball of burned hair.
Marco: 'Oi, stop fighting, that's my imaginary bedroom!'
The four spirits dispersed inside him.
Alice: Still, there was something I wanted to ask, what was that transformation you had when you used Serene Mind?
Marco: Ohhh, that's Kurama Gate, the second Gate.
Alice: Wait, wait, wait… Kurama Gate? You took your alias from that gate?
Marco: ….Yep.
Alice sighed, but she answered anyways.
Alice: At least it's a good name…
Marco: Whatever, I wanted to try something…
Marco put a fist over his mouth and took a deep breath, then he made a hole through the side of his fist and exhaled out from the window.
Alice: ...That was unexpected…
In front of Marco there was a wall of fire, eeeyup, Marco made a dragon breath with Salamander's powers.
When he stopped, he looked outside, there was once a tree, and now it is immediately reduced to ashes. He was satisfied with the job.
Marco: Alright, let's go out now!
Alice nodded and followed him out from the inn, when they left from the building, Alice took the shape of a human and Marco walked around while thinking about what to do.
Marco: Alright… We visited Gold Volcano, Grangold, Lady's Village, Succubus Village, and now we are in Gold Port… We need to get to the Northern Sea to pick up the orb and then we will get at the Bird God Shrine to awaken the Garuda.
Alice: ...I still find strange that you know so many things… Whatever, I told myself to not ask you anymore about strange things… Where do we go? To the Northern Sea?
Marco: ...No, we will go to the Southern Sea, we will get the Blue Orb from the Kraken, and since she will certainly be connected with the Northern Sea Queen, we can ask for help from her.
Alice: Hm? That's a pretty smart idea… And about the last Orb?
Marco: We will see when we will get the rest.
Alice nodded in agreement as she followed him, behind them there was a blue trash can that was trembling. Marco and Alice ignored it, but only Marco knew what was the problem with the trash can…
The lid opened a bit to reveal two glowing yellow reptile eyes.
Amira: ...He already knew… Then I'll find the last Orb for him! Then he will k-k-kiss me as a reward!
The trash can exploded due to Amira's emotions for Marco, meanwhile he shivered, which Alice picked up.
Alice: You caught a cold?
Marco: No… I just felt something wrong…
Alice shrugged, and continued to follow him, but someone stopped them.
?: Ah, the appearance of the one I'm looking for! Would you happen to be Sir Marco?
Marco: Yep, the only one.
?: Yes! I found you at last! Something terrible has happened in Sabasa! Princess Sara has been kidnapped by monsters!
Marco: '...Good God…' Alright, I got it, I will go there to help you when I'm free.
*Ding*
*Special Quest: Rescue Sara, again…*
Sabasa Officer: Thank you! Farewell!
Then he ran off.
Alice: So you will go?
Marco: Yeah, as much as a finger in the ass Sara is, maybe we will have some lead on the location of the last Orb, and I already said that I would visit Sabasa again.
Alice: *Sigh* I got it…
[Some days later]
Riding in a horse carriage, the duo quickly turned back to Port Natalia. Just like before, there are a lot of Mermaids around.
Marco: Alright, now we will go to the beach… Nah, hey Alice, let's relax a bit.
Alice: Hm? Relax?
Marco: Yeah, we are doing everything as if we are hurrying, so I thought about relaxing in the beach, maybe we will swim, play with sand… Things like these.
Alice: ...Play with sand?
Marco: *Sigh* You try to create anything with wet sand, like castles or someone, just for fun.
Alice: Ohhh… Good idea.
She let out a smile at the thought of playing around, while Marco entered a nearby shop to buy some things like a new swimsuit, a fishing rod and some baits.
Marco: Alright! Let's go to the beach!
Alice nodded and followed him like always, impatiently.
[SPECIAL QUESTS]
1st. Kick Gabriel's ass
2nd. Achieve coexistence between Monsters and Humans
3rd. Kill Illias
4th. Return to Lucifina's grave
5th. Visit every places in Illias Continent, Sentora and Hellgondo
6th. Turn back to Sabasa Kingdom
7th. Make Alice happy
8th. Rescue Sara, again...