“Umm……………… What?”

Ikuno smiled but didn’t lift her head off his shoulder, “I’ll explain later, take me to bed.”

Kal started walking again, “Sounds like there’s going to be a lot of that later, like how you ended up overloaded with magic.”

Kal walked into the mouth of the cave, Ikuno snapped her fingers and a ball of light formed before them, leading the way into the darkness.

Ikuno was thoughtful, “I have an idea about that…”

“KAL! IKUNO! Are you alright!” came Perra’s voice, they could tell from her footfalls that she was running across the clearing towards them.

Kal froze and Ikuno groaned in mild annoyance. “Better put me down,” she said, “I’ll go get our clothes, it won’t be as big of a deal since we’re both women.”

“Nah, I have a better idea,” he half turned towards the cave entrance and called out, “We’re fine Perra!” they could hear the footsteps slow, “Could you collect our clothes and bring them inside in a couple minutes!” Kal smiled at Ikuno, “Now I can carry you to bed as you wanted.”

There was a pause before the girl answered, “Are you guys naked?!” Perra yelled towards the cave.

“Yes! Some magic stuff happened! Give us a minute to cover up, then bring our clothes in!”

Ikuno suppressed a chuckle as her sharp ears picked up the young girl saying, “I bet it was ‘magical.’”

Kal carried Ikuno into the cavern she called home and walked over to the bed. He was at a loss as to how to pull the furs back and lay her down with his arms full when Ikuno reached out and pulled them back for him. He laid the Ikuno on the bed then pulled the covers up over her naked form. As he walked around the bed, Ikuno piled up some of the furs she used for pillows into a wedge that Kal could recline against. Kal crawled under the fur blankets and leaned back, once he was comfortable she scooted under his arm and placed her head on his chest closing her eyes contentedly.

Kal idly ran his fingers through her white hair, “Perra’s going to be here in a minute,” he said.

“Mmm hmm.”

“She’s going to have questions when she sees us like this.”

“That’s fine.”

“What are we going to tell her?”

“If she asks, we’ll tell her the truth.”

Kal was a bit nervous, “Wonder how she’ll react?”

“Looks like we’re about to find out, here she comes.”

The path to the cave entrance began to light up soon followed by Perra holding a brightly glowing stone in one hand with Kal and Ikuno’s clothes in the other. Not long ago Kal and Perra had arrived while Ikuno was out hunting and were stuck outside waiting for her to guide them inside. After that, she made them both a glowing stone that lit up with a word to navigate the darkness. She quickly appreciated not having to escort them each time they came or went from the cave.

Walking into the cavern, Perra looked around and stopped dead as her eyes landed on Kal and Ikuno.

“Well this is different,” she said. Kal blushed sheepishly while Ikuno raised an arm and waved hello before draping it across Kal. Perra walked over to the stone chair and deposited their clothes.

Kal gave her a questioning look, “Perra I can’t get dressed when my clothes are over there.”

Perra smiled, “No worries, I won’t be stayin’ long. You look like you’re wantin’ some, alone time an’ I don’ feel like spendin’ the next few hours pickin’ berries or huntin’ herbs like ya usually have me. Though I gotta say Ikuno, I've never seen you so lovey-dovey with him before.”

Ikuno gave Kal a little squeeze with the arm laying over him, “That’s because I’m his woman now.”

Perra’s eyes widened, “His woman? Does this mean you two are married or somethin’?”

“Yes?” the look on Kal’s face told Perra he really wasn’t sure.

“No.”

Kal looked down at Ikuno, “No?”

Ikuno sighed and sat up tucking the covers under her arms to keep herself covered. Kal meanwhile scrambled to prevent her from accidentally uncovering his crotch. Ikuno looked over at Kal, “Much as I would have liked to say ‘yes,’ I can’t. With the path you have chosen, it wouldn’t be fair to you,” looking at Perra she continued “In human marriage terms it’s as though he put a ring on my finger saying I’m his, but I didn’t put one on him.”

Kal was a little hurt that she didn’t want him to belong to her in the same way she claimed to belong to him, “I don’t understand, why wouldn’t it be fair to me?” he asked.

Perra had scampered off to the library and came back with a chair, Ikuno waited till she was settled in before continuing.

“Let’s start with ink,” Kal and Perra both gave her a confused look, wondering how ink was related, “since you are wanting to become a runesmith mage you will be needing quite a bit. Back in ancient times if you wanted ink powerful enough for a runic tattoo, you would need to find the largest, oldest giant squid or octopus you possibly could and find some way to extract the ink, usually by killing them. Understand?”

Kal and Perra both nodded then Kal asked, “Will I have to do that? Go kill a giant squid?”

Ikuno shook her head, “No, you have the option of a far easier and more pleasurable method.”

“Okay, now I’m really confused.”

“Monster girls.”

“What?!” Said Kal and Perra in unison.

Ikuno had to choke back a laugh at their expressions.

“Monster girls were born of magic, and all of them are highly magical creatures, for instance, golem or zombie girls wouldn’t even exist without strong magics. In the case of collecting ink, instead of going hunting you could find a squid girl. Once found, you could extract it from her which would be unpleasant, make you a horrible person and only produce a small amount of low-grade ink. Your other option would be to barter with her, as I told you many monster girls are desperate to get pregnant so taking her for a tumble would get you some high-quality ink, comparable to killing a giant squid.”

Kal looked thoughtful then smiled, “that certainly does sound more pleasurable than going out and killing stuff.”

Perra laughed and smacked Kal in the arm “You letch!”

After a quick laugh at Kal’s expense, Ikuno continued, “You do have a third option though. You can spend some time and build a relationship with the girl. If she were to offer herself to you, as I have, and you claim her, as you just did me, something special happens. Being with you amplifies their magic for a time, if she gives you some of her ink during that period, it will be far superior to if you just bartered. But here’s the catch, you must take her because you want her and care about her not just because you want high-quality ink. The other caveat is that they have to offer themselves to you understanding that you are not becoming their husband and have no claim on you.”

“You said it amplifies their magic, is that what happened to you outside?” asked Kal.

Ikuno glanced at Perra and blushed dark purple, “Yeah, kind of...”

“Kind of?”

Ikuno cleared her throat still blushing, “there were a couple of things that happened. Firstly, I’m a spirit of nature, and I draw in energy from around me all the time, when I became yours that was amplified, and I was suddenly taking in a lot more than normal. Then there’s the other thing…”

“What ‘other thing’?” he asked.

Ikuno’s eyes flicked to Perra, “I’m not sure I should explain this in front of her.”

Perra pouted, “Me birthday is only a few months away, and I’ll be of age so don’ let me stop you. I’ve heard this far I may as well hear the rest.”

Kal looked at Ikuno and shrugged.

Ikuno sighed, “As you wish, the reason things went crossways outside is because there is a kind of magic in sex, the better the sex, the more energy. We were making a LOT of energy that I was absorbing a LOT faster than usual. I told you my horns act like crystals and store magic, but they were full even before you got here, so I had nowhere to put the extra. To make matters worse,” she glanced at Perra again then back to Kal, “you gave me a LOT of energy too.” Perra smirked but kept quiet so Ikuno could continue, “I had to do something with all of the excess, so things got a little… loud.”

Perra’s eyes went wide, “Bloody hell! That was you?!” Ikuno blushed deep purple and nodded.

“I thought there was a dragon or some nasty monster nearby! It was so loud I had to stop and cover my ears. When it noise died, I ran here as quickly as I could.”

Kal had a questioning look on his face, “You ran all the way here?” Perra nodded, “And it was so loud you had to cover your ears?” she nodded again. Kal did some quick calculations his eyes getting bigger as he realized how far away Perra had been when she heard Ikuno’s roar. He looked at Ikuno and, from the shocked look on her face, saw she had come to the same conclusion.

Ikuno quickly recovered and nudged Kal with her elbow, “Guess I wanted to let everyone know I was yours now.”

“I think you might have succeeded,” he said shaking his head, then looked back at Perra, “why were you coming here anyways I thought you and mother were going to be busy?”

“Mom said she needed to go visit the weaver in town to pick up thread and material for some more winter clothes,” Perra had taken to calling Kal’s mother ‘Mom’ almost as soon as she moved in, “after we got done with speech lessons she had me saddle up the horse then turned me loose for the day. Thought I might see what you and Ikuno were up to.”

“Okay that all makes sense, but what doesn’t is; who in their right mind hears a monster or dragon roar and runs TOWARDS it?”

Perra blushed, “To be honest, I could sort of tell it was Ikuno.”

Ikuno went purple with embarrassment yet again, “What? How?”

Kal was giving the girl a piercing stare, the question plain on his face.

Perra sat back in a huff returning his glare, “When you two send me out for an hour at a time to ‘pick berries’ or ‘gather herbs’ those berries and herbs aren’t always that far from the cave, you and Ikuno can both get rather noisy.”

Kal blushed scarlet, Ikuno gave up and pulled the blankets up over her head which meant Kal was once again grabbing at the furs to keep himself covered. Perra doubled over laughing at them which thankfully broke the mood, with Kal then Ikuno, after she poked her head out from under the blankets, soon joining in.

Once they had calmed down Kal spoke up, “I don’t quite get the thing about why monster girls can’t consider me a husband, not that I really want them to. I just don’t understand.”

“That’s more for their benefit and not hurting their expectations but what’s really important is your feelings on it. Once you give yourself to someone, the way that I gave myself to you, the magic ties with all the rest will be gone. You could get high-quality ink from squid girl, wherever she may be, but I would no longer be yours, and yes, I would know immediately.”

Perra gave Ikuno a confused look, “If he’s out there sleeping with all these women, won’t you get jealous?”

Ikuno smiled, “In my homeland’s culture the most powerful men in the land may have one wife, but the number of concubines he can keep is a symbol of how strong and virile they are. So, no I really don’t,” she looked down at Kal, “as long as he never stops loving me.”

Perra held her hands up, “Hold up! Save that stuff for after I’ve gone home.”

Ikuno smiled, “Fair enough. Back to your question, many monster girls feel the same deep down but with humans demonizing sex with them once they catch a man they are very unwilling to let him go and find other mates.”

“You said that there was magic in sex, why is there no mention of using it in any of the books you had me read?” asked Kal.

Ikuno frowned, “There used to be Eromancers and Love Oracles, but they were slowly corrupted by greed and power, eventually disappearing altogether. Now their spells are only used in dark magics, many of the positive spells like the compatibility spell have been lost to time or are buried deep in magical libraries and known to only a few.”

Kal shook his head, “I’ve learned of sex magics. Talked about how I’m supposed to put together some kind of harem to become a runesmith. All while butt naked under a blanket with the giant blue woman who just pledged her life to me and the girl I’m living with. This has to be the strangest moment of my life.” The girls laughed for a moment at Kal’s observation then Perra got up and put her chair back in the library.

Coming back, she said, “I suppose it’s about time I leave you two to your fun. One last question Ikuno. Why him, what makes Kal so special that you would give yourself to him like this?”

“You forget how old I am Perra, Kal isn’t the first man or woman, I have given myself to like this, but the last one passed away just before I came to live here. I am also a living spirit which means I have a shrine back in my homeland and if that shrine still stands my body may be killed, but I will not truly die, though it may take a few years to make myself a new one. That makes me essentially immortal, so it’s very likely Kal won’t be the last.”

She looked down at Kal, “As to ‘why him?’ Because he’s a good man, he tries hard to make the people around him happy, and he makes me happy. Beyond that, there is a strange power inside him that I believe will take him on a very interesting journey. And finally, because I love him, I realized that a while ago, hearing him tell me he loved me today I was so shocked I didn’t even know what to do.” She looked up at Perra, “Does that answer your question?”

Perra was looking thoughtfully at Kal, “I think so,” leaning down she gave Kal a peck on the cheek before walking around the bed and giving Ikuno a hug goodbye. “Since you two are celebrating, I’ll take care of the farm tomorrow and tell Mom that you will be back the day after, call it my ‘congratulations’ gift. See you in a couple days Kal.” Walking towards the cave entrance, she pulled a stone out of a pocket and whispered, “Luma,” the stone glowed brightly as she made her way out of the cavern.

Ikuno watched the light gradually recede, “Your mother has done an amazing job, she hardly sounds like the peasant girl we met months ago.”

Kal nodded as the light from Perra’s stone faded completely, “She falls back into her old way of talking when she’s stressed or angry, but even then, it’s not nearly as bad as it used to be,” he looked at Ikuno, “I think I just got tomorrow off.”

“I know just what we can do with that time. However, earlier you gave me hard and fast now I need soft and slow.” She threw the covers off spreading her arms and legs in invitation.

Kal crawled over and slid his still hardening prick into Ikuno’s wet sex, he leaned forward and kissed each of her nipples before laying his head between her breasts. Getting comfortable he began to slowly slide in and out of the oni.

Ikuno gently ran her fingers through his hair and smiled, “When I said, ‘soft and slow’ I didn’t quite mean this slow.”

Kal chuckled, “Have mercy Ikuno this will be the fifth time today, and it’s not even midday yet. After everything that happened this morning, I’m a little sore, not to mention a bit tired.”

“Then let me take care of your soreness at least, and I’ll let you rest,” Ikuno said trying to push him off.

Kal buried himself to the hilt in the oni, drawing a gasp from her, then held her tight, refusing to be moved with the help of Ikuno’s strength spell. “Nuh-uh, I like being inside you, it feels good.

Ikuno stopped trying to lift him off. “I’m yours Kal, you can have me any time and anyway you want now, all you need is to ask. There’s no reason to be uncomfortable.”

“It’s more annoying than uncomfortable, not worth pulling out,” he said smiling.

“Fine then,” she relented then wrapped her arms around him and crossed her legs behind his back holding him in place. “You relax and let me do the work.” Her pussy gripped his member tight then began making the rippling motion that normally only happened when she came, the effect was like having a hand wrapped in warm silk massaging up and down his length.

Kal did as Ikuno said, nestling his head into the valley between her breasts and letting his arms fall to the sides. Ikuno rubbed his back as the tension drained out of him, however, relaxing like this was making him acutely aware of the pleasurable feelings coming from his groin. Ikuno had amazing control sometimes just squeezing his entire cock rhythmically then switching and tightening at just the base before moving that tightness up to the head. Alternating between that and the reverse where she squeezed the head and went down made it feel like he was actually thrusting into her without moving. She started rolling her hips from side to side, and the added twisting sensation was sending him quickly towards his release. Since it was his fifth time that day it took quite a while before he felt the familiar tightness at the base of his cock. He put his arms around Ikuno and started making small thrusts with his hips. Ikuno groaned as he suddenly gripped her tight, grinding his crotch into hers as he filled her.

Kal gave one last shove as the last of his seed shot into Ikuno’s waiting sex, soon after his body went limp, his cock softening inside her as his breathing became deep and regular. Ikuno rolled him off her onto the other side of the bed, leaning down she gently cleaned him with her mouth, which got a sleepy hum of appreciation from Kal, then covered him up. She was about to join him under the covers when a spark of magic jumped between the tips of her horns.

Her eyes widened, and she put a hand just above her sex, she could feel the power in Kal’s essence pulsing there. Her magic stores were already overflowing, and she had only just started to absorb the energy within his seed. Ikuno jumped from the bed and bolted for the cave entrance formulating a quick plan, if she only had enough time to put it in action.

Bare naked she ran out of the cave and immediately turned towards a trail that ran up the mountain. Part of the reason she had chosen this particular cave had been the close proximity to a mountain spring. Not far up the mountain she had found a small waterfall, about chest height to her, that dumped onto a wide and deep ledge, over the years she had chiseled out a small pool beneath it for her to soak in and pushed the waterfall back far enough and high enough to be a proper shower, with a little magic it became a warm one as well. Ikuno ran full tilt up the trail, vaulting over boulders and rocks she would normally have walked around.

Getting close to her bathing spot Ikuno shook her head to try to clear the fog that was creeping into her mind, gritting her teeth she pulled up the images of the spells she needed and magic circles flared to life in her hands. Cresting the ledge, she extended both arms and twin beams of energy lanced out chewing into the rock. About a half a minute later she felt the fog lift from her mind, a few seconds after that she felt the flow of Kal’s essence into her taper off and stop. The beams flickered out, and Ikuno looked at her handiwork, long furrows the width of a man were gouged into the ledge, deep enough that Kal could have stood in one and just barely peeked over the top.

Looking at the waterfall then at the rents she had made in the rock, an idea came to her.

“Two birds, one stone,” she said aloud. Holding her hands out even larger beams of magic began pulverizing rock into dust again as she directed the gouges towards the waterfall.

Ikuno considered today and tomorrow to be a honeymoon of sorts, thanks to Perra, and the oni planned on enjoying it just like any other newlywed. Smiling, Ikuno poured more power into the beams.

------

Sometime later Ikuno stared down at Kal’s sleeping form, her horns their normal golden color until about halfway up, where they turned glossy black. Thinking back to her mad dash to burn all the extra power he had given her, the oni shook her head, “what on earth are you boy…” Putting it out of her mind, she crawled into bed and curled up with her young lover, Kal mumbling contentedly in his sleep as she wrapped herself around him.

Up on the mountainside a granite pool ten paces wide and double that long started to fill from the small waterfall nearby.