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An Artist Among Monsters	By : ClanCrusher Category: +M to R > Ranma ½ Views: 21243 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit fan-based work of fanfiction. Ranma 1/2 and Monster Girl Quest are owned by Rumiko Takahashi and Torotoro Resistance respectively.

Chapter List
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“That slime girl did something to me.”
Alice gave Ranma a blank look. “Yes. She did. We monsters refer to it as a blow-”
“No! I mean...yes, but she did something more than that! You were doing it too!”
“It's called feeding,” said Alice, maintaining her flat tone. “It's another thing we monsters do.”
“I meant how you were doing it. When she was...when you were feeding, your energy was...trying to push into me to replace the energy I lost. Like you were trying to weaken me when I...”
“When you spilled your love juice into her body,” finished Alice. “Why are you so reluctant talking about this anyways? You said yourself you don't know anything about Ilias.”
“Ilias has nothing to do with it! That sort of thing just doesn't happen where I'm from!” snapped Ranma, trying to hide his embarrassment.
Alice smiled. “So oral play isn't a thing where you're from?”
“Gah!” Ranma sucked in a breath and forced himself to calm down. She was teasing him and he kept rising to her bait. “Look, that energy she tried to push into me-”
“She didn't do it on purpose,” interrupted Alice. “It's just how monsters work. You release energy when you achieve climax and a monster's energy slips in to replace it, weakening your body so they can continue feeding. Most monsters don't even consciously know they do it, only that it works.”
“Oh...yeah, that would explain it,” finished Ranma, pushing a log with his foot to keep the campfire in check. It had been some time since he'd really been roughing it like this, but a forest was a forest in any world it seemed, and acquiring enough materials for a fire, a shelter, and even a makeshift bed wasn't a difficult feat. He'd even managed to forage a pretty decent meal with a bit of help from Alice's traveler's guide, though all he'd needed was a glance to determine that the plants and berries were pretty much the same here as they were back home.
“So where are you going?”
“Iliasburg first,” said Ranma, thinking back to the maps and books he'd seen in the temple's hospital. “Need some camping supplies and some actual food for the road. Not sure how I'm gonna get money, but I'll look for something while I'm there. After that? North to Sentora and probably Grangold. Guide I read said something about them being the most technologically advanced city in the world, so if anything can help me get back home, it'd probably be that.”
“What's your home like?” asked Alice curiously.
Ranma thought for a moment. “Lot more crowded. And noisy. There aren't many quiet places like this. The air isn't as good, either. No monsters though...at least not like you or Lime. Speaking of...should I be setting traps?”
Alice shook her head. “They won't approach while I'm here. Most of the monsters roaming the wild are...simple minded. Their instincts will keep them away.”
“Oh...thanks, I guess,” said Ranma as he lay back onto the grass with a sigh. “So why are you following me then?”
“Because you can cook and I'm heading in the same direction,” said Alice simply. “In every direction, really. This is the first time I've ever been outside of Hellgondo and I want to see the world.”
“Really? Sounded more like you wanted to wipe out humanity.”
“Shut up, I was in a bad mood,” said Alice with a huff. “You try getting knocked fifteen hundred feet from the air to the ground and see what kind of mood you're in when you wake up.”
It was tempting to point out how much of an overreaction that was, but Ranma thought better of it. Unlike Akane, Alice was actually threatening...at least when she wasn't pouting like a spoiled child.
“I don't hate humans,” she continued, a bit more somber. “Although their blind devotion to Ilias is insufferably irritating. The priests at the temple could barely go two sentences without mentioning her name.”
“I take it she's not a monster fan?” asked Ranma.
“Her teachings stop short of outright genocide, but they encourage indirect genocide, since one of her edicts is that humans aren't allowed to have sexual relations with monsters. If all humans followed that, none of us would be able to feed or procreate.”
“Procre...wait, are there no male monsters in the world?” The surprise was clear in Ranma's voice.
“None that I've seen. One is born on exceptionally rare occasions, but all the monsters in this world right now are female.”
“That's...crazy.” There really was no other word for it. Magic of some kind had to be involved.
“That's one word for it. I'm going to get some sleep.” Rising up from her place beside the campfire, the lamia slithered towards a tree and then coiled around it, spiraling upward swiftly before settling around one of the branches.
“Huh...well I suppose if it's comfortable,” murmured Ranma before slipping into his own makeshift tent and settling in for the night.
“Iliasburg...famed for being the base of operations of the Traveler's Inns, various famous foods such as their Happiness Honey, and being the first stop for many adventurers on their long quests,” read Ranma aloud as he walked, with Alice following a ways behind in her lamia form.
“I plan to thoroughly indulge myself while I'm there,” said Alice. “Happiness Honey is said to be one of Ilias' Continent's most delectable delicacies.”
“Do you have any money?” asked Ranma pointedly. “I'm not even sure what type of currency this world uses.”
“Gold.”
Ranma blinked. “Like...literal gold?”
“Only one type of gold I know of. Also, monster.”
“But that means- huh?” His head turned and Alice suddenly vanished, all traces of her presence disappearing from his senses. A moment later, something was blocking the path.
“A traveler? Unbaptized? You look delicious.”
On first glance, Ranma might have mistaken her for a human female...if he'd been blindfolded and beaten senseless. Despite wearing a long dress and fancy bonnet, the creature’s deathly pale skin and strange eyes were instant giveaways to her true nature even before her aura became noticeable. Although...
“Okay, I give up. What kind of monster are you?” asked Ranma curiously.
Slowly, the pale girl reached a hand down to her dress and began to pull it upward, revealing a pink mass underneath where a pair of legs might have been. “Slug,” said the woman with a smile, slowly sliding across the ground toward him.
“Huh. Neat.” Taking a sharp turn, Ranma briefly deviated from the path and walked around her at a quick pace and then rejoined the path, leaving her behind.
“H-hey, wait!” Flustered, the slug girl tried her best to catch up, but Ranma was already a fair distance away and making space, his walking speed easily able to outstrip the much slower slug girl.
“Sorry, kind of in a hurry,” said Ranma over his shoulder, barely even turning his attention away from the traveler's guide. “Weird, all these places have different names than Ilias...”
“You're really just going to leave her back there?”
Ranma didn't even flinch at Alice's sudden appearance, though it still irked him a bit that he couldn't sense it. “Should I have fought her or something? She seemed about as threatening as Lime.”
“Well she probably would have tried to catch you, feed on you, and then press you into marriage,” said Alice casually.
Ranma twitched slightly. “I suppose I could go back and punch her a few times.”
“Forget it. I want some Happiness Honey.”
Closing the guide, Ranma idly spun it on a finger before tossing it back to Alice. “You still haven't said how you're going to pay for it.”
“Well maybe if you'd beaten that Slug Girl, you could have gotten some gold coins from her.”
“You mean like...shake her down?”
“Isn't that what adventurers do?”
“I don't know, I'm not an adventurer. And I'm definitely not a thief.” Well...he usually wasn't a thief. He wasn't a petty thief at least.
“If we don't get any Happiness Honey, it's going to be your fault then,” concluded Alice with a huff.
“Why don't you have any money? I thought you were interested in traveling the world.”
“That was only partially the reason I left Hellgondo,” she began, only to cut off abruptly. Just like before, she'd instantly disappeared.
“Will you stop doing- ” began Ranma, only to pause as he sensed a faint aura beneath the ground. “Really? Right in the middle of the road?” he muttered while carefully stepping around several suspicious looking fronds peeking up from the dirt. Like clockwork, Alice was back by his side a moment later.
“What was that one going to do? Try to feed on me as well?”
“Unlikely. She probably would have just screamed at you for waking her up and then moved somewhere else.”
“If she's trying to sleep, why is she in the middle of a road?”
“Because she's not very bright,” said Alice simply. “At least you had the sense to step around her.”
“I could sense her aura from fifty feet away...unlike yours,” grumbled Ranma. “How are you doing that, anyways?”
“Lots of practice. It would be troublesome if too many monsters saw me on this continent, and it's not as though you need my help dealing with them.”
That made a certain amount of sense. She was clearly a powerful and important monster of some kind, and if there was a conflict between monsters and humans, helping him could put her in a bad spot. Although now he couldn't help but wonder just how important she really was.
“Are you queen of some kind? Or a princess?” he ventured.
“Something like that,” answered Alice, not at all helpfully.
Ranma shrugged and turned back to the road as the two of them crested a hill. At the top, he could see Iliasburg in the distance, stretched out along a cliffside and rising above the forest. Houses were packed in rather snugly with one another, although no building rose higher than the church at the top of the incline, giving it the effect of 'looking over' the rest of the town. Beside him, Alice had already slipped back into her human disguise.
“Wouldn't it be easier to just find a real set of clothes rather than having to manipulate your aura all the time?” asked Ranma.
“Do you think I'd be any less conspicuous with a dress?” retorted Alice pointedly.
Ranma took a moment to look at her. Long silver hair, an intricate flower arrangement entwining with the strands, and bright golden eyes...
“No, probably not,” he agreed with a shake of his head before suddenly coming to a stop. “What in the-” The peaceful afternoon air was now rippling with an immense amount of power, comparable to what he'd first felt from Alice during their conflict. Unlike hers, however, this show of power felt...calculated. Almost as though it were a challenge to anyone who could feel it.
Beside him, Alice had stopped as well, a frown on her face as she looked toward the town. “What is she doing here?” she mumbled, just loud enough for Ranma to hear.
“Who?”
“You'll see. Unless you were planning to run away from this monster too,” said Alice with a small smile.
Ranma hesitated. “Weren't you worried about me beating up monsters just a bit ago?”
“Not this one. And even if you did, it would probably only make things worse for you.”
“Worse how?”
“Looks like she's attacking the town,” said Alice, swiftly changing the subject. “She's probably cut her way through most of the guards by now.”
“What? I thought-”
“Not every monster is after a meal you moron.”
Ranma didn't need any further prompting, leaving Alice in the dust as he ran toward the oppressive aura. No gate guards. Obviously they were dealing with the threat inside. The streets were mostly abandoned as well, with the town feeling eerily silent, save for the increasingly loud clashes of steel that Ranma was rapidly approaching.
The sight that greeted him in the central square around the water fountain was not what he was expecting. As Alice had predicted, the monster had cut her way through multiple guards. Bodies were laid out everywhere with severed weapons, deep gashes in their armor, and dented helmets...but there was no blood. In fact, none of the armored soldiers even seemed to be seriously injured, simply knocked unconscious. That in and of itself spoke to an impressive level of skill.
Finally, Ranma laid eyes on the monster herself. Green scales, strong looking claws, pointed ears and strange looking fins close to her neck...a dragon! He was looking at an actual dragon! The sight was surreal enough to give him pause and watch as she eyed the remaining three soldiers in the plaza with a cool look.
“How boring. Is there not a single strong person in this entire city?” The dragongirl challenged.
“Guh! We'll never surrender to monsters like you!” Wielding a spear, the first guard charged, closely followed by the second.
“Too slow!” In a flash, the heavy metal blade at her side was in her hands, slashing out with blinding speed. The spear fell away in pieces, and a second later she vanished, appearing at the guard's back and bringing the hilt of her blade down hard against his helmet. The second barely had time to turn around before the dragon's next strike disarmed him and sent his blade skidding across the ground. Her third strike dropped him with a heavy stab to his stomach that dented his armor inward but didn't break the skin beneath.
The whole engagement had taken less than five seconds.
Finally, only one guard remained. Ranma could plainly feel the fear in his aura as the dragon swordswoman wreathed her blade in fire. “Well? Is this it? Are you going to let your town be taken over by a monster?” she taunted.
“You know, I think you made your point. Do you really need to make him wet his pants, too?” Ranma resisted the urge to react as the dragon girl whirled around and pointed her blade at him.
“You...you managed to hide your presence from me,” she said slowly. “Who are you?”
“Ranma Saotome of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts. Hey, soldier guy,” he called out to the trembling guard behind her. “Beat it. I'm gonna need some room here.”
The guard didn't need to be told twice and the dragon didn't even spare him a glance. “I am Granberia, the swordsman of fire and Heavenly Knight to the Monster Lord. Are you here to defend this town?”
“Nah. I'm just curious why you're wasting your time with a bunch of weaklings,” said Ranma simply, his arms casually resting behind his head.
“Ilias continent is a breeding ground for heroes and adventurers seeking to kill the monster lord,” replied Granberia, sticking her sword into the ground and crossing her arms beneath her chest. “It only makes sense to cut them off at the source.”
Idly, Ranma cast a glance at the numerous bodies laid out around the plaza in various states of injury. Some had regained consciousness and were crawling away from the field of battle, but none of them would be up and fighting again anytime soon. “This is what you're worried about? Really? How long did this take you, a half hour?”
“Half that. Maybe I was a bit impulsive, but it drew you out of hiding, didn't it? You seem like you'll give me a proper challenge.”
“I...guess I can't say you didn't,” said Ranma with a sigh. He'd really walked into that one. Taking a breath, the martial artist slipped into a stance, a fist at his side and a single hand extended forward.
Granberia gave him a curious look as she took the heavy blade at her side into her hands. The thing looked less like a slashing implement and more like a heavy hunk of metal. Crude in design, but no doubt effective. “No weapon?”
“Never needed one before.”
“I see. It's been some time since I've fought a monk. Show me your strength!”
Ranma's form blurred, and suddenly he was inches away from Granberia, his fist landing hard against her armored chest. There was a brief flicker of surprise, a grin, and then Ranma was on the defensive, her sword a gray streak as she retaliated, powerful slashes missing him by inches as he gave ground, then took it back with a quick pivot and a hard strike to her side. Her blade was upon him instantly, slicing straight through his shirt and nicking the skin underneath. Off-balance, her next strike would have cleaved him in two if he hadn't jumped away, landing neatly on the edge of the fountain.
“Yes...this is exactly what I've been waiting for! Again!”
Not wasting a breath, Ranma indulged her, coming in low, only to kick up into the air at the last moment and twist past her adjusted sword strike, his foot sweeping around and striking her shoulder. When her retaliatory blow came, Ranma was ready, kicking off her wrist to keep his momentum in the air and land a second blow to her neck while being carried past her strike. Or at least, that had been the plan before she abandoned the grip on her sword and grabbed his ankle, flinging him away.
Flipping in the air, Ranma landed on the ground just in time to see Granberia bearing down on him. “Chaos Star!” she roared.
“Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken!”
Blurred fists met a blurred blade, the martial artist focusing intently as his flurry of punches nudged, prodded, and just barely moved the sword aside with each strike to avoid having his arms cut to ribbons. Even then, it was near impossible to catch every blow and cuts opened up on his arms, though at the same time, a few punches managed to sneak through, putting nice, solid dents in her armor.
Eventually though, Ranma was forced to retreat, disengaging with a swift kick off the ground and a leap into the air. Putting his hand out, Ranma focused his ki and called out his attack.
“Moko Takabisha!”
A bright ball of energy formed at his fingers and rocketed towards the dragon. There was another brief flicker of surprise as she saw it streaking toward her before her blade flashed out and cut it cleanly down the middle, the energy detonating on either side of her in a cloud of dust.
“Fascinating. I didn't think there were any humans like you left in the world,” said Granberia appreciatively. “But you're still holding back. Show me your true strength!”
Landing some distance away, Ranma took a moment to catch his breath. “How do you figure?”
“You're a monk. Your type always have dozens of special techniques and you never lead with your strongest ones,” she observed. “But if you want me to force them out of you, then fine by me!”
The sound of claws upon stone filled the air as Granberia raised her blade high. A stabbing attack?
“Thunder Thrust!” A mere dozen feet away and Granberia's form vanished. Instinctively, Ranma threw himself to the side just in time for Granberia to reappear, her sword cutting deep into his side. Biting his lip, Ranma forced himself to focus, his body twisting and his arm sweeping around to slam into her side, staggering her for a brief moment and giving him a chance to leap away again.
Granberia didn't pursue, though she kept her sword at the ready as she watched Ranma push ki to the wound to rapidly close it. “Fast, but not fast enough.”
Ranma's eyes narrowed and his body straightened, his arms coming back up into a ready stance. “One more time.”
The dragon smirked and raised her blade again. “Don't blink.”
Ranma didn't. Instead he closed his eyes, focusing entirely on her aura. The wind was picking up again, almost as though she were directing it to enhance the speed of her attack. The noise of her claws hitting the ground increased in speed until they were almost a single unbroken sound. The stab came out, and then her entire aura seemed to slip to the side.
“There!” His palm lashed out, the very point of the sword just barely nicking his finger before he struck the flat of the blade, knocking it aside. His second palm strike hit center of mass, adding another fist-sized dent to Granberia's armor, and the third shattered the plate entirely, exposing her midriff and sending her flying back.
“Moko Takabisha!” Trusting that she was far from finished, Ranma sent a ki blast after her, and he wasn't disappointed as she suddenly righted herself and landed on the ground feet first, her sword sweeping upward to deflect the ki blast.
Instead of cutting it like the last one, the blade seemed to almost 'stick' to the energy he'd thrown before she shifted her grip and slashed downward. Suddenly, his own energy was shooting back towards him in the shape of a crescent, tearing up the ground as it streaked back to him. Thankfully, it wasn't a fast attack, but the power was immense, raising the hairs on Ranma's arm as it passed by him and detonated against the fountain, utterly destroying the structure and sending water everywhere. Amazingly, none of it splashed on him.
Setting her sword aside, Granberia calmly undid some of the straps of her armor and let the damaged part fall away. “A serene state of mind...it's been a while since I've fought another who mastered it.”
“Serene...what?”
“I suppose a monk might have a different name for it,” said Granberia, readying her sword again. “But you're not the only one who can use that form.”
The dragon's stance shifted and the air around her seemed to change. The fire and bloodlust was almost entirely gone and the wind around her died completely, leaving just her swaying form. Then, she struck.
It wasn't as fast as her gale thrust, but the blade still moved at a near blinding speed, not a sliver of energy wasted as she slashed across his chest, opening up a large cut on his shirt and a red line on his skin. His retaliation came quick, but like water, she seemed to flow around it, moving the barest minimum possible before striking again, sections of his shirt falling away as he was only just avoiding the attacks. It was similar to how he'd read her Thunder Thrust, but she was incorporating it into her entire being.
Well...two could play at that game.
Calming himself, Ranma closed his eyes and let his aura expand. Granberia was a bright flame in his mind and her sword was a mere extension of herself. Each movement she made sent a ripple through the stillness around him. When his eyes opened again, everything except Granberia seemed to fade from view...and then they clashed.
To an outside observer, it might have looked like a dance. Each movement perfectly choreographed as fists skimmed against scales and the blade delicately severed a few hairs from Ranma's head. Gouges appeared in the stone ground beneath them with each missed sword-strike, neither one of them managing to land anything more than a glancing blow. The movements were getting faster, too, the dance becoming more deadly by the moment as the two serene fighters moved fully with the flow.
And then, Granberia's sword caught fire.
“Vaporizing Rebellion Sword!”
The call out was more of a warning than a declaration. It still didn't help. Fire fueled her blade and her movements both as she flipped from a serene state to an all-out attack with barely a break in stride. Dozens upon dozens of sword strikes rained down on Ranma, searing his skin even as he dodged and deflected what he could. The final thrust forward came at lightning speed, opening up a wound on his chest and sending him flying back to land on his knees.
“It's been a long time since someone has pushed me this far,” said Granberia calmly. “You have my respect, Ranma Saotome. But this match is mine.”
Ranma coughed and spat up a bit of blood. “You're...not bad yourself,” he got out, slowly rising to his feet. His clothing was in tatters now, and what remained was badly seared. A good deal of his ki was being dedicated to keeping his wounds closed and the pain at bay, but he couldn't surrender. Not when victory was so close.
“I admire your resilience, but if you persist, I will put you down,” warned the dragoness, readying her blade.
“Show me...one more time.”
“Hmm?”
“Your technique. Vaporizing Rebellion Sword. Show me...one more time.”
“If you wish to die that badly-”
“You won't hit me a second time,” Ranma lied through his teeth. Already the world around him was fading into that serene state once more. This was going to take all of his concentration.
“I see. Very well then.” Her sword ignited, the heat causing sweat to drip down Ranma's brow. “Vaporizing Rebellion Sword!”
The attack came, and Ranma moved. Searing blow after searing blow swept past him, cutting into his skin and burning his flesh, but Ranma continued to retreat, leading Granberia in a very particular pattern even as his legs threatened to give out. She wasn't angry, but Ranma had all the heat he needed, and as he came closer and closer to the center of the technique, his mind slipped further and further into the soul of ice.
Then, as the final stab came, Ranma's fist met it.
“Hiryu Shoten Ha!”
His shout was practically lost to the sudden raging winds that formed from his fist, the hot and cold energies clashing and sweeping Granberia off her feet and into the air. Gale force winds battered her from every side as she struggled to hold on to her blade, but Ranma wasn't going to give her a chance to recover. Leaping into the tornado, Ranma rode the air currents straight to her, slamming into her back with a shoulder before unleashing a barrage of punches, kicks, and a finishing heel drop right to her stomach.
With a resounding crash, Granberia hit the ground below, her blade landing several feet away. Ranma's landing was only a bit more graceful, his entire body trembling as his feet hit the ground and promptly gave out, forcing him to one knee.
Slowly, Ranma reached a hand over to the dragon's head and lightly tapped the front of her helm with his knuckle. “I win.”
Confident that his opponent was unconscious, Ranma let himself fall back onto his rear, breathing a sigh of relief. The area around them was completely destroyed. Deep gouges lined the stone ground and the fountain was spilling water everywhere. The dozens of guards that Granberia had laid out were mercifully unharmed, and it looked like a good majority of them had either managed to crawl away on their own, or had been dragged to safety. Internally, he berated himself for forgetting their presence in the heat of the moment. It was a small miracle that none of the collateral damage had hit one of them.
“Now this...this feels like home,” said Ranma with a chuckle, closing his eyes and relaxing. Already he could sense the people who had barricaded themselves in their homes cautiously peeking out now that the noise had ceased.
“One more...” Ranma nearly yelped as a warm, scaly hand grabbed onto his wrist. A pair of determined golden eyes looked up at him as the dragon woman kept a death grip on his wrist and pulled herself up next to him. “Show me...that technique one more time.”
For a moment, Ranma was ready to strike out, but her sword was still several dozen feet away and she seemed far more interested in the technique than continuing the fight. “It's...a little complicated,” he began.
“You were leading me in a spiral. Right at the center, you did something with your energy that turned my flames against me.”
One demonstration was all it took...
“Are you idiots done yet?”
“Gah! Will you stop doing that?” snapped Ranma, turning behind him where Alice had suddenly appeared.
Granberia's head also turned and her eyes widened. “My lord!” Shaking from her injuries, the dragon woman still managed to shift her body and bring herself to one knee, bowing her head to Alice.
“What are you doing here, Granberia?” asked Alice, the annoyance clear in her voice. “Was there something unclear about my edict?”
“No, of course not! But...when you left to fight her-” she began.
“Idiot. How was this supposed to help me?”
“This is her bastion of support. All of the heroes come from here. I thought that if I-”
“Go away, you annoyance. I came here to try some Happiness Honey and I can't do that if the town is destroyed.”
Granberia hesitated for a moment, looking between Ranma and Alice before her expression shifted into one of determination. “I'm sorry, my lord, but I can't do that. This human is a threat to you.”
Ranma coughed. “What? How?”
“Your abilities. They're strange and powerful. They could pose a significant risk to my lord.”
“I'm already keeping an eye on him,” interrupted Alice. “And I've fought with him already. There is no significant threat to myself.”
“Hey! Come on now- ”
“Nevertheless, I must insist, Lord Alipheese. I can't back down now.”
“You just want a rematch.”
Granberia's eyes darted to the side. Was that a tinge of red on her cheeks?
“Perhaps...I could accompany you?” She offered. “I realize you are entirely capable of protecting yourself, my lord, but there are many threats in the world, and I feel as though Ranma hasn't shown you everything he's capable of.”
Alice sighed, crossing her arms beneath her breasts as she looked at her subordinate. “It irritates me that you're making a compelling case even while lying through your teeth. Still, I wasn't aware this idiot could form tornadoes with his bare hands.”
“That's not exactly how the technique works,” Ranma protested.
“Fine, you can travel with us,” said Alice. “Just so long as you put your duties as a knight first and your crazy battle tendencies second.”
“My lord, I would never-”
“And get out of town. I'm never going to get any Happiness Honey if everyone is too afraid to leave their houses.”
“Of course, Lord Alipheese. I will meet you outside the city when you're ready to leave,” said Granberia, finally managing to get to her feet and make her way toward the gate.
Alice watched her go with a frown on her face. “Unbelievable. I told you that beating her was only going to make things more troublesome.”
Struggling to his feet, Ranma silently agreed. Surprisingly, his ascent was helped by a hand on his arm and a gentle pull, the disguised monster easily holding him steady. “I didn't really have a lot of options,” he groaned.
“You could have not fought her. You're not even from this world. Why should you care what happens to a town like this?” asked Alice. Despite the coldness of her words, Ranma didn't feel as though she were judging him, but rather genuinely curious of his reasoning.
“Maybe I shouldn't,” he agreed. “But I'm not that type of person. I see something like this happen in front of me and I can't just do nothing.”
Alice was silent for a long moment before shaking her head. For a brief instant, Ranma could have sworn he'd seen a smile on her face. “Are you sure you're not one of Ilias' brain-dead heroes? Because that's the kind of line one would use.”
“Is she gone?”
“She's gone! Those two drove her away!”
“Did you see that tornado? That was amazing!”
“I could barely see either of them move!”
People were starting to spill out into the streets now. Some were checking on the unconscious soldiers but a good deal of them were crowding around him and Alice, eager to get a look at the 'heroes' that had driven off Granberia.
“He didn't even use a weapon!”
“What's your name, hero?”
“You idiots, give the hero some space. Can't you see how beat up he is?”
“Three cheers for the hero of Iliasburg!”
Despite the enthusiastic crowd around them, Alice's pace continued forward, parting them easily as she held Ranma by the arm. “Come on, 'hero', we're clearly done traveling for the day.”
“We still don't have any money, you know...”
“But you're a hero now,” said Alice sweetly. “And you nearly got run through and burned to a crisp for your trouble, so maybe just be quiet and enjoy the benefits.”
Ranma couldn't remember a time when he'd spent a night in a luxurious location such as this. The training trip had been a series of forests, caves, and abandoned houses. The Tendo Dojo was comfortable, but not fancy. This, however, was luxury with a capital L.
Everything about the room spoke of money and wealth. Large, human sized portraits of heroes and monsters doing battle lined the walls, coupled with thick red curtains that opened on incredible views of the town below.
The furniture pieces in the room were no less spectacular. Calling the large bed in the room 'King' sized didn't do it justice. It could have easily fitted Alice's entire snake body and then some, even if she was stretched out all the way, and pillows of all shapes and sizes were nestled at the head of the bed like a miniature fort.
At the moment, both he and Alice were seated at the dining table, making quick work of the feast that the inn owner had delivered to them within minutes of showing them to the room. Ranma's clothes had been taken, and in their place was a large, white fluffy bathrobe that was warm enough to fall asleep in.
“Just for the record, this still feels wrong,” said Ranma in between bites.
On the other end, Alice was matching him bite for bite, showing an appetite not unlike his own. “You'd sound more convincing if your mouth wasn't full.”
“It's not in my nature to pass up a free meal.” And he definitely wasn't about to let food this good go to waste.
“Then stop complaining, hero boy,” concluded Alice smugly, finishing off another set of honey topped Ama-Ama Dango and adding another plate to the small mountain that had accumulated between the two of them. “Besides, I'm sure the Ilias Church wouldn't mind treating you after you drove off Granberia.”
“Something tells me they wouldn't be quite so happy to be treating a monster,” countered Ranma. “Speaking of...Granberia called you a lord. What exactly are you a lord of anyways?”
“Hellgondo,” said Alice simply.
Ranma thought back to the map again and his chewing slowed. “Isn’t that the name of the continent?”
“Yes.” Without missing a beat, Alice's lamia form wavered and shifted into her human one right as the door opened, admitting the inn hostess with a cart to clean off the numerous empty plates and dishes.
“Well now, I was going to ask if you were enjoying my cooking, but the cleaned plates speak for themselves,” said the owner jovially.
“A perfect blend of sweetness and natural tastes. The honey is expertly applied to not overpower the other flavors. Truly a masterwork of cooking. If you were a monster, I'd make you a duchess.”
“Haha..what a strange remark young lady!”
Ranma fought the urge to rub his head and sigh. Fortunately, the owner seemed to think it was just a joke of some kind.
“Unfortunately, we haven't been able to get enough Happiness Honey lately. Something has been happening at Happiness Village and the men have been disappearing. Although I suppose a skilled pair of heroes would be able to sort out a problem like that easily.”
“Um...” began Ranma.
“It would certainly be worth letting you stay here for another night or two. It might even be worth a permanent discount and VIP treatment.”
“We’ll look into it,” said Alice instantly.
“What?”
“This inn is clearly the lifeblood of the city,” said Alice, matter-of-fact. “You wouldn't want her to go out of business now, would you?”
Ranma stared at her before slowly looking around at the absurdly luxurious room. “You know...I don't really think the lack of one ingredient is going to be that bad.”
“Well, you're a hero type, aren't you? Isn't this the kind of thing you're supposed to do?” pressed Alice.
From the corner of his eye, Ranma could see the hostess looking at him expectantly. Inwardly he cursed. “Yes...that is exactly the kind of thing we as heroes would do.”
“Wonderful! It warms my heart to see that Ilias can still provide us heroes worth a damn in these troubled and uncertain times. You two have a good night now, and be sure to ring the bell if there's anything you need.”
Ranma waited until her footsteps were completely out of earshot before glaring at Alice who had already returned to her monster form. “Will you knock it off with the hero thing? You already exploited a couple hundred thousand gold from this inn.”
“I didn't hear you complaining when she offered us the hero rate,” retorted Alice. “Are you saying that you don't want to help that poor village under siege by vicious monsters? If you're feeling so guilty about staying here for free, then maybe you should help her out.”
“Why do you care about what's going on in a human village anyways? I thought everyone on this continent was an Ilias worshiper in your eyes,” accused Ranma. “It can't just be because you want more Happiness Honey.”
Alice was silent for a long moment. “...it’s really good honey.”
Ranma groaned. “Damn glutton.”
“The term is gourmet,” she retorted. “Besides, you ate just as much as I did. Maybe even more.”
Looking down at the numerous empty plates that hadn't fit on the cart the owner had brought in, Ranma mumbled under his breath. “...it is good honey.”
“It's not as though Grangold is going anywhere. Besides, the royalty there will probably be far more open to talking with an accomplished hero than some nobody claiming they're from another world.”
That...was actually a pretty good point. If that sort of technology and magic did exist in this world, it was probably a closely guarded secret. “Alright, fine, we'll go. Now can you tell me why you really want to go?”
Alice shrugged and cleaned off the final plate of food. “Monster lord business.”
“That's all you're gonna tell me?”
“Why should you care what's going on with a bunch of monsters? Every one you've met has attacked you so far.”
“Most humans do that to me,” retorted Ranma. “But if you don't want to tell me, fine.”
“I would be more than happy to bore you with the politics of monsters and humans, but I'm hungry right now. For dessert.”
“Bell is right next to you,” said Ranma.
The martial artist was halfway to his feet before he caught Alice's playful, yet predatory look, a sudden chill going down his spine. “No, absolutely not,” he said quickly.
“Really? Weren't you curious about that technique the slime girl used on you? I'm quite good at it myself,” said Alice, idly flicking her fingers toward the door to the room, a faint black aura appearing around the handle and the cracks in the door.
“I'm not that curious, and I'm still injured.” That was a partial truth. A shower and a big meal had done wonders to help his energy recover and his body to heal. His eyes flicked to the barrier around the door. Could he break through it in time? Maybe he could jump out one of the windows or go through a wall...
“This is going to happen one of two ways, Ranma,” said Alice, her tongue slowly sliding across her lips while her tail quivered behind her. “Either you follow me to the bed and we have a nice time, or you try to run, and I drag you back to the bed for a nice time.”
The chill going down his spine suddenly turned to a shiver. He'd felt something similar at times back in Nerima when Shampoo was feeling particularly aggressive, but never something as intense as this. Worse yet, he couldn't even describe the feeling as 'unpleasant'.
The bathrobe was off in a second, the white fluffy missile streaking toward Alice, billowing outward and blocking her view as a boxer clad Ranma made his bid for freedom, aiming toward the window, angling his shoulder forward and preparing to smash the glass, only for his body to suddenly be rebuffed by that strange dark energy and send him stumbling back.
Around him, similar energy was seeping out from the walls, the floor, and even the ceiling. Alice hadn't even moved from her spot at the table and was calmly folding up the robe Ranma had thrown at her. “You're not going to escape that easily. Consider this practice, just in case a different monster tries something similar on you.”
Ranma bolted and Alice moved, her coils pushing her from the table at an incredibly quick pace. Her coils moved independently of her upper body, pushing off the ground at odd angles, letting her move side to side, and even quite rapidly backwards as she slowly boxed the martial artist in. Eventually, she had him cornered, forcing him to make a desperate leap above her head...or at least try to.
Mentally, he blamed it on the injuries he'd taken from his fight with Granberia and the fact that he was feeling so relaxed after a large meal. Ultimately, he still ended up caught in Alice's arms, locked against her chest, and looking into her eyes which were glowing and coaxing him into a relaxed state. He was already starting to fight back against it, but even the brief moment of paralysis was enough for Alice to employ her coils.
Warm, scaly lengths closed around him, starting with his upper body, pinning his arms to his sides first and quickly moving onto his legs. His struggles were short lived, as the dark energy followed the tight squeeze of her coils, coaxing him to relax and go limp. Then, just as she'd promised, Alice's body began to move, slowly pulling him over to the bed.
“No slime girl to steal part of my meal this time,” she murmured into his ear while stretching herself across the bed, pulling Ranma with her and slowly shifting her coils so that his back was pressed against her stomach and his head was resting on her chest.
Alice's aura was overwhelming. He'd felt it before with Lime, but she was a candle compared to Alice's inferno, and the effect only seemed to be even more potent now that he was bound in her coils. More and more, it was becoming impossible not to focus on how nice her scales felt against his skin as they twisted and squeezed his limbs, or the way they seemed to massage him as he lay trapped, pulling him further into a lethargic state.
Despite how hungry she'd claimed to be, Alice seemed more than content to tease him as his struggles died down. Those smooth, latex gloves traced over his bare chest in random patterns while her warm breath passed over his ear with each word she spoke. A gap in her coils had left his boxers exposed, and the tip of her tail was already starting to slide toward the 'opening'.
“Most monsters aren't going to be merciful enough to use a sword,” murmured Alice into his ear, her tongue just barely flicking across his skin. “They'll go right for this weak point of yours, and if you aren't prepared, you'll be helpless.”
“I can protect this part just fine!” sputtered Ranma, making a herculean effort to break free, only to fall still as she tightened around him and traced the tip of her tail along his single remaining piece of clothing.
“Keep working on it,” teased Alice, this time fully licking his ear, exploiting yet another sensitive spot Ranma hadn't known existed on his body. “In the meantime, I'll take my meal and give you a bit of training. A win for both of us, wouldn't you agree?”
“No!”
“Well then you'd better learn how to counter my technique sooner rather than later,” murmured Alice, giving Ranma's cheek a playful kiss before her tail struck.
Slow, sensual, and deliberate, the very tip of Alice's tail slid beneath his boxers and forced his manhood into the open air, gradually coiling around it until only the tip was visible. Her teasing from before had already ensured that he had come out at full mast, and Alice was quick to exploit it, applying just enough pressure with her squeeze to coax a moan from Ranma's lips.
“No more protests? Have you satisfied your morals by resisting as much as you could before giving in?” teased Alice, flexing the tip of her tail along with the larger coils of her body to give Ranma a full body squeeze, another moan spilling from his lips at the sensation.
“Just...just take your meal,” panted Ranma, his cheeks bright red as he was forced to watch the tail at work, the very tip of which was now brushing and teasing along the head of his shaft, tracing slow, sensual circles around his glans.
“Oh I will, but a good meal like this should be savored,” replied Alice, her tongue flicking out along his ear as she spoke. Squeeze...release. Squeeze...release. Each cycle drew out a shaky moan from his lips. Her latex fingers were tracing along his chest as her tail tormented him, the smooth, almost slick material of her gloves a sharp contrast to the finely textured scales wrapped around him.
Ranma's eyes closed and his fists clenched as he tried to think about anything else. Would that serene state help? No...Alice's coils and her soft human body pressing against his back was too prevalent in his mind. The soul of ice? That fared a bit better, right up until Alice's fingers found his bare nipples and gave them a sharp pinch, jolting him back to reality with a gasp.
“Your technique is adorable, but I'm going to feed, and I don't want to wait.” Yet Alice continued to take her time, squeezing her main body of coils at particular intervals around his arms and legs, massaging and caressing his skin while the tip of her tail sought out new weaknesses along his length.
As it turned out, those weaknesses were plentiful, and Alice was finding and exploiting them one after another, traveling from the head of his length all the way to his balls, the speed of her teasing combining with a gradual increase in the strength of her squeezing to really make him squirm and gasp.
Slowly, the coils began to still, until only the very tip of her tail was caressing him. Tracing a slow line upward from his chest, Alice's hand began to move toward his face until her fingers were at his lips and then pressed against his mouth. “Just so you don't let the entire inn know what we're doing in here,” murmured Alice, tracing her forked tongue across his neck.
Her tail struck again. Every weak point she had found in her exploration was now being exploited, the scales a perfect contrast to his skin to drive the pleasant sensations home. Just like she had predicted, his cries came out at a rapid pace, his body bucking instinctively toward the tip of the tail. Alice's giggles filled the room, her coils tightening as he squirmed and struggled, her gloved hand absorbing more and more of his cries until finally, Ranma came, a half dozen spurts of his seed shooting out and coating her scales.
Her hand came free from his mouth right at the peak, his cries filling the room as she flexed her coils and milked him for all he was worth, extending his climax a good several seconds until her tail tip was more white than red. Just like the last time with Lime, Ranma could feel that strange energy pushing in as he hit his peak, further weakening his body, though it wasn't much more pronounced than the effect her coils had already inflicted.
Panting for breath, Ranma could only watch as those red scales briefly glistened with his seed before it was absorbed, the fluids seeming to seep straight through the tail to who knew where, yet at the same time she must have fed from it, as her aura became more powerful immediately after.
“Mmhh...it's so much more tasty when it isn't being mixed with slime,” said Alice, letting out a happy sigh. “But I'm not satisfied yet, and you're still full of energy.”
Ranma gulped, already feeling that tail tighten once again. His body was clearly eager, as his lively manhood could attest to. “Alice, I- ”
CRASH!
If Ranma had the energy and the freedom, he would have jumped as Granberia's scaly foot slammed through the door and shattered the dark-energy barrier surrounding it. “Lord Alice, are you okay? I felt a powerful expenditure of energy and...” Her words trailed off and her sword lowered slightly as she saw the position she and Ranma were in.
Alice didn't even seem phased by her entrance. “Thank you for your timely response, Granberia. Ranma was a bit confident after his fight with you and thought to try and take me on as well.”
“Wait, what? No I did- mmphh!”
“Hmph. I knew he was going to be trouble,” said the dragon as she sheathed her sword.
Ranma's eyes widened and his head shook from side to side in protest, but Alice's hand was secure over his mouth, keeping him from saying anything more than a string of muffled words while Alice talked over him.
“Troublesome, but I know he can be trained into a proper subordinate. In fact, perhaps you'd like to help?”
Ranma's eyes couldn't have gotten any wider if he'd tried. She wasn't seriously going to buy into what Alice was saying, was she?
“As my lord wishes,” said Granberia without a moment of hesitation, setting her sword aside before climbing onto the massive bed. Alice's coils were already at work, her tail unwinding from his manhood and then wrapping tight around his legs, forcing them to spread as the dragon knelt between. The wounds he'd inflicted from before had all but disappeared, but there was still plenty of evidence from their fight in the form of her damaged armor.
“You are a worthy opponent, Ranma, but challenging the monster lord is a step too far.” Ignoring Ranma's increasingly frantic cries, Granberia's clawed, scaly hand pressed against his thigh, slowly dragging upward towards his groin. “Be grateful that she only seeks to educate you rather than end your existence outright.”
Lacking even a fraction of Alice's dexterity, playfulness, or skill, Granberia's hand wrapped tight around his manhood and began to squeeze. Her scales were far more rough and coarse, and her grip was strong, bringing with it an intense warmth that traveled far beyond her touch.
None of the contrast made it any less unpleasant than Alice's tail, though. The forceful, direct, and intensely straightforward way in which Granberia moved her hand and squeezed him against her surprisingly softer palm had him gasping and squirming in Alice's coils just as much as before. Perhaps even more embarrassing was how Granberia seemed to be treating it as a simple task she needed to carry out, her expression stoic even as she made Ranma writhe beneath her.
“Clearly if you had this much energy left after our fight, you were holding something back. No matter, it simply means I have to punish you further.” Her other hand joined the first, wrapping tight around his balls as her stroking increased to a fever pitch. The grip was just tight enough to feel oppressive and encompassing without feeling painful. Despite her apparent disinterest in the task she was performing, she was still quite focused and exhibiting impressive control, pushing the captive martial artist to his limit with each squeeze.
And all of that might have been manageable if Alice had been still. Unfortunately, it hadn't taken her long to start teasing him again, resuming that sinfully pleasant massage with her coils around his limbs, and stroking his bare chest with her gloves. Her tongue was sliding over his cheek, focusing on sensitive spots along his neck and ear, all the while keeping her hand firmly in place over his mouth to put a stop to any protests.
Although, as Granberia's hands began to work aggressively over his shaft and sack, Ranma wasn't sure if he could have found the words even if he wasn't being silenced. It might have even been a small mercy at this point, as nothing but embarrassing cries and humiliating moans were leaving his lips, his manhood twitching wildly as he was pushed closer to his peak.
Inevitably, his body gave out. He wasn't sure if Alice or Granberia had been faster, but the end result was the same, his seed spilling out from the tip and covering the dragon's scales, a few spurts even reaching up to her arm as she stroked him to his finish. Defeated, Ranma slumped into Alice's coils, barely even noticing as her hand slipped free from his mouth.
Slowly, Granberia's fingers relaxed. “Perhaps it's letting you off easy for attacking my lord, but I believe this lesson has been sufficient.”
“Almost,” corrected Alice with a small smile. “Make sure he learns it. He's still aroused and he's still conscious. Now lick up your meal and do the monster lord's bidding.”
Granberia nodded, doing just that as she licked her fingers clean. “As my lord wishes,” she replied, wasting no time in returning her hot, scaly hands to his groin, a strangled cry leaving Ranma as she brought him back to hardness in record time.
“You're trying to get me killed,” accused Ranma. “First Lime and now Granberia.”
“Hardly. Lime was an experiment. Granberia was a reward.”
“How was that a reward?!”
“More a reward for her than for you,” admitted Alice.
“What?! But she-nhhh!” Ranma's cry was cut off as the inert coils draped over his body suddenly tightened, stilling his squirming and forcing him to relax. He wasn't sure how much time had passed since Granberia and Alice had made him faint, but he'd awoken still bound in Alice's coils, her chest against his back and her chin on top of his head.
“She needed that. If dragon monsters like her don't feed, they tend to do stupid things. Like go out and attack innocent towns and bully opponents far weaker than them.”
Ranma grumbled under his breath but soon fell silent. It was difficult to hold on to his anger when his body was feeling so relaxed and lethargic, and even when she wasn't doing something perverted, just being wrapped up in Alice's coils was soothing, making it hard not to drift off again.
“What exactly was stopping her from feeding before?”
“Pride. It's a common trait in dragons. But at least now she has a target to focus on.”
Ranma groaned. “You're joking.”
“I told you it was going to be troublesome if you beat her,” reminded Alice.
“I don't suppose you could-”
“Nope.
“I didn't even-”
“You don't have to. You chose to fight her, you deal with the consequences. I'm not going to step into the middle of that.” Alice's coils shifted, her head coming into view, her golden eyes seeming to glow in the dim light of the room. “Unless you actually want to become my subordinate. Then I could protect you from the big, bad dragon.”
“No thanks, you're already pushing me toward death without ordering me around.”
“Suit yourself then,” said Alice, relaxing once more against his back and securing her coils around his body.
“...you're not going back to your own room, are you?”
“Nope. Although if you're having trouble relaxing...”
“No, it's fine!” said Ranma quickly.
“Good.”
Even with his back turned, the martial artist could feel her smile as her coils settled around him, bringing an unfamiliar but not entirely unwelcome warmth and comfort that was already starting to help ease him back to sleep. Despite his better judgment telling him what a bad idea this was, Ranma couldn't help but feel relaxed, and soon he was asleep in the monster's embrace.
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An Artist Among Monsters