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nI gave one last look at the girls up on the tower, and the thing still didn't look nearly as bad as it was before. It was probably because of the difficulty level that I had chosen.

nAgain, I was curious about how Mex might be doing.

n*Blaza: He finally got past the balls, but now is being cut up by the blades on the rope… nope, he slipped and cut his throat… yup forty-foot drop this time. You know this is the best show I have seen!*

nI turned to Beeno and then crept up behind her, slipped my arms around her, and kissed her neck. The moment I did, her either body relaxed like jello into my arms as she turned her head to me.

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"Mmm, did you have fun? I don't think you could see me, but I was watching you, and that was a very impressive fight that you had. I really wasn't sure if you were going to make it, but you seemed to always have another surprise waiting,

" Beeno said to me, and I just smiled at her and then gave her a kiss.

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"It was fun, and I will be trying it out again in the future. I hope that you have a good day, but no, I need to get going to deal with everything else,

" I said to Beeno and then gave her another kiss.

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"Good, maybe next time I will join you, and we can have some fun,

" Beeno said as I let her go.

nI shook my head and turned back to the apartment, and I could see something like a leather backpack sitting outside the front door. Lidy must have packed something for me to eat on my trip, but I was surprised to find how heavy the bag was.

nI opened the leather pack up and looked in at the contents, filled with food and two things that I hadn't seen in a while.

nWell, you are more of a fist-type person, so I can see why you haven't required them. Still, now that you will be alone, the Fire Sword and Loose-Leaf Dagger can be used for cooking and preparing foods.

nThat was true, and I closed the pack up and slung it over my shoulder.

nNow that I had everything and got some good morning exercise, it was time to go.

nI activated my Fire Pact Aspect. My body became pure fire, giving me a familiar feeling I had missed while in the tower.

nI started to lift into the air until I was far up in the sky above everything. Then when I was out of range of the apartment, I pointed at the small mountainous area that I knew to be my target.

nYes, I have the place marked on the map, so you should have no problem making it there. I also took the liberty to scan the island again now that you are stronger and have a complete map of everything. This will include all the villages and some other important places that you might want to check out before we leave.

n'Yes, that is all dependent on how long this takes with Tiga and her father. I am hoping that I can just scoop Tiga up, and her father is nothing like Mex described him, but I am never that lucky.'

nYou are right about your luck, but honestly, there isn't a creature on this island that could say no to you. Even if one did, a simple narrowing of your eyes or a blast of your Orgasmoura would bring many to their knees. For now, I think that you should be able to enjoy the rest of your time on the island since there isn't really much left for you to do. Nothing can or will even make an attempt to attack you.

nWell, that alone was a relief, and there were a few things that I wanted to check up on before leaving.

nSince I had come to this world, there had been some oddities that I had ignored, but now that I had time, I was curious.

nYes, like those bugs! I was agitated when you just ignored them! Think about it! Bugs using tools! If that can do that, then they must have some kind of way to communicate, right? If you could somehow get them to come work for you, then you would have teams of mini-repair people!

nThat was true, and I hadn't really thought about that at the time. There had been so much going on with the girls at the time, and it had been easy to overlook.

n'True, but where do I find them, and how do I talk to them?

" I asked as I neared the mountain.

nIt wasn't enormous, but it was rock, and it poked out above the trees, so it was a mountain in my mind. I started to circle to the west until I saw the single cave that had been marked out on the map for me.

nI have various locations for you to check to see if we can find them. As for how to talk to them? I haven't really figured that part out. I am sure that we will think of something, but I do think that it is worth checking out.

n'Sure, but now we have to deal with this problem. We can go check out the bugs later.'

nI lowered myself down, landing on the small ledge at the opening of the cave. I looked into the dark cave, but I didn't see anything, so I turned around.

nBehind me was a nice view of the island's west side and the ocean, but when I looked down, I was confused. Before I could even think, I heard wings flapping from above me.

nYou have company above. The Manticore seems to have noticed you

nI looked up, and the thing that I saw was something right out of a science lab. No one part of it made sense.

nThat's what it's supposed to look like.

n'Huh? Like a lion that got **ed bird that got **ed by a scorpion?'

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