Gifts

Though nothing more happened that night between myself and Daava, it was lovely none the less. We talked through the end of dinner, walked hand-in-hand around the school, and finally she accompanied me to my room and bid me goodnight. When I walked into the room, Mystery was standing there in just an overshirt, tapping their foot with a smirk.

"

Well ...

I heard some fascinating stories circulating," Mystery said, looking like they were just barely managing not to burst out into giggles. "More specifically, I heard that a certain goblin student that was absolutely dripping ended up chasing a quite willing and adorable human girl into the forest."

I couldn't help but smile as my face went brighter.

"Young lady, did you engage in

frivolities

with a goblin shapeshifted into a minotaur?" Mystery asked, their arms folded.

"Well..." I began.

"Then what is this!" Mystery asked as they hopped behind me and grabbed my somewhat diminished cow tail.

"Okay, okay, I confess!" I said, theatrically and pointed at my mouth. "I may have given one teeny tiny frivolity."

Mystery joined in the giggles. "Girl, I think the whole shy thing you have going is really working for you here. Here I am, trying to get one hottie to notice me, and you're already the blowjob queen!"

"Blowjob Queen might be a bit too much credit," I mumbled.

"Blowjob Princess, then," Mystery said.

"Oh dear," I replied and covered my face. Wishing to direct the attention away from myself, I asked, "Well what about this guy you have the hots for. Why do you think he doesn't notice you?"

Mystery huffed. "He's shy, like you, but also way differently. While it takes like the tiniest little nudge to turn you into the Blowjob Princess, he's the type that really doesn't like the insistence. He likes to go at his own pace. And I respect that but ... gaaawd I want some of that, like yesterday!"

"Having to wait more than a week, you are a patient soul," I said and gave them a friendly pat on the back.

"A saint in the truest sense, and pretty much a nun after that long!" Mystery said with playful exasperation. They then gave me a look, "So ... does this mean you are officially off the market?"

I scrunched my face a little, thought about the question for a moment, and then shook my head. "She said that she didn't expect anything exclusive. And especially with how classes tend to go, I don't even know how that would be feasible."

"True," Mystery said, their eyes lighting up. "The guplium and other non-humans don't seem particularly bothered with the whole monogamy thing. Even the humans who couple up are kind of laying back on it. There was a couple in my hypnotism class who I never see apart. But when they had to switch partners for the class, they both just kind of shrugged and went with it. It's kind of nice, to be honest."

While it was kind of new to me, I had also found myself just going with the flow. I supposed it helped that nobody seemed very mate-competitive. Back on Earth, I remembered even guys I had just met putting their arms on me and body-blocking me from others. That had yet to have happened here. The only exception had been when I had first encountered Daava and Aamalyn—the latter saying she would enhance her power or something by stealing me away. I wonder if that was more of a concern in the Other Place.

"Not that I wanted to now, per se," Mystery said, bringing my attention back to the conversation. They had a devious-but-playing-at-innocent vibe going between glancing up at the ceiling and poking at the floor theatrically with their foot. "But if I were to be, hypothetically, horny as hell. How would you feel about maybe ... how should I put it ...

helping

me with my magic practice?"

My eyes widened. "Oh, uhm, yes ... that would ... uhm, it sounds good to me." I replied, nearly choking on my words.

I was surprised when Mystery did nothing more than give a wide grin and say, "Excellent!" They then bounced to the bed and got under the covers on their side.

I bit my bottom lip, not sure that I had heard that conversation correctly. When nothing more truly happened, I also went to my side of the bed, tossed my clothes into the corner, and then got under my own covers. Even then, I half-expected for Mystery to do something ... all the way until I started nodding off and fell asleep.

-O-

Waking to the pulsing of my ring, I stirred from sleep the next morning. This time, it was with my face pressed against Mystery's bare back. It seemed that I had sleep-initiated the cuddle this time. Also waking, Mystery turned, looked at me and mumbled, "Adorable." They patted me on the head and then got up to get dressed.

After reaching back and finding to some minor disappointment that my tail was gone, I did the same. I took my clothes and began my morning routine. Today, we had our showers separately. We met back up after and made our way together to the dining hall. To both our surprise, however, our rings started their class-alarm even before we reached the cafeteria. We looked at one-another, both of us clearly confused. I then looked around at the other people headed in the same direction. No ... it wasn't just us. Everyone seemed to be confused as to why our alarms were going off early.

I then felt the magnetic pull of the ring. Unlike usual, however, it seemed to be pulling me to the place I was headed—the dining hall. I wrinkled my forehead, even more confused, and then shrugged my shoulders. As long as I was going to have some breakfast and that I wasn't alone in my confusion, I wasn't too concerned with whatever weirdness everyone's rings were undergoing.

Mystery and I entered the dining hall, moving a little faster than the rest of the students who were still trying to figure out what was going on. Inside, it was mostly guplium students distributed evenly throughout the room. They were eating and conversing naturally, which I assumed to mean that they were used to whatever was going on.

About then, my ring began to pull again—toward the side of room. A look at Mystery's furrowed brow told me that they had experienced the same. We walked together until we reached a table that was partially occupied by two familiar faces—Daava and Faublie—both wearing canvas backpacks. They waved when they saw us approaching and we waved back, taking our seats across from them. Smoked meats were already prepared on the table for us. Alongside the food were sacks. A quick smell revealed that bread, cheese, and meat were inside—and I glanced to see a skin of water.

I reached for one of the packed lunches. As I did, I felt Daava's hand brush against mine. Instantly, my entire body became warm. Both arousal and ... something else ... pulsed through me like a gentle wave of heat. Immediately, I felt something change.

"Girl, your tail's back," Mystery whispered and made eyes down at it.

I blushed, suddenly realizing that I now had two parts of my body now connected directly to my arousal. If this kept up, I would never have a moment of secrecy about my feelings again.

"So, for our plucky little freshmen," Faublien said and flashed us a charismatic grin. I noticed that today he was wearing a light but elegant purple robe over a vest, partially opened undershirt, and brown pants. As a guplium, I guessed that everything apart from the jacket was part of his goo-body—shapeshifted into the design he wanted. He continued, "Today is the first of our minor quests. Every week, we are sent to resolve a minor issue in the world that requires the touch of a sorcerer. Upperclassmen and underclassmen are sent out in equal numbers. Our dear Daava here has assembled and will be leading our own team."

Daava stood on the bench and nodded. "We are being sent to investigate a wailing noise coming from an abandoned mine. It's been spooking a village to the South. The town-folk have their superstitions about it. However, it also wouldn't be the first time one of their goats got lost in those mines or the caves underneath. The last professor to check it out wrote that their calls of distress were likely distorted by the acoustics within."

Mystery furrowed their brow. "This doesn't seem like much of an epic quest for sorcerers to practice their magic."

Faublien shrugged. "Consider yourselves lucky. The first quest I got freshman year was to investigate an enchanted mop that seemed to have an attitude problem. One of the janitors was afraid it was going to throw a coup and replace him. Turns out, it was just uncomfortable because two of its strands had knotted together and pinched something fierce."

"Quests will become more engaging as time goes on," Daava said. "Trust me, you want to learn how to rely on your magic in an easy setting before your arousal and power are being distracted from by something truly scary."

Daava's words reminded me of what the forest nymph, Hyrranesus, had told me about the importance of mastering my magic in a stress-free environment before I could rely on them elsewhere. Truth be told, I was fine with the idea of a very minor quest. The more minor the better, I thought. The idea of something bigger ... well, it scared me to be honest. I like small, where expectations were clear and basic—where nobody was expecting some secret greater accomplishment. I was always happy to do more, but a lot of pressure was not something I felt comfortable with.

Even coming to this world had been a relief because of how much smaller in scope it now seemed. Worrying about the real world—debt, access to medicine, losing my job, my car breaking down, and the crippling loneliness of living in such a society—these were all gone. I now had a schedule, a purpose, and an existence that met me where I was at.

I knew a lot of this was my PTSD talking ... and that the lack of telephones, slamming doors, blaring horns doubtlessly helped my mental health considerably. But it felt that the world before had been made for people who were ... a lot stronger than I could ever be. Maybe the world outside the University would be similar to that in its own way. But maybe I could elect to become a teacher ... or even just a staff member. I could stay in this place for as long as it took for me to feel safe again.

"I brought a few items to help, regardless," Faublien said, interrupting me from my thoughts as he wore a very magnanimous grin. He reached to his side and provided a heavy cloth bag, which he handed to me. "These are for Lilly—the preliminary armor we worked on for class."

My eyes brightened and nearly watered. "Thank you!" I squealed and opened up the bag. The items inside were neatly folded. But already, I could see soft pink fabric, cow-print, and the slightest bit of light pater-armor. Seeing it, I became more and more excited at how perfect it all seemed. More than that, it had an energy to it, like ... it was just for me. Of course, it was in the literal sense, but was I mistaken in thinking I could feel the enchantment magic I'd produced during our bondage session? It took all my self-control not to excuse myself to leave right then and there to go don the outfit.

"I don't know you that well yet, Mystery," Daava said, reaching to her side for yet another bag. "But I took the liberty of glancing at your course-work, as well as speaking to a human student in one of my own courses with a similar disposition as your own. I then requisitioned this from Professor Ozgrub."

Mystery's eyes also lit up, and they reached for the much smaller bag. They opened it up to reveal what looked like a cross between a scepter and a mace—topped with a honeycomb. Mystery set the artifact on the table, revealing the true extent of its heft as it made a metallic clunk sound against the wood. I wasn't sure, but I thought I saw their eyes sparkle and ripple for a moment—as if fragmenting into a hundred honeycombed segments. Mystery then looked at Daava and said, "Thank you so much!"

"It should amplify some of the abilities you've been studying," Daava said with a small smile. She seemed pleased by the reaction, which made me happy.

"I think it may be working," Faublien said, and pointed at a nearby window. There, a dozen butterflies fluttered in a circle next to the glass.

"Sorry! Didn't meant to summon them," Mystery said and let out something like a cackle. "I was just thinking about ... other ways I could have fun with this."

"Perfect, that much ease with accessing your libido might be helpful in our quests," Faublien replied. He picked up one of the bagged lunches and then stood up.

The rest of us did the same and we walked out of the dining hall before any of the other groups. Once outside, we all walked toward mine and Mystery's cabin. Once we arrived, Daava ushered me inside and then looked at Mystery and asked, "Would it trouble you for me to help her into her armor."

Mystery shook their head, and Daava and I went into the lodge together.

I opened the bag of armor, paused for a moment, remembered that Daava seeing me naked was kind of a trifling matter at this point, and then began to strip off my clothing while turned away. After removing everything except underwear, I bent over to pull the armor from the bag. When I did, I felt a pair of hands and smooth claws gently grope each of my buttocks.

A pleasurable shudder went through my body.

"Don't slow down, now, the others are waiting," Daava said in a playful tone. She then ran one of her hands down the length of my cow tail.

I bit my lower lip, having to will myself not to freeze in place to enjoy her touch. Fortunately, the armor was not overly complicated. The first part was basically a one-piece, cowprint bathing suit. I put this on first, noting the attention that the tight material brought to my diminutive bulge. Then there was a plate-mail bra which I fastened over the initial clothing. While I was glad that it protected my beloved boobies, I was also quite relieved to find that the metal fastening it in the center did provide ample overage over my heart. Last was a pink skirt, which Daava helped me fasten behind me—after she snaked my tail through a hole that had been made in the fabric of my cow print one-piece. She really was on top of things. Though ... I had to admit that I would have rather had her to be on top of me at that moment.

I nearly walked away but felt a tug on my tail.

Daava held onto it securely while wearing a smug expression. She pulled me back and said, "Not yet, I had a couple more thing in mind for our journey." She opened up her backpack and pulled out something leather and tightly wrapped. She handed it to me.

I unwrapped the leather bundle to discover that it was a large and oddly shaped backpack. There were loops on both ends of it—six in total. Knowing well enough which ends my arm were supposed to go through, I put the backpack on.

"Now, lean down my good girl," Daava said, her words absolutely melting me. I knelt and waited as she fished something out of her pocket. It seemed to be a set of earrings connected by a very long but thin silvery chain. I noted it was nearly weightless as she fastened the earrings in my ears. The purpose of them became very clear when she then guided me to the bed by the chain.

To my minor dismay, being led to the bed did not lead to anything matching the arousal I now felt. My girlstick was at full-mast, my body felt like it was on fire, and my nipples were ... tingling ... dripping? I was too turned on to think about the matter any further. I could only follow along as I felt a sudden weight on my shoulders.

"What a very good girl," Daava said and patted my cheek from above me. Above me? I realized that the small but sturdy goblin was now sitting on my backpack. Meaning ... it had been a saddle! I felt a gentle squeeze to my ribs from her feet, which I had seen enough movies to recognize as an older way of telling a mount to start moving.

So ... move I did.