A Late Start To The Day

Mark and Aubrey passed Kitty in the hall and let her know they would be a few minutes before they were ready to head out. Then they headed to Mark’s room. Aubrey thought that Mark was going to lead her to the bed, but he instead led her to the table and indicated he’d like to sit and talk first.

Mark began, “So, I know you’d probably prefer me to suck on your breasts for relief, but I really think I should just milk you.”

“Baa just want ba test ba new upgrade.”

“Not only that,” Mark replied, while clearly feeling called out. “But it would keep your breasts empty longer and make you smarter today. I told you before I would prefer it if we could actually converse today.”

“Baaaaa, I guess you baa baaa ba ba you want. I am baaing quite ba baa baaaaaa.” Aubrey had a defeated look on her face as her shoulders sagged. She stood up and started to get undressed. “Ba, where do baa baaa to do this?”

Mark pulled her over to a corner of the room that somehow she hadn’t paid attention to the last time she was in here. It had what looked like a massage table with one major difference. There was a large opening where her breasts could hang through. She even saw a low stool and a large glass container to catch her milk below the table. Aubrey hesitated to get on, but when Mark gestured for her to do so, she complied. I really don’t want to do this, but Mark’s right; this needs to happen.

In the back of her mind, she figured her compliance was largely attributed to her wanting Mark’s guidance, and knew that would mean that soon enough this would be a regular occurrence. She lay down on the table and let her breasts hang down, just like the udders Chloe kept calling them. She shut her eyes as she tried to relax and waited for Mark to begin milking her. She was surprised when, instead, Mark started to massage her back. “Baaa?!” Aubrey gasped as Mark pushed down on her back with his thumbs. That baa quickly turned into one of pleasure as he continued to let his hands roam across her back.

Aubrey let herself melt in his hands as the entire experience was quite pleasurable. Mark was a little surprised when her hair moved and gently wrapped around one arm. It wasn’t tight and didn’t restrict his movements, but occasionally it would gently nudge him towards a spot that, once he started working on it, Aubrey would let out a moan of pleasure.

Once Aubrey seemed to be fully relaxed, Mark finally pulled out the stool and started milking her. To his surprise, after three squeezes and just as many moans from Aubrey, she gripped the table with both hands and her back arched as she climaxed from the pleasure. Mark didn’t let up and kept going. He was honestly astonished by how much milk he was getting from her like this. It definitely felt like a greater amount than he should be getting. After several minutes and climaxes, Aubrey managed to muster her voice and said, “I’m good; you can stop now.”

“I don’t know; it seems to still be coming out. Your upgrade only says it works if I milk you dry.”

Aubrey considered that and realized she didn’t feel any smarter at the moment. “Fine, keep going.”

Mark never actually stopped despite Aubrey’s interruption and was done after another minute. Aubrey immediately noticed the change. It was easier to process information. She thought about the research she had been doing before the show, and suddenly she noticed several things that would need to be corrected and several connections she now found obvious that had eluded her before. She rushed to get up off the table and ran across the room to where she had placed her things, took out a notebook, and started furiously writing down her thoughts before they slipped away.

At first Mark was concerned by Aubrey’s actions, but he quickly recognized the expression of someone having a burst of inspiration and made sure not to interrupt Aubrey. He looked at the milk jug and wondered what to do with it when it disappeared and was replaced by an empty one a moment later. He then went and sat next to Aubrey and watched as she wrote copious notes over the next several minutes. Goddess, she’s hot when she’s focused. Mark felt a sharp poke in the back of his mind after thinking that and wasn’t sure why. Mark decided to use some of this time to work on fixing the glitches some more.

After a few more minutes and several pages, Aubrey finally looked up from her notebook. She caught Mark just staring at her and blushed profusely, asking, “Um… how long have I been doing this?”

“You mean writing in your notebook while naked? Maybe ten minutes.”

Aubrey finally looked down at herself, and her blush started creeping down her neck as she used her hair to cover her nakedness, wrongly assuming what Mark was actually staring at. She proceeded to get dressed while apologizing. “I’m sorry I just ran over here without a word. I just had a few really important thoughts finally click for me and wanted to jot them down before I forgot about them.”

Mark glanced down at the tiny handwriting covering the open page of the notebook. “I can see that. I’m guessing the intelligence boost helped with that.”

Aubrey pouted. “Yeah, probably… I guess I’m going to have to ask for you to milk me fairly often, as this feels fantastic.”

Mark chuckled, “I’m glad to see you’re coming around on that. Though if you want a large boost, you should actually only have me milk you after you’re rather full.”

Aubrey considered the wording of her upgrade. “OH DAMNIT! How didn’t I notice that wording before? It’s quite clear.”

Mark burst out laughing, “I really thought you realized that.”

Aubrey’s face scrunched up in frustration, realizing that not only was Mark going to need to milk her, but if she wanted the intelligence bonus for a longer period of time, she’d need to get to the point where she could only baa. I bet it isn’t a linear relationship either. I’m willing to bet that there are certain key breakpoints. Damnit! It’s okay… It’s okay… I can tolerate this, and it did feel quite pleasurable.

Mark’s lips quirked upwards, seeing her face all scrunched up.

Aubrey saw that and asked, “What’s so amusing?”

“I just think you’re really cute right now.”

This annoyed her further, which caused Mark to grin wider. Stupid Mark, finding my frustration cute. She tried to calm herself so as not to give Mark more satisfaction. “Let’s go; I’m pretty sure the others are waiting for us.” Aubrey was about to march out of the room but realized that would break Cassandra’s stupid rules unless she gave Mark her panties. So instead she went back to Mark, grabbed him by an arm with both hands and her hair, and started dragging him towards the others.

Kitty, Ellen, and Hilde were all waiting for Mark and Aubrey to rejoin them. Kitty had informed the two of them that Aubrey and Mark were going to be ‘busy’ for a little bit before they left. Kitty had also talked with Merida, and Merigold was going to be joining them before they left, at least long enough to teleport them much closer to their destination.

While they waited, Ellen worked on copying each of her teammates, but quickly learned that Kitty was no longer a viable option while she temporarily had Cum Fueled, as it worked based upon the amount of cum Ellen had consumed, not how much Kitty had. She then worked on the opposite team members, finding Sam’s and Mary’s forms to be the most useful. She tried to use Talia’s, and while she could create time bubbles with her class, she found it wasn’t a simple exercise to do more than a rudimentary bubble, and it wouldn’t be nearly as effective, even with her enhanced intelligence from copying Talia.

She found she couldn’t actually copy Laura anymore, as that just wound up with her being counted as Lucia instead. That did grant her weaker versions of Laura’s transformations, including her raiment, but it didn’t grant her any class abilities Laura had. After about ten minutes of going through everyone, Hilde came up with a suggestion.

Hilde said, “Hey, can you transform into me for a moment?” Ellen obliged and stared at Hilde, expecting her to continue. Hilde found looking at herself with tits larger than her head to be very odd, and a little annoying. Hilde examined the current transformations on Ellen. “Okay, interesting. Since your class is stacking with your costume TF, you are getting either identical or near-identical copies of TFs. Which means you can help us fix Master’s glitches.”

Ellen seemed intrigued. “Really? That’s good to hear. How do I use your boon, though?”

“Hmm, that’s a good point; it is rather tricky to use. OH! I have an idea if you’re open to it. Let me modify your costume TF a bit more. It already has a knowledge bit attached to it; let me amplify that so that you can focus on specific knowledge you’d like to have access to.”

Ellen said, “I don’t know… that sort of feels like an invasion of privacy to be able to get access to their thoughts.”

Hilde shook her head. “No, not thoughts. Knowledge. Specifically skill-related knowledge. It wouldn’t have memories attached to it. It would just allow you to more accurately mimic someone else’s capabilities.”

Merigold walked in at that time before Ellen could respond, “Sae apparently I’m joinin' ye for the first bit o' today. Also, I’ve been wonderin' somethin'. Why no have Ellen cosplay as someone stupidly strong? Like she could dae a genderbent Goku, or maybe Saitama.”

Kitty and Hilde both asked, “Who?”

Merigold rolled her eyes. “They’re anime characters. Saitama is essentially completely immune tae damage. He basically has the toon force.” Seeing more confused looks on her audience, she sighed while continuing to explain. “Basically, the only way he can fail is if it’d be funnier if he did. Think o' Bugs Bunny; by default, he wins. He only ever loses if it’s funnier for him tae fail than succeed.”

Hilde said, “While strong, that is certain to backfire on us. Plus, I can already tell you that regardless of what character she copies, she doesn’t copy plot armor. I remember Freya very explicitly mentioning that it needed to be an exception when she was helping Cassandra design the TF.” Hilde blinked in confusion for a few moments. I forgot about that. Cassandra likely clouded that memory over for balance reasons; why could I suddenly remember it now, though? Hmm, I’ll have to look into this more later.

Merigold said, “Well, then never mind, as plot armor is definitely a large part o' their power. Hilde’s idea is a guid ane, though, Ellen. Plus, if it’s a problem, her meddling wad only be temporary.”

Ellen said, “Fine, just try not to break anything.”

Ellen shifted back to her natural form at Hilde’s request so fewer transformations were clogging her vision. By the time Mark and Aubrey had actually joined them, Hilde was nearly done adjusting Ellen’s TF.

Mark and Aubrey walked in, and they were about to greet the others but were shushed by Ellen. They noticed Hilde’s eyes flicking back and forth like she was scanning something in the air. Curious, Mark activated his copy of Hilde’s boon and saw her working on Ellen’s transformation. After another few minutes, Hilde exclaimed, “Done!” She turned around and finally noticed Mark and Aubrey had joined them. “Oh, Master! About time. Can I get second breakfast? I’m sure Ellen wouldn’t mind some too, considering what we have planned.”

Ellen looked at Hilde, confused. “What are you talking about?”

Hilde rolled her eyes. “Transform into me, since we’ll be using my boon on Master while we travel.” Ellen did, and Mark saw Ellen become a nearly flawless Hilde clone, with the sole exception being her breasts. Hilde then said while pointing, “Now look at Master’s crotch.”

Ellen did, and then she had a massive urge to suck his dick. “Okay, Hilde’s right, Master… Master… Maaaster…” Ellen found the term both odd to be forced to say and quite pleasurable. “Oh right, I can’t use his name like this. Well, Sir, can we get some second breakfast?”

Mark saw the expressions on Kitty’s, Merigold’s, and Aubrey’s faces that indicated he better not say yes or they would be mad. “Not now. Also, Ellen, I’m not sure I should indulge you like this at all.”

Ellen pouted, which looked adorable on Hilde’s face. “Why not, Sir?”

Mark turned to Hilde. “How likely do you think she’d be to want it as her sole meal as you do now?”

Hilde considered his question. Hilde said to Ellen, “Oh! Master is right; you probably would want to copy me and always consume his loads for your meals. My transformation didn’t make other things taste horrible or lackluster. It just made his loads the best thing I’ve ever had, and it isn’t close. So unless you want to form a personality that is a blend of you and me, I wouldn’t try it.”

Ellen replied, “You really think I would get addicted to Master’s spunk?”

Hilde looked at Mark’s dick. “Ellen, I would suck Master off right here and now if he’d let me. I want you to think about the best thing you’ve ever had to eat or drink in your entire life. Then realize I’ve had centuries to experience magical cuisine during my time working on the show that makes whatever you’re thinking of pale in comparison. The transformation literally places his sperm as better than everything else I’ve ever had.”

Ellen retorted, “Sure, but I mean, I’ve had really good food, but that doesn’t mean I’d blow Master in front of other people just for a taste of it.”

Hilde cocked her head to the side. “I suppose if it works off your experiences, then it would be less enticing than it is for me.”

Aubrey chimed in, “Can we please stop talking about swallowing Mark’s loads?”

Kitty said, “I mean… I could probably use a top-off, plus the enhanced mental abilities…”

Mark replied, “Not now. Merigold, would you mind teleporting us?”

Merigold nodded, “Get in ane o' the storage spaces an' I’ll get ye as close as I can tae the next temple.” Everyone went into Hilde’s pocket space. A moment later, she and Hilde were northeast of Harper’s Haven. Hilde let everyone out of her space. Merigold asked, “Dae ye need me for anythin' else, or can I head back?”

Kitty asked, “I was serious about that top-up. Even if it isn’t Mark.”

Merigold said, “Sorry, Kitty, no right noo. Merida wad like me back at base unless there’s somethin' ye reelly need me far.”

Everyone looked at one another and shook their heads. A moment later, Merigold vanished. Mark turned to the two Hildes in front of him. “So did I hear right that Ellen and you are going to be fixing my glitches together?”

The real Hilde nodded. “Yeah, I’m not going to be able to work on it for a little bit since I just messed with Ellen’s TF to help with this, but I figure I can run us towards the temple with you all in my storage space. While inside, Ellen and you can fix your glitches. Then later, Ellen can run while I help you inside her storage space.

Aubrey asked a little worriedly, “Um… what would happen if Ellen stops copying you while we were inside that?”

Hilde looked up at Aubrey. “You didn’t really get to see it, but I was in a hell of a lot of pain yesterday because Sam broke out of my storage. Ellen would experience something similar, as we would all be forcefully ejected.”

Aubrey breathed out a sigh of relief and had a slightly guilty expression at feeling relieved that Ellen would be the one to have the problem if something happened.

Hilde opened her storage. “Alright, everyone, get inside. We’ve been delayed long enough as it is.” Once everyone was inside her storage space, she started running north towards the location of the next dungeon.

Inside the storage space, it was rather sparse. It appeared as a black room with no doors. There was no light source inside, but the four of them could still see fine, which they all found a little strange. Mark and Ellen went off towards one wall and started to work on fixing the glitches.

Kitty and Aubrey decided to sit on the opposite side of the room so as not to distract the two who were working. Aubrey noticed Kitty seemed to be sulking and asked as quietly as she could, “What’s wrong?”

Aubrey wasn’t sure that the lioness had heard her, but eventually Kitty glanced at her. Kitty spoke softly, “This round has gone tits up, hasn’t it?” Aubrey didn’t respond as it felt like a rhetorical question. Kitty continued, “I was so excited when Cassandra told me she was taking my idea and turning it into a round long thing. Now I’m worried that Meowster is going to be upset with me over this.”

Aubrey looked at the meek woman next to her, then flicked her forehead with the end of her hair. “Don’t be stupid. Even if Mark wasn’t enjoying the LARP, he wouldn’t blame you. Personally, I think he is enjoying most of the LARP; he’s just not enjoying the challenge all that much.”

Kitty rubbed her forehead. “I’m not so sure.” Kitty’s eyes flicked up and across the room towards him.

Aubrey decided it would be best to change the topic. “Can I ask why you’re still wearing that collar, forcing us all to call you Kitty?”

Kitty shrugged. “A few reasons, nothing major really.” Aubrey waited for an explanation. Kitty sighed, “Fine, I can’t remove it myself. Only Meowster can, or Merida with his permission.”

“Why haven’t you asked him to then?”

“Several reasons.” Kitty reached up and fumbled around with the tags on the collar. She showed Aubrey what was on there. “I’m immune to the plagues with this on. Meaning I don’t have to get out of the area of effect of this idol when we set it off. It also gives me a damage boost to my melee damage.” Kitty extended her claws to show them off to Aubrey.

“But you’re an archer; why would you be in melee?”

“Laura is a caster, and I’m willing to bet she still uses her staff as a club at times. Her statues do, at least. Since I copied Brooke’s boon, I’m pretty sure that I could mix it up in melee fairly well.”

Aubrey nodded. “Okay, but still, are you not removing it then because it would break Cassandra’s rule about trying your best, and it’s an advantage?”

Kitty shook her head. “No, plus that rule wouldn’t apply anyway. Mark is the only one to be able to put it back on me as well as take it off. Meaning if Mark took it off, that’s his decision, not mine. I… I sort of like some of the secondary effects.” Kitty looked away from Aubrey, slightly embarrassed.

“Secondary effects? You mean besides all of us calling you Kitty?”

“I would rather that only Mark and Merida call me that. Okay, the other Meridas too, but not everyone else. It isn’t that much of a bother, though. Nya, I mean, like when Merida scritches my ears, it’s a lot more pleasurable meow.”

Aubrey narrowed her eyes. “Did you just say meow instead of now? I thought we fixed that curse.”

“Oh… I don’t know why I’ve been doing stuff like that. Probably the collar too, but it isn’t like I’m prevented from talking normally.”

“Is that why you’ve been calling him Meowster at times, instead of using his name?”

Kitty nodded. “Do you think we stand a chance?”

“Yes, but I wouldn’t call it a good one. I think it will come down to a few key moments for us. Also, when the other team actually finds our base.” Aubrey said. She took a few moments to really think about everything that had happened, trying to take advantage of her temporarily enhanced intellect. “After this dungeon, I think you should try going to the capital. Maybe with Hilde and Merida as support. I think you should try assassinating one of them. Especially if you can get Talia. That would majorly turn the tide if we could bench her.”

Kitty shook her head. “I don’t think Hilde is going to be on board with that. She managed to get Ellen out of there only because she specifically didn’t fight. Ellen was the same. She only got out because she immediately fled. It’s not a great idea.”

Aubrey shrugged. “So? Don’t fight. Sneak in and take some poisons from Chloe. She had a powerful one that dropped Sam instantly when she consumed it.”

“I said no, Aubrey,” Kitty replied. “They have four people that can sniff me out now. If Talia got a bead on me, I’d be screwed. Hilde isn’t sure she could escape Talia anymore. I’d also be worried that Talia’s anime transformation would trigger if I got too close, and something would conveniently alert her to my presence.”

Aubrey frowned. I’ll have to see if I can persuade Merida or Ellen later.

The two sat there for another ten minutes before a hole in one wall opened up, revealing the outside world. Hilde said from the other side of the hole, “Alright, everyone out. We’re here.”

Everyone got out of her storage, and Ellen immediately asked, “Are you sure this is the right spot?” They were in the woods, and there was a fifteen foot rise where there was a hole in the side only slightly bigger than Mark, that angled downward.

Hilde nodded, “Yes. Follow me.” Hilde moved towards the hole, and as she was about to enter the dark space asked, “Anyone got a light?”

Mark pulled a lantern out of his rucksack.

Hilde asked, “Okay… anyone got anything better than that?”

Ellen swapped her form into Merida’s and cast a spell they had seen Merida use a few times to create floating green fires that hovered near each person.

Ellen asked, “Is there a form that I should take here?”

Aubrey immediately said, “I think you should practice being Talia.”

Hilde said, “That’s an option. Alternatively, Sam is a good choice, but I think you should actually practice swapping on the fly as much as you can with the time we have left.”

Ellen nodded, and decided to swap into Sam’s dragon form, shrinking herself down rather small and then draping herself around Mark’s shoulders while keeping her head on a swivel. Mark looked at Ellen curiously and asked, “Um… why are you perching on my shoulders?”

Ellen turned her head towards him and tilted it slightly to the side. “I’m not sure. This just felt like the right place to be.”

Hilde squinted at the dragon, examining all the interactions. “Master, I wouldn’t worry too much about it. I think she’s considering you her hoard, which she is getting from Sam. At least it seems that way.”

Mark nodded. “That makes some sense.” Mark gently stroked Ellen’s head, making it clear he was quite okay with her being there.

The group decided not to linger, and they walked down the narrow tunnel until they came to a large wooden door. Aubrey read the sign on the door aloud, “Dungeon requires three or more people…” Aubrey’s tone became quite confused as she continued reading, “Placeholder, something something about knowing contestants based on envy.”

Kitty asked from the back of the group, “What the heck are you talking about?”

Aubrey replied, “That’s literally what the door says. I think Cassandra might not have gotten around to finishing this dungeon. That or it’s supposed to be some kind of joke.” Aubrey turned to Mark. “Ring any bells?”

Mark shook his head. “No, at least not really. Games in early access might have something like that, but I can’t think of anything that’s actually made it to release. One second, guys.” Mark pulled out his phone and messaged Cassandra, who appeared behind them in the tunnel a moment later.

Mark asked, “Did you forget to fix this?” Mark gestured at the door. “Or is this intentional? We need to know if there is supposed to be info here for us to puzzle out.”

Cassandra eyed the door, keeping a neutral expression, then made eye contact with Mark. Without saying a word, she disappeared. Mark sighed, saying, “Guess she’s at least going to play it off as intentional.”

Kitty asked, “What are we supposed to get from this?”

Hilde said, “Seems self-explanatory to me. We need three people to enter the dungeon, and we’re going to need to know the envies of the rest of the harem for some puzzle.”

Aubrey looked down at the tiny woman. “Sure, but I still think this was Cassandra just forgetting to update this.” Aubrey then opened the door. She found a small waiting room inside, with one exit. She entered and examined the couches on either side of the room, then proceeded towards the next door, but it was barred by a portcullis.

Once everyone was in the room, Mark said, “Kitty, would you close the door we entered from? I’m willing to bet that door won’t open unless at least three people are in here and the door out is shut.” Kitty obliged, and as soon as she did, the portcullis rose into the ceiling. As soon as Aubrey opened the door, a portcullis slammed down behind them, barring their exit. Kitty jumped forward, startled by the loud sound, and clung to Mark’s waist. Mark pet Kitty’s hair right between her ears, calming her.

She was quickly purring and rubbing her face against Mark’s chest. She realized what she was doing after a few moments and pulled away. Not embarrassed by her actions, but she did seem apologetic for distracting everyone. Kitty said, “Okay, let’s get this started; maybe we’ll be able to actually do something after the dungeon for a change.”

With that, the five of them entered the dungeon of envy properly.