Strange

"Do you mind sitting here?" He asked, before resting himself. The camp site was surprisingly quiet.

When you sat down next to the man, the nymph instantly came back to sit on his lap.

"Jin, Gin, do you mind playing us some music?" He asked. Both cat girls stood up instantly, pulling out flutes and played a quiet, soothing tone. "Thank you. You see, David, I am a man that likes to find talent in the ordinary. I rescued those two from the burning barn far on the north and taught them how to play it. Now they are far better than I could ever imagine."

Both cat girls were short and partially covered in fut. They had short hair styles, and a pair of cat ears. Only difference that you noticed between them were their eyes, one had green, the other blue. There was something off about them, but you couldn't guess what.

"Yeah, that's amazing." You admitted.

"It is indeed beautiful. The priceless piece of nature that is sitting on my lap is Raina, a water nymph. She is an outcast of her tribe, just because she spoke a single word to me, a human, when she met me. So I took her with me. Like all water nymphs she can command water to a lesser extent. Hopefully one day that talent will grow." You looked at her. She seemed absolutely absorbed by Ronald's every word. "Up above us is Aisha. She is, like you probably guessed, a harpy, and my set of eyes in the sky. She was the first one to notice you from miles away. Just like you have a centaur, I have one as well. Miranda is our armorer and a mistress at arms herself. She can enchant her blades to pierce any kind of armor, a talent that I found most useful in some situations."

Miranda was a centaur, but she didn't share any similarities to Kelara. Where Kelara liked her hair to flow wildly, Miranda had a short ponytail. She was also very skinny, her muscles being visible on almost all of her body. She looks formiddable compared to your companion.

"Sabina, our resident minotaur was the first monster girl I picked up. She defended me in so many situations, I would be dead twenty times if it weren't for her." A woman he spoke about kept looking in the distance, axe with her hand.

"How long are you traveling through this world?"

"You are asking how long I've been here. You know, it's been so long, it's hard to count. I was one of the first ones to cross through the portal, dreadful experience by the way, I don't wish it upon anyone. It's been eight years, give or take. Time flows a bit differently in here."

"What do you mean?"

"You will see in a few years. Anyway, on with the introductions. You already know Cas, the Salamander girl. I found her about five years ago, when a bunch of dwarf villagers almost drowned her. Salamanders hate water, that's why poor girl stays away from Raina, but they do get along when I say so. And you can't ignore a giant elephant in the room. Farinn is my goliath, a specie that is a lower tier of giants. As you can imagine her strength and resilience is unmatched. Ever since I stumbled upon her she's been an immense help." With that he finished his introduction. Something about this all camp was more and more off for you. It was way too... quiet? Like there was no chatter, no random noises, even your camp with half the people made way more sounds. Here everything was dominated by his voice and filled with music.

"Tell me David, do they still do that silly test of abilities for the travelers? You know, the scan with the orb?"

"No, not anymore. On Earth there is a person that has a talent to check it. And in here there was no orb, just the man with glasses." You answered truthfully.

"It's amazing how the progress can even impact magical things that's been around for ages. So, what was your talent?" He asked, his voice tone shifting into more of a commanding one.

"They found nothing. I'm only as good as my hands are." You smiled at him. He nodded.

"Well, I believe you can still help me anyway. And who knows, you might discover a thing or two about yourself along the way." He made a hand gesture, clearly ordering something to his women.

"Help you? With what?" You asked concerned. Minotaur girl and goliath got a little bit closer to you.

"With retrieving an item. It's hidden in a cave, not that far away from here. I need someone like you to get it for me."

"What's in it for me?" You tried to play it cool, but he clearly had you.

He laughed. Your companions were like in trance, looking in the distance. They didn't notice a giant woman that just rested her enormous hand on your back.

"Your life. And their freedom." He pointed at Kelara, Layla and Doris. Now you were starting to get really concerned.

"You see, David, I was tasked with retrieval of this item, but I got stopped by a set of uncomfortable circumstances. Turns out it's protected way better than I expected. I sent two monster girls already to get it, but they all perished." He was speaking about his own companions without even breaking away the eye contact. Like they didn't matter to him at all. "My own talent is not a combat, nor survival one and I have no intentions of going down that rabbit hole of a cave myself. That's why I need you."

"What is your talent, then?"

"Being their master. Their savior, their god." He pointed at all of the monster girls around. "I can command them, and with a simple phrase I get them under my orders for as long as I like. Here, let me demonstrate. Kelara, do you mind approaching Miranda and giving her your glaive? You won't be needing it for the time being."

You were astonished when your centaur companion immidiately got up, and did what he wanted.

"Spider girl, Layla, was it? I'll have you as a guard duty for the night. Do you mind?" Layla also stood up, went to a side of the encampment and looked for any incoming danger.

"Splendid! Now, let's not waste any more time. Farinn, do you mind picking up mister Trent here? We should get him to the cave."