1 White Queen, Golden Beam

Chapter 1 : White Queen, Golden Beam

"That makes sixteen!" The bright eyed young man said as he lowered his quarterstaff. Kaito was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief. His body was much too tense -- for various reasons.

The first? He was currently in an adventurer's party of four and two of the members were women he'd never met before today. To make matters worse, they were both attractive women -- fit and curvy in all of the right places. Kaito's main concern, however, was the White Queen, Sylvia.

*She's practically royalty among adventurers. How did I ever land a party invite with her of all people?* Kaito brushed aside his short brown hair as he thought inwardly.

The "Queen" he spoke of, Slyvia Brightleaf, was the party's healer. Unlike most healers she was dressed quite….liberally. Even as Kaito struggled to keep his eyes above chest level he failed miserably.

Her bosom was on full display, ample and plump as the cut of her clothing provided a heart-shaped view of her assets.

*She's got to be a C..maybe even D?* Kaito thought inwardly as he found his sight drifting downward. Her pearly, cream colored skin seemed to glisten in the sunlight even as she did the most menial of tasks. This view of heavenly peaks made it difficult to focus on his job as a Monk. At times Kaito would nearly trip over his own feet as his gaze explored The White Queen's body. Her form fitting clothing wasn't helping Kaito's focus either.

Her hair was straighted and blonde, so long in fact that it reached down to the middle of her back. Her outfit was white with blue trim along the edges and composed of four major pieces. A short sleeveless vest, a mini skirt which fell just short of mid-thigh length and matching ankle high boots. Her outfit was rounded off with a modified cowl which hung loosely around her head, the garment allowed her hair to fall downwards neatly from the back.

*Clear like the sky.* Kaito thought as he took notice of Sylvia's eyes.

"Hmmm? You're staring? Again?" A woman's voice echoed dangerously close to Kaito's ear, causing him to recoil in surprise.

"What? I'm not staring.." Kaito rebutted, but he was caught -- the most he could do was play dumb.

"Hmmm. Sure, sure." The short haired brunette said with a skeptical glance.

This was the other woman of the four member party, Artemis Beam. Her nickname was "Golden Arrow" due to her skill as an archer. Her weapons of choice were a pair of long and short bows which she used to deadly effect.

"Don't give The White Queen all of the attention! I'm a woman too you know!" Artemis remarked quite loudly, so much so that both Fuu and Sylvia shot a glance in their direction. Kaito felt a tinge of embarrassment overcome him. He was sure that Sylvia had heard their exchange, even if only a bit. To his surprise the White Queen directed a brief smile and nod towards him. It was enough to catch him off guard even as he struggled to offer up a further rebuttal to Artemis' words.

"I'm...definitely not…" Kaito repeated up once more as a slight blush of embarrassment came over him. Artemis was also quite fetching in her skin tight leather armor. Her pants and sleeveless top were also made of leather, along with her boots and bracers.

What Artemis lacked in the breast department she made up for in the hips, this much was apparent at a single glance. Her stitched leather pants were tight enough to burst at the seams, so much so that Kaito wondered how Artemis could even wear the outfit to begin with. The feature which caught Kaito's attention the most was Artemis' warm smile. That is when she wasn't busy being mischievous.

"You're a growing boy… it's okay to be interested…" Artemis said as she quickly shifted her weight to dance around Kaito. She thrust her face so very close to his own with each dexterous movement. Kaito couldn't help but take note of the devilish look deep within her eyes.

*She smells so good.* Kaito thought to himself even as he watched Artemis toy with him.

"I'm just saying don't neglect the other women around you. Kai-to-kun." Artemis pushed so closely that Kaito could feel the warmth of her breath against his cheek and the softness of her bosom against his arm. She spoke just low enough for Kaito alone to hear.

When Artemis was done "teasing" Kaito she took a step backwards and gave him a wink before bursting out into laughter. Kaito averted his gaze as his face suddenly went flush.

"You're so easy to fluster. This is why I can't get enough of teasing you Kaito. Ahhhh!" Artemis exhaled as she continued being amused at Kaito's expense.

"Right Sylvia?" Artemis held her hand across her tummy as she finished a heartfelt belly laugh.

*I'm not easily flustered...I'm just wearing cloth pants around two attractive women. What if my little brother rears his ugly head? That would be super embarrassing…* Kaito thought this, but ultimately said nothing.

The party of four were spending the morning hunting in the Forest of Rot. Why was it called the Forest of Rot?

"There were tons of slimes here once upon a time. Not so much anymore. A lot of the older adventurers easily cleared those sorts of weak monsters out." This was Artemis' earlier response when Kaito asked.

Other than the strange name, the location resembled any other forest complete with boars, wolves and occasionally bears or mountain lions. In this isekai world anything which contained mana was considered sentient -- this included animals. When any organism acquired "magic", they reached the domain of adventurers or monsters.

"Time for a break, what do you say Kaito?" Fuu, the final member of the team, said as he adjusted his mage's hat. Fuu was a close personal friend of Kaito and also responsible for the invitation to join the party today. Fuu was a skinny, dark haired young man with short cut hair and a somewhat feminine voice.

He was dressed in black mage's clothing with red trim; a two piece outfit featuring a long sleeved overcoat with huge hoop-like openings at the wrist and matching bottoms which cuffed inwards just above Fuu's knee caps. A black leotard covered Fuu's legs and ran down towards a pair of knobby looking brown shoes with strange curves near the toes. The mage's shoes were always a thing which caught Kaito's eyes, for he wondered what material they were made of. They looked hard to the touch, but poking them would reveal otherwise. Perhaps some kind of cured leather? Kaito had no clue.

"What do you think Sylvia?" Fuu then asked the party's healer.

"Indeed. Let's take a breather, shall we?" Sylvia offered as she motioned towards a suitable spot near a rather large shade tree some ten meters ahead. Kaito's heart skipped a beat as his eyes met with Sylvia's. Her beauty was striking, yet there was something in her eyes that Kaito couldn't place. She wasn't angry or upset, she also didn't seem bothered.

*Is that determination?* He'd rarely had women take notice of him, much less look his way. It was the same in the old world before the "incident" -- a mass teleportation of highschool children all across the world. That was just three years ago, at the tender age of fifteen, for Kaito.

He quickly found himself in a life altering situation which would see him facing unexpected perils, exploring new realms and meeting all sorts of people. It was the same for him and thousands of other adventurers from around the globe who had been ripped from their normal lives somehow. Kaito was by no means a famous or skilled person. He wasn't even all that good at being an adventurer, but classes were automatically given thus he had little choice but to accept the martial path of a Monk.

To eat an adventurer needed money , to get money one needed drops and drops came from --

"Monster. Two o clock." Artemis said as she lifted her short bow and effortlessly nocked an arrow. The moment the archer pulled back the drawstring her mana flowed into her palm, coating the arrow in her grasp. She let the arrow fly and for a moment it resembled a blue bolt of light. This rod of light split into several smaller pieces and slammed into a bear-like creature which had just lumbered out of some nearby brush.

Kaito had made a show of doing absolutely nothing all morning, this trend held true as he was completely caught unaware by their new foe. Luckily, the other three pretty much had it covered. In fact, Kaito was beginning to wonder why he was even invited along by Fuu.

The rest of his party members didn't seem to mind though. Each of them were more experienced than Kaito so he decided to trust their judgement on the matter.

Fuu lifted his right hand as several he muttered various things, it was the hallmark of spell casting amongst mage types. One hand to focus the mana, the other on the spellcaster's grimoire. The magical book turned to find the right page without even being touched and soon a ball of flames formed just above Fuu's open palm. The magical construct of flames moved forward the second the Fuu stopped casting his spell. The result was a fireball which slammed into the bear's face and ignited its black and purple toned fur.

"Kaito!" Fuu shouted decisively. This was a directive to join the fray!

*M-me? Why me all of a sudden!?* Kaito thought to himself, nevertheless he dashed forward, bo-staff at the ready. He leapt upwards, bridging two meters vertically (6 feet) before smashing the creature atop its crown with the hardwood staff in his grip. The roaring creature's voice faltered as its head sunk downward by several dozen centimeters from Kaito's well-placed overhead blow.

*Tsk! I knew I couldn't down it. This thing is two levels higher than me at least. Plus I'm terrible with staff skills, my forte is martial strikes!* Kaito thought as he landed and prepared a second strike with the only skill he knew while armed with a bo staff.

"Falling Oak!" He shouted. It wasn't necessary to speak the name of his skills but it was something that many adventurers did. Perhaps they felt "cooler" doing so? Kaito did it out of habit.

He crouched before springing upwards and spinning ferociously in mid-air. Due to the grip on his weapon (he held it at one of the edges with both hands), the bow staff spun like a lashing rod and smashed the bear once more. This blow was significantly stronger, as were its effects. It struck the creature on its collar bone with the full force of the attack. The sound of a loud crack echoed through the nearby forest and for a moment Kaito thought he'd overdone things and cracked his weapon.

Instead it was the sound of his foe's bones snapping from the awesome power of the 'Falling Oak' skill.

"Kaito! I could kiss you. Well done!" Artemis' voice rang out even as she prepared to fire two more arrows.

"Huh? T-thanks." The unexpected praise was enough to distract Kaito for the briefest of moments, thus he wouldn't see the bear's desperate counter strike.

"Kaito-kun! Watch out!" Sylvia shouted, but it was too late. The bear's claws cut deep into Kaito's woven fabric armor, slicing his chest. The searing pain as the natural blades cleaved several centimeters into his body was fantastic in its own way. Still Kaito had the presence of mind to create distance, hopping backwards several times. This saved him from another series of wild and desperate blows from their foe even as blood stained the front of his shirt.

Thanks to Kaito's sense for battle the others could now act. Artemis and Fuu prepared to unleash the full fury of their barrages. Artemis fired several arrows, each more viscously placed than the last while Fuu fired several more fireballs.

The fight was over in an instant, in fact one might say it was overkill. The scent of charred fur and flesh was something Kaito could never get used to. Eventually the creature's body disappeared as if it was turned to black sand which floated away on non-existent winds.

"Kaito! Let me see it." Sylvia said as she ran up to him almost immediately. This was the closest Kaito had ever been to the White Queen personally. Ever since meeting her earlier in the day and even as they traveled Kaito made sure to keep a certain distance from her. This was for his benefit, he felt he might panic. The same Sylvia was now standing directly in front of him, so close that he could feel her breath on his skin as she inspected the wound. He noted just how soft and gentle her touch was as she peeled his fabric to the side without regard for the thick blood staining it.

"It's not bad at all. It's already starting to clot. Luckily for us..." She remarked even as she lifted her right hand and began to heal the wound. A warm, green glow enveloped her hand and Kaito watched with amazement as his flesh had begun to mend itself within seconds.

*This must be the coveted power of a healer class. I've never seen it up close. I've never had the money to pay for something like this when I've been injured..* Kaito thought to himself.

"Thanks." Kaito said ,somewhat sheepishly, the moment Sylvia was done.

"Of course. Fortunately the bears here are the strongest type of monster we'll encounter." Sylvia commented.

"Y-yea." Kaito wasn't sure if he should feel comforted or not. He felt that Fuu and Artemis were both sufficient to take out a foe like that on their own. What's more Sylvia was technically correct -- the party only seemed to run into boars and wolves up until that point.

Each enemy type was annoying in their own way but the enhanced body of an adventurer was nothing to scoff at. Most low ranking adventurers would be able to deal with such monsters barehanded or at least run away. Even Kaito, as a level two Monk, could defeat such monsters in one or two strikes.

"Grrrr. Kaito-kun. What about me? Where's MY thanks? I saved you too you know!" Artemis walked beside him and firmly grabbed his earlobe. The slight discomfort was enough to make Kaito wince but Artemis' pouty expression quickly dispelled his discomfort.

*Is she...jealous?*

"Ah, you're right. Thank you Artemis-san. Without you, taking down that creature wouldn't have been possible." Kaito said with a genuine and affectionate smile.

"I'm not jealous, stupid. I'm just saying...you have to pay attention to all of us equally or there will be problems." Artemis said, almost as if she read Kaito's mind. She released the grip on his ear and folded her arms instead as she smiled.

"Okay. I'll do that..." Kaito was feeling unsure, he couldn't read the situation well but he felt it would be best to just agree. Fuu offered a smile, as did Slyvia before the group continued on their way. Soon they were able to take a fifteen minute rest before venturing further into the forest.

They continued for quite some time. Kaito had never been to the Forest Of Rot himself, despite its close proximity to the settlement. Even still he could tell that they'd traveled quite a distance from civilization.

���So, Kaito what do you think?" It was Fuu who had dropped back to bring up the rear with Kaito.

"What do you mean?" Kaito asked, as if he could avoid the obvious implication of Fuu's question.

"So….which of them are you into?"

Kaito sighed, for he knew this was coming.

"I….I don't have a clear preference."

"Oh? Really...that sounds like a lie…" Fuu remarked.

"So you don't like Sylvia's massive assets? Her sleek, soft skin? Her supple--"

Kaito hated this kind of talk. He might steal a peek every now and then, but truth be told locker room talk served little purpose than to make him feel uncomfortable. Who wanted to talk about such sensitive things with people who were merely acquaintances? Truthfully, Kaito had only been on a few quests with Fuu -- they had a cordial working relationship at best.

"Each of them have their own appeal. I truly don't have a preference." Kaito rushed to interrupt Fuu, who was now doing all sorts of lewd hand gestures and hugging himself obnoxiously.

"Kaito-- you've got to lighten up man." Fuu said, he was clearly disappointed at Kaito's unwillingness to participate in the conversation.

"It's natural. Don't tell me you haven't thought about it before." Fuu suddenly became more serious.

"Of course I have. What person our age hasn't?" Kaito replied wearily.

"It's just not the only thing on my mind…" Kaito added.

"Oh? So you're a true romantic Kaito, that's rare. But...I'm talking about your needs. Even women like Artemis and Sylvia have those sorts of needs…. With the right situation even you could--"

"No no no. That's where you're wrong. Something like that is impossible to begin with. I'm sure Sylvia and Artemis have tons of admirers. I wouldn't even come close." Kaito said as he glanced ahead to the two women talking in front of him.

"That's defeatist thinking. Heavenly situations fall into your lap when you least expect it you know." Fuu dismissed Kaito's outlook almost instantly with a backhanded wave.

"Maybe... Ha." Kaito had to admit, the sight of Sylvia's mini skirt from behind was a welcome one….

"So when was the last time you had some 'fun', Kaito?" Fuu continued fishing for answers that Kaito really didn't want to part with.

"Fun? I do fun things all the time…" Kaito knew this would not sate Fuu's curiosity and -- he was right.

"Kai-to-kunnnnnnn." Fuu sidled up close to Kaito, placing a hand on his shoulder as he spoke.

"We live in a dangerous world where you can go at any moment. Are you telling me you've never…." Fuu began to make lewd hand motions to mimic penetration.

"Stop that you idiot! What if they see you?" Kaito slapped Fuu's hands down as he spoke with a low voice of admonishment. Fuu just chuckled to himself before commenting, "Right. Right!"

"If I tell you what you want to know will you stop talking about it?" Kaito relented, winning a broad smile from Fuu as a reward.

"Fine…" Kaito said, accompanied by a sigh.

"No. I haven't had any fun. I've been too busy working. Trying to survive. It's tough for someone who's not skilled or in demand. Being a fighter type isn't like being a magic user."

"So not even once? Not even a hand job or..a kiss?" Fuu's face morphed into an expression of disbelief -- and obvious pity. The pity is what made Kaito want to punch the mage.

Kaito shook his head, reaffirming Fuu's notion that Kaito was indeed a virgin in almost all aspects of the word.

"Wow. That's….really unexpected Kaito. You're not a bad looking guy. You have a fit build and an awesome body. I'm sure most women would be keen on it if you asked…" Fuu's hand was now placed on his chin as he spoke. He seemed to be lost in sincerely deep thought.

"I don't think it's that easy." Kaito said.

"No, Kaito it is. All of the adventurers I know fuck like rabbits. After all, why wouldn't we? With bodies like these you can't get sick or catch diseases. The women can't even get pregnant unless they take a vow of binding with someone. There's few downsides to sex in this world, which is why almost everyone is doing it."

"R-really? I wonder what kind of parties you 've been frequenting…"

"Maybe one day soon I'll invite you too, cherry boy." Fuu said, smiling broadly as he finally left Kaito's side and joined with the two women just a few meters in front of them. A few minutes later they had apparently reached their destination.

"This is it." Artemis said as she flourished her hands towards a gigantic tree. It was easily twenty meters in diameter and its height was immeasurable.

"Is this….a house?" Kaito inspected the tree a bit closer to find that there were two small windows as well as a wooden door at the front.

"Yes! Can you believe it? I found this place on a scouting mission not too long ago." Artemis placed her hands on her hips rather proudly, a beaming smile on her face.

"It's just as magnificent as you described it to be, Artemis."

"Hee hee hee. See? Worth the trip. Come on you two. Let's get inside." Artemis said as she opened the wooden door and disappeared into the treehouse.