I looked over at Veronica as I walked around, where she was still bent down at my height. Now that I was up close to Veronica's face, I could see just how much bigger she was than me."Thank you for all your help, girls, and especially you, Veronica. Thank you for giving me a ride," I said, and I walked up to Veronica's face and then kissed her cheek that was even larger than Jilly's.I could feel the heat start to radiate off Veronica's face as she crawled back from me, and that stood back up in shock. I watched her lift one of her paws up to touch the place that I had kissed, and I turned around to head into the Keep."Find some shade so you can both keep cool. I will send someone out to bring you water and food," I said as I awkwardly opened the door and slipped into the Keep.The door closed behind me, and I sighed and then started walking up the Astroturf stairs. Jessabell was awake, but she was shaking and staying quiet as I carried her to Nixi's ro

I shook my head and then walked past him without saying a word; I didn't have time for this right now."At least think about it!" Mex called as I walked into the house and found the girls waiting for me.Jilly looked tense, but the rest of the girls were relaxing on the couches. Mary was curled up with Nushi on one side of her, and the Cerberus girls were on the other side of her.I went straight over to Jilly and smiled up at her."I just need to go talk to Lidy about cooking for her after. Do you want to meet me in the bathroom?" I asked Jilly, and she looked away from me."Yes, but I wasn't waiting or anything like that, or upset, or anything like that," Jilly said, repeating herself as she turned and also walked into a table.I smiled as she made her way outside; I was reliving to see her act cute and a bit nervous, but I wouldn't tell her that. At least not when there were other people around to hear, or she would get embarrassed and up

"Eighteen hundred points?! And the missions start at ten points?! How many points do you have?" I asked in exasperation."None," Jilly said, still not looking at me, and I threw my hands in the air."What do you mean none?! How am I supposed to collect that much MP?!" I will have to do missions for a month straight!" I complained, and Jilly sighed and turned to me."I am sorry, I really didn't care about anything at that point and was willing to go be Doa cleaning slave, but then I met you and chased you. Now we are here, and you are cleaning me, so I am sorry," Jilly said, and I relaxed and let out my own sigh.This was not what I had expected, or really what I needed on my plate right now, but I cared a lot about Jilly, so I would make it work. She was the first girl that I met when I got here, and even though she had tried to eat me, she had become an indispensable part of my team."Okay, can you roll over and start explaining how the ranks and

Even with the extra brain power that I could pour into worrying about Mex, I just couldn't find a reason for him to do all of this. I mean, besides the reason that he had actually given me, like him thinking highly of me and saying that I would do a better job of it.That could just be Silvery Mex sugar tonguing me up with smooth words and reasonable promises to get me pinned into a trap. There was something big in the bush, but It was only watching me, and I was almost to the first clearing where I would meet with Grogvel.It was some kind of cat, but very big, and black with red stripes. It almost reminded me of a tiger, but from hell, and a lot bigger, but I think because it knew I could see it hiding, it didn't want to attack.I walked into the clearing and then stepped around where Grogvel tried to open up the ground under me. Then I had to hop six more times before the Earth Elemental burst from the earth, sputtering in anger."Hey! Stand still, or