Soul of a Human

The house Mor was led to was a sturdy two-story log house. It was a bit bigger than the home of his family, except the whole ground floor had an open layout. It was a big common room with lounging and cooking furniture and a big fireplace with a chimney in the middle. The walls were decorated with black-hued pelts, other hunting trinkets, and old, well-used weapons.

As Mor was walking with his new hosts, he got caught up with Lize, retelling the story of how he ended up here again. She was more shocked than impressed and stayed skeptical until Mor drew the Shadow-kin dagger he had snatched and showed it to her. This also drew Gron's attention and raised Mor's esteem in the case of the big warrior.

At the discussion of how he was able to best the Shadow-kin, Mor smiled and stated.

"I got even stronger and a better fighter, and now I might beat you without dirty tactics."

Making Gron laugh and drawing the attention of the few others out and about Ice-kin.

"You didn't tell me that story!" Gron teased his wife in his booming voice. "How bad did you lose?"

"I only underestimated him." She pouted.

"Two out of three times." Mor innocently said to nobody, making Gron laugh even harder.

"I would have paid to see that." He wheezed.

The reaction confused Mor slightly, but the whole exchange made the big man more endearing. At Gron's insistence, Lize had to tell how it had gone down, starting a big teasing from the big man.

°I don't see how it's that funny.° The human said.

°Maybe Snow doesn't like losing and would typically be pissed when somebody was stronger?° Mor said.

°Want to help her out?° The human asked, as Lize looked increasingly annoyed at the teasing.

°How?° Mor asked, a bit interested.

He liked Snow, and the over-the-top teasing was even uncomfortable for him.

°Beating the big lug in a match.° The human suggested and shocked Mor.

°Are you mental? He's two times my weight and not from fat!° Mor protested.

°Yeah, duh. I'm not saying we use the same rules, but we could take him with magic and my help. I mean, you kicked in a massive door, for heaven's sake.° The human recalled the adventure on Celestite Isle.

Before the teasing could evolve into a martial fight, Mor again spoke up.

"Stop teasing, Snow… ah, Lize. Right now, I could even beat you." He said, confident.

Mors declaration stopped the one-sided teasing instantly, and Gron looked down at the feisty boy.

"You think you're stronger than me?" He growled.

"Depends," Mor said with a slightly shaky voice.

"On what?" Gron asked.

"Well, I'm a strange Soul-kin, and while being a generalist, I am also the top body enhancement mage. Meaning it depends on how much power I'm allowed to use." Mor stated.

"Now I want to see that. We're doing a little strength contest while at home." Gron stated his challenge, and Mor nodded, unsure if it had been a good idea.

"On the topic of magic power, the chief had told me I'm expected to help out while I stay here, so how much power am I allowed to use?" Mor asked.

"A high magic output attracts monstrosities, but you can use what you want inside the village. We're up to date, culling the more difficult monstrosities close to the village and attracting some of the smaller ones, which might even be a boon. The hunter won't have to go look, and it provides a bit of excitement for the wall guards." Lize mused, and Gron agreed.

"Great," Mor stated, smiling.

Still, the little competition had to wait because after they arrived at the home, they had to convert a little storage room for Mor's use, as there was no guest room. This also meant Gron had to go out again and acquire a mattress and some blankets while Mor and Lize cleaned out the small storage space, carrying boxes down into the earthen cellar. While Mor carried one of such boxes, the front door opened again, and the third member of the house entered.

"What are you doing here?!" The young Ice-kin woman, Elly, demanded to know of Mor.

Who surprised at the hostility, blurted out the first answer his mind, or the human, he was a bit uncertain afterward, came to.

"I'm carrying a box? Looks like random bits and pieces."

"That's not what I meant! Why are you in my home?" The girl hissed.

“Snow… ah… Lize allowed me to stay here until my people can pick me up." Mor stated.

"Mother!" Elly shouted.

"Elly, welcome home," Lize answered the call, sticking her head out of the little storage room.

"Yeah! Why is that stranger here?" Elly shouted back.

"He's staying with us," Lize said, coming closer. "Mor, meet my daughter Elly. She's in her rebellious phase right now, so don't mind her annoyance."

"Does dad know?" Elly decided to ignore the introduction and instead continued her questioning.

"Yes, he agreed," Lize stated, making her daughter sigh.

Mor looked the young Ice-kin woman up and down, up close, and outside the previous twilight, her resemblance to Snow was even more prominent. Though Elly was about 15 centimeters shorter than her mother, she had a bigger chest. Mor had no scale for such things, as Soul-kin would all be at the lowest end of that scale, and therefore, no such thing was necessary.

Still, with the changes of Saphine, Clare, and Tiara, he had spent a few minutes asking the human if there was something in its world, getting a long-winded explanation of circumference and cup size that confused him more than explained anything. Asking the human for a cup size comparison, the verdict would be as follows. Snow would come in at a nice C, while her daughter might be close to a D. Continuing with the Soul-girls, the top spot would be Saphine with a B, maybe C, Clare, and Tiara sharing a high A.

Mor's little musings got interrupted when Elly stared at Mor and growled.

"Why are you looking at my chest like that?!"

Before the human could intervene, Mor's idiotic side had already said,

"Just comparing, Soul-kin are less varied with that."

The silence this revelation produced was deafening, and while Elly looked at the boy in sheer shock and horror, it didn't take long for Lize to start giggling.

"That's true!" She wheezed. "All your women were flat as boards."

This somehow made Mor feel like he needed to defend his people and almost offended him.

"Well, Saphine has developed very well with my help!" He stated, making Elly look even more incredulous.

"What's wrong with you?" She asked, only getting a confused look as an answer.

"What did I do? Why is talking about the chest of a woman such a problem?" Mor asked honestly. "Isn't this even something good? I think the differences a body can create are quite charming."

°Welcome back, my favorite piece of Osmium…° The human sighed.

While this put Lize over the edge into full-blown laughter, Elly tried to say something, decided against it, and tried again, only to again decide against speaking her mind. She couldn't believe the stupid shit the boy was spouting, but it wasn't entirely wrong, still. After multiple tries, she asked again.

"What's wrong with you?"

Mor stared blankly at the embarrassed? Annoyed? Pissed? girl, not knowing what he did wrong. Then another opening on the door interrupted the awkward situation, as Gron came in grunting in annoyance with the unwieldy mattress, then stopped and looked confused at the scene.

"Good, you're having fun?" he asked uncertainly. "Hey, Elly, how was your day?"

"It was fine until Mother told me this pervert would stay with us!" She hissed.

"What did I do? I'm no pervert!" Mor protested.

°Really? REALLY?° The human sighed. °How can a single person be so fucking dense.°

Gron blinked in confusion, then asked the obvious question.

"Why are you calling him a pervert?"

This question set Lize off again after she had almost calmed down, confusing her husband even more.

"He told me he liked women's chests and compared mine to other girls he knew!" She stated, and Gron looked over at Mor with a stern gaze.

"Is that true?" The big man growled.

"Yes?" Mor answered uncertainly but truthfully. "My kin are only slowly developing something like this, so I'm quite excited to see how different diets influence the body. All I have for now are explanations a friend gave me, so seeing those explanations reflected in reality is quite interesting."

Elly looked at her father, and her whole expression screamed, "See! He's completely crazy and a pervert!" She could have spared herself this because the corners of her father's mouth first twitched, and then he laughed heartily.

"Now, I'm sure you're a strange Soul, but at least you're a healthy boy. Still, keep your hands on my daughter!" He stated, making Elly protest.

"Calm down, Elly, every young man thinks like that. Even your dear cute Thor." He continued.

"He doesn't! He's the son of the chief." Elly protested.

"Which makes this only more likely, and it is one of the reasons I don't support your future engagement with him. You're too young to make a decision like that."

Elly protested further, but her father kept adamant, and in the end, she pouted and went to her room. Mor felt a little bad for her, but this wasn't something he could interfere with. This was between Elly and her father. His most pressing concern was to get his sleeping arrangement sorted out. They took until the early evening until they were done setting Mor's temporary quarters up. The space was smaller than his room at home, but it would suffice.

The only thing left before hitting the sack was the little strength contest against Gron. They set up a thick tree trunk in the common room, and Gron uttered a challenge for arm wrestling. The human quickly explained the rules to Mor, who had never heard of such a challenge but didn't want to seem ignorant.

Just as Mor locked hands with the much bigger and more muscular Gron, Elly, drawn out by the commotion of setting up, sneaked back into the room. Her mother and the human instantly noticed her, but not the two contestants.

"At the count of three," Gron stated, and Mor nodded, fully concentrating on his body enhancement magic, letting the human take care of applying the force.

Lize counted and at three, Mor could feel the pressure of Gron pushing, and pumped more power in a reflexive action. The power that could kick in a massive wooden door, now pressed against the hulking muscles of the larger man, overcoming the disadvantage of smaller leverage and less mass with ease. Mor pushed the big man's hand down with an audible thump, making Elly gasp in shock.

Gron shook his hand, trying to get the slight pain out, and looked astonished at the Soul-kin boy. Then he smiled. He wasn't upset at his loss.

"Well done. Do you want to try again without magic?" He asked, and Mor shook his head in panic.

"No, thank you. I like to keep my arm." Mor said, and Gron laughed.

The fear in the boy's look made the loss much easier. At least the boy knew his limits. Still, this was the end of the day, and everyone retreated to their respective sleeping quarters, each with their own thoughts.

Mor thought about his friends and family, wondering how they were doing. Gron thought about the possibility his wife had set in his head, which was making a Soul a taunter. Snow's thoughts were far more straightforward. She was happy to have her husband back from his hunting excursion, and finally, Elly was trying to understand that strange boy who had just beaten her father in a feat of strength.