By the time I reached the cave entrance, Yuki and Shyara were already there. Shyara waved like I'd been gone for months. Yuki gave me one glance, then turned away. I swear the temperature dropped.
Nyla stumbled in behind me, still recovering from… disciplinary action.
I didn't waste time. "Ladies, we're going hunting."
"But why, Master? I can hunt for us. Don't I always do a good job?" Nyla's voice was innocent, sweet—the bait she always used.
"Yeah, you do great, Lala. But this isn't about food. It's about working together."
"So… team-building exercises?" Shyara smirked. "Seems pointless. These two just lack… something."
"That's the point, moron. To fill in what we lack."
"Sounds like a waste when you and I could be strengthening our bond instead."
"Bond with these nuts."
"Been there, done that."
"Can you not?"
"I can't."
We fell into our usual rhythm until a sudden chill reminded me Yuki was watching, eyes like glacial glass.
I cleared my throat. "Anyway… I'll be straight with you. There's a fight coming. Don't know when or how big, but it's coming."
"How do you know?" Yuki's tone was pure frost.
I missed the girl from last night. My thought must've leaked through the bond, because I caught the faintest blush before she looked away.
Nyla's silence pulled my attention. "You good, Lala?"
"I'll follow you anywhere," she said instantly. "Even if you never ask. Always."
And there it was again—pure, primal, suffocating loyalty. Dangerous… but thrilling.
"Right," I muttered, looking away before I melted. Shyara and Yuki both noticed. Yuki's shoulders sank just a little.
I took her hand. "Let's go." Nyla's jealousy buzzed through the bond. Shyara followed with her usual grin.
You don't have to worry about me, she sent. What we have is deeper than sex or hand-holding. I'm in your head. And I love it here.
I didn't reply. She knew I heard.
Nyla led the way. "Big prey or small fry?"
"Small fry. Warm-up."
We found them fast—six yellow wolves, fur sparking with static. C-rank. Common rarity. Perfect.
"Alright, go time." I settled into my stance. Shyara mirrored me, eyes glinting.
"Don't worry. I can take a pounding," she winked.
Focus.
"Nyla, circle the back. Two are yours."
"Easy." Her shadow peeled away, forming a darker, red-eyed clone.
Yuki slipped to the rear, summoning an ice blade while mana pooled in her other hand. The wolves felt it—three charged us.
Duck left, Shyara's voice slid into my head. I moved without thinking, her kick smashing into the lead wolf's ribs. Our link pinged.
I jabbed the second wolf's snout; Shyara's follow-up sweep took its legs out before it hit the dirt. We didn't have to speak—she was just there, right when I needed her.
A wolf lunged at Yuki. She dodged, stabbed its leg, and froze a shard into its skull. A third tried to blindside her—she threw up an ice wall. The thud of impact rattled the air.
Meanwhile, Nyla's shadow dissolved another wolf like acid while the real Nyla emerged from the largest wolf's shadow, claws glowing violet. One flash, and its head rolled silently into the dirt.
The others went wild, launching lightning quills. Nyla vanished with her shadow. Yuki dropped another wolf mid-run with a pinpoint ice shot.
Three left. All aimed for Yuki. She braced with twin ice daggers.
Shyara's thought brushed mine—I've got left. She came down from above with an axe kick that rattled teeth. I burst-stepped at the next, chaining hooks and an uppercut—White Fang.
"Nice. My turn." She mirrored my combo, her strikes landing perfectly with mine, as if we'd trained it for years. The link pulsed again, stronger.
The last wolf lunged for Yuki. She froze it solid. Nyla's claws shattered it in a burst of light and frost.
The blast shoved us back.
"Watch it, mutt!" Shyara barked.
Nyla's glare could've stripped bark from trees. Shyara ducked behind me.
"Maybe don't poke the murder wolf," I sighed.
"Just control your pet."
"Control your mouth."
"Impossible," she smirked.
Yuki's frost aura flared again.
Nyla slid in, wrapping her tails around me. "I can keep you warm," she said, shoving Shyara aside.
Shyara clicked her tongue but backed up—barely.
Yuki's eyes never left me. The cold sharpened. I pushed Nyla away.
"Good job, girls. We handled that like a team."
"Hardly," Shyara scoffed. "Only you and I actually worked together."
"They filled their roles—Yuki as rear support, Nyla as assassin," I countered.
"Sure, but they fought like solos. That's not teamwork."
Yuki cut in. "Well, not all of us have a psychic cheat link."
"Jealous?" Shyara's tone turned sharp.
"No. Just pointing out it's all you've got. Without it, you're useless."
Shyara's smile faltered. The link between us shuddered… and weakened.
Nyla's tail brushed my back. Yuki's anger spiked.
"Stop that," she snapped.
"Why should I?" Nyla shot back.
"You're pathetic. You let your instincts own you."
"It's not my fault!"
"But you choose not to fight it. Even I—" Yuki bit the words back.
The air was thick enough to choke on.
"Enough," I said. "I don't need you to like each other. But we are allies. And you're fighting over something you can't own—me."
They looked down.
"Yuki, you're right—Nyla's intense. She feeds my instincts. But she makes me braver. I need that. Shyara's my guide—she makes this place feel less alien. And you… you keep me grounded when the storm's too loud. If you lose control too, we all burn out."
Yuki's gaze softened. "Then spend a night with me too. Fair's fair."
"Deal."
Shyara and Nyla demanded kisses as well.
Managing one woman is hard enough. Why did anime make harems look fun?
"Nyla, find our next target. Team-building isn't over."
She bolted ahead. I followed, thinking: Alright, Kai. Time to do something new.
*******************
Shyara POV
Let's do something new.
That's what Kai says. And just like that, I'm smiling on the outside, rolling my eyes on the inside, and bracing myself for whatever "new" means in his head.
It's never "let's go shopping" or "let's nap until lunch." Nope. It's always something that involves sweat, blood, and monsters trying to eat us. Which, fine, I like a good brawl. What I don't like?
Being sidelined in my own show.
"Alright," Kai says, scanning the path ahead like a man with a plan. "We'll go in pairs. Nyla first, then Yuki, then Shyara."
…
Then Shyara.
You ever hear a record scratch in your soul? That was me.
Excuse me? Then Shyara? Like I'm the dessert at the end of his little buffet? I'm the mental link girl. His other half. The one who knows what he's going to do before he even twitches a muscle. We're supposed to be the headliners, not the closing act.
I don't let the pout show. Instead, I lean against a tree and toss out, "Yeah, sure. I'll just keep the bench warm for you, boss."
He smirks, like he thinks I'm joking.
I'm not.
Nyla's tails are wagging so hard I'm worried she's going to helicopter off the trail. Yuki, of course, just gives me that frozen lake in winter stare. And Kai? He's already walking, like he hasn't just committed a crime against the natural order of our partnership.
Fine. Play your little pair games. I'll be right here when you remember who your real partner is.
⸻
Round One: Kai & Nyla vs. Briar Boars
The first monsters we come across are Briar Boars — basically overgrown pigs with tusks and enough thorny hide to make a hedge jealous. Four of them, rooting through the undergrowth like they own the place.
Kai and Nyla slip into position without even talking. She melts into the shadows, and he just… moves like he knows exactly where she'll pop out. Which, okay, is a little unfair — I'm supposed to be the one in his head, not her.
Through the link, I can feel him. That little pulse of focus when he sees an opening. The quick satisfaction when Nyla's claws rake through a boar's flank. He doesn't have to say anything — it's all there, in the back of my skull, like I'm still part of it… but not really.
"Nice," I mutter under my breath as Nyla vaults off his shoulder to tackle one from above. Not that anyone hears me.
When the fight ends, it's all tail wags and smirks between them. I cross my arms. "Cute. Real cute."
You're sulking. His voice brushes against my mind.
"I'm observing," I shoot back mentally, keeping my face neutral.
You're loud about it.
Ugh. This is the problem with the link — I can't even have a private sulk.
⸻
Round Two: Kai & Yuki vs. Needlebacks
Next up is a cluster of Needlebacks — lizard-like things with spines down their backs that they launch like darts when they're mad. Six of them, sunning themselves on a rock.
"Yuki, you're up," Kai says, and I swear her eyes soften for him just a fraction. I want to throw something.
Their style is… annoyingly pretty. Where Nyla's all shadow and feral grace, Yuki's precision and poise. Ice walls blooming exactly where Kai needs cover. Sword strokes sharp enough to make the Needlebacks hesitate.
I hate that it works so well.
Through the link, I catch a flicker of pride from him — not for me, for her. I bite the inside of my cheek.
She's good, he sends without thinking.
"Yeah, I can see that," I shoot back, maybe sharper than I meant to.
He glances over his shoulder at me mid-fight, just for a second. I hate that he can read the tight knot in my chest as easily as I can read the sweat on his skin.
When it's over, Yuki gives a crisp nod and steps back like it was just another day at work. I'm the only one who notices Kai watching her a beat longer than usual.
⸻
My Turn: Kai & Shyara vs. Lightning Wolves
Finally.
A trio of Lightning Wolves pads into the clearing, fur crackling, eyes locked on us. Perfect.
Kai steps up beside me, and just like that, the static in my chest has somewhere to go.
"Try to keep up," I tell him with a smirk.
Don't trip, he sends back, smug.
We move. At first, it's… awkward. Like we've both been tuned to different rhythms. He expects me to be where Nyla or Yuki would be, and I keep anticipating moves he doesn't make. The wolves exploit every half-second of hesitation.
A jolt catches my arm. I hiss, shake it off. "Stop thinking like them. Think like us."
Something clicks in his eyes.
From there, it's different. I feint left, he's already sliding into my blind spot. He kicks one wolf into my path, and I'm spinning low, heel to its jaw. Mana surges between us — not just mine, not just his, but ours.
One wolf lunges for his throat, and I grab its tail mid-air, swing it into its partner. He's there an instant later, driving a mana-infused uppercut into the tangle of fur and teeth.
It feels… good. Too good. The kind of good that makes my chest ache in ways I don't want to name.
By the time the last wolf hits the dirt, we're breathing in sync. He glances at me — not the quick, distracted look he gave Nyla or Yuki, but something steadier. Warmer.
Better? he asks through the link.
I smirk, even though my heart's pounding. "Told you I'm the main act."
*********
Kai POV
Shyara and I stood over the last wolf, both of us catching our breath. She was grinning like she'd just stolen something expensive and gotten away with it. I had to admit — the fight felt good. Not perfect, but it was ours.
"See?" she said, flipping her hair like she hadn't just been almost fried alive. "Main act."
I rolled my eyes, but the corner of my mouth pulled up anyway. "You wish."
We regrouped with Nyla and Yuki near the treeline. Nyla was bouncing on her toes, eager for round two. Yuki looked her usual composed self, but the way her eyes flicked to me — then to Shyara — told me she'd been watching.
"Alright," I said, looking over all three of them. "We handled ourselves pretty well, but we've got work to do. The timing's still off in some pairings, and we can't afford that when things get ugly."
"Ugly like…?" Nyla asked, tilting her head.
"Like whatever's coming," I said flatly. "And something is coming."
Yuki's brow furrowed. "You're certain?"
"I'm certain enough to bet our lives on it. Which means from here on, we keep pushing — stronger monsters, tighter coordination, and no dead weight."
Shyara snorted. "Guess that means you'll have to keep up, boss."
"Funny," I said, turning toward the deeper woods. "Let's move. We'll talk details on the way."
They fell in behind me, the quiet settling in around us — not hostile, but not comfortable either. This wasn't just about leveling anymore. This was about making sure, when the real fight came, we'd walk away from it together.