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"Relax, would you? It's a simple training exercise." Zericho sauntered confidently down the hallway, leading the more reluctant human to one of the identical looking doors that stretched out before them. He had proposed this experiment when Nate had come to breakfast, and its purpose was to try and fine-tune Nate's unpredictable powers with a simple healing exercise, and was currently leading them to their volunteer. "If we're ever going to make your powers stop acting weird, you need practice, and since you freaked out when I bit my hand yesterday, we're going to start out with something lighter."

"Sorry, I thought it was weird that you started self-mutilating." He muttered to himself as he walked behind Zericho, "And define 'lighter'." He had several bad images floating around in his head about just what Zericho might choose as a way to train him, knowing the imp's proclivities.

"So distrustful..." Zericho teased him. "Just some light spanking of a very willing volunteer, and all you have to do is make him feel better."

Nate immediately face palmed, of course, "Okay, new rule, my training shouldn't consist of anything where I have to touch someone's genitals or butt, or body part that was recently used in conjunction with said areas barring an emergency." He sighed as Zericho stared at him for a second like he was crazy, "Do I have to touch it? Or stare at it?"

Zericho rolled his eyes and opened their door, revealing a smaller light blue Imp inside who was nervously looking at them over his shoulder. He was wearing a thinner loincloth, and as he was on all fours with his rear pointed towards them, it gave a very good view of his red and well-spanked buttocks, but the strip of cloth did hide the line beneath his tail. "Modest enough for you? And no, you just have to point the spell at it, assuming the sight of a partially bare ass does not cause you to faint."

"Oh shut the... heck up." He caught himself at the last second, remembering Zericho's request. "You know, I'd point out how weird it is that you're against my swearing when I know there's a pretty good chance far worse things have gone into your mouth than out of mine; but I'm the exact opposite, so... yeah." He made his way over, trying not to stare.

"Yeah, except my mouth makes people happy, and your mouth just makes you mad." Zericho replied confidently, strolling next to the healer-in-training. "Yadash? Lift those sweet things up just a little higher so Nate can get a better target." The other Imp eagerly complied, curious about the human rumored to be the Prince's intended mate. "Alright, Nate, just relax and I'll guide you through it, alright? This is gonna be fine."

"Why do I feel that your definition of fine, and mine, aren't the same?" He snarked back, trying his best not to be too embarrassed by the red tinged ass before him. "Ok, so... I already know the basics, what should I do differently compared to last time?"

"I'll show you. This means I gotta touch you, though, so try not to freak out." Zericho gingerly stepped forward and reached for Nate, waiting for him to relax and allow himself to be handled by the Prince.

"Don't do anything that you would do with any of these guys, and I won't." Seriously, it wasn't like he was afraid of being touched, just groped. Why was it so hard to understand the difference?

Zericho flapped his way into the air, until he was level with Nate's chest, and then pressed his ear against the human's ribs. "Hmmmm... okay, the magic will feel like... kind of like this." The Imp Prince very gently dragged the tips of his claws from Nate's sternum, along his ribs, and then delicately along his arm, much more lightly than before.

Nate did his best not to twitch at the light scrapes along his skin, "So it's supposed to almost, like, tickle?" That's what it felt like, at the very least.

"Pretty much! This one is about using as little power as possible, so you hopefully don't do anything... unexpected. Just relax and let it flow, alright?" He flapped backwards and out of the way, as Yadash hopefully presented himself as a target.

"Alright." Nate closed his eyes, trying to let the feeling be all that he was sensing at the moment, steadying his breathing as he did so. He felt the energy flow out through him, tingling just the slightest amount, almost like water flowing, before letting it out like he had before. As he finished he opened his eyes, and smiled at the results, the red tinge was slowly fading.

"Hey, it's working! You're doing great, Lord Nate" Yadash cheered, pleased that the minor stinging was receding. Unfortunately, Nate would feel a slight twitch in his arm just before the jolt of energy left him, and Yadash froze, staring behind him in horror. His tail began lashing wildly, and then quite suddenly split in half, with both halves growing to their whole size and then splitting off again, and then again, until eight tails were lashing above his bottom. "AH! Help! What happened?!" The Imp tried to stand, but his tails lashed out and bound his legs, and then trapped his wings when he tried to fly, leaving him trapped on the ground and whimpering in fear. That fear quickly faded when his tails began to stroke his freshly healed rump, and then slide down to rub his inner thighs, and then further to an area that Nate couldn't see properly from his vantage point, but Yadash's moaning made it clear he was no longer upset about the situation. "Best.. healer... ever...!" He groaned, and Zericho quickly lead Nate out of the room.

"Uh... we'll work on it. Don't get discouraged, okay?"

Nate had a very dead look on his face before he spoke, "...why would my powers even do that...?" He shook his head and buried his face in his hands. "No, no, no."

"You haven't had much practice yet, remember? That's what this is about. There's bound to be one or two minor... problems. And hey, Yadash is happy!" The expression on Nate's face told Zericho that he was not encouraged. "Okay, look: I told you at the beginning that healing magic can do some weird stuff, right? But so far it has all been harmless, it wasn't like you grew him a clone or something! You just need to learn how to stop those surges, and fine-tune it."

"What if next time it's not harmless?! What if next time, instead of doing... that, the tails instead decide to strangle him?! Or worse?!" He slumped against the wall, "Are you sure I have to be doing this with live subjects? I mean, back home, we start by studying dead things; or at the very least non sentient species."

"...Kid, just trust me on this one: You do NOT want to try using healing magic on dead things. It... never ends well." Zericho thought fast to try and steer Nate's mind away from experimenting on something dead and thus potentially causing a serious disaster. "I was right there, remember? If those things had tried to hurt him, I would have done something about it." An especially loud and enthusiastic moan came from the closed door behind them.

"Okay, fine, now that I think about it, necromancy probably isn't a good idea, but what about animals? Or hell, I healed that wood, why not plants?" He pointed to a nearby houseplant, "I mean, at least if I kill this, no one's going to be upset."

"Fine, we can try plants again, but you're gonna have to try it on people eventually. Just tell me what kind of spell you want to cast on it, and we'll try it out, alright?" He paused, and then reconsidered. "...Actually, let me get your spell book, this would be a good opportunity for you to learn how to look up stuff that you want to do."

"I know, I just think I should at least have a handle on the basics before I go testing my skills on people." Nate nodded at Zericho's suggestion, "That'd actually be really helpful, even with those glasses, it can be hard to understand sometimes."

Zericho winged away, and returned shortly with Nate's spellbook, handing it to the human and taking a few steps back. "Alright, what spell do you want to cast?"

"Well... let's see..." He inspected the plant, seeing if there was anything that looked like it needed healing. He came across a recently snapped twig, "How about a minor mend spell?"

"Sure, go for it! Can you suss out what it says to do? What kind of tingle you need?" Zericho flapped up to peer at the book over Nate's shoulder.

"Hm, let's see... one should feel a sensation similar to the fingers pressing together tightly... I guess that makes sense, kind of." He readies himself, before turning to Zericho, "Get ready to kill it if something goes wrong."

"Nah, I'd just turn it into something fun and 'subdue' it." Zericho teased, but he backed away enough to give Nate room to work. "You got this, kid."

Nate rolled his eyes at Zericho's suggestion, but continued anyway, he took a deep breath and concentrated for a few seconds, letting the energy flow, before releasing it. The twig that was barely hanging on quickly seemed to mend itself to the main stem of the plant, glowing for a moment before seeming to die down. "Okay that's-" Before he could continue his sentence, he heard a small groaning sound, and the base of the twig began to shudder. "Oh no."

Zericho grabbed the back of Nate's shirt to tug him backwards and out of the potentially dangerous radius as the plant continued to shake and tremble, glittering lights appearing among the leaves, until it abruptly doubled in size, and blue roses emerged next to red orchids, and the leaves glowed faintly.

They waited for a few more tense seconds, but that seemed to be the full effect, so Zericho swooped down and plucked two of the flowers from the plant and offered them to Nate. "See? Improvement! You just made the world a more beautiful place."

Nate leaned in for a quick moment to sniff them, they smelled nice... "Well... it was unexpected, but it's definitely better than last time. I mean, most people probably wouldn't mind if they sprouted a few flowers, right?" He chuckled a little. "Although I do really wonder what causes these accidents, they seem to have little in relation to the intended outcome."

Zericho rose a foot higher and gently tucked the blue rose into Nate's hair, just above his right ear. He set the red orchid just behind his own ear, and landed so that it was not knocked loose by his flying. "Eh, it's hard to say. I'm guessing it's because the magic has to fight against your anti-magic body on the way out, and that warps the sound. I wouldn't worry about it, you aren't bringing the dead back to life yet." He nudged Nate with his elbow to let him know he was only joking, as such magic was completely impossible outside of legends.

Nate blushed a bit at the blue rose, which he took out to look at, "This'll make me look like a girl..." He muttered. Looking down at Zericho though, the red orchid seemed to suit him, "It looks nice."

"Thanks." Zericho preened with the air of someone who knows that anything they wear looks good because they're wearing it. "And what do you mean, it makes you look like a girl? If anything, it makes you look like a Goblin. They're the ones who love wearing flowers and leaves and stuff. Hey...!" He perked up, and looked up at Nate. "Do that trick to some of their pet plants and we may score some diplomacy!"

"What are the Goblins like anyway? There are lots of different versions of them in stories back where I come from." Indeed, multiple images flashed through Nate's mind, the only similarities between them were that most of them were short.

"Short, green, kinda plump and soft looking, pointy ears, and cute bouncy butts." Zericho listed off on his fingers as they walked along, looking thoughtful. "They live in jungles and forests, or settle down somewhere and turn it into a jungle in a couple of months. See, they don't have the kind of raw magical power like Imps do, but they are brilliant when it comes to plants and things. Every tree, every bush, every flower is grown to make them comfy and happy." They passed a trio of Imps who stared at the two of them with expressions akin to awe, and Zericho pointedly ignored them. "They mostly just want to be left alone so they can be fondled by ferns, but they also used to catch other species and keep them as 'pets'. They've mostly quit that, just like Imps have tried to ditch the whole "Rape every hole" thing, but Goblins are still pretty snobby and think that they're better than everyone else." He shrugged.

"They sounds... pleasant." Said Nate, as he tried to think or a word opposite to what he actually thought, after all, "So... you're going to have to marry their prince?"

Zericho laughed at that. "Sure, if we can stand each other! I never met the guy. And it's probably going to just be him getting me pregnant so that the kid will serve as a bridge between our nations, yadda yadda yadda. Most people don't want to marry Imps, since we're pretty bad about staying faithful. I bet he cares as little as I do, and we never see each other after we do the nasty."

Nate frowned and suddenly felt kind of uncomfortable, "That's... kind of sad, so the kid won't ever meet his um... other parent? I mean, don't get me wrong, I understand that you guys don't have sex because you love each other but even then... it seems kind of cold."

The Prince paused and looked up at Nate, confused. "What do you mean? I'm the one who's having a kid, what does the other guy have to do with it?"

"Oh, well, back home, usually both parents are involved in the care of the child, where I live at least. I mean, don't get me wrong, there are families with only one parent, but that's usually not by choice; the idea of the other parent being alive and all, but never seeing the kid... I don't know, it's kind of sad. I mean, I'd want to know about my own kid, even if I ended up hating the other person." Not that Nate planned to have kids anytime soon.

Zericho looked mystified. "That... That just makes no sense. Why would the 'dad' even have any say in it? The carrier is the one doing all the work, why would I want some other guy messing around with my kid after I've done all the hard stuff? Who would want to share their son with anyone else, especially just cause you had sex with them?"

"Well, not everyone has servants and stuff to help them, so the other parent helps raise the child. I mean, a baby is kind of hard work, last time I checked." He sighed, "I mean, I'd miss my dad if it was just mom and me."

The Imp just shook his head. "That is so weird. I'd have to REALLY like the guy to let him have any say where my son was concerned. I've never heard about someone wanting to hang around and help just cause they were the one who planted the seed."

"Well, most couple do get married or have some kind of meaningful relationship before they decide to have a kid, so it's not like it's happening with total strangers. I mean, when that does happen, it usually does end up being one parent taking care of the kid, with the other occasionally providing monetary support." Nate hadn't known anyone like that personally, but he knew enough.

"So... relationship first, then the kid? Seems cumbersome." They resumed walking, but Zericho seemed to be mulling over what he'd learned, deep in thought.

Nate shrugged, "It makes most of us happy... I think." There were problems, yes, but Zericho's way probably had its own set of issues as well.

"So that's what you'd want? A relationship, after you get to know someone for a while, and then having a kid?" Zericho asked, curious as to what Nate considered an ideal future.

"Well, I'm not sure about the kid part, but... yeah, pretty much. It sounds nice, having someone I can trust like that." He smiles sadly, trying to imagine himself in a relationship, and failing.

"Usually, we have a kid so we CAN have someone we can trust. A little minion, you know?" He pretended to hold up a smaller Imp above his head, smiling proudly. "It's you and daddy against the world, kid!"

"What if they don't want to?" The idea of having a child specifically to use them for personal gain... he "That's... really gross, having a kid just so you can use them. I mean, what if it turns out they supposed it wasn't actually all that uncommon back home either, but still...

"What? Hey, we don't 'use' our kids any more than you just 'use' a partner just so you can stop being lonely! It's a partnership, one of you is the boss and the other is the apprentice. You raise 'em up right and they watch out for you just like you watch out for them." He waved his hand irritably. "Why do you think I'm going through all this trouble to save my dad? He took care of me when I was just hanging around in his castle, not pumping out an heir like he wanted, and now I'm paying him back."

"Well, okay, I thought you meant... well, more child husbandry. You know? Just raising a kid in hopes of them doing exactly what you want them to do, regardless of what they want or need. I've heard about it, it's not common back home, but it does happen; the kids... usually don't turn out so great." Of course, it ranged from trying to push a child into certain careers to fulfill the parent's fantasies via proxy, to more... toxic paths.

The Imp snorted, and drew himself up proudly. "Look at me! Can you honestly say I didn't turn out great? Besides, I already told you I didn't do the one thing dad told me to do, so obviously obedience is optional."

Nate decided it would be for the best if he didn't answer Zericho's rhetorical question, and decided to continue the conversation, "So... what if the guy turns out to be a huge tool? Wouldn't you worry that your kid would turn out the same way?"

"Eh, whatever jerk tendencies my kid inherits shouldn't be too much of a problem if I raise him right, so it should work out. In the old days, there was no way for an Imp to know who the father of his kid was, cause of all the possible candidates in a single day. Now we put a little more effort into it, but the attitude stays mostly the same. No matter what, this kid is gonna be great because I'm gonna be his dad." Zericho preened confidently.

"Well, here's hoping." He looked up and around, just now realizing they had been standing there and chatting this whole time. "So... where to now?"

"You hungry? I'll take you to recharge your energy, and then we'll find out where Chiboom is brooding. Then we'll check on the preparations and eventually head out." Zericho lightly took to the air, his tail lashing behind him.

He shrugged, "Not really." He guessed he could have a bite or two, but he wasn't feeling drained or hungry like Zericho had suggested he might after the training session. "But, might as well grab something to eat before we head out." He sighed, "Man, I'm glad I got a new pair of shoes just before I got transported here; my feet are sore enough from walking so much."

"I'd rub them for you, but we both know I'd do something naughty if you gave me the chance." Zericho teased him, swooping next to the human. "And sure, let's go find the Big Green Grump." He drifted to one side as a group of Imps flew past them, but snagged one by the tail and caused him to crash against the ground. He landed next to him and firmly planted his foot on the yellow Imp's face. "Hey. If you can tell me where our Orc is, I'll let you kiss my foot."

The Imp stared up at him with wide eyes (Though one was covered by one of Zericho's toes) and nodded eagerly. "She's in one of the sparring rooms! Up the hall, ten doors to the left and then eight doors on the right!" His expression turned pleading, and Zericho examined his nails for a few moments before nodding, and the Imp began slavishly kissing Zericho's foot.

Nate grimaced at the loud smooching sounds the other imp was making, although he guessed it could be worse, after all, Zericho spent most of his time in the air.

The Imp whined as Zericho lifted off, but the Prince didn't give him so much as a glance. "Alright, let's go, and help me keep track of the doors."

"Ten to the left, eight to the right." He repeated as he tried to clear his mind of what had just happened, and followed Zericho down the hall. "So, uh, should I do anything to prepare for the goblins? Like, you said they had a problem with slaves and stuff; should I put a 'Not for Sale' sign around my neck?"

"Ha! Nah, you should be okay, as long as you stick with me. Or Chiboom. Though you are really pretty, they might have a hard time resisting the urge to put you in a cage made of branches or something. Maybe we could get you a mask? Oh, but they'd still see most of your body, since you won't be able to wear much in the jungle." He held up his hand to forestall the impending argument. "Psych yourself up, get drunk, do whatever you need to do to get less shy cause if you go in there wearing anything more than a loincloth we'll be dragging your passed-out self the whole way."

Nate knew he would have to dress lighter for the trip, seeing as, duh, tropical weather; but Zericho was taking it a bit far. "Yeaaaah, no. I'll get myself a pair of shorts or something, and pack away my sweatshirt." The very furthest he could see himself going would be going shirtless, but definitely nothing that involved no bottoms. "I've made trips down south before, as long as I stay hydrated, I'll be fine."

"Spoilsport." Zericho teased him, sticking his tongue out as they made the first left, and continued on their way. "But seriously, you keep practicing your plant magic, and you'll make a great impression on them. Oh, and possibly save our lives with a herb or something, I don't know how healing works."

Nate counted the doors in his head as they walked down, "No problem, just as long as you're there to make sure nothing goes haywire. You're more experienced, so I kind of trust you when it comes to this stuff."

"I love you too, darling." Zericho blew him a kiss. "Glad you're acknowledging my limitless wisdom. Just stick with me, kid, and you can't go wrong." They turned down the correct right door, and Zericho was immediately struck by a thrown Imp that smashed him against the opposite wall. Various Imps floated around Chiboom, their faces reflecting their dawning horror, as a small pink Imp piped up.

"...I think you might have used just a little too much force, Dame Chiboom."

Chiboom sighed as Nate slowly helped both of the imps up, "I warned him that something like that would happen if I used my full strength, but no, he insisted." She walked over and inspected the scene, smirking a bit. "Although I didn't expect you two to show up." As the other imp got up, looking a little sore, she stared at him, "So much for your tricks."

The light orange imp shook his head, as if to shake off the effects of the collision, and glared up at her with a look of deep offence. "I will let you know that if the door hadn't opened, I would have performed my routine perfectly. Why, if it wasn't for-" He turned around and gasped, "My liege!" His face immediately paled, and he dropped to the floor, prostrating himself as he kissed at the floor of the rising prince. "Forgive me! I had no idea you were coming, I wouldn't have done something so risky in your presence!"

As Zericho got to his feet, he took stock of the situation. He wasn't injured beyond some bruising, but the possible damage to his dignity was the real concern. A careful survey of the Imps in the room showed that they looked more alarmed than amused, which was as it should be, and the offending Imp was properly contrite. Chiboom looked entirely unashamed of the part she had played in this, but that was just more of her usual disrespect and was to be endured. And Nate looked... concerned? That was more confusing, but it seemed that Zericho's reputation remained unscathed, so he could afford to be merciful. He placed his foot on the horizontal Imp and pointed at him. "Chastity belt for a week."

Nate wasn't sure how cruel of a punishment this was for the offending imp, he knew that sex seemed to be everything to the imps, and Zericho had said that they did actually need it every once in a while or risk illness. Instead, he watched the other imps' reaction.

The light orange imp in question froze for a second, then lifted his head to look at his prince with tears in his eyes, nodding. "Of course my liege! Thank you for your mercy!" He seemed to be sincere, so Nate guessed either the punishment wasn't so bad, or that he had been expecting far worse.

The Prince of Imps patted the relieved creature on the head, and then stepped on his back, forcing him back down on the ground as Zericho strolled into the room. "Chiboom, are you about ready to go? I'm going to start rounding up our escort, and we'll try to head out."

Chiboom nodded, going to grab her gear, "Sure thing, I was just about finished here." She turned to the rest of the imps, all of whom seemed to have fallen silent with Zericho's arrival, "You guys keep practicing, maybe one day I'd actually have to break a sweat fighting you." She smirked as she followed Zericho, with Nate lagging behind.

"So, uh, you're okay, right?" He asked Zericho, wondering if he had been putting on an act for his subjects.

"Hm? Oh, I'm fine. Just a little sore. Tell you what, we can practice healing my bruises while we travel!" Zericho replied, looking pleased with his own graciousness. Secure in the knowledge that he had again proven himself the omnibenevolent Prince of the Impire, he walked with an even more confident saunter as he casually ordered passing Imps to join his growing entourage. Eventually Xelto joined them as well in an attempt to marshal the assembled Imps into something resembling a proper defensive formation as they strode down the seemingly endless corridors. They appeared to take turns through doors at random, each hallway identical to the one before it, but the Imps never hesitated until one final door yielded a bright light and they stepped out into daylight. Around them were the grassy, stone-strewn hills of the Warden's realm, and when the last Imp swooped through the open doorway, the opening faded from view and appeared to be just another few yards of grass.

"So..." Nate said as he turned back after staring at the entrance that seemed to disappear. "Off to the goblins?"

"Nah, ZygZayg first, Goblins second." Zericho informed him. "Gotta make sure I have an Impire left for them to ally with before I get them on board." Xelto rose into the air and flew in a wide circle before landing and saluting his prince.

"All clear, your highness. We may proceed to the Bizarre Boughs." He reported. Zericho waved his hand dismissively and the other Imps rose in a cloud around them as the two ground-bound beings walked in the direction of the fae-haunted forest. They walked for over an hour before the Imps got bored enough to start pestering each other, and there was some brief tail-pulling, stolen kisses, gropes and horn-fondling before Xelto firmly restored order and forced the Imps to fly in formation again. When it started up an hour later, it was Zericho's glowing green glare that put them back on their best behavior. It may have continued on like that until one of the scouts came back at high speed, panting and pointing urgently off to the east.

"Sir! A small contingent of the enemy forces have engaged a citizen!" Zericho and Xelto glanced at one another, weighing their options. On the one hand, they could just use the distraction to avoid a patrol and possible evade detection from a larger force by sheer coincidence. On the other hand, the last thing they would be expecting would be for a patrol to bear down on them when they were distracted with some hapless citizen. In the end, Zericho's whims tilted towards violence.

"We can't have that, now can we?" He grinned, his fangs glinting in the sunlight, and the swarm of Imps rose higher before diving down and gliding low over the grassy hills, swooping towards their targets. "Chiboom, we're going for stealth, so travel as fast as you can while staying quiet." He added over his shoulder before he followed at the tail end of the swarm.

Chiboom grunted, glancing over at Nate. "Just stay behind me, all right? They'll try to use their powers on you, which won't work, and I can take out anything they can throw at us when the numbers are on our side like this. You ready?" It didn't matter if he was ready or not, because she was already in motion, crouched low to the ground to reduce her visibility as she kept her stance wide to prevent her armor from clanking together.

Nate gulped and nodded. He was shivering in fear, but he knew that he couldn't stay here either. "Yeah, l-let's go." After all, he had to accompany her in case this civilian was hurt, he was the healer here after all, even if he was vastly under experienced at it. He tried to keep his head low, although he guessed that if anyone did spot them, Chiboom would be the more obvious target. Small blessings, he supposed.

As the two of them crested the hill, they saw the battle below had already been joined, as the colorful swarm of Imps swooped and circled the defending Incubi and Succubi. Judging from the outraged screams and jeers from the Imps, the ambush had been a success, as the smaller creatures had the bigger ones on the run.

It was now that Nate got his first look at what Incubi and Succubi looked like, as he beheld a dozen human-shaped monsters with long tails, long horns and long...

Something else to tell his therapist about when he returned home, then, as he tried his best not to stare at any one of them too long, as to not take in too many details to scar his brain. The Imps were driving the demonic forces away from a huddled form on the ground, and from the way it was huddled, it was clear that his skills were required. The Imps seemed largely concerned with blasting the Incubi and Succubi with multi-colored bolts of light, laughing maniacally as they did so, and the invaders tried to retaliate with arcs and lines of energy of their own, which were deftly dodged by the nimble Imps.

As they ran towards the battle, however, one of the Imps glided towards them, holding his side and landed with a stumble in front of Nate, looking up at him pleadingly.

"Healer?" The light green Imp asked him in a hopeful tone.

Nate looked over, actually very glad for a distraction, although the fact that the imp addressed him as healer quickly worried him. "Uh, yeah?" Hopefully, whatever it was, it A) wasn't too bad, and B) took him off the battlefield. "Is someone hurt?"

The Imp took his hand off of his side and showed him the smoking burn mark, a sense of urgency in his dark eyes. "Help..."

Nate quickly bent down, "Crap, that's got to be at least second-degree, maybe a bit of third mixed in." He hovered his hands over the burn, "Okay, I remember this one, the second degree is just some basic regeneration with rehydration... third degree is a bit more complex..." He started with the lighter burned areas, concentrating his energy as best as he could remember and let it flow.

The Imp watched warily as nothing seemed to happen for several moments, and started to grow concerned that he had approached the wrong healer when the pink smoke from his wound began to dissipate, and cooling relief replaced the pain. The burn began to heal in front of their eyes, changing to a full second-degree burn, then a first-degree burn, and then finally returning to healthy flesh. Nate's patient beamed at him, and then frowned, looking down at himself as a strange feeling overtook him.

His stomach began to grow, and his thighs grew thicker, and his rump gained several inches in size before he realized what was happening and stepped back and fell down, gawking at his new bigger form. He turned to Nate, still shocked and spoke again.

"...You are the best healer ever!" He got to his feet a little unsteadily, giddy with delight at the changes that had occurred.

"Healer!" Someone called from the diminishing battle.

Nate did his best to keep going and not freak out at what had just happened. After all, as long as those growths didn't turn out to be tumors, he guess he had done a good job? Oh god, his life was so fucked up. He turned and ran with Chiboom towards the call for help, still doing their best to keep their heads down. After about a minute of trying not to have a mental breakdown as shots flew overhead, they reached the source of the commotion.

A bright pink Imp was next to the injured shape they had seen before, darting back and forth on the ground as he flung bolts of light at any invader who glanced their way. When he saw Chiboom and Nate approach, he nodded at them and gestured to the prone form before leaping into the sky to rejoin the swarm in driving the enemy to surrender. Already, many of the Incubi and Succubi were down for the count, though it was hard to say if they were simply injured or slain.

"Holy shit." Nate whispered, upon seeing the prone form. It was a new species, one he wasn't familiar with, although if he had to guess... a werewolf? That's what the dark gray fur and muzzle seemed to imply, mixed with the bipedal nature and torn clothes he was wearing. He quickly changed focus when he saw what was wrong with him, "Fuuuuuuuck..." He hissed, seeing what appeared to be a rather large knife, bordering on short sword, sticking out of the guy's stomach... he assumed it was a guy at least. The werewolf was curled up slightly on his side, as if to try and protect his stomach from further injury.

Still, this was bad, if he was still conscious, the werewolf would be in immense pain right now, it looked to have sliced right through were his intestines would lie. It was difficult to tell if the werewolf was awake or not, his face certainly seemed to be pained, but it could have just stayed like this as he passed out. He glanced over at Chiboom, who surveyed the scene cooly, "I can't let anyone disturb me okay? This... this is going to be really delicate."

Chiboom nodded and turned around, shielding Nate and his patient in case anyone tried something.

It didn't seem like the Incubi nor were the Succubi going to try anything anytime soon, as the Imp swarm harassed them and drove them back further and further. That is, until one of the fallen Succubi rose to her pointed heels and flicked her long tongue out at Chiboom, saluting her before swooping forward on wings made of light to strike at the orc warrior with a club made of purple crystal.

Chiboom parried with her shield, sending the Succubus flying back, "Try again. Put some effort into it this time, unless you want me to bash your head in." Clearly, the succubus wasn't exactly intimidating to her.

Nate was a slightly different story, he was doing his best not to hyperventilate between what was going on behind him, and what was right in front of him. "Shit shit shit." He took a deep breath, and leaned in, "Okay... gotta remove the knife. No use healing if everything's just going to open back up as soon as I take it out. Then I gotta heal it quickly, before he bleeds out." He closed his eyes to steel himself. "You can do this." Before he can freak out again, he reaches down and pulls the knife out quickly. Blood immediately comes rushing out and he does his best not to vomit.

The Succubus was not nearly as strong as Chiboom, but she was nimble and had the advantage of flight. And when she zig-zagged above Chiboom, her club began to glow a dull purple light, and when she brought it down on the defending warrior, Chiboom felt like she had been struck by a force four times the size of the shapely Succubus. "I can provide all the enthusiasm you require, handsome one." She purred at the orc.

Although four times the size of the succubus was powerful, Chiboom had faced worse. "Really now?" She took a swing at the Succubus, forcing her to move back, losing ground, "Because I'm afraid all the enthusiasm in the world won't help you if I hack those sacks of fat you call tits off."

Nate meanwhile, turned the werewolf onto his back, so the bleeding slowed down a bit, and prepared his spell. "First the internal wounds. No use closing him up if he's just going to bleed to death inside out." God it smelled bad, the intestines had definitely been pierced, he'd probably need to cast a secondary spell after closing the wounds to clear out the waste and bile that was now probably in the werewolf's blood. He held his hands over the gaping wound, and let the energy flow.

Chiboom's opponent actually seemed scandalized by the insult, and self-consciously covered her chest with one arm, floating out of range of Chiboom's axe. "Just because yours are so firm doesn't mean you have to be hurtful to the rest of us!" Now with a determined scowl on her pretty face, the Succubus took greater advantage of her mobility and magical weapon, darting around Chiboom's defenses and wielding the club as though it was a baton while it struck the defending orc like a warhammer.

The werewolf gasped softly, and began whining in a pitiful tone that suggested he didn't expect anyone to come to his aide. He didn't move aside form weakly lolling his head to the side, his breaths growing shallower. On the plus side, Nate could see that the spell was taking effect as the blood withdrew into the wound and the intestines visibly returned to their proper places. Casting the purification spell caused a sweet-smelling steam to rise from the wound, and the werewolf began breathing more easily.

Chiboom was starting to get a little annoyed, now that she was dealing with a huge dent in her armor and a possibly cracked rib from the feel of things. "Alright, you wanna play? Fine." With surprising speed, she swung her axe, the Succubus blocking with the club only just in time, which seemed to ring in her hands painfully from the force with which Chiboom hit it.

Nate, meanwhile, watched as the blood that filled the cavity started to retreat back to where it belonged, leaving a much cleaner abdomen cavity behind. Still, the actual entrance wound was still there, and bleeding quite a bit, "Alright, this'll be easy." He started another healing spell, this one a bit simpler, only having to deal with a single wound, as opposed to the many internal lacerations.

It seemed that Nate's magic would work without a hitch this time, as the gash began to seal itself and the werewolf's expression grew less tormented in response to the ebbing agony. When the two sides of the injury met, however, there seemed to be an arc of light between them before they sealed, and Nate got a sense of unease for a moment before there was an unmistakable surge of energy, and the fur around the wound began to recede, traveling outwards from the healed injury as the werewolf's body began to change, his claws changing to nails, his tail slipping inside his body, and his face flattening until a handsome human lay beneath Nate. A human whose eyes snapped open and met Nate's own, beholding him with a sense of wonder. "You... you just saved my life..." He breathed.

The temptress retreated with an exaggerated scream, largely unhurt but over-reacting out of habit. She did not want to perish here, but she knew that things would not go well for her if she retreated either. Defeating a powerful warrior would at least be proof that she had some worth to her superiors, so that was what she intended to do. Twisting her club in her hands, she darted forward again, this time aiming high before revealing it as a feint and instead sweeping the club down to knock the warrior off her feet and start hammering downward, trying to use the power of her enchanted club to knock the axe out of her hand and leave her defenseless.

Instead of moving against the hit, which would indeed send her legs flying out from under her, Chiboom decided to do something a little different, something she probably wouldn't try if there wasn't a healer nearby. She leaned her leg into the hit, again denting her armor, and this time sending a hairline fracture up her tibia, but remained on her feet. The surprised succubus, did not have time to react as Chiboom drove the wedge of her axe into her skull.

She did not immediately react to the axe, save for an annoyed expression, but it seemed to gradually dawn on her what had happened as her eyes turned towards the weapon that had been embeded in her head, then back at Chiboom as though she had betrayed her. Her fingers shakily rose to touch the axe, then fell back. Her wings flickered out of existence, and her energy faded with the life in her eyes as she pitched backwards and fell to the ground, unmoving and diminished in death.

Nate did not, and for a while would not, realize what had just happened, and instead was stuck staring at the young man that he had apparently just saved from certain death, and maybe just cured his werewolf-ism? He wasn't entirely clear, nor was he able to speak easily, "Uh... hi."

The human reached up to Nate and tenderly touched the side of his face, staring at him as though he'd put the stars in the heavens. "Thank you..." He whispered, struggling to rise up higher before he noticed his hand and grimaced. "Ah, one moment..." The werewolf closed his eyes and concentrated, as fur sprouted all along his body and he regained his half-wolf form. Now he rose more easily to a sitting position and placed his hands on Nate's shoulders. "I cannot express my gratitude. You have saved my life, and I therefore I swear it to your service, my lord." His hand trailed down Nate's arm until it held one of the human's hands, which he lifted to his mouth to briefly lick the back of it.

"UHHHHHHHH..." Nate was now even more confused, at both the whole turning back into a wolf man, and the whole, licking his fucking hand and calling him lord and what the hell?! Before he could stumble back and stand up, Chiboom interrupted.

"Hey, kid, you two okay now?" She looked over the two of them, noticing the look on the kids face, as well as that of the lycan's, and sighed, not this crap again. "Well, if you're done, any chance you can heal me up? Pretty sure I've got a cracked rib and a minor fracture on my leg while I dealt with that bitch."

Nate was, again, confused, "Bitch?" He glanced behind Chiboom to see a succubus corpse with a large split down the middle of its skull. "Holy shit!" He exclaimed, eyes wide. He had never actually seen a dead body before, outside of a funeral that is, so it took him a few seconds to adjust. "Well... uh... okay...?"

As Nate tended to Chiboom's injuries, the Imp swarm returned, some of them dragging unconscious prisoners while others were licking minor injuries and fawning over Zericho, who preened under their praise of his battle prowess and power. In truth, while he had actually demonstrated far greater power than the majority of the swarm, it had been Xelto's coordination that had won them the day with so little costs. The gray Imp seemed perfectly content to be overshadowed, however, and looked more concerned with the three who had been left behind.

"Are any of you harmed?" He asked as soon as he landed next to the werewolf.

"Thanks to him, not anymore." The werewolf answered in a tone one would expect more from a love-struck preteen girl, watching Nate heal Chiboom with an expression of pure adoration.

Nate finished checking on Chiboom; making sure that there were no after effects this time to his healing, as well as making sure that the fractures were fully healed and that the orc wasn't just trying to put on an image (her response to the unstated accusation being that she was tough, not an idiot). He then turned around to see Xelto and the werewolf, "So uh... is there anyone else to heal?" He asked, looking more than a little ragged.

Xelto glanced at the other Imps, but none of them appeared to be harmed in any significant way, so he waved at Nate reassuringly. "No need to worry, Sir Nate, there is nothing that demands your attentions. We can secure the prisoners and transport them back to the fortress, and I believe I can still spare several to continue as your honor guard." He turned towards the werewolf and tilted his head forward politely. "And you, sir?"

Nate and Chiboom joined Xelto, with the orc looking him over, "What were you doing out here, and how did you not notice the large swarm of demons coming towards you?" Chiboom snorted, remembering more than a few 'brave' people she had encountered over the years, "Of course, that's assuming you're not an idiot who decided to fight them willingly. You weren't right? If so, maybe Nate shouldn't have healed you, because that's obviously an act of suicide."

The Warden's son slowly turned around, and flapped his wings until he was at eye-level with Chiboom, his arms folded and his face somber. "Madam, you go too far. It was our shameful negligence that allowed these monsters to invade our lands; if anyone is to blame for innocent citizens of the Impire being attacked, it is we. I scorn you for speaking so cruelly to someone who nearly lost his life. For shame, madam."

Chiboom was silent for a moment, before breaking out in laughter, which slowly died down after a few seconds, "Ha... alright. I did go a little far there, I guess it comes with having to spend all my time the last few days in your barracks surrounded by imps exactly like that." She snorted, "Seriously, half the guys back there want to impress the prince so bad that they wouldn't stop talking about it, hell, I heard some of them talking about it in their sleep." Nate was confused about what she had found so funny but decided it might not be best to ask.

"Oh? Well if their desire to please our Prince causes them to speak cruelly to a stabbing victim, I will reprimand them as well. However, since you are so eager to shift the blame for your transgressions, I will assume that it was your recent, nonfatal wounds that caused you to lash out, and leave the matter to rest so that you may not be further corrupted by the voice of an Imp, and thus return to your state of blamelessness." Xelto appeared to take a breath and start a new spiel, but he was interrupted by the Werewolf.

He was glaring at Chiboom and curling his lip slightly to reveal his gleaming teeth. "For your information, I was ambushed. They were behind one of the many, many hills that dot the region, and as to why I didn't spot them sooner, they can fly and have magic to conceal themselves. I apologize for inconveniencing you by being stabbed and beaten, noble warrior, I will try to politely die immediately in any future ambushes so that you are not further offended by my lack of psychic premonitions." He snorted at her in disgust and turned to Nate. "Master, will this awful creature be accompanying you much further?"

"Uhhh... w-why are you calling me that?" Nate chose to address that first, rather than try and get in between the wolfman and Chiboom. "I... I'm not royalty or anything like that. If you're like, afraid of offending somebody."

Chiboom let out a little whistle as she realized what was going on, "Wow, I knew that there were some, I didn't think I'd ever meet a lycan that still practiced that."

Nate turned to her, "Practice what?"

"Lifedebt, master." The Werewolf supplied, his emotional gears shifted entirely from disdain back to adoration when he turned back to Nate. "You saved my life, and now it is yours to do with as you please." He dropped to his knees before the human, his tail wagging quickly. "You have only to command and I will obey."

"UHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH..." It was abundantly clear to all present that Nate was about as lost as an imp in a convent. He struggled to think of something to say, "I... that's... you don't have to..."

"But I must! You called me back from the darkness beyond death, your magic eased my agony, you saved me in my hour of greatest need! Serving you for the rest of my life is the very least I could do, my master." The werewolf assured him earnestly.

"But I-I... I don't own people! I-I only did what was right!" Seriously, last time he checked, people didn't become a doctor's personal servant whenever he gave them medicine or something!

The werewolf tilted his head curiously, and then seemed to understand. "Ah, I see the problem! I can remedy that for you, master." So saying, he regained the expression of intense focus from before, and his body changed again, as his clothes vanished and his humanoid shape changed to that of a true wolf, until he sat in front of Nate, his tongue lolling out and convinced that he had solved the issue of Nate being uncomfortable with owning a 'person'.

Nate sputtered, "T-th-that's not what I meant! At all!" Okay, why couldn't his life start to get more normal, not less? After all, he'd been dropped into another universe where magic and the perverse ruled, shouldn't, by a law of averages or something, things get more normal as time went on?

The werewolf changed back into his halfway form, and looked imploringly at Nate. "What is it about this that disturbs you, master? Surely you are not adverse to me repaying my debt to you. You cannot insist that you did me no great favor by restoring me from the brink of death, and I would live in guilt for the rest of my days if I did not make every effort to thank you for the miracle you performed."

"It's my job! At most you'd pay me some money and that would be it! There's seriously no need for you to do this!" Nate couldn't understand this, why would this guy _want_to be a slave?! What kind of culture taught you that that was a good thing?!

It was at this point that Zericho began shunning his fans to make them want him even more, and thus wandered over to make everything worse."Hey, Nate! Did you see me blast that one Incubus right on the ass? They can never say I don't stay on target!" He noticed that no one was paying attention to him, and took in the situation in front of him, with Xelto and Chiboom off to the side and the werewolf kneeling on front of Nate, who wore his usual expression of 'Oh god why?'. He grinned at this, and landed at the obvious conclusion. "Did you get a pet Lycan? You lucky dog! Pet Lycans are the best, and this one is so cute." He reached forward to pet him, but the werewolf growled menacing at him and snapped when his hand got too close. "...Though I see some training is in order. Need any tips? I can't teach you my best stuff cause of your sexuality, but I can still point you in the right direction."

Nate buried his face in his hands and wondered what deity he had pissed off to make his life this way.