It took the party about 30 minutes to move the werewolf outside the cave. The main issue was one of spatial sensing. They were all accustomed to moving in their own bodies and, as such, could discern their position relative to everything else. However, much like moving furniture, the werewolf's body added extra size to everything. This meant that the party struggled to move the werewolf through the tunnel, and thus it ended up with a few more bruises and scratches than it had started with.

  Once outside the cave, everything sped up. Out of everyone, Alyx had been the one to spend the least amount of mana while also having the highest mana regeneration. That still meant that he only had about a quarter of his total left, but that was more than most of them. As a result, when they were all outside the cave, Alyx used a spell to summon a spectral steed. The spell worked much like Tesilim’s original drake spell did. That being said, the steed was larger and would last longer thanks to Alyx's magic. So, they had thrown the werewolf, centaur, wolf thing on top of the steed and tied it in place as best they could.

  Afterwards, they had set out towards Tesilim’s tree. Granted, they couldn't move at speed and found themselves walking at a steady pace. They could have enhanced themselves, but that would have used up all their remaining mana. And considering they ended up getting into a couple more fights, it was good that they hadn't used everything. The fights themselves hadn't been a problem, not only because they had decided to save mana but also because their attackers fled after a few casualties, or they had been alone to begin with. Ultimately, the only casualties were Drex and the steed because they both ran out of mana.

  Naturally, the other problem with moving only at a walking pace was that they arrived at the tree almost late in the afternoon, right as the sun began to set. At the tree, the party ran into another problem involving the wolf.

  “Uh, guys, he isn’t going to easily fit through the door,” Tesilim said, still singing as he stared at the door.

  “Nah, he is, is just that from here he seems larger,” Rose stated, before doing a classic move. She measured the wolf with her hands, then walked to the door with her hands wide open, only to find that the wolf was too large. Of course, like anyone who has tried to get a sofa, bed, or TV into a room or car, she tried a couple of times from a few different angles. Naturally, everyone watched her do this with a smile. The redhead had begun confidently, but by her last measurement, the usual look of defeat came.

  “Okay, maybe he won’t fit,” she told them.

  “Yeah, we figured that out a few of your measurements ago,” Alyx answered.

  “That’s nice, Alyx, but it doesn’t fix the problem,” The redhead added, sarcastically annoyed.

  “Oh, yeah, we know,” The gnome said, and Rose rolled her eyes.

  “Okay, so does that mean you have a better solution?”

  “Of course,” Alyx said smugly.

  “Mind telling us what it is?”

  “I mean, I already told them,” Alyx answered, gesturing at the other three.

  “What!? When? Why didn’t anyone say anything?”

  “Because we wanted to see if you could find an angle to bring him inside,” Jasmine said, a bright smile plastered on as she poked fun at her best friend.

  “Ugh, just do it, I am tired,” The redhead replied and sat down to expectantly watch the party.

  Also tired and ready for rest, Alyx and Lili did a joint incantation. On that note, Tesilim was incredibly surprised that joint incantations were a thing, and after he thought about it, it made sense, but it was one of those things he hadn’t thought about. He would have made a fuss about it right there and then, but he was too tired to care. His body ached all over, so he just watched them do the incantation. He only knew a few words of the incantation that they were doing, but Alyx had already explained what the spell did.

  "By subtle thread and binding tight;

  Reduce the form, remove the height;

  Shrink and small, by will I weave;

  Let size now shift and space reprieve."

  The wolf hybrid thing began to visibly shrink. It didn't shrink much, but it was enough to reduce it from the ten-foot monster it was to around seven or six feet. And once that was complete, bringing it inside to the elevator wasn’t hard. Finally, once inside the tree, they took him to the large open space, where Alyx looked him over, but there wasn't much anyone could do in the end. Alyx could maybe help him with soul-related issues, but that would require better tools and a different environment.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  So, since the monster had yet to awaken, it would just have to wait until they could get to the city or until they could find other help. Even then, they wouldn't know how stable the creature would be, so they left the wolf in the open gym area, Tesilim closing and locking the door after. There was no way that the monster could break out of the open space. Even if it woke up and was violent the next day, the team could easily put it down.

  Afterwards, they all ate some food provided by Alyx. Then they all went to the showers. Tesilim joined Lili in the shower, which was a great experience he looked forward to for the rest of his life; he had never felt better and could only compare it to what a succubus might accomplish. Sadly, he had been told to stop trying to talk dirty during their fun time. Apparently, hearing him sing the lyrics to We Are the Champions was a bit of a turn-off.

  Finally, and right before bed, Tesilim checked the notifications he had been ignoring. Mainly, it was the completed notification for the Aberration Annihilation quest and the partial completion of the Missing Werewolf one. Additionally, he checked his spells; he was wondering how the lightning bolt registered as a spell, after all, that was his first real test at spell modification. Sure, he had modified the magic missile variants, but they didn’t feel like a true challenge because they were basically the same.

  Lightning Bolt: A spell created by Tesilim. Although not unique in its wording or in his method of creation, the spell nonetheless comes slightly more naturally to him. The spell calls forth a bolt of lightning from the sky to strike at a single foe. Though powerful, the spell can be rather obvious to those alert, allowing the target to dodge the strike at just the correct time. If not dodged or negated, the lightning bolt will deal damage equal to the amount of mana spent by the caster, with the additional benefit of leaving the target of the spell electrified and stunned. The secondary effect of the spell can only activate if the target in question is made of flesh. Finally, the effects last longer based on the amount of mana used for the spell. However, the resilience of its target or other magic may reduce the total time.

  Current Rank: D.

  Magic Type: Simple Magic - Evocation.

  Concentration: No.

  Mana Use: One-Off.

  Use: Damage, Debuff.

  AoE: No.

  Multi-Target: No.

  Reading the description, Tesilim guessed that a spell he created came much more naturally than one he learned the usual way. Though in the end, a caster could become incredibly proficient with a spell regardless of how they learned it, all they needed was practice and understanding. So happy with his progress and feeling Lili by his side, Tesilim quickly fell asleep with a smile on his face.

  After having wholly drained out her elf in the shower with some quick but extensive fun to ensure he fell into a deep sleep, Lili waited until he did so, then kissed him on the cheek and got out of bed. Getting out of bed, she was glad Alyx had done all those experiments; otherwise, she would have been more on edge. They had found out that even though Tesilim could sense what was going on inside his treehouse. He had to be awake and focused on sensing things to take advantage of the ability. This meant she could sneak out of the tree house much more easily without him being aware.

  One day, she would tell him the truth, but today was not the day, and she needed to refill her mana, and there was only one way she could go about it. Oddly enough, it wasn't just her trying to sneak around, and she ran into Jasmine in the hallway. The twin was about to open the door to Alyx's room. Lili didn’t know what for, but could make a few guesses. The sweet half-elf hadn’t seemed openly interested in the gnome, but maybe they had some sort of secret romance going on. And in all honesty, if Lili had to put a bet on it, she would have placed the redhead and the half-elf. The two had an odd energy about them and were hiding a tense situation.

  To that end, Lili smirked at Jasmine, implying just what she was thinking, but the half-elf shook her head in denial. Still, something was clearly going on, and the two knew that the other was up to something. However, neither of them wanted to discuss it, so their eyes met, then Lili shrugged and made a quiet gesture, bringing her finger to her lips. Seeing her gesture, Jasmine nodded, and the two continued on as if they had never seen each other.

  Leaving Jasmine behind, Lili quickly found herself outside the tree, her fluffy short dress fluttering in the breeze, momentarily displaying all she had to the world. Filling the breeze on her bare skin, Lili paused to enjoy the moment. Then she took a nice deep breath, her mind sharpened, and she began to look around for things that she could turn into mana.

  Walking into the gnome's magical door, Jasmine found that the room had been slightly adjusted to let her bring out a monster. They still had to use his special room because any monsters that were brought into Tesilim’s tree would alert him. It was one of the many things Alyx had tested out. And obviously, they didn't want to spill any more secrets, at least for the moment, so they were stuck with using the room instead of the gym space. Not that they could use that anyway, since the werewolf was in there. In fact, the only reason why the wolf was in the tree was that Tesilim had given it permission.

  “I just saw Lili out in the hallway; it was obvious she was sneaking about, but I'm not sure why, and considering our situation, we decided to leave things be. However, be aware that she thinks we are secret lovers or something,” Jasmine said as she approached the gnome.

  “What!? That’s ridiculous!” The gnome exclaimed preposterously, and Jasmine threw him a look clearly asking if she wasn’t good enough.

  “Uh, sorry, I mean you're pretty and all, but I like my girls to only be one person,” An answer that made Jasmine roll her eyes.

  Their banter complete, Jasmine quickly brought out an incredibly dark panther, barely on the brink of death. Then she got to work, as they were both tired and wanted to go to sleep.