Dao 3 Chapter 22

The potion had helped with the pain, but it didn’t completely solve Dar’s problem.

As he thought about it, it made sense that dim and bright wouldn’t want to work together, but he hadn’t expected the reaction. Based on the way they’d destroyed his body, they were completely incompatible. Dar really wasn’t excited at the thought of continuing to tinker with them. He had to find another way to progress his dao path.

That meant he was left with pairing shadow and granite with something else, or fire and granite. Fire and granite made more sense as he thought about it. After all, there was an obvious evolution involving those two.

But if he went that route, he needed to form a fourth greater dao before he’d be able to go after the grand dao. He rubbed his head in frustration. They didn’t have a lot of time.

Pulling the family's dao book from his inner world, he flipped through it on the kitchen table. Once again, Blair’s dao drew his attention. They were all related to minerals and part of earth.

Intrigued, his fingers traced the dozen lesser dao she had given his family, a thought forming. Malleable, tough, conductive. Those attributes sounded a whole lot like metal. She had them split up differently, but the more Dar looked at those three lesser dao, the more sure he grew sure that they could form a metal.

“What are you doing?” Sasha came back in with a bowl of food. But her face said she was just as likely to throw it at him as give it to him.

“Just research.”

“Put it away. I think we should ban you from looking at that book for the day.” She put down the hot bowl of porridge hard enough to slosh it on the kitchen table.

Dar let the book fall back into his inner world and carefully pulled the bowl closer to himself. “You are right. Food sounds much better than dao.” He was starving and was far more interested in stuffing himself than studying.

“I should take it back. That was my book once upon a time.”

“You should cultivate a new dao. The tree seems more than capable of helping Blair. I bet it could do wonders for you or the rest of the girls.”

She sighed and took a seat opposite of him. “Do you really think this is going to come down to some big battle?”

“Positive.” Dar said between mouthfuls. “If it isn’t the devils, it’ll be Kindrake, or even another nation. Sasha, we are surrounded by hornets' nests. And we have already kicked half of them.”

“Fine.” She held her hand out, and Dar summoned the book again for her to browse. “But if you are going to make me push for another dao, then you should think about helping Neko, too. And I’m pretty sure she’d rather not cultivate at a tree.”

Dar nudged her, understanding her meaning. He’d already been thinking about it. He’d grown closer and more attached to Neko. There was an intimacy in the way she cuddled him and cared for him in her own way that had been progressing, and he was interested in getting even closer to her.

Having seen her in her more wild state, he’d had some trouble seeing her as a woman, but the more time they’d spent together, the harder it was to see her as anything else. And most importantly, the harder it was getting to see her as anything but his.

“I know. Maybe if I’m not all beat up, I should take her to the bedroom.”

Sasha nodded. “But remember, it’s her first time. Be a gentleman.” Sasha got to the back of the dao book, tilting her head in question. “You need to complete it with what you’ve just learned.”

Dar took the book and rather than ask for a pen, he used his dao of combustion and heat to spark a small flame. He used the tip of his finger to burn the dao into the page.

He enjoyed the small gasp he heard from Sasha as he’d pressed his finger to the pages.

“Dar! You could have burnt the whole thing!” She took the book back and held it to her chest protectively before pulling it back and scanning what he’d added. “Flame sounds interesting.”

“Earthen dao, or something along shadow, would be a lot easier with the dao tree.”

Sasha shook out her mane of black hair. “Earth doesn’t appeal to me, though shadow is interesting. But what would I do with that?”

Dar didn’t have an answer, but she should decide that on her own, anyway. “Tami’s dao of acceleration is pretty universally helpful.” He moved the pages back a few.

There was no argument from Sasha. Speed was always an advantage if it compromised nothing else. “Have you learned it yet? Care to help me along?” Sasha smiled up at him, giving him a wink.

Dar laughed. Apparently, she was loosening back up after his near death experience. He leaned over, giving her a kiss and pulling her closer.

She tossed the book aside, about to jump in his arms just as Mika walked into the room.

“What are you two doing?” Her eyes landed on Dar. “Did he hurt himself again?”

“He most certainly did.” Sasha sighed. “Tried to combine two incompatible dao.”

Mika winced. “It is painful enough when we dabble in it. I’m assuming you went full throttle.” She gave him a knowing look. “I can only imagine the damage. No pain, no gain, though.”

Sasha was less than amused with Mika’s disregard. “So, we are looking at all the dao our family has acquired. Dar wants to push us all a step forward before we have a conflict.”

“Makes sense.” Mika pulled the book closer to her. “Not a lot for me here though.”

“Sorry Mika.” Dar felt a little silly that some of their specializations were too different from each other.

“Don’t be. There’ll be one or two lesser that might interest me, and I can always branch out.” She flipped through the book and landed on acceleration. Dar had a feeling all of them would want that one.

Sure enough, she pointed to it. “This seems handy.”

Cherry came wandering back in. “Oh good. Sasha didn’t kill you.”

“Gee. Thanks.” Dar rolled his eyes.

“No new bruises, either. Seems like you got off easy. You should have seen her when I first told her you were hurt again.” Cherry was peppy as always as she sat up next to Dar. “So, are you going to try it again?”

“No, I’m going to shift focus. I have a new plan.”

“Good.” Sasha said from the other side of the table. “Now, if we are finished with breakfast, let’s get back to working on the village. What do we have?”
Dar leaned back, realizing that he needed to get back to work on the wall. “I’ll roll some balls of granite out and see if I can’t make progress on the village wall.”

“Please don’t strain yourself.” Sasha sounded worried.

“I’ll stick to using my dao for the heavy lifting and just walk alongside it.” Dar lifted himself out of his chair. Things hurt, but not so much anymore that he couldn’t function. It felt more like he’d had a brutal exercise at the gym the day before and he needed to take it easy.

And what Sasha was asking for would use dao instead of his body, anyway.

Wanting to get it done, he headed out of their home.

As he stepped outside the cave, Dar pulled on his Dao of granite and sectioned off a large round ball of granite that went up to his chest.

Instead of pushing it, he hovered his hand over the surface and push it with his dao.

He smiled as the motion was far easier than when he had just formed his greater dao of granite. Now he had three greater dao, and his ability to manipulate mana and power his dao grew with each one.

In its own way, this was an exercise of his power, he realized.

Spurred by that thought, Dar went to work, rolling balls of granite with dao alone. Each time he brought a ball out to the unfinished wall, he would make a new section only two feet tall. For now, he was hoping to keep the goats in more than monsters out.

It would probably take a week of just hauling granite out for him to make a wall tall enough for protection, but for now, he could make the base.

Dar realized as he headed back for another round that he was feeling better than when he started. It was almost like each time he drew in mana and poured it out through his dao; it was slowly but subtly healing him.

Dar flexed his arms, feeling less pain. He figured anything was possible with the energy that powered magic.

“Dar.” Neko greeted him on one of his trips through the village. The sun was high in the sky, but that did little to warm the chilly day.

Villagers hurried between buildings or clustered near the central hearth. The Kilns were also popular. People huddled around them, happy to shovel out and grind up more of the stone that would eventually be used for concrete.

Dar had told Bart it wouldn’t set right in the winter, but the old blacksmith hadn’t stopped the prep work. They continued to crush and cook what limestone he could find in the caves. Come spring, they would have all the concrete they could want.

“Neko, what have you been up to?”

“Practicing. My new dao is going well.”

“What did you form?”

“Claws.” Neko demonstrated, a glowing claw ghosting over her hand. In the past, she had done something similar with the dao of sharp. But that had only given off a faint glow at her fingertips; this was far more.

Dar was fascinated by it. Reaching out, he took her hand in his, turning it back and forth to study the claws. Neko was pleased with his touch, purring as he examined her hand.

Reaching out, he pressed his finger to the tip, drawing blood. Neko quickly pulled her hand out of his, frowning at him. “No hurting Dar.”

Dar nodded, too lost in his thoughts to reply. Where Dar and everyone else seemed to focus on something elemental, Neko had instead focused on something almost conceptual.

She wasn’t actually creating anything physical with the glowing claws over her hand. Instead, it was like the concept of powerful claws wrapped around her hand. In its own way, it was quite unique, almost more of a technique.

Dar wondered if by putting the villagers on their own dao paths, some of them might learn similar techniques. Or maybe he could even learn it from Neko. The creativity of all the different paths might lead to some amazing new ways to use dao and mana.

“What are you planning for your greater dao?” Dar asked as he rolled the ball of granite into its spot and pushed the material out and into the next section of the wall.

“Predator.” Neko answered happily. “Make everyone prey by becoming the ultimate predator.”

Dar would have laughed, but she’d proven that she could break the mold with her claws. He wouldn’t put it past her to make everybody else prey. “I’m excited to see it one day.”

Neko beamed up at him, happy with his approval. “You seem better.”

“I’m feeling better. This exercise of my dao is quite good for me.” He scooped Neko up, his ribs only protesting slightly.

Momentarily amazed at the change in his body, he almost dropped Neko, but he could feel for a moment all the enchantments on him pulsing and drawing mana along with him. He flowed the mana, feeling it focus more than usual on the potent dao character between his legs as it continued to restore his body at an amazing rate.

Neko rubbed herself against him until her lips found his neck. She nibbled and suckled on his neck enough that he knew he was going to have a hickey.

“What’s gotten into you?” He asked.

“I got my greater dao. Neko is good enough now.” She whispered happily.

Dar was shocked by her statement. “You were always good enough.”

But the cat girl shook her head. “You only slept with those with a greater dao.”

“The maid’s.” Dar pointed out.

Neko shook her head again. “Doesn’t count. They were yours for other reasons.”

Dar hadn’t realized how close she was watching and feeling less than by not being with him. “I want you to know that I wasn’t holding off for you to reach your greater dao.” Dar felt dirty at the thought.

“Then why?” She kissed his neck again.

“Because you were fresh out of the forest, and you didn’t know any better.” Dar sighed, trying to think about how to explain it to her without her misunderstanding or feeling worse. “I was concerned you had attached yourself to me not because you wanted to be part of my family, but because we were your shelter, your support system. If you did this because you wanted to cling to that support, I don’t know if that would be right. It would feel like I was taking advantage of you.”

She stopped kissing his neck for a moment and batted his head until he turned to look at her. She let out a small growl. “I am no helpless kitten. Dar is the best, and Neko deserved the best.” She pulled his head down for a kiss on the lips.

More than a few of the villagers watched and giggled. A few nudged each other like they’d won some sort of bet.

“Bed.” Neko demanded. “I will put your concerns to rest. Will you accept me as part of your family or push me away again?”

Dar realized he’d delayed too long if she felt so strongly. He didn’t want her to ever feel like he’d reject her. “I’d happily go with you, Neko. I’m lucky to have you as part of my family.”

“Yes, you are the lucky one, now hurry.” She swiped at his neck, and her dao of sharp scratched his neck.

“Feisty.” He joked, but she gave him a fat, unamused face.

“Horny.” She clarified. Her hands flexed against his shoulder in a signal that she was ready to take another swipe at him if he didn’t hurry up.

Dar laughed. Her pushiness was cute. And her reaction had settled his resolve even further. He was eager to explore their connection.

“Dar.” Mika caught him at the entrance to their home. But Neko gave her a look that made her immediately step aside, laughing. “I see she finally got tired of waiting.”

“Hush.” Neko wrinkled her nose. “Or join. But don’t stop him.”

“Maybe after you’ve had your first ride.” Mika laughed and hurried off.

Dar suspected the rest of his family was about to know not to disturb Neko and him.

He already knew that the girls had accepted Neko into their family; it was time he did the same.

Closing the door to his room, he activated the dao of quiet over the door and put Neko on the bed, hovering over her. “You are amazing, Neko.” He forced her head to the side and kissed along her jawline, coming to her chin and working his way up to her lips.

Surprisingly, the tension bled out of her, and she melted like a puddle into the bed. “Tell me I’m the best.”

“You’re the best cat girl I’ve ever known.”

“The only.” She gave him a token pout, but her smile bled through, regardless.

Dar pressed her to the bed as he kissed her, his hands finding her firm toned rear and giving it a good squeeze. A part of him still couldn’t believe this was his life. All of his women loved him and he could enjoy each without guilt. They were a family.

Neko grabbed the back of his head and crushed their lips together as their tongues twirled in each other's mouth.

Dar savored her soft lips and the wonderful curves of her hips as he felt himself rise to the occasion.

The change didn’t go unnoticed by the lovely woman under him. She hooked her ankles behind his hips and rubbed her hips up into his growing erection. Neko gave a lusty growl into his mouth as she continued to press herself against him and rolled on top.

Neko started bouncing herself against him before pushing off him with a growl of frustration. She pulled his clothes off.

Her face was flush with lust as she breathed heavily with need. “Stupid pants.” She curses as she fumbled with Dar’s drawstring.

“Let me.” Dar lifted his hips off the bed, but his cat girl wasn’t patient enough. Pulling out her claw, she delicately sliced the drawstring and pulled on his pants, his erection coming free and pointing straight up.

Neko’s eyes shone as she batted it once before sitting down and clenching it in the cleft of her ass.

She was so soft and firm, but what made her unique was the base of her cat tail brushing the head as she bounced on top of him.

Dar reached around and grabbed it, massaging the base.

Neko moaned and started bouncing harder. “Yes.” She hissed as she pushed back, causing his erection to poke harder into her rear as she ground on it.

He could feel the wet heat coming from her as her sex pressed against the front of the minimal clothing she wore. She liked to call them pants, but they were barely any fabric. “Why don’t we do something about your clothes?” He tugged at her top.

Neko raised her arms and wiggled as Dar pulled it free, letting her chest flop back down. The perfect, perky mounds topped with a tight little cherry of a nipple were a delectable treat. He forgot about her pants and pulled her down to lick and suck on her tits.

“Ah!” Neko shouted as he enjoyed her chest, his hands coming around to cup and lift them.

She wasn’t as big as Sasha, but they were a little more than a handful, and so soft.

He couldn’t get enough of Neko, as she blushed and squirmed on top of him as he played with her chest.

Neko threw her head back, letting out a shout of frustration as she made claws over her hands and cut away her own pants, ripping them off. “I’m ready. Stop teasing me.”

Dar slowed down, kissing her breasts, trading between them evenly as if he was worshiping two twin peaks. Then he lifted Neko off his lap and laid her down on the bed. What Sasha said before stood out in his mind. He wanted to make sure her first time was special.

There, with her hair spilled out behind her, naked with a pink blush on her face, she looked like the visage of innocence.

Dipping his finger into her sex, he pushed her labia aside and felt the wet paradise waiting for him. He drew a thick bead of her juices and circled her clit, feeling it swell under his touch as Neko calmed down. Her breath became steady as she stared at him. The only thing about her that moved was her cute little cat tail as it flailed underneath her.

“More?” He asked, seeing how transfixed she was.

“Yes.” she said, quiet as a whisper.

He continued to circle her clit slowly, rewetting his finger every time it became dry. Once he tried to speed up, but she silently grabbed his hand and slowed him back down, soft purrs coming from her.

After a few minutes, Neko shook underneath him, building up to something. It was a quiet, breathy release as she sighed and melted back into the bed. But she looked anything other than finished as she opened her legs wider, looking up at him hungrily.

Dar slid up over her in the bed and kissed her softly on the lips. Her hands weren’t the hungry grabbing of before. Now she gave soft touches that trailed over his shoulder and down his arms. “You like it slow, and loving.” It hadn’t taken long for him to pick up on her style. He had to admit he was surprised. She was ferocious outside of bed, but his cat girl was sensitive. She wanted to be loved throughly.

Dar gently pushed himself against her sex, letting her coat his tip before working himself past her lower lips.

Neko let out a sigh of relief as he pushed in.

She was tight, but not unbearably so. Dar had to wiggle his hips to make progress until he found himself buried to the hilt.

“Slow.” she breathed, closing her eyes and letting her arms hang around his neck.

“My lovely Neko, who knew you were such a lover.”

“Shhh.” She pressed her head back into the bed and savored the moment, her fingers dancing on the back of his neck as he slowly pressed himself in and out of her.

Dar could feel just how wet she was as he slowly thrust back and forth, dragging himself along her rough inner walls.

He dipped his head down and kissed her slowly with the rhythm of his thrusts. They tangled their tongues, and Neko drew her nails slowly down his back as she moaned softly into his mouth.

Neko made him pause and slow down, savor every inch of her sex as he continued to thrust deep into her and drag himself back out to delicious pleasure.

He wasn’t sure how long they made love like that; the whole experience was a drawn out, timeless pleasure.

“I’m cumming.” He whispered and Neko pulled him in deep, shuddering as he released into her womb.

“Kittens.” Neko said with a sigh.

“Kittens?” Dar asked, surprised.

“Again, fill me with Kittens.” She kissed his lips slowly and ground herself up into him. His enchantments didn’t let him down as he felt himself once again come to attention to try and give Neko kittens.

He knew that demons and spirits rarely had children, but there was a chance. And something about the chance excited him, spurring him on as he entered her once more.

AN - Dao just finished up at 31.5 chapters. Unsure what I'm going to do with that half chapter dingily bit. So we are just going to call it 31.5 for now. Now... onto Mana 5 for me!