That and it gave her easy access to grope me and flit away before I could retaliate. The perv that she was. To be truthful, I hadn’t had so much fun in a while, and this was about as naturally occurring with her as it seemed to be in real life.
She stretched, arching her back, then shook herself out before grinning at me and stabbing her wooden blade into the ground. “We should get you ready for the day, not to mention that I have duties to attend to, as well. Would you care to bathe?”
I glanced down at the dirt, grime, and sweat that had built up on my body throughout our skirmishes, lessons, and liaisons, then nodded. “Yes, thank you.”
She chuckled, the throaty sound making me smile as she cupped my hand in her own and tugged me toward the rear of her home. She reached into a crevice beside the door, grunted, and then the simple white door popped open and admitted us inside.
Painted murals of green plants and wild animals decorated the hall. Doors, their handles being the only way to differentiate them from the walls, dotted the walls to our right and left. She chose the one immediately to our left and swung it inward.
“Your family must really like art,” I observed out loud, the painted waterfall on the far wall looked so realistic that it could have soaked us.
“This all happened after they left.” She tugged me in and shut the door behind us. “This was my way of trying to cope with their absence.” Her eyes glinted mischievously, and she smirked, “As well as a way to rebel and have a little revenge for ruining the austere, pale colors they adored.”
“You’re a talented artist, Thea,” I pulled her close to me into a hug. “That waterfall looks as though it’s real.”
“It is.” She laughed at me then, because my jaw dropped, and I instantly moved forward. “The paint used to make it was enhanced by Aether and a spell to make the painting come to life. The water is silent, because I neglected to make the fall larger, so there’s no crashing sound. It drains into the city’s aqueducts, and Trickle purifies it as she does water from elsewhere.”
“You know Trickle?”
“She was the one who helped me magic the paint.” Her grin eased a little, a curious expression coming to the fore. “Wanderers pay a price for their magic in this realm. Tell me, what was her price?”
I blushed, then did my best to just breathe through my initial embarrassment as I answered, “My, uh, first kiss here in this world.”
Her laugh rang out in the room, echoing off the walls weirdly, and pulled me close. “I can’t believe she beat me there. I’ll have to have a word with her.”
“I don’t think she meant anything by it.” I smiled back and joined her beneath the water, it was cool but soothing.
“You don’t know her the way I do, but that’s fine.” She pulled out a small bar of something scented and began to lather it in her hands before running them over my body. The scent was less flowery and more refreshing than I had expected from a place covered in flowers and plants.
QUEST COMPLETED – Prince Klemond deems you fit to fight in the crypts beneath his home. Find the cursed item at the end of the dungeon and bring it out of the crypts to nullify the curse. Reward: Negotiated, 400 EXP and future dealings with the crown of Iradellum. See Gage for the results.
Level UP!
Level UP!
You have reached the milestone level of 10! From now on, your experience will no longer be rolling. Therefore, you will start from zero and work your way from 0 to 1,100 EXP!
That loss of EXP hurt, but I was still one step closer to fully unlocking my power!
“Hell, yes!” I growled, looking at my stats, now that I had reached level ten, I could see that my skill tree was back, which was nice. And I had two points to spend on my stats as well.
I checked my map and found that a green quest marker had populated over Gage’s place.
“Congratulations.” Thea pressed her chest against my back. “What will you do now? You meet the requirements to get into the guild, so you can take on quests there and have your fun.”
“And go to Belgonna’s Hold.” A weight of worry slumped off my shoulders. I found I could breathe a little easier.
“Then how about one to go on?” Thea turned me and pressed me against the wall behind the waterfall. “And when you come back, I’ll be here to have some more training sessions with.”
I laughed then. “I would like that.”
Thea has offered to become your friend.
Do you accept? Yes / No?
I selected yes without a thought, and she grinned. “That means we can send whispers to each other.”
I raised my eyebrows at that, surprised that a non-player character could have that level of interaction with the system and players, but that was a really cool system.
“Now, where were we?” A low growl issued from her throat and her hands, slick with soap, were more insistent.
“Oh, boy.”
***
“Have a good day!” Thea waved to me as I grinned like an idiot. “And don’t forget to ask Ori for an elven sword!”
“I won’t!” I called and waved back to her. The suggestion had come after I had seen the swords hanging in her armory. The elven variety of blades had beautiful curves, a thick base that thinned near the middle and thickened a little before coming to the tip like a sword version of a kukri. The backs of them came straight down to the hilt, thick to give them support to block or parry with. The way the elves treated them to keep them strong but supple was a secret that one of Ori’s smiths learned from his travels before coming to settle here, which was why she had suggested him for the job. Likely why Ori had taken the man as well.
—Where are you?— Albarth’s whisper startled me as I jogged toward Gage’s place.
My quick response —On my way to Gage’s now— appeared to be met with silence.
I rolled my eyes and upped my pace just a bit, coming to the fence and gate moments later.
“And just where have you been?” Mona’s folded arms and evil glare seemed to be how this in-game day was going to go.
“Training, initiate two with the sword—you?” I didn’t even so much as raise an eyebrow as I answered.
“With Thea?” Albarth cut in, trying to look as menacing as Mona appeared, but he was nowhere near as intimidating as she could be.
“Yup.” This was for the birds. “So, Gage, how did negotiations go?”
“Well!” He produced a sealed envelope. “I have a letter of introduction from the prince for you to give to the guild administrators and from there, permission to travel abroad as required for awakening your magical abilities.”
“If it went well, then why did it take so long again?” Sundar tilted her head to the left, curiously.
Gage heaved a sigh. “The prince wanted to help, but it had to appear as though he stood to gain something more, so I had to offer to teach him some things in order for it to be more stacked in his favor. That’s where the debate began.”
“I take it you’ll teach him more on how to use the sword?” Sundar grinned, and Gage nodded tiredly. “He’s been hounding you for days, it’ll be good for him.”
“I would see him sheltered a little longer, but that is my desire and not his.” Gage shrugged and handed Sundar the letter. “I would suggest going to the guild soon, they open their doors to quests rather late to give people time to gather so it will likely be a madhouse there if you dawdle. Not all of them are the minimum level, mind you, but they tend to congregate there regardless.”
“Thank you, Gage.” I bowed at the waist a little. “If there is any way we can repay you, please let us know.”
“I have grown fond of Sundar in our short time together.” His hand found hers and he pulled her close. “If you would please keep her safe and grow strong enough to push the demon hordes back, I would consider my time more than repaid.”
“Silly, I can’t die!” Sundar kissed his cheek, and he grumbled at her ineffectually. “Besides, it’s my job to keep these tr
oublemakers alive.”
I snorted, and she gave me a wink. “Let’s take his advice and get going. Before we need to leave, there’s a thing I need to see about at the armorer or with Ori.”
Without waiting to see if anyone was coming, I turned on my heel and left for the gate, then strode out of it.
It took me walking for ten minutes before I felt a hand on my shoulder at a crossroads, an irritated Albarth glaring at me sighed. “We’ve been waiting for you to realize that you have no clue where you’re going for about eight minutes, now. Any farther and we really will be late, follow me.”
He took me left and led on from there, silence falling over both of us. I chose to remain quiet more out of anger than anything else. I was a grown man, and my time was my own.
“I’m sorry.” I almost couldn’t believe my ears, what I was hearing had to be the equivalent to how some people felt winning the lottery.
I stayed quiet, content to let him speak.
“Look, I get it, okay?” He stopped walking so fast, and I allowed myself to fall into step with him as he sighed and continued tiredly, “I never had to go through what you did—at all. My loss was different, but at least now there’s no ‘what if?’ No regret.”
“Of course, there is,” I corrected him immediately. “She and I lost the innocence that our friendship had, and while I may have developed some kind of recognition that she’s beautiful, smart, kind, funny and amazing—I’ve always known that. It was just on display in a different light, and with what happened and the way it happened, everything we’ve fought to maintain because of our closeness and our bond was in jeopardy. I appreciate you trying to help, hell, Sunny too, but this is no longer something either of you needs concern yourselves with.”
Before he could try and say anything else, or throw himself into a hole of some sort that he couldn’t climb out of, I added, “Look, it’s not like it was malicious, and I know that. It’s the only reason that this conversation is possible. I know you meant well and that you wanted someone to have the chance that you felt you should have had—Mona and I are not you. We aren’t her. We are our own people, and I am clearly not a viable option for her. So, let’s move on. I want to be cool with you again, Al.”
He sputtered a bit, but finally cleared his throat and muttered, “Well, thank you for the second chance.”
I nodded, and we continued on. It took about half an hour to get to the guild, and the outside of it was a crapshoot. Players stood around, hawking wares, items, gear, and other things they had found. Looking for a group, party invites, and other such borderline harassment-level crap took place in front of a large building made of gray brick and black mortar. It was tall and wide, a wall with guards atop it allowed them to look down over the crowd below, and the crossbows they carried seemed to be trained on someone for a second, then moving on to the next person. Not a threat, but a way to ensure that they knew their shenanigans had better not be malicious.
Open windows let out music from some kind of player inside with a lute, singing a song they had to have written themselves, the words escaping me. The door, large and deep mahogany in color, stood open.
Sundar began shoving people aside, one person cried foul and met Mona’s evil glare and wound up running off. A few minutes later, we stood at the front counter where a lizard-like woman with an apron on flashed sharp teeth at us and turned her head so that she could see us a little better.
“Welcome to the Adventurer’ss Guild!” Her greeting bubbly and cheerful as her fingers clacked on the clear tablet-like object before her. She lisped and drew out her S sounds. “My name iss Ssveltarina, and I will be assisssting you today. How can I help you?”
Sundar grinned and handed her the prince’s letter of introduction. “We’re here to join up and move on to the next city, ma’am.”
“I sssee.” She gave us a placating smile as she used a talon to tear open the envelope. She read the letter, and her hands shook slightly. “You truly are.”
“We aren’t in the business of lying,” Albarth quipped haughtily with his chin raised. “If you’ll simply induct us into the guild, we will be out of your hair—er, scales.”
“No offensse taken, dear.” The smile returned, and Sveltarina seemed to be back in her element once more. “Have all of you finished leveling up? You cannot fully be inducted into the guild with leftover pointss and powerss.”
I quickly added one of my free points to strength, then the other to Knowledge. Looking at my tree, I had only one option, and it freaked me out a little.
Aether Vampire – Consuming the blood of an opponent has a high chance (55%) of replenishing your Aether (one bar) and an increased chance to steal a gift or spell.
The weirdest part was that it looked like it was upgradeable.
Spend one free stat point to gain more power in this area. Result of upgrading – Unknown.
Well, there was that. I picked it, and my incisors tingled uncomfortably. Then they shrank slightly, thickening in my mouth, but the teeth made room for them.
“You okay, Kyvir?” Monami asked with a look of concern on her features, her brow furrowed and gaze on mine.
“We can talk about it in a bit.” I sighed and looked to the others. “We good?”
They nodded, and we turned back to the administrator at the desk. “All you’ll need to do iss touch thiss.”
She held up the little tablet she had tapped on before and motioned for us to touch it with our whole hand. Albarth and Monami went first; their data populating on the rear of the item for Ssveltarina to observe and nod to the next. She had to turn it completely so that Sundar’s huge hand would fit onto it, but her data seemed to be fine.
“My turn.” I grinned and pressed my hand onto the tablet and waited.
“Thiss iss…interessting.” She frowned and pulled the item closer to her for inspection. “Your data iss here, and while all of you have very unique and powerful abilitiess and affinitiess, it mentionss that your magic issn’t fully unlocked.”
“That’s why we need the ability to roam freely, the person who can unlock it is in Belgonna’s Hold.” She made a sound of understanding, then put the tablet down.
“If you would all open your sstatuss sscreenss, you’ll be able to ssee the tab for the Adventurer’ss Guild has been unlocked for you.” Each of us followed along as she spoke, tabbing through the bevy of information. “In it, you can make a guild party, name it and everything, it’ss rather clever like that. Within it, you’ll be able to show that you have the right to move freely to Belgonna’ss Hold.”
“What’s to stop people from moving on without guild blessing?” Mona inquired politely.
“There iss a barrier to keep wandererss from wandering too far.” She seemed particularly pleased with her joke by the size of her grin. “It iss sso that thosse not in good favor with the guild cannot missrepressent usss.” She frowned, then leaned forward, lowering her voice. “There are wayss of getting around it, but they can be deadly and dangerouss. I do not ssuggesst them.”
“So, to move forward, we would have to have joined you?” Albarth crossed his arms with a frown.
“You would have optionsss.” She shrugged and motioned to a flyer for the king’s army behind the counter. “You could join the king’sss army or become a much higher level and break through the barrierss on your own. Ourss isss a much more practical and freeing route of ssservice.”
“Well, we will take that as a good warning and do our best not to go through the barriers.” Sundar grinned and held out her meaty hand. “Great to meet you, ma’am.”
They clasped hands, and we headed off to do what we could to prepare for our trek east. It was midnight in the real world, so I should be pretty tired.
“Hey, Mo.” I caught up to her as we cleared the crowd in front of the guild building. “You think I could send a request to Ori for a shield and an elven sword before we log off for the night? That way, he has plenty of time to work on them if it’s needed?”
<
br /> “And I’m supposed to just traipse over to his smithy and ask for you?” The testy edge to her voice was sharp and biting.
“No, I know that you are aware that we can send whispers to NPCs, and that’s probably how you can find out if he can or not.” Her eyes widened slightly. “You didn’t know?”
“No.” She crossed her arms in front of her chest. “How did you come to find out?”
“Thea told me.” Mona rolled her eyes, and that was my breaking point. “What the hell is going on with you, Mona?”
She looked stricken, then angrier than before. “You leave me hanging after I just met someone who could have been my father—missing for years with no contact—so that you can go and ‘learn’ from someone you just met? Let alone an NPC.”
“You seem to be forgetting that when you get like that, I know you need space, that nothing I can do will help you or be good enough.” She snorted, and I growled at her. “You forget that I know you better than anyone, Mona. I know how you can be, how you have been. So instead of doing nothing and getting in your way, I went to go get help getting stronger just like that guy who wasn’t your father told us to. If you’re going to sit there and judge me for doing exactly what I needed to so I can help you figure this all out, then figure it out your damned self.”
I turned and made to storm away, then stopped cold as she sighed and muttered, “I guess you don’t know me as well as you thought.” That cut through the anger welling up in me.
I turned and strode back to her, fury dying on my face. “I’m sorry that I can’t be good enough for you, Mona. I’m sorry that I broke the one unspoken rule that we had by thinking you could be interested in someone like me as anything other than the friend I am.”
“That’s not what’s wrong, and you know it!” She shot back, anger returning to her features, hard lines in her face making her seem harsher. “Would you just get your head out of your ass?”
“We’re family, and I was stupid to listen to anyone else’s input on what we had,” I continued, my face now inches from her own. “It’s all my fault that things are weird between us now. I don’t blame anyone else; it’s me. I get it. I’ll go ask Ori myself. Thanks.”
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