“But our feelings are genuine, Lana! I really love Viktor and want to spend my life with him!”
“That aside, it’s uncanny how much you look like me. Now I understand why you fell for her,” Lana said, trying to keep her voice steady. She was already at her limit and about to burst into tears, just like Melina was.
“Can we talk this through like adults?” I asked calmly. “I don’t want anyone to say or do anything they’ll regret.”
“What do you expect when you put a man, his wife, and his lover in the same room?” Lana snorted. “A happy ending?”
I shrugged. “I do. If there’s still any love left in that woman, then yes.”
Lana didn’t say anything and instead gulped the whole glass down, then held it out in front of her. Melina took the hint and poured her another one.
“Just how do you expect this to work?” she whispered. “I sleep on one side of the bed and she sleeps on the other?”
“Maybe. Or maybe you can sleep on the bed and I can take the sofa. I don’t really care, Lana.”
“Say, why the absent look on your face? Don’t tell me you really don’t remember anything.”
I shrugged and stared down at the drink, trying to gather my thoughts before I said anything I couldn’t take back. She remained silent, staring right at me while Melina’s fingers slid along the sides of her glass, turning it over and over again.
“I don’t, Lana. I really don’t.”
She let out a deep sigh and slumped down over the table. “Shit, I really shouldn’t have come back, huh?”
“Do you remember anything? About our past?”
“I do. All of it,” she whispered. “That’s why this hurts so much, seeing you with another woman after living together for two centuries. To see you threw it all away over a week or two… hurts.”
“Lana, you need to understand something. After you died… well, the only memory Krajolik gave me was the moment of my death when that bastard said they killed you and the newborn. Do you expect me to keep waiting for you after hearing you died?”
“No,” she muttered, “but that doesn’t do anything to lessen the pain.”
Melina put her glass down slightly harder than probably intended, drawing our attention. “It’s both sad and funny how there’s more than enough of him for either of us. Even more so that the two of us look so alike, even our proportions. Just look at us! We could almost pass for twins.”
“I don’t see how any of that is even remotely funny!” Lana snapped.
“It’s very simple, Lana. I’ll agree to anything you want as long as nothing changes between him and me.”
“You what? You’d accept anything I asked of you?” Lana asked incredulously.
Melina nodded as I picked my glass back up and downed it. The strong liquid felt more like water and less like a strong alcoholic beverage than it should have.
“Say, Lana,” I said as I put my glass back down. “Would you be willing to live by yourself out there? Or in here as a guest and nothing more?”
“Hell no! I fucking hate the thought of it!”
“Why?” I asked curiously. “Don’t tell me it’s only because of us.”
“’Cause I haven’t had any sex for a decade. I didn’t want to piss on our memory.”
Melina rolled her eyes and poured me another drink. “That’s quite hard to swallow, don’t you think?”
She shrugged. “I think so, but why don’t we try it out right away? Maybe some of your memories will return quicker that way.”
“Wait, that’s not how this goes,” Melina protested. You can’t just—and without me—and, you know?”
“You want in?” Lana scoffed. “I’m not into women.”
“No, but do you really think it’s appropriate? And who guarantees that he’ll remember? If the Gods didn’t want him to retain the memories, then how could he ever get them back?”
“It won’t matter in the end anyway,” Lana whispered as she gulped the second glass down. “It’s not like there can be anything between us anymore.”
I stayed quiet, trying to process her words and the underlying meaning. It wasn’t anything like “I don’t want you anymore,” no, there was a hint of pain in there.
“What do you mean?” I asked, trying to sound as collected as possible.
She looked up at me and flashed me the biggest grin I’d ever seen since being reborn. “I’m a spirit, just like Scar. I’ve got seven days until my soul has dissipated fully.”
“What?” I snapped, slamming my fist against the table. My glass fell over and spilled the several drops that remained inside. Melina flinched and gave me a frightened look. “Sorry, Melina. And you too, Lana.”
I slumped back into the chair again and stared up at the ceiling.
“Is there a way to save you? Something like Scar?” Melina asked, surprising both of us.
My head snapped around first to stare at Melina and then at Lana. “Is there a way?”
“I think so,” Scar said as he appeared out of nowhere and cuddled up to Lana. She scratched his ears despite sending tiny thunderbolts in all directions. One even hit the table and singed the surface. “See, you know I’m bound to you, right?”
“Wait, don’t tell me I can bind her too.”
“No, I don’t think so. She might be bound to Melina, though.”
I froze as a chill ran down my spine. Cold sweat immediately formed on my brow as I met Melina’s eyes. She looked away quickly, being unable to hold my gaze.
“I can’t do that,” Lana whispered as she got up and ran out.
Melina and I remained silent for several long seconds as we stared at our drinks. I drank yet another glass and then another. The only sound disturbing the silence was the running alcohol and the pitcher hitting the wooden table.
“Maybe I could learn to get along with her over time,” Melina whispered as the silence became almost unbearable. “If you’ve been able to live with her for centuries, don’t you think I could do the same? Especially if it means saving her.”
Melina’s somber expression turned into a weak smile. I had to admit that she’d caught me off guard yet again. Melina had a strange character, one that was the total opposite of Lana’s. How the hell would the two of them manage to get along?
“Don’t do this unless you’re certain it’s something you want. I have no way of… removing Scar.”
To our surprise, Lana walked back in together with the wolf and sat where she’d been earlier. I looked up at her, not able to help but notice the running mascara.
“You alright?” I asked, not knowing what else to say. It was an awkward situation for all of us, even more so for Melina, who was the one person who could theoretically save her. But how? We’d have to ask Veles or try to contact Krajolik, but before all of that, I’d have to get her up to rank three or four at least.
“Yeah, I guess. It could be worse, right?”
“Do you have any baggage?” Melina asked as she looked up at the other woman. “Anything else to wear?”
Lana shook her head. “I got nothing. Only this dress.”
It was then that I noticed she was wearing a tight black dress that came halfway to her knees and showed ample cleavage. It only made me think how little I knew about her. What kind of habits did she have, and how did she dress? What kind of character, and what did she like to eat, drink, and do? How strong had she been?
“You can share mine. I got enough—well, only if you like my style.”
Melina still had her short kimono on, which suited me, but when it came to my… wife, I suddenly had second thoughts about it. No, that wasn’t right. Damn it, all of this was so confusing.
“I guess. We got the same measurements, so why not?”
“Do you want to have a bath first? Or a nap? Food or anything else?”
“I’m fine. I came here after having slept for the biggest part of the day, and I’m fed.”
“Melina? Can you show her around? I want to go out an
d scout our surroundings as I gather my thoughts.”
“Sure. If she’s willing to.”
Lana nodded. “Yeah, fine. Being an ass will only put me in a bad light, right? Maybe we can become friends. At least for the next week.”
She didn’t sound very convincing, but even saying as much made me feel better… and suddenly so much worse. A week. I’d have a single week with her. Shit, this life surely wasn’t something I’d imagined would go down as it had.
“Say, Scar, how come you’ve got a physical body?” Lana asked. “Should you even be able to manifest physically as a spirit?”
He gave her a wolfish shrug and pressed his snout against her neck. “I don’t know. Viktor has a decent Enma pool, so I can sustain my body, though I can’t become any stronger until he does.”
“Oh? You’d probably get even worse as you got stronger.”
“Find out for yourself, lazy ass.”
I got up and kissed Melina on the forehead as Lana looked away.
“Don’t do anything stupid, alright?” Neither of them responded, but that was as much as I could hope for. “I’m going into the kitchen to get a butcher’s knife. I want meat for dinner, if that’s alright with you ladies.”
“Sure, I’ll make sure to prepare hot water to clean the meat,” Melina replied as she gave me a weak smile. “Come back soon.”
Chapter Four
I found Mark leaning against a tree right at the edge of the dome. Sarah told me he was out checking the area, but I spotted him the moment I got out into the front yard. It was hard to miss the red tracksuit he wore amidst all the lush greenery around him.
Scar followed me out and nudged my leg as we walked toward Mark. “Hey.”
I turned to look at the wolf with a raised eyebrow. “What?”
“Could have gone worse, huh?”
“Yeah, talk about worse. They could have ripped me a new one.” I chuckled.
“Oh, I don’t think you’re quite off the hook yet, don’t worry.”
I let out a deep sigh and tried to ignore the wolf as he fooled around and shot tiny bolts of lightning from his tail. “Do you think we’ll be able to save her if Melina agrees?”
“I don’t know. Probably, but do you care? She can never be your wife for real, you know?” Scar said, his voice close to being sarcastic.
I let out a sigh as I stared ahead at Mark.
“What you up to?” I yelled from a good distance.
“Checking the surroundings, but I can’t see past the barrier!” Mark shot back without even looking our way.
“You want to go out and have a look?”
This time he did turn around and shortly after dropped down the tree.
“I don’t have any ammo for the big gun, only for the sniper.”
I stopped in front of him and held my hand out.
He looked at me questioningly. “What is it?”
“Nothing. I want to thank you for sticking around. Scar and I would’ve probably been able to handle ourselves just fine, but it never hurts to have someone around who’ll have my back.”
I was a bit proud, sure, but that’s how we men were made. Proud but loyal. He understood and just nodded.
“I trust you’ll have our backs as well? I want to see my child grow old in here, Viktor.”
I gave him my most trustworthy smile and nodded. “Your blood is mine, and so are your enemies and friends.”
The man almost tackled me and put his arms around my back. It was a freaking awkward moment, but I did the same and just hoped no one saw.
“So what’s up? Where do we start?”
“Right here. You can use your spear just in case. If there’s a need to run, just do it.”
“Pfft! Yeah, right! You want me to run? Just like you did back in the rift?”
“I didn’t run!” I snapped. Where the hell did he have the nerve to accuse me of running when I did all I could to save everyone?
“Exactly! You didn’t! That’s why I’m not running either, brother.”
I closed my eyes and exhaled. “Sorry, I’m just a bit jumpy with Lana appearing and then dropping a bomb… and everything else going on.”
“Figured as much. I’ve got my hands full with Sarah, if you know what I mean. She’s as horny as a bat and wants another kid. Said this air is good for their health.”
“Really? You two want to discuss which of your women is hornier?” Scar snickered.
“Errm, no, we don’t,” I replied and nudged his haunch with my foot. “So, now that we’re all ready, how about we stop talking about women? I already have a growing headache that isn’t going anywhere any time soon.”
Mark let out a weak chuckle as he pulled the spear from his pouch. I did the same with my nodachi and gladius, holding them in my right and left hands respectively. I took in a deep breath and stepped through the domed wall, hoping we’d find us some good loot out there.
I was half-disappointed when we didn’t encounter mystical creatures right off the bat, for some strange reason. Sure, it wouldn’t make sense to see them, but remembering my old self and how I used to long for the hunt… yeah, I was far from being that man, but one day soon I’d be able to do it again.
I lowered both weapons and stashed the gladius away, but held on to the nodachi just in case. A notification popped up before I had a chance to look around.
Notification:
You have discovered Zone 3.13 of the Living Rift.
Recommended zone for your level: Zone 1.1–1.29
Recommended Monster Grade: Rank 1–5
NOTE 1: Hunting, Mining, and Gathering unlocked.
“Now that’s interesting,” I said. “Veles told us our starting point was slightly harder, but for there to be so many zones, now that’s something I hadn’t expected.”
“I’m more interested in the note at the bottom,” Mark replied. “Hunting, mining, and gathering unlocked. What the hell does that mean?”
“Remains to be seen.” I grinned. “I like the hunting part, though. I want to see what we’re up against.”
“Do you want me to scout ahead?” Scar asked.
I nodded. “Please do. I don’t want to get caught off guard.”
The wolf’s muscles tensed, and he darted off straight like an arrow. I finally took a moment to look around better. The distance caught my eye first. It was a craggy, mountainous area, with a wide stream moving all along the length of the grassland. The stream went on and widened two times but branched off toward the right into yet another stream, the one that ran into our zone. Everything beyond it was mountainous terrain. To my left was a dense outcrop of trees, thick and lush with a cavern of sorts hewn from a rock formation.
“Hey, look over there,” Mark said, tapping my shoulder as I stared out onto the land.
A monster appeared out of nowhere. And another and then another. A whole herd of the things spawned near the stream, some two hundred paces from us. They gathered at the water and started drinking, reminding me of—no, that was no damn chicken, even if it had feathers and a beak.
The monsters had thick hind legs and a long, stumpy tail. Tough hide covered their bodies that were quite small in comparison to the limbs. It almost made them look comical. Their front legs were slightly shorter than their back legs, and they used it to pull water into their mouths. The heads were slightly elongate with a single horn on top that pointed toward their back.
“If anything looks like cattle, it’s those things,” I said after observing them for a while.
They grazed the grass and drank the water, milling around and doing nothing despite having spotted us. I thought about a name and came up with the perfect one on the spot.
“Why are you grinning?” Mark asked as I stared at him.
“Grazers. We’ll call them grazers if you don’t mind.”
He shrugged. “Do I look like I care? Besides, if you check them out, they already have a name.”
“Oh, alright, let me check.”
Mon
ster Scan:
NAME: Grazlitaur
RANK: 4-, Common
HEALTH: 1,000
ENMA: 300
SPEED: 1.3
PHYSICAL ATTACK: 150
ENMA ATTACK: 100
DEFENSE: 70
ENMA SHIELD: 500
“Grazlitaur,” I muttered. “I was close enough.”
“Yeah, you sure were.” Mark laughed. “We’re going to wait for Scar, right?”
“Yeah. I’m not going in there by myself, but I am going to lure one here and fight it. They don’t look that dangerous.”
“I’ll take that tree over there, then,” he said, pointing at our left.
There was a massive hollow tree with a lot of thick branches that started near the bottom. He ran off and climbed up, then lay down across four thick growths and pulled out his rifle as I stood there, waiting and anticipating the kill. Who knew what they would drop if those weak-ass kobolds already dropped good stuff?
“Are you far out, Scar?”
“No, I’m almost there. Why?”
“We want to fight a grazlitaur. Hurry up.”
He remained silent for several seconds before he spoke again. “What’s a grazlitaur?”
“Monsters that look like cows. Something like that.”
I could feel his mental eye roll.
“Yeah, give me two minutes, and we can slaughter some cows.”
I felt like an idiot as I waited there for Scar to return, with Mark staring at my back. I walked around and gathered several small rocks as I waited for Scar. With a flash of lightning, he stopped next to me out of nowhere and sat on his haunches.
“Did you find anything?”
He nodded his head before replying, “There’s one of those mining spots right next to the cave, and several more inside.”
“Any dangers out there?”
“One very strong signature. I didn’t stay around long enough to fight, but it was stronger than the kobold lord.”
I closed my eyes and sucked in air through my teeth. The last thing I wanted right now was another life-or-death battle.
Crafting Death: A LitRPG Cultivation Series (Towers & Rifts Book 2) Page 3