by Jason Cheek
I grinned as I finished looking over Neysa’s stats. She was slowly turning into an impressive little monster. The next time I was in Delonshire, I’d have to see if I could buy a saddle with bags that could be loaded up with gear at the very least. Who knows, maybe I could find a specialty shop to see what was available to buy for her other slots.
Shortly after I finished going through all the different system messages I’d minimized during the last two days and straightening out my stats; the sun was beginning to set for the night. Still, we ended up traveling for several hours more before managing to catch up to the rest of our party as they stopped to make camp for the night. The drawn faces looked up in consternation when we first entered the rocky nook that Theric had claimed for the camp. Anxious hands caught up whatever weapons were at hand until recognition lit up the faces’ around us as the cries of alarm quickly turned into heartfelt greetings as the camp came to life. The NPCs I’d rescued warmly swarmed forward to clap me on the back with words of thanks and calls of milord. I saw Brenna fall in behind me as we made our way over to the center of the camp where Keela and Theric were busy arguing quietly. As soon as I got close, I heard Theric softly swear as he raked a shaky hand through his long brown hair oblivious to the commotion going on around them.
“There just isn’t enough blankets or food for everyone.”
One look around at the exhausted survivors and the problem was obvious. There just wasn’t enough food and blankets to go around for everyone. Most NPCs looked like they were ready to collapse where they stood and had just the clothes and coats on their backs that we’d manage to find in the rooms next to their cell. While it was enough to keep them from freezing to death during the mad escape from BrokenFang Hold, it wouldn’t be enough to keep them warm throughout a night in the freezing wilds. While a fire would help to keep everyone warm, with the invaders so close there was no way we could run the risk of being discovered by the enemy.
Food-wise we were in even worse shape. I probably had enough dried meat left for a strip per person, but that was hardly enough to come close to healing these half-starved survivors. These people had been running on willpower alone. If I couldn’t come up with a solution, half of them probably wouldn’t make it through the night.
Coming to a stop, I grasped Theric’s wrists before sharing a quick hug with Keela who noticeably pressed herself against me a few heartbeats longer than absolutely necessary before pulling away. Ducking my eyes from Ulia’s knowing stare, I started unpacking the remaining food, water flasks, blankets and hides from my backpack speaking quickly.
“This should be enough food for everyone to have at least one strip of meat. If you can get everyone to lay their cloaks out together in one area, we can use our combined body heat and the few furs we have to stay warm throughout the night.”
Seeing the Theric’s questioning look in the moonlight, I explained what I meant in detail. While I’d never experienced sleeping in a pile of bodies myself, I read enough war stories that talked about army recruits using the technique to survive a cold night without gear to at least explain the concept. I didn’t bother explaining that from all accounts that I’d read that it was a miserable experience. What was important was that it should stop anyone from freezing to death while they slept.
With a tired nod, everyone got to work. Ulia, Keela, and Theric quickly got everyone moving while Brenna handed out the available food and water. Shortly after that, people started to keel over in exhaustion. At first, I’d thought we were under attack or that the food had been somehow poisoned, but I quickly realized it was simple exhaustion. Brenna and Theric had tried to help further, but they’d just ended up collapsing where they’d stood. By the time I settled down for the first watch, it was nearly midnight, and I was physically and mentally exhausted.
Most of my time over the last five hours had been spent with another round of healing and then carrying everyone to the center of camp where we’d spread out cloaks and furs for the night. After eating and drinking, everyone but Keela, Ulia and I had collapsed where they’d stopped, so it was left to the three of us to get everyone settled for the night. Hard work to say the least, especially after draining my Mana a little too low. I’d sent Ulia and Keela to bed once we’d gotten everyone covered in the massive bedroll since they were the only ones left that could take-over the watch once I’d logged out for the night.
Perched where I was on the top of the ridge above our little camp, I was able to scan the opposite side of the ridge and the glowing campfires dotting the forest below. While the invasion force had yet to reach the top of the mountain pass that led down into Delonshire, there was no doubt in my mind that their vanguard would reach the mountain pass before us. Unfortunately, there was no way we could have kept everyone going throughout the night. To be honest, we were lucky they hadn’t collapsed earlier.
Unfortunately, that meant there was no way we could slip through the mountain pass ahead of the Goblins. Running a tired hand through my hair, I leaned back studying the invaders. There was no logical layout to the numerous camps spread out below as you’d expect from a typical army. Instead, the mass seemed to be haphazardly clustered together into small groups. Almost as if they’d lost their cohesiveness and had broken up into their smaller tribes for the march. Something clicked in my mind as soon as that train of thought passed through my mind. Maybe that was exactly the problem. That attack in the Great Hall had easily taken out the entire upper echelons of the invasion force’s command structure along with that of each individual tribe’s leading warriors. All that was probably left was a bunch of grunts and a few lower level sergeants if Goblins even had sergeants. If that was the case, there might just be a chance for us to get through the pass ahead of the invaders.
Smothering a yawn, I checked the time as I climbed to my feet. It was time to wake Ulia and call it a night. If I was lucky, I could make it to bed by 2 a.m. which would give me around five hours before I had to be back up and logged into the game. This whole living world thing was kicking my ass. It made me miss the days where quests picked back up only when you logged back into the game. There was no way a casual gamer could complete a quest like this with a normal 9 to 5 job.
Ulia’s eyes groggily opened as I woke her for the next watch. Arching her back, she stretched her toned body out before my watching eyes as a smile played across her lips. “There’s no time for that, milord.” Ulia teasingly said, propping herself up onto her elbows. Acknowledging my blush with a raised eyebrow, she turned serious once more as she scanned the slope below. “Have there been any patrols?”
“Nothing so far. But, you can see the invaders’ fires up and down the pass on the other side of the ridge.” I said, nodding my head behind me to where I’d kept watch.
“Sounds good. You better get some rest, or you’ll be worthless for tomorrow.” Ulia answered gruffly. Wordlessly I gave her the fur cloak off my back as we changed places. Seeing a frown cross my face, her stern visage momentarily softened as her lips gently brushed mine. As my hands dipped underneath her leathers to knead her pert breasts, she leaned back catching my wrists before I could get started. Pushing me back into the furs next to Keela, she covered me up softly murmuring. “Sleep well, milord. The morning comes early.”
With a soft rustle of fabric, Ulia was gone. Before I could miss her touch, I felt Keela sleepily wrap her arms around my shoulders and snuggle into my back as I froze for a moment in surprise. Still wound up from Ulia’s kiss, I was very aware Keela’s firm breasts pressed into my back as she pulled me back into her arms with a satisfied sigh before going back to sleep. Shaking my head, I triggered the logout process as I once again wondered how the NPCs handled my sudden disappearance from the world. Would Keela or Ulia wonder where I’d disappeared to in the morning when they woke or was the programming somehow set up for them to ignore those types of idiosyncrasies?
The blackness slowly faded away to my darkened computer room and the red blinking lights of my Egg. Hurr
iedly, I shimmied out of my suit and ran to the bathroom while guzzling down my glass of water in one go. Topping the glass off out of the faucet, I drank it down a second time as I stumbled into the bedroom punch-drunk from exhaustion. Flopping into bed, my head swam from the storm of conflicting emotions.
In-game, the question about NPCs being real people never seems to cross my mind. It was easy when I was dealing with issues such as stopping Alanah from being eaten alive by Goblins or saving the children and adults who were being strung up like sides of beef by the Northern invaders. Hell, the question never even crossed my mind when I was balls deep inside Ulia. It was only after I logged out that the self-doubt came. Was it wrong to be so attracted to these digital women? Was it naive to think that these software AI had any feelings for me at all on an individual level or were they just placed by developers in the game as FIVR porn for lonely men? Were these digital women truly self-aware or was I using my desire for an emotional and physical connection to justify my feelings?
Squeezing my eyes shut at the tumultuous thoughts going through my head, I focused on how right this world felt to me here and now. Throughout my life, I’d always felt out of place. Like I’d been born into the wrong world at the wrong time. Maybe that was one of the reasons gaming had always resonated with me. Like there was something deep inside me that it could connect with. To be honest, this digital world felt more real to me than the world I’d been born into. Tossing and turning, sleep finally found me as I lost myself to the memory of Ulia’s hot lips on my skin.
Chapter Three
(Saturday, April 26th/Day Six of The World.)
Running Pod Diagnostic – Complete
Synchronizing controller units - Complete
Neuro Synchronization - Complete
Initializing virtual environment …
Opening my eyes, I instantly froze at the feedback from my body as The World came into focus around me. Although it was still dark, the mountains around me were partly lit up in the predawn light of the coming morning. Still, it felt like I was waking up into one of the dreams that had haunted my sleep throughout the night that had left me feeling frustrated and on edge. One inhale of the mass of light, brown hair my face was buried into and I recognized the scent of sunflowers that I’d come to associate with Ulia. I was further distracted by the feeling of an arm tightly wrapped around my chest.
Lifting my head carefully to look behind me, I saw Brenna’s peaceful, sleeping face snuggled into the back of my neck as she spooned me from behind. Laying back onto my side, I stared up at the slowly lightening sky in confusion. What had happened last night and how the hell could I login into the game wrapped-up in two women’s sleeping arms? I mean seriously, didn’t my body disappear once I logged out of the game?
The question seriously caught me off guard as tried to remember everything I’d ever read online about The World in the forums and the official website. It was one thing to appear in the last place I’d logged out from, but another animal altogether when things had happened to my in-game character while I was logged out of the game. It made me want to instantly trigger the logout sequence to do some quick research on the phenomenon.
I’d always just assumed that when you logged out of the game, your character disappeared from the gaming world like any other game I’d ever played, but now I wasn’t so sure. Focusing on my thoughts from the night before, I kind of remembered Ulia coming back from her watch and crawling into my arms. Mainly because she’d been ice cold from her watch and the shock of her cold body had momentarily woken me up. The memories almost felt like I was there myself. Confused at the thoughts that were mine but not mine, I glanced back at Brenna and realized I had no memories of when she’d cuddled up to me during the night.
Before I could consider the topic further, I heard the scuffle of boots in the snow as a hand gently shook my shoulder. Turning towards the pressure, I smelt the scent of fresh pine as cold lips brushed my lips momentarily. Although surprised, I felt my body instantly respond. Before the kiss became too passionate, the lips pulled away as I saw Keela’s porcelain-white skin flushed with desire as her gray eyes held my gaze.
“Milord, it’s time awake.” Her voice spoke in nearly a whisper as her fingers brushed my face tenderly. “By the way, I’m sorry that there hasn’t been time for me to thank you properly for saving our lives.”
For a second, I didn’t know what to say. I hadn’t helped because I’d expected to be paid back in sex for my assistance. I did it because it was the right thing to do. Well, that and because I had to complete my Nightmare quest. Besides, I needed BrokenFang Hold and all of the NPCs I could save to kickstart the Real Time Strategy, aka RTS, part of the game. While I expected my NPCs to work, fight and even die to further my goals, it was what support personnel and troops meant in RTS. The important distinction for me was that I would never consider using the men and women under my command as slaves, sexual or otherwise. While that might sound odd distinction to non-gamers, it was an important distinction to me and one that made this conversation somewhat uncomfortable as I tried to figure out the proper response to Keela’s words.
“Keela, having you as my friend is thanks enough.” I stuttered out as a deep blush colored my cheeks.
“What, you don’t find me as attractive as Ulia, milord?” Keela asked with a raised eyebrow.
“No … er … I mean … of course I think your hot as hell, but-“, I found myself falling over my words as Keela cut me off with a knowing smile.
“Ahhh isn’t that sweet,” Keela said, giving me a savage kiss. “Then, I expect you to treat me in kind.” With that said, she moved down the line quietly waking the rest of the camp as I looked after her dumbfounded. Before I could catch my bearing, Ulia twisted around in my arms to give me a good morning kiss. Rising to her hands and knees, she whispered a quick “I told you so” before climbing to her feet.
Slipping out of Brenna’s arms, I climbed to my feet. Reaching down for my cloak, I saw Brenna’s eyes watching me closely as I finished getting dress. Feeling somewhat self-conscious, I offered her a hand up which she took giving me a lingering, overtly innocent look as she spoke softly.
“I hope milord slept comfortably last night.”
Innocent my ass, I almost snorted at the unspoken ‘in my arms’ comment that was on the tip of her tongue as she began to dress while giving me sidelong looks. Even though I still felt uncomfortable from all of the attention, I couldn’t help flirting a little. “I appreciate you keeping me warm,” I replied with the same guileless expression as I strode off after Ulia. I caught up with Ulia just as Keela began updating her and Theric on the invaders status.
“There was no movement from the camps when I left my watch, but I expect they’ll be moving soon enough.”
“We might reach the pass ahead of them if we push the pace,” Ulia said as her eyes looked over the survivors thoughtfully. “But we’ll need to carry the children.”
“It shouldn’t be a problem,” Theric said confidently. “We have more than enough adults to share the burden. “Besides, it’s not like we’ll be spending time making breakfast.”
“Yea, nothing like lukewarm water to get the body moving.” I chimed in with a frown. We’d gone through all of the extra supplies I’d had in my inventory the night before. Hell, we wouldn’t even have the water if we hadn’t kept the waterskins under the blankets to stop the water from freezing. Before I could disparage the situation further, Theric spoke up clapping a hand on my shoulder.
“Trust me when I say, it’s a hell of a lot better then what we’ve had for the last four days.”
Looking into the swordsman’s earnest green eyes, I knew he was right. Still, I wished I’d had more to give to these people. At least we’d be home soon. Looking around at the exhausted, half-starved faces around me, I swore that I’d make these people’s lives better. Returning the man’s warm smile, I gave him a nod of thanks as I gripped his shoulder back. “We’ll all eat well tonight, that I pr
omise.”
“I’m looking forward to it,” Theric replied with a grin. “I’ll let everyone know we’re moving out in five.”
Surprisingly enough, my boots were crunching through the half-frozen, knee-deep snow six minutes later. I guess I shouldn’t have been that surprised, since everyone’s prep was basically throwing on their cloaks, grabbing a mouthful of warm water and relieving themselves. Still, I couldn’t see anyone else in the real world doing that so easily, especially after everything these people had been through. More and more I was finding myself impressed with these people. Ulia and I had taken the lead while Keela and Theric brought up the rear as everyone else fell into line in-between.
We traveled at a hard pace through the biting cold. Not a word was spoken as we made our way across the icy ridge that roughly followed the pass on the other side of the mountain. While the ridge generally followed the pass below, we had a lot more distance to travel due to the many ups and downs from the mountainous terrain. Thankfully the silence gave me a chance to go over the crazy morning I’d had before logging into The World. From the emails I’d received from my guildmates, it sounded like both Mike and Domenic were struggling with their nightmare starts.
The good news was that everyone was pulling together to help. AJ, Krystal, Jill, and Hefe were able to hook-up with Mike to give him a hand, but the assassin house’s quest was turning out to be a major pain in the ass. Some of the crazy ninja tricks Mike was facing sounded like something right out of Basilisk. My friends were holding on by the skin of their teeth, and if not for AJ sacrificing his life for the team several times over, Mike would have already lost the Nightmare quest a half-dozen times over. Although the Dark Elf assassins were tough as nails, the team’s near wipes were mostly due once again to Hefe’s fault. I tried not to laugh at the shit I was hearing, but it was hard not to. I would have already kicked Hefe out of the team for half of the ignorant shit he was pulling, but Mike tended to be easier going about stuff like that than I was, which was one of the unfortunate drawbacks about having guildmates.