by Ivan Kal
Ves gave him one more smile then turned around and exited the pool with a definite sway in her hips. Morgan watched as she picked up her clothes as well as the rabbits he had caught, and then turned to look at him again.
“See you at the camp, Morgan.” Then she was gone.
Morgan was left wondering to himself alone in the pool.
The hell just happened?
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Two days later, Morgan was sitting on a rock, playing with two sticks in each of his hands, and watching their surroundings, keeping watch. According to Vallsorim, they should reach their destination in a few more days. The last two days had gone by without any difficulties, which had left Morgan with a lot of free time—time he spent thinking on what had happened with Vestella. Ever since then he had felt awkward, not really knowing what to do. On Vestella’s side it looked like nothing had happened; she didn’t act any differently toward him. But from time to time when she caught him watching her she would give him a quick grin and then continue doing whatever she was doing at the time.
Morgan, on the other hand, had no idea what to do, especially since her twin brother was always around. Vallsorim had caught Morgan looking at his sister a few times, but hadn’t commented. In truth, Morgan wasn’t all that good with women. Sure, he’d had a few girlfriends—if you could call a few dates girlfriends—but in his defense, he hadn’t even been really looking for someone. The first time he had actually decided to pursue someone, he got hit by a car. The universe clearly took great pleasure in messing with Morgan’s potential love life.
Now he had no idea what to do about Vestella. Sure, she was gorgeous as all hell, but they had known each other for only a few days. Although in that time we have fought stinky terrifying goblins, and saved each other’s lives. Morgan thought about it; really, he had spent more time with her in these few days than he had with any other woman he had been romantically interested in his entire life, which was a bit sad, actually. But did he want to have something more with her? That he wasn’t really sure about. After all, she was the first woman he had encountered in this world.
Morgan shook his head, dismissing the thoughts. There was no point in agonizing over it. What will be, will be. Instead, he turned his attention to the stick in his left hand. He had been experimenting with his abilities a little bit. Turning his sight on the stick, he could feel far more about it. There were elements of life and entropy inside of it, the death slowly overcoming what life there had been inside before Morgan had cut the branch off and made it into a stick. It was fascinating, but he had already been pushing his Nature Sense and Life Sight to try to see and understand more.
Today he was going to attempt something else. He knew that he had a power inside of himself—magic, or something similar to magic. Using his sense or sight depleted that power, made him feel exhausted and weak, but over the last two days he had become better at it. Now he had a feel for how much power he had, and knew when to stop so that he didn’t exhaust himself.
Feeling inside the stick, he started funneling his power inside it, pushing it toward where he felt the element of entropy, of death. Slowly the stick in his hand changed as the entropy fed on his power and the stick started dying out faster. Watching the transformation with his senses, he could see the actual decay, and in minutes the stick had turned from a freshly cut-off piece of wood to a shriveled piece of cracked and dead wood. It broke in his hand and fell to the ground before turning to ash.
Huh, that could be useful, Morgan thought as he looked at the result of his experiment. Then he turned his attention to the other piece of wood. Like he had with the other stick, he again pushed his power inside—only this time, he focused on the element of life and vitality. The change was much different this time. Slowly the stick came alive as new sprouts started appearing on its length. Morgan tried to focus his mind and guide the new growths. Soon he managed it, forcing the new branches to intertwine at the top, making a kind of a point. He cut off his power as he felt that he was coming to his limit, and the growth slowed and then finally stopped. In his hand was now something that resembled a naturally formed arrow.
“Impressive,” Vall said as he walked over to him.
Morgan turned his head in surprise. He had been so engrossed in what he was doing that he had forgotten to be alert. It had been his watch, after all.
“Sorry, I should’ve done that later,” Morgan said.
Vall just nodded, accepting Morgan’s apology. Morgan went to stand and let Vall take over the watch, but as he stood, Vall put a hand on his shoulder, halting him.
“Let us speak for a moment,” Vall said slowly, and he took a seat on a rock across from Morgan.
Morgan frowned, and then sat back down. He looked at Vall, trying to discern what he wanted to talk about. Vall studied Morgan for a few moments, his eyes turning toward the camp where Ves was sleeping and then back to him.
“Ves told me that you have shown interest in her as an amri,” Vall said quietly.
“Uh…” Morgan’s mind went blank.
Vall’s eyes narrowed at Morgan. “You do know what you have done?”
“Ah… Sure, sure, sure, sure…”
Vall closed his eyes and released a deep breath. “I was worried about this. Ves is very innocent when it comes to these kind of things. And with you being a chosen, I figured that you had no idea what happened. Allow me to explain.” Vall locked his eyes with Morgan. “You know that we are half-elves. I have seen that that doesn’t mean anything to you, but to most of the people living here it does. The full-blooded elves look down on us as something less than them. To most other races we are just half-breeds. Because of that, our parents raised us somewhat sheltered. The villagers did not like us, nor did they wish to interact with us. Everything that Ves knows about…romantic relationships…comes from what she had been taught by our mother, the elven ways. And after our parents left… We were forced to struggle to survive, tending to our small farm and trading with people of the village that might not have truly hated us, but certainly disliked us.”
Morgan just nodded, and Vall continued.
“In elven culture, when a man is interested in a woman, he first makes his interest known by looking at and admiring the woman. If she is intrigued enough, she would then invite the man to share a bath. Elven culture is far more free with their bodies; men and women share baths often, and communal baths are the norm in most of the elven Guilds. But if a man and a woman are alone, then this makes it a…romantic act. If the man accepts, he makes a step toward something more. If he voices his appreciation of the woman’s body, it means that he is interested in her as a amri—a mate. It is then on the woman to accept or reject such an offer. Does any of this sound familiar?”
“Uh…” What? What kind of idiotic customs are those? I mean, who in their right mind would refuse to join a hot-as-all-hell woman in a bath when she invites him?
“Do you have anything other than that to say?” Vall asked with a hard look in his eyes.
Morgan gulped audibly. And now I’m gonna get beat up by an angry half-elf. Great. “I do like her,” Morgan said. I should probably pretend for now. She is hot, though…and it’s not like she will keep going with this. I’m me. She’ll realize soon enough and then break up with me.
“So you do wish to have her as your mate?” Vall asked suspiciously.
“Yes, of course,” Morgan said immediately.
“You do know what that means?”
“Uh…”
Vall closed his eyes in frustration again, and then he turned his eyes back on Morgan. “In the World, being mated means that you will be partners forever, amri to each other. She will be in charge of your household, and you will provide for her. Did you have anything like this on your world?”
Sounds like marriage. “Yes, of course.”
“Good. Then,” Vall said, “we understand each other?”
No, we don’t. “Yes, we do,” Morgan said. He stood and moved back toward th
e camp, when Vall grabbed his wrist.
“Hurt my sister, and I will kill you.”
Oh, that’s what he meant. Morgan just nodded in what he thought was a serious manner, and then walked over to the fire and lay down.
Why does god hate me so? Damn you Oxy!
Just before Morgan fell asleep, he could swear that he heard laughter in his head.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Morgan spent most of the next day avoiding Vall and practicing with his alignment. As they walked through the forest he kept a single arrow in his hand and tried to apply some of his nature-based magic on it. He had the Power Infusion ability; it had to count for something. He had knowledge of Enchanting, but he didn’t know what he could enchant something with. It was a strange feeling, knowing that you how to push your power into something and make it stick, but not knowing how to place that power to get a desired effect. He tried with the life part of his Nature alignment, and he had very little success. He could feel that if he pushed any more, the arrow would start sprouting branches.
Next, he tried entropy. He pushed a small amount of power into the arrowhead, and following the knowledge he got from his Enchanting skill he knew that now he needed to put it in a pattern—he just didn’t know what kind of a pattern. Remembering his earlier tests, he tried to lay down the same kind of pattern as the one he had noticed when he had dissolved the stick.
Somehow he could feel that he was doing something right. He created a thin barrier of his power as the containment for the energy of entropy, and then suddenly something clicked.
Arrow of Decay Enchantment learned!
Huh, will you look at that. Morgan used his inspect skill on the arrow in his hands.
Arrow of Decay — saps life-force from enemy (damage and duration depend on intellect and will)
Let’s gooo! Morgan cheered in his head. He even got a new character screen titled Enchantments, where he could look at what he had learned. He figured that he would get stronger ones by practice. But he somehow knew exactly how to make the Arrow of Decay now—it seemed that he only needed to do something once, and then he had the knowledge.
He kept practicing as they walked through the forest, and the twins seemed happy enough to let him.
It took them another five days to reach the town—and Morgan had been completely disappointed. The town of Terbon looked more like a village to him, and Vall said that it had about five hundred people living in it. It was surrounded by a wooden palisade maybe four or five meters tall, and the people standing guard at the gate and on the walls wore mismatched gear which had seen better days. They entered Terbon with barely a glance from the guards. Vall told him that the guards were there to watch for monster threats only—something about rules for intelligent races. Morgan didn’t really understand what Vall was saying, so he just nodded his head.
Most of the streets weren’t even paved, which meant that they walked through mud and dirt and waste that people poured out of their houses. Morgan nearly gagged when an old and dirty woman emptied a bucket full of waste just as they were walking by. The hell! What kind of medieval shit is this, Oxy? You couldn’t have taught these people how to be sanitary? Morgan shook his head and kept his cloak over his mouth and nose, drawing strange looks from Ves and Vall as well as the people passing them by. Savages!
They decided to split up. Vall took all of the loot that they wished to sell to try and find someone who wanted to buy, and Morgan and Ves headed toward the only tavern in town.
It was a two-story building with a small stable attached to the side. Morgan and Ves stepped inside and were immediately assaulted by a variety of odors. Morgan could taste freshly baked food and the smell of alcohol. They’d entered a large communal room with tables and chairs filled with patrons and a fire burning in a stone fireplace. Along the other side of the room was a counter with a door behind it leading—if Morgan’s nose was correct—to the kitchen.
Ves stepped up to the counter and rang a little bell.
An overweight and bald man walked from the kitchen and stopped behind the counter, studying them.
When he didn’t speak, Ves took the initiative. “Hello, we would like to rent two rooms, please.”
The man—the innkeeper—grunted. “Have only one room free. Just the two of you?”
Ves glanced at Morgan, a twinkle in her eyes, and then looked back at the innkeeper. “We have one more person with us. How much?”
“I can put in the extra bed. With it it’ll be 5 coppers a night; only one bed, 3. Two more coppers per person for the morning meal.”
Morgan realized that the innkeeper assumed that Ves and he were together, and he was just about to ask for another bed, but Ves spoke before he had a chance.
“We’ll take the room,” she said and pulled out several pieces of copper coins, putting them on the counter.
Morgan just then realized that he had no money, nor did he understand anything about the economy of this place. He had no idea if 5 coppers a night was a lot for a room or not.
Something must’ve shown on his face because Ves leaned in and whispered in his ear. “Don’t worry, you will pay me back when Vall gets back.” Right, I’ll at least get some money.
Ves took the key from the innkeeper and, after a short exchange that Morgan missed because he wasn’t really listening, she grabbed his hand and pulled him up the stairs to the second floor.
“Aren’t we supposed to wait for Vall down there?” They had agreed to meet in the inn’s common room.
“We have some time,” Ves said as she grinned at him.
Oh, no. Morgan had a feeling about where this was going. They reached a door and Ves let them in, pushing Morgan before her. She closed the door and locked them in, then looked at Morgan with a predatory look in her eyes. Before he managed to say anything she launched herself at him and they tumbled down on the bed.
Sometime later Morgan was lying on his back looking at the ceiling. A very naked Ves was lying next to him smiling at him. Whoa. Who knew that sex felt so good? Morgan had had some girlfriends before, but none had progressed to this stage before. And if he wasn’t mistaken, it had been Ves’s first time too. He didn’t know why that mattered, but it did to him. I met her just over a week ago… Are all women on this world so…forward, I wonder? Morgan shook his head of those thoughts; it wasn’t fair to Ves to think that way. She had shared herself with him, given him something precious, and he might be a jerk and an idiot most of the time, but he wouldn’t be one now.
He did genuinely like Ves. He wouldn’t have survived in this world without her—his second chance at life would’ve ended almost as soon as it had begun. For that alone, he owed her much.
Ves moved, raising herself into a sitting position, and looked down on him. It made the scar on her stomach clearly visible. Morgan was about to ask where she got it, but he then thought better of it and kept his mouth shut.
“Morgan, I have to tell you something,” she said.
“Sure thing,” Morgan said, suddenly alert.
She looked at him, and then shook her head. “Actually, it’s not that important… I’ll tell you later.” Ves stretched and then slapped him on the chest. “Let’s go, I’m sure that Vall is waiting for us.”
Morgan froze as he remembered her brother. Ves started putting on her clothes before glancing at him. “I have heard that men turn lazy after, but I didn’t really think that it was true.”
That shook Morgan out of his thoughts and he jumped out of the bed, looking for his clothes. And now I’m going to get killed by her brother.
They climbed down the stairs and after a moment of searching Ves noticed her brother and waved at him as she walked over. Morgan grimaced at Vall’s dark look, but he walked over as well. Ves took a seat across from Vall, and Morgan planned on putting at least a chair between them, but Ves pulled him into the seat next to her. She smiled at him, completely oblivious to Vall’s dark looks.
How did I even get here? Oh, right. A god-that-is-no
t-a-god made me an offer. I’m in a coma for sure. No other explanation why a hot girl would have her head on my shoulder.
“Did you sell the stuff?” Ves asked, thankfully forcing Vall to look at her instead of glaring at him. Nice save, girlfriend! Wait, is that what she is?
“Yes. Here.” Vall pulled out two pouches and gave them one each. Morgan peered inside to see four silver coins and about two dozen copper ones, if he wasn’t wrong. He resisted the urge to count them; it wasn’t like he really knew how much this was worth. He would need to ask Ves to explain later. He put the pouch in his BoH.
“I couldn’t get much. Most of the things we had were trash, but the furs and hides sold well, even if they were somewhat filthy.” Vall smiled. “And I asked around a bit—there are two Guild outposts here, but if what I have heard is true, they are leaving soon.”
“How soon?” Ves asked, straightening in her chair.
“Don’t know, but we should apply as soon as possible.”
Morgan frowned. “I am still not sure why you even need to be in a Guild.” Few of the games he played had Guilds as a requirement; and sure, being in a Guild had benefits at higher levels, but it wasn’t as important on the lower ones.
“You need a Guild in order to be an adventurer, and there are more benefits aside from just that. Only Guild members can have Guild buffs, only adventurers have access to Guild markets, and much more,” Ves told him.
“So there are only two Guilds here?” Morgan asked. He still wasn’t convinced, but then again he didn’t know much about it.
Vall shook his head. “No, there are no Guilds in these parts, as we are too far behind the Storm Peaks mountain range. The Guilds don’t bother settling here. But some Guilds do send representatives here from time to time to search for new recruits.”