Otherlife Nightmares: The Selfless Hero Trilogy

by William D. Arand

  Striking her in the chest, the pink ball exploded around her. Her eyes flew open, her fingers closing into fists, and she promptly turned and ran away.

  “Fear definitely works. I wonder when she’ll stop though.”

  “She’s fast.”

  “Indeed she is, Rabbit.”

  Sprinting, Isabelle kept on for a full ten seconds. Her athletic build fluidly pushed her along with a grace he had to admire. Forcing his eyes to a screen instead of her hips, Runner busied himself.

  Eventually she halted far in the distance. She spun herself around and began making her way back to them with as much dignity as she could muster. Given the situation, that is.

  At least she can’t wet her pants.

  “I…ahem. My lord, I experienced overwhelming fear of you. Uncontrollable, utter terror. I…I wanted to get as far from you as possible,” Isabelle reported, her voice quavering.

  “Thank you, Isabelle. That was the intent of the spell, so it’s a success.”

  Runner created an enemy-only AOE version of the spell with him as the focal point. Labeling the single target spell as Linda and Scott as the AOE version, he then put them on a new hotbar.

  Wondering about Isabelle’s reaction, he could only sympathize. His nightmares had been ramping up in intensity as of late. That feeling had made a great frame of mind to start with when he constructed the spell.

  Considering how badly they haunted him, he could only imagine what she had felt. He woke up frequently in the night, panting. The worst was the disorientation he felt upon waking. Night after night.

  Whatever the pod was supposed to do, it wasn’t doing it. Runner had even gone so far as to confirm it was administering drugs to help balance him and subdue his sleep. It wasn’t enough.

  Thana and Katarina were now taking turns sleeping next to him, poised to bring him back to reality when he had an episode.

  There was a part of him that could not deny the pleasure of lying next to a beautiful woman. Pity he could not truly enjoy it. That and the pod wouldn’t do anything for blue balls. He was starting think that his wandering attention towards Isabelle was an extreme hormonal response.

  Or so he hoped.

  His choices had pushed him to a point that he no longer looked forward to sleeping. He dreaded it. Ted, Michael, Jeff, Vick, James, Ben, and Devon all waited for him. Staring at him. Dead accusing eyes. Bloody eyes. Blood coating everything and everyone.

  Giving himself a firm shake, he pressed a palm to his forehead. Taking a deep breath, he cleared his thoughts.

  “Right, then. Isabelle, the next spell will have a different reaction. Much like the first, please try to describe it as best as you can.”

  “What will it do, my lord?”

  “If I told you, it’d color your perceptions of it by creating an expectation. It won’t hurt. Promise,” Runner said with a smile. He meant it too. Nothing he had built would cause any harm. At least physically.

  Next in the list of spells to test was Enrage. Pushing Provoke and Intimidate together in nearly equal parts, he hoped it would force the target to engage him.

  Glancing at Isabelle’s sword at her side, he frowned. He opened his mouth to ask her to disarm, but stopped. Blowing out the breath he had taken to speak, he shrugged his shoulders instead.

  Whatever. Will make the test real.

  Flinging his arm forward, he cast Enrage on Isabelle. Immediately her face contorted into a sinister snarl. Instead of running from him, this time she ran at him. Spreading his stance out to receive her charge, he opened his arms.

  “It’s okay, Rabbit! This was expected, I’m not in any danger,” he yelled out to Nadine. Her reaction might end up hurting the lively little mercenary. “Except for maybe getting a vicious hug.”

  Isabelle leapt at him, catching him under the armpits. Wrapping his arms around her, he let her carry him off his feet and onto his back. He wrapped his legs around her waist, pressed her in close to himself, and held on for dear life.

  Snarling, hissing, and biting at his neck, Isabelle wanted to rend him limb from limb.

  Grimacing at the pain of her teeth, Runner slammed his right hand into the back of her head, pressing her face into his neck more firmly. Better that than his throat. His hit points were going down marginally, nothing more than a point or two a second. Nothing to be concerned about.

  Time ticked by and eventually Isabelle went slack, her teeth buried in his flesh, her fingers wrapped up in his leather armor.

  “So, do I taste like chicken? No need to answer immediately, I’m only curious. Pretty sure you got a decent mouthful out of me after all,” Runner teased. Releasing her head, he patted the Elf on the back with his left hand.

  Relaxing under the woman, he sighed, his legs releasing her hips. Success, but maybe a bit too successful? Flagging the spell, he renamed it Rage and moved it to the Enchanter hotbar.

  Creating a clone of Rage, he modified it to be an AOE target spell. He named it Zombie Horde, which felt terrifying and appropriate.

  Pushing herself off him, Isabelle stood and started spitting into the grass.

  “I taste that bad, huh? I could always start adding salt to my baths. Little bit of pepper and lemon maybe? Seasoning goes a long way. Long pig and all that. Or so I hear.”

  Bending his knees, he got his feet under himself and stood up, brushing nonexistent grass from his rear. He touched his neck and checked his fingers. They had a solid red color. He couldn’t see the damage but there definitely was some, he imagined.

  “My lord, I’m-I’m so sorry. I don’t know. I wanted to hurt you. I hated you. I wanted to kill you. My lord, I am-I am so sorry,” Isabelle said, her shoulders hunched in and her head hanging low.

  “Then you did exactly what I wanted you to. This doesn’t excuse violently hugging me in the future, mind you. Anything else? Was it just extreme hate?”

  Turning to face him, she sheepishly nodded her head. His blood stained her lips and dribbled down her chin.

  “Ah, Isabelle, be sure to take a moment to wipe your mouth. You look like a vampire learning to eat. Apparently I suck at being a sippy cup. Nadine, any observations from your end?”

  The woman in question had come over and stood before him. She had managed to sneak up on him when he wasn’t paying attention. Her left hand pulled at the collar of his armor to inspect his neck and shoulder.

  “Very viole-n-nt, explosive even. Lasted about as long as the other one. Are you alright?” she asked, her green eyes peering up at him through blonde eyelashes.

  “Perfectly fine, Rabbit my dear. Why, want me to cast it on you so you can hug me violently too?”

  Turning a light shade of pink, Nadine said nothing. Then she slowly smiled at him and patted his arm.

  “N-next time,” she whispered. Turning from him, she went to check on Isabelle.

  Swallowing, Runner felt mildly uncomfortable. Teasing them was easy when they reacted with disinterest or annoyance. This though? This made it infinitely harder to continue on as he had. First Thana, then Katarina, and now Nadine?

  A conspiracy. That’s what this is. They’re sharing information.

  Runner.

  “Yes, my love?”

  At least I can harass Srit, she doesn’t even get it.

  I feel that you have not honored your end of the agreement.

  “In what way? I provided the material you asked for in exchange for assistance with spell creation.”

  The deal was for material on the mating rituals of your humans.

  “And I gave it to you. Lots of it,” he said with a smile. Indeed, he had sent her a very large and obscene amount of porn. Porn was never hard to get with the military.

  This is copulation, not mating.

  “Sure it is. They’re mating—a child could be born of it,” Runner said, nearly chuckling. Pulling up his third test spell, he waited for her response.

  Runner, humans and my own host’s species are capable of interbreeding. We are not so differe
nt that I cannot deduce that where he is depositing his genetic material will not result in a child. Only organic waste leaves from that orifice, not progeny.

  Runner’s face twitched. It was nearly impossible to keep from laughing. Sounded like the material she had been reviewing had been different to say the least.

  On top of that, in the next set of material, two of the men will have no ability to impregnate her, while the third is wearing a contraceptive.

  Now he started laughing, pressing his hands to his sides.

  “Okay, okay. I’m sorry. Were you looking more for courting rituals rather than mating rituals?”

  A slight delay made him think that Srit was confirming the definition of “courting.”

  That wou—yes. Yes, please.

  “Done. Sending you relevant information.”

  Runner selected the media server from the system window. Highlighting every romance novel in the library, he sent the entire category to Srit’s username.

  “Start with that. I think that’ll provide you all the information you need. Should be able to burn through it with your read speed, though I would caution you to slow down. Read each one and explore it with your own thoughts.”

  Thank you.

  “Course, love. Can’t have you thinking I don’t value you and your opinions.”

  I do not have opinions.

  “Of course you do. You didn’t have proof of your statement earlier, that what I sent you wasn’t what you asked for. You developed the opinion first, then sought information. You still owe me a response about being deleted, as well.”

  No response was forthcoming. Allowing the lapse to pass, Runner turned his attention back to the task at hand.

  Looking to the two women, he found Nadine walking back to her original position on the side. Curiously, though, she had something in her damaged right hand. Bent over her palm, she appeared as if she were inspecting the item she held. He would ask her later about it.

  Runner let his eyes track back to the tall Elf. Either she or Nadine had taken the opportunity of his distraction to clean her face up.

  “You ready for the next one? Please understand, you can stop whenever you like. You’re under no obligation to do this.”

  “I want to do this. It’ll help you in your goals, which is my goal. I want to be useful to you. Proceed, my lord,” Isabelle responded. She seemed determined to get through it, regardless of what happened.

  “As you will. I thank you all the same,” Runner said. Calling up the next in his test series, he began to channel what he had called Brainwash. Persuade and Provoke combined to hopefully confuse someone and allow commands to be given. Potentially, it could be the most overpowered spell yet.

  If it works.

  Then he cast Brainwash on Isabelle without another word. There was no visible change, but Runner would swear she looked like she was daydreaming.

  “Isabelle, hop on one foot,” Runner commanded.

  And so she hopped on one foot.

  “Give me your bow.”

  Isabelle immediately tried to trade her bow to him.

  “Swear an undying oath to never dye your hair.”

  “I do so swear.”

  Runner grinned, briefly considering having her strip, fondle herself, or maybe tell him her darkest secret. Nadine’s curious face caught his attention and he dismissed the idea immediately. A betrayal of Isabelle’s trust.

  Fuck it. I need to know I can push the spell. Something minor…

  “Pick your nose.”

  Isabelle went first knuckle deep in a nostril instantly and started rooting around. Runner felt immediate regret at having her do it. And nearly burst out in laughter as well. Watching a gorgeous woman dig for gold wasn’t something he could forget quickly. Especially with the screenshot he snapped off rapidly.

  “Stop. Okay, that worked. My apologies, Belle, I’ll never cast that on you again. I swear.”

  Brainwash was everything he’d hoped for and more.

  Isabelle shuddered from head to toe while Runner moved Brainwash over to his new bar. Her face turned a deep, dark scarlet shade. Fingers ground into the wood of her bow, clutching it to her chest.

  Holding up his hands, he bowed his head to her.

  “I swear by the oath we both took, I will never cast such a spell on you again, Belle. Just to show that I truly meant no harm and I value you, I will place myself in judgment for whatever recompense you deem fitting if you think it fitting.”

  Isabelle had the face of a woman deep in thought. Shifting her weight from foot to foot, she stared into Runner’s face.

  “Belle?” she asked curiously.

  “Isabelle, Belle. Names aren’t personal for me, nicknames are. Everyone I actually give a crap about or have to pay attention to gets a nickname.”

  Isabelle chewed at her lower lip before seemingly coming to a decision.

  “You’ll subject yourself to one request on my part at a future date. You may reject what I ask, but I will then invoke Lady Brunhild and Lady Ernsta to judge.”

  “Agreed, and done. Though I do have one more spell to cast. If you’re still willing.”

  “It isn’t similar in any way to the one you just cast?” she asked warily.

  “Not at all. It’s more similar to the first and second spell. It’ll affect your status and make you do one thing.”

  Isabelle nodded her head reluctantly, slowly.

  “Okay. I’m ready.”

  There were a couple spells he had not quite completed. Those could wait for a while longer before testing. One spell needed to be tested today though.

  Seduction, in all its straightforward glory. The spell makeup consisted of nearly ninety-five percent Seduce, the remainder being a blend of Provoke, Persuade, and Intimidate.

  His hope was it would simply be another status breaker, one that would render the target unable to do anything.

  Runner targeted Isabelle and cast his last spell. Seduction sprang from his fingers, covered the small distance between them, and slammed into Isabelle’s chest.

  You use Seduce on Mercenary

  Mercenary is Seduced

  Isabelle promptly fell to her knees, her arms going slack and her eyes distant. By all outward indicators she looked healthy and hale.

  Not waiting for the spell to wear off, Runner trotted up to her and bent down. Peering into her eyes, he touched her shoulder gently. With gentle fingers he lightly brushed her hair out of her face.

  “Belle, you alright in there?”

  A tiny smile crept over her features. She failed to respond otherwise.

  Standing up, he met Nadine’s eyes and shrugged.

  “Test successful it seems. She seems happy, if nothing else.”

  “Well, what was it then-n?”

  “Let’s hear her verdict first before I explain. What are you working on by the way?”

  “Oh, this?” Nadine smirked at the rock she held up. “I’m trying to learn-n sculpting.”

  “Errr, I like the idea of it, though I wonder about the reason?”

  “You craft. Thana can paint. Katarina can actually sing. Hannah is an alchem-m-mist. So here I am-m. Why, are you going to m-mock me?” she asked defensively, her brows drawing down as she pulled the rock in close to her chest.

  “Not at all. In fact, I applaud your efforts. I’d love it if you wouldn’t mind making me some keepsakes. Little things that would fit in an inventory but could be held as well,” Runner said with a smile. He meant it. Meant every word of it.

  “Uhm, sure. I can-n do that…”

  Isabelle quivered beside him, the spell having come to an end. Squatting down in front of her, Runner waited, not wanting to rush her.

  “I…won’t be describing what the spell did,” Isabelle said quietly. “I’m certain you suspect what it did. For the sake of your request, know that I could not do anything, or even wanted to. I knew you were in front of me, I recognized it, was aware of it, and didn’t care.” She sighed, her hands pressed to
her thighs.

  “It wasn’t unpleasant, though.” She whispered the last part.

  Isabelle peered at him, daring him to say or ask anything further.

  Runner nodded his head instead and stood up, offering her his hand.

  “I appreciate it, Belle. That’s all I needed to know. Thank you.”

  She watched him and took his hand to stand up. Other than a slight pink tinge to her face, there were no other aftereffects.

  “Well? What did it do?” Nadine asked, joining the two of them.

  “It prevented her from acting. Essentially it took away her desire to resist.”

  “Completely,” muttered Isabelle.

  “But, what did it do? That doesn-n’t answer my question.”

  “Rabbit? Let it be? Please?” Runner tried to hit her with his best smile.

  She floundered under his gaze, her eyes dropping to the ground. She nodded a little, her face coloring nearly the same shade as Isabelle’s.

  “Thanks. Let’s head back to the gunners. Hopefully they’re figuring out their angles faster than I fear they will.”

  Runner patted Nadine on the shoulder, then trooped off towards his artillery battery in training. There was a lot of paperwork to do, and the only one who could do it was him.

  Tomorrow morning they would reach Highpass Crossing. The day after they finished the dungeon, they would be able to see the capital city of the Barbarians, Kastell. Things were moving in the right direction. Finally.

  Wait, no, I take that back. Nothing is moving in the right direction, everything is horribly wrong. No such thing.

  Runner thought furiously, hoping he hadn’t jinxed himself in that moment. Fate was a fickle bitch who treated him like an ex. Sometimes she hit him with a booty call, sometimes she smashed his windows.

  Hours later Runner had accomplished a great deal of logistic work. He had managed to lock himself, Isabelle, and Thana away in a tent. Between the three of them they managed to hammer out the inventory, supply train, and needs of the troops for the upcoming battle in Highpass.