by A P Gore
26. The Kiss
Noah selected “no” for the next phase. He wasn’t ready for it, and neither was Rihala. He tilted his head to look at the delicious she demon standing next to him. She stared at him with half-closed eyes and then jumped on him, wrapping her legs and tail around his waist, kissing him ferociously, pushing her tongue inside his mouth. The next moment they were lying on the ground and he was fighting with her clothes, trying to remove them and taste her bare skin.
She broke the kiss. “Let’s wait for this, shall we? We haven’t even opened the chest yet, and this place stinks. Can we do this somewhere else, please?” Her voice held an edge of pleading.
Wanting a lot more than what he got in the last five seconds, Noah pulled his mouth out of the gap between her breasts and moved to kiss her lips. He wanted to fuck her there on the hard ground, but she had a point, and they could wait. They were sensible adults, not twenty-year-olds driven by lust.
“I’m sorry. You’re right. And your mom wouldn’t like this, would she?” He hauled himself up, teasing her.
She gave him an annoyed look. “She wouldn’t approve of what we are going to do. I think you are right. We shouldn’t be doing this at all.”
Fear gripped Noah’s heart. He was so looking forward to tasting her bare skin more. “No, no. We are adults, aren’t we? We shall end what we started.”
She let a hint of victory slip in her snicker. “Okay. Let’s get out of here first.” She sat up, grinning with lust, but she was quick to button her shirt. She jumped to her feet and leaned against his body, licking his neck with her long tongue. Her tail was already wrapped around his waist and moving under his pants, caressing his bare butt.
Noah moaned and pushed her away. “If you keep doing that, I don’t think I can stop myself from devouring you right here.” Holding her at arm’s length, he pleaded with her to stop.
She teased him with a lick of his lips.
Noah turned away, gawking at the items lying on the ground. There was a monster crystal, a golden diadem. The crystal was an Iron-3 crystal. It was a crystal of fire and provided +2 fire damage to weapons.
That’s it. The level 10 boss didn’t drop anything else.
What a disappointment.
While walking through the chamber, he found a door. With a slight push, the door opened in the room of the healing well. Out of the three chests, the bronze chest was wide open, waiting for them. A soft golden light emerged from the chest.
Rihala dashed forward, picking up a quiver from the chest.
“Wow! A quiver, and uncommon too!” Rihala beamed. “And look at this offhand. I bet this will be useful for you.” A thin metal bone appeared out of nowhere on her palm. It glowed with a green light.
Noah studied it.
Crude metal bone of zombies.
+1 to raise zombies.
Adds +2 fire damage to the main hand weapon and spells.
The damage was mediocre at best, but the +1 to zombie raising was a nice to have. Plus, he didn’t have any weapon other than the knife. Even with the knife, he could use this.
“Thanks, sweetie. This is useful.” He pulled her closer, planting a kiss on her lips. Her arms wrapped around his torso, and she sucked his tongue in.
He once again resisted her and looked away. “I’m going with your advice. Let’s wait.” He smirked at her and bent down to check on his loot. The bronze box popped up in his vision with loot. He received 10 gold, 100 silver, 100 copper, and a pair of gloves.
Uncommon socketed pair of leather gloves
+5 to armor
+1 to attack speed
Socket: 1
He showed the gloves to Rihala. “Look, these gloves have a heart-shaped socket.”
She took them from him and studied them. “Yes, you can use a monster crystal inside it to enhance it. But you need to have the enhancer profession to enhance one, and it’s a rare profession. Look at the socket size. You need a tool kit to cut the crystal in the proper shape, and then socket it inside it. My mom says enhancer is the most luxurious profession anyone can study in BlackFlame.”
“I missed your mom!” Noah teased her, wondering if that was the only use of crystals, to get socketed into items.
She rolled her eyes and slapped his shoulder playfully. “I know, I overdo it. But you don’t have to mention it like that.”
“I was just kidding. Anyway, I think I have something for you.” He checked his bag. One of the Iron-I crystals had a +1 to ice damage property. It would be useful for her. “I’ll make something and gift it to you soon.”
Rihala beamed with pride and hugged him tightly, kissing all over his face. With every new kiss, his urges were getting out of control. He covered her lips with his hand and signaled her to head out.
Noah’s heart was overflowing with joy as they walked out of the dark cave. He would be getting laid after all. The bright light outside the cave blinded him for a moment, but the late afternoon sun had lost his power to the chilly weather. Along with the sun’s rays, he received a metallic black arrow in his leg, pinning him to the ground.
Rihala zipped forward and dropped to her knees, looking to the sky. “High Priest, please don’t kill him.” Rihala’s voice shuddered. “He has a blessing from Goddess Sumara and was accompanying me in clearing the dungeon. He’s a good guy, Priest Jethro. Please let him live.” Tears rolled down her beautiful round face, and it pained Noah to see her like that.
Noah stretched his neck, but the bright light blinded him. Someone towered over him in the sky, someone big, someone with wings. Who was this high priest?
“Slaves don’t have will, or friends. You’ve made me more than enough trouble, having to come all the way here. Prepare for your punishment, child.” His voice had an edge of authority, but at the same time his tone didn’t match the intensity of the words he spoke.
“Yes, High Priest. I’m ready for whatever punishment comes my way. My mom...”
A silent cry pierced Noah’s heart. He realized how much Rihala meant to him. He opened his mouth to say something, but a black tendril shot out of Rihala’s hand, wrapping around his mouth and silencing him.
“You were an obedient child, but I can’t help you anymore. You’ll have to go through the trials and see it for yourself. You’ll have two month’s time to prepare.”
“…” Noah wanted to shout, but he couldn’t. His mouth was tightly shut.
“May I say a final goodbye to my accomplice, High Priest?” Rihala’s low-pitched voice asked the mystery man in the sky.
“Be quick, child.” His voice was as soft as a father’s would be with his child.
Rihala turned to Noah, tears streaming from her eyes. “I’m sorry, but this is the end of our journey together. My culture doesn’t allow training in combat arts. At least not when you are a slave.” She sighed deeply. “The high priest owns my mother and father, hence the courtesy. But that doesn’t save me from punishment. Anyway, this is our final goodbye. I didn’t want it to end this way. I wanted to kiss you, feel you, give myself to you. But...” She wept.
Noah’s heart fractured further with each word.
“The time I spent with you is the most precious time in my life. Please stay safe and meet me in the realm of Zedusania.” She breathed, lowering her voice further. “Listen, Xynnar is planning to attack your town. Flee from there, find some other place.” Her fingers brushed Noah’s cheeks and then she moved on.
Noah wanted to say things to her, wanted to tell her how much she meant to him. But his mouth was bound by the black tendrils, and his leg by the arrow.
A humongous griffin landed beside him. With slumped shoulders, Rihala climbed on its wing and sat next to a man in golden armor.
Noah couldn’t get a good look at the man’s face before the bird left off, leaving him alone.
She left him high and dry, frustrated and helpless. He couldn’t even help her in the end. All his promises to her remained only promises.
27. The Quest
Once
the griffin left, the black tendrils around Noah’s mouth disappeared. He shouted for Rihala, calling her back, but she was gone like the scent of the morning lily leaving the farm after sunrise. The scent always returned the next day, but he wasn’t sure if Rihala would, ever.
He pulled the arrow from his leg. It was a painful process, and after removing it his leg started bleeding like flood gates left open. Noah didn’t care. He was better off dead and back in the temple than walking back alone.
He didn’t die, though. His destiny was a painful walk back to town. His life stopped dropping after reaching the 300 mark. There was no other option but to walk on the road, alone.
The sun went down as he trudged on the less-traveled dirt path with a bleeding heart. The chilly winds didn’t annoy him anymore. There would be no soothing his heart until he found Rihala and held her close. Realizing he might have lost her forever made his heart frigging stop for few moments.
He kicked a stone down the road and trudged onward.
Rihala went away with a piece of his heart, and now he only had one month to get her back. Maybe she was just a few lines of code for everyone else, but for him she represented a heart beating in sync with his. He wanted to be with her as much as he wanted to be with Thia—and his own girl, Tia. The game, which should have been a simple path to his goal, had become complicated and frustrating.
“Stupid developers! Your game sucks!” He roared as the town gate came into view.
As the grimy gate closed behind him, a plan began forming in his mind. Two months. He had exactly one month to save Rihala. He’d make good use of it, and no matter what, he would save her. Sumara had said he had a uniquely powerful class, and he would use every ounce of that power to get to the top of the food chain and save Rihala from slavery and whatever stupid trials the high priest was going to put her through.
I’ll save you, sweetie.
Instead of going to the inn, he headed for the council hall. Every quest that could give him experience was vitally important now. If he was going to save Rihala, he needed every level and scrap of power he could gather.
The demon in blue pants was hanging around the council hall. Scowling, he stopped Noah, but when Noah showed him the diadem, he let Noah pass.
When he’d visited this place before, a faint light from an unknown source had illuminated the hall. There was no light in the council hall today. It took a while for Noah’s eyes to adjust to the darkness.
The hall was empty. Not even the head demon was there. He was about to turn back when he heard a rustle behind the main throne at the center of the room.
The high priest stepped out from behind the throne. He stiffened when he spotted Noah. “Human, what are you doing here? Do you think you can come and go in this place any time you want?”
“Esteemed High Priest,” Noah said, buttering him up as best he could. “I have an item the head demon asked me for.” He bowed deeply and presented the golden diadem.
The high priest dashed toward him and snatched the diadem from his hands. He waved his hand, and an unknown light source sprang to life, spreading a faint yellow light across the hall. The diadem glowed with the faint light as he traced his fingers over it.
“Ah, the diadem. You brought it back. Very well, human. You’ve completed your quest.”
Congratulations! You have completed The Inaccessible Cave. You have conquered the cave and obtained the head demon’s lost item. Experience Gained: 4000. Silver: 200. Reputation with demon town of Sumara : +2000. MAP: Get your map from the high mage.
A white light washed over him. He had gained level 9.
“Thank you, esteemed High Priest.”
The high priest waved his hand, dismissing Noah as he walked back to the throne.
Noah watched the nosy priest walk away, noticing a slight limp. The high priest was favoring his right leg, but that wasn’t all. The high priest was bleeding—no, there was blood on his light gray pants, and there was a trail of blood coming out from behind the throne.
Did he kill someone behind the throne?
Noah creeped closer to the throne. “Esteemed High Priest. I have a question for you, if you don’t mind.” He pulled his copper-3 crystal out as a prop, just to keep the attention of the high priest away from him. “I need to analyze this crystal. Can you do that for me please?”
The high priest turned back, forehead creased with annoyance. “I don’t help humans.”
“Just this once, Esteemed One. I’ll be in your debt forever. And I don’t think there is anyone in town who can do this. No one is as powerful as you, after all.”
“Okay. But just this once. And I’m only doing this because you retrieved this.” His eyes traced back to the diadem like it was his most prized possession. That look bothered Noah, because the diadem belonged to the head demon, not the nosy priest holding it.
Noah handed the crystal to the priest, looking closely at the priest’s face for the first time. Along with a pointy nose, there was a scar above his left eye.
That sealed the deal for Noah. The bastard priest was the demon who had killed him again and again and again—the sly fox!
Noah inched closer to the throne, keeping his focus on the priest. “One more question, please. What level do you think I need to be before I can leave town and start heading to the human town?”
“That’s a good question. I would say today, and now. You are level 9. I think that’s high enough to go back to where you belong and stop causing trouble for us demons.” He spun suddenly and flung a fire ball at Noah.
Noah jumped behind the throne to avoid the blazing ball of fire. He stumbled on something lying on the floor—no, someone lying on the floor. The head demon lay there. Dead. A butcher knife stuck out of his chest. A butcher knife Noah knew intimately.
The anger in his heart flared to a blazing inferno. He’d been waiting for this day, the day when he would meet his killer. This bastard had caused him so much pain that he nearly lost his mind. At the same time, Noah felt sorry for not trusting his friend, Roderich. Still, he didn’t understand what Roderich was doing in the sacrificial grounds, killing the goblin female.
“Come out, you mouse! I know you’ve seen the old geezer’s corpse. Don’t worry, I won’t kill you. You’d just come back, anyway.”
Noah didn’t believe the killer high priest. He was a fraud, a betrayer of his own kind. “Why did you kill me, then? And why would you kill your own?”
“You were an annoyance. No one comes to town with a blessing from the fucking whore and claims everyone’s approval. When I saw your title, your fate was sealed. Fucking Sumara did this to our town, sent us to the depths of hell, and yet the old fool still prayed to her. I had to do something about it, and killing you was the first thing.”
The hatred in his tone made Noah sick. So sick that he feared that he would lose his lunch.
The high priest continued, “That fucking whore took everything away from us, for god knows what reason. She practically wiped our existence from the surface of BlackFlame. Her curse killed every woman in the empire, even young female demons. And even though she killed his wife, the old fool still trusted in her and arranged a prayer for her every week.” He paused and laughed like a villain in a cheap cable show. “But there is an antidote for everything. Even for the curse of the first Cursemancer. I needed a female demon to sacrifice, and you brought one to our town for me. Now I can complete my sacrifice ritual and wipe Sumara from the face of BlackFlame. Once she is renounced as the goddess of this town, she will turn into an insignificant deity, incapable of doing anything to anyone. Yes, she will face her doom once I sacrifice the demon child you brought to us.” His chuckle echoed through the council hall, pushing Noah’s heart into a deep pit.
“I won’t let you hurt my daughter. Not while I live.”
“Of course not. But killing you won’t do me any good either. That’s why I’m going to trap you here for two days instead.”
Black tendrils sprung from the floor
and wrapped around Noah’s arms and legs, pinning him to the ground, leaving only his right hand free. He tried to remove the tendrils from his body, but he failed again and again.
“Oh, so you have one hand open. How naïve of me to think that twenty percent of my demonic ability would be sufficient to lock you up completely.” The high priest laughed like a maniac and put the copper-3 crystal in Noah’s free hand before chanting another spell.
Before the bastard priest finished his chanting, Noah cast Raise Zombie on the head demon’s corpse. The corpse of the head demon vanished from its place, and a dark light entered the crystal in his hand, turning the crystal into ashes. He had created a Raise Zombie curse; how foolish he was! That had been his only chance, and he’d lost it to his foolishness.
“What was that? What did you just do?” The high priest bent and picked the ashes of the crystal from Noah’s hand, staring at them warily. “I’ll take this with me for safekeeping.” He winked and limped away, leaving Noah behind, fuming and frustrated. “Happy sleeping, human. Two more days, and then I’ll kill you so you’ll end up with some other random god. Too bad I don’t have a way to kill you for good.”
Noah closed his eyes. He had once again failed to save the little girl he loved. Thia was in danger, and no matter what he did, the tendrils weren’t going anywhere.
28. Curse of Raise Zombie
The clock in Noah’s vision ticked away. It’d been an hour since the bastard priest had tied him with the tendrils. He closed his eyes when he couldn’t take any more of the dark, gloomy surroundings. There was a door not far away from him, he had tried to shout at it, hoping someone would come, but no one opened that door or entered it.
The rumbling of his stomach and the foul smell of the head demon’s blood congealing on the floor were driving him mad, but he was angry at himself more than anything. The throne of the head demon was inches away, but he couldn’t even kick it to relieve his frustration.