by Tom Harem
"JAMES!" A voice called me away. Oh, shit. No. I'd recognize that voice anywhere.
"Naomi?"
"Hello! Are you hurt? Take this potion," she said and handed me a 50HP potion.
"What are you doing here?" I asked her before I accepted it.
"Is that any way to talk to your ex-girlfriend?" She asked and looked at the other girls, especially Emma, "I see you're in good company. I can cure them if they let me join the group." She asked.
She was at level 3 and had a bow as good as Emma's. It was going to be a choice we'd have to make very carefully. Would it really be worth having my ex-girlfriend on the team for some potions? My life was about to get very good or very bad. From the looks on the girls' faces, they weren't really finding Naomi very funny.
Chapter XXII
"Is she really your ex?" Emma asked me.
"Unfortunately, yes," I answered her.
"Unfortunately? Naomi asked, "You never complained about me while we were dating.
I took a deep breath, "Didn't you have a team?"
"And I do, but I'd rather play with you. You taught me everything I know, and I know I'll be stronger by your side,"
"We're already full," Jany intruded.
"Surely you can open a place for someone who has potions for everyone, can't you?"
"How come you have so many potions and a bow like that?" Mimi asked her, "You couldn't have killed so many beasts or you'd already be on a higher level.
"Well, there are advantages to having very rich parents and a good allowance," Naomi answered and laughed. Everything was a joke to her.
Damn it. I didn't want her on the team but having someone like her would come in handy. Not only would we have an infinite number of potions, but we would have someone else to protect us in the back. But I knew her well. I knew she'd try to cause discord between us, she'd try to get my attention.
"Naomi, give us some room. We need to talk about this," I told her.
"Sure, make the best decision," she said and walked away.
Damn it. It was as if she knew I was going to show up there and was just waiting for the right moment to ambush me.
"James, we're not really going to let her join us, are we?" Emma asked.
"We shouldn't, but she's right... We could use the potions not to mention the weapons we could buy if she joined us," Mimi said, as usual, prioritizing rationality over emotions.
"But she's his ex... We'll end up arguing, won't we, James? Tell them," Emma repeated, "We're not going to have any more fun with each other,"
"We can manipulate her," Jany said, looking at Naomi, who had leaned against one of the walls and twirled a few strands of hair around a finger, "we don't need to tell her every time we're online,"
"Don't you think she's gonna want us on her buddy list? She's rich, I don't think she's dumb," Mimi replied, now also looking at Naomi.
"She's not dumb but I don't think she's going to ask you. Besides, she has Spanish classes, swimming and horse riding. We'll have time to play without her," I told them, "we're really going to accept her, aren't we?"
"I guess so," Carly said, "if it has to be, it has to be,"
"I don't agree with this very much... but you know best!" Emma said, pouting.
At these times you could tell how childish she was in certain situations. No matter how much I realized why she was angry, we had to put the mission first. After all, it was the reason we were there.
"It's for the best," Mimi said and yawned, "I'll call her. It seems to me that she already knows our decision," she said.
We all looked at Naomi. Her amber eyes were on us; she smiled, two dimples popping up on her cheeks. My teeth were grinning. It pissed me off to see her like that, so confident, so sure that her plans were going to work. It had been like that her whole life. I wasn't surprised that she thought she would stay that way.
Mimi called her. She walked towards us always with a smile on her face.
"Have you made up your mind?" She asked and looked at me, "James?"
"Yes, yes, you can join our group. But if you ever get in trouble with someone, we'll kick you out, understand?"
"Yes, yes, yes. Sure. You can rest assured. I'll keep quiet," she said and clung onto my arm. She lay her head on it and looked up at me with her big, bright eyes.
The other girls all looked at me. Damn it. I hated being in the spotlight. They didn't need to ask me anything for me to know what was on their minds. They didn't like it.
"Hm, hm," Mimi expressed through some goral noises, "You can start by providing potions to those in need. We need to be at 100% if we're going to get inside the mountain," she said.
"Yeah. This isn't gonna be easy. I know there is a village about halfway there where we can heal but I don't know how long it will take to get there, let alone how many monsters we will face," Jany told us, "at least now I can use wind magic and James has fire. It will always be very helpful in the journey ahead," she added.
"You're very serious," Emma told her, "we're going to make it. We have to! Our city depends on it," she said.
"Your city? Is there anything I need to know?" Naomi asked me.
Great, that's all I needed. I ended up explaining to her why we were there, how we wanted to get stronger to return to the city and remove it from the tyrant Draken's hands. She nodded her head at every sentence I said, listening carefully to everything.
"Well, as long as I'm with you, it's okay. All right, let's save your city. Let's go," she said, extending her arms and selecting potions of HP, which appeared in her hands, "Take what you need. Do you need to buy any weapons?"
"Maybe a spear and a bat... If it's not too much to ask," Mimi said, "We need to increase our attack force,"
"Fair enough. The vendors are on the way out. Let's walk then," Naomi said and started walking. We followed her. She had her own way of walking. It was powerful, as if every step she took was sharp on the ground, as if anyone on the way had to stray away from her as her long hair sailed in the air. None of the girls said anything. They were staring at her with some disdain and distrust. Truth be told, she wasn't a bad person, but, also, I wouldn't say she was good as well.
There were two stalls, in opposite corners, meters before a red and white striped door that reached the ceiling.
Chapter XXIII
A woman in her 50s, her face already smudged and wrinkled and her skin tender, was selling potions. On the right side, a younger man, in his 30s, with a smooth brown beard up to his chest and thick sideburns, was inclined and stirred through a box with different types of bows. Both wore a black cloak that covered their bodies up to their knees. The woman had glass socks and the man had nothing to cover his hairy legs.
Naomi walked to the man and asked him to show us all the bats and spears he had. The man stood up slowly, with one hand on his back, and smiled at us, his eyes passing through each one of us.
"I have here the ideal for you!" He said. Each NPC had its own voice. This man's voice was hoarse but docile. We watched as he moved the box from before to the side and pulled two new ones out of the dozens he had behind him.
The man put them both on the table and opened them. Dozens of spears and bats shone in front of us; some cheaper already second-hand with corroded metal and others still with the grey glowing under the light lamps on both sides of the wall. Naomi signaled that Carly and Kendra would go ahead and choose the one that best suited them. Mimi was beside them guiding them.
"Not that one. It looks heavy, it won't do any good on the battlefield," she said as she watched Kendra pick up one of the bats, "It doesn't matter if it has more attack. It wouldn't pay off in battle. You must choose weapons that can be easily maneuvered," she added.
We must have taken about ten minutes there. Finally, they made up their minds; Kendra bought a bat that increased her attack power by 35 and her defense power by 15 while Carly bought a bigger spear with a sharper tip, receiving an attack bonus of 30 and 10 defense. Naomi then went to the other stand
and bought enough potions for a week. On top of everything else, she bought a rare and random item; a red ring. The saleswoman warned her that it was only for one use and should not be wasted. Naomi offered me the ring as a peace offering.
The girls had their mouths wide open. Even the players around us had their eyes on Naomi. It was not normal for such a rich player to be on such a low level, not when she could buy a traveler's pass that would allow her to travel between cities without having to make the journey. The VIP ticket, as the game administrators called it.
"We've got it all, right? Emma said, "I'm tired. Don't you?"
"Yes... The last battle brought me to my knees," Jany said, closing and opening his fists, "My hands still hurt.
"The best thing to do is go and rest then," Mimi said, "I'll meet you here in 6 hours? 8?"
"Are you leaving already? What a shame," Naomi said, folding her arms in front of her chest.
"We almost returned to level 1 in the last battle," Carly said, after a long period of silence, "Thank you for the new spear. Kendra appreciates it too," she said.
"Must I?" Kendra asked her, "Isn't she just doing her duty? That's what she promised when we let her in," Kendra said.
"It doesn't matter. It's the least you can do," Carly replied, and frowned, shaking her head towards Naomi.
"Okay, you're right," Kendra answered her and looked at Naomi, "Thanks for the bat. It'll come in handy when I'm saving your life," she said.
Naomi laughed, "You're welcome. So, we'll meet here in 8 hours, right?"
"Yes," Mimi replied and looked at everyone, waiting to see if anyone objected, "Well, see you later," she said, and her avatar disappeared in seconds.
"James! Before you go... Can I stop by your house? You still live in that small apartment, right?" Naomi asked.
She could have waited for the other girls to disappear or just sent a message like before but no, she wanted to take a chance and test them. That's what she did; she drove people crazy.
"Yes, I do, and no, you can't. I'm going to rest now. My sleeping schedule is all shades of fucked," I answered her and pretended to yawn.
"You're a terrible liar, you know that? I've always liked that about you. We'll have time to recover what we once had," she said. She winked and her avatar also dissipated.
"I'm sorry. She's just like that," I told the other girls, all of whom were focused on me, their half-closed eyes and bowed eyebrows.
"I don't like her! Emma said, "This won't go well... But I respect your decision,"
"It's for the good of the city. You know that," Carly said to her and put her arm around her neck, "in a while you won't even notice her,"
"I hope so... We'd better get going then. I also want to get some sleep," Emma told us before she left.
"Well, I'll see you later, too. I'm looking forward to experiencing my new powers. With the new weapons and the magic, we shouldn't have any deadly problems until we get to the village," Jany said, maneuvering her hammer as if it were a yo-yo.
One by one, the girls left. Just me, looking around, just a nobody at the opaque tunnel, full of dozens of other players talking to each other, some exchanging information about the groups that were sweeping through the path. I approached a group before logging out. A boy with just over 1.50, with white clothes covered in blood drops and wet hair diverted to the right, recounted that he had been the only survivor of a quarrel with a group of three raiders. He cried out to anyone who wanted to hear him that 3 of them had been enough to defeat the other 7 members of his group.
"They were all level 8!" He shouted, almost breathlessly, "Aren't the game administrators going to do anything? It's impossible to play like this," he shouted.
A wave of complaints and lamentable whispers rose in the crowd. From levels 2 to 7 everyone agreed that they were a threat to be dealt with even if no one had offered a good solution. I got tired of the whining and got out of the game.
The late afternoon light threads slipped through the blinds. They lit up my room and reflected on the crystal table, dividing themselves into 7 stripes of different shades of yellow.
I still went to the bathroom and washed my face. I looked in the mirror. My brown hair was a mess and my thin lips were cracked. Nobody would say that I hadn't done more than play in the last two days if it wasn't for my dark rings. A strong grey under my eyes that anyone could see from a distance. I ate some biscuits that I had in a small box on top of the marble countertop in the kitchen and went back to my room. 8 hours of sleep was all I needed to regain my energy. I hadn't told them but I, like Jany, was eager to put my magic to work.
Chapter XXIV
I woke up with someone knocking on my door. Shit. Naomi. The only person who banged three times in groups of two gentle knocks. Again, she was ignoring what I had told her not to do. It wasn't the first time and I know it wouldn't be the last. I was still wearing the clothes from the day before when I walked to the door. My eyes were still half closed, and my lips were dry. The only bottle of water I had in the room was empty and if I didn't open the door, she would keep repeating the same knock with 10-second pauses between each set.
"Naomi, what the hell do you want?" I told her, through the intercom.
"Don't be like that. Open the door for me. I brought my computer. That way I can play near you," she said and waved through the little hole in the door.
I opened the door for her, "All right, you have your computer but how do you plan to wear the virtual reality glasses? I only have enough internet for one user.
"Don't worry. I bought the mobile version. I just need a place to lie down and I have internet and a guaranteed connection. Look," she said and pointed to a bracelet with a luminescent blue stripe on her left arm, "Come on, let's go. We still have about a half hour free," she said.
"What do you mean by that?" I asked her. She entered my house and walked down the hall until she got to my room, " I see you haven’t done anything to your room yet, it’s still a mess.”
"Yeah," I told her, "You didn't answer me,"
"James, come on, you know me, you know I don't take no for an answer," she said and walked into my room.
I didn't follow her right away. I took a deep breath and stretched my arms. Damn it. What had I gotten myself into? She needed a lesson. When I walked into my room, I found her half-naked, underwear only. The words got stuck in my throat. Her body looked even better than we dated. She wandered around; her butt had grown, and her breasts looked slightly bigger, as if they were not big enough already. She said nothing. She laughed. Again, that grin of a person who had me in her hand. The worst of it was that I could not look away from her body.
"What are you waiting for?" She finally said, unbuttoning her bra, dropping it on the floor of my room, "No one will know."
"But... we can't. I can't. You broke up with me, Naomi. You can't come back when you feel like it," I replied. My body warmed up more and more and my clothes stuck to my skin. My dick was already upright and rubbed against the boxers.
"But you do, don't you? I know you," she said and walked up to me, putting one of her hands on my bulge, "Look at this. I missed you. But if you ask me, I shouldn't have broken up with you,"
"You just think that now that I've moved on. You always have to have what you can't, Naomi. It's your biggest flaw,"
"What if it is? Are we going to do this or not," she said and folded her arms. Her tits looked even bigger now that they were being crushed by her slender arms.
I really wanted to tell her no, but I couldn't. I haven't had sex since we broke up and, as I've heard, the craziest girls are the best fuckers.
"Put your arms down," I told her. She obeyed and her tits dropped into the air as if they were on a trampoline.
"Okay, now what?" She asked and then bit her lower lip.
She had me there. I approached her and put my hands on her ass, grabbing it tightly. Then I lifted her up and laid her on the bed. She smiled and squeezed her tits.
"I already missed t
his. You know, I haven't been with anyone since we broke up," she told me.
I did not know if she was being honest, but it was not the right time to think about it either. I just nodded my head and moved on to her neck. My lips pressed the protruding contours of her veins before going down to her tits. She'd let out little groans with every kiss. Her nails scratched my back.
I licked both her nipples. My tongue swirled over them as my fingers closed around her neck. She loved it when I did it. She used to tell me that she loved the thrill of panting, of knowing that she was at my mercy.
"Go down," she asked me, "please," she added, already in a weak, shaking voice.
I obeyed her. I kissed her belly until I reached her navel, always with my hands squeezing her tits, sometimes rubbing her nipples.
The moaning’s kept muffled. Naomi knew we couldn't make too much noise. It wouldn't be the first time that my neighbor would knock on my door after we got carried away.
My lips touched softly on her red lace panties. She squirmed. I slipped her panties aside and licked her pussy once, lightly, just with the tip of my tongue.
"What are you doing? Do it," she told me.
"You can't always have all the power in your hand," I answered her, and put the panties back in place. First, I kissed her legs, all the way down to her knees. Then, the damp lips pressed down on the inner hips. Naomi writhed and asked for more than that. I had her exactly where I wanted her. Her panties were already stained. She was wetter than usual. Maybe she was being honest when she told me that she hadn't been with anyone since we broke up.
As soon as I started to take her panties off, she released a "finally" of relief. The fabric went down her legs as she tightened her breasts, also biting her lower lip.
A few threads of moisture stuck to the lace. She laughed timidly. I grabbed her hips and sank into her pussy. I licked her from the bottom to the top and twirled my tongue around her clitoris. She was losing control, groaning loudly, her back twitching. She was even prettier with sweat running down her face. Her cheeks sparkled and her natural sweet scent spread across the room.