“Lazy?” Fern scoffed as I followed her, finally free of discomfort, “The only reason I could seem at all lazy is because I’ve been doing all this other stuff.”
“I’m sure she was just blowing off steam,” I said, hoping that would be enough to heal the rift that had formed between the two women, “probably didn’t mean anything by it.”
“Eh, I wouldn’t say that,” Jesse added, apparently deciding to take the less helpful path, “but it probably wouldn’t be a bad idea for you two to hash it out.”
“Yeah,” Fern huffed as we got to the clearing, “like I’m going to…”
I didn’t see what had caused Fern to trail off at first, instead focusing on the fact that I’d somehow managed to get sand onto my lower back, but then I looked over at the garden.
The dark blue-skinned elf blended in brilliantly with her surroundings until you noticed her which, to me, said that some kind of illusion magic was at play to fiddle with my perceptive abilities.
That or, you know, sand.
“H-hi?” I stammered out confusedly as the nude elf looked between the three of us with her large black eyes, a mix of fear and curiosity clearly plastered across her face.
“And here I thought we were the only ones on the island.” Fern weakly chuckled, “Is she a part of-”
“We thought we were alone too,” Jesse interjected, a small amount of fear in his voice that concerned me slightly, “Dax, we might have a problem.”
“How’s that?” I asked, “I mean, in the nicest possible way, there’s three of us and she couldn’t be more than a hundred pounds soaking wet.”
“She’s also a dark wood elf,” Jesse snarled out through the corner of his mouth, “which means one of two things is going to happen in the next few seconds.”
“And what would they be?”
“One,” Fern replied before Jesse could, a worried tone taking over her voice, “she runs, proving that she and whoever she’s with aren’t dangerous. Mostly.”
“Two,” Jesse said, apparently accepting Fern’s answer, “she goes ahead and decides to use whatever spells or darts or whatever else she has in her arsenal and lock us in an undying nightmare until we die in agony.”
“Oh…” I trailed off, deciding that the elf was someone to fear, “So… what do we do?”
“We wait and pray,” Jesse whispered, “and try not to look her directly in the eyes.”
My eyes widened at that as I forced down a massive lump in my throat, “And um… what would you say to someone who, you know, hypothetically, did do that?”
“Do wha-oh you idiot…” Fern muttered fearfully.
“Thanks,” I replied somewhat scornfully, discovering in that moment that I was physically unable to look away from the elf’s portal-like eyes, “mind helping me now?”
“Friend,” Jesse chuckled concernedly, “only the gods can help you now.”
CHAPTER 5
Seconds that felt like hours passed by with me staring into the eyes of the undeniably attractive but all the same terrifying dark wood elf.
Why do I specify dark ‘wood’ elf? Simple, because I’d called her a ‘dark elf’ a few seconds prior and Fern looked about ready to slap me over it.
“What’s the plan here?” I asked for the third time after not getting a response.
“Don’t… die.” Jesse replied through the corner of his mouth, “Seriously, that’s the best we can hope for. I’ll do my best if she decides to attack you, but this island hasn’t exactly got a whole lot of hiding places.”
“Especially not from a wood elf,” Fern added, “we can feel the trees and the life if we get to know the island.”
I wanted to ask her what she meant about knowing the island, but it didn’t seem to be the time or the place.
Then, without warning, the dark wood elf bolted.
She said nothing.
Uttered no incantation.
And she most definitely didn’t do any creepy hand-waviness at me.
“Thank fuck for that…” Jesse muttered with a relieved sort of laugh before looking up at me with a grin, “Well, what are you doin’? Get on after her.”
“Are you serious?” I huffed out, realizing only then that I’d been holding my breath.
“Yeah,” Jesse replied, “you do want to fill out this harem of yours, don’t you? Not that there’s anything wrong with just you and Cas-”
“I got what you meant,” Fern interjected before turning to me, “you should go, I’ll make sure she hasn’t poisoned our food or anything.”
I still wasn’t altogether convinced that chasing someone who was apparently going to do… something to me was a good idea. But at the same time I trusted Jesse to know what he was talking about.
“Alright, Jesse, you’re with me,” I said before starting off after the elf, “you’re good to work on this while we’re gone?”
“Of course,” Fern called over as Jesse and I disappeared into the dense jungle, “it’s not exactly rocket science!”
It wasn’t long before I’d picked up a trail, not due to my excellent skills as a tracker or anything, but simply because the elf wasn’t exactly making it difficult to follow her what with the long stream of broken branches and muddy footprints that were stamped throughout the jungle.
“Doesn’t this seem a bit easy to you?” I asked as I hopped over a fallen tree.
“Not so much,” Jesse replied with a grunt after squeezing under yet another set of roots, “but yeah, I get what you mean. Truth is that they’ve got to make it at least a little bit easy, otherwise you’d just give up, which means no progression, which means boredom, which means logging off.”
“About that, why’d you seem so freaked out by her? You had to know that she wasn’t going to kill me, right?”
“I honestly didn’t,” Jesse said, “same as I didn’t know that that mermaid would lead you on a merry chase to a shark. This game’s going to surprise me, which I thought you’d already cottoned onto.”
“I have, I have,” I replied with a nod, “it’s just… I don’t know, you’ve seemed to be pretty knowledgeable about all the stuff directly related to the harem.”
After a few seconds without an answer, I turned around and discovered that he’d gone ahead and gotten himself stuck in a tree that split off into a V-shape in the middle.
“How’d that happen?” I asked with a little laugh as I walked over and tried to figure out a way to get him out.
“How do you think, genius?” Jesse snapped in response, clearly somewhat embarrassed by the compromising position he’d gotten himself into.
“Alright, alright, no need to get shitty,” I chuckled, “just give me a second…”
He was a hefty lizard, so picking him up didn’t seem like much of an option, and I was worried that just pulling him through would end with a lot of nasty gashes on his belly and tail.
“If you even think about using that axe of yours anywhere near me I swear I’ll go fuckin’ ballistic.”
“I wasn’t going to use the axe,” I scoffed before making a curious face, “however…”
“No, none of that, you’re not using an axe anywhere near me.” Jesse practically barked, “End of story. Not. Happening.”
I appreciated his concern, but at the same time it would make things a whole lot easier.
And then I had a face-palm moment.
“Okay, so I’m an idiot,” I said before crouching down in front of Jesse and reaching down under his belly, “you reckon if I lift you a little, you can kick off the tree and get the rest of the way through?”
Jesse had to think on that a moment but eventually nodded, “Should be able to, yeah. Just count me in so I don’t end up scratchin’ you.”
I nodded in response, then got ready to lift, “One. Two… Three!” I grunted out as I lifted him and was pushed back as he launched forward, knocking me on my ass and resulting with Jesse landing on me with his full weight.
“You alright?” Jesse asked conce
rnedly as he shuffled off of me.
“Mmhm…” I groaned inwardly, my lungs feeling like they’d had all the air sucked out of them, “I think I might just lay here for a few seconds, if that’s okay?”
Jesse didn’t respond.
“Jesse?” I practically creaked.
Still no response.
I figured he was simply taking his time to respond because he was doing… whatever it was that he did, but then a head popped in the top of my vision and I got a rough idea of what had happened.
“H-hello…” I trailed off concernedly as I looked up at the curious dark wood elf, “I-I’d shake your hand but-”
The elf silenced me with a finger to my lips, making a frustrated sort of face as she did so, bringing my attention to the dozens of tribal-looking tattoos on her forehead and cheeks which basically begged me to follow down her body with my eyes.
I stayed still though, refusing to look away from her face even when she leaned over me and lightly grazed my face with her heavily-tattooed breasts.
That wasn’t by choice, of course, it was some sort of weird hypnotism, kind of like back at the house, only there was less fear and more awkwardness.
It’s not awkward to have some random tickle your face with their nipples you say? I was just being a nervous nerd was I?
Okay, you go on thinking that the next time it happens to you.
Anyway, a few seconds went by, me trying to not get an erection, her prodding away at my crotch like a curious cat, before she finally decided to get up off of me, releasing this pressure I didn’t know had been on me.
“Can… can I get up now?” I asked nervously as the elf disappeared from immediate view.
“I’d say so, yeah.” Jesse replied, “Might be an idea to do it slow-like though, I ain’t exactly in a position that’ll end well if they get jumpy.”
“How do you…” I trailed off as I got to my feet and saw that my companion and guide was being pinned with knife above his head by another, slightly smaller elf.
“Yeah, not my proudest moment.” Jesse nervously chuckled while I looked around at the three, beautifully enchanting elves in front of me, “Mind telling them I’m a friend? I got a feeling that they thought I was attacking you.”
“What makes you say that?” I asked, watching the elves with curiosity and, if I’m being honest, more than a little bit of arousal.
“Because while you got to second base, I got pinned to the ground and threatened.”
“They can speak?”
“Not that I’ve heard, no,” Jesse replied before wincing as the elf above him put on a bit more pressure, “but I don’t think this here knife is meant to make me feel welcome.”
I chuckled a little at that and nodded, “Alright, yeah, that’s a pretty fair assumption. What am I supposed to do though?”
“Hope that they speak your language?” Jesse chortled through his teeth.
“And if they don’t?” I asked.
Jesse didn’t respond for a few seconds then forced a weak smile, “Well, it’s been nice knowin’ you.”
He let that sit in the air for a while, we both did.
I didn’t know what to say.
I didn’t know what I could say.
And then, for some God unknown reason, I uttered one simple, stupid, dumb-as-fuck, completely insensitive question.
“Does this mean the tutorial’s over?”
CHAPTER 6
I was stuck in a difficult position.
Again.
Though, truth be told, I was slightly happier that it wasn’t my head on the chopping block, despite how much of a dick that makes me sound.
Then the potential lizard-killer tensed her arm.
“Wait!” I shouted, raising my hand as I did, “He’s a friend.”
Jesse looked about ready to shit himself, but the elf had stopped and was looking between her friends and me with an unmistakable level of surprise.
“He’s… he’s a friend.” I repeated, watching and waiting for them to have completely misinterpreted or ignored what I’d said.
Then, after a few more seconds, the elf got off of Jesse and let him scramble over to me, nearly knocking her over with his tail in the process.
“Took you long enough,” Jesse muttered out through the corner of his mouth, “were you just waiting for the most dramatic moment or..?”
“No, douche,” I sniped back bitterly, “I just didn’t know what to do. I kind of freeze up under pressure.”
“Heh, good to know,” Jesse said as he rolled his eyes, “you’re goin’ to have to get on top of that, pretty fuckin’ soon if you want any chance of surviving what this world throws at you.”
“Can we talk about that later?” I asked after noticing that the elves looked about ready to bolt, “I’d like to get through this interaction.”
“By all means,” Jesse replied somewhat sarcastically, “not like I want to get the Hell out of here or anything.”
“I’m sure you’ll live.” I half-heartedly chuckled before getting an idea, “Hey, do you reckon they’d like food?”
“Fucked if I know,” Jesse scoffed, “all I know is that they’ve apparently got a problem with lizards.”
I took that as my opportunity to be the one rolling my eyes before lifting my hand in the elves’ general direction using the Toolbox to make a fruit appear which, understandably, made them basically jump out of their skin.
“It’s okay, it’s okay,” I said as calmly as I could while waiting for a knife to be thrown at my head, “it’s just fruit, you know, like at the house?”
I didn’t blame them for being concerned, if a dude raised his hand at me and made fruit appear I’d assume he was some kind of evil wizard, but I had to imagine that they at least had some idea of what magic was given their passive abilities.
“You can have it,” I added, realizing that I hadn’t made that clear, before taking a small step towards them, “seriously, I have heaps.”
They still seemed unsure, but one of them, the one I’d seen at the house, stepped forward and tentatively took the fruit, forcing a kind of cute but also slightly concerning smile as she did so before stepping back to join the others.
“I have more for you two,” I said before making two more of the fruits appear, one in each of their hands, “and as much as you can stomach if you like them.”
The elves were clearly somewhat unnerved by the fact that I’d stuck fruit in their hands, Hell, even I was kind of shocked by it, but as the first took a bite and let out an elated sort of moan the other two decided it was safe and dug in.
“So… what do I do from here?” I asked, watching the elves eat their fruit.
“Give them their space for a few seconds, see how they react.” Jesse replied, “They might follow us back, and I reckon it’ll be better if they’re with you when they meet Cassie and Fern.”
“Good point.” I said with a nod as I pictured Cassie going full-on berserker at the slightest sign of a threat.
Anyway, the elves eventually sat down and allowed Jesse and I to join them in a silent semi-circle while they continued eating.
“This is… fun?” I said in the hopes of starting a conversation.
No such luck.
“Can you girls talk or not?” Jesse asked bluntly, taking us all by surprise, “And before you think about pullin’ a knife of me again, know that I’m ready and I will bite you.”
No one said anything for a few seconds then one of the elves went to open her mouth, stopping when the one directly beside her shook her head.
“So you can talk.” I chuckled, feeling awfully proud of myself for picking up on something so obvious.
None of the elves responded, instead the one who had shaken her head finished her fruit, got to her feet, and walked away.
Naturally, I assumed I’d offended her somehow, but then she returned with a burlap sack and dumped it at my feet.
“What’s this?” I asked before peering into the bag and discove
ring that it was packed with what appeared to be cured meats.
“You mind scanning that?” Jesse practically gulped, “I’d hate to end up devouring it before you got the chance.”
“I… Sure, sure.” I replied, aiming my hand at the sack as I did so.
The elves were surprised by the fact that I’d made the sack disappear, but the reaction I got was far different and less intense than the previous witchcraft I’d shown them.
“One of three foods gathered…” Jesse muttered while I simply waited for the elves to do something other than sit there staring.
“Huh?”
“Your hand,” Jesse clarified, “says something about one of three foods gathered.”
I looked at my palm and discovered that Jesse was right, confusing me somewhat, “Does this…” I trailed off as I struggled to find a better word for ‘game’ to use in front of the elves, “does this world have… quests?”
“It would seem so, yeah.” Jesse replied with a nod before noticing something and jutting his chin towards the elves, “Or maybe it’s something to do with them.”
I followed his gesture and saw what he was referring to. One of the elves, the one who’d brought the meat, was lightly tapping her forehead and pointing to my hand.
“Ah,” I said before fully realizing what she meant, “oh, yes, psychic… thingy. Got you, makes sense.”
“Are you sure?” Jesse chuckled, “You seem a bit more stammery than most who get stuff.”
“Shut up,” I jabbed right as the elves got to their feet and walked back into the jungle behind them, “where do you think they’re going?”
“Probably somewhere to wait for you to finish getting their food.” Jesse replied matter-of-factly.
“And how am I supposed to know when I’ve got all the food they want?”
Jesse shrugged at that, “Dunno, doubt there’s goin’ to be much more than what you’ve already got. Maybe give them some fish?”
“How?” I half-heartedly laughed, “I know I should probably get used to it, but I ain’t exactly in the mood to go traipsing through the jungle in search of elves.”
Build-A-Harem- The Island Collection Page 9