《Winter's Tale》 Chapter 1: Entering the Tale ¡°Yahoo!¡± Kyle yelled as he jumped off the bus and ran towards his house. He¡¯d never been so excited before to get home! Today was February 4, the exact midpoint of Winter, and it was the date that Winter¡¯s Tale was going to open up their servers to the public finally! And, as if it wasn¡¯t exciting enough that the newest, most-immersive VR-game ever was starting, he was going to be paid to play it! Kyle¡¯s grandfather was the CEO of VRIM (corporate executive officer of Virtual Reality Information Media), and he¡¯d offered Kyle a paying job to log into Winter¡¯s Tale and give weekly status reports, opinion pieces, and video clips of his game play experience to the company so it could be aired through the internet, cable, and satellite shows that the company produced. They were going to have a dozen different players immerse themselves into the game and give reports to the public about their experience, and Kyle¡¯s grandfather had chosen him to represent the high school male demographic. It was almost a dream come true; being payed to play a video game! ¡°Mom,¡± Kyle yelled into the house as soon as he got inside the door, ¡°I¡¯m going to head on upstairs and do my homework before I have to log in and start working tonight. Tonight¡¯s when Winter¡¯s Tale finally opens their servers, so don¡¯t disturb me after supper, OK?¡± Only silence answered his shouts, and Kyle slapped his head lightly. No one was home this evening; his mother was working a late shift at the hospital ¨C she was a nurse there ¨C and his father hadn¡¯t been around for several months since their divorce. If he was honest with himself, he missed seeing his father every day and spending time with him, but after the divorce that just hadn¡¯t happened. They¡¯d both promised that nothing would change with the way they treated him, and cared for him, but that obviously wasn¡¯t true. His father sent the child support and alimony checks on time each month, but other than that he didn¡¯t seem to have time for them anymore ¨C but Kyle wasn¡¯t going to let that bother him today! It was the opening day for Winter¡¯s Tale, and his new job. Since no one was home to fuss at him for not doing his homework directly, Kyle rushed up to his room and tossed his book bag over to the bed and grabbed up his V-RIG (Virtual Reality Interactive Gear) and rubbed and polished it to a shine while admiring it. A VRIG was made basically like a helmet, but it was the newest generation of user interactive gear. For some time, people had tried to create a neural interface device (NID) for virtual reality immersion, but the government had banned their production and sell. Having something stab a needle into people¡¯s nerves and hijack the signals to their brain and nervous system was simply too dangerous. Dozens of groups opposed the technology, and hundreds of lawsuits were filed against any company which tried to market such devices ¨C until the government eventually banned them completely. The new V-RIG devices worked off sonic technology and didn¡¯t require any sort of brain or nerve interface at all. No dangerous needles or hijacking of the brain¡¯s natural processes with a V-RIG. Instead, the headgear would create microscopic sonic waves which vibrated at distinct frequencies and directly stimulated certain areas of the brain. The way the book he¡¯d read with his V-RIG had described it, it was compared to how a microwave sends waves to the center of food to heat it from the inside out ¨C only the waves a V-RIG used were much lower in power and much more precision directed. It was said that the direct stimulation could produce full virtual immersion with a V-RIG, and from where he¡¯d played around with just the system OS, Kyle could believe it. Placing the red and black helmet firmly on his head, Kyle imagined the system waking up and then after a few moments it responded by creating a shimmering blue screen in the middle of a void of black nothingness. This was the default system OS screen, and by itself it wasn¡¯t anything too impressive. The default start-up gave the impression of being in a completely dark room somewhere, with no light or sound at all, with nothing more than a blue screen hovering in midair. To be honest, Kyle thought the basic interface was a little creepy, but that was probably because he hadn¡¯t read all the instructions and set any background scenery or anything yet. And actually, he didn¡¯t want anything very fancy with the OS itself; a plain black screen with the blue interface was fine for him as it didn¡¯t have any chance of distracting him and keeping him from logging in to Winter¡¯s Tale. Thinking of Winter¡¯s Tale, the blue screen flickered and then the scenery around him changed until it resembled a forest with a small waterfall and pool. The wind rippled lightly through the trees and there was a slight smell of flowers and mist in the air. For several long moments, Kyle simply stared at everything around him in shock ¨C the game servers weren¡¯t supposed to be opened for play yet! Glancing around, the first thing Kyle noticed was that his own body was nothing more than a swirling mass of colored gas floating in thin air. Focusing, he found that he could zoom out and look down upon the rainbow ball of gas that was apparently him and could rotate all around it. Concentrating on the ball, a message hovered above it which read, ¡°SEX: Male, Female, None, Hermaphroditic.¡± Concentrating on ¡°None¡±, as it held the most interest to him at the moment, a new set of pop-ups appeared. ¡°Race: Slime, Elemental, Construc¡­.¡± Apparently there were more choices which he could wait to scroll across the limited screen area, but he simply shook his head to clear it and the ball went back to floating in midair once more. He¡¯d heard that Winter¡¯s Tale was going to have hundreds of possible ways for a person to play and immerse themselves into the game, and apparently even monsters were allowable for the players to become! It truly was an awesome thing to think about, but it wasn¡¯t what he wanted for his primary character. ¡°I need a character that will get me ratings and help me climb the charts in my job,¡± he thought to himself as he considered the options. ¡°First, the sex should be female, as everyone prefers to watch the female avatars in action.¡± The ball of gas altered slightly and took on a basic outline of a feminine form, and a pop-up for races appeared. ¡°Human, Elf, Fairy, Dwar¡­¡± Thinking for a moment, Kyle said ¡°Elf¡± and the outline changed to become slightly more slender and graceful looking, with the long pointed ears commonly associated with elves in fantasy games. The text floating above the image now read, ¡°Sub-Race: Alter, Forest, High, Moon, Nig¡­¡± ¡°Alter?¡± The first name was one which he didn¡¯t quite understand, and it made a question mark appear in the center of the floating female figure before him and dozens of windows pop up all around. As he studied the various windows floating around, Kyle realized that they were customization screens. Playing with the settings some, he altered the basic elven female frame to make it slightly taller. He added a little mass to the overall avatar, and then made the breasts and hips a little rounder, fuller, and bouncier looking. He wanted a character which was going to stand out and get attention, and apparently he¡¯d struck gold by choosing to make a ¡°Female Alter-Elf¡±! Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. The legs he altered to be long and slender. The feet were tiny and sexy. For over an hour he focused on altering the face to make it perfect ¨C slightly curved Asian eyes sparked a luminant blue, with perfectly shaped brows and lashes to highlight them. The nose was just the perfect size for the face, and the lips were full and slightly pink, while the overall skin tone was very pale and creamy. He chose silver-white hair, with a natural wave to it that extended to almost the knees as the final touches on the character and then stood back to admire his work. He truly had created the sexiest female avatar that he could imagine! It was a true masterpiece of art and beauty, and Kyle was smiling happily to himself knowing that it was something which everyone could enjoy watching running around the game and interacting with the environment. There¡¯s no telling what the rival reporters in his grandfather¡¯s company might choose to play, but Kyle was certain that the character he¡¯d just created wouldn¡¯t lose in looks to any of them! Finally, he accepted all the changes, and the multiple windows faded and just the figure of the luscious female alter-elf floated in midair before him. Taking a few moments to float around the avatar, there wasn¡¯t a single flaw which he could find in his work. Grinning in complete satisfaction, Kyle looked up and noticed a simple ¡°CONTINUE?¡± floating above the image now. ¡°Yes,¡± he said simply, as the text disappeared and a screen popped up which had a set of stats and numbers on it.¡± ¡°Points Available: 1000¡± ¡°STRENGTH : 0 ¡°AGILITY : 0 ¡°ENDURANCE : 0 ¡°MYSTICISM : 0 ¡°SPIRITUALISM : 0 ¡°KNOWLEDGE : 0 ¡°WILL : 0 ¡°PRESENCE : 0 ¡°LUCK : 0¡± ¡°Nine stats and a thousand points; that doesn¡¯t seem so bad,¡± Kyle thought to himself. ¡°The only problem is I don¡¯t know if those points are simply for stats, or if they can carry over for skills, spells, and items later. There really wasn¡¯t a lot to go on, as far as game documentation goes, they were keeping things under wraps so tightly prior to release, so I¡¯m not certain how this all works. The only thing I know for certain is that I don¡¯t want to have to start over with the creation process, after all the time I put into adjusting the looks alone!¡± For a long time, Kyle floated and argued with himself about how he wanted to proceed with his points. One thing that bothered him was the fact that he didn¡¯t know what the starting numbers for an elf was! He¡¯d chosen the ¡°alter-elf¡± option, which seemed to him to offer full customization, and that meant that he didn¡¯t know the general base of figures that a ¡°normal elf¡± character would have. Would a 0 strength make him too weak to swing a sword? Or was 0 the standard, and everything above that a bonus? He really didn¡¯t know, but he didn¡¯t want to lose his work so far just to back up and find out either! Finally, he decided that he¡¯d make each stat at least a ten to start with. Even if it wasn¡¯t anything great, at least it wouldn¡¯t be a zero, and should at least give him a reasonable starting point for his stats. At least, he hoped so, as ninety points disappeared from his total in the blink of an eye. ¡°Points Available: 910¡± ¡°STRENGTH : 10 ¡°AGILITY : 10 ¡°ENDURANCE : 10 ¡°MYSTICISM : 10 ¡°SPIRITUALISM : 10 ¡°KNOWLEDGE : 10 ¡°WILL : 10 ¡°PRESENCE : 10 ¡°LUCK : 10¡± He didn¡¯t want to spend all his points in stats alone, just on the off-chance that they were needed later. After some thought, Kyle decided to spend half his total on stats, and save half for what came next. He wanted to create a character that people would like to watch play the game, so after a little thought he decided to spend his points in agility, mysticism, knowledge, and presence. ¡°Points Available: 450¡± ¡°STRENGTH : 10 ¡°AGILITY : 100 ¡°ENDURANCE : 10 ¡°MYSTICISM : 100 ¡°SPIRITUALISM : 10 ¡°KNOWLEDGE : 100 ¡°WILL : 10 ¡°PRESENCE : 200 ¡°LUCK : 10¡± Kyle had ended up spending a few more points than he¡¯d intended, but he was pretty happy with the results. Agile, mystical, knowledgeable, and someone that stood out and people noticed ¨C it was the perfect combination for the character he was hoping to play. It was perfect for his job! After a few moments, the simple ¡°CONTINUE?¡± appeared once again, floating above the image. Confirming to himself that he was happy with what he¡¯d spent so far, Kyle said ¡°Yes,¡± and the text disappeared to be replaced with a blinking prompt which simply read ¡°User Input¡±. What the hell was that supposed to mean? User Input? Input what? ¡°Umm¡­ I¡¯d like a heal spell.¡± Ten points faded from his total, giving him 440 now, and the prompt changed to ¡°Power?¡±, while ¡°Heal: ??¡± appeared to float below his luck stat. Was it asking for how many points he wanted to spend in healing? Kyle really wasn¡¯t certain, but he decided to go ahead and spend his points down to an even 400. ¡°Forty,¡± he said and the window updated. ¡°Points Available: 336¡± ¡°STRENGTH : 10 ¡°AGILITY : 100 ¡°ENDURANCE : 10 ¡°MYSTICISM : 100 ¡°SPIRITUALISM : 10 ¡°KNOWLEDGE : 100 ¡°WILL : 10 ¡°PRESENCE : 200 ¡°LUCK : 10 ¡°SPELL ¨C HEAL : 40¡± ¡°Looks good,¡± Kyle thought to himself. ¡°Now I just need to finish off a few other things to start with, and I¡¯ll be good to get started. I¡¯m certain I can earn more points and learn different things once actually in the game. I wonder if I there¡¯s a setting so I can recover magic at a faster rate than normal?¡± Almost instantly the text changed to show, ¡°Power?¡±, while ¡°Mystic Regen : ??¡± appeared floating under the ¡°SPELL ¨C HEAL: 40¡± entry. ¡°100.¡± Kyle figured a hundred points in mystical regeneration would be fine, and then he¡¯d have points left over to choose an attack and defense magic, but at that point the avatar swirled around crazily, a loud ringing noise echoed all about, and slowly he found his consciousness entering the floating female avatar that had been before him a moment ago. Slowly, he raised his soft feminine arms and covered his ears with his dainty elegant fingers as the scenery swirled and changed and he found himself elsewhere. Chapter 2: Stuck Where? When the ringing stopped, and the world came into focus once again, Kyle found himself lying on a luxurious canopy bed, sprawled out across pale blue silken sheets. Dazed, he looked down and found himself in the perfect female form which he¡¯d spent so long designing; wearing nothing more than a thin camisole made from white silken lace. Gently he lifted the top of the camisole slightly and glancing down, stared at the perfectly shaped curves of the breasts inside it. ¡°Status,¡± he said in a soft, gentle, melodic voice, and a game status window appeared.
Name: NoneClass: NoneLevel: 0
Race: X¡¯entian Elf (Altered)Experience: 0 / 1000
Title: Princess of X¡¯entiaStatus: 2nd PrincessCP: 0
HP: 20 / 20MP: 200 / 200SP: 20 / 20
PD: 0 (10)DR: 0MD: 0
STR: 10KNO: 100WIL: 10
AGI: 100MYS: 100PRE: 200
END: 10SPI: 10LUC: 10
TALENTS
Mystical Regen: 7.5 ¨C Recovers mystical energy at 7.5 times the normal character rate
SPELLS
HEAL: 40 -- heals 40 HP for 1 MP
SKILLS
Taking a moment to look over the status screens, Kyle cringed slightly inside. Something had glitched with the character creation process, and he¡¯d created a character who had no skills or talents except for an ability to heal, and quickly recover mana. With no fighting ability, and no defending ability, there wasn¡¯t any way that this character was going to be possible to play! ¡°Log out!¡± He almost cried thinking about all the hard work he¡¯d put into the character customization process to create the perfect beauty, and now it was all gone. The world faded to black slowly, and soon he was back to the blue screen hovering over darkness that was his standard virtual-OS setting. ¡°Log In, Winter¡¯s Tale,¡± he thought to the OS, so he could pull up and restart the game. Feeling bad about losing all the time it took to make his character, Kyle didn¡¯t see any other way he could proceed and continue with the game with the hopeless character he¡¯d created before. Slowly, the blue OS screen faded out, and the bedroom faded back into view. When he looked around again, he was once more back in the game. Logging in to Winter¡¯s Tale took you directly to where your character had logged out last, and not back to character select! ¡°Oh¡­ SHIT!¡± Kyle leapt up from the bed and almost fell over from the sudden shift in his body¡¯s balance as his breasts swayed and bounced freely under the silken nighty. His ankles hurt, and his feet ached for some strange reason which he couldn¡¯t fathom at the moment. ¡°Log out to character select!¡± His slight feminine voice cried out, and the world slowly faded away and he reappeared back at the standard OS screen. ¡°No! NO! NOOO!¡± Kyle screamed at the OS window. ¡°Pull up news on Winter¡¯s Tale, deleting characters and making new ones!¡± He yelled at the OS and the screen flickered for a moment before popping up several different windows. Quickly, he studied them, and his heart sank in despair. Winter¡¯s Tale was designed to offer an ¡°immersive character experience¡±, and as such they only allowed character resets every thirty days by enforcing something called a ¡°legacy system.¡± He had to log at least thirty days playing time on his character before he could delete it and create another one. The only good news was that some of his original character points, wealth, and items could be transferred to the new character through the legacy system. But for now, for at least the next thirty days, he was stuck playing a character without a single offensive or defensive ability! He had to play, if he wanted to do his job; and unfortunately, if he did his job well, people would learn to associate that character with the news reports that his grandfather¡¯s company produced. If he got popular ¨C and who wouldn¡¯t want to watch a sexy little thing like his character play around ¨C his grandfather might not allow him to get rid of it! Too much popularity, and he might have to play such a worthless character forever. Too little popularity, and his grandfather might be forced to fire him from the payroll for not bringing in enough viewers. Kyle felt he was doomed, no matter what he did. Feeling defeated before he even got started, Kyle called up the game once more. ¡°Winter¡¯s Tale¡±, he half-mumbled to thin air. Once again the OS screen slowly faded away and he reappeared back in the bedroom, standing as he had before. Strangely enough, his feet and ankles ached slightly again, for some unknown reason. ¡°Great. I made a character with arthritis or some other strange defect,¡± he mumbled melodically to himself. Glancing down, he didn¡¯t see any reason for his feet to ache dully as they did. Gently, he lifted himself up and down on his tiptoes a few times, as the idea of pain of any sort inside a game was slightly odd to him, and strangely enough he discovered that by standing on his tiptoes the ache disappeared. It was only when he tried to stand with his full foot upon the ground that he felt the mild discomfort. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Frowning slightly, he continued to stand on his tiptoes and look around the room. The bedroom he was in could be considered as nothing less than lavish. The floor was tiled in pale blue marble, and the walls and ceiling were made of some flawless ivory stone. Rich, vibrant tapestries draped across several of the walls, and there were multiple wardrobes full of various bright and colorful clothes. A mahogany table was directly across from the bed, with a high-backed chair sitting beside it, and a huge silver mirror behind it. The whole place simply screamed ¡°RICH¡±, ¡°IMPORTANT¡±, ¡°POWERFUL¡± to him, and Kyle couldn¡¯t believe it was a standard starting location for characters. Most games had the characters appear in front of some old mayor-type dude, who immediately wanted to give them a quest to get them to interact with the other NPCs and things around them. There wasn¡¯t anyone like that in here, and when he¡¯d looked at his status, he had a princess title? What game lets you start as a princess?! They¡¯d said that Winter¡¯s Tale was a game unlike any other, and from his experience so far, Kyle definitely believed that! Maybe things wouldn¡¯t be go so badly for him, if he could command a knight to join with him and do the fighting while he healed them. Surely, once he earned a few levels and attained a class, he could pick up some fighting and defense skills and then things might not be so bad. Getting ready to walk around to check things out, Kyle almost tripped over a pair of shoes which were sitting beside the bed. Even though he had an agility of 100, he was still having some issues with his balance and moving. The whole female body was something which took some getting used to, and trying to stay tippy-toed didn¡¯t help any. Slowly, he sat down on the edge of the bed and picked up the shoes to examine them. They were ivory white, silken cloth slippers, and they had long stiletto heels on them! Back home, they¡¯d be called the ¡°stripper¡¯s heels¡±, as they were at least six inches in length. ¡°No way!¡± If that¡¯s what he¡¯d been wearing all day, that¡¯d explain why his ankles and heel hurt! Laughingly, he slid one on each foot and then slowly stood up to try and sashay across the room. He¡¯d always heard that it was almost impossible to walk in heels, but much to his surprise, he had no issues with them at all, and oddly enough his feet didn¡¯t hurt trying to walk anymore while in them. ¡°Crap!¡± Kyle couldn¡¯t help but complain again, as he thought about the issue. There were some strange customs in the real world concerning shoes and society. In China, wealthy women of status used to bind their feet and completely reshape them so that they could wear smaller shoes and have tiny delicate feet to show off. Apparently, there might be some strangely similar custom with the wealthy elves of status inside the game; sexy heels were the fashion, even to the point where not wearing them caused issues. As he was wondering about how the heck he was going to be able to go adventuring while in such ridiculous footwear, the door to his room burst open and an old, wrinkled, human woman rushed in. She looked to be in her seventies, with frazzled white hair. Tears were streaming down her eyes, and she rushed up and hugged Kyle tightly. ¡°May the gods have mercy on your soul child. They¡¯ve ordered your death. And before your naming day, no less!¡± The old woman cried loudly, and her face was swollen and red from grief. ¡°My¡­ death?¡± All thoughts about shoes instantly faded from Kyle¡¯s head. What did she mean, his death? ¡°Aye. The council has declared you an abomination. The accident with your magic has changed you beyond the point where they accept you as one of their own anymore. Your father, the king, protested their decision and has been arrested. The whole palace is in an uproar, and they¡¯re coming this way!¡± The old woman shoved a bundle into Kyle''s hands as she continued on, ¡°Take this, and I hope the gods have mercy on you. This is the last task your old Nan can perform for you. I pray you think kindly of me from time to time, lass!¡± With a sudden movement, the old woman raised a silver blade and sliced it across her own throat. Blood poured from the wound, as armored men dashed into the room with swords raised. ¡°Get her!¡± They screamed and charged as the old woman weakly brought a crumpled looking page to her throat and held it against the wound. The men had almost closed the distance as a bright light erupted from the paper, and the world faded away. When the light had dimmed, Kyle found himself elsewhere once again. This time he was in a dark forest somewhere, with no idea of where he might be. The old woman crumpled and then shimmered and disappeared, leaving a single copper coin where she¡¯d last been. With her dying act, she¡¯d teleported him from the palace and deposited him elsewhere. Unfortunately, Kyle had no idea where that elsewhere might be. Or, how he was going to survive being in it with his lack of talents! Chapter 3: Assessing the Situation ¡°First things, first,¡± Kyle said to himself in the light melodic voice which he was beginning to recognize as his own. Unwrapping the bundle that the old woman had shoved into his arms, he saw that it was a bundled up cloak made with a vibrant white, thick silk, with an emblem of a blue sun blazing brightly on both sides. What appeared to be a fruitcake and a leather waterskin bundled inside it. Slowly, he sat the waterskin down and then placed the fruitcake on top of it so it wouldn¡¯t get dirty while he wrapped the cloak around himself. Herself. If Kyle was going to have to play a female in the game, he was going to have to start thinking in feminine terms. The cloak was warm and soft as she pulled it up around her neck and fumbled with the lacy silken strap that fastened it in place. The cloak basically bunched into a single long strip of cloth which dangled down the center of her back, and didn¡¯t seem anything like what Kyle expected. Twisting it and turning it a few times, she noticed that it had another set of lacy silken straps on each of the far corners at the top of the cloak, and those could be tied around the top of the forearms, near the shoulders, to hold the cloak in place better. This wasn¡¯t a cloak to wrap completely around one¡¯s self; it was merely one which offered some minor protection to the back and fluttered decoratively and majestically behind the person wearing it. The old woman had grabbed what Kyle assumed to be a decorative, but rather useless, cloak used for royal ceremonies. It looked nice, but was almost worthless in protecting against the rain, weather, or cold. Taking a quick look at her starting gear, Kyle was completely downtrodden. ¡°Inventory,¡± she whispered in a small whimpering voice, hoping that it wouldn¡¯t be as bad as she imagined.
ItemPositionDurabilityNotes
Silk NightyTorso3 / 3Stylish and elegant, offers no protection and is easily torn and damaged
Silken HeelsShoes3 / 3Six inch heeled footwear that only royalty would wear. Completely useless and impractical for most people.
Silken CloakBack5 /5A ceremonial cloak, offering minimal protection from the elements.
¡°Shit! Damn! Fuck!¡± The fact that her voice even made cussing sound songlike didn¡¯t do a thing to help sooth Kyle¡¯s mood. He was stuck playing a completely crap character! No armor, no weapons, no spells ¨C or even skills ¨C for offensive or defensive use. No town. No starting quest givers. To be one of the most hyped games ever, he was finding it to have a completely shitty intro! ¡°Quests?¡± Kyle asked, while feeling hopeless. Expecting nothing to appear, he was surprised when another window popped up in front of him with a few different entries. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
QuestDescription
Naming RitesComplete the traditional ceremony to choose a name for yourself. Difficulty: F Reward: Character Name, 100 EXP
Survive!Do not die. The elven council has ordered your death, and you should not bow to their whims and wishes. Difficulty: * SPECIAL ¨C Increases in difficulty, over time * Reward: * SPECIAL ¨C Increased experience bonus, over time * Limitation: * SPECIAL ¨C Experience loss due to death increases, over time *
Kingdom ReclamationThe council¡¯s order to execute you was not well received by the king. His refusal to obey the council¡¯s decision has led to the elven nation of X¡¯entia falling into rebellion, revolution, and chaos. Reclaim the kingdom for your family! Difficulty: * UNIQUE ¨C Game altering quest; of the highest order.* Reward: Restoration of Title, Cancellation of Council¡¯s Death Order
¡°What the hell¡­¡± Kyle couldn¡¯t believe what he was reading. Who starts out with a quest to reclaim a whole kingdom?! Shouldn¡¯t that be one of those quests you get after gaining tons of levels, wealth, and power in a game? How the heck was she supposed to do anything about a quest like that, when she was basically naked, helpless, and alone in some god forsaken forest somewhere! Even the quest for the naming rite was impossible for him at the moment, and it was supposedly a simple rank F quest! Just what the heck was a ¡®traditional ceremony¡¯, and how did one perform it? He didn¡¯t have a clue! Frustrated beyond words, Kyle flopped and sat down on the ground. Of all the games he¡¯d ever played in the past, this one had the crappiest beginning of any of them ¨C and this was the game he was supposed to be getting paid for playing! Honestly, he didn¡¯t have any enthusiasm for even trying to do anything with the pitiful excuse that was his character, but what choice did he have? Kyle thought he was going to have the best job in the world ¨C playing an awesome game for money ¨C but instead he was stuck in this dismal place, with this dismal character for at least the next month. He didn¡¯t have something that he could play enthusiastically; he was stuck in an endless mire that he didn¡¯t like at all. It was heartbreaking in its own way. Kyle got to play games everyday now, but he couldn¡¯t enjoy it. It was simply his job, and like most jobs, he just knew it was going to be dull, tedious, and a pain in the ass! Way to go, Winter¡¯s Tale! Take all the fun out of a game, and turn it into work! Worst game, ever!! Chapter 4: Taking a Break After simply sitting and pouting for a while, Kyle realized that feeling sorry for himself wasn¡¯t getting him anywhere. ¡°Nothing to it, but to do it, I guess,¡± he thought to himself. It¡¯s a shame that the dagger the old woman had used to slice her throat wasn¡¯t there; Kyle could really use a weapon ¨C any weapon ¨C right about now. Unfortunately, the old lady ¨C She called herself ¡°Nan¡±, didn¡¯t she? ¨C had dropped it back in the bedroom and it hadn¡¯t been carried over with them to the forest. Glancing about, the forest was getting dark, and Kyle was having a harder time as night fell on making out things around him¡­ err, herself. Elves normally had a night vision and saw well in the dark and at nights, but for some reason it wasn¡¯t an ability which his character seemed to share. Making his race an ¡°Alter-Elf¡±, apparently meant that he basically started a blank slate and had to buy each of the abilities and advantages which he wanted ¨C it seemed to be the ¡°customize from scratch¡± option, and he hadn¡¯t added anything more than healing and quick mana regeneration to his character! ¡°Log out.¡± He was disgusted with the way his first character in the game had started. Talk about sucky! When he got to the black and blue OS screen, he immediately told it to ¡°Power Off¡±. As soon as he was completely out of the virtual environment, he tossed the V-RIG helmet across the room in a fit of petty anger. Feeling almost sick to his stomach, he rolled out of bed, stomped downstairs and started rummaging around in the fridge to see what might be handy to eat. Crap! Crap! And, of course, more crap! His mother kept the fridge stocked with all sorts of fruit, salad, and vegetables, but he wasn¡¯t in the mood for anything like that. Slamming the door to the fridge, he tossed open the door on the freezer section so hard that it banged against the wall with a loud crash and then immediately reverberated back closed! ¡°DAMMIT! Nothing¡¯s going right today!¡± Thoroughly disgusted, he stomped out of the kitchen and stormed outside. Going around the side of the house, he grabbed up his bike and hopped on it and began to peddle down the sidewalk. ¡°Franklin¡¯s¡± was just a few blocks down the street, and it was his current destination. After a few moments of furious pedaling, he wheeled his bicycle into the parking lot and over to the bike stands and locked it in place before going inside. Franklin¡¯s was one of those ¡®you have to see it to believe it¡¯ type restaurants, and the odd fellow who ran it didn¡¯t seem to care if he had any customers stop by and order from him or not. The floor was covered in sawdust. The tables were made of solid blocks sawed out of some massive tree trunk about four feet in diameter; and instead of chairs, people sat on upturned blocks of wood which looked like someone needed to split before using in a stove. The counter where customers went to place an order was made of roughly hewn timber, and If you weren¡¯t careful you could get splinters leaning against it. The place didn¡¯t have any cash registers, soda fountain, or even ketchup dispensers like just about every other modern restaurant in the world. All Franklin¡¯s had was Franklin ¨C but that was enough to make it one of the most popular spots for the locals to stop at. Franklin was a middle aged giant of a man, standing over seven feet tall, and was as wide and massive as he was tall. Sometimes you hear the expression, ¡°mountain of a man.¡± Then, you meet someone like Franklin and you truly know what that expression means! Massive, unmovable, gruff ¨C and the best cook in the world to hear him tell it! ¡°Whatcha want runt?¡± Franklin half growled as Kyle walked up towards the counter. His massive muscles rippled as he rubbed his hands on a dirty washcloth. ¡°A new damn character,¡± was the first thing out of Kyle¡¯s mouth. BLAM!! Immediately Franklin slammed his large fist against the wooden counter so hard that it vibrated and the few people sitting in the dining area all looked up while half jumping. ¡°WE DON¡¯T USE THAT TYPE OF DAMN LANGUAGE IN HERE!! GOT IT, MAGGOT?!¡± ¡°Well you just used it!¡± Kyle shot back at him, unhesitantly. ¡°See the sign out front? It says Franklin¡¯s. That means Franklin can say whatever the hell he wants to say in here, dammit! You¡¯re not Franklin, now are ya? Boy!¡± Franklin was bunching up the washcloth in his hands and making a massive fist, as if he was getting ready to smash something into tiny little pieces. ¡°Well,¡± Kyle stood up on his tiptoes to try and look the massive giant in the eyes and failed, ¡°I might just take that pansy sign down and replace it with ¡®Kyle¡¯s¡¯. Then what you going to do, old man?¡± Reaching out one hand, Franklin took a grip of Kyle¡¯s shirt and hefted him up almost three feet off the ground to stare him in the eyes. ¡°Then, I reckon I¡¯d just have to find the Kyle who put his sign in front of my place and beat him to death. Don¡¯t ya think?¡± Kyle continued to stare undaunted into the large man¡¯s eyes, and an eerie silence settled over the restaurant. WHUNK! The dull sound of wood striking flesh reverberated through the silence and Kyle was suddenly tossed to the ground with a resounding crash. ¡°WAAHHH!¡± Kyle and Franklin both half yelled at the same time. ¡°Enough of that, Papa!¡± A small, slender red-haired young lady stood off to the side of the giant man with a flat wooden bat ¨C probably a cricket bat ¨C in her hands. ¡°You two are disturbing the rest of the customers, and I¡¯m not going to let y¡¯all keep that up. If¡¯n I gots to, I¡¯ll bust both y¡¯all up good. Hear me?¡± A slight clapping sound came from the dining area and someone yelled, ¡°You tell them, Cutie!¡± The young lady pointed the bat out at the dining area and glared. ¡°And I¡¯ll bust ya too, if¡¯n I needs ta! Ya hear me?¡± There was a slight chuckle from the dining area as Kyle was getting up. ¡°Don¡¯t bust us, Little Flame. We¡¯re going. We¡¯re going!¡± A few people shuffled out the door, leaving the dining area empty. ¡°And just what do ya want, Kyle?¡± The girl was pointing the bat back at him once again, and Kyle couldn¡¯t help but grin slightly to himself. If he were to be honest with himself, he¡¯d have to admit that seeing Seraphine get riled was just as much a pleasure when eating at Franklin¡¯s, as Franklin¡¯s cooking was. ¡°Sorry, Sera.¡± Kyle tried not to blush while staring at her, but it was always something which he found difficult to do. Franklin and his daughter, Seraphine, lived in the house right beside his, and they had grown up next door neighbors. As children, they¡¯d played together all the time, but over the last few years things had changed as Sera started to bloom into a very beautiful young woman. She wasn¡¯t as perfect as his character in Winter¡¯s Tale, but she was definitely a ten on the scale of real girls that Kyle had seen. Fiery red hair, which was currently tied up in a bun and hair net, normally dangled loose and freely halfway down her back. Her skin was naturally pale, and she spotted hundreds of tiny red freckles across her body, which seemed to accent it. And, most embarrassingly to Kyle who always found himself staring at them, she¡¯d developed a full, large, round set of breasts which really stood out against her tiny waist and hips. At one time they¡¯d been the closest of friends as children, but things had changed ever since they¡¯d entered high school. Seraphine had changed from just the girl next door into one of the most beautiful women in their class. She¡¯d grown out of his league, and Kyle knew it. It didn¡¯t mean that he didn¡¯t fantasize about things being different sometimes, but he knew the difference in reality and his fantasies. Sera would end up marrying some handsome quarterback, or businessman, or someone important; not someone like him. If things went his way, he might be able to become a professional gamer sometime ¨C but Kyle knew things wouldn¡¯t ever go his way. Just look at his start in Winter¡¯s Tale, for goodness¡¯ sake! ¡°Well don¡¯t sorry me.¡± Sera bent to place the bat back behind the counter and Kyle got a nice glance down the front of her shirt for a moment. No bra! He was grinning like an idiot when she leaned back up and focused on him again. ¡°And don¡¯t ya antagonize Papa like¡¯n that, or else¡¯n it might be ya ass I beat next time.¡± Stolen story; please report. ¡°Ok! OK!¡± Kyle held both his hands up to show he was defeated. ¡°I won¡¯t harass the old man anymore.¡± Turning to look at the big man, he half bowed and said, ¡°Sorry, Frankie. I¡¯ve just had a bad day.¡± ¡°Well bad day ya ass elsewhar!¡± Franklin growled back at him, and Sera stomped on his massive foot as hard as she could. He just snorted, tossed the bundled up rag in his hands down on the counter, and stomped into the back. ¡°I fix ya a Slop Burger an¡¯ Eiffel Tower. Red ¡¯ll have ta fix ya drink.¡± It was the closest to an apology which Franklin would ever come to giving, and Kyle just nodded in acceptance. ¡°How about a shake?¡± Kyle asked, and Sera half shrugged as she went into the back to get the ice cream, without even bothering to ask what kind he wanted. Half shaking his head and laughing, Kyle grabbed up the washcloth and went over to clean and empty the rough tables where the last people had cleared out from. Somehow, he was feeling a little better already ¨C but that wasn¡¯t anything new. Just about every time he came to Franklin¡¯s, he ended up feeling better for some reason. It might simply be because it was so much different than the endlessly clean and sanitized house which him and his mother lived in. Or, it might be because in some ways, he almost thought of Franklin as a substitute father figure since his own had left after divorcing his mother. (Or, if he was completely honest with himself, it might also be because he enjoyed seeing Sera here alone from the rest of the people at school.) Once he¡¯d bused and cleared the tables, Kyle walked around the back of the counter and got his own napkins, plastic fork, and packets of ketchup. Franklin didn¡¯t allow customers around the back of the counter, but Kyle never paid any attention to that. Heck, he¡¯d even taken a few orders from behind the counter in the past when he was there and Franklin was swamped cooking, and Sera wasn¡¯t around to help out for whatever reason. Usually he got grumbled or cussed at for his trouble, and he never got paid -- no matter how much he worked or helped out. Then again though, he never got charged for what he ate either, so it all worked out in the end. Finally, he walked back around the counter and sat down at one of the corner tables. A few moments later, Sera walked over and sat two large milkshakes ¨C and a pitcher filled to the rim with creamy froth ¨C down on the table beside him. Without even asking if he wanted any company, she flopped down on one of the wooden blocks across from him. ¡°Cookies ¡®n Cream,¡± she said while half nodding her head towards the drinks and the pitcher. Kyle just nodded slightly, picked up the closest one, and tilted it to his mouth to sip on. Franklin didn¡¯t bother buying straws, so he ended up with a light milky mustache when he put the cup back down. As he was wiping the milk from his face with the bottom of his shirt, Sera tugged her own shirt up and used it to wipe the sweat from her face. Kyle¡¯s eyes popped as he had a clear view of the bottom of her round breasts as she wiped herself. ¡°It¡¯s hotter than ¡®ell back thar,¡± she declared as she finally let go of the shirt and it slowly fell back into place. ¡°You don¡¯t have to tell me.¡± Kyle said while trying not to blush. ¡°I¡¯ve been back there. I know how hot it gets in that kitchen. And you don¡¯t have to keep trying to sound like some dumb hick, either,¡± he told her. ¡°Sorry.¡± She half laughed and then shamelessly wiped her face once more with the bottom of her shirt. ¡°People see papa and they think he¡¯s some sort of wild mountain man who¡¯s half grizzly or something. They expect us to sound backwoods, and it helps with the atmosphere of the place here. When I¡¯m here, I find myself using it without even thinking anymore.¡± ¡°No worries,¡± Kyle reassured her. ¡°I¡¯m used to it. I was just reminding you that it¡¯s not anything you need to worry over when it¡¯s just us out here. ¡°Or should ah say I wuz jist ¡®minding ya, ya not gots ta be ah hick wiffin me.¡± They both laughed lightly for a few moments before Sera picked up her shake a took a slight drink from it. She ended up with a milky mustache as well, which she once again promptly wiped with the bottom of her shirt, much to Kyle¡¯s delight. Finally, she asked, ¡°So what¡¯s bothering you this evening? You don¡¯t usually walk right in and pick a fight with papa like that, unless you¡¯re just trying to blow off some steam or something. Kyle let out a slight sigh and slowly shook his head back and forth. ¡°No hiding anything from you, is there?¡± It amazed him at how well she could still read him, when he didn¡¯t have a clue what she was thinking half the time anymore. ¡°Nope. I even know where you hide your porn stash, so just spit it out already, why don¡¯t you.¡± Sera stuck her tongue out at him and Kyle slowly felt his tension fading even more than before. ¡°Well, to be honest, it¡¯s all because of a stupid ass game.¡± He told her matter-of-factly. ¡°Have you heard about that new VR game, Winter¡¯s Tale?¡± ¡°Somewhat.¡± Sera frowned slightly making her freckles wrinkle into a smile across her cheek. ¡°I don¡¯t have one of those V-RIGs, and I help out here a lot in the evenings so I don¡¯t have much time for games anymore. I really haven¡¯t paid the most attention to what people say about it, since I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d be playing it.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ Well,¡± Kyle snorted slightly to himself, ¡°I¡¯m playing it now. Grandfather offered me a job to be one of the people who plays the game and then gives report to his company for them.¡± Picking up his cup, he took a large drink before continuing. ¡°And, I can tell you, I think I¡¯m screwed even from the start!¡± ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡± Sera asked as Franklin came over and sat a large tray down on the table in front of them. Kyle¡¯s smile grew from ear to ear looking down at his supper. A ¡®Slop Burger¡¯ was Franklin¡¯s special burger made starting with the top bun, chili, grilled onions, tomato, lettuce, sour cream, American cheese, a beef patty, another layer of chili, another beef patty, Swiss cheese, mushrooms, another layer of chili, and then the bottom bun. The ¡®Eiffel Tower¡¯ was a layer of fries, covered with chili, with a deep fried whole onion placed on top of that, with chili poured over the whole thing, and then a final layer of melted cheese covering it. Picking up his fork, Sera speared one of the fries and rubbed it around in the chili and cheese before eating it. ¡°You know,¡± she told him mischievously, ¡°you¡¯re not supposed to eat these here. Your mother says you shouldn¡¯t have them unless you¡¯re in the bathroom with them.¡± ¡°Not bathroom!¡± Kyle corrected her. ¡°That makes it sound like I need to eat them while on the shitter, or something. In the bathtub!¡± He placed special emphasis on the word ¡®bathtub¡¯. ¡°Mom says no one should eat a Slop Burger unless they¡¯re already in the tub and ready for the bath they need afterwards.¡± Sera just laughed lightly, and Franklin snorted as he walked away, leaving the two alone. For the next half hour or so, Kyle and Sera sat and ate while he told her all about his experience with starting out in Winter¡¯s Tale so far. She laughed until milkshake snorted out her nose hearing that he was playing a female character, and then laughed even harder when she found out how helpless he¡¯d made his character by accident. She was still laughing when Kyle left the restaurant to head back home while grumbling under his breath. Once he was gone, and she¡¯d cleaned the table, she went into the back to where Franklin was cleaning the grill. ¡°Papa,¡± she told him firmly, ¡°you¡¯re going to get me a V-RIG. I¡¯m going to start playing Winter¡¯s Tale. Kyle needs my help, and he doesn¡¯t even know it yet.¡± Franklin just grunted, but Sera smiled knowing that she¡¯d have her way soon. She was her papa¡¯s little angel and he never could refuse her when she actually wanted sometime. If Kyle could just hold on for another day or so, she¡¯d hunt him down and help him reclaim his kingdom and clear that death contract! Chapter 5: Back to the Game Getting home, Kyle decided to wait a bit more before logging back into Winter¡¯s Tale. Most games had different and more powerful opponents appear at night, and it was just starting to get dark when he¡¯d logged out. Since the game time had a four-to-one ratio to it, it meant that ten hours of darkness in game would take two and a half hours of real time to pass. He¡¯d only been logged out and down at Franklin¡¯s for about an hour so far. If he logged in now, he¡¯d end up logging in during the middle of the night where he couldn¡¯t see a thing, and when the forest was probably the most dangerous! Instead of logging in, he went upstairs to his bedroom and grabbed his book bag and decided to take the time to go ahead and do his homework. Kyle wasn¡¯t the best student in school, but he wasn¡¯t the worst either; at least he was passing all his classes with C¡¯s and above. Of course, if he was honest with himself, part of the reason why he did so well was simply because he never went out of his way to push himself with anything harder than the minimum requirements. He was smart enough to be in the Advanced classes, but instead chose to take the normal ones simply because they required less work and study on his part. It didn¡¯t take too long before he¡¯d finished his homework, and it was still going to be dark in game. Giving a slight sigh of frustration, Kyle went to the bathroom and spent the next half hour or so relaxing in the shower, before all the hot water gave out! Drying off, he slid on a clean pair of blue boxers, and then finally decided that it had to be close enough to daylight to log back into the game. It was around six when he¡¯d logged out, it was now a little after eight. With two and a half real hours of darkness, it should be just a little before daylight in the game now. Grabbing up his V-RIG from where he¡¯d tossed the helmet across the room, Kyle went over and relaxed back on the bed before he placed it on his head and turned it on. Within moments, he was floating back in the darkness with the blue screen of the OS hovering in front of him. ¡°Log In, Winter¡¯s Tale,¡± he said, and the darkness faded and slowly everything changed as she reappeared back in the forest in her nightgown, cloak, and heels. Looking around, the forest was still extremely dark, with what little light that might be available in the early morning sky being blocked by the canopy of branches and leaves above him. The natural sound of the forest was all around; insects buzzing, birds chirping and singing as they began to awaken for the fresh day. The wind was blowing lightly and the sound of the leaves rustling was soft and gentle to the ears. ¡°First things first,¡± Kyle said to herself. ¡°I need to get a weapon of some sort. Even a stick is bound to be better than trying to kick things to death in these shoes!¡± Straining his eyes to make out things in the dark, she slowly moved through the forest until several fallen tree limbs caught her attention. Feeling a few different ones, Kyle was uncertain if he should go with a shorter one and use it like a club or a bat, or a longer stick and use it as a walking stick or staff to help him navigate the uneven terrain better? Finally he decided that a longer staff would be better for him ¨C especially since he was trapesing through the forest wearing high heels ¨C so he settled for what he thought was a sturdy wooden branch that would work for his needs. ¡°Identify!¡± He commanded to the stick, and a pop-up appeared.
NameDamageDurabilityNotes
Rough Wooden Staff** / ** -- skill not high enough to identify
¡°Awww.. hell.¡± She didn¡¯t have sufficient skill in identify to even know the basic attributes of a stick in the forest! ¡°Damn, I¡¯m worthless,¡± Kyle muttered to herself. ¡°Identify. Identify. Identify¡±
NameDamageDurabilityNotes
Rough Wooden Staff** / ** -- skill not high enough to identify
You must wait 10 seconds before using that skill again.
You must wait 10 seconds before using that skill again.
¡°Well, shit!¡± It was still too dark in game for him to travel or try and do anything, and he couldn¡¯t just chain-spam his identify skill to try and raise it where it might be useful. Skills had delays between them, and apparently Identify was only something a person could use once every ten seconds. Sighing with frustration, he counted to ten in his head before trying again. ¡°Identify.¡±
NameDamageDurabilityNotes
Rough Wooden Staff** / ** -- skill not high enough to identify
Stolen story; please report. Once more the window of useless information popped up before him, and he made a mental note to start counting. Every ten seconds he¡¯d repeat the command to pop open a new window, and slowly he counted as time passed as the forest slowly got brighter as the sun rose higher in the sky. Two identifies. Three. Four¡­. After a hundred times, a different window popped up which let him know he wasn¡¯t just wasting his time completely.
Congratulations! Your skill in Identify has improved (1)!
NameDamageDurabilityNotes
Rough Wooden Staff1 - 35 / 5A rough wooden stick found anywhere trees grow. Has almost no value.
A hundred times, at six skill uses a minute for over fifteen minutes, and now he had a skill of one! If healing worked the same way, and it seemed that he couldn¡¯t use that ability unless someone was actually hurt, that means someone would have to cast the heal spell over 4000 times to get it as good as his! ¡°Dammit! I wasted points on something worthless that I could¡¯ve taken up just by using the skill repeatedly.¡± Kyle grumbled slightly to himself and had to wonder if all the other people who made characters on the first day were having the same problems as him. There just wasn¡¯t any information out there to go on, and the learning curve for Winter¡¯s Tale was just too steep! But, one thing he was certain of, Kyle wasn¡¯t going to tell anyone about the flaws in character creation! The rest of the world was his competition. Why would he ever help them out, since he couldn¡¯t even restart and take advantage of what he¡¯s learned so far, for the next thirty days? Grumbling in frustration, Kyle continued to spam identify commands every ten seconds while waiting on the forest to get light enough to travel in. This time, when he got to a hundred, he was expecting his skill to increase, but it didn¡¯t. Uncertain, he continued to count skill uses until after another hundred a new pop-up appeared.
Congratulations! Your skill in Identify has improved (2)!
¡°Daaaaamn!¡± Kyle whistled in shock. A hundred tries to get a skill of one. Two hundred tries to get the skill up to a two! Was it three hundred for a skill of three, or did it double each point? If it just went up by a hundred times each level, then he¡¯d need¡­ Crap! He¡¯d need to sit down and do some math. Upper plus lower times upper divided by two would be forty plus one, which was forty-one. Times forty divided by two would be times twenty. Forty-one times twenty was Eight hundred twenty. Times the hundred would make it close to eighty-two thousand skill uses to get a skill of 40! 82,000!! And, if the number of uses doubled each level¡­. Kyle didn¡¯t even want to try and do the math on that! It¡¯d be a hell of a lot! He¡¯d definitely overspent on his starting ability to heal! If most fights only required a few heals ¨C or even no healing if the person could take the opponent down fast enough ¨C then she was probably the most skilled person in the whole game as far as it came to the basic heal spell! If he hadn¡¯t spent so many points on a single skill, maybe he would¡¯ve had time to think and could¡¯ve gotten the elven sight so he wouldn¡¯t have to just sit here like this. Feeling almost like crying, Kyle stubbornly kept repeating ¡°Identify¡± to himself every ten seconds and counting. Even if this was a complete trash character, at least he could take his time and learn as much about the game as possible. After all, there really wasn¡¯t anything else which he needed to be doing while waiting. This time he counted to three hundred before the window popped up once again notifying him that he¡¯d raised his skill to three! A hundred times per skill level, before a skill improved! And that¡¯s if the formula didn¡¯t change any as the skill got higher! Holy shit! She was THE healer, apparently! It¡¯d be a looooong time before anyone caught up to Kyle''s level in that skill, he imagined. Over an hour and a half had passed in game with him spamming identify skills over and over, and the sky was finally starting to lighten to the point where he was feeling brave enough to start traveling. Kyle had no idea where he was, no idea where to go, and no idea what dangers to forest might bring to him, but he knew he simply couldn¡¯t sit in one spot forever and wait to be discovered. Chances are, it¡¯d be assassins which found him, more so than anyone friendly. She had to level up and grow more powerful, and simply sitting here and practicing identify alone wasn¡¯t going to do it. Slowly and carefully, Kyle started to wander through the forest looking for anything to help him decide which might be the best way to go from here. All the while, she kept muttering ¡°Identify¡± under her breath, as if it was some sort of good luck charm to ward off the dangers all around. Chapter 6: First Encounter Kyle wandered aimlessly through the forest for about an hour, uncertain even about which direction she was going in, when suddenly a window popped up and she felt a slight stinging pain in her head.
You have taken 1 point of damage. (19 / 20 remain.)
¡°What the hell?¡± Kyle was surprised by the message and started spinning and scanning all around furiously to look for whatever had hit him. He managed to turn just enough to barely avoid being hit in the head once again by a large acorn. Looking up, a small creature that appeared to be a combination of a squirrel and a person was standing on its hind legs on a branch several feet above him. Its front paws were glowing, and after a moment, another wooden acorn appeared and shot rapidly towards him. ¡°Asshole!¡± Kyle yelled at the squirrel-man while nimbly dodging the acorn. ¡°Come down here and fight like a man, you rodent!¡± Ignoring him, the squirrel¡¯s paws started to glow once more and it chittered back in his direction in defiance. A moment later, another acorn shot in her direction and Kyle nimbly dodged it once again. A hundred agility isn¡¯t something to sneeze at apparently! Glancing around in frustration, Kyle grabbed up the nearest branch she could find and tossed it at the creature, missing it by a mile. Another acorn came hurling her way, and this time struck her shoulder for another point of damage. Cussing loudly, in the cute musical elven voice she had, Kyle cast a heal spell on herself while looking for another stick to throw. Bending over to pick one up, another acorn hit her in the ass, making Kyle flinch and cuss even louder. ¡°Heal!¡± She healed herself once more, and again missed the creature by a mile as she tossed a stick at it. And, in such a pattern, the two continued their relentless assault on each other for several more exchanges. The squirrel-thing would create and shoot acorns, Kyle would either dodge or instantly heal herself afterwards, while trying ¨C and failing ¨C to find something to toss up into the tree and knock the creature off its perch. Back and forth for several minutes they went, until finally the little squirrel-creature¡¯s hands stopped glowing and it looked confused. ¡°Ha!¡± Kyle laughed and taunted the creature. ¡°You ran out of mana before me, you worthless rodent!¡± With a chitter of frustration, the creature leapt down from the limb and dashed across the forest floor to bite at Kyle¡¯s cute ankles. ¡°Dammit!¡± Nimbly Kyle hopped to the side, and lashed out with his staff at the annoying little beast, once again missing. And, once again, they fell into an odd little dance of back and forth attacks. The squirrel would leap and bite at Kyle, she would dodge or else heal herself, and then strike back at it. Dash, bite, dodge, heal, club. Dash, bite, dodge, heal, club. Dash, bite, dodge, heal, club. On and on their battle went, with Kyle getting in a lucky shot every now and again and slowly whittling the creature¡¯s health down. After dozens and dozens of turns snapping and swiping at each other, Kyle had managed to hit the beast enough times that its fur was looking a little tattered, and a few blood stains were visible around its mouth and face. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ¡°I¡¯ve almost got you now,¡± Kyle exclaimed, almost out of breath. Leaping one last time, the squirrel bit Kyle on the leg one more time for good measure, and then dashed between her legs and into the forest. ¡°Heal,¡± Kyle muttered breathlessly as she spun around looking for the creature, to no avail. She¡¯d managed to get lucky and hit it enough times to injure it, but the little beast ran away before she could kill it! ¡°Dammit!¡± Kyle cursed loudly. ¡°Status!¡±
Name: NoneClass: NoneLevel: 0
Race: X¡¯entian Elf (Altered)Experience: 0 / 1000
Title: Exiled Princess of X¡¯entiaStatus: Exile, Wanted CriminalCP: 0
HP: 20 / 20MP: 196 / 200SP: 20 / 20
PD: 0 (10)DR: 0MD: 0
STR: 10KNO: 100WIL: 10
AGI: 100MYS: 100PRE: 200
END: 10SPI: 10LUC: 10
TALENTS
Mystical Regen: 7.5 ¨C Recovers mystical energy at 7.5 times the normal character rate
SPELLS
HEAL: 40 -- heals 40 HP for 1 MP
SKILLS
Identify: 3 ¨C Allows identification of basic items or creatures.
Even after all that, Kyle had only lost four mana during the whole fight. Her energy recovery rate was insane! But, sadly enough, Kyle was still sitting at zero experience. Even after all that time fighting, she was still just as bad off as she had been before the fight even started. If it wasn¡¯t for the identify skill of three now, she wouldn¡¯t be any different at all from how she first began the game! Feeling like crying, Kyle slowly turned and started to wander off once more randomly in the forest. Chapter 7: And, Back at Franklins While Kyle was wandering helplessly lost in some forest somewhere in Winter¡¯s Tale, Seraphine was surfing the web in her father¡¯s office while Franklin was ignoring several people standing at the counter. He was busy cooking, and they could either wait or leave. He really didn¡¯t care which; since his daughter was skipping out on doing her job at the moment. ¡°I want a double cheeseburger with no pickles,¡± one person called back to him. ¡°And I¡¯d like ta hump ya Ma, but t¡¯ain¡¯t happening ¡®tis it!¡± Franklin snarled back at them. ¡°Hold yer horses, till me lass gets ¡®er ass back ¡®ere! She¡¯ll take ya order!¡± Instead of being insulted, the guy behind the counter just laughed heartily and asked, ¡°And just where is the young firecracker?¡± People had learned to either take everything Franklin said with a grain of salt, or else they¡¯d gotten so offended in the past that they never came back. The guy currently waiting was a regular and knew the drill by heart. When he was in the shop alone, Franklin only took one order at a time. People were so used to it, sometimes the regulars would get together and all place their order at the same time, rather than waiting for one after the other. ¡°In me office, spending all me monies,¡± came back Franklin¡¯s rough reply. Which, was precisely what Sera was doing. She was looking at Azamon Online and ordering the fastest, most expensive V-RIG which they carried. She wasn¡¯t worried about spending her father¡¯s money; truth be told, they had plenty. Her father was actually a very wealthy man, heir to one of the largest mining companies in the country. Her mother was a respected author under a couple of different pen names, and had dozens of different novels published. Most were romance, but some were fantasy, action, and horror books. Stolen novel; please report. Even though no one would believe it, Sera was probably the wealthiest girl in her school, and like Kyle she attended Ridgewood Private Academy. Most of the other students thought she was a scholarship student there, but they couldn¡¯t be further from the truth! Her family donated several hundred thousand dollars each year to help fund the school. They were ones that provided scholarships for other people ¨C she certainly didn¡¯t need them! And, currently, she was spending her father¡¯s money without a care in the world! Sera was placing an order for a custom built, top of the line, V-RIG of her own. Custom pink colored, with maximum memory and storage. Dual satellite net connection, at maximum bandwidth, to ensure that she never experienced lag or any issue. A lifetime subscription to Winter¡¯s Tale ¨C something that most people could only dream of with its outrageous price! Yes, she wanted overnight delivery. No, she didn¡¯t care if it cost more for private airfare. Yes, she wanted the limited edition maps and figurines which cost extra for the game. Sure, they could sign her up for Azamon Prime; she didn''t care. Sera was a woman possessed, with just one thought on her mind. Soon, real soon, she¡¯d be in the game herself! Chapter 8: First Kill! Meanwhile, Kyle was still wandering lost in the forest. Twice more, he was attacked by lone squirrels which proceeded to toss acorns at him until they ran out of magic, and then bite at his legs until he¡¯d injured them enough to chase them off. So far, it¡¯d all been nothing more than an exercise in futility, as he hadn¡¯t actually managed to defeat a single one of the creatures. Just when he was beginning to think that she was going to be wandering lost forever, Kyle finally came across a small stream in the forest. The water was clear and pure, and flowed gently through the forest. Kyle¡¯s heart leapt in her chest to finally see something besides trees, bushes, and dirt! A stream at least gave her a sense of purpose! Follow it, and eventually she¡¯d find civilization. At least that¡¯s what he¡¯d always heard in the real world! Sitting at the edge of the creek, Kyle took time to take a few bites from her fruitcake and sipped directly from the stream after. ¡°I wonder what this actually is, in game terms,¡± Kyle asked herself while holding the fruitcake. ¡°Identify.¡±
NameDamageDurabilityNotes
Elven Trail BreadNA18 / 20Bread baked by master elven chefs. Has a limitless shelf life and requires consuming very little for a meal. Those that eat a meal of this recover health and mana 25% faster, for a period up to twelve hours after eating.
¡°So the legendary elven trail bread is nothing more than fruitcake? Who would¡¯ve ever believed that,¡± Kyle exclaimed to herself. ¡°Have to like that health and mana regen bonus as well! I¡¯m going to have to be stingy, and only eat this when I¡¯m hungry.¡± Kyle couldn¡¯t help but be a bit amused by his own thoughts. Virtual reality really was something amazing! He hadn¡¯t considered it before, but she actually was feeling hunger while sitting at the stream. Even now, she could feel the cool ground and the grit of the bare dirt against her bare ass as she sat on the bank. The lacy elven camisole simply wasn¡¯t long enough to cover her completely, and it was quite odd to think that she could actually feel the world around her. And feel the pain of those stupid squirrels and their acorns as well ¨C though it wasn¡¯t anything too intense. Apparently, the game stimulated the feelings of pain in a user¡¯s brain somehow, but was limited and not much worse than a mild electric shock. Thinking about it, Kyle was actually quite happy with the fact that he¡¯d never have to experience the true feelings his character did. He simply couldn¡¯t imagine anyone who¡¯d want to feel the pain of death and dying in a game. Could you imagine what a dragon¡¯s breath would actually feel like, if you could feel it?! After sitting and musing for a while, she finally placed the elven bread carefully back in the inner pocket of her cloak and finally got up to follow the stream. For a while, she debated whether she should go upstream or downstream; finally settling on walking downstream. People built civilizations around water, and the more water, the larger the civilizations around it. By going upstream, the creek was only going to get smaller and eventually turn into a spring somewhere, and he¡¯d be less likely to run into people. He really needed to find some sort of civilization, just so he could do some of those simple ¡°fetch this for me¡±, or ¡°go deliver that message for me¡± type quests that all games had to build up starting money and equipment. Kyle was following the creek downstream for several hours, when suddenly she found herself suffering from a sharp pain in the ankle and falling face first to the ground! A pop-up appeared informing her that she¡¯d been injured for four points of damage, and the burning pain in her ankle was only getting worse. Looking back at her legs where she¡¯d fallen, Kyle was surprised to see some strange, red and green streaked vine wrapped around her left leg and steam slowly rising from it. Another point of health faded as the vine¡¯s acid burned into her pearly white calf mercilessly. ¡°Heal,¡± Kyle screamed to regain her health and his composure. Another vine was snaking its way across the ground towards her legs, and she suffered another point of damage from where the first was still wrapped around her soft skin. Desperately, Kyle brought her staff down across the first vine and was rewarded by seeing a damage window popup. ¡°You damn plant! DIE!¡± Kyle screamed at the vines in her melodic elven voice, as the first kept burning her and the second lashed out and suddenly wrapped itself around her other leg, doing a massive five points of damage. Kyle screamed in pain ¨C even with the game only making him feel a reduced amount, it was still a shock to his character¡¯s system ¨C and yelled, ¡°Heal!¡± If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. She was now suffering two points of burn damage every few seconds. Steam and the smell of burnt elven flesh was wafting in the air. Desperately, Kyle banged on the first vine with her staff, frantically worrying about what would happen if more vines were creeping their way towards her even now! Hitting the vine here wasn¡¯t difficult at all, not like with the squirrels, since it was entwined around her leg -- but it was a much more durable opponent! Smacking the vines with her staff only did one or two points of damage per blow, and it took over a dozen blows before the first vine finally shimmered and disappeared, with her endlessly calling out ¡°Heal¡± between swings. A confirmation pop-up finally appearing giving her much coveted experience, but Kyle was already too busy turning her attention to the other vine, before others came to join in the battle. It took another dozen swings, interspersed with heals between them, before Kyle finally managed to beat the other vine enough that it shimmered and disappeared. Kyle tried to stagger to her feet, and almost fell back on her face as soon as she was upright. Her fancy elven shoes had disappeared some time during the fighting, and Kyle was actually having issues trying to stand without them! She had to raise herself back up on her tiptoes before she started to feel comfortable standing again! What the hell type of character walked around on their tiptoes all the time! Spinning awkwardly while trying to stay on her tiptoes, Kyle checked to make certain no more of the vines were snaking their way towards her, before looking at the pop-up windows that remained, and was relieved to see that the area seemed clear at the moment.
Congratulations! You have defeated an unknown vine! You gain 10 experience. You need 990 more to the next level.
Congratulations! You have defeated an unknown vine! You gain 10 experience. You need 980 more to the next level.
Warning! Your silken heels have low durability (1 / 5)!
Warning! Your silken heels have been destroyed!
Looking at the windows, Kyle wasn¡¯t certain whether to call the fight a success or a failure. On one hand, she had finally defeated her first opponents in the game and earned some experience. On the other hand, her shoes had been destroyed and shimmered out of existence. forcing her to traipse through the forest barefoot and on her tippy-toes. Slowly, she glanced around the area where the two vines had shimmered and disappeared, hoping to find coin or anything of value which the two vines might have dropped on their deaths. The only thing she noticed at all, which seemed even the slight bit different from every other spot in the forest, was two small green leaves lying where the vines had been. Slowly, she picked one up and said, ¡°Identify.¡±
NameDamageDurabilityNotes
Sturdy Green LeafNA10 / 10A durable green leaf of unknown properties. This item may be used in crafting.
¡°Well,¡± Kyle muttered to herself, ¡°at least it¡¯s something. If these can be used for crafting, I might be able to figure out what they¡¯re used for. Maybe herbalism? Or alchemy? Either way, if I collect a bunch of them, I¡¯d have something to trade with other folks once I finally run into civilization once more! ¡°And, nicely enough,¡± she found herself saying, ¡°these things can¡¯t run away from me or throw stuff from a distance. Only ninety-eight more to a level!¡± Slowly Kyle dusted herself off, stuffed the two leafs down in her cloak pocket with the elven bread, and got her staff ready for use once again. Carefully she started to search the surrounding area for any more of the vines. Kyle was on the hunt! Chapter 9: Achieving Success Carefully, Kyle wandered up and down the edge of the creek for a while until she noticed another of the unusual vines not far from the water¡¯s edge. Kyle reasoned the vines probably grew close to the water where there¡¯d always be prey coming to the stream to drink ¨C and she was quite happy to see she was right. Since these monsters had a limited range of movement, they were something which she could fight safely, even with her limited skills. This time, before trying to engage the vine, she focused on it and gave the command, ¡°Identify.¡± Kyle was happy to see a few small blue windows pop up in response to her command.
Creature Identification: Tangleroot Creeper
Level: 3 HP: 25 / 25 ** Other information unavailable due to insufficient skill in Identify.
Congratulations! You have uncovered a new creature for your bestiary! (Tangleroot Creeper) You have been awarded 50 experience! You need 930 more to the next level. Tangleroot Creepers will now be counted for ¡°Plant Slayer¡± achievements.
¡°Hot dog!¡± Kyle nearly jumped with excitement! The last time she¡¯d checked her status, she¡¯d noticed that the description for identify read, ¡°Allows identification of basic items or creatures.¡±, but she¡¯d never tried to use it while in combat on a creature ¨C she had a hard enough time just trying to fight at all, with her talents. That was something that was definitely going to have to change! For one thing, by identifying the creatures, she got free experience from them. Even though the information she¡¯d learned was very limited at the moment, it was worth fifty experience to her ¨C and that was as much as she¡¯d earn for killing five of the creatures at her level! For another thing, they got added to her bestiary; which was something which she didn¡¯t even know she had before! And then, on top of all that, it allowed the creatures to count towards some sort of slayer achievement. Now, she was beginning to think that maybe spending several hours earlier working up her identify skill a few times wasn¡¯t a complete waste of time. Grinning exuberantly, Kyle slowly advanced on the vine and attacked it. She¡¯d considered simply standing back out of the vines reach and beating it to death, but in the end decided against it. Simply practicing identify over and over had eventually led to her uncovering a skill for the ability. As long as she was careful and only got within a single vine¡¯s reach at a time, it should be safe enough to practice dodging and striking. Kyle was hoping that, with enough tries, she could learn some much needed combat skills. Simply standing back and bashing at a range probably wouldn¡¯t be the best way to improve her overly weak self. Combat with the tangleroot creeper was a slow and laborious task for her. As long as Kyle was dodging, the vine wasn¡¯t a prone target attached helplessly to her leg, and she missed as often as she hit it. In some ways, their battle seemed almost like a dance between the two opponents. Dodge left, spin and strike as the vine recoils. Dodge right, thrust and jab as it recoiled for another attack. Dodge left, spin and strike again. Over and over their dance continued as Kyle slowly tried to beat the vine down. Several exchanges back and forth occurred, and then the creature finally managed to grab hold of her ankle and knock her to the ground. Pain rolled through Kyle¡¯s ankle, and the smell of smoldering elven flesh was ripe in the air again. At this point, the dance changed to a different tempo of bash, heal, bash, heal, bash, heal, until the creature finally disappeared in a shimmer of light, leaving a single green leaf behind.
Congratulations! You have defeated a Tangleroot Creeper! You gain 20 experience. You need 910 more to the next level. You need 9 more kills for the Beginner Plant Slayer achievement!
¡°Oh yeah!¡± The experience for this kill was twice what it was when it was simply an ¡®unknown vine¡¯, and she now only needed nine more kills for an achievement! ¡°I take back what I said earlier. Identify rocks!¡± Buoyed by her sudden good fortune, Kyle healed herself to full life and then bounced off to seek her next opponent! Several hours, and eight slow kills later, Kyle was finally able to find the last vine needed for her achievement. Slowly, as she¡¯d done several times before, she advanced on the creeper to make certain no others were close enough to where they could fight at the same time. Once close enough, Kyle bashed out with her staff and struck the first feeble blow against her opponent, which immediately lashed out at her like a whip. Dodging left, Kyle struck out once again and missed, as she began the now familiar dance with the vine. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. This vine was either quicker than the others, or else it was just lucky, as it struck and wrapped itself around her ankle on the second attack. The now familiar smell of smoldering flesh assaulted her nose as pain burned into her right leg, and Kyle healed herself while bashing. Somewhere along the way, she¡¯d started casting the heal spell without needing to stop her attacks, and now it was something that she did almost automatically as soon as she got injured. Heal-bash. heal-bash. heal-bash. Kyle continued to heal herself just as quickly as she could swing her staff, and several swipes later, the creature blinked out of existence.
Congratulations! You have defeated a Tangleroot Creeper! You gain 20 experience. You need 730 more to the next level.
Congratulations! You have unlocked the Beginner Plant Slayer achievement! You gain 1 strength. You gain 1 endurance. You now have a 5% bonus to hit and damage plant-type monsters. You gain 100 experience. You need 630 more to the next level.
¡°Yeah!¡± Kyle squealed with excitement in her gentle elven voice. ¡°Almost halfway to level. If I keep this up, I might be able to get my level tonight!¡± Half bouncing with excitement, Kyle looked around for the green leaf which the vines normally dropped, and was surprised to see a red one instead. Picking it up, he studied it carefully before saying, ¡°Identify.¡±
NameDamageDurabilityNotes
Sturdy Red LeafNA20 / 20A very durable red leaf of unknown properties. This item may be used in crafting.
¡°Hmmm¡­.¡± At first glance, it didn¡¯t seem much different than the green leaves, except for the durability. Red leaves were twice as durable as the green ones ¨C and a whole heck of a lot more durable than his flimsy silken clothes. Maybe the leaves could be used in crafting some sort of elvish armor? In a way, she hoped not. If so, then she might not be that far away from the elven city after all, and the people trying to have her killed might find her easier. She was thinking she¡¯d ended up somewhere far away from where she¡¯d started, but now she wasn¡¯t so certain. Worrying about how close she might be to elven lands, the world suddenly faded away and Kyle found himself staring at the inside of his helmet. ¡°Bed time, young man!¡± His mother¡¯s voice was loud and firm. ¡°Aww man!¡± Kyle pulled the helmet off and looked around to see his mother standing over near the doorway now. She¡¯d came in, hit the power button on his V-RIG, and turned it off. ¡°You know, you don¡¯t have to shout mom. I can hear you just fine with the helmet on. It¡¯s not like they¡¯re soundproof or anything,¡± Kyle moped. ¡°Well¡­¡± His mother just shrugged her shoulders as she headed out the door. ¡°It¡¯s late, I just got off a double, and I¡¯m needed back early in the morning. Get yourself in bed; you¡¯ll need to get yourself up in the morning. I¡¯ll probably be gone by the time you wake up.¡± ¡°I will.¡± Kyle laid the helmet down on the floor beside the bed and pulled his covers up. It was a little earlier than when he usually went to sleep, but he didn¡¯t want to cause his mother any worry over him. Two of the nurses were out on maternity leave, it was the middle of winter and people were sick with colds and flu like crazy, and the hospital was insanely busy. His mom had enough to deal with at work; she didn¡¯t need to worry over him at home also. Even if his grandfather was paying him to play it, Winter¡¯s Tale was still just a game. Thinking that it¡¯d still be there tomorrow when he got back home from school, Kyle relaxed and thought about the view Sera had unintentionally shown him at the dinner several times, before going to sleep with a contented smile on his face. Chapter 10: A Morning in the Real World ¡°Beep. Beep. Beep.¡± The alarm in Kyle¡¯s room was beeping like crazy the next morning, as he tried to ignore it. Pulling the pillow over his head didn¡¯t tune the incessant beeping out, and after a few mournful moments of trying, he finally grudgingly got up and walked across the room to his dresser and turned it off. It annoyed him that he had to get up to turn off his alarm, but Kyle knew it was for the best, and left it where it was on purpose. The few times he¡¯d left his clock near his bed, he¡¯d turned off the alarm, rolled over and went back to sleep, and overslept. Having it across the room meant he had to get up and move to make it stop annoying him. Looking at the clock, he had about an hour before he needed to leave for school, and he was tempted to log into Winter¡¯s Tale and get another kill or two in. After a few moments of inner debate, he finally decided not to, as he was too likely to lose track of time and be late. He certainly didn¡¯t need that to happen! The school would end up calling his mother at work, worrying her, and she already had enough to deal with. She didn¡¯t need any more problems like that. Sleepily, he sat down and started to get dressed for school. Winter uniforms were always a pain at Ridgewood Private Academy. All the classes were held indoors, so the boy¡¯s uniform wasn¡¯t much different than the one they wore for summer classes, with the exception to the coat which they were given. The pants and shirt were still made of a light cotton-fiber, and on windy days like those in February, they did very little to actually keep out the cold. If he rode his bike to school, it was about a half mile ride, and he¡¯d be froze by the time he got there. Glancing out his window, he saw that the neighbor¡¯s car was still there this morning. Grinning happily, Kyle grabbed up his book bag and finished tying his shoes before running downstairs. He made certain to grab his keys from where he always tossed them -- from the small ashtray near the door -- and then he ran out and across the yard. Hopping the small hedgerow, Kyle circled around the back of the neighbor¡¯s house and opened the sliding back door and let himself on into the kitchen. A woman, in her mid-thirties or early-forties, was standing at the kitchen in a pale yellow dress with an apron on, cooking something on the stove. ¡°Shut that door!¡± She yelled back, without even looking to see who she was yelling at. ¡°MuHahahaha¡­¡± Kyle let out his best evil villain laugh. ¡°I see a pretty young wench laboring at the stove ¡®afore me. Prepare to be ravished!¡± Drooling and growling, he bounced forwards and wrapped his arms around the woman¡¯s waist and hugged her tightly. ¡°Eeeeek! Heeelp! I¡¯m being ravished!¡± The woman squealed loudly. A booming, gruff, male voice answered a moment later, ¡°Good! Save me some!¡± Kyle yelped as a hot spatula smacked him on the hands. ¡°Here, you finish breakfast,¡± the woman demanded as she angrily turned around and shoved the spatula in his hands. ¡°I¡¯ve got to go deal with a man who won¡¯t save me from being ravished!¡± Tossing her apron on the counter, the woman deliberately stomped off out of the kitchen. Laughing, Kyle yelled out, ¡°Franklin! You best run. There¡¯s a volcano heading your way!¡± ¡°Ehh? Why?¡± Asked a gruff male voice, only to be immediately followed by, ¡°Errr.. Wait! Hold on a moment! What¡¯d I do? OUCH! OUCH! Quit it! YEOW!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t save me from being ravished will you! Come back here you old bear!¡± The woman was yelling, and Franklin came running through the kitchen wearing nothing but a pair of blue boxers, while his face was covered in shaving cr¨¨me. ¡°Hi,¡± he yelled at Kyle. ¡°And bye,¡± he exclaimed as he ran out the other door and back towards the bedroom. The woman was right behind him, flyswatter in hand, smacking him across his back and hips the whole way. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Laughing, Kyle finished cooking the eggs and then turned the oven off. Making himself at home, he dug through the cabinets and pulled out several glasses and then shamelessly rummaged through the refrigerator. He had to move milk, soda, and a gallon of tea out of the way, before he could get to the orange juice and pull it out. Sniffing to make certain it was still good, Kyle poured two large glasses of juice and sat them down on the countertop. Taking a final moment to rummage in the cabinets, Kyle frowned slightly to himself when he couldn¡¯t find the bread. Soon he was opening the doors and looking under the sink, rummaging through the fridge and icebox, and even checking inside the dishwasher and oven for the bread. Finally, opening the microwave door, he found the loaf and shook his head slightly from side to side while laughing. Opening it, he checked to make certain that it didn¡¯t feel hard or nuked, and once he was satisfied, Kyle finally walked over and popped half a dozen slices into the toaster to brown. Grabbing up the two glasses of juice, Kyle glanced around once more to make certain that everything was off in the kitchen, and then he left to head upstairs. He knew his way around the place perfectly ¨C he could probably walk it blindfolded and be fine, as long as Fanny hadn¡¯t left something sitting out somewhere odd to trip over and kill someone -- which she probably had ¨C and soon he was opening the door at the end of the hall and entering one of the rooms. Seraphine was still snuggly wrapped up in the blankets, and Kyle placed the two glasses of juice down on the nightstand beside the bed. ¡°Muhahahaha, you¡¯re mine,¡± he muttered creepily over Sera¡¯s peacefully sleeping face. Gently, he brushed the hair away from her eyes and then pulled a strand out of her mouth. She still had a habit of chewing on the ends of her hair while going to sleep; it was something she hadn¡¯t outgrown yet. For a few moments, Kyle simply stood and stared at her as she slept peacefully, and then he gently kissed two fingers and tapped them lightly against her forehead. ¡°Hey you,¡± Kyle shook her lightly, ¡°it¡¯s time to get up and get ready for school.¡± Sera just groaned lightly and turned over and clutched the covers tight up against her chest. ¡°Hey! Breakfast is ready!¡± Kyle shook her a little harder, and Sera mumbled something that sounded like, ¡°Don wanna,¡± in response. ¡°If you¡¯re not going to get up, I¡¯m going to have to ravish you! Muhaha!¡± Kyle laughed evilly, and Sera just muttered, ¡°Sounds good. Save me some.¡± Cackling like a madman, Kyle grabbed the blankets and yanked, pulling them off in one large swoop, almost rolling Sera all the way into the floor. ¡°Waah!¡± She yelped and blinked helplessly, while pulling her hands up to hide her eyes from the light. Kyle let his eyes feast on the view of her for several moments while she sleepily rubbed her eyes ¨C she wasn¡¯t wearing anything more than a single pair of pink-lace panties this morning ¨C and then he quickly turned his back and muttered, ¡°Sorry,¡± when she started to sit up. ¡°Here.¡± He reached down and picked up one of the glasses of juice and held it back towards her while making certain to keep his head turned the other way. ¡°This is yours. Breakfast is ready. It¡¯s time to get up.¡± He was trying not to blush as she took the glass, and seeing this as a good time to escape before she might murder him, Kyle grabbed his own glass and headed out into the hall. ¡°I¡¯ll see you downstairs in a moment.¡± Today had started off to a wonderful morning! Chapter 11: Going to School Breakfast with Sera was a quiet, peaceful event with just Kyle and her by themselves. Sera was anything but a morning person, so she slowly ate her meal while hardly even looking to see what was on her plate, and kept rubbing her eyes sleepily. Kyle thought she was quite the sight in her long black dress and white button up shirt ¨C it was the basic girl¡¯s uniform for the academy ¨C and he happily kept staring at how large the curves were under her shirt. Sera truly was a gifted woman, and when she was half asleep like this, he could enjoy the view as much as he wanted. After breakfast, Sera went over and plopped down on the couch and halfway went back to sleep with her head leaned over on the armrest and her feet propped up on the coffee table. Kyle eased over and sat down in the chair opposite her and flipped through the channels on the television until he found some cartoons to listen to in the background, while he watched Sera half drool on herself. Getting up and looking around, he found one of the many hairbrushes scattered in various places around the house ¨C Fanny was terrible at putting things in the dangdest places when she was lost in thought for a scene for one of her novels ¨C and then he walked over behind the couch and started gently combing through Seraphine¡¯s hair. He couldn¡¯t help but think that it was a shame she didn¡¯t pay more attention to herself. Sera was a beautiful girl, and could stand out as the most beautiful in the school, in his opinion, if she¡¯d just take time to put on a little make-up, fix her hair, and care a little more about her appearance. But, something like that just wasn¡¯t her. Sera had never been one to care overly much about her appearance, or what people thought about her. Heck, she even made herself sound like a dumb mountain hick while at work, just because it seemed like that was what people expected from her father¡¯s child. Kyle was almost finished with her hair; Sera had never even looked up or said anything during the whole time he was combing it; when Franklin finally came in from the hallway. ¡°We be leaving,¡± he gruffly grunted. Kyle glanced back and half laughed. ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to finish shaving the other half of your beard this morning? You¡¯ll look stupider than usual with half a face of five o¡¯clock shadow this evening.¡± Franklin just snorted. ¡°No time, now.¡± With a nod of his head, he motioned towards the clock on the wall. ¡°Wake ¡®er up, and let¡¯s be getting. Don¡¯t want you two late fer school.¡± He turned and lumbered out of the room, holding the car keys in his gigantic fist. Softly, Kyle leaned down and blew in Sera¡¯s ear. She twitched a few times and then swatted at her face slightly with her right hand. Kyle blew gently once again in her ear, and she twitched some more but didn¡¯t wake as she feebly swatted back at the irritation. Grinning from ear to ear, Kyle slowly bent down and whispered, ¡°Hey Sera, wakey, wakey.¡± When she didn¡¯t respond, he gently blew on her ear again, and this time when she went to swat at him, Kyle grabbed her wrist and yelled, ¡°TIME FOR A RAVASHING!!¡± Sera half jumped forward with a start, and Kyle leaned across the back of the couch to mercilessly tickle her side while he was holding her wrist up to keep her from protecting herself. She yelped and squirmed, while yelling, ¡°I¡¯m awake! I¡¯m awake!¡± ¡°Too late now! It¡¯s time to be ravished!¡± Kyle told her as he tickled her wildly. ¡°I¡¯m good! I¡¯m good!¡± Sera was squirming, laughing, and trying to get away, when a loud POP rang out from behind Kyle and he let go with a yelp. ¡°YEOWCH!¡± Sera jumped up and ran half across the room before turning and sticking her tongue out at him, while Kyle was rubbing his butt and looking behind himself at Fanny, who was still waving her flyswatter menacingly. ¡°Out! Out! Out! Both of you! You¡¯re not going to be late on my watch, mister!¡± She tapped her foot and pointed to the door with the flyswatter as both Kyle and Sera ran out the door. ¡°And get in the back seat,¡± she hollered after them. ¡°I¡¯m coming too!¡± Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°Then hurry up, you old hag!¡± Kyle yelled back towards her as he waited for Sera to slide into the back of her family¡¯s SUV. The vehicle her family drove was a nice full sized Ford Explorer, but nobody ever sat behind the driver¡¯s seat. Sera always sat in the middle of the seat, pressed against Kyle, and he sat on the right side near the window. Franklin was the one who usually drove, and his seat was back so far that only a child could comfortably think of sitting behind him. One might as well say he was sitting in the back seat, in his own way, and that meant that Sera sat in the middle next to Kyle ¨C which he didn¡¯t mind at all! A few moments later, Sera¡¯s mom opened the passenger seat and sat down. Franklin looked over at her, then back at the two kids, and then finally opened his own door and got out and walked back to the house. ¡°I wonder what he¡¯s doing,¡± Fanny asked. No one answered, but both Kyle and Sera looked at each other and grinned secretly. Franklin was going back to make certain Fanny hadn¡¯t left lights on, or the oven, or something else that might be hazardous for the house. It¡¯s not like she did it on purpose, but Fanny was one of those people with a one-track mind. If she was thinking on one thing, she¡¯d forget about everything else, and time had ingrained the habit into Franklin of going back and making certain everything was like it should be when she was the last out of the house. A few moments later, Franklin was back again, and asked in his rough voice, ¡°We all set? You kids got your stuff?¡± ¡°We¡¯re good,¡± Kyle informed him. ¡°Yeah, ready to go,¡± Sera confirmed. Franklin put the car in reverse, backed out of the driveway, and drove on down the road. The trip to school was quiet and peaceful, and Kyle enjoyed the warmth he felt coming from Sera as she sat tight beside him. The scent of cherry lingered lightly in her hair, and he resisted the impulse to lean over and smell it. All in all, the ride was over faster than what he would¡¯ve preferred and Kyle was hopping out of the vehicle in front of the massive gates which led up to the school. ¡°Thanks for the ride, old fart!¡± Sera just giggled as she got out, and waved back to her parents. ¡°And mom, don¡¯t forget to sign for me today if anything comes. I¡¯m expecting a package later this morning.¡± Kyle was already halfway to the school by the time she turned back around and yelled at him. ¡°Hey! Wait for me, I¡¯m coming!¡± ¡°Wait my foot!¡± Kyle shouted back. ¡°It¡¯s friggin cold out here. You stay back there and freeze; I¡¯m going on in!¡± Tugging open the door, he watched in amusement as Sera rushed up and tried to pull it open while he held the handle. ¡°Hey! Let me in!¡± Her voice was muffled by the door itself, and Kyle stuck his tongue out at her as she kept pulling on the handle while he held it tightly. ¡°Jerk.¡± A girl¡¯s voice came from behind him, and Kyle half jumped and let go of the handle. Sera yanked open the door and dashed inside while Kyle looked over his shoulder and winced to see Heather standing behind him and looking disgusted in his direction. ¡°Sera gives someone like you a ride, and you make her stand out in the cold. You¡¯re an ass and a loser!¡± Snorting, she flicked her long blond hair over her shoulder and stomped off regally while Sera rushed to catch up and walk beside her. Kyle¡¯s good morning had officially ended, and he was now once again truly stuck at school. Chapter 12: A Day in School School was just another daily grind for Kyle. He went to class, turned in his homework, (somewhat) listened to the teacher, and wrote down his homework assignment. Lunch was the best part of the day as he got to sit with his friends and chat freely with them. Kyle wasn¡¯t one of the super popular kids in school, nor was he a complete misfit or a loner. His friends were average, run of the mill slackers just like him. Darryl was a year older than the rest of his buddies, as he¡¯d goofed off too much one year and failed and had to repeat a year of classes. Darryl was a scrawny, tall young man with a rough patch of hair coming in scattered across his face which he liked to pretend was a beard. Maybe in a year¡¯s time, it¡¯d grow to the point where it could honestly be called a beard; for now, it was just scattered stubble which Kyle thought looked kind of silly. Jason was one of the overweight porkers at the school, and everyone gave him hell over how fat he was. Kyle thought it was a shame as he was one of the nicest guys he knew; the type of person who would do anything for anybody. Being fat wasn¡¯t his problem, as he suffered from hypothyroidism, which caused him to be tired all the time and have an excessively slow metabolism. People would constantly poke fun at him for his weight, and then moments later ask him to do things for them like he was their best of friends. Kyle was honestly disgusted by it sometimes. And, his last friend sitting at the table, was William. William was one of those overly active midgets at the school. The bullies would happily pick on him for his size, if they could just catch him! William stood a good foot and a half shorter than all the rest of them, but he was quite fit and always full of energy. He carried his backpack full with every book for all his classes, slung it over his shoulder like Santa Clause, and simply dashed from one place to another avoiding anyone and anything that might try to bother him. The four boys were all sitting together today for lunch, and talking about Winter¡¯s Tale. William was the first to bring up with subject with his rapid manner of chatting whatever was on his mind. ¡°Hey guys, hey! How is everyone. I¡¯m fine. Have you all been playing Winter¡¯s Tale? I have. It¡¯s awesome. I¡¯m a level six squire already in the Berkshire Republic! I think I might be able to get to level ten tonight and then I can apply for knight status. Won¡¯t that be great! I¡¯ll be a knight. Oh, I¡¯m a human, by the way. Almost six feet tall! Isn¡¯t that something! I feel like I¡¯m going to trip and fall all the time whenever I start going anywhere. Do you know they fuss at me sometimes for not walking. Knights aren¡¯t supposed to be in a rush for some reason, though I don¡¯t know why. I¡¯m¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m a rock giant.¡± Darryl interrupted. ¡°I¡¯m almost twelve feet tall, and I¡¯m trying to get the village chief to give me a better quest.¡± Unlike William, who talked in one endless rush, Darryl was a slow talker, being certain to accent each part of a word carefully before going on to the next one. ¡°I got a quest last night where the chieftain wanted me to bring him back the best rock. I¡¯ve collected hundreds of rocks ¨C big and small ¨C and taken them to him one at a time, and he always asks me why it¡¯s the bestest rock. I try to tell him how pretty it is, or round, or anything I can think of, but so far I still haven¡¯t found whatever rock he¡¯s looking for. ¡°It¡¯s kind of a pain in the ass, to be honest,¡± he admitted. ¡°Oh wow! That sounds neat. Maybe I should¡¯ve made a rock giant. I bet I could find the bestest rock! I wonder what it is! It¡¯s probably gold or silver or shiny or red or maybe it¡¯s good for throwing or bashing things in the head or maybe it¡¯s your pet rock. I bet a pet rock would be the bestest rock! You could love it and hug it and snuggle it¡­ Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°I¡¯m dwarf, apprentice to a smith,¡± interrupted Jason. ¡°It¡¯s a lot of fun learning to work the different metals in the game. I¡¯m just now starting to learn to heat metal and temper it with different liquids, but my master said I should be able to start making something like nails soon.¡± ¡°Oh wow! That¡¯d be fun too! I bet I could be a great smith! I¡¯d¡­¡± ¡°I made an elf,¡± admitted Kyle, completely ignoring William. ¡°I guess I¡¯m in about the same boat as Darryl. I¡¯m stuck with a quest as well, and I don¡¯t know how to do it. I¡¯ve got to perform a traditional elvish naming ceremony before I can even name my character. The problem is, I don¡¯t know a thing about how to do one, and my character started out in a forest area.¡± ¡°Oh wow¡­¡± Kyle held up a hand to stop William before he could go off on a tangent. ¡°I wasn¡¯t finished yet, thank you kindly.¡± William just laughed and proceeded to wolf down his meal. ¡°I don¡¯t guess any of you have heard anything about naming ceremonies? There¡¯s no one around for me to ask currently, and I don¡¯t have a clue what I¡¯m supposed to do actually.¡± ¡°I bet all you have to do is yell something like, ¡®I¡¯m Kyle Superelf! Hear me roar, oh great trees of the forest! I name myself!¡¯ I don¡¯t see why it wouldn¡¯t work. Or maybe you just need to go up and introduce yourself to a tree or something. ¡®Hi! I¡¯m Kyle!¡¯ DING! You have a name!¡± Kyle just sighed slightly to himself. ¡°If it was only that easy, I¡¯d be happy. I just think a traditional ceremony might be a bit more complicated than that.¡± ¡°Nope.¡± William shook his head left to right rapidly several times. ¡°It¡¯s really that easy. I started out with the name Crusher Badass for my character, but once I became a squire I didn¡¯t think it was fitting, so I told everyone I was William. Everyone in the city of Berk knows William Fleetfoot now! I¡¯m famous! I only had to tell everyone a few dozen times, get arrested twice, and kick the mayor in the shin once before he changed my name on the tax rolls! It¡¯s not hard at all!¡± All of them burst out laughing, when Jason muttered, ¡°That sounds about like you,¡± and William affirmed, ¡°It was me! Honest!¡± After that, lunch degraded down to them picking on William, while he told them all about his adventures in the first day of Winter¡¯s Tale. Listening to him talk, it sounded like he¡¯d somehow played six times as long as everyone else. He¡¯d delivered messages, talked to people, helped an old woman get her cat out of a tree, painted a house ¨C the wrong color, repainted a house ¨C the wrong color, tried to repaint a house again only to get chased off by a grumpy old man with a broom, got arrested, released, arrested, released, arrested, placed into a knight¡¯s care¡­. And then the bell rang signifying that lunch was over, before William could finish talking about his adventures. The rest of the day was much like the morning for Kyle, with him going to class, and halfway going to sleep now that his stomach was full. When the final bell rang for the day, he happily took off like everyone else heading home. He¡¯d have to walk back, but the evening was always much warmer than in the morning, since the sun had had time to warm everything up somewhat. It amazed Kyle that William was level six already! He hadn¡¯t managed to even get half a level yet with his character! He was going to have to work hard, so he wouldn¡¯t be so far behind in case they ever got a chance to meet up and adventure together in the game sometime! Chapter 13: Logging in to Trouble! Kyle was shivering from walking through the cold February air, by time he got home. He had planned on heading directly upstairs and logging into Winter¡¯s Tale, but instead went into the kitchen and turned the stove on to make some hot chocolate first. Rummaging around in the fridge, he was once again disappointed in his mother¡¯s taste in food, but he really didn¡¯t feel like heading back out again this evening just to get something to eat. Wrinkling his nose, he got out everything and fixed himself a large salad for supper while the water on the stove was still heating to make the instant hot chocolate. ¡°Rabbit food, wheee! At least I¡¯ll get to have fruitcake soon in game,¡± he thought to himself. Soon the water was boiling on the stove and Kyle fixed himself a double glass of hot chocolate and sat down and nibbled on his food like a good little rabbit. It wasn¡¯t a Slop Burger, but it was better than going out into the cold once again. Maybe. Feeling warmer, but disappointed in his lackluster supper, Kyle finally went upstairs after finishing. He tossed his book bag in the corner and went to the bathroom to take his shower this evening early. When he logged into Winter¡¯s Tale tonight, he wanted to be able to play non-stop so he could gain some precious levels and experience! Normally Kyle liked to indulge in a hot shower until he ran out of hot water, but tonight he was in and out in just a few moments. Drying off quickly, he streaked back to his bedroom and rummaged around until he found a comfortable pair of old sweat pants and slid those on. Moments later, he had his V-RIG on and was powering it up. The moment he saw the blue and black background, he called out ¡°Winter¡¯s Tale, Log in¡± and anxiously waited for the game to fade into view. The moment she was in game, Kyle immediately felt a burning sensation in her legs and while disorentiated from the sudden shift into the virtual environment, was yanked down and pulled across the ground. Her staff fell from her grip, and she reached for it reflexively, a second burning pain shot through her arm as a second vine wrapped around it. ¡°HEAL!¡± Kyle screamed the command to restore her life as the smell of blistering elven flesh was quickly filling the air. ¡°What the hell?¡± Kyle was completely shocked and dazed by the sudden assault. By the time he was even aware that he was in game, he was already being tortured and tormented by two different Tangleroot Creepers. ¡°Dammit! MOMMMM!!¡± Kyle¡¯s innocent little even voice screamed out in frustration against his mother. This was all her fault! She¡¯d turned the power off last night and he¡¯d never considered that the game would log him out right on top of the spawn spot, so she¡¯d be insta-swarmed as soon as she logged in! ¡°Heal,¡± she screamed again, as she struggled to reach the staff that had tumbled and fallen a few agonizingly inches away. The vine creeped further up her arm and shoulder and began to wrap itself around her stomach as Kyle pulled herself closer to the staff. Burning pain seared into her sensitive breasts and Kyle yelped at the sudden unexpected intensity as tears poured from her eyes and water suddenly burst around her legs. ¡°Heal!¡± The vines were doing three to four points of damage every second, but Kyle could keep her health up with her magic, as long as she kept chain casting the healing magics. Finally, Kyle managed to wiggle the tips of her fingers around the base of the staff and pull it a few inches closer. ¡°Heal!¡± Smoke and steam was starting to ripple from her nighty, and the smell of silk dissolving was intermingling sickeningly with the smell of smoldering elven flesh. Another tug on the staff, and it was almost to the point where she could grab it with her left arm ¨C her right was still trapped and held tightly by the vine which was constantly assaulting her innocent flesh with its vile acid. ¡°Heal!¡± Kyle yelled and cast another heal as she finally wrapped her left hand around the shaft of the staff and tried to pull it in closer to use. A staff is a large weapon, and hard to handle with just one free hand, and Kyle yelled out ¡°Heal¡± in frustration! Desperately, she started kicking at the vine wrapped around her left leg with her right foot. Each kick sent shivers of pain up through her heel and calf, and tears almost blocked out her vision. How the heck can a game be so painful! Even with the pain settings much lesser than what he¡¯d experience if such a thing was happening in real life, it was still more than painful enough to make Kyle almost want to give up and just die and be done with it! The only problem was Kyle had no clue where she might respawn at, and she didn¡¯t want to lose any of the experience that she¡¯d struggled so hard to acquire already. ¡°Heal! Dammit, Heal!¡± Kyle keep relentlessly kicking at the vine wrapped around her leg while repeating her heal spell almost non-stop. She was doing less damage per kick to the vine, than what its acid was doing to her foot every time she kicked it!
Warning! Your silken nighty has low durability (1 / 3)!
¡°Nooooo!¡± Kyle screamed girlishly. If she didn¡¯t get herself free soon, her nighty was going to be ruined and then she¡¯d only have her cloak left! Kyle didn¡¯t want to be streaking through the forest! ¡°Heal, O Jesus Heal!¡± Frantically she kicked at the vine around her ankle several more times, and it finally shimmered and disappeared.
Congratulations! You have defeated a Tangleroot Creeper! You gain 20 experience. You need 610 more to the next level. You need 99 more kills for the Apprentice Plant Slayer achievement!
The smell of melting silk was thick in the air now, and desperately Kyle kicked herself half upright so she could attempt to beat on the other vine with the quarterstaff in her left hand. ¡°Heal! And heal! And heal!¡± She was swiping furiously at the vine, with as much force and accuracy as she could manage with one hand, when a window popped up and her nighty shimmered and disappeared.
Warning! Your silken nighty has been destroyed!
¡°Damn! Damn! Damn! Heal! Dammit!¡± Kyle screamed in frustration and furiously beat at the remaining vine until it shimmered and disappeared. A window popped up informing her that she¡¯d gotten her kill and experience, but Kyle simply sat and yelled in frustration. First her shoes and now her nighty! What type of damn perverted game was this! Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. And she¡¯d pissed herself! Who the hell makes a game where you can piss yourself! ¡°AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!¡± Kyle screamed as loud as her little elven voice would let her. ¡°Heal, dammit,¡± she continued much more quietly. It was too late to do anything about it now. With tears still in her eyes, Kyle called out ¡°Inventory¡± softly to check on her last remaining pieces of gear.
ItemPositionDurabilityNotes
Silken CloakBack2 /5A ceremonial cloak, offering minimal protection from the elements.
Since she wasn¡¯t holding the staff, it wasn¡¯t listed at the moment, and apparently she couldn¡¯t get information on the items in her cloak¡¯s pocket that easily. All she had was her cloak now, and it was over half destroyed in that last attack. ¡°Heal,¡± she muttered lightly and then corrected herself with, ¡°Wait, I meant Dammit, dammit!¡± Looking around self-abashedly, Kyle was relieved to see that no one was around to see her in her current sorry state. It¡¯s a good thing that he hadn¡¯t figured out how to record her adventures yet ¨C if his grandfather ever saw her in this state, Kyle just knew he¡¯d end up unemployed instantly. A red and green leaf shimmered faintly where the two vines had been, and Kyle slowly picked them up and placed them in her cloak pocket, which was now starting to get rather full of leaves. Looking at how many she had ¨C ten from yesterday and the two from today made twelve total ¨C Kyle came up with a crazy idea. First things first, she gently took off her cloak and climbed into the creek to bathe. Walking around with your own pee drying on your leg was just nasty; and who knew what might smell or notice it out here! Washing and rubbing over his character¡¯s feminine parts was a true oddity for Kyle. Her breasts were soft and cushiony, and very sensitive to touch ¨C especially the right one where the vine had been burning earlier! Even healed, it still maintained a memory of tenderness and washing it with her bare hands made it tingle strangely. The nipple perked up hard being caught between the caress of the cold creek water and her soft warm hands, and Kyle found herself squirming and blushing brightly. Washing even lower on her body produced feelings that Kyle¡¯s male mind had no idea how to process. It was warmth and coolness at the same time. Tingling and desirable, and yet something which made him almost cry from embarrassment! Part of him wanted to explore her anatomy more, but another part couldn¡¯t help but think he was doing something dirty and perverted! Quickly, Kyle moved on to finish washing off her legs and the rest of her body, before dunking her long hair down in the creek and giving it a quick scrubbing. Without any soap, it wasn¡¯t the best bath in the world; but it was the best that she was going to get for now! Quickly Kyle climbed out of the creek and wrung as much water as possible out of her hair before sliding back into her cloak. Even though he had just eaten in the real world, she was hungry, so Kyle dug out her elven bread and took another small bite of it. ¡°Inspect,¡± she commanded once her stomach was no longer rumbling.
NameDamageDurabilityNotes
Elven Trail BreadNA17 / 20Bread baked by master elven chefs. Has a limitless shelf life and requires very little for a meal¡¯s substance. Those that eat a meal of this recover health and mana 25% faster, for a period up to twelve hours after eating.
The durability had reduced by one, so that basically mean she had enough for another seventeen meals. Satisfied that it was going to last for a while, Kyle grabbed up her staff and slowly wandered up and down the creek until she could find a group of thistles. Carefully, she prodded at them with her staff once or twice to make certain that they weren¡¯t anything that was going to move and attack her, and then she slowly sat down keeping her cloak between her and the ground. Carefully, Kyle plucked a single thorn off the nearest thistle and then pulled out a green leaf and began slowly trying to pierce the tip of it with the thistle. The leaf was quite tough and durable, and the thorn broke before doing much more than scratching the surface. Sighing, Kyle plucked another thorn and slowly twisted it back and forth in the same spot, hoping to slowly drill a hole in the leaf. When that thorn broke, Kyle patiently tried another. And another. And another. A countless number of broken thorns later, and Kyle finally had a small pin hole drilled in the leaf. Grinning excitedly, she gently reached up and then broke off a single long hair from her head and tried to string it through the hole. With a shimmer, the leaf and hair both disappeared and a window popped up instead.
You do not have sufficient skill to craft that item! Item(s) have been destroyed from failed crafting attempt!
¡°Dammit!¡± Kyle yelled in frustration, and then grinned slightly to herself. ¡°Only 99 more to go, I guess. Looks like I¡¯m going to have to learn how to craft some leaf armor while I¡¯m killing these damn vines!¡± Kyle knew it was going to be a long slow grind, but he was content to simply sit and improve her skills slowly over time. After all, what other choice did he have, considering where his character had started at. Patiently, she pulled out another leaf and broke off a fresh thorn to work it with. Not the best tools to try her trade with, but it¡¯s all that¡¯s available out here at the moment. Kyle just had to be patient. Who knew where the heck she was out in the wilderness! There hadn¡¯t been any signs of any other players or intelligent creatures at all out here so far, so for now Kyle was going to just have to work at the game as if she was the only person in it ¨C slow, deliberate grinding of skills and talents to work them up, and killing vines for their leaves and experience as she learned. Settling in for the evening, Kyle started trying to earn his crafting skill. It was slow and boring, but at this point, he was willing to count any improvement as a success. Chapter 14: Seras Preperations When school ended, Sera went directly home for a change. Normally, she¡¯d stop by the restaurant and help her father with the evening rush, but he¡¯d just have to handle it by himself this evening. Her V-RIG should¡¯ve came, and been installed earlier today. She was finally going to be able to log in and see what the fuss was all about! Getting home, her very first order of business was to check the kitchen to make certain that the oven wasn¡¯t on, or that her mother hadn¡¯t gotten distracted and left the faucet running, or anything similar, once again. Seeing everything was in order, her second order of business was to hunt down her mother just to see what she was doing. Fanny was in her study, furiously scribbling away in several different notebooks. Sera didn¡¯t bother her. When her mother was like this, she was ¡°in the groove¡± with some creative idea for her writing, and her mind was almost completely focused on her work. Going upstairs, Sera made a beeline to her room and half bounced when she saw the new V-RIG CustomX99 in her room. The main box, which housed the operating system was sitting back in the corner under her window ¨C that might make it a pain to open the window when warmer weather came around, but it was fine where it was at for now. The whole thing was about the size of a three-foot cube, and was much larger than the one in Kyle¡¯s room. Sera had ordered the best that she could, customized it, and the insides of her V-RIG console actually had the equipment which one would normally find in four different boxes! Secretly, Sera was hoping that someday, some of her friends might come over and want to play with her, so she purchased what was basically a V-RIG server, capable of allowing up to 256 people to connect at a time through it! Of course, they¡¯d have to have their own helmets to establish a connection, if that many people showed up. She¡¯d only bought four of them for herself ¨C one custom pink, one custom blue, and two snazzy black colored helmets. Normally, nobody from school ever came to visit her; they thought she was a poor girl since she worked at Franklin¡¯s a lot of times in the evening. The sad truth was, not counting her parents and Kyle, Sera had never had more than two other people in her room at a time with her. Four helmets seemed more than enough to her way of thinking. If by some miracle of luck, she managed to have more girls over for a sleepover or something, she could always buy some extra helmets if needed. Four was plenty for now. Going over to the machine, Sera clicked the power button on, and then started undressing. Taking everything off, she rummaged in her closet until she found a nice long button-up shirt and slipped it on. She fastened a single button down near her belly button and then carried her school clothes out and tossed them in the laundry bin at the end of the upstairs hall. Shamelessly heading downstairs dressed in nothing more than her shirt, Sera went into the kitchen and pulled a couple of boxes of shrimp and frozen French fries out of the freezer. Turning the deep cooker on, she set the desired temperature and timers, and dumped the shrimp in one side and the fries in the other. Since they could cook with the timer, she went on into the bathroom and turned the shower on so it¡¯d warm up. One problem their old house had was with the shower; it always seemed like it took forever for the cold water to get out of the lines and the hot water to start coming out. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Looking in the nearby bath closet, she gathered herself a couple of nice thick towels for stepping out on and laid them in the floor so she wouldn¡¯t drip water when she got out of the shower, and then she gathered two towels for herself and a wash cloth and laid them across the top of the shower for easy reach once she got in. There was a can of Veet in the closet, so she grabbed it up along with a bottle of shampoo and a bottle of body wash, before finally getting in the shower. Taking her time and enjoying a long scrub, Sera enjoyed herself thoroughly; even taking time to let her legs and underarms soak in the Veet for several minutes, until it started to burn slightly, before washing it off. Sera liked trying to keep her legs hairless, but she didn¡¯t like to have to shave since she often cut herself, so she used the hair removal gel once or twice a week instead. The longer she let it sit and work, the less often she had to use it, so she took time to indulge and let it soak for a while this time. She was just in the mood to be pampering herself. Finally rinsing off, she dried off her hair and wrapped one towel around it to keep it from dripping, and then used the other one to dry off and buff any lose hair which remained, away. Finally, she slid back into her shirt and lazily buttoned a single button at the bellybutton, and then she went into the kitchen to get her shrimp and fries. Rummaging in the fridge, she pulled out the milk and sniffed it once, before pouring it down the sink and turning the water on to wash it on down! PEE-EW! That was an odor that¡¯d put hair on your chest, as her father would say! Dropping the milk jug into the recyclables¡¯ bin, Sera opened the fridge again and this time simply pulled out a can of soda to drink with her meal. Good old soda! Bad for the hips, but not often too bad on the nose like that milk was! Taking a few moments to sit and eat, Sera tried hard to remember what Kyle had already told her about his experience with the game. If she decided to play an ¡°Alter-Race¡±, she was going to have to be careful and watch her points a lot closer than he did. Stats were spent on a one to one ratio, but skills and such wasn¡¯t, and when she ran out of points she was automatically entered into the game. Kyle had made himself a female elf, who only knew how to heal. She needed to make something to take advantage of his limited skillset, and offset his glaring weaknesses. After finishing her meal, and washing up the dishes and putting them up, Sera went back into the bathroom and hung up the towel which she¡¯d been using to help her hair dry. After that, she went upstairs and quickly brushed out her hair before picking up the pink helmet and sliding it over her head. Laying back on the bed to get comfortable, she finally clicked the button on the helmet and connected to her system ¨C it had the same black background and blue screen which Kyle had described to her. ¡°Winter¡¯s Tale, Log In,¡± she commanded, and the darkness faded away and the game slowly faded in. Chapter 15: The Birth of Seran Darkbringer As the game world faded into view, Sera realized that it was the same glade with a waterfall that Kyle had described to her. It felt odd to her to smell the light mist of spray from the waterfall, and the slight smell of flowers on the wind. Concentrating, she zoomed out so she could spin the image and watch the little swirling sphere in the center for a moment. Just as she expected, there was a message floating above the sphere which read, ¡°SEX: Male, Female, None, Hermaphroditic.¡± ¡°Female Elf,¡± she said confidently, and immediately the text floating above the image now read, ¡°Sub-Race: Forest, High, Moon, Night, Se¡­¡± Confused, she let the text rotate through the entire list a few times, but the option for ¡°Alter¡± never showed up as a sub-race. ¡°Well that¡¯s weird,¡± she muttered to herself. ¡°I¡¯m certain that¡¯s what Kyle said he¡¯d chose.¡± For several long moments, she debated logging out and going over to Kyle¡¯s to ask him about the ¡°Alter¡± sub-race, but she decided not to. If she could, she wanted to surprise him later in game. Letting him know she was playing now would just ruin the surprise. ¡°Forest,¡± she finally said after a moment, and a basic stat screen appeared as the floating sphere took on the shape of a female forest elf. Several windows to customize appearance popped up around her, but she simply ignored them. ¡°Continue, I¡¯m done,¡± she told the game. The text then changed once again above the floating figure. ¡°Class: Alchemist, Archer, Armorer, Artist, ¡­¡± Kyle hadn¡¯t described anything like this either! Sera let the list scroll and counted; there was over a hundred different classes which a person could choose to play in the game, along with ¡°None¡±. Perplexed, she chose ¡°None¡± and then a set of stats appeared and replaced the class selection window. ¡°Points Available: 20 ¡°STRENGTH : 20 ¡°AGILITY : 25 ¡°ENDURANCE : 20 ¡°MYSTICISM : 20 ¡°SPIRITUALISM : 25 ¡°KNOWLEDGE : 20 ¡°WILL : 20 ¡°PRESENSE : 15 ¡°LUCK : 15¡± ¡°Weird!¡± Sera couldn¡¯t help but feel like something was completely different from what Kyle had told her! That wasn¡¯t anywhere near 1,000 points! She only had twenty that she could spend in her stats! ¡°Start over!¡± Bewildered, Sera went through the process a second time, and this time chose the Moon elf as the sub-race. Alter still wasn¡¯t in her list at all, and she was beginning if it might be something that only people who started on the first day could access. Bonus content or something similar. Frowning under her helmet, she went on through the process and selected ¡°None¡± as a class again. The stats that she got wasn¡¯t much different than what she¡¯d seen before. ¡°Points Available: 20 ¡°STRENGTH : 15 ¡°AGILITY : 20 ¡°ENDURANCE : 20 ¡°MYSTICISM : 25 ¡°SPIRITUALISM : 20 ¡°KNOWLEDGE : 25 ¡°WILL : 20 ¡°PRESENSE : 15 ¡°LUCK : 20¡± Apparently Moon Elves were slightly more mystical and knowledgeable then the Forest elves, but had less strength and spiritualism. Still, the total points were much less that what Kyle had spent on his character. Even if she dumped all her points into mysticism, Sera could only start with a forty-five, compared to Kyle¡¯s one hundred in mysticism! ¡°Start over,¡± she demanded once again. Whatever was going on, she definitely wasn¡¯t getting the same starting experience that Kyle had described and complained over to her about! ¡°Female,¡± she declared for sex. This time she took her time and looked over the list of races before choosing ¡°Human¡±. Other races might have different advantages, but Sera really didn¡¯t know too much about the different stereotypes since she didn¡¯t play games very often, and she certainly didn¡¯t want to play a race which might be ordered to help kill the runaway elven princess which was Kyle! Checking the options for sub-race, she chose ¡°Wildlander¡± simply because she liked the sound of it the most. Wild and free to roam the lands wherever she wanted to hunt down Kyle, that was her! For class she chose ¡°None¡± once more. There had to be some advantage to not choosing a class starting out, and even if she wasn¡¯t certain exactly what it might be, she felt it had to be something worthwhile to make up for the initial handicap which you started with. Once again, she skipped over the look customization. That really wasn¡¯t something she normally cared about, and her stats finally popped up. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°Points Available: 30 ¡°STRENGTH : 20 ¡°AGILITY : 20 ¡°ENDURANCE : 20 ¡°MYSTICISM : 20 ¡°SPIRITUALISM : 20 ¡°KNOWLEDGE : 20 ¡°WILL : 20 ¡°PRESENSE : 20 ¡°LUCK : 20¡± Humans started with a perfect twenty in all stats, but they got an extra ten points to spend however they wanted, which was nice. It ended up giving her a little more flexibility to adjust her stats if she wanted. Thinking about what to become so she could adventure with Kyle easier, Sera decided to place her points evenly into Strength, Endurance, and Agility. ¡°Points Available: 0 ¡°STRENGTH : 30 ¡°AGILITY : 30 ¡°ENDURANCE : 30 ¡°MYSTICISM : 20 ¡°SPIRITUALISM : 20 ¡°KNOWLEDGE : 20 ¡°WILL : 20 ¡°PRESENSE : 20 ¡°LUCK : 20¡± Thinking for a few moments before continuing, Sera tried to take away as many points as she could from Mysticism. Kyle was going to play the magic person; she¡¯d play Mrs. Brute! Mysticism dropped all the way to a ten, but she only got five points for the decrease. It cost two points to drop a stat, and she only got half the number back in return! For a while, Sera debated on if it was something she really wanted to do, but then she finally said, ¡°To hell with it!¡± She dropped Mysticism, Spiritualism, and Knowledge all as low as she could take them, and put those extra points into her Will, Presence, and Luck. ¡°Points Available: 0 ¡°STRENGTH : 30 ¡°AGILITY : 30 ¡°ENDURANCE : 30 ¡°MYSTICISM : 10 ¡°SPIRITUALISM : 10 ¡°KNOWLEDGE : 10 ¡°WILL : 25 ¡°PRESENSE : 25 ¡°LUCK : 25¡± Finally satisfied, she told the game to continue and the stat window closed and a new set of windows popped up. She now had a hundred points to spend, and a whole list of skills and talents that she could choose from, for starting out. Staring down the list, she started selecting a few as she carefully watched her points drop. ¡°Acid Resilience (1) ¡°Cold Resilience (1) ¡°Disease Resilience (1) ¡°Fighting ¨C Greataxe (1) ¡°Fighting ¨C Long Sword (1) ¡°Fighting ¨C Two-handed Sword (1) ¡°Fire Resilience (1) ¡°Hunting (1) ¡°Lightning Resilience (1) ¡°Magical Resilience (1) ¡°Physical Resilience (1) ¡°Poison Resilience (1) ¡°Rapid Healing (1) ¡°Survival ¨C Forest (1) ¡°Survival ¨C Mountains (1) ¡°Taunt (1) ¡°Tracking (1) ¡°War Cry (1) After spending all her points down, Sera was left with a prompt to continue. Thinking for a few moments, she laughed and told it to ¡°Start Over¡± once more. This time she went through the exact same process as before, but she took time to change her sex to ¡°Male¡±. If Kyle was going to be the helpless princess, she was going to be the Wildman of the Mountains! When she had the chance to customize her appearance, she made her avatar as tall, massive, and mean looking as she possibly could. She added scars across the face and chest, made him as hairy as possible with a full unkempt beard and wildly messy hair, with dark bronze, rough skin. Giggling to herself, she went on through the character creation process and made her mountain brute exactly as before. This time when she got to the continue prompt, she had happily yelled ¡°Yes! Let¡¯s go!¡± The skills and talents disappeared, and another prompt popped up with read, ¡°Name?¡± Thinking for just a moment, Sera declared, ¡°Seran Darkbringer¡±! The window changed to ¡°Name: Seran Darkbringer¡­. Is this correct?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± She yelled at the game in excitement, and the character creation slowly faded away and a mountainous region began to appear around him. Looking down, Sera was now a massive man wearing nothing but what looked like a large wolf pelt around his waist. Curious, she lifted it up and tittered at the large piece of man flesh dangling there between her legs. ¡°Oh, this is gonna be fun!¡± He yelled in a rough deep masculine voice, as he started to look around the world around him for the first time. Chapter 16: Serans First Battle ¡°Ugga! What you do, Seran?¡± A loud male voice yelled out at Seran, as he tried to assess his surroundings. As far as he could tell, he was in some sort of nomadic tribe, with several large rough looking men and women walking between different tents and teepees. Children ran naked and played and fought freely wherever they wished as a large man with a blue painted face stomped towards him, shaking his fist and yelling. ¡°Man no show snake! Make woman have baby!¡± Sera tried to sort out what the guy was talking about, and then decided it really didn¡¯t matter. She didn¡¯t care; she was only playing to have fun and help Kyle. Putting on her most arrogant face, she raised her fist and yelled back. ¡°Ugga! Who you to try tell Seran what do?¡± The large man storming towards him stopped and glared daggers in his direction. ¡°Who me? Me big boss! You listen, or me smash!¡± The blue-faced warrior was shaking his fist threateningly as he yelled back. Grinning, Sera thought to herself, ¡®This is going to be fun!¡¯ Cackling wildly, Seran raised his fist and shook at it the sky. ¡°Seran no see big boss. Just big fart blowing loud in wind!¡± She had to admit; she kind of liked the way these people spoke. It reminded her of working at the restaurant with her father. ¡°Ugga!¡± The blue-faced man¡¯s whole torso darkened in anger, and he rushed forwards to close the distance between himself and Seran. Seeing his intent, Seran yelled, ¡°Ugga!¡±, and charged forward at top speed as well. The two charged recklessly forward until they slammed chest-to-chest together in a resounding crash and knocked each other for a loop backwards, which knocked Seran off his feet and onto his ass! Seran gasped as the breath was hurled out of his lungs and jarring pain surged throughout his torso. Wondrous! Sera screamed in delight. THIS is what it must feel like to be a man and indulge yourself and go rush headlong into every obstacle with your fists paving the way. As a female, people looked down on her if she ever attempted to get physical, and even if she did hit a guy, they never hit her back. ¡®It¡¯s not proper to hit a woman,¡¯ was the excuse they¡¯d use. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. But here? Here the people didn¡¯t care! She could actually experience life the way a brutally rugged man could! Roaring in anticipation, Seran rolled over and flipped to his feet, just in time to get slammed in the face with the blue-painted warrior¡¯s fist. Blood squirted as his nose broke and a sudden sharp ringing pain rushed through his head. Crackling like a Wildman, Seran simply ignored the pain and head-butted the blue-faced warrior, who shook his head in pain. Trying to take advantage of the sudden opening, Seran charged forward but missed in his wild swing at his opponent. Growling in anger, the blue-faced warrior snarled and slammed his massive fist twice more into Seran¡¯s chest. It felt like his ribs were breaking! Coughing from the air suddenly being forced out of his lungs again, Seran staggered back, but his opponent pressed his advantage and brought his knee up, crushing Seran in the groin. Pain suddenly flared in Seran¡¯s head, and unwillingly he clutched his crotch and collapsed to the ground and curled up in the fetal position. Wave after wave of agony rolled from his groin throughout his entire body, and he felt as if he was going to be sick. The blue-faced chieftain simply snarled and spit on him. ¡°No show man snake. No get woman with babe. No think Seran man. Seran just boy. Boy go hunt, bring back five rockhopper, or boy no eat tonight. Chief speaks!!¡± Kicking him once more to signify his dominance, and that this fight was over, the chief walked off and roared his victory for all the world to see. All Sera could do is whimper lightly to herself. So THIS too, was how it somehow felt to be a man¡­ GLORIOUS, but painful as hell! Chapter 17: Death and Determination After several long moments of agonizing pain, and an endless number of children coming by and mocking him, Seran finally managed to stagger to his feet. That old bastard had fought dirty! Seran was half of mind to go seek him out and kick him in the crotch a few dozen times in retaliation, but knew that wouldn¡¯t help any in the long run. He had been given a quest ¨C go and bring back five rockhoppers, or else he wouldn¡¯t eat tonight. Sera hated missing a meal, and she didn¡¯t even want to imagine what it¡¯d feel like for someone as massive as her current self to do without a meal! The only problem was Sera had no idea where to find a rockhopper. Heck, she didn¡¯t even know what the heck a rockhopper was! For a few moments Sera thought about asking someone about where to find one, but then he shrugged his massive shoulders. ¡°Men no ask directions. Men just hunt!¡± Giving a mighty ¡°Ugga!¡±, Seran stormed out of the little village and into the mountains. Not knowing if one direction was better than another, Seran simply stomped forward in a straight line. ¡°Me smell rock that hops this way,¡± he lied to himself and yelled ¡°RAHR,¡± before giggling madly in his rough manly voice ¨C which made him giggle even harder! Seran was laughing so hard snot was beginning to run down his mighty cheeks when something crashed into his back, sending a stinging pain up his spine and knocking him forward. Halfway still tittering girlishly in his rugged manly voice, Seran turned around in time to see a large rock toss itself at him. Seran was a man, and men didn¡¯t dodge! Boldly, he puffed out his chest and took the impact fully! ¡°Little Rock, Seran smash you!¡± He roared and kicked at the rock as it ricocheted off his massive chest and cascaded downwards towards the ground. With a sound crack, his big toe broke as the rock flew through the air like a football punted on Super Bowl Sunday. ¡°Uggaaaah!!¡± Sera roared as the ball hit the ground and immediately began to bounce and roll back towards him, picking up speed with each tumble downhill. Snorting with fury, he charged up the hillside and attempted to crash his massive frame into the rock as he had with the chieftain earlier. The ball, however, bounced higher than Seran anticipated and crashed into his face, and bulleted through it ripping half his skull and head off in one single moment. Two new windows popped up as Seran¡¯s body crashed to the ground like a tree falling in a windstorm.
You have been slain! Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.You lose 0 experience. You need 1,000 more to your next level. You have 30 minutes till forced respawn.
Would you like to force respawn now? Warning: Doing so will result in an inability to be resurrected or regain any lost experience.
Dead. Killed in her first fight with a monster! Sera couldn¡¯t help but laugh out loud. This was GREAT! Looking at himself, he was once more nothing more than that hovering sphere of swirling rainbow light that she¡¯d first seen at the character creation screen. ¡°Respawn now! My healer isn¡¯t here, so I can¡¯t get a rezz!¡±, he yelled defiantly at the game. Seran¡¯s corpse shimmered and disappeared, with only the wolf pelt being left behind, and another pop-up window appeared. She didn¡¯t have time to read it before the world suddenly swam past ¨C much like it does when looking out a bullet train traveling at top speeds ¨C and then she found herself standing naked inside a large graveyard area. Glancing around, no one else was currently nearby, but the window was still waiting for her to finish reading it.
Warning: You have lost a random item, due to death. Gray Wolf Kilt has been removed from your inventory!
Looking down, Seran giggled quite femininely, in his deep manly voice. ¡°Look at my snake! HISS HISS!!¡± He exclaimed loudly while shaking his hips around in a circular motion. The view of his own body part swirling and shaking was too much for Seran, and he finally just collapsed and curled up on the ground and convulsively laughed madly. After many long minutes of just lying there, trying to catch his breath and recover from his massive giggle fit, Seran finally got up and thumped his chest like an ape. Yelling, he exclaimed, ¡°Me man! This me snake! Hear me roar! HIIIISSSSSSSSSSS HISSSSSSSSSSSS!!! Me coming for you, stupid rock that hops!¡± Streaking and hissing like a madman, Seran charged naked down the hillside to find a new rockhopper to bang his head against. He wasn¡¯t scared of no rock! He was man! Hear him HISSSSSSSS!!! Chapter 18: Kyle, The Caretaker? ¡°Beep. Beep. Beep,¡± went the alarm in Kyle¡¯s room the next morning as he tried to ignore it. Pulling the pillow over his head didn¡¯t tune the incessant beeping out, and after a few mournful moments of trying, he finally grudgingly got up and walked across the room to his dresser and turned it off. Last night had been a complete bust for him in game again. He¡¯d only managed to kill a handful of creatures, and had used up all of his ¡°Sturdy Green Leaf¡± without even getting a single point in any crafting skill. He was still about halfway from his first level, and probably had another eighty tries or so to go before he picked up a crafting skill at all! The only good news, as far as he could tell, was that his character had managed to improve Identify up to level 5 finally! Each level was taking longer and longer to acquire, but it was simply something to do every ten seconds while sitting and slowly trying to drill holes in a leaf, before having it disappear in a failed crafting attempt when he tried to stitch his hair through it. All in all, it was a very frustrating evening in the game, but Kyle was determined not to let it get him down. Only twenty-eight more days of this, and then he could create a new character! It was silly to be playing a game where you ran around in nothing more than a cloak! (And kind of cold too sometimes!) Getting dressed, Kyle couldn¡¯t help but smile lightly to himself. At least it was Friday now, and he could devote himself to playing for the whole weekend. Even with his pitiful rate of progress, he was certain that he¡¯d be able to level up and finally earn the basic crafting skill by Monday. If he was going to restart in a month, he needed to do his best to get every skill and point that he could for this character; it¡¯d make his next character even better through the ¡°legacy system¡±. No one knew exactly how the legacy system worked yet, but the game promised that it¡¯d help carry over some things from one ¡°life¡± to the next, and Kyle figured the more he grew with this character, the better the next one would be. Heck, if nothing else, at least it helped him to understand more about the system and rules of the game which he was playing! Finally grabbing his book bag, Kyle rushed down the steps and looked around briefly for his mother. Apparently she¡¯d been called into work early and was already gone once again this morning. Shrugging slightly to himself, he grabbed his house keys from the ashtray near the door and headed out and over to the neighbor¡¯s once again. Letting himself in through the kitchen door, Kyle noticed that no one was in the kitchen and cooking anything yet. Quietly, so as to not wake Franklin or Fanny if they were still asleep, Kyle tiptoed into the living room to see if anyone was moving around yet. Fanny was sitting cross-legged in the floor, dressed in nothing more than a lacy pair of black panties and bra, scribbling furiously on a piece of paper laid across the coffee table. Lose papers were scattered all around, and a black dress and pair of beige hose hung over the back of the couch. Laughing lightly to himself, Kyle went over and picked up the dress from the couch and unzipped the back of it. ¡°Hey Fran. Franny. Franster! YooHoo!!¡± He tried to get her attention a few different times and then just sighed and walked over and tapped Fanny on the head a few times. She looked back after a few taps, curiosity written across her face. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Kyle slid the dress over her head with the zipper part turned in his direction. ¡°Arms in,¡± he told her while laughing. Fanny wrinkled her nose a few times and then wiggled her arms up and through the holes for them. Soon she was bent back over and scribbling back at her writing like nothing had happened, while Kyle wiggled and pulled the dress down around her back better and then zipped it up for her. Seeing the hose still on the couch, he simply waded those up and carried them up the steps with them and tossed them into the laundry basket at the end of the hall. She was too wrapped up in her work; chances are she wouldn¡¯t finish up in time to put them on anyway. Today would just be one of those days she did without. Heading into Sera¡¯s room, Kyle was shocked to see an enormous V-RIG system set up over in the corner under her window. Three helmets lay piled neatly at the far wall, and one was laid near the bed where Sera was curled up tightly under the covers. Quietly, Kyle tiptoed around the bed and knelt down to read the information on the side of the V-RIG system box. ¡°CustomX99 Elite¡± was the name on it, but Kyle didn¡¯t know enough about the different systems to know much about it. It probably wasn¡¯t much different than his, he thought with a shrug. ¡°Hey Sera, time to get up,¡± he told her lightly. Sera didn¡¯t respond at all, and Kyle leaned up and gently pulled the hair away from her face and simply watched her covers rise up and down slightly as she breathed peacefully for a few moments. This was one of his favorite parts of the day, if he was honest with himself. After several long moments of indulging himself in watching her angelic face, Kyle gentle kissed two of his fingers and then placed them on the top of her forehead. ¡°Hey Sera, time to get up,¡± he repeated lightly. When she didn¡¯t respond again, he leaned and shook her lightly so she¡¯d loosen her grip on the covers. Once she¡¯d let go, Kyle gave the blanket a sudden yank and pulled it off of her in one hard yank. Sera rolled with the blankets and tumbled out into the floor with a slight crash this morning! ¡°Save me some!¡± She muttered sleepily while half rising up on her knees and rubbing her eyes. Kyle wanted to rub his eyes too! This morning Sera was sleeping in nothing more than a single white shirt, unbuttoned, and hanging limply on either side of her. He could see everything this morning! From her wavy, red, bed-head hair, to the luscious white mounds with cherry red tips above her waist, to the slightly curly red patch below it. Kyle¡¯s eyes bulged as Sera unabashedly stretched and then sleepily got up and flopped back down on the bed and pulled her arms up over her head to block out the light. ¡°Jussst a few''m mimmets,¡± she muttered while Kyle stared at her pearly white butt cheeks. With her arms up as they were, the shirt was pulled so he had a perfect view of her curvy goodness. Resisting temptation to reach out and smack her once or twice, Kyle went over and rummaged through Sera¡¯s dresser drawers. He took a few moments to play around with the different pairs of underwear that she owned, and then finally picked out a lacy pair of white panties which tied at the hips, and a frilly white bra to go with them. It was cold outside this morning, so he took time to pick out a pair of tan yoga-pants, before getting one of her school shirts and skirts for her. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. After finally digging through her sock drawer and getting a nice pair of white knee high socks, Kyle finally walked over and sat the pile of clothes on the edge of the bed. For a few more moments, he enjoyed staring at Sera¡¯s pale body, and then with a flash of bravery he slid her panties up over her ankles and wiggled them up her legs. Getting to her hips, he had to lift her lightly, and Sera muttered, ¡°Save me some¡±, in protest. Kyle couldn¡¯t help but laugh lightly to himself ¨C like mother, like daughter! ¡°Save me some,¡± had become a family joke thanks to Fanny muttering it a few too many times while wrapped up in her work. In this household, ¡°Save me some¡± could mean anything from ¡°sure¡± to ¡°never¡± to ¡°I¡¯m hungry¡± to ¡°Goodnight¡±. It was now a general catchphrase used at all the wrong times. If someone actually said it at a time when it almost made sense to say it, Kyle would think they were sick! Finally getting her panties up and in place ¨C or close enough ¨C Kyle repeated the same process with the yoga pants. Sometimes he felt like he was as much caretaker as neighbor for the dang women in this family ¨C especially in the mornings! Lifting Sera¡¯s legs, Kyle flopped down on the bed and laid them in his lap so he could put her socks on her. No one at school would ever believe that he did such things to Seraphine, but Kyle didn¡¯t care. They could believe, or not believe, whatever they wanted to about their relationship. The truth was, Kyle was conflicted about his feelings were Sera anyway. On one hand, she was a beautiful woman, and he was a young teenage male. He had to admit that he was extremely attracted to her, and from time to time that bothered him. On days like this, he felt kind of like a big brother helping his little sister get ready for school, but at the same time he felt an uncomfortable warmth in his groin that told him he wanted to be ¨C and do ¨C more than that. His biggest two problems were the fact that he didn¡¯t want to do anything to ruin their ¡°almost sibling¡± relationship, and that he honestly believed that Sera could never see his as anything more than an ¡°almost sibling¡±. At school, they almost never spent any time together. Sera had her own set of friends; Kyle had his; and the two groups never intermingled. After school, she often went to work at the restaurant and he couldn¡¯t spend any time with her then. Over the last few years, they had drifted quite apart and it was really only these cold winter mornings when he got a ride to school that they even spent a few moments together. To be honest, Kyle missed the time which they used to spend together, but it couldn¡¯t be helped. Sera took the advanced classes, and he took the easiest ones he could so he¡¯d have more free time to goof off. They didn¡¯t even have homework assignments together anymore since they¡¯d started high school. Really, it was quite an odd paradox for Kyle. He felt as if there was an endless gap between them anymore, but yet at the same time her felt close enough to help her get dressed in the mornings. To be honest, he wasn¡¯t certain where he fit into things with Sera anymore. Friend? Brother? Bother? Moocher? Caretaker? Shaking his head to clear it, he finally lifted her legs again once he¡¯d gotten both her socks on and up, and he eased himself up from the bed. Gently, he reached down and tugged on her shirt and wiggled it, trying to get it off her. Sera was limp and slightly snoring as he finally got one arm out and then the other. ¡°Now, how the hell do I get this thing on?¡± Kyle asked himself while staring at her bra. He was half tempted to just dress her without it, but he just couldn¡¯t do her like that. At the same time though, he didn¡¯t think there was any way he could get it on her either, so he just gave up on the idea. Instead, Kyle hunted around until he found her hairbrush. Sitting on the edge of the bed beside her, Kyle slowly brushed out her hair while smiling to himself. Sera had soft, silky hair that always smelled slightly like cherry blossoms, and he enjoyed combing it. After several minutes indulging himself in combing out her hair, Kyle eased up and sat her skirt, bra, and top together at the foot of the bed. Grinning widely, he yelled, ¡°Save me some!¡±, and smacked Sera firmly across the bottom of her butt with the flat of his hand. Jerking half-upright in the bed, Sera nodded sleepily and said, ¡°Sure. Yeah. Saving some!¡± Laughing, Kyle smacked her tush one more time for good measure and reminded her, ¡°Time for school. You¡¯ve slept as long as possible. Get up, and I¡¯ll see you downstairs.¡± Stretching and yawning, Sera nodded lightly and Kyle let his eyes bask in the glory of her morning figure before turning and going out of the room and downstairs. Grinning happily to himself, Kyle went into the kitchen and started digging in the fridge for the milk. Much to his disappointment, there wasn¡¯t any this morning. ¡°Hey Franklin,¡± he yelled. ¡°Fanny¡¯s too busy to cook, and there¡¯s no milk for cereal. Sera¡¯s going to need some money for breakfast at school today.¡± Of course, he was going to have to eat at school as well, or else skip breakfast, but Kyle didn¡¯t bother to mention that fact. ¡°I¡¯ll git ¡®er some! ¡®Till be aright!¡±, came back the gruff voice from the downstairs bathroom. Nodding to himself, Kyle went outside and started the SUV so it¡¯d be warm for everyone this morning. Honestly, he really did feel like a caretaker for them sometimes! Talk about a hopeless family! Waiting in the car, it was several minutes later when Sera came out of the house, opened the door, and climbed into the middle of the back seat. Kyle finally got up, walked around the vehicle and sat down beside her before closing the door. Sleepily Sera laid her head over on his neck and closed her eyes. Much to Kyle¡¯s surprise, he could see that her shirt was buttoned wrong, with at least two buttons being out of place! Just how tired was she this morning! Sighing deeply, Kyle reached over and undid the bottom half of the buttons on Sera¡¯s shirt and then fastened them properly. He really was nothing more than a caretaker for this hopeless family! But, as Sera gently laid her head back over on his shoulder and the gentle smell of cherries wafted lightly to his nose, Kyle decided that that might not be such a bad thing to be, honestly. Grinning to himself, he laid his head over against Sera¡¯s and closed his eyes while waiting on Franklin to get Fanny together and rustle her out the door. This morning wasn¡¯t so bad, either, in his opinion. Chapter 19: Lunch with Friends ¡°Oh hey guys! Guess what, I got kicked out of the knights.¡± William started blabbering as soon as everybody sat down at the lunch table. ¡°They told me¡­¡± ¡°Thanks,¡± Darryl interrupted. ¡°No, no, no. That¡¯s not what they told me at all. They said¡­¡± ¡°I was saying thanks,¡± Darryl interrupted again. This time William tilted his head a little bit and looked confused for just the briefest of moments before he started back up. ¡°You¡¯re welcome! It¡¯s no big deal. As I was saying¡­¡± ¡°How do you even know he was talking to you?¡± Jason interrupted him this time. ¡°I dunno! I just thought I¡¯d say welcome for whomever he was talking to so I could say¡­¡± ¡°I was talking to you, William.¡± Darryl interrupted him again. Kyle almost laughed at the puzzled look that crossed William¡¯s face. ¡°Um¡­¡± William wrinkled his face up in thought for a few brief moments. ¡°You¡¯re welcome! I don¡¯t know what I did, but it¡¯s no big deal! I do great things all the time. As I was saying¡­¡± ¡°You were right about the rock,¡± Darryl smoothly interrupted him once more. ¡°No, no, no! That wasn¡¯t what I was saying!¡± William was starting to half bounce in his seat now. Kyle couldn¡¯t hold back his amusement anymore; he finally had to laugh at him. William tilted his head left and right, staring puzzled at Kyle, and then shrugged. ¡°What exactly was I right about, with a rock?¡± William finally had to ask, his own curiosity making him stop speaking and actually listen for a moment. ¡°He wanted the bestest rock,¡± Darryl said slow and calmly, ¡°so I tried a few different things, and then I thought about what you said. Finally I picked up a rock and simply carried it around and talked to it and petted it. I even sung to it like a baby. ¡°Before long, our chieftain got curious what I was doing and asked me, ¡®What dat?¡¯. I told him, ¡®It¡¯s the bestest rock ever!¡¯ He snorted and asked me, ¡®Why it the bestest?¡¯, just like he always did. This time I told him, ¡®It mine. You not need to know why it the bestest. It mine. Me hunt with it, me sleep with it as pillow, me talk to it. It bestest ever rock!¡¯ ¡°At that point, the chieftain looked at me and said, ¡®Me want. Give me rock!¡¯. I refused him, and that made him mad. He demanded again that I give it to him, and when I refused a second time, he bashed me over the head with a tree and took my rock. ¡°And, like that, my quest was completed. He wanted it, since he thought I wanted it. Now he¡¯s bragging to everyone how he has the bestest rock!¡± Darryl shook his head and snickered lightly. ¡°It¡¯s kind of funny actually. Who would¡¯ve believed that you¡¯d have to tell an NPC he couldn¡¯t have the quest item he wanted, just so he¡¯d take the quest item he wanted to complete the quest! ¡°I¡¯m now a Rock Tribe Member,¡± Darryl said proudly while thumping his chest with his fists. A light feminine giggle sounded behind Kyle, and then Sera sat down at the edge of the table beside him. Darryl quit thumping his chest and left both hands pressed against his breast in fists and stared, with a slack mouthed ¡°O¡±. Silence descended around the table and everyone stared big eyed ¨C a woman had descended amongst them! ¡°You!¡± A sharp female¡¯s voice cut the silence like a knife. ¡°Little runt thing.¡± William looked over to the side of the table wide eyed, and pointed to himself quizzically as Heather nodded. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m talking to you. Move. Shoo! Shoo! Go sit on the other side somewhere. I don¡¯t want to sit beside you!¡± ¡°O.. okies¡­¡± William barely squeaked out the words as he hopped up and moved down past Darryl to sit on the other side of Jason. Heather finally sat down, making certain to keep space between herself and Darryl, as if he had the plague or something. ¡°Honestly Sera! Do we really need to sit here, of all places, today?¡± Heather snorted while opening a packet of thousand island dressing for her salad. ¡°Oh hush. We¡¯re fine,¡± Sera assured her. ¡°I wanted to talk to Kyle a bit about Winter¡¯s Tale and let him know a few things which might help him with his character some.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know why you¡¯d even bother,¡± Heather said dismissively. Sera just giggled and stuck her tongue out at her. For once, William was completely silent at the table; as was Darryl and Jason. None of them were really that popular with the girls, and Heather and Sera were too of the cutest ones in the school. No one wanted to say anything and take the chance of harming their status in the girl¡¯s eyes. They felt as if it was low enough already! ¡°Save me some?¡± Kyle finally asked quizzically. Sera giggled lightly, stuck her tongue out at him, and then speared a tater tot off his plate with her fork and ate it. ¡°Not at all! They¡¯re all mine!¡± She stuck her tongue out at him and laughed lightly. ¡°Anyway,¡± Sera continued, ¡°I wanted to let you know that I made a character in Winter¡¯s Tale last night, but before¡­¡± ¡°Oh wow! YOU play Winter¡¯s Tale?¡± William couldn¡¯t contain himself anymore; interrupting her and half bouncing on the bench where he was sitting. ¡°O, puhleeze!¡± Heather snorted, while waving her fork around with a small piece of lettuce stuck to it. ¡°Everyone who goes to school here is probably playing. This is a private academy, after all. If anyone can afford to play, it¡¯d be the students who attend here.¡± ¡°But, I thought Seraphine was on a scholarship,¡± William said. ¡°She might be,¡± Heather confirmed, ¡°but don¡¯t you think the school would give her a V-RIG? I hear they might even offer some virtual classes next year. Since it¡¯s possible to experience a time difference while in the V-RIG, teachers could spend a lot more time with their students, you know. Someday, everyone will probably attend most classes in a virtual school!¡± ¡°Oh! That.. that¡­ that makes sense, I guess.¡± This time it was Darryl who tried talking. Much to his credit, he only stuttered a little bit. Kyle just shook his head and snorted. If Sera wasn¡¯t going to speak up and say anything, he wasn¡¯t either. Instead, he asked, ¡°So what¡¯d you learn about the game last night?¡± Sera speared another of his tater tots and ate it before she replied. ¡°I was playing around with making a few of the different elf races last night. Did you know, it seems like all of them start out somewhere around twenty with their stats? Some stats are a little higher, and some a little lower, but twenty is definitely the average, and none of them could even be taken below ten. The highest I got was a thirty starting out.¡± The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°I got a fifty in strength,¡± Darryl said slowly and carefully. ¡°But, I made a rock giant for my race.¡± ¡°All my stats are twenty-five,¡± William volunteered. ¡°I didn¡¯t know where to put them, or what I wanted to be, so I just made them all the same!¡± ¡°Well that¡¯s silly,¡± Heather snorted. ¡°My highest is in mysticism, with it being a fifty as well, as a Moon Elf.¡± Jason never said a word, and neither did Kyle. He certainly wasn¡¯t going to tell them that he had two hundred in presence, and a hundred in agility, knowledge, and mysticism! What was he? Some sort of cheat character?! ¡°Well, I made a warrior type,¡± Sera finally said to break the awkward silence. ¡°What¡¯s everyone else, in game?¡± ¡°I, of course,¡± Heather said while tossing her hair back behind her head majestically, ¡°am a wizard of the highest caliber. Already, I know fire, ice, and lightning spells,¡± she said proudly. ¡°I¡¯m a healer,¡± Kyle admitted. ¡°I guess. I haven¡¯t taken a class yet, but I have a decent heal spell which I can use now.¡± ¡°Me Rock Basher,¡± Darryl said, and then almost thumped his chest before stopping and turning bright red in embarrassment. ¡°Smith,¡± Jason barely whispered. ¡°I dunno yet!¡± William finally blurted out. ¡°I was almost a knight, but then they kicked me out and tossed me in the dungeons. I got out when this assassin escaped ¨C I tried to follow him, but he got caught by the guards again. Then I ran away and joined the church. I¡¯m a nun now!¡± ¡°Wait¡­¡± Kyle interrupted him before he could go any further. ¡°How can you be a nun? Aren¡¯t you playing a male?¡± ¡°Yep!¡± William nodded enthusiastically. ¡°That¡¯s why the guards will never find me! I¡¯m in disguise!¡± Kyle just groaned and shook his head from side to side. ¡°Isn¡¯t it illegal to impersonate a nun, or something?¡± ¡°Probably!¡± William admitted freely. ¡°But it¡¯s OK, as long as you don¡¯t get caught!¡± Sera giggled lightly and Heather snorted at him. ¡°You know what we should do sometime?¡± Sera said all at once. ¡°We should all log in and play together.¡± ¡°And why would we want to play with them,¡± Heather asked, wrinkling her nose. ¡°You and I could do fine as a mage and warrior combo.¡± Sera just shook her head no. ¡°We¡¯d still need a healer of some sort, so Kyle would be good for us. And what warrior wouldn¡¯t want their own personal smith?¡± ¡°Well a giant, and a weasel doesn¡¯t seem too useful to me,¡± Heather complained. ¡°Well maybe not,¡± William admitted. ¡°But, if you¡¯re going to take one of us, you have to take us all. We¡¯ve already said we¡¯re going to establish a guild together.¡± ¡°We have?¡± Kyle asked confused. ¡°Yep! See, Kyle just confirmed it!¡± ¡°I did?¡± ¡°Yep! See, it¡¯s official now,¡± William declared triumphantly. ¡°But, if y¡¯all want, we might let you two join the guild with us. We¡¯d have to take a vote on it first though!¡± ¡°O, puhleeze!¡± Heather snorted. Sera giggled lightly. ¡°Well, since it seems Heather¡¯s all for it, can us girls join your guild?¡± ¡°Sera!¡± Heather exclaimed, and almost threw her fork in shock. ¡°I wasn¡¯t asking to be in their guild!¡± ¡°Sure!¡± William said all at once. ¡°It¡¯s OK with me. How about you guys?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care,¡± said Darryl slowly. Jason looked big eyed and simply gave a thumbs up to indicate his vote. ¡°I guess it¡¯s all up to you, Kyle,¡± William said while grinning hugely. ¡°Now wait a moment!¡± Heather tried to say something, but William just gave a loud ¡°HUSH! Kyle¡¯s voting!¡± warning to her, which made her sputter and blink furiously. Kyle looked over at Sera, leaned down and stole one of the tater tots off her plate and ate it, before finally shrugging. ¡°It¡¯s all good with me. I don¡¯t mind the idea of being in a guild with everyone.¡± ¡°Then it¡¯s official! Welcome to ¡­¡± William paused just a brief moment to think. ¡°To.. umm.. The Brotherhood of Friends!¡± ¡°That¡¯s a stupid name!¡± Heather exclaimed. ¡°Why be a brother, if you¡¯re a friend?!¡± ¡°Cause that¡¯s what we¡¯d already chosen!¡± William lied. ¡°Well, you can¡¯t be a Brotherhood now,¡± Heather argued. ¡°Not with girls in it!¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s true,¡± William admitted with a huge smirk on his face. ¡°Since you¡¯ve officially said you were in it, we¡¯ll just need to come up with a different name. Everyone think of what you like and then we¡¯ll vote on it again like we did last time when we all get together to play. ¡°When are we getting together to play?¡± He asked, uncertainly. ¡°And where? Is there a gaming house that offers V-RIG servers that anyone knows of?¡± ¡°We can all play at my house,¡± Sera said excitedly. ¡°How about tomorrow, and you guys can sleepover at Kyle¡¯s house, and Heather can stay at mine, and then we can play Sunday as well!¡± ¡°Sorry,¡± William slowly shook his head from side to side. ¡°That won¡¯t work. A normal V-RIG will only allow up to two people to access it at a time. You¡¯d have to have a server for more than that to log in on your device.¡± ¡°That¡¯s OK. Mine will handle six people easily,¡± Sera said confidently. ¡°But..¡± William started to say something, but Darryl leaned across Jason and punched him in the shoulder. ¡°Sure. We¡¯d love to come see your house,¡± he said for all of them. ¡°Then it¡¯s a promise,¡± Sera said enthusiastically. ¡°We¡¯ll see everyone tomorrow. Feel free to stop by anytime. Heather already knows the way, and Kyle can tell you guys how to get to his home easily enough.¡± ¡°But Sera!¡± Heather started to say something but was interrupted as the bell went off signifying that lunch was over. Whatever she was trying to complain over was lost in the din of everyone getting up and heading to empty their trays and leave all at once. Chapter 20: Blinded by Beauty Kyle was later than usual getting home that evening. After school let out, William, Jason, and Darryl stopped him inside the hallway to grill him about Sera and Heather. It took a bit of talking to explain that he¡¯d grown up next door neighbors to Sera, and that he really didn¡¯t know Heather all that well; she was just a friend of Sera¡¯s. For some reason, they seemed to want to know every little detail about her growing up, and Kyle finally had to simply make an excuse about needing to get home so everyone could visit tomorrow before they¡¯d let him go. Getting back home, Kyle was surprised to find the front door already unlocked when he got there. ¡°Mom? You get off work early?¡± He called out as he tossed his keys in the ashtray near the door. When no one responded, he glanced out the window and frowned slightly when he noticed her car wasn¡¯t parked in the driveway yet. Had he accidently left the door unlocked all day? Frowning, and a little nervous, Kyle crept through the house and peaked in each room downstairs to make certain nothing seemed out of place. Slowly he eased his way up the stairs, being careful not to step on the boards that always creaked. As he got near the top of the stairs, he could hear water running in the upstairs bathroom. Softly sitting his book bag down, Kyle picked up a nearby vase from the windowsill at the end of the hall, and pulled the artificial flowers of it and laid them gently down. Gripping the vase tightly for a weapon, he eased down to the bathroom door and waited at it for several moments, with his heart beating quickly in his chest. He might¡¯ve accidently left the door unlocked this morning, but he¡¯d taken his bath last night. There¡¯s no way that the water had been running all night long! Working up his courage, he quietly eased the door open and tiptoed into the bathroom. The shower curtain was drawn, and hot steam was wafting up around in waves. Easing up, Kyle slowly reached out his left hand and took a grip on the curtain, while drawing back the vase in his right. With a sudden yank, Kyle pulled the curtain back, ready to strike out at any intruder¡­ And Sera yelped in surprise and punched him square in the face! Blinking, Kyle stumbled back, slipped and fell hard on his ass. ¡°You jerk!¡± Sera yelled and tossed a bar of soap at him, thumping him hard upside the head with it. ¡°Yeoooouwwccchhh!¡± Kyle flung the vase backwards and grabbed at his forehead with both hands. ¡°Ooooghhaahaa!¡± ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t even try and play something like that!¡± Sera snorted, but Kyle simply groaned and held his face. ¡°Kyle?¡± A little doubt and worry was starting to creep into her voice. ¡°Jerkface?¡± When Kyle still didn¡¯t respond, Sera turned off the water, eased out of the shower, went over, and knelt down beside him. Gently, she pulled his hand away from his face. ¡°Let me see, you big baby. I didn¡¯t hit you that hard!¡± ¡°I think I¡¯m blind!¡± Kyle groaned as he slowly moved his hands down towards his lap. A large swath of soap was smeared across the left side of his face, and his eye was shut tight. ¡°Pah!¡± Sera let out a dismissive snort. ¡°You¡¯re going to be fine. You just got some soap in your eye!¡± ¡°Well, I don¡¯t feel fine!¡± Kyle shot back. ¡°What the hell¡¯d you do that for? What are you doing here anyway? I thought you were a burglar or something!¡± ¡°Come on, get up.¡± Sera tugged gently on Kyle¡¯s arm, helping to pull him back to his feet. ¡°Mom¡¯s not home this evening, and I don¡¯t have my keys to let myself in. It¡¯s cold outside, and since I knew where the spare was here, I let myself in. I didn¡¯t think it was a big deal.¡± The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Sorry,¡± she said apologetically, while leading Kyle over towards the sink. ¡°You probably don¡¯t want to get in the shower, so just ease you head into the sink here and rinse it out for a few moments.¡± ¡°Damn, it burns! What type of eye-eating soap were you using anyway?¡± Kyle complained. ¡°Umm.. Just whatever was in the sink here already,¡± Sera admitted sheepishly as Kyle tried to tilt his head under the faucet. ¡°That¡¯s pumice soap!¡± ¡°Should I call someone? 911? Your mother?¡± Sera was really starting to sound worried now. ¡°Just give me a few minutes,¡± Kyle sputtered while letting the water pour over the side of his face. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Sera repeated. ¡°What can I do?¡± ¡°Nuffin,¡± Kyle said, ¡°but, you¡¯re going to owe me one, big time, for this!¡± ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll make it up to you somehow,¡± Sera promised as she let go of his arm and went over to dry off. A few moments later she left the room and he heard the sound of her footsteps go into his bedroom. After some banging around in there, Kyle could hear her footsteps as she went downstairs. ¡°Great! Just leave me up here with my head stuck under the sink, blinded, why don¡¯t she?!¡± Kyle grumbled as he tried to hold his left eye open under the water. It still stung, but it was getting more bearable. Grumbling to himself, Kyle didn¡¯t hear the quiet patter of Sera¡¯s bare feet as she came back up the stairs and into the bathroom. ¡°Here,¡± Sera said, and Kyle jerked and banged his head against the faucet on the sink, startled by her sudden voice. ¡°OW! Dammit, don¡¯t do that!¡± He yelled while half spinning around to look at her. ¡°Sorry.¡± Sera was half smirking, almost as if she found the whole situation amusing, as Kyle stared at her with his one good eye. Wearing what appeared to be nothing more than one of his tee-shirts, she was holding out a small Ziploc bag filled with ice towards him. Grumbling something under his breath that she couldn¡¯t understand, Kyle grabbed the ice and slowly held it against his eye. Giving Sera the cold shoulder, Kyle strode past her and into his room to flop down on the bed with the Ziploc bag draped across the top of his face. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t be a baby. You¡¯ll be fine,¡± Sera scolded him. ¡°Just shut it. I¡¯m not in the mood,¡± Kyle shot back grumpily. ¡°Fine!¡± Sera flopped down on the other side of the bed and told him, ¡°I¡¯m going to use your helmet to log in, then, Mr. Grumpy Ass.¡± ¡°Do whatever you want. I don¡¯t even care.¡± Kyle snorted back at her while trying to keep the ice in place. Damn if his eye wasn¡¯t tender still! Sera didn¡¯t say anything else, and the room drifted into silence. Before long, Kyle was drifting off to sleep as the ice helped cool the burning sting around his eye. As he slept fitfully, he never noticed when Sera eased over and removed the Ziploc bag and took it downstairs to empty and refill before all the ice melted and it sprung a leak somewhere. He never noticed when she gently kissed two fingers and then pressed them lightly against his forehead and whispered, "Sorry." And, he never noticed when she climbed up in the bed, rested her head against his shoulder, and went to sleep beside him. Chapter 21: Mothers Secret Medicine Kyle awoke early the next morning and had issues opening his left eye. Reaching gently with his fingers, he tried to pry to open, but it was too puffy and painful. Holding his left hand over to help shield it from the light, he pulled back the covers with his right and slowly eased out of bed. When had he climbed under the blankets last night? Last thing he remembered, he was trying to rest with an icepack on his eye and must¡¯ve fallen asleep. Glancing around with his one good eye, there wasn¡¯t any sign of Sera being around anymore. She¡¯d probably left after her mom had gotten home last night. ¡®Ooooohh,¡¯ thought Kyle, ¡®I¡¯m going to get her good for this somehow!¡¯ Still feeling grumpy, and with his left hand protecting his eye, he slowly went downstairs, careful to place one foot in front of another as he lurched down the steps. ¡°Come on in here, and let me take a look at it,¡± called his mother¡¯s voice from the kitchen. ¡°In a minute. I gotta pee first!¡± Shambling into the bathroom, he relieved himself while squinting with one eye closed. It was harder to hit the bowl than he would¡¯ve imagined, only looking out one eye! Shaking off and zipping up, Kyle washed his hands and shook them dry before finally going into the kitchen. ¡°So what¡¯s the verdict doc? Am I gonna die?¡± Kyle¡¯s mother walked over, gripped his chin firmly in her grasp and nodded. ¡°Yes, idiot son of mine, you¡¯re going to die. Everyone dies. I just haven¡¯t decided if you¡¯re going to die today or not.¡± Letting go of his chin, she pointed over to the chair at the kitchen table. ¡°Now, sit your ass down there and let me take a look at it without breaking my neck trying to stare up at you!¡± ¡°Fine!¡± Kyle wasn¡¯t certain what she was angry with him about, but he went over and plopped down in the chair anyway. His mother reached out, grabbed his chin again, and then tilted it up into the light where she could see better. ¡°You¡¯ve got one hell of a black eye,¡± she told him without a trace of pity. ¡°Just what do you think you were doing, peeking on Seraphine in the shower?! I ought to black the other one for you!¡± ¡°Now hold on a moment,¡± Kyle rushed to defend himself! ¡°I didn¡¯t know it was Sera! I thought it might be a burglar or something. She hasn¡¯t come over and let herself into the house for ages now!¡± Tap, tap, tap went his mother¡¯s bare foot on the kitchen tiles. ¡°So let me get this straight. My son, thinks there¡¯s an intruder in the house, using our shower.¡± Tap. Tap. Tap. ¡°Well¡­¡± Kyle hesitated a moment trying not to blush. ¡°It does sound a little foolish when you say it like that.¡± ¡°And, furthermore, thinking it¡¯s an intruder, my son sneaks upon this person to get a good look at them¡­¡± ¡°Well, I wanted to confirm it was something wrong¡­¡± Thwap! His mother¡¯s hand rung lightly across the top of his head. ¡°You wanted to confirm there was an intruder, who might have a gun, or be high on drugs, rather than call the security company or 911,¡± she finished for him. ¡°Uhhh¡­¡± There really wasn¡¯t any good thing Kyle could say at this point except, ¡°Sorry.¡± ¡°Sorry my foot!¡± His mother thwapped him on top of the head lightly once again. ¡°Either my son is a pervert and peaking on the next door neighbor when she borrows our shower, or else he¡¯s an idiot who wants to get himself murdered so I¡¯d find his cold, lifeless corpse in a puddle of blood and guts upstairs! Which is it!¡± ¡°Umm¡­. I¡¯m a perverted idiot, I guess?¡± Kyle offered helpfully, just to get another smack on the top of his head. ¡°Well, I think you¡¯ll live this time.¡± His mother finally declared as she forced open his left eye and stared into it, causing Kyle to grip tightly onto the seat of his chair with both hands and grit his teeth. ¡°Look left¡±, she commanded, and he did so. ¡°Look right, and then up and down. Roll your eye from side to side for me.¡± Kyle followed her commands as best as he could and she made little hmm sounds as she watched. After a few moments, she let go of his eye and walked over to the sink and came back and held a washcloth against his cheek. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Tilt your head back as far as you can,¡± she ordered and obeyed. ¡°This might sting a bit. Grit your teeth, hold that seat, and if you even think about cursing at me or hitting me, you¡¯ll end up regretting it. Remember, I brought you into this world; I¡¯ll take you out of it, if I need to.¡± ¡®Oh great,¡± Kyle thought, as he steeled himself as much as possible, ¡°she¡¯s quoting Bill Cosby now.¡¯ Mercilessly, his mother pried open his tender eyelid and poured something over and into it. Kyle stomped his foot and squirmed, but his mother kept a grip and kept pouring. ¡°That burns!¡± He exclaimed in pain, just to be ignored. For several long moments, his mother poured whatever she had onto his eye before letting go. Kyle immediately grabbed his eye and covered it with his hands. ¡°What the hel¡­ ¡­lping hands was that?!¡± He¡¯d almost made a mistake and said something he shouldn¡¯t in front of his mother; but luckily she didn¡¯t seem to notice, or if she did, she didn¡¯t mention it this time. ¡°Just a saline wash to clean your eye out better,¡± she told him matter-of-factly. ¡°Now, let me have a better look at that eye once again.¡± Gritting his teeth, Kyle had to sit through another inspection from his mother before she finally let go and nodded to herself. ¡°Looks to me like the soap scratched your eye somewhat, but it¡¯ll be fine in a few days.¡± She was in her Nurse Emma voice now, and Kyle simply sat and nodded faithfully. ¡°We¡¯ll want to put something over it to help protect it, and you¡¯ll want to rinse it every morning and night for a few more times ¨C Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll help you with that. ¨C and then you¡¯ll be good to go. Just pretend you¡¯re a pirate or something for the next week or ten days.¡± ¡°Ten days!¡± Kyle was flabbergasted. He had no idea that his eye was that bad off! ¡°Probably not that long,¡± his mother reassured him as she lightly patted him on top of the head. ¡°But, it¡¯s best to be safe and protect it for now. That soap upstairs has pumice in it, and it irritated and scratched your eye. Add that to the black eye that Seraphine gave you when she hit it with you, and you should keep it under wraps and let it heal for a bit.¡± Turning, she walked over to the counter and rummaged around for a few moments before coming back and cutting some gauze and folding it, before placing and taping it in place over Kyle¡¯s left eye. ¡°Be a pirate. Have fun with it. Heck, go whimper and pout next door, and act like you¡¯re dying,¡± his mother advised him. ¡°Who knows? You might just get a sympathy kiss or something out of it!¡± ¡°And who the heck wants a kiss from Franklin?!¡± Kyle shivered in exaggeration and his mother laughed lightly. ¡°I would¡¯ve thought you might try and get one from someone other than him,¡± his mother hinted, not so subtly. ¡°Umm¡­¡± Kyle blushed slightly. ¡°I don¡¯t think Franklin would like Fanny kissing on me either,¡± he tried to joke. Laughing even more, his mother ran her fingers through his hair and then gently kissed two fingers and placed them on his forehead. ¡°Get on out of here for now. I¡¯ll fix you some chocolate gravy for breakfast before I go to bed, so you¡¯ll feel better.¡± ¡°Chocolate gravy!¡± Kyle hopped up and hugged her while licking his lips. ¡°I¡¯m going to have to get Sera to smack me in the eyes more often with something!¡± Running out of the kitchen, he yelled back at her. ¡°I¡¯m going to go next door and get Sera. I know she¡¯ll want some as well!¡± Hearing the front door slam shut a few minutes later, his mother just laughed lightly and smiled. Kids will be kids ¨C whether they¡¯re ten, or a hundred and ten! Humming warmly to herself, she put all her medical supplies up and pulled out the flour, cocoa, milk, and sugar. Looks like she had a little cooking to do¡­
Author''s note: For those who don''t know the glory that is chocolate gravy, try the magic for yourself: Chocolate Gravy! Chapter 22: A Learning Experience Kyle dashed across the yard like an idiot, barefooted. In his excitement to run and get Sera, he¡¯d ran outside without putting his shoes or jacket on. Her home was right next door, but the ground was still frozen and covered with frost, and he was running and hopping like an idiot in the predawn dark. Trying to jump the hedge between the two properties, Kyle misjudged, got tangled in the shrubbery, and ended up crashing face down on Sera¡¯s frozen yard, lightly scraping up his elbow and staining his thin school shirt. Scurrying to his feet, Kyle glanced around left and right to make certain no one saw how foolish he looked, and then when he saw the coast was clear and his ego was still safe, he dashed the remaining distance around the house and slid open the kitchen door. Once inside, Kyle rubbed his arms several times and half jogged in place to get his circulation and temperature back up. While he was jogging in place, a sudden thought hit Kyle and he stopped in his tracks. ¡®The kitchen door wasn¡¯t ever locked.¡¯ Kyle knew this for a fact. Franklin wasn¡¯t worried about being robbed. Everyone knew where he lived, and no one was going to break into his house and chance him being at home, or somehow learning who they were afterwards. Being the size of a grizzly bear had some distinct advantages to it. Sera was over at his house, and using his shower, because she said her door was locked! Why the heck didn¡¯t she just walk around and come in the kitchen door?! Frowning slightly in puzzlement to himself, Kyle slowly tiptoed through the kitchen and up the stairs to the second floor. It was still dark, but he didn¡¯t want to turn on a light and wake up her parents early on a Saturday morning. Besides, unless Fanny had booby trapped the hall again with something she¡¯d misplaced or sat down in a weird spot, he knew the way well enough that he didn¡¯t need any lights. Still though, with the possibility of Fanny¡¯s landmines being ever present, Kyle slowly and cautiously crept down the hallway until he turned the corner, eased open the door, and crept into Sera¡¯s room. There was a small lava lamp giving off pale shades of pink and purple light, and what it illuminated made Kyle almost go blind in his one good eye! Sera was laid on her back on the bed, wearing nothing but what looked like one of his tee-shirts, which was bunched and shoved up almost to her chin; eyes closed, with a deep peaceful look on her face. Lying half atop her was Heather, wearing nothing more than a pair of thin, stringy black panties, who was ever so lightly kissing around Sera¡¯s belly button. Rubbing his one good eye to make certain that he wasn¡¯t imagining things, Kyle blinked several times as Heather was still there! In fact, she was slowly starting to kiss and work her way up Sera¡¯s stomach. At which point, Kyle had to cough slightly a few times to get her attention. With the first little cough, Heather stopped like a deer caught in the headlights of a tractor-trailer. With the second little cough, she slowly lifted her head and stared to see who had caught her. With the third cough, she gently slid Kyle¡¯s shirt down over Sera¡¯s chest until it almost covered her again, and then she slowly eased out of the bed and brushed past him to go out into the hall. Stopping at the entrance to the guest room, she slowly turned and stared at Kyle for a few moments to make certain he would follow, and then she went into the room. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Bewildered, Kyle eased out of Sera¡¯s room and into the guestroom. Heather was standing there, no more than five feet away, with a hand regally placed on both hips. In nothing more than her panties! At this point, Kyle was certain that he was still probably in his bed, dreaming. Heather¡¯s long blond hair was loose and cascading down her back, and even in the dark, the silhouette of her bare torso was enough to make his young male hormones race while he stood awkwardly at attention. ¡°So?¡± Heather asked, raising an eyebrow. ¡°What do you want?¡± ¡°Umm¡­ What do I want?¡± Kyle repeated, blankly. ¡°Money? Me to recommend you to father for a job, or a scholarship?¡± Heather snorted disdainfully. ¡°What is it you want?¡± ¡°For what?¡± Kyle asked puzzled. ¡°To keep your mouth shut, of course!¡± Heather snapped at him. ¡°Just let me know what it is, and we¡¯ll sort something out. Not sex of course,¡± she half shivered at the thought of it, but definitely didn¡¯t try to cover herself at all. ¡°Honestly, as you realize now, I don¡¯t swing that way.¡± ¡°Umm¡­ You¡¯re na.. naked.¡± Kyle stammered out the obvious, his mind seeming to have problems following along with whatever Heather was saying. Snorting, Heather moved her hands and began to remove her panties. ¡°If that¡¯s all you want is to look, then fine. Keep your mouth shut, and your hands to yourself, and you can look until your eyes fall out! Should¡¯ve known,¡± she muttered to herself. ¡°Uhhhh¡­¡± Kyle simply stared for several confusing moments, and then slowly turned and walked back out and down the stairs. ¡°You just remember to keep your mouth shut, if you expect to ever have another look,¡± Heather half called out behind him. In a daze, Kyle opened the kitchen door, walked out, and gently shut it behind him. The morning air didn¡¯t seem as cold as it had before; in fact, it felt nice and refreshingly cool against this skin. Slowly he walked along the hedge and opened the gate, before going through and closing it behind him. With the same slow pace, he worked his way to his house and inside. Shutting the door behind himself, Kyle slowly started up the stairs. ¡°Where¡¯s Sera?¡± His mom asked, coming around the corner from the kitchen. ¡°She was tired and wanted to rest a bit more,¡± he lied. What the hell was he supposed to say?! ¡°Think I¡¯m going to go on up and get a little more rest as well. The cold air made my eye ache.¡± ¡°But what about breakfast?¡± His mom asked perplexed. ¡°I¡¯ll get some later.¡± Kyle answered as he neared the top of the stairs. ¡°I¡¯m just not hungry right now.¡± His mom walked to the bottom of the steps and stared up watching him until he was in his room and the door shut behind him. Clicking her tongue lightly against the roof of her mouth, she just sighed slightly. ¡°Idiot boy of mine! Just had to go and pick a fight first thing in the morning. When will you ever learn, you poor thing.¡± Kyle was learning! If she just knew what he¡¯d just learnt, she¡¯d probably feel completely different right now. Chapter 23: First Impressions Kyle heard the sound of loud footsteps coming up the steps well before Darryl called out to him. ¡°Hey dude! You naked in there,¡± he asked while knocking on the door. Sitting up from where he was stretched out on the bed, Kyle got up and opened the door. ¡°You wish!¡± ¡°Not me, man.¡± Darryl laughed lightly. ¡°Why do you think I asked before opening the door? I don¡¯t need to see another guy¡¯s junk.¡± Kyle just shook his head slightly. ¡°Get on in here. The others should be here soon, if you¡¯re here already.¡± Glancing over at the clock, it was already after nine. Had he really been laying there and lost in his fantas¡­ err.. thoughts, for that long? ¡°Nah. It¡¯s all good. The guys are downstairs, and we¡¯re ready to check out the babes,¡± Darryl proclaimed manly. Kyle tried not to smirk at him. He could talk a good game now, but yesterday he hadn¡¯t hardly even said a single word while the girls were sitting at the lunch table with them. Sure, he¡¯d talked more than Jason, but he still didn¡¯t say hardly anything. ¡°Come on, man!¡± Darryl urged. ¡°Let¡¯s go get ¡®em. Just point out which house it is, and we¡¯ll go storm it ourselves!¡± Chuckling at such bravado, Kyle told him, ¡°It¡¯s the two story brick house to the right of ours. Just hop the shrubs and go around to the kitchen. Let yourself in, or knock on the sliding glass door if you want. Go ahead, I¡¯ll catch up as soon as I take a piss and then get ready.¡± ¡°Sure, No problem!¡± Turning confidently, Darryl stomped back down the steps. Kyle heard him say, ¡°Hey guys, it¡¯s just next door where we¡¯re going. Kyle said to head on over. I¡¯ll show you the way.¡± A few moments later, there was the sound of the front door opening and closing, as Kyle went to the bathroom.
Strolling confidently outside, Darryl looked around and noticed the gate in the hedge row. Kyle normally just hopped the hedge, but Darryl was smiling as he led the way around through the gate and around the side of the house. Just like Kyle had told him, there was a sliding glass down looking in to what seemed to be a kitchen. Not feeling comfortable just walking right into someone¡¯s home, where he¡¯d never been before, Darryl rapped intently on the glass with his knuckles. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°You sure this the place?¡± William asked all at once. ¡°Yeah. This is it,¡± Darryl said, glancing back over his shoulder at him. ¡°Su.. sure?¡± Jason¡¯s eyes were growing wide, and his voice was low and squeaky.¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m cert¡­¡± ¡°WHO DA HELL ARE YA PUNKS!¡± The glass door slid back and a guff man¡¯s voice echoed out at them. William¡¯s eyes grew wide, and with a yelp he tossed his helmet in the air and turned and dashed around the side of the house, going back the way he¡¯d came. Jason was standing completely still, going slightly pale with his eyes wide as saucers. Darryl slowly glanced back around, and looked straight into the wide chest of a massively hairy giant of a man! ¡°WELL? YA LITTLE BASTARDS PEEPING TOMMY¡¯S ER SOMEFIN?¡± The huge man wrapped his left hand around his right, and the sound of knuckles cracking echoed in the morning air. Too much for Jason, he finally turned and wobbled off as fast as his chubby legs could carry him, leaving Darryl to stand there alone and explain what they were doing. The lumbering giant snarled his face into a terrible grimace and stared daggers at Darryl. The spit in his mouth dried out, and he was starting to sweat even in the cold morning air. ¡°I GUESS I JIST GOTS TA KILL YA, THEN!¡± The massive man reached out his hands towards Darryl, and he started to back away, both hands in the air to show he meant no harm. ¡°It¡¯s fine. Fine, dude. I¡¯m leaving.¡± Darryl was backing away as the burly giant slowly stepped outside, in nothing more than a pair of blue boxers, and advanced on him. ¡°DO I LOOKS LIKE A DOOOD?!¡± It was finally too much for Darryl. Yelling, ¡°Sorry!¡±, he turned and ran around the corner of the house and headed back to the safety of Kyle¡¯s home. This time, he didn¡¯t use the gate. Darryl almost ran through the hedges, he was in such a hurry to get away, while looking back over his shoulder to make certain he wasn¡¯t being chased! Chapter 24: Making New Friends Kyle was laughing and putting on his shoes when Darryl burst into his house, shaking. ¡°DUDE! You almost got us killed! You sent us to some crazy biker¡¯s house, or something!¡± Panting, he was trying to catch his breath. ¡°Dude, that¡¯s not cool!¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a big deal,¡± Kyle assured him. ¡°It¡¯s just some idiot junkie that used to hit on Sera¡¯s mom. I¡¯ll go take care of him.¡± ¡°He¡¯ll kill you!¡± William hopped excitedly. ¡°That¡¯ll be something to see! I¡¯ll come watch, but as soon as you¡¯re dead, I¡¯m out of there. He¡¯ll have to catch me to kill me, and I don¡¯t plan on being anyone¡¯s supper!¡± ¡°Me either,¡± Kyle said while grabbing up his helmet. ¡°I¡¯ll just go beat some sense into him.¡± Striding confidently past Darryl, Kyle opened the door and boldly walked outside while the other three boys trailed a little ways behind. Glancing back and seeing he was being followed, Kyle smirked real big and dashed across the yawn and jumped the hedge. ¡°Old man, I¡¯m coming to kick your ass!¡± He yelled as he rounded the corner of the house. The others glanced at each other a little nervously, uncertain what to do. William was the first to shrug, running to lead the way. ¡°Wait one me! I got to see this,¡± he yelled. Darryl just glanced over at Jason, and the both of them sheepishly shrugged at each other. Taking their time, they slowly worked their way through the gate William had left swinging open. Grimacing, imagining a scene of bloodshed around the corner, they instead found Kyle standing at the sliding door and waiting on them. Waving for them to hurry up, he half yelled, ¡°Come on! I¡¯m letting all the heat out!¡± Jason hesitated, and turned to look at Darryl, who just shrugged at him. After reaching a mental consensus, they both hurried and eased into the house. Kyle confidently strode in as if he owned the place, and slid the door shut behind him. ¡°WHO DA HELL DAT? YOU PEPPER TOMMYS BEST NOT BE BACK!¡± A gruff male¡¯s voice echoed from one of the deeper rooms in the house, and all three boys turned to stare at Kyle, who only shrugged his shoulders and then yelled back. ¡°Shut it, old man! We¡¯re here to ravish the women upstairs. Don¡¯t get in my way!¡± ¡°SAVE ME SOME,¡± came the gruff voice back. Half laughing, Kyle casually walked on into the house and up a set of stairs. The others followed, looking left and right at everything they passed. The downstairs was a mess, with scattered pages and sheets of paper everywhere. It looked like a tornado had ran wildly through a library and simply covered everything in a mad frenzy of strewn leaflets. Ignoring it all, as if it wasn¡¯t even there, Kyle continued up the steps and they were forced to follow. It really did look as if it might be the den of a crazy drug addict! Getting at the top of the stairs, Kyle unhesitantly led the way down the hall and to the door on the far left. ¡°If you¡¯re naked in there, I¡¯m going to ravish you,¡± he boldly declared. ¡°And if you¡¯re not naked, I¡¯m going to make you that way, and then ravish you!¡± ¡°O, puhleeze!¡± Heather¡¯s voice was as dismissive as ever, but Sera was giggling lightly as they walked in. ¡°We¡¯re not naked, so you can¡¯t ravish us,¡± she said while twirling in a light yellow sundress that went down to about her knees. ¡°Well, Heather might be,¡± she admitted and pointed over to the bed where Heather laid on her stomach, covered in the blankets. Only her head and arms were visible as she was reading a book when they walked in. ¡°You¡¯ll just have to check for yourselves,¡± Sera continued mischievously. ¡°Then I shall!¡± Kyle boldly declared while tugging the covers back and off into the floor. ¡°Hey!¡± Heather looked back and glared daggers at him. Instead of being naked like Sera had claimed so boldly, she was instead wearing a pair of plain black sweatpants and sweatshirt. ¡°Jerkface,¡± she declared as she eased up and flicked her hair behind her shoulders with a flick of her head. ¡°And things were so nice here before you all showed up,¡± she snorted. ¡°Wow!¡± Jason gave a slight exclamation of wonder and Heather wrinkled her nose in disgust. ¡°Just keep your eyes to yourself,¡± she demanded. ¡°Not you,¡± Jason said flatly. ¡°Is that an actual V-RIG server?¡± Ignoring Heather as if she wasn¡¯t even there, he waddled around her and knelt down at the base of the window, as if he was worshipping at an altar. ¡°It is! It really is,¡± he declared exuberantly. ¡°That¡¯s a custom X99 model!¡± ¡°Oh wow!¡± William¡¯s eyes lit up in surprise and he rushed over to look as well. ¡°It really is! That¡¯s so awesome!¡± Heather looked flabbergasted and blinked a few times in surprise. Suddenly she grabbed up a white helmet and slid it on her head, before she climbed up on the bed and slid all the way across it to the far side. ¡°Well, are you idiots going to stand there all day, or are we going to get this game started?¡± She asked. ¡°They might want a drink or something first,¡± Sera offered helpfully. ¡°They can just do without. I¡¯ve waited his long, I want to do some research and increase my magic sometime today,¡± Heather said. Looking at the others, Kyle shrugged and slid his helmet on. Clicking the camera button up top gave him a 3-D view of his surroundings, while the headset inside made certain the noise level stayed comfortable. ¡°Where we all going to sit,¡± he asked Sera, a little confused. Her room wasn¡¯t the largest after all, and she¡¯d never had much company over, so there was only the bed and the chair at the vanity table to really sit in. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Just make yourselves at home guys. The range on the sat-signal is pretty good.¡± Sera shrugged slightly and then went over and picked up a pink helmet from where it lay against the wall. Two black ones, and a blue one remained behind, waiting to be used when she walked back over to everyone else. ¡°Honestly, the range might even be far enough you could¡¯ve logged in from Kyle¡¯s house. It¡¯s not too far away after all.¡± ¡°Yeah, but where¡¯s the fun in that?¡± William declared, before he suddenly hopped up and down. ¡°Waitaminute!¡± Suddenly he squirmed past everyone and was dashing recklessly down the steps. ¡°I left my helmet outside when I threw it, when that biker attacked us! I¡¯ll be right back!¡± ¡°Biker?¡± Sera asked, curiously. ¡°Your father,¡± Kyle answered. Looking around, there wasn¡¯t any really good place to sit, so help hopped up on the bed and slid over close to Heather. ¡°Get away from me, you pervert!¡± She elbowed him lightly in the ribs and Kyle grunted a bit from the impact. ¡°Just shut up and deal with it,¡± he snapped back. ¡°Pervert!¡± Heather was silent for a few moments and then simply snorted. ¡°Whatever,¡± she dismissed derisively. ¡°Just keep your hands to yourself.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah. Whatever, right back at you.¡± Kyle answered. ¡°Now, question is, how the heck are we going to find each other in game?¡± ¡°O, puhleeze!¡± Heather groaned. ¡°Puhleeze yourself,¡± Kyle snapped back, starting to get annoyed at her. ¡°It¡¯s an honest question!¡± Sighing like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders, Heather told him, ¡°All you have to do is make everyone a friend on your system.¡± ¡°Hold up a second,¡± Sera exclaimed, while hopping up and taking up the rest of the room on the bed as she stretched out beside Kyle. ¡°Walk me through this as well.¡± William could be heard storming back up the steps, as Kyle asked, ¡°Didn¡¯t you guys do this last night, when Heather slept over?¡± ¡°Nope.¡± Sera giggled. ¡°I made Heather wait so we could all log in together and play!¡± ¡°I¡¯m back,¡± William exclaimed as he ran into the room carrying his helmet. ¡°Oh wow! Kyle¡¯s got all the girls!¡± ¡°Just shut up and log in,¡± Heather demanded. ¡°Kyle don¡¯t have shit.¡± ¡°I hope not!¡± William laughed. ¡°If he did, it¡¯d stink!¡± Sera laughed lightly and repeated for William, ¡°Just find a spot and make yourselves at home anywhere.¡± Jason had already sat down in the chair at the vanity table, and Darryl just glanced over at William and shrugged. After a moment, they both sat down in the floor and leaned back against the wall. ¡°It¡¯s more fun when you¡¯re all together,¡± William declared. ¡°Oh shut it!¡± Heather declared once more. ¡°As I was trying to tell you, Sera, simply add me as a friend.¡± ¡°Well, how do I do that?¡± ¡°Once you¡¯re at your OS screen; it should basically look like whatever you¡¯re looking at, when the camera is active, concentrate on your ID number,¡± Heather told her, a lot more softly than she¡¯d been speaking earlier. ¡°Umm¡­ 12DX-76VB-009T-MX99 is what¡¯s floating on a screen, which almost seems to be sitting on the bed now,¡± Sera informed her. ¡°Good,¡± Heather praised her. ¡°See, it¡¯s not hard. Now, all the jerkfaces have to do is concentrate on adding that number to their friends list.¡± ¡°You should¡¯ve mentioned something like that earlier,¡± Kyle grumbled. ¡°What was it again, Sera?¡± ¡°12DX-76VB-009T-MX99,¡± she replied with some excitement creeping into her voice. ¡°Now, what¡¯s everyone else¡¯s?¡± After a few moments of exchanging their different ID numbers, Heather went on to finish explaining. ¡°Now, whenever you log into a game, it should offer to automatically connect you to any of your friends who are in game. You can either agree, or deny, for each person, if you want. All it does is let you see a small snapshot of their character, and send chat back and forth to them ¨C you just concentrate if you want to send it to one person in specific or your whole friend list; a lot of people mess up and say embarrassing things starting out, so watch yourself,¡± she warned. ¡°Once you¡¯re in game, you can talk back and forth, send party invites, and see each other on your map and such things,¡± Heather continued. ¡°If, of course, Winter¡¯s Tale has the same basic set up as all the other VR interfaces I¡¯ve worked with.¡± ¡°Yeppers! It¡¯s the same,¡± William confirmed. ¡°That¡¯s how I friended my little brother in game already. And making friends in game is easy! You just go up, tell someone, ¡®Hi, I¡¯m Insert Character Name Here, let¡¯s be friends!¡¯, and then they say, ¡®Sure!¡¯ and they¡¯re added to your friend list. In game only though,¡± William clarified. ¡°All you jerkfaces understand?¡± Heather asked. When no one said anything, she clicked the button on the top of her helmet off, and said, ¡°Log In, Winter¡¯s Tale.¡± A few moments later, they all were saying, ¡°Log In, Winter¡¯s Tale¡±, and turning off their cameras. Chapter 25: Whos Who? The moment Kyle appeared in the game, several message windows popped up and appeared in front of her, asking if she wanted to accept various people as in-game friends. William Fleetfoot, Johnb Jovi, Drun Kindwarf, Seran Darkbringer, and Lady Heather, were waiting for him to accept their friendship requests. Without hesitation, she did so, and immediately several tiny little face images floated unobtrusively off to the side of her vision. ¡°Hey guys! Hey! Hi!¡± An overly exuberant voice came out of thin air, and Kyle knew instantly who it had to be. ¡°Greetings, William,¡± he tried to reply back, but William simply continued on. ¡°Guys! Hey guys! I hope everyone can hear me now. I¡¯m William, also known as William! Shhhhhhh! Don¡¯t tell the guys I¡¯m traveling with, but I¡¯m only pretending to be an actor right now!¡± An actor? The last Kyle remembered, wasn¡¯t he hiding as a nun somewhere? William somehow seemed to have ten adventures for each one that they¡¯d even pretended to have! Part of Kyle had to wonder if he was just a fruit merchant or something, and lying about all the things he was doing in game. ¡°Shut up, jerkface!¡± An elegant, but haughty female voice commanded. ¡°But¡­¡± ¡°I said shut it! Now shut it before I take this helmet off, go over there, and kick you in the nuts before you even know what happened!¡± ¡°That sounds painful! Kinda funny though! Do you think about my nuts much?¡± The two were carrying on their own private conversation when a deep baritone male voice suddenly interrupted them both. ¡°Shove it, maggots! If¡¯n I need to, I¡¯ll come hunt ya down and shove my hammer so far down yer worthless throats you¡¯ll be shitting out gravel!¡± ¡°And who the¡­¡± The haughty elf girl started, only to be suddenly cut off. ¡°SHOVE IT, I SAID!!¡± The voice bellowed around, and Kyle jumped slightly, certain that it was going to alert every creature for miles around to his location, but nothing else seemed to react to it. Apparently friend chats were something only heard by your friends. That was kind of a relief! ¡°Now then, maggots!¡± The voice continued on as if it demanded to be listed to, and William and the still unidentified elf girl both held their peace, miraculously. ¡°For those of ya who don¡¯t know, all you have to do is tap those floaty little pictures, and then you can speak and the person ya tapped on can hear you.¡± ¡°Like this?¡± A new, very thick and rough sounding male voice asked. ¡°Yep. That¡¯s it.¡± Kyle gently reached out and tapped all five images. A small glowing box twirled around each to show they¡¯d been selected and active. ¡°Hear me too, guys?¡± She asked in her light, very feminine voice. ¡°Yep. That¡¯s it, maggots!¡± The deep baritone voice confirmed. ¡°Now then, let¡¯s introduce each other, so we¡¯ll know who¡¯s who by our game names and voices. I¡¯m Drun Kindwarf, and I¡¯m the best damnable smith ya ever laid your ears on! Sometimes when I dream, I¡¯m know as Jason there. Got that, maggots?!¡± Jason?! Talking and being so forceful? Kyle couldn¡¯t hardly believe it! He was always so quiet and kind of backwards in the real world, and he had a terrible time talking to women. He not only talked to one here, but he also told them to shove it and called them a maggot! Kyle thought the change was amazing, but then again, who was he to talk? After all, he was a she in game! ¡°Seran Darkbringer,¡± answered the rough sounding male voice. ¡°In me dreams, me ravage all the womens! Me is Kyle there! Hear me HIIIISSSSSSS!!¡± What the hell?! Someone was claiming to be him? Who the hell was it? Darryl? The next voice to speak up was the snobbish sounding elf girl. ¡°Lady Heather here, and if you don¡¯t know who I am out of this world, you jerkfaces can all just die!¡± ¡°Me Johnb Jovi. Me not Darryl. Him not real!¡± A booming old voice, with a feeling of granite in it, finally spoke up for the first time. William, Darryl, Jason, Heather had all identified themselves as themselves. That meant that Seran was actually Sera? Why the heck would she claim to be him? Kyle debated for a brief moment if he should say something and spoil her ruse, but then decided to just go with the flow. She¡¯d started it, he¡¯d simply wait for her to get bored, or get caught and then stop it. Clearing her cute little elven voice, Kyle finally spoke up. ¡°And I¡¯m Sera. I haven¡¯t chosen a name in game yet, so you guys can all call me Sera if you want.¡± ¡°Sera no good! Me Seran! That sound too much like me name. We call you Kylie!¡± ¡°What a douche! Taking your name and then trying to make you take his. I told you he was a pervert, Sera!¡± Heather told her. ¡°If you want to just talk to me, think of my name or picture and the others will deselect. No need to touch them like that moron said. The game reads our brainwaves after all.¡± Concentrating, Kyle watched the glow around the different icons fade away as he concentrated on Heather¡¯s name. ¡°Thanks for letting me know,¡± Kyle told her. ¡°No problems, sweetie. You can ask me anything, in game or out, anytime. You know that right?¡± ¡°I sure do,¡± Kyle lied. ¡°Then Sera no Sera! Sera be Kylie!¡± Darryl suddenly declared. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°Hiyas Kylie!¡± William confirmed, in a support for his two friends. ¡°A beer toasted to ya, Kylie!¡± Jason agreed. ¡°Now wait a moment!¡± Heather exclaimed, but Kyle cut her off. ¡°It¡¯s OK Heather. Since I haven¡¯t chose a name yet, I¡¯ll be known as Kylie from now on.¡± ¡°Are you sure you want to put up with that?¡± Heather asked ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s fine. I¡¯m Kylie.¡± ¡°Fine. Whatever.¡± Heather finally dropped the issue and then a dinging sound rang out as a window popped up near Kyle.
Congratulations! You have completed a traditional elven naming ceremony! ** One with the blood of a royal or elder, has announced your name to a diverse group of peoples. ** One of pure elven blood has accepted and witnessed the name. ** At least three others have witnessed and accepted the name. ** The ceremony was started and completed on the same moonday. You gain 500 xp! You have advanced a level! You gain 2 HP! You gain 20 MP! You gain 5 CP! You now need 1940 experience to level 2! Your name shall now be Kylie el X¡¯entia!
Holy shit! He¡¯d actually just completed his elven naming ceremony! Kyle couldn¡¯t help but laugh lightly. Seems like he really was going to be called Kylie from now on! ¡°Me want group,¡± Seran declared, unaware of what had just transpired with Kylie getting her name and gaining a level. ¡°You can¡¯t jerkface,¡± Heather told him coldly. ¡°You can only invite people who are close to you to join your group, and I¡¯m not anywhere near you at all, thank goodness!¡± Kyle couldn¡¯t help but smirk and wonder what Heather would do, if she realized that was Sera she was actually treating that way. Pretending to be her might be rather amusing in its own way. ¡°Think ¡®map¡¯, ya maggots!¡± Jason spoke up offering the next set of advice for them all in game. ¡°Since we¡¯re friends now, you can see green arrows at the edge of your map. They should have names above them, and those will tell you how far and which direction everyone is in. None of you maggots near me here, in the Dwarven Kingdom!¡± ¡°Hey! Heather, I¡¯m not far from you,¡± William explained suddenly. ¡°Give me a moment, and I¡¯ll be heading your way! Just give me a moment to borrow this chaps horse. He¡¯s one of those elven messengers, inside the wagon talking to the producer. I¡¯m certain he won¡¯t mind me using it to catch up to a friend in game! Hiho Silver!¡± ¡°You really don¡¯t have to,¡± Heather started to tell him, but William just laughed and rambled on excitedly. ¡°Guys! Guys! It really is a Silver horse! I¡¯m riding a silver horse! Yahooooooo!!¡± ¡°O, puhleeze!¡± Heather complained privately to Kylie. ¡°Does he really take us for idiots? I¡¯ve seen the silver horses in the city here. They¡¯re what the royal messengers¡¯ use. He could¡¯ve at least made it a believable lie!¡± Kylie couldn¡¯t help but smirk and shake her head. This whole ¡°I¡¯m Sera¡± act was really amusing him to death! Trying to tune out William¡¯s incessant rambling as he was describing the trees and road flying by at rapid speed, Kylie finally pulled up her own map. Very little was uncovered on it; apparently she was in unexplored lands. All the arrows on her map were at the very edge, and the numbers under them was very large. She wasn¡¯t anywhere near anybody! ¡°I¡¯m all alone in the forest, it seems,¡± She complained somewhat. In some ways it was a pain to be out in the middle of nowhere without anyone being around, but in other ways, it was still a relief. After all, Kylie only had her cloak to wear at the moment, and having everyone see her naked would be embarrassing as heck ¨C even if it was just as a character in a game! ¡°Don¡¯t worry sweetie, I¡¯m always just a whisper away,¡± Heather told her privately. ¡°Little Seran dot near Johnb! Johnb go step on Seran dot!¡± ¡°Johnb braindead if him fight Seran! Seran smash like rock upside head! HIIISSSS!! HIIISSSSSS!!! ¡°Me coming! Crush Seran!!¡± ¡°HISSSSSSS!! Seran man! Seran bash!!¡± Kylie just shook her head from side to side before sitting down and starting to work on earning the crafting skill. She¡¯d logged out in a spot which seemed safe from ambush, and from what she could tell there wasn¡¯t any of those noxious vines near her at the moment. Since no one was nearby, all she could do is keep working on her talents the same as always ¨C one failed attempt at a time! The only thing different from before was the fact that she now at least had people to talk to, to help pass the time as she worked on trying to learn how to make leaf armor. It was kind of funny, and kind of annoying both, that it was Heather who spent the most time sending her private messages in game! Taking time to take a bite out of her fruitcake, and a swig from her waterskin to wash it down, Kylie setting in for a long weekend of crafting, killing vines, and working on raising her talent in Heather Resilience! Chapter 26: A Weekend To Remember Once everyone had, more or less, gotten comfortable being ¡°friends¡± with each other in the game, the rest of the weekend was a complete blast! Kylie was still stuck out in the middle of nowhere, and slowly killing vines, but she¡¯d made some significant improvement overall. She¡¯d finally used the staff enough to pick up a skill in it, along with tailoring, and dodging. Even though she was only skilled at a one in them for now, it proved that she was improving. Her talent in Identify was up to a nine now, as it was something that she endlessly kept repeating no matter what she was doing in game. Kyle had tried to spend his character points to improve his character¡¯s crafting skill once he¡¯d acquired it, but the game wouldn¡¯t let him do anything like that. Apparently character points can only be spent in improving basic stats after one enters the game ¨C not on skills, spells, or talents. Since Sera had informed him that twenty was basically average for a character, he decided that it¡¯d probably be best to spend those points to try and raise his endurance up a little closer to average, so that¡¯s what he did. The change in how his character behaved in game from a ten to fifteen endurance was slight, but noticeable. She wasn¡¯t as winded after bashing on the vines, she¡¯d gained ten points of health from the boost, giving her almost 50% percent more than before ¨C which really didn¡¯t seem to matter with her constant ¡°healbash, healbash, healbash, healbash another dozen times and kill them¡± style of fighting. Kylie simply had too much mana, too much healing power to have to worry about her life at the moment, but Kyle thought it was something he should get up for the harder fights to come in the future. Pulling up her status windows didn¡¯t show much improvement from playing all weekend, but it did show some steady growth.
Name: Kylie el X¡¯entiaClass: NoneLevel: 1
Race: X¡¯entian Elf (Altered)Experience: 480 / 2000
Title: Exiled Princess of X¡¯entiaStatus: Exile, Wanted CriminalCP: 0
HP: 34 / 34MP: 220 / 220SP: 20 / 20
PD: 0 (10)DR: 0MD: 0
STR: 11KNO: 100WIL: 10
AGI: 100MYS: 100PRE: 200
END: 16SPI: 10LUC: 10
TALENTS
Mystical Regen: 7.5 ¨C Recovers mystical energy at 7.5 times the normal character rate
Beginner Plant Slayer ¨C 5% bonus to hit and damage plant-type monsters.
SPELLS
HEAL: 40 -- heals 40 HP for 1 MP
SKILLS
Identify ¨C Allows identification of basic items or creatures. (9)
Fighting ¨C Quarterstaff (1)
Tailoring ¨C Tailoring allows players to cut and weave various materials into armor, bags, shirts, and other items. (1)
When all was said and done, Kyle was rather happy with the slow, but steady growth of his character. As for everyone else in game, the weekend produced various different results for them. Heather sounded like she was both having fun, and also hating everything that happened to her in game. William showed up where she was at, and had turned her life into shambles, much like a tornado moving through a trailer park. To start with, he simply ran up and hugged her in the middle of the street, which she felt harmed her reputation with all the elven people to be seen with a lowly human! When she yelled and slapped at him to get him to back off, the city guards rushed in to stop the two of them from brawling in public, and that¡¯s why William grabbed her hand, dragged her off, and her real misadventures began. First, she was declared kidnapped. Then, after William had a misunderstanding by ¡°borrowing¡± some fruit from a vendor and eating it with no money, her status was changed to ¡°accomplice¡±. The next time they ran into the city guards, she had to freeze one¡¯s feet with her ice bolt to stop from being arrested, and after that she became a wanted criminal for assaulting a guard, resisting arrest, staging a fake kidnapping, theft¡­ William dragged her down and through the city sewers, where they were attacked first by groups of rats and then later by a few different groups of hooded bandits! They fought and killed the rats when the numbers didn¡¯t seem too overwhelming, and they ran from large packs of them. Heather seemed like she was certain that she could kill them, but anytime they were outnumbered, William would simply grab her arm, tug her helpless behind him like a kite on a string, and flee in some random direction. Even with the in-game map uncovering itself as they explored the sewers, Heather got hopelessly lost! And as for the fights with the bandits, all she¡¯d fume and say was that she didn¡¯t want to talk about it! And then, she¡¯d rant over and over to Kylie about them! The men were ugly. They tried to kill her! She had to melt one¡¯s face off, and it made her sick. The smell of flesh burning in a game was a little over the top, wasn¡¯t it? Lightning both did and didn¡¯t work well in the sewers. It could bounce off walls and hit things multiple times, but could sometimes come back and hit her or that dumbass jerkface man who was dragging her around everywhere, so she had to be careful about that! And the shock carried through the water as well, if they were down in the tunnels where the sewage was actually flowing and being carried away from the city! And her clothes were being ruined! And jerkface wouldn¡¯t keep his hands off her arm! Private tell after tell, after endless tell, Heather send to Kylie! Kyle could see why Sera had decided to pretend to be someone else! To get even with her, he started telling Seran privately all the things that Heather was telling Kylie. Just so she¡¯d know about it when they logged off and chatted in the real world about things, of course! Thankfully, Seran really didn¡¯t bother Kylie with a whole lot of private tells about the things him and Johnb discussed in game ¨C most of their conversation was carried out publically across the whole friend channel so everyone could hear them, just like William¡¯s incessant chatter and Heather¡¯s constant snide remarks about their experience together! Jason was quiet for a long time in game, and then from time to time, he¡¯d start singing terribly crude songs drunkenly. Apparently one of his favorite pass times in game, rather than smithing and fighting, was drinking at the dwarven tavern. And, as his character got drunk, he got loud, obnoxious, and sang terribly off tune songs that made Heather complain, Kylie almost blush, and Seran laugh heartily and join in over the friend chat with him! One thing that Kyle found endlessly amusing was when Johnb finally caught up to Seran, in game! ¡°Dude! You¡¯re naked!¡± Johnb simply exclaimed out of the blue through the party chat, and at first Kylie almost fainted from embarrassment thinking she¡¯d somehow been found out, wearing nothing but her cloak! Seran quickly dispelled her illusions that when he shamelessly declared back, ¡°Me man. Me not need clothes. Me on hunt! HIIIIISSSSSS!!¡± ¡°Dude! Don¡¯t swing that thing around in circles at me like that!¡± Kylie had no idea what thing ¡°that thing¡± was, but for some odd reason Seran simply hissed back in return. ¡°HIIISSSSS! HISSSSS! See me snake!¡± He declared boldly. William got all excited at this point and joined in the friend conversation, ¡°Oh wow! You have a snake? What color is it? Is it big? Has it shed its skin? Is it poisonous?¡± ¡°Me snake can shed skin! Me snake grow large and powerful,¡± Seran bragged, ¡°and me snake no poison!¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be damned dude! It¡¯s killing me to look at it!¡± Johnb complained. ¡°What the hell are you doing anyway?¡± ¡°ME HUNT!¡± Seran screamed, only to be followed by a, ¡°What the fuck, dude!¡±, from Johnb. ¡°Dumbass over here just died!¡± Johnb told everyone. ¡°Just committed suicide, as far as I could tell! And holy shit!¡± There was a slight pause of silence. ¡°Here he comes again!¡± Another brief pause. ¡°And now dumbass just committed suicide again! What the hell, are you doing?!¡± Johnb sounded completely baffled. ¡°Me hunt!¡± Seran exclaimed through the friend chat, and everyone got quiet listening to the two talk back and forth. ¡°Hunt, hell! You just died again!¡± ¡°Me hunt!¡± ¡°Dammit! Let me smash that rock!¡± ¡°Go away! Me almost got it dead! Me told hunt five rock, me almost got second one deaded! Me no need stupid big rock man help!¡± ¡°A second one? You mean you killed one of them things by yourself!¡± Johnb was shocked; you could tell it even in party chat. ¡°Me die many hundred times, but me hit stupid rock before death. Lure rock near graveyard, me back before it heal! Rock wear down before Seran do! Seran win! Get big hammer!¡± Seran told everyone through the friend chat. Kylie had to take a few minutes to try and break down what she¡¯d just heard. Apparently Seran had lured a rock of some sort near the graveyard, been killed by it hundreds of times, and respawned back each time so quickly that he managed to hit it once before he died again, and thus in the end had killed it and gotten a big hammer¡­. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Who the hell deliberately lures a creature to their spawn point to get in an endless death loop?! Party chat was completely quiet for many minutes, as everyone slowly came to understand how insane what they¡¯d just heard was. It was, of course, Heather who commented on it first. ¡°Are you completely stupid, jerkface, or just brain damaged?¡± She exclaimed! ¡°What type of moron would suffer the pain of countless hundreds of deaths just to kill a single creature? Do you even realize how much experience you¡¯ve probably lost?!¡± ¡°Seran not stupid,¡± he promptly replied back. ¡°Stupid woman voice, stupid! Seran no got no experience. Seran not lose what not have!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t call me stupid, jerkface! I¡¯ll hunt you down and cut off your pecker!¡± Heather yelled back through the party chat angrily. ¡°Stupid woman voice no hurt Seran snake! Seran snake bite stupid woman!¡± Kylie had no idea what that was supposed to mean at all, but Heather broke down into sending her private tells one after another complaining about what a rude jackass Kyle was, and how he shouldn¡¯t treat a woman like that! A completely worthless loser, just pretending to be a man! Kylie simply nodded while killing her own pitiful little tanglevines , and smirked to himself repeating everything word for word to Seran privately in game. Talk about entertaining! Kyle thought he was going to die from the irony of the situation! Complaining to him, about someone who wasn¡¯t him, but was pretending to be him, when he was pretending to be the person Heather thought she was complaining to¡­ Someday, there might have to be a reckoning, but he didn¡¯t really get along with Heather that much anyway, so it wasn¡¯t a big deal. Best to simply live in the moment, and the moment was amusing as heck!
There were several other things which they all learned about the game over the weekend. For one thing, they all realized that there wasn¡¯t any way any of them could play the game all day long. The characters themselves got tired after a bit, and needed to sleep. Even if they pushed themselves and stayed awake for sixteen hours straight in game, exhaustion set in and their characters started to suffer and need to sleep. And, sleeping in game simply gave one an endless blackness to deal with. You could still talk though friend chat, and do somethings like that, but it was a whole lot like what you could accomplish if you laid down in bed with your eyes closed. And, since they were all getting tired at about the same time, everyone was entering that same dull darkness. There really wasn¡¯t anything to do in game, except talk, and they could do that just as well in the real world ¨C and still be able to see things around them and not just the back of their character¡¯s eyelids! Sixteen hours in game translated to four hours in the real world. Then their characters all needed at least eight hours of rest, so that meant they needed to stay out of game for at least two hours. Apparently when a player was logged off, the game counted that time as sleep time, and since none of them had stayed up excessively late the past few nights playing, it meant that no one had actually experienced the need to rest in game yet. In some ways, it was annoying to have to leave or fall asleep in game. In others, it wasn¡¯t so bad. Two hours gave everyone enough time to get up and stretch. Take turns using the bathroom. Go mess around in the kitchen, make Franklin mad, and fix something to eat. It gave them time to talk a bit in the real world about what all had been going on in the game world. Kyle had a little difficult time explaining what he was trying to accomplish with the rocks, since he had no clue himself just what the hell Sera was doing either. When asked, he¡¯d pretend to get ready to answer, but pause for just a moment. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll tell you guys. It¡¯s my master plan!¡± At which point, excitable William would have to bounce in with some observation about a master plan he saw in a movie, or read in a book, or something else, and everyone would get completely distracted and forget what the heck they¡¯d been talking about before he went off on a tangent. Since they all hadn¡¯t started in the game until about ten that morning, they only had two trips into Winter¡¯s Tale on Saturday. In at ten, out around two. In again around four, out again by eight. It would¡¯ve been after ten before they could¡¯ve logged in again, and there really wasn¡¯t much point in that ¨C Franklin wouldn¡¯t let any of them stay up and play much later than that anyway. And the idea of guys being up in his daughter¡¯s room until two in the morning? An ice cube had a better chance of surviving a volcano than they did with that! Instead, they all went downstairs, surfed the TV channels, and eventually decided on a cheesy movie about a zombie ballerina who only wanted to put on a performance for people, but kept eating their brains instead. It was horrible from start to finish, but the camaraderie they all felt complaining about it was palpable. And afterwards, Sera¡¯s mom regaled them all by telling them how she would have told the story. For a few moments, it was kind of odd for most of them to sit and listen to a grown woman tell a story, but after a bit they all got into it and stared endlessly at Fanny as she gestured, hopped, and got into her tale. Before long, William was bouncing along and acting out parts with her, just as enthusiastically. They were all so enraptured by the performance, none of them even noticed when Franklin sat a tape recorder down and started recording everything. By the time Fanny had finally finished her version of the story, everyone had completely forgotten what the original movie was even about. It was after midnight ¨C almost one in the morning ¨C and Franklin booted everyone but Heather out mercilessly. Getting back in Kyle¡¯s home, all the guys could talk about was the kick ass zombie ballerina, the werewolf ninja, the alien stripper, and how awesome the fight with the alien commander was, who was trying to destroy the earth! It was well after three, and probably closer to four in the morning, before they all wound down enough to sleep. The morning, they simply missed completely. By the time Kyle and all the rest of the guys had woken up, it was already after noon on Sunday! They grabbed a meal from the kitchen, spent just a little time cleaning up and doing dishes so Kyle¡¯s mother wouldn¡¯t have to when she got in from work, and then they all headed over to Sera¡¯s for another session inside Winter¡¯s Tale. Things were just as intense and rowdy today, as they were yesterday, and time passed in a blur of enjoyment for all of them before they finally starting getting tired in game and logged back out around six. Since it was almost suppertime, Sera invited everyone to go to the restaurant with her, and they¡¯d make her father cook them all something. Since most of them had never actually been to her family¡¯s restaurant before ¨C they¡¯d just heard tales from around the school that she had to work there to help make ends meet back home ¨C none of them were prepared for their time at Franklin¡¯s, except Kyle. As soon as they all walked in the door laughing and making a lot of noise, Franklin yelled at them. ¡°Git da hell out! Don¡¯t want ya kind in here, assholes!¡± He hadn¡¯t even looked around from where he was cooking in the rear to see who he was telling to get out, and Kyle just yelled back at him. ¡°Stuff it, you old bat terd! Fix us food!¡± ¡°I¡¯m busy! Fix it yer own damn self!¡± Franklin shot back, and with a giggle Sera went on around the counter and dragged Heather with her. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we got it back here,¡± she exclaimed confidently! ¡°We do? What do we got?¡± Heather asked, while getting pulled along. ¡°You boys can take out the trash, clean up the tables, and check on the bathrooms while we¡¯re back here,¡± Sera told them without even looking back, and Kyle just shrugged. ¡°Come on Darryl, grab the other side of this can with me. William, you and Jason get the other one. We¡¯ll go dump this junk out back in the dumpsters real fast,¡± Kyle told them. ¡°Wait a second,¡± Darryl said. ¡°You mean we got to do the cleaning around here?¡± ¡°Yep,¡± Kyle told him and nodded. ¡°Don¡¯t work, you don¡¯t eat. Now grab that other side of the can and let¡¯s go!¡± ¡°Well I¡¯ll be damned,¡± Darryl muttered, but did as he was told, while William and Jason were already dragging their can to the door. Clean up went along fairly easily after that, with them all picking on each other, and the customers who were already in the restaurant, and the meal of Slop Burgers, Eiffel Towers, Chili-n-Cheese Covered Salad, and Milkshakes was enough to leave them all bloated and holding their stomachs. Everyone went home after that, and all-in-all, Kyle had to admit that he¡¯d had a very enjoyable weekend. Their very first Winter¡¯s Tale marathon couldn¡¯t be considered to be anything less than a blazing success. It was tiresome to have to listen to Heather¡¯s snarky comments all weekend, but after a while he started to think of her as just being a female version of Franklin ¨C loud, full of bluster and wind, but without any real bite. Once he started thinking like that, he¡¯d found she really wasn¡¯t that bad, and his mood had improved quite a bit. Honestly, it was an experience that Kyle and everyone else -- even Heather, if she were to be honest with herself -- was looking forward to doing again, as soon as possible. Chapter 27: Spilling the Beans Kyle was relaxing in his room after everyone left, feeling drained. Playing Kylie wasn¡¯t so bad anymore, since he¡¯d figured out how to get a few skills. He had earned his quarterstaff and tailoring skill, and had even leveled up with the naming ceremony being completed ¨C entirely by accident! The extra level and fighting ability made killing the vines go a little faster, and he was actually starting to string his hair through the leaves now and was wearing a few around his neck like a soldier¡¯s dog tags. Progress in game was still going slow, but he could handle it, and, in his own way, had come to enjoy the slow paced atmosphere of the forest and wilderness. What had exhausted Kyle was simply nothing more than Heather. Or more specifically, trying to pretend to be Seraphine in game, with Heather! Three sixteen hour days in the game, holding up the deceit and subterfuge, was wearing him down. While thinking that he¡¯d need to talk to Sera about the whole twisted situation, she came bouncing into his room giggling slightly to herself. Seeing Kyle already stretched out on his bed, Sera flopped down in the chair in front of his desk and took time to yank her boots off. Standing up and stretching, she yanked the thick woolen sweater up over her head ¨C she was wearing a thin, pink, sleeveless cotton shirt underneath -- and tossed it on the desk. ¡°Which drawer has your sweats in it?¡± She asked, while bouncing over and pulling open his dresser drawers without even giving him time to answer. ¡°Nevermind,¡± she told him a moment later, followed by a quick, ¡°Don¡¯t look!¡± Glancing over to see what he was supposed to be not looking at, Kyle watched Sera as she turned her back and then took off her long, thick dress and laid it on his desk near her sweater. Kyle took a moment to stare freely at the back of her bare legs, and pale blue panties, until she slipped into a pair of his black sweatpants before exclaiming, ¡°You can look now!¡± Turning back around, Sera half ran across the room and flopped down on the bed beside Kyle. ¡°So how was it?¡± She asked, enthusiastically. ¡°How was what?¡± Kyle asked, turning to face her on his side, propping his head up with his arms. ¡°This weekend! Playing at my house! Everything!¡± Sera said, all in a rush. ¡°It was the first time I¡¯ve ever had so many people over in my home at once. Did the guys find it weird? I don¡¯t think any guy¡¯s ever been in my room before. Except you, of course. But I¡¯m used to you, so that doesn¡¯t count.. ¡°Woah!¡± Kyle learned and put one hand over her mouth. ¡°Take a breath in there somewhere before you pass out!¡± He took a deep breath himself to illustrate how it was done for her. ¡°The guys all had a good weekend. No one thinks your home is weird. Well, maybe your parents, but they¡¯ve always been weird.¡± ¡°Not weird,¡± she corrected, ¡°just eccentric!¡± ¡°You know eccentric is just a fancy word for weird-with-money, right?¡± Kyle asked while smirking. Sera stuck her tongue out at him and just giggled. ¡°Anyway,¡± Kyle continued, ¡°I think all the guys had a fun time. How about you and Heather? Enjoy yourselves?¡± ¡°Well yeah! We always have fun together,¡± Sera replied. ¡°But I do want to know,¡± she said, sounding a little more serious. ¡°What exactly are you not supposed to tell me about? Heather sent me several private chats reminding me to keep my mouth shut and not tell a word to ME about something? What the heck was that all about?¡± ¡°Umm¡­ Well¡­¡± Kyle found himself half sputtering. He¡¯d wanted to talk to her about Heather, but not about what he¡¯d seen! Sera giggled, turned over, and poked him in the ribs lightly. ¡°Best tell me buster, or else I¡¯ll have to tickle you into submission!¡± Sighing, Kyle finally just shrugged his shoulders and turned to lay on his back with his arms folder under his head. ¡°Honestly, I don¡¯t know if I should say anything or not. It¡¯s really not my business. Or my place. I don¡¯t think. Hell, I don¡¯t know!¡± Sera just giggled and stole his pillow since he wasn¡¯t using it. ¡°Are you and her dating in secret or something?¡± ¡°Hell no!¡± Kyle burst out. Sera giggled at his sudden vehement denial. ¡°Then what is it? It sounds kind of serious. Should I be worried about you?¡± ¡°Not me,¡± Kyle told her. ¡°Maybe worried about yourself a little more.¡± ¡°Myself?¡± She asked, puzzled. Sighing and taking a deep breath, Kyle finally told her, ¡°Saturday morning, I came over to your room early. Mom had..¡± He paused for a moment and decided not to mention the chocolate gravy. He regretted not eating any, and he knew she would too ¨C it wasn¡¯t a treat they had often. ¡°¡­ patched up my eye, and I wanted to let you know I was fine. You didn¡¯t need to worry or anything.¡± ¡°When I got there, I didn¡¯t know you Heather was there. I walked in and she was in the room with you.¡± Kyle paused and tried not to blush. ¡°Umm, in the bed with you.¡± His cheeks were definitely starting to get hot and turn red! ¡°I caught her doing slightly naughty things to you while you were sleeping,¡± he finally finished in a rush! The room was bathed in silence for several moments, until Sera finally burst out laughing. ¡°So that¡¯s what all the big fuss was about? Heather got caught!¡± ¡°Wait!¡± Kyle exclaimed suddenly. ¡°You knew?¡± ¡°Well yeah.¡± Sera shrugged her shoulders lightly. ¡°Heather¡¯s always been a little strange. She always sleeps in my room whenever she stays over, and she likes to ¡®cuddle¡¯. I guess you found out she likes girls, and she didn¡¯t want you to tell anyone?¡± ¡°Not quite! I found her up under your shirt, kissing up and down your stomach, like a creepy molester pervert!¡± Sera laughed freely and hid her head in the pillow. ¡°No wonder she¡¯s so embarrassed! You caught her with her hands in the cookie jar!¡± ¡°And you¡¯re not upset over it?¡± Kyle was really puzzled now. If that was one of his friends, like Darryl, there¡¯d be all sorts of bloodshed from the fight that ensued. ¡°Not the most,¡± Sera shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ve always known Heather was a little odd. She always wants to take a shower with me, or wash my back, or cuddle whenever she spends the night. She¡¯s one of those girls, who¡¯s into other girls.¡± ¡°Are you?¡± Kyle asked, feeling his interest rise. The things his mind was starting to imagine was enough to make other things rise as well, so he rolled over onto his stomach, and propped his head up in his hands to hide his growing interest. ¡°Not really. I mean, I¡¯ve been curious a few times,¡± Sera admitted, ¡°but I don¡¯t swing that way. Heather knows that, but we¡¯re still friends. She might cop a feel in the shower, or steal a squeeze or something while we¡¯re cuddling, but she knows I¡¯m not really into that sort of thing.¡± She paused for a moment to collect her thoughts. ¡°At least, not with her,¡± she clarified. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°I guess her being such a close friend and all, and since I was curious and kissed her back a few times and all, she doesn¡¯t think little things like that¡¯s such a big deal.¡± Sera shrugged, and then asked, ¡°Do you mean to tell me you¡¯ve never been the least bit curious about what it¡¯d be like? With another guy, I mean.¡± ¡°Oh! Hell no!¡± Kyle shivered at the thought. ¡°If that was me with Darryl or one of them, I¡¯d break their nose for starters and end up neutering them after! Then I¡¯d never have to worry about such a thing happening ever again!¡± Sera just giggled. ¡°And I thought you were supposed to be a healer. I guess you guys are just a lot more violent than us girls!¡± ¡°Maybe,¡± Kyle admitted, ¡°but you girls are completely insane! How many times did you die this weekend anyway? A thousand?¡± ¡°Over ten thousand,¡± Sera bragged shamelessly. ¡°Ten thousand! Why the hell would you do that?¡± Kyle was thinking that women really were crazy! Sera smirked, placed her fingers to her lips, and made a hushing sound. ¡°It¡¯s a secret,¡± she winked. ¡°Well you¡¯d best tell me at least,¡± Kyle demanded. ¡°Especially since I had to tell you all about Lady Pervert!¡± ¡°Oh fine!¡± Sera said. ¡°It¡¯s my master plan for helping me in the end game.¡± ¡°End game?¡± ¡°Well yeah. All games have some sort of max level for players, or toughest boss, or such. Dying at that level usually has massive penalties from what I¡¯ve been told. The higher you go, the more you lose when you die. Right?¡± ¡°Well, usually,¡± Kyle admitted. ¡°When I first logged in,¡± Sera told him, ¡°I got killed by one of those rocks. It sent me to the graveyard almost instantly. They aren¡¯t that dangerous if they hit you in the legs or torso, but it¡¯s almost an instant kill if they hit you in the face. Or roll down a hill and build up speed. Their main attack seems to be knockback, more than damage. You won¡¯t believe how many times they¡¯ve broke my neck when hitting me in the face! Hit your back hard enough to push you forward a few feet, and you might just fall on your face. Hit your face hard enough to knock it back a few feet, and it¡¯s game over!¡± ¡°But why?¡± Kyle asked. ¡°Because when I was trying to get back to my character¡¯s wolf pelt, I died again.¡± Sera continued. ¡°And that made me mad, and it was kind of funny too, so I just charged them a few more times, enjoying the game. After 10 quick deaths, I got an achievement and a title ¨C Unrelenting. Due to my unrelenting spirit in battle, all penalties from death would be reduced by 50%.¡± She was quiet for a moment, allowing Kyle a second for what she was saying to sink in. ¡°I thought that was awesome,¡± she continued, ¡°so I went out and just self-suicided oodles of times to see if I could get an improvement with it. After numerous tests, I found out that only deaths so close to each other in a period of time stack. Only deaths where you TRY to defeat an opponent count too. When I just went out and stood there, those didn¡¯t count. I had to at least attempt to kill my enemy. And it¡¯s not a half-asses try to kill them either. Hit a rock once, then give up and let it kill you, and the game won¡¯t count it. ¡°Trying to actually kill those rocks however, every so often, one of those deaths would count as I figured out what it needed to satisfy the game rules. Then I figured out how to lure those rocks slowly back and closer to the graveyard with each death, so I could speed up the process. And, then with enough practice I figured out how to fight the best to qualify for the achievement count. ¡°At one hundred deaths, the penalty for dying was reduced by seventy-five percent. At one thousand deaths, the penalty was reduced by ninety percent. At ten thousand deaths, my penalty for dying is reduced by ninety-five percent!¡± ¡°Holy shit!¡± Kyle exclaimed. ¡°That¡¯s awesome! No wonder you went bat shit crazy! When most people die and lose a ton of experience at level one hundred, you¡¯ll barely even notice the hit! I can see why you went on a suicide spree now!¡± ¡°Maybe I should do something like that,¡± Kyle mused. After a few moments, he finally shook his head from side to side. ¡°Nah. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll chance it. For starters, I don¡¯t have a clue where the nearest graveyard to me might be. Who knows where I¡¯d end up at! And then I¡¯ve got a quest that specifically tells me NOT to die. I imagine it¡¯d be bad with it. ¡°Not to mention that there doesn¡¯t seem to be anything that can kill me easily where I¡¯m at. The squirrels toss nuts one at a time for just a single point of damage, and the vines wrap around and burn you for just a few points at a time. If I fight the squirrels seriously, they run after a certain point, and the vines simply hurt too much to deal with. I think I¡¯ll pass, even though it sounds like an awesome advantage!¡± ¡°I might be a little bit jealous,¡± Kyle admitted. ¡°You won¡¯t be a little jealous. You¡¯ll die from jealously,¡± Sera taunted. ¡°When I finally killed one of those rocks, it dropped me a purple named weapon. ¡®Stonebreaker Great Maul¡¯ It¡¯s a scalable weapon, and I don¡¯t know squat about it, except it¡¯s considered to be a Mythic quality item. The other three rocks I killed simply dropped a ¡®strange shimmering ore¡¯ that seems to be used in crafting for something. ¡°But, I¡¯ve got a mystic weapon,¡± Sera taunted. ¡°Na Na Ah Nana!¡± ¡°Only until it breaks with all those deaths,¡± Kyle snorted. ¡°Not a worry,¡± Sera teased. ¡°I keep it and those ores hidden in one of the crypts when I¡¯m fighting. Since I¡¯m always respawning back where they¡¯re at, I can keep them safe from anyone else who might show up ¨C even though almost nobody ever does where I¡¯m at. When I get ready to sleep or log out, then I pick them up and keep them safe with me. It¡¯s my treasure!¡± ¡°Only until I catch up to wherever you¡¯re at and steal it from you,¡± Kyle warned. ¡°You wish!¡± Sera hopped up out of the bed, grabbed the pillow, and beat him with it relentlessly. ¡°Hey now!¡± Laughing, Kyle grabbed for the pillow and Sera squealed and ran out of the room when he snatched it from her. A moment later, she ran back in and thwapped him with one of the pillows from the other room. Things broke down into a viciously loud pillow fight, followed by an intense tickle session until Sera cried for mercy and yelled ¡°Uncle¡± a dozen times. After finally flopping back on the bed to catch their breaths, Sera and Kyle spent the next several hours chatting and comparing notes about the weekend and everyone¡¯s actions and reactions, both in game and out of game, before exhaustion finally set in and they finally drifted off to sleep. Chapter 28: Busted! Kyle awoke to a strange scratching sound that simply wouldn¡¯t quit. ¡°Scritch scritch scritch..¡± Whatever it was, it wasn¡¯t far from his head. Groggily, he tried to rub his eyes, but an odd weight was pressing down on his left shoulder and arm. ¡°Don¡¯t move,¡± someone commanded, and something rapped him across the bridge of his nose hard enough to sting. ¡°What the¡­¡± he started to ask what was going on, but got rapped across the bridge of the nose once more for his trouble. ¡°Hush, and hold still!¡± He was awake enough now to tell that it was Fanny who was bossing him around in the middle of the night. ¡°You¡¯ll wake her, if you¡¯re not careful, and then I can¡¯t finish!¡± Wake her? Finish? Kyle slowly rubbed his good eye with his right hand, wary not to get smacked across the nose again, and slowly glanced over to his right. Fanny was standing at the side of his bed, hovering over him all creepily stalkerish, and furiously sketching or scribbling in a notepad. Kyle had no clue what the heck she was doing; this was weird even for Fanny; and slowly he turned his head to see what was holding down his left arm. With his left eye still bandaged up, he was having trouble turning his head far enough to see without moving his body, but he did manage to catch a faint whiff of cherry blossoms. Suddenly his mind connected the dots and he was fully awake! Sera had come to his room last night, and they¡¯d sat up and talked until late. At some point, their conversations started taking a bit longer for each person to respond as they were both tired from the long hours they¡¯d spent staying up and playing with everyone all weekend, and eventually they must have fallen to sleep. The weight on his arm must be Sera snuggled up against him, and Fanny was probably sketching their profile so she could turn him in to the police, or show Franklin and have him neutered, or something else horrible. A few beads of sweat started to form on his forehead from his rising nervousness, and Fanny inhaled her breath quite sharply. ¡°That¡¯s good! Oh! That¡¯s real good,¡± she encouraged. ¡°A little more of that, if you can! This is perfect!¡± Oh¡­. Hell¡­.. He was getting encouragement from Sera¡¯s mother ¨C he had no idea what for, but it couldn¡¯t be anything good in a situation like this! His mouth dried out almost instantly, and his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth as even larger beads of sweat formed and started to cover his forehead. ¡°Pssst!¡± Kyle tried to blow some air out of the corner of his mouth, to try and wake Sera, but unfortunately she had always been a deep sleeper. ¡°Sera¡­. Hey¡­. Sera¡­¡± Praying for a miracle, he whispered her name lightly, but to no use. The scribbling, if anything, got even faster and more frantic sounding. Trying to swallow back a lump in his throat, Kyle was going to try and ask Fanny what was going on, but then loud, firm, footsteps stomped up the steps and his mind went blank and he froze. Only one person sounded like that, and that was Franklin. Praying for the best, he tightly shut his eyes and tried to look innocent. ¡®O please, oh please, let me keep my wang through this,¡± he prayed silently in his head. ¡°Anything! Oh, goodness, anything but that!¡± Some God out there must have heard his prayer because the sound of many feet were stomping quickly up the steps now! Thank you Lord! At this point, he didn¡¯t care if the cops arrested Franklin, or if he was the one arrested, just so long as it was before he was neutered! ¡®Play innocent! Play innocent!¡¯, he repeated to himself. The sound of footsteps stomped down the hall, and suddenly the light in his room flared into life with no warning. ¡°WAKE UP!¡± Franklin boomed at them both, and suddenly icy cold water splashed across both him and Sera, drenching them and everything else in his bed. ¡°Waaahhhh!!¡± Kyle couldn¡¯t help but jerk upright from the sudden shock, and Sera did the same, gasping and sputtering. ¡°Wha¡­ Wher¡­. Huh?¡± Her baffled almost questions, mirrored how Kyle felt completely. ¡°Take this!¡± Franklin poked something hard into his chest, and by reflex Kyle grabbed it. Something small, hard, and cold was dropped into his hands. ¡°And this is yours,¡± a strange woman¡¯s voice said, stretching and holding a box and a large bouquet of flowers over to Sera. The room was packed full of people. There was Fanny and his mother off to the side. Fanny was still scribbling insanely, and his mother looked like she was going to cry while holding a wad of crumpled tissues in her hands. Three other women were crammed over against the window, while Franklin blocked the door with his massive frame. Some old man with tussled bed hair and some sort of white robes was now standing by the bed holding a book of some sort. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Kyle whispered shakily. ¡°YOU¡¯RE GETTING MARRIED!¡± Franklin yelled at him loud enough to shake the rafters. ¡°YOU BREAK IT, YOU BOUGHT IT, AND WE DON¡¯T TAKE REFUNDS!¡± ¡°Ma.. Maa¡­¡± Kyle couldn¡¯t even get the word out. ¡°Married?¡± Sera finished with a whisper. ¡°YOU!¡± Franklin pointed a massive finger over to the man in front of the bed. ¡°START! They got the flowers. They got the rings. And I got my fists! We¡¯re all ready.¡± Letting out a large gulp, the man paled slightly and started, ¡°Dear guests, we¡¯re gathered here tonight to¡­.¡± ¡°SKIP THAT JUNK!¡± Franklin demanded. ¡°GET TO THE DOS OR BLUES!¡± He popped his knuckles to show what he meant, as if anyone had even the smallest doubt! ¡°Do you¡­ umm boy.. ¡° The priest obviously didn¡¯t know his name, but he went on anyway after glancing back once at Franklin. ¡°.. take this girl¡­¡± Franklin growled lightly, and the priest quickly changed what he was saying. ¡°¡­ this fine and upstanding young woman to be your wife?¡± ¡°HE DOES!¡± Franklin answered for him. Gulping loudly, the priest then asked, ¡°And do you, young lady, take this man to be your husband?¡± The room was silent for a moment, and Franklin growled deep in his chest. ¡°I.. I do?¡± Sera questioned. ¡°Then, by the power invested in me by the state, I can inform you that you¡¯ve now been punked. You may not kiss the bride.¡± Blinking, and half in a daze, Kyle and Sera both leaned in for the kiss, but were stopped when Franklin suddenly yanked Kyle out of the bed with one arm and unceremoniously dropped him onto the ground at the priest¡¯s feet. ¡°Don¡¯t you listen boy?¡± He half yelled. ¡°He said you may NOT kiss the bride. We got ya!¡± All at once he burst out into a loud guffaw, and laughter echoed from everyone else in the room. Kyle just blinked blankly, trying to sort out what the heck had just happened, while Sera got up and beat her father left and right with the bouquet of flowers. ¡°You¡­ You¡­ You¡­!!¡± She was so angry she couldn¡¯t seem to finish her sentence. Flower petals flew everywhere, and scattered to the ground in a wild dappling of colors. ¡°Out! OUT! OUT!¡± Sera yelled and stomped on her father¡¯s large foot, causing him to laugh even harder. ¡°The next one¡¯s gonna be yer balls!¡± She yelled as she drew back her foot and Franklin turned and ran out of the room. Still swinging what was left of the flowers, Sera chased out after him. ¡°Come back here and die,¡± she screamed as she chased him down the steps. After a few moments, the sound of Sera¡¯s wild pursuit of Franklin died down as they must¡¯ve ran outside from the sound of it. The laughter continued for a few more moments with everyone else in the room, before Kyle¡¯s mother finally starting shooing people out with large sweeping motions of her hands. ¡°Shoo! Shoo! Time to go!¡± The three women and the priest, who Kyle didn¡¯t know at all, let themselves be herded out and down the steps. ¡°Best lesson ever for a boy his age,¡± he heard one of the women saying. When they were all gone, Kyle was left alone, still lost and befuddled, with no clue as to what had just happened. The only sound was the slight drop of water falling onto the floors, and frantic scribbling come from where Fanny still wrote furiously in the corner of the room. Looking down, in his hand, Kyle finally noticed the black box in his hand. Slowly opening it, there was a wad of red cotton in the bottom of it, and a single small piece of folded paper. Taking it out, he unfolded it with numb fingers and slowly read the message scribbled there.
¡°Next time, don¡¯t get caught. Love, Mom. XOXOXOXXO¡±
Slowly, Kyle folded the paper back up, put it back in the box, and shut the lid. Softly walking over, he gently pushed Fanny to the side and sat the box down on top of his dresser. Opening his dresser drawers, he pulled out a clean pair of sweatpants and draped them across Fanny¡¯s left shoulder, using her to hold them while he stripped out of all his soaking wet clothes. Naked, he finally grabbed the sweatpants back off Fanny¡¯s shoulder and walked out of his room and into the upstairs bath for a hot shower. Fanny was still scribbling frantically away in the corner¡­ Chapter 29: The Groups First Quest! The next morning, Kyle woke irritable and achy. His bed had been soaked, so he¡¯d been forced to sleep in the guest bed upstairs while his mattresses and all aired out. The room was colder than his, with a slight perpetual draft from the frame around the window, where it had warped slightly over the years. Rolling out of bed with a grunt, he stomped in his room, half-expecting to see Fanny still scribbling insanely in the corner, but she wasn¡¯t. Sometime during the night while he was tossing and turning and dreaming up ways to get revenge, she¡¯d finished and snuck down the stairs quietly. Not really caring what he grabbed, Kyle tossed off his sweatpants and dressed in a rush to head out to school. As soon as he was ready, he grabbed his book bag and stomped on down the stairs and out the door. Slamming the door behind him, he stomped about halfway to Sera¡¯s house, did a U-turn, and stomped back inside. Grabbing the house keys from the ashtray near the door, he stomped back out and shut the door gently behind him this time. Slamming it twice wouldn¡¯t add to the dramatic effect, and would just be childish, in his opinion. Stomping back over to Sera¡¯s again, Kyle let himself through the sliding door at the kitchen and went upstairs without saying a word. Getting in Sera¡¯s room, he sat his book bag down and immediately yanked on her blanket and tugged it off her. She was wearing the same shirt and pair of his sweatpants that she¡¯d left in last night, and Kyle gave her a swift slap across the ass. ¡°Wake up! We¡¯re getting out of here,¡± he demanded. When she moaned and tried to turn over to go back to sleep, Kyle gave her another pop on the rear, and then shook her left and right. ¡°Wakey wakey,¡± he called. ¡°Quit it,¡± Sera mumbled sleepily. ¡°Fine, Sleeping Beauty!¡± Kyle snorted and leaned down and pressed his lips firmly against hers and kissed her. Much to his surprise, she almost immediately brought her arms up, wrapped them around his neck, and kissed him back. Neither of them were the best kissers in the world, but neither of them complained about it being bad after Sera finally let go of him several long moments later. It was the first time Kyle had ever had his tongue in a girl¡¯s mouth, and he kept rubbing it across the inside of his teeth as if he could still almost taste hers there. Grinning for the first time that morning, Kyle finally told her a little more gently, ¡°Get up. We have things to do this morning.¡± ¡°Fine.¡± Sera stretched a few times and Kyle went over and opened her dresser drawer and started pulling out clothes and tossing them back over his shoulder at her. A school shirt, skirt, and pair of socks got tossed over his shoulder. Laughing, Sera yanked off what she was wearing and threw them back over his head to land on the dresser. Panties, shirt, and sweatpants scattered around and Kyle took time to gather them up and place them in a neat pile to take to the laundry later. Being around Fanny, and picking up after her, had made Kyle somewhat of a neat freak about things like that. By the time he finally turned around, Sera was buttoning the last buttons on the shirt. ¡°I¡¯m ready,¡± she said. ¡°But I don¡¯t know what we¡¯re doing yet.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll see,¡± Kyle told her with a smirk. Going over to the door, he grabbed up her book bag along with his and started on out and down the steps. ¡°Grab your jacket, we¡¯re leaving without breakfast this morning. We¡¯re just going to walk.¡± Sera just nodded and slid into her school jacket at the front door and followed him on outside. Out of meanness, Kyle left the door wide open ¨C just as he had the sliding door in the kitchen earlier ¨C and left it. Sera snorted, and almost as if she could read his mind, didn¡¯t bother to close it either. ¡°Serves them right, after tossing that ice water on us last night,¡± she said and Kyle just nodded. After a few moments of walking down the sidewalk, Sera moved up and snuggled close to Kyle¡¯s side, before wrapping her arm around his back. ¡°It¡¯s cold out here this morning.¡± It wasn¡¯t much cooler than what Kyle was normally used to, but Sera almost never walked to school; she always waited and got a ride with her parents. After a moment¡¯s hesitation, he draped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her up close to his side. Feeling her tremble slightly, he glanced over and almost tripped off the curb staring at the two obvious peaks bulging up in her shirt. Learning over to whisper in her ear, he asked, ¡°Where¡¯s your bra this morning?¡± Sera just shrugged her shoulders slightly against him. ¡°You didn¡¯t toss me one, and we were in a hurry. It¡¯s not a big deal.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Kyle gulped. ¡°It¡¯s two big deals!¡± Sera just laughed lightly and snuggled in a little closer. ¡°And it¡¯s breezy this morning too. The bra isn¡¯t all you forgot to toss me in your rush to go!¡± Kyle blinked and thought for a moment about what he¡¯d tossed her and what she¡¯d tossed him in return. After a moment, he blushed realizing his mistake. ¡°You could¡¯ve grabbed a pair yourself you know. Before we left!¡± ¡°And why would I do something like that on the day we got married? I just figured you didn¡¯t want me to have any this morning.¡± Sera swayed her hips and bumped them against him lightly. Was she? Or was she not? She could¡¯ve had another pair sitting on the nightstand or something near the bed, and was just teasing him. How the heck would he ever know? Should he ask the owl? Spoiler : This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Lost in his own thoughts, Kyle almost passed where he wanted to go this morning and had to stop abruptly and pull Sera back with him. ¡°In here,¡± he told her as he strode up towards the massive church nearby. ¡°What are we doing going in there,¡± Sera asked all curiously. ¡°Our homework of course,¡± he said with a grin. Confused, Sera followed close to his side, and went inside when he grandly opened one of the front doors for her. Catching up to her, Kyle told her, ¡°Keep an eye open. We need to speak to someone who¡¯s working in here this morning.¡± ¡°Uhhh¡­ Sure.¡± Sera looked around for a moment, and then tugged his arm and pulled Kyle off to where a young man sat in a black set of clothes. ¡°Excuse me, Father?¡± ¡°Yes? Can I help you?¡± ¡°I hope so, I need to confess something,¡± Kyle said while smiling lightly. ¡°Well I¡¯m sorry,¡± the young man told him. ¡°This is a Protestant Church; and I¡¯m a Pastor, not a Father. We don¡¯t do confessions here.¡± Kyle laughed lightly. ¡°That¡¯s OK. I was just going to confess that we hadn¡¯t did our homework yet. If you guys do weddings in here, I¡¯m hoping you can still help us.¡± Looking a little puzzled, the man nodded. ¡°We do weddings. What do you need help with?¡± ¡°Our Government Class asked us to do a report on wedding ceremonies and such things, and we needed to try and get some of the paperwork to present to the class to help show what it takes to keep the Country running. Other students got different assignments, but since the teacher was picking on us for flirting in class, she made us do the marriage report. When we got to the Courthouse, the guy there told us that they were currently out of the forms which are normally filled out after a wedding, but that we could probably get one at any church. ¡°Since you guys are between us and the school, it¡¯d be a big help if we could get one of those from here, if possible.¡± The young man smiled lightly. ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯ll be a problem. Give me just a few moments and I¡¯ll get you a certificate for the couple, and one of the court certificates as well.¡± ¡°Thank you a lot!¡± Sera said while rubbing her hands to get some warmth back in them. The pastor nodded and walked into a nearby office and was gone for just a few minutes. When he came back, he had a stack of papers in each hand. ¡°One for each of you?¡± He asked. ¡°Oh, no thanks.¡± Kyle took one and shook off the other. ¡°We just need one set as a team. The teacher will make copies at school and hand them out if she thinks everyone else needs one. I think we¡¯re really just going to pass them back and forth and look at them for a bit. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be needing one of these for a looong time.¡± ¡°Well, maybe if I get pregnant,¡± Sera said with a smirk at Kyle. ¡°I don¡¯t think so!¡± He burst out in reply. ¡°You know, we do offer couple¡¯s therapy sessions,¡± the pastor offered helpfully. ¡°We¡¯d be more than happy to help guide you to a life of proper marriage and not just carnal desire, or a life of sin, you know.¡± ¡°We might take you up on that later,¡± Sera said with a twinkle in her eye. ¡°But right now, my sweetie and me have to rush so we¡¯re not late for school.¡± Laughing, she tugged on Kyle¡¯s arm while he was making a face like a fish on a hook as he was dragged along behind her. Getting outside, Kyle just stared at her as she snuggled back up close. ¡°Marriage counseling? Pregnant! What the heck was that all about?¡± Sera just giggled and shrugged. ¡°I dunno. I was just playing along. What the heck did we need these for anyway?¡± ¡°Simple,¡± Kyle said. ¡°We¡¯re going to get married.¡± It was Sera¡¯s turn to stop and stare at him like a fish on a hook. ¡°Whaaa??¡± Kyle laughed, pulled her up close, and pushed her on down the street towards the school with him. ¡°No really of course. What we¡¯re going to do is have Jason help photoshop these to make us a few copies. I¡¯ll get William to make a run to the actual Courthouse and get a copy of a few marriage certificates already on file; it won¡¯t take him long to do that, and then Jason can fake one with a seal and signature. We¡¯ll stuff them in a few envelops, have Darryl drop them in the post office near his house since it¡¯s in the other direction, so it¡¯ll have a different postmark than one from home. ¡°And then we¡¯ll wait for our parents to get them. They¡¯ll think that priest ¨C I¡¯ve seen him outside this church before, you know ¨C must¡¯ve accidently sent in our names. Mom and Franklin will freak. Fanny though, she¡¯ll probably use it as a plot in a book or something¡­¡± Sera was starting to giggle and half bounce beside him. ¡°Heather can help too! She¡¯s got a calligraphy set and is really good at that stuff. She can make it look all neat, hand written, and official. We just have to tell her what to put on the forms.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s do it!¡± Both of them were grinning evilly with thoughts of revenge running through their heads as they finally arrived at the school. In some ways, it was the group¡¯s first quest! The Marriage Retribution Quest! Difficulty Class: E. Reward: REVENGE and satisfaction at seeing Franklin faint in shock. Chapter 30: Explaining Roles Early morning classes at the school were the same as always for Kyle, and he was anxious to get to lunch with everyone. Today¡¯s meal was the nasty meatloaf, but he¡¯d already wolfed down most of his meal before William finally plopped down a tray and sat across from him. Unusually, he was quiet and didn¡¯t make a peep as he started to slowly eat his food. ¡°Are you sick, or something?¡± Kyle asked, a little worried. William wasn¡¯t acting anything like the normal William. ¡°I¡­¡­ Am¡­¡­ Good¡­..¡± Slowly and deliberately, he drew out each word and paused between them. Something was definitely up with him! Kyle squirmed when Jason and Darryl finally plopped down and sat their trays across from him. They too said nothing, and simply stared straight ahead at him with expectant, unblinking eyes. ¡°Is.. Is something wrong?¡± Damn if they weren¡¯t starting to make him nervous! Kyle glanced left and right. The rest of the school lunchroom seemed to be the same as always, but his table was weird as heck, with a heavy atmosphere lingering around it. No one said a word, and Kyle¡¯s nerves tingled even harder. ¡°Guys? Hello?¡± Slowly, he waved his hand in front of Darryl and Jason. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± Finally, it was Darryl who coughed and spoke first, while maintaining his unblinking glare. ¡°We¡¯re just giving you a chance to explain yourself to us.¡± ¡°Explain? Explain what?¡± Kyle asked confused. ¡°Explain why the hell some girl is pretending to be you, dammit!¡± Darryl thumped the table once with his first, and, as if that was a signal to let loose the bulls, everyone started talking at once. ¡°Yeah! Why! Why! Why!¡± William half hopped from where he was sitting. ¡°They made me promise not to say anything until we could all find out together! I thought I was going to die! That was the hardest thing I¡¯ve ever did. William, sit and don¡¯t talk, I told myself, and then you talked to me and I had to talk and I thought I was going to explode!¡± ¡°Did you think we really wouldn¡¯t notice?¡± Jason asked quietly. ¡°And why the hell does she have such a big ass wang waving it around all the time!¡± Darryl demanded to know. ¡°She¡¯s got a wang!¡± William fell over backwards off the table, hit the ground and sat on his ass, and then was back up on his feet and back in his seat just a second later as if nothing had happened. ¡°Wow! I wonder if she¡¯ll let me see it!¡± ¡°Not her her her!¡± Darryl said, confusing the issue even more. ¡°Are you laughing? That¡¯s a weird laugh! Her her her her her!¡± William tried to imitate it. ¡°I think I like it. Her her her her her!!¡± ¡°Dammit! Not her, Sera. The her that¡¯s her in the game. Him, her! Seran!¡± ¡°I got it,¡± William exclaimed. ¡°Not her her, but her him is the her her you were talking about with the big wang! I bet she¡¯ll let me see his if I ask nicely!¡± ¡°DAMMIT!! HUSH!!¡± Darryl slammed his tray against the table and the whole cafeteria got quiet as everyone stopped to stare at our table. Slowly, a teacher got up from where they were sitting at the front tables in the lunch room and walked over in our direction. ¡°Is everything OK here, gentlemen?¡± It was one of the male gym teachers who was standing and tapping his foot slightly up and down. ¡°Yeah, we¡¯ll settle down,¡± they all agreed quietly together. ¡°Then I¡¯ll let you off this time with just a warning. Next time will be detention. Got it?¡± ¡°Yes sir.¡± They all nodded to show they understood and the teacher slowly nodded in satisfaction to himself and walked back to the front table and sat down to talk with the other teacher¡¯s once more. ¡°See what you did,¡± Darryl accused Kyle, staring at him directly. ¡°Me? What¡¯d I do!¡± Kyle sounded shocked. ¡°I didn¡¯t say a thing! How can you blame it on me?¡± ¡°Look,¡± Darryl said, trying to stay calm, ¡°Why is Seran claiming to be you? And why is Kylie claiming to be her? We waited all weekend without asking, wondering when you were going to come clean and tell us on your own, but we¡¯re not waiting any longer. What the hell¡¯s up?¡± Sighing deeply, and waiting for everyone to calm down, Kyle finally shrugged. ¡°Damned if I know. To be honest, I had no clue Sera was going to tell everyone she was me. I¡¯d already told all you guys that I was elf with no name. How the heck could I play a burly human named Seran at the same time? Obviously, it wasn¡¯t me!¡± ¡°Then why¡¯s she pretending to be you?¡± Darryl asked. ¡°Really, I don¡¯t know!¡± William chimed in, ¡°I bet it¡¯s cause she¡¯s ashamed of playing a guy. I bet lots of girls would be embarrassed playing a guy in a game.¡± Shrugging, he just laughed. ¡°I don¡¯t care. What I want to know is where¡¯d she got a snake at! I haven¡¯t found one in game anywhere to buy yet. I want one too!¡± ¡°What snake?¡± Darryl asked, sounding puzzled. ¡°The one you talked about in game. You said she had a huge snake! And that it was poisonous just to look at! I want one!¡± William was half hopping and half pouting. ¡°It isn¡¯t fair. She gets a snake, and all I get is a Heather to follow me around.¡± ¡°Yeah!¡± Darryl suddenly turned his glare over on William. ¡°What¡¯s up with that! Why the heck do you get to trudge around with a girl in game?¡± ¡°Cause I¡¯m just special like that!¡± William stuck out his tongue and laughed. ¡°What¡¯s the big deal anyway. You¡¯re with a girl too. Sera is right there with you!¡± ¡°Dude, She¡¯s got a wang!¡± Darryl exclaimed. ¡°A big ass, wiggle worm, wang! There ain¡¯t no snake nowhere. It¡¯s a one-eyed pee-shooter snake! A man-snake. And why the heck would I want to stand around and look at something like that?¡± ¡°I dunno.¡± William shrugged. ¡°I guess cause you like looking at it and are trying to memorize it? It sounds like you can describe it pretty well already to me!¡± Darryl sputtered mashed potatoes out his nose. ¡°I do not!¡± The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.¡°Do it again! Do it again!¡± William bounced and laughed while Darryl was wiping off his face. ¡°Screw you Will.¡± Darryl flipped a forkful of potatoes over at him. ¡°The real question is what we¡¯re going to do about she-he and he-her. Are we just supposed to pretend we don¡¯t know any better? It¡¯s odd as heck to be playing with a guy, when you know he¡¯s the girl sitting ten feet away from you. Especially when she¡¯s crazy!¡± ¡°I dunno,¡± William shrugged. ¡°I thought it sounded funny. If I¡¯d been there, I would¡¯ve joined her in beating up rocks. Who cares about dying? If it¡¯s funny, it¡¯s worth dying, and I think it¡¯d be funny. Hi rock! Bye rock! I¡¯m back rock! You killed me rock! Why o rock, why? Hi! Bye! I¡¯m gonna pee on you rock! It¡¯s just funny!¡± ¡°Funny my ass,¡± Darryl snorted. ¡°She.. He¡­ IT¡¯s just crazy. I watched for an hour as SHIT tossed SHITself against the rocks over and over and just kept dying. It¡¯s just nuts!¡± ¡°Hey!¡± Kyle finally banged his fist down on the table. ¡°That¡¯s Sera and not some SHIT. Don¡¯t talk about her like that. Seran is a him, Sera is a her, and you don¡¯t need to be so damn insulting and sound like a dumbass bigot!¡± ¡°Cool it! Cool it!¡± Darryl held up his hands apologetically. ¡°Before we all end up in the principal¡¯s office. It¡¯s all good!¡± ¡°No.¡± Kyle glared daggers. ¡°It¡¯s not all good. You were being a complete and utter jackass. You¡¯re better than that Darryl.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Jason spoke up softly. ¡°It¡¯s a girl playing a guy in a game. It¡¯s no big deal. Talk to her as a girl, and her character as a guy, and don¡¯t be an ass about it. There¡¯s enough hate in the world already for anyone different. Trust me.¡± Finally, Darryl just hung his head. ¡°Sorry. Sorry. He might not be a SHIT¡­ ¡°Darryl!¡± Kyle warned. ¡°¡­ might not be what I was saying. But I still stand by the fact that she¡¯s completely crazy. One time after another after another, she died. What the hell is up with that? And you still haven¡¯t told me if we¡¯re supposed to keep pretending we don¡¯t know any better!¡± ¡°Just let her have her fun. I¡¯m certain it¡¯ll come out in game soon,¡± Kyle replied. ¡°As for the dying over and over, she uncovered an achievement. A hundred deaths in ten minutes or something gives you a reward where you only suffer half the normal penalty for death. A thousand deaths gives a larger reduction. Since he¡¯s level one, Seran doesn¡¯t have anything to lose except his clothes, and he lost those in his first death. So he spent all weekend spamming deaths to take the achievement all the way up. It¡¯s at like a ninety percent reduction to penalties and experience lost for him now.¡± ¡°Oh wow! That sounds like a huge advantage. I wonder if anyone can get that advantage, or if it¡¯s just for wildmen humans?¡± William rushed to say. ¡°No idea,¡± Kyle answered. ¡°It¡¯s not something which I can test. I started with a quest which tells me not to die. I get an experience bonus for the longer I go in game without death, and I¡¯ve been playing for five or six days now. I don¡¯t want to have that reset from a bonus to a penalty. When I die, I get an increased penalty to offset that increased bonus, I guess. I¡¯m not going to test it out.¡± William shook his head from side to side frantically. ¡°Me either! For one thing, I¡¯d lose all my treasures I¡¯d collected, and they¡¯re much more valuable than experience! And then I¡¯d go to some graveyard and Heather wouldn¡¯t be there, and I¡¯d have to find her again, and that¡¯d be mean! What type of guy would I be to abandon a girl and leave her all alone in the sewers somewhere, where bandits could get her and do all the things I want to do but am too afraid that I might get neutered in real life since she¡¯s right there to her!¡± Jason interrupted him and told William, ¡°Breathe William. Breathe. I wouldn¡¯t do it either. There¡¯s no easy way to die at the forge, and I can¡¯t drink myself to death at the tavern. I¡¯m a dwarf. No way for me to try it, really.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t look at me!¡± Darryl exclaimed. ¡°I watched it. It¡¯s C. R. A. Z. Y. Crazy!¡± He spelled out each letter to emphasize them. ¡°Besides, with my luck, it¡¯d be one of those things that only humans can get or something. Or maybe wildmen humans in specific. You have to be a wild man to toss yourself to death a thousand times in a row!¡± It was at that point, that the bell went off and everyone started to get up to empty their trays in the cafeteria. ¡°Wait a moment guys!¡± Kyle waved for them to sit back down. ¡°I got another quest I want to talk to you all about. It¡¯s the The Marriage Retribution Quest, and it¡¯s something which I need everyone to help me with.¡± ¡°Sure! Count on me,¡± William volunteered. ¡°Yeah. Me an Jason will help too,¡± Darryl agreed and Jason nodded. ¡°But I can¡¯t be late for class. Email me the details, or call me later. K?¡± ¡°Just hold up a moment!¡± Kyle dug the papers he¡¯d gotten from the priest earlier that morning out of his pack. ¡°Jason, I need you to scan these in and get them photoshop ready.¡± Handing the papers over, Jason took them and nodded while tucking them into his own pack without even looking to see what they were. ¡°And William, you need to run into the Courthouse after school and get us a few different copies of some marriage certificates on file. Look for some recent ones. Tell whoever helps you that it¡¯s for a school project or something. That works.¡± ¡°Sure! I¡¯m on it!¡± William saluted, grabbed his tray, ran and emptied it, and then ran out of the lunchroom. ¡°And Darryl, your part will come tomorrow. I hope William waits until after school to go. I did say that, didn¡¯t I?¡± ¡°Why not say that sooner!¡± Darryl snorted. ¡°I could¡¯ve been out of here already. Just tell me what you need tomorrow, and I¡¯ll help with it. K?¡± ¡°Thanks guys.¡± Kyle finally picked up his own tray and went to empty it. ¡°Revenge is the greatest quest of all!¡± Chapter 31: Want some? Kyle didn¡¯t get to see anyone else long enough to do any real chatting that afternoon, and when class was over he walked back home and let himself in the house. Soon, he¡¯d have to send his first weekly report to his grandfather, and he had no idea what to tell him. The other workers had to have had a much more exciting and eventful time in game that he had. All he was doing was killing vines, getting his crafting skill up, and going mad with simply chanting ¡°Identify¡± every ten seconds. Seran was insanely throwing himself to death every few seconds, and Kylie was chanting ¡°Identify¡± just as often. What type of player report would that be?! Maybe he should write his report based on William¡¯s achievements in the game. If anyone out there to keep up with the stuff that William had dragged Heather into, he¡¯d be amazed to hear about it. It was always an option, Kyle supposed. Heading to the kitchen, he lazily dug through the fridge and finally pulled a frozen pizza out of the top. Reading the instructions, he turned the oven up to 350 and sat the pizza box down on the table. The oven needed a few moments to ¡°pre-heat¡±, and even if Kyle wondered if that was really important, he took the time to head to the bathroom downstairs and turn the water on so it¡¯d warm up. Collecting towel, soap, and shampoo, he laid those on the bathroom sink and then removed the patch from his eye. It was still a little tender and sore around his eye but it wasn¡¯t blurry to open it anymore. Pulling the lids up and down, he couldn¡¯t see anything bad in the mirror and figured he¡¯d be fine without needing to try and patch it back up. ¡®Be a pirate¡¯ my ass! His mother made it sound like it was something cool to have, but all it got him was laughed at by some of the kids at school. Everyone wanted to know who kicked his ass, and assumed he¡¯d lost a fight with someone ¨C and what could he say in his own defense?? Sera did it? Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Complete dweebness there and instant banishment to the pile of social losers! The patch couldn¡¯t disappear fast enough as far as Kyle was concerned. Going back into the kitchen, Kyle opened the box and tossed the pizza into the oven. Fifteen to eighteen minutes was just enough time for a quick hop in the shower, so Kyle slammed the oven door and rushed off to quickly wash himself down. By the time he¡¯d finished wiping his hair down, and drying off somewhat, he could smell the pizza and streaked to the kitchen to grab an oven mitt and pull the pan out with it on it. Sitting it on the countertop, he flipped the oven off, and dug around in the kitchen drawers and pulled out the pizza slicer and divided it into eight sections. Tossing the slicer in the sink, Kyle grabbed what was left of a two-liter soda in his left hand and the pizza pan in his still mitten-covered right, and walked out of the kitchen and slowly up the steps. As he reached the top of the steps and started down the hall, Sera came out of his bedroom, stopped and just stared. Taking a moment to assess his situation ¨C naked, still dripping dry, with a pizza and soda in his hands ¨C Kyle said the only thing he could in a situation like that. ¡°Want some?¡± Chapter 32: The Birth of an Evil Warlord ¡°No thanks,¡± Sera said as she calmly walked down the hallway, carefully grabbed a slice of pizza from the pan, and then walked into the upstairs bathroom. ¡°I hope you didn¡¯t use all the hot water,¡± she called out from inside. ¡°Uhhh. Yeah. I mean no,¡± Kyle answered, flustered. ¡°There should still be plenty of hot water for a quick shower, I¡¯d think.¡± Completely confused, he walked on down the hall and into his own bedroom. ¡®No thanks¡¯ implied she didn¡¯t want any. Right? But then she got a slice of pizza immediately afterwards. What exactly did she think he was offering? And what the heck was she turning down? ¡°And what the hell are you doing in my house again?¡± He yelled the last, and most important question out and down the hall. ¡°Taking a shower for now,¡± Sera yelled back. ¡°Give me a moment, and then come on in and we can talk. It¡¯s hard to hear you over the water and through the house!¡± ¡°Just what the hell is wrong with your own house?¡± Kyle muttered under his breath as he sat the pizza and soda on the bed. Going over, he dug through his drawers looking for a clean pair of sweatpants, but couldn¡¯t find any. ¡°No damn wonder,¡± he muttered to himself. ¡°Her coming over and wearing them to her house all the time. Before long, I¡¯m not going to have any left at all!¡± Shrugging to himself, Kyle finally slid on a pair of striped boxers. ¡°Good frigging enough!¡± Not really caring if he caught her at an inopportune time or not, Kyle grabbed a slice of pizza and went out of his room and into the bathroom. The water was already running, and only the faintest outline of Sera could be seen behind the shower curtain. Sitting on the toilet cover, which was thankfully down at the moment, Kyle took a few bites of pizza before asking, ¡°So just why are you here again this evening? Fanny not home?¡± ¡°She¡¯s home,¡± Sera said over the sound of running water. ¡°I just wanted to come see how things were going with what we talked about this morning. I knocked, but no one answered so I just let myself in. You were in the shower, so I thought I¡¯d just grab one too, and then we could talk after. Except you finished up a little faster than I would¡¯ve thought. Normally you take forever in there!¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Kyle agreed; he did normally like a nice long shower. ¡°I had a pizza in the oven this evening and couldn¡¯t linger that long. You got a towel and all to dry off with?¡± ¡°I¡¯m good.¡± Sera replied. ¡°So¡­¡± The sound of light laughter mixed merrily with the running water. ¡°Do you often walk around the house dressed like that?¡± Kyle snorted. ¡°Would it matter if I did dammit! Normally mom¡¯s at work, and nobody¡¯s here but me in the evenings. Why the heck should I run upstairs, grab something to wear, just to go back downstairs, take a shower, put it on and come back up afterwards? If I didn¡¯t have the pizza in the oven, I would¡¯ve just taken my shower up here you know!¡± Laughter continued to bubble from behind the curtain. ¡°It¡¯s all good.¡± For some reason, Kyle thought he almost heard the sound of hissing mixed in with the sound of the running water and laughter, but he couldn¡¯t be certain. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. ¡°So do you at least have a change of clothes?¡± Kyle asked while looking around. He didn¡¯t see any sitting on the sink or nearby. ¡°I thought I¡¯d get you to grab me a pair of your sweats or something,¡± Sera admitted. ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll be back in just a moment,¡± Kyle said as he bent down and picked up her dirty clothes from the floor. Shirt, skirt, socks, and yes ¨C even a white pair of panties! She¡¯d only been acting like she didn¡¯t have any on this morning! Grinning evilly, Kyle looked back at the curtain and gave his best maniacal warlord laugh. ¡°Mu haha ha ha!¡± Walking down to the end of the hall, he flipped open the lid to the laundry chute and dropped her clothes down it. ¡°Always got to keep the house nice and clean, you know,¡± he muttered devilishly to himself. ¡°Now, let¡¯s see what we can find to wear for you. Mu Haha!¡± Rubbing his hands together in anticipation, Kyle went into his bedroom and tossed open the closet door. Rummaging around through the packed up light summer clothes, he found the thinnest lightest cotton top he could and pulled it out. ¡°Too long,¡± he muttered to himself, as he used his teeth to bite a hole in the cloth and then ripped the shirt to about half its former length. Holding it up, he nodded to himself in satisfaction. The front should be long enough to cover, but the rip wasn¡¯t straight and there certainly wasn¡¯t much left to the back of the top any more. ¡°Now to find a suitable bottom half, so she can¡¯t refuse or complain about it,¡± Kyle muttered to himself. Of course, he didn¡¯t have any skirts or anything of that sort, but he might find something suitable of his mother¡¯s since he was digging where they packed up all the ¡°out-of-season¡± clothes. Frantically, he rummaged around, dug through boxes, and made a complete mess of the boxes. Just when he thought he was going to have to give up and just grab her a pair of his boxers or something to wear, he found treasure! Opening one of the small boxes in the corner of the closet, Kyle started digging through his mother¡¯s swimwear. What he finally decided to grab was a very thin, rainbow colored wrap which was normally worn around the waist with a swimsuit. The bottom to the matching bikini was there, but Kyle simply shut the lid back down and left them. One top. One bottom. That was good enough for anyone! Cackling lightly to himself, Kyle walked out of his room and back into the bathroom. ¡°Here, I¡¯ve got something for you to wear,¡± he told her with a wide grin across his face. ¡°Leave it right there. I¡¯m getting out in just a second,¡± Sera told him, and he could hear the sound of the water turning off. At first, Kyle thought about leaving the clothes on the sink like usual, but he was feeling devilishly evil this evening. With a casual toss, he laid them in the floor where it¡¯d look like they slid off the sink. Sera always got out of the shower dripping with her hair and such. It wasn¡¯t his fault if she had to wear damp clothes for a while! ¡°I¡¯ll wait for you in my room,¡± he told her while trying hard to wipe the smirk from his face. Chapter 33: An Evening Chat Kyle almost died when Sera waltzed into his bedroom, just like always. Hands up, drying her hair in a towel, with the thin summer top that he¡¯d torn clinging to her damp skin and fading to an almost transparency, with the light rainbow wrap tied loosely around her waist ¨C it was enough to make Kyle cough, hack, and spew soda out his nose in shock! Coughing and hacking, Kyle¡¯s eyes instantly watered up and his throat and nose burned as if they were on fire. Casually, Sera walked over and thumped him on the back with one hand. ¡°You OK? What the heck was that? Fizz up the nose?¡± ¡°Yeah. Something like that,¡± Kyle lied, as he stared at her damp creamy skin, which was no more than a few inches away from him. If the guys could see him now, they¡¯d murder him! ¡°Well don¡¯t snot in the bottle,¡± Sera reprimanded. Tossing the towel she was using to dry her hair into the corner, she took the bottle from him and tilted it up taking a large gulp from it before handing it back. ¡°Any pizza left?¡± She asked Kyle, and then seeing there was, picked up another piece before sitting down on the edge of the bed beside him. ¡°Not now there isn¡¯t,¡± Kyle muttered. Sera simply laughed and held the piece she was eating over towards his face. ¡°Want a bite?¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t want a bite,¡± Kyle answered peevishly. Just how the hell could she sit there, wearing that, and act so casually! It might not affect her any, but it was certainly getting to him! The idea was to put her in something he could tease her over and make her feel foolish, not the other way around! Leaning over, Kyle picked up his V-RIG helmet and held it in his lap carefully. ¡°And just what did you want to talk about this evening, anyway? Don¡¯t you need to be helping your dad out at the restaurant?¡± Finishing her pizza, Sera took the bottle of soda back from Kyle and took another large drink before handing it back. Stretching, she laid back and began to relax on the bed. From her position, the torn top she was wearing was pulled up, revealing the smooth round curves of her breasts. Kyle simply stared, and Sera seemed not to notice at all. Both of them were lost in their own thoughts for several minutes, until Sera finally broke the silence. ¡°I was still irked at Father for last night,¡± Sera admitted, ¡°so I didn¡¯t stop by the shop this afternoon. Honestly though, I don¡¯t think I¡¯m going to work there any more in the evenings. I¡¯m going to talk to Father and tell him that¡¯s it¡¯s finally time for him to hire some help for himself. He can¡¯t rely on me all the time to be there.¡± ¡°You¡¯re quitting?¡± Kyle was shocked. Sitting the soda down on the floor, he told her. ¡°Scoot over. This sounds like something serious is going on.¡± ¡°Well not really.¡± Sera said as she wiggled across the bed, so Kyle could have room to stretch out beside her. As he did, she continued. ¡°Maybe. I don¡¯t know, really.¡± She sounded completely uncertain, which wasn¡¯t like Sera at all usually! ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± Kyle asked patiently, as he turned onto his side to stare at her. His instincts were telling him to enjoy the view, but he kept his eyes focused on hers to show he was paying attention and listening. He could always stare at her when she was sleeping and he came to wake her up in the mornings, after all. ¡°Do you think it¡¯s wrong for me to stop working at the restaurant, just so I can play a game more?¡± Sera asked as she turned over to face him. The tattered top she was wearing rode up and bunched at her neck, revealing everything, but neither of them payed it much attention at the moment. Kyle was silent for a few moments, so he could think it over. His first instinct was to say, ¡®Hell no! Play with me more!¡¯, but he wanted to give her a truthful answer since she was being serious. Finally, he shrugged his shoulders slightly. ¡°I honestly don¡¯t know,¡± he finally told her. ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good thing if people let a game come between them and their real life. Lots of folks end up getting lost in those games, and almost forget about the real world. Their friends. Family. It¡¯d definitely be bad to let that happen.¡± Now it was Sera¡¯s turn to be quiet and think about what he¡¯d said. ¡°So, you don¡¯t think I should quit work,¡± she finally asked. ¡°I didn¡¯t say that,¡± Kyle replied. ¡°I said that you shouldn¡¯t let a game rip apart the connections you have with your family. Why are you wanting to play Winter¡¯s Tale so much anyway? You¡¯re not usually that into games.¡± ¡°Honestly, I just enjoyed the time with everyone. I¡¯m often so busy with school and then work afterwards, I don¡¯t have time to spend with club activities or anything like that, with everyone. This last weekend was the most fun I¡¯d had in ages, and I got to spend time with people my own age. Got to do things with them. With you. I¡¯ve only got a few years of school left to be with everyone. I don¡¯t want to let that go, either.¡± ¡°Then I guess you¡¯re just screwed,¡± Kyle laughed. ¡°You want to play, so you can spend time with friends and strengthen your connection with them. Doing so will mean less time with your family though, and might strain those connections. It¡¯s one of those damned if you do, damned if you don¡¯t type situations. Work at the shop, and I¡¯m certain everyone will regret not seeing you around much. Especially as we all start to level up. Play the game though, and I¡¯m certain your father is going to miss you. ¡°No matter what,¡± Kyle told her gently, ¡°you¡¯re going to disappoint someone. It¡¯s got to be your call in the long run, but all I can promise you is one thing.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Sera asked. ¡°That no matter what, you¡¯ll always have me. In game. Out of game. Whatever. I¡¯ll be here. Always. If you want to spend time with your father and help him, that¡¯s fine. If we start to out level you, I¡¯ll find some way to help PL you. Or else I¡¯ll just sit and craft or do something until you catch up. I know if my father was around, I¡¯d want to spend time with him instead of in a game. You do what you need to do ¨C whatever you want to do ¨C and I¡¯ll be here no matter what to help you with whatever you decide.¡± This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. A few tears welled up in Sera¡¯s eyes and she leaned forward and hugged him tightly. It was at this point, when Kyle finally noticed the warm, bare skin that pressed up so tightly against his chest. Temptation getting the best of him, he eased his hands down and under the opening in the side of the wrap around to squeeze Sera¡¯s soft, full, round buttocks soundly. Laughing lightly, Sera leaned up, head butted him across and nose and wiggled away so she could sit up in the bed. ¡°Quit that,¡± she told him with a small grin on her face. ¡°Owww.¡± Kyle sat up, and sat cross-legged in the bed. ¡°That was mean,¡± he complained while massaging his nose. ¡°And so was playing with my tush!¡± Sera giggled and stuck her tongue out at him. ¡°I¡¯ll think on what we talked about, and I¡¯ll talk it over with Father later and see what he says too. I might not quit at the restaurant. I might drop back to only working part time. Think that¡¯d be OK?¡± ¡°I think I¡¯ll be here, no matter what you decide,¡± Kyle reemphasized. ¡°Well fine!¡± Sera laughed lightly. ¡°Then onto the next order of business! Tell me how things went with the guys at lunch!¡± ¡°Weird,¡± Kyle told her honestly as he let his eyes indulge in staring shamelessly at her now. The serious talk was over, and he could ravish her with his eyes as much as they desired ¨C and he was going to! Fighting back the impulse to cackle evilly again, Kyle just smiled. ¡°They know you¡¯re Seran,¡± he admitted. ¡°I¡¯m not supposed to tell you, but that¡¯s OK. Just don¡¯t let them know that you know. They¡¯re going to keep playing along just like before, until you decide to tell them.¡± Sera giggled lightly. ¡°So everyone knows besides Heather! That¡¯s funny! I wonder how long we can keep it from her?¡± ¡°I dunno.¡± Kyle shrugged. ¡°Maybe for a long time, since everyone would be in on it. Are you certain you want to do that to her though? She keeps sending me all sorts of private messages. What if she sends me something personal about you two?¡± Sera just shrugged and Kyle stared as the top rose up showing almost all of her chest. ¡°I think it might be good for her, to be honest,¡± Sera said. ¡°She¡¯s so against guys. Thinks all of you are just worms, bugs, roaches, or rats. Maybe being able to talk to one in a game might help her loosen up some when she finally learns the truth.¡± ¡°Or make her hate us even more,¡± Kyle warned. ¡°I won¡¯t let that happen,¡± Sera promised. ¡°When she finds out, I¡¯ll tell her I made you guys go along with me on it. She won¡¯t get mad at me, and if she does, she¡¯ll forgive me. I¡¯ll just go spend a night at her house and blow in her ear a few times and tickle her stomach, and it¡¯ll all be better.¡± ¡°And what about our revenge?¡± Sera asked, changing the subject before Kyle could start fully imagining her and Heather in a bed together blowing in each other¡¯s ears and tickling one another. Oh, he was going to have an interesting dream tonight! ¡°We didn¡¯t get to talk about a lot at lunch; everyone was mad at me for pretending to be you over the weekend and not telling them what was going on. By the time all that was sorted out, the lunch bell had rung and I had a few moments to tell them what we needed. Jason¡¯s got the papers we got from the priest and he¡¯s scanning those in to make copies tonight. William is going to the courthouse to get us some public licenses so we can copy the seal or whatever it is, and maybe detention.¡± ¡°Detention?¡± Sera interrupted, curiously. ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m not certain if he waited until after school to go or not. He¡¯s a little odd like that sometimes,¡± Kyle admitted. ¡°But, he¡¯ll get them for us.¡± ¡°Tomorrow, I can hand them to Jason and get him to scan them and add them to our copies. Then all Heather has to do is write them up and Darryl can take them and drop them off in the post office for us. It¡¯s all coming together nicely,¡± Kyle said with a smirk. ¡°By this time tomorrow, we¡¯ll have our revenge! Or at least, it¡¯ll be in the mail, by then!¡± Sera giggled lightly. ¡°Wonderful! Then, do you want to play with me?¡± ¡°Uhhh¡­¡± Kyle¡¯s mind went blank. ¡°Sure!¡± Reaching out both hands towards her breasts, drool almost fell from his lips. ¡°Mu ha ha haaha..¡±, he started to chuckle slightly to himself in his evil warlord laugh. Sha-Whack!! Sera slapped his hands before they ever got to her. ¡°I meant play the game with me, dufus!¡± ¡°Oh. Oh.. Oh!¡± Kyle blushed from top to bottom. ¡°Sorry!¡± ¡°Geeze! Get a grip on yourself,¡± Sera laughed as she crawled across the bed. Once she was up, she turned and sauntered on out the door, wiggling her hips in an exaggerated manner as she left. ¡°I¡¯m going to borrow that thick overcoat of yours, and I¡¯ll see you in game in a few moments,¡± she yelled. ¡°Sure. Whatever.¡± Kyle yelled back, disappointed. ¡°Oh. You can have these back,¡± Sera shouted as a thin ripped shirt and rainbow wrap fluttered into the room from being tossed in from outside. The sound of laughter and bare feet could be here stomping down the steps in a mad hurry. By the time Kyle had bounced up from his bed and made it out of his room, she was already gone. ¡°Just why the hell does she get to streak in my house, and no one see her?!¡± Kyle pouted. Chapter 34: Escape! The moment Kylie popped into the forest, she was bombarded with a private message from Heather. ¡°Where the hell have you been! I need help!¡± ¡°Heather?¡± Kylie replied back through the friend private messages. She hadn¡¯t even had time to read the login messages, and already she was getting pestered. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± ¡°Where have you been?¡± Heather demanded to know. ¡°This jackass was sitting here, in the middle of the sewers, waiting to ambush me the moment when I logged in. I don¡¯t think I can take it anymore!¡± ¡°Sewers? Jackass? Start at the beginning, you¡¯re confusing me!¡± Even the sound of a deep sigh carried across the friend chat. ¡°Fine,¡± Heather tried to say calmly. ¡°I logged into the game, hoping to have a little time to do my own thing, and that jackass William was sitting in the sewage like some insane stalker, just waiting on me. And he won¡¯t shut up! No matter what I do, or say, he won¡¯t shut up!¡± ¡°Show him your boobs,¡± Kylie suggested. ¡°What!!¡± Heather¡¯s mental shout almost knocked Kylie off her feet. ¡°Why the hell would I do that?!¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a big deal is it?¡± Kylie asked, reasonably. ¡°They¡¯re not really yours. They¡¯re just some game avatar boobs. But I imagine it¡¯d make him completely shut up just seeing a woman¡¯s breasts inside a game.¡± Silence answered, and Kylie took a moment to look around and gauge her surroundings. Everything looked like it had when she¡¯d logged out, and none of the vines seemed to have spawned close enough to be a danger to her currently ¨C which was a good thing! If she¡¯d popped in and had to deal with Heather and being attacked, she probably would¡¯ve died. ¡°YAHOOO!!!¡± William yelled joyously over everyone¡¯s friend chat. ¡°BOOOOO¡­ EEEAAAAOOOOOOGGHHH!!¡± Silence once again descended across the chat channels. ¡°Well, that worked,¡± Heather told Kylie privately. ¡°Flashing isn¡¯t enough to make him shut up, but a swift kick to the crotch while he¡¯s in shock works nicely.¡± Kylie half shivered, trying not to imagine what William might be feeling right about now. ¡°Are you dead?¡± He asked privately. ¡°Nuuuh Ugghhh. She¡¯s not that nice.¡± William replied. ¡°But, I got to see her knockers,¡± he said, sounding half laughing and half crying. ¡°But now, she¡¯s ran away and I can¡¯t wobble too fast to catch up to her. She¡¯s going to have all the fun without me, and that¡¯s not fair!¡± Kylie couldn¡¯t help but shake her head in disbelief. Kicked in the crotch, the girl ran away, and William still couldn¡¯t get a hint that he might be pushing things too far, too fast, with Heather. Looking over at her friend¡¯s icons, Seran, Drun, and Johnb weren¡¯t in the game yet. Drun and Johnb might be occupied with homework or something, but Seran should be around by now. Sera did go home to log in so they could play together ¨C or at least that¡¯s what she said she was going to do. Maybe Fanny had caught her streaking through the house in nothing more than a leather overcoat and was talking to her about it. While trying to figure out what might be going on with Sera, Heather¡¯s icon suddenly turned gray and had a large question mark floating over it instead of her picture. ¡°You OK?¡± Kylie asked her privately. ¡°I am now,¡± she answered. ¡°I set my character to ¡®anon¡¯, to hide. Now I won¡¯t show up on jerkwad¡¯s map anymore and he can¡¯t track me. I just needed some space, and he simply won¡¯t shut it!¡± ¡°Then I¡¯m going to go ahead and start my hunt,¡± Kylie told her. ¡°I might be slow responding if you send me a message, as I¡¯ll be in the middle of battle, so don¡¯t think I¡¯m ignoring you.¡± ¡°I¡¯d never think that!¡± Heather sent back instantly. Kylie didn¡¯t bother to reply back; instead, she chose to toss herself at the nearest vine once more. Slowly, ever so slowly, she was improving both with the staff and her crafting skill. Already she had several different leaves hung around her neck, dangling from a small necklace made of her hair, like dog tags. Another few days, and she could try and tie them all together and make a tiny loin cloth or something to start covering herself with. After several hours of wandering near along the riverbank and slowly killing the vines there, Kylie noticed a set of broken and moss covered ruins downstream, where it looked as if the creek she was following merged with another. Cautiously, she approached it, wondering if it might mark the border of a different zone in the game. Rivers were often used in games to separate monster levels, and the creatures on the other side of those ruins might be a lot more powerful that the simple little vines which she¡¯d been fighting for the last several days. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Creeping up, Kylie used identify on everything in sight before she moved forward even a single step. ¡°Old worn rock.¡± ¡°Wisteria Vine.¡± ¡°Running Creeper.¡± ¡°Neddlewart.¡± ¡°Orchard Grass.¡± Lots of pieces of worthless information, and nothing that even vaguely resembled a monster¡¯s status screen. Finally getting close enough to identify the weathered and worn ruins, they were called an ¡°Ancient Lost Ven¡¯driki Travel Post.¡± Since Sera wasn¡¯t in game, and William for some reason had went completely silent ¨C either the crotch kick had killed him for good, or else he¡¯d entered into ¡®stealthy ninja mode¡¯ and was trying to stalk Heather without her knowing it ¨C Kylie sent a private message to Heather about it. ¡°Hey Heather,¡± he simply had to share his odd discovery with someone. ¡°You¡¯ll never guess what I¡¯ve came across!¡± ¡°Yes, sweetie?¡± Heather always sounded so much different when she thought she was talking to Sera. ¡°What is it? Something nice? Is it sexy?¡± ¡°Oh my God! You¡¯re as bad as any of the guys,¡± Kylie sent back to her, shocked. ¡°No. It¡¯s not anything sexy. You can¡¯t wear it. I¡¯ve found an old set of ruins of some sort. An ¡®Ancient Lost Ven¡¯driki Travel Post¡¯ is what it identifies as. I¡¯m thinking of checking it out, there¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you dare!¡± Heather commanded all at once. ¡°Stay away from that place!¡± ¡°Uhh.. Sure.¡± Kylie involuntarily took a few steps back away from the ruins. ¡°What¡¯s the heck wrong with them?¡± She asked, concerned. ¡°Are you back safely away from them?¡± Heather asked, with a hint of unease in her voice. ¡°I am now,¡± Kylie replied honestly. ¡°What¡¯s up? Are they that dangerous.¡± ¡°They¡¯re probably the most dangerous place in the world!¡± Heather exclaimed. ¡°It¡¯s a travel post. If the magic is still active, you can use them to travel to places you¡¯ve been before, as long as they¡¯re connected. If the magic¡¯s broken, you might end up in the hells or some other dimension which you can never escape from! You¡¯d basically just have to sit and wait the rest of the month without playing, and then make a new character unless someone could come rescue you. And, this early in the game, I doubt that could happen.¡± ¡°Oh, hell!¡± Kylie shivered just thinking about it. To spend the rest of the month trapped inside some alternative dimension, not being able to play with anyone at all in that time. That would suck sooo bad! Winter¡¯s Tale might offer a chance at a new life with fame, fortune, and magic, but it also offered a chance at simply being stuck under a rock until you died and started over from boredom ¨C or just quit the game! ¡°One thing though, tell me if you see any sort of runes or glyphs around. Don¡¯t go inside the ruins, but check to see if there¡¯s some markings on the outside of them,¡± Heather asked. ¡°This might be a great thing for you and me both!¡± ¡°One second.¡± Kylie slowly made a circle around the ruins, identifying everything from as far away from them as she could. After several long minutes, a section of the wall with a faded engraving of a two headed eagle identified itself as an ¡®Ancient Lost Ven¡¯driki Travel Marker¡¯. ¡°Found one. An ¡®Ancient Lost Ven¡¯driki Travel Marker¡¯. Is that what I needed to look for?¡± Kylie asked Heather privately. ¡°It certainly is!¡± Heather was starting to sound very excited. ¡°What¡¯s it look like?¡± ¡°It¡¯s old and faded, but I guess a two headed chicken, or eagle or something.¡± ¡°Anything else you can tell me?¡± Heather asked in a rush. ¡°Hurry! Hurry! The guards and William are after me!¡± ¡°That¡¯s it. Sorry, it¡¯s faded almost beyond recognition.¡± ¡°Do or die then!¡± Heather yelled to Kylie. ¡°You¡¯ll never take me alive you jerkface bastard!¡± She yelled through the public friend chat channel. A moment later, the ground shook, a whirling rainbow light appeared in the center of the ruins, and a ragged and dirty looking female elf appeared out of thin air. Rushing out of the ruins, she turned and launched a dozen balls of fire one after another into the walls until they finally crumbled and collapsed. ¡°You can¡¯t get me now!¡± Heather screamed into the party chat, as the elven girl stubbornly shook her fist at the sky once; twice; three times; before falling over in a faint. Chapter 35: Utopia Found! Rushing over, Kylie knelt down to check on Heather. Looking at her, she was a very beautiful elven female ¨C nowhere near as cute as Kylie, but awfully dang cute compared to everyone else. Apparently Heather must have taken time to customize her appearance as well, before starting in the game. Thin waist, round full breasts, long shapely legs. Curves in all the right places, with a perfectly oval face and long elegant pointed ears, accentuated by golden hair which draped down almost to her ankles. In the real world, there probably wasn¡¯t anyone who could compare to her, in terms of beauty. Even in Winter¡¯s Tale, she was probably in the elite top percent. Most of the inhabitants of Winter¡¯s Tale were NPCs controlled by the computer, and none of them had been specifically tailored for human aesthetic reasons. Of the vast number of people who were actually playing and controlling characters, most didn¡¯t bother to take the time and effort to fully customize every little detail of their character¡¯s looks to simply make it look cuter. With just one glance, it was obvious that Heather was just as vain, and cared about her appearance in game, just as much as she did in the real world. Lady Heather was truly a beautifully built woman ¨C who looked like she¡¯d been ran ragged! Her clothes were tattered and muck splattered. Damp stains of various shades and hues dyed the white robes she was wearing, and the odor was phenomenal. She wasn¡¯t kidding when she said they¡¯d been running, fighting, and hiding in the sewers. Her hair was out of place; a complete mess! Muck and grime covered her from head to toe, and she was out cold. Limp as a noodle, from having exerted herself completely with her magics. Taking a few moments to stare at her ragged beauty, Kylie finally bent and gripped her gently under each arm and dragged her away from the still smoldering ruins and to the creek. Taking off her own cloak, she carefully laid it on the riverbank, before starting to strip Lady Heather and lay her clothes carefully off to the side of hers. Once Heather was naked, Kylie slowly tugged her body into the creek and, while holding it, starting trying to rub as much of the grime and sewage off as she could. Lady Heather¡¯s skin was soft, and supple, with just a slight hint of softness over firmness to it. Washing the grime off revealed a lightly tanned skin, that glistened under the running water in the creek, and showed no blemishes. For the first time since playing the game, Kyle was glad that he hadn¡¯t made a male character. If he had, there¡¯d be no way that he could do what he was doing right now ¨C not without having an ever growing problem to deal with! The man in him was staring, and taking in every soft sensation to remember for his dreams later that night, while thankfully the woman that was him in game didn¡¯t show any obvious signs which couldn¡¯t be explained away by the chill of the water. At least, that¡¯s what he hoped. After several moments of washing, Heather finally fluttered open her eyes and glanced around. Finding herself in Kylie¡¯s arms, a huge smile beamed across her face and she laughed. ¡°My prince! You¡¯ve saved me!¡± Reaching up, she took ahold of Kylie¡¯s breasts ¨C one in each hand ¨C and firmly squeezed them while leaning up to try and kiss her. Shocked, Kylie gave a little squeal of surprise and dropped her, letting Heather suddenly splash the rest of the way into the water. Sitting up, sputtering, and spitting water from her mouth, her naked body was a true sight to behold in all its glory. ¡°Sorry,¡± Kylie told her. ¡°You surprised me. Are you all right?¡± ¡°All right!¡± Heather exclaimed. ¡°I¡¯m in Utopia! I got away from that jerkface, found my way to you, and now we¡¯re here alone with no one in the world to bother us! This is paradise!¡± Standing up, she half spun in the water, sending a mist of droplets out in all directions. ¡°I feel refreshed! Revived! OH, my prince! Thank you so much for saving me when you did!¡± Giggling, she knelt down to one knee and gently reached out to take Kylie¡¯s hand and kiss it. Kyle was completely uncertain how to respond to such a side of Heather that he¡¯d never seen before. He stood there in a daze as she kissed Kylie¡¯s hand several times, before finally standing and, while grinning wildly, Heather started to rub her hands all up and down her. ¡°Wha¡­ What are you doing?¡± Kylie asked, blushing and confused. Lady Heather just giggled and blew gently in Kylie¡¯s long, sensitive elven ear. A shiver ran up and down her body that was both hot and cold at the same time. ¡°Just returning the favor sweetie,¡± she whispered softly to Kylie. ¡°You helped me get clean a bit, so it¡¯s only proper than I return the favor, as an honorable elf maiden. You wouldn¡¯t want to harm my honor in game, now would you?¡± ¡°That¡¯s just mean,¡± Kylie complained, while trembling slightly under Heather¡¯s soft, tender caresses. ¡°I know it is,¡± Heather whispered as she lightly licked Kylie¡¯s ear before gently biting it. ¡°But, it¡¯s true. This game has an honor system, and as a Lady of a noble house, I¡¯m expected to live up to certain expectations. I simply can¡¯t let you wash me, your Highness, without returning the favor.¡± ¡°Fi.. Fine.¡± Kylie sighed deeply and tried to relax back in the water as much as possible. It¡¯s just a bath. It¡¯s just a bath. It¡¯s just a bath. Repeating the words in her head endlessly, thinking it might help, it didn¡¯t. Lady Heather took her time. Kneading and caressing. Massaging and stimulating. Kissing and sometimes even playfully biting, Heather enjoyed herself to the fullest. Whenever Kylie weakly tried to complain, Heather would simply giggle and remind her quietly, ¡°It¡¯s OK. As you said, ¡®It¡¯s just a game. It¡¯s not really your body, so it¡¯s no big deal.¡¯ Right?¡± All Kylie could do in the end was to moan and enjoy the experience. When it was over her knees were weak and she had difficulty staying on her tiptoes like before. Half crawling out of the creek, she flopped back across her cloak and just laid there. Stolen story; please report. Looking at her own tattered and stained outfit, Heather laughed loudly and then blasted the pile with a blazing ball of fire. With one single shot, the already damaged clothes shimmered and disappeared. ¡°Like Adamina and Eve, we shall dance naked in the garden of Eden!¡± Heather exclaimed joyously. ¡°I never want to remember my time in purgatory with the demon spawn called William ever again, and I don¡¯t need those tatters to remind me!¡± Seeing the shocked looked on Kylie¡¯s face, she simply laughed harder. ¡°Fear not, your Highness! The great and beautiful Lady Heather is here with you now. I shall gather these leaves that you need, and you may craft both of us clothing suitable for such perfect that is us! Until then, we shall enjoy the sun on our skin, the wind in our hair, the moonlight across your fair form, and a world without men within it!¡± ¡°Sounds great, I suppose,¡± Kylie said weakly. ¡°One thing I do want to know, Heather. How the heck did you get here?¡± ¡°Though the ruins you found,¡± Heather said while flopping down on the cloak and snuggling up beside Kylie. ¡°The Ancient Travel Posts were created by a long forgotten race called the Ven¡¯driki. Some claim they were giant insectoid-type people, while others claim they were beings made out of crystal and glass. No one knows for certain, but they created many different items of great and lost magical power. The Travel Posts are one of their creations. ¡°Almost every city has a magical stone circle set inside it somewhere, and travelers can go there and that circle will take them someplace they¡¯ve already been. Each circle has its own unique rune identifying it ¨C the city I was in had a rune of an open fist with a flame around it, engraved as the Marker. As long as you know the marker of where you want to go, you can travel there freely. Provided the way is open of course, the post on the other side hasn¡¯t been destroyed or the magic corrupted or whatnot. ¡°It¡¯s why I set the grass on fire when I came through. Even if William somehow knew which rune I¡¯d traveled to, the path was blocked by flames and he would¡¯ve went elsewhere.¡± ¡°Went where?¡± Kylie asked, curious. ¡°I honestly don¡¯t know,¡± Heather replied with a laugh. ¡°And I honestly don¡¯t care. As long as it isn¡¯t anywhere near us! But..¡± She said, stretching. ¡°Party Invite Kylie!¡± A window popped up, and Kylie instantly said, ¡°I accept,¡± without even bothering to read it. No reason to refuse a party with Heather at all, now that she was here with her. The confirmation window closed and another small window appeared with Lady Heather¡¯s name, picture, and a series of bars underneath it to represent her health and mana. ¡°Then I¡¯m off for the hunt!¡± Heather laughed as she hopped up and started looking for the closest vine to attack. As Kylie started to rise to help her, Heather simply waved her back. ¡°Sit and do your crafting. I¡¯ve got this,¡± she said as she tossed several balls of fire one after another at the helpless vine, while well beyond its reach. In no time at all, one of the creatures disappeared in a shimmer. Giggling, Heather picked up the green leaf which it brought over and offered it out to Kylie. ¡°For you, my Highness.¡± Kylie tried not to stare too openly at the lovely naked form bent over and offering him what felt like tribute. ¡°Thank you,¡± Kylie told her simply, as she took the leaf. ¡°Anything for you, your Highness.¡± Heather fluttered her eyelashes and then stretched down on her back across the rest of the cloak Kylie was sitting on. ¡°And now, I¡¯ll need just a few moments to rest and recover my mana,¡± she said with a twinkle in her eye.
By the time Kyle logged out later that evening, he was exhausted. The experience had been amazing once Heather joined his party, and all Kylie had to do is two things. One, she just needed to look pretty and work on raising her crafting skill with the leaves which Heather gathered, which wasn¡¯t so bad. The second, and this was the reason why she was so exhausted, was she had to ¡°help Heather recover her magic faster.¡± Heather insisted that resting was the best way to recover her magic, and even after she ate some of the elven trail bread, she needed time to recover between fights. The Tangleroot Creepers were perfect opponents for her; foes which couldn¡¯t move, and which she could simply practice blasting over and over until they shattered. The only problem was Heather didn¡¯t seem to have a limitless reserve of energy like Kylie, nor did she recover it at the same rate. After each fight, she gathered up the leaf that was left behind, and then came over to sit, and supposedly rest, beside Kylie. The exhausting part for Kylie was Lady Heather¡¯s method of resting. At first she just wanted to stretch out on the cloak beside her. Then she wanted to use Kylie¡¯s lap for a pillow. Once she was in Kylie¡¯s lap, she played with her hair at first. And then blew up and down her thighs and legs. Then wanted to caress her gently. Each kill, Heather got just a little more ¡°hands on¡± with Kylie. And, if Kylie complained, Heather pouted and apologized and said honor demanded she let Kylie do the same to her, since she¡¯d given offense. And, after she¡¯d ¡°paid off her punishment¡± by making Kylie do the same, she¡¯d go off and blast a few more vines before coming back to start the whole process over again. Kyle really didn¡¯t have a clue how Sera could put up with her, if she was like that with her all the time! Exhausted, he simply dropped his helmet to the ground and drifted off to a fitful series of dreams that left him sweaty, drained, and needing a bath when he awoke the next morning. Chapter 36: Giving in to Temptation Kyle awoke drained and listless the next morning, covered in sweat. Who could¡¯ve ever imagined that a game would cause him such thoughts and dreams as he had last night. Part of the problem was the fact that it wasn¡¯t just a character in a game that was pawing all over Kylie in such a manner, but an actual person who he knew and could imagine. Add to that, the memory of where he¡¯d seen Heather doing almost the same thing to Sera while she was sleeping, and it led to a restless night of wildly erotic dreams. Not that it was precisely a bad thing, Kyle thought. To be honest, he didn¡¯t know how to feel about it. It was enjoyable to indulge his fantasies. But embarrassing to think of what was happening to him as Kylie. And mind-boggling to realize it was with the man-hating Heather, who he¡¯d never imagined in such a light before. Add in the guilt he felt for lying to her about who Kylie was in reality, and yet his desire not to say anything until Sera told her the truth first ¨C it all just added up to Kyle being a confused and conflicted young man. Sera was trusting him to play along and not say anything at the moment. Yet Heather was obviously being extremely touchy-feely with Kylie. But that was just a game, and as Heather herself kept repeating over and over, shouldn¡¯t be such a big deal. And yet, he couldn¡¯t get the thoughts, feelings, and memories out of his head. He didn¡¯t want to break his trust with Sera, he enjoyed ¨C but felt guilty ¨C about what was going on with Heather. His mind just kept going around and around in circles, and he couldn¡¯t reach a conclusion about what to do at all. In the end, Kyle did what many young men do when facing such complex moral questions ¨C he decided to try and forget about the problem and pretend it didn¡¯t exist. Getting up, he stripped and hopped into the upstairs shower before even letting the water run long enough to fully get hot. The cool chill of the water rushing over his skin both seemed to help cleanse and revitalize him. After just a few moments of quickly scrubbing the night¡¯s sweat off himself, he dried off and quickly got dressed. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Going downstairs, the house was once again dark and silent. Kyle had no clue when his mother had gotten home from her shift at work, but he quietly grabbed his keys, slid on his shoes and jacket, and walked over to Sera¡¯s home. The wind was calm this morning, and a very light little frost was on the ground, with the slight mist rising from where the morning sun was beginning to burn it off. For a mid-February morning, it was actually pleasant and not as harsh as the last few days had been. In some ways, it was one of those days that made it seem as if everything was going to end up bright and sunny to Kyle. That it¡¯d all end up OK in the end. Halfway humming to himself, he slid open the kitchen, went in, and shut it behind himself. There was some sound of Fanny and Franklin laughing coming out of their bedroom, so Kyle simply eased up the steps and went on in to Sera¡¯s room. There, like most mornings, she was curled up clutching tightly onto her blanket while sleeping soundly. Grinning mischievously, Kyle pulled on the blankets gently, until he had them loosed slightly from her grip. Taking just a moment to kick off his shoes, he slowly eased into the bed and wrapped his cold arms around her, and pressed his chilled body against her. He expected that she¡¯d yelp from the difference in temperature, from where he¡¯d just came in from outside, but she simply shivered and tried to clutch the blankets back down instead. For a few moments, Kyle laid there and indulged himself in the feeling of her being wrapped in his arms. Leaning gently forward, he nuzzled his head up to her neck and breathed in the scent of her hair. The gentle smell of cherry blossoms calmed his thoughts, and he relaxed even more. A few more minutes wouldn¡¯t hurt. He was early. He had some time and could indulge in the smell of cherry blossoms for a few minutes more. Just a few minutes, and then he¡¯d get up and make her get ready for school. ¡®Just a moment longer¡¯ was his last thought before Kyle drifted back off to sleep beside her. Chapter 37: Hooky THUMP! With a sudden jar of pain, Kyle found himself on his back starting up at the ceiling from the floor. ¡°Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!¡± Sera half stepped on him as she bounced out of the bed and over to her dresser. ¡°We¡¯re late! I mean, we¡¯re really, really late!¡± As Kyle slowly staggered to his feet, he glanced over at the clock on her nightstand. Already, it was past ten o¡¯clock ¨C they weren¡¯t just late for school, they were skipping it! Without even bothering to watch Sera frantically strip and try to get ready, Kyle rushed downstairs and into the kitchen to grab the phone and check for messages. Seeing none yet this morning, he quickly looked at the list hanging on the wall and called the school. After a few rings, a mechanical voice spoke offering him options for who to speak to. Pressing one, the phone rang again and a woman¡¯s voice answered. ¡°Ridgewood Private Academy. This is Sandra speaking. How may I help you this morning?¡± Deepening his voice as much as possible, Kyle spoke into the receiver. ¡°This is Franklin Demoney. Me girl Seraphine won¡¯t be in today, I don¡¯t think. Neither will Kyle Smithson. I was bringing ¡®em both ta school and me car broke down. We had ta get towed and it¡¯s just been a pisser of a morning. We gonna be here fer a bit at da shop while they do what they do, and it¡¯ll be late a¡¯for we get there. If¡¯n it¡¯s too late, we might not even worry with it today and give ¡®em a day off.¡± ¡°Well sir, you¡¯re not supposed to do that,¡± the woman started on the other end of the phone. ¡°I KIN DO WHAT I WANTS!!¡± Kyle slammed down the receiver and just flopped down in the floor. He¡¯d never played hooky before, but he didn¡¯t want them calling and bothering his mom while she was resting, just because he overslept. The furious stomping of feet down the steps heralded the arrival of Sera, who was out of breath and still buttoning her school shirt. ¡°Come on Kyle! We got to go! We¡¯re later than late, this morning!¡± Slowly getting to his feet, Kyle shook his head slightly. ¡°No worries. I took care of it. I called and told the school that we were going to be late and might not even show up today. I blamed it on your father.¡± ¡°You blamed dad?¡± She stopped trying to do up the last few buttons her shirt and just stared in shock at Kyle. ¡°What have you gotten us into this time! We¡¯re going to get murdered if he finds out we used him as an excuse to be late!¡± ¡°Not just late,¡± Kyle corrected. ¡°I told them we might not even be there at all.¡± ¡°Oh hell¡­.¡± Sera walked past him and flopped down in the first chair she came to at the table. ¡°As if there weren¡¯t enough issues going on already.¡± Shaking her head slowly from side to side, she finally rested it in her arms as she laid it down on the kitchen table. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Kyle asked, worried. Sera was normally a fairly happy go lucky person, and this didn¡¯t sound like her at all. ¡°Everything. Nothing. I don¡¯t know,¡± was her cryptic answer. ¡°Last night, I came home and mom saw me. She was curious why I wasn¡¯t at the restaurant with dad, so I sat and talked with her for a bit. I told her that I was wanting to spend more time with everyone from school, so she advised me to talk things out with Dad.¡± Letting out a deep sigh, Sera was quiet for several moments before continuing. ¡°I walked to the store, taking time to get all my thoughts together. I figured we could chat between customers, or while cleaning up. He was happy to see me, but when I told him I wanted to quit at the store, he tossed a tray at the customers and ended up chasing them all out and locking the doors!¡± Kyle just nodded sympathetically and walked around to slowly rub her shoulders. Sera was quiet again for several moments, simply enjoying the massage, before she continued once more. ¡°I tried to explain everything to him, and father said for me not to worry about it. He¡¯d just end up closing the restaurant for good! Franklin¡¯s is now ¡®Out of Business¡¯, and I didn¡¯t want that at all! I was going to cut back and work part time, but when I told him I wanted to do something else instead of work every evening, he closed the restaurant for good!¡± ¡°No more slop burgers?¡± Kyle said, shocked! ¡°No more nothing,¡± Sera confirmed sadly. ¡°Father¡¯s going today to put the place up for sale with some real estate company he does business with, and him and mother have decided that if the game is that interesting, they could play it too! They¡¯re both going to make characters and start playing this afternoon when they get back! What am I going to do?! Father will explode if he ever finds out I¡¯m playing a guy in a virtual world! He might not even let me play anymore, saying I¡¯m some type of pervert or something! The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°And it¡¯s still most of a month left before I can make a new character.¡± Sera was starting to tear up and cry slightly now. Letting out a deep sigh, Kyle felt almost like crying himself. There really was only one thing to do. ¡°Then Kylie will just have to be you in game,¡± he said slowly. ¡°We¡¯ll just have to try and synchronize when we log in, and we¡¯ll let them think Kylie is you, just like Heather does. All we¡¯ll have to do is hide the truth from all of them for a few weeks, and then we¡¯ll both restart over. You can make a female after that, and there won¡¯t be any issues anymore. Just a few weeks of hiding the truth from them. They shouldn¡¯t be too hard. ¡°Chances are, they won¡¯t start anywhere near me since I¡¯m in the middle of a forest, in the middle of nowhere.¡± Kyle said, brightly. ¡°You just have to make certain that they don¡¯t make ¡®wildmen¡¯ and start the game somewhere near you. Tell your mom about the ¡®Ocean Elves¡¯ and how they have the best songs, stories, and dances about the sea. It¡¯d probably be enough to convince her to play one, and she¡¯s likely to make your father make one with her. They can start off on an island in the middle of nowhere, and it¡¯ll be easy to avoid them for a few weeks. Well, I¡¯d think it¡¯d be easy enough. Who knows with your mom ¨C she¡¯s worse than William!¡± ¡°I can¡¯t!¡± Sera actually groaned in frustration. ¡°We¡¯re supposed to be in school. Remember? When they get back this afternoon, we¡¯re not supposed to be here, and we can¡¯t be here. Do you want to let father know we skipped classes?¡± ¡°Hell no!¡± Kyle didn¡¯t even need to think about that question. ¡°So then, what do we do?¡± Sera looked up, pleadingly, with tears in her eyes. ¡°We can¡¯t go to school now. We can¡¯t get caught here. We can¡¯t get caught at your house, by your mother. Just what the heck are we going to do now!¡± If it was summer, they could go spend all day and hang out at a park or something until school let out, but it was still too cold for that. Wracking his brain for all it was worth, Kyle finally suggested, ¡°I suppose we could go on a date or something. Maybe a movie? Something to eat, after?¡± Sera looked up and half smiled. ¡°Sounds lovely.¡± Then she slowly shook her head from side to side. ¡°The problem is, we can¡¯t do that either. If we go out in our school uniforms, someone might see us and report us for playing hooky. If we don¡¯t go out in our uniforms, our parents will know something''s up when we get home this evening. We¡¯re in a pickle.¡± ¡°Dammit!¡¯ Kyle cussed in frustration. ¡°Then what the heck are we going to do? We can¡¯t stay. We can¡¯t go. I don¡¯t know what to do. What do all the dope heads, delinquents, and trouble makers do when they skip school?¡± ¡°Stay home,¡± Sera laughed bitingly, ¡°which is something we can¡¯t do.¡± ¡°Then we¡¯ll just stay home.¡± Kyle finally said. ¡°Your parents aren¡¯t supposed to be back until later this afternoon. Mom works this afternoon. If we¡¯re lucky, we can wait over here until mom goes to work, and then we can sneak over to my house before your parents get back.¡± ¡°And if we¡¯re not lucky?¡± Sera asked. ¡°Then we¡¯ll slip outside and hide. All the water¡¯s been drained out of the pool for the winter at my place, so it¡¯d be easy to duck under that tarp and hide there out of the wind. It shouldn¡¯t take too long after your parents get home, until mom goes to work. Then we can slip out and sneak in my house and no one will ever be the wiser. We can do this,¡± Kyle said with encouragement. ¡°Yeah.¡± Sera agreed. ¡°If all those idiots can skip school and get away with it, we can do it once as well. We¡¯ll be fine.¡± ¡°And besides,¡± she giggled. ¡°If we do get caught, I¡¯m blaming the whole idea on you!¡± Chapter 38: Incompatible? Spending the day hiding from their parents was much easier than either Kyle or Sera would¡¯ve ever believed. The morning they spent together in the living room watching TV while keeping an eye out for Sera¡¯s family¡¯s SUV, which never showed up; and after lunch they noticed Kyle¡¯s mom¡¯s car pull out of the driveway and leave for work. Going upstairs, Sera grabbed her VRIG and then rushed down and quickly across the yard to Kyle¡¯s house with him. Waiting for Kyle to unlock the door, Sera slid inside and giggled behind him. ¡°I feel like a bad girl ninja or something, with all this sneaking around! HIE YII!¡± She spun, kicked, and struck her best ninja pose to illustrate her point. ¡°Now I see why some of those other kids are always sneaking around and skipping school. There¡¯s a rush of excitement with it!¡± ¡°Yeah, well don¡¯t get addicted to it,¡± Kyle warned her. ¡°We¡¯re only in this mess because you overslept this morning and wouldn¡¯t get up!¡± ¡°Well you fell back to sleep too!¡± Sera pointed out shamelessly. ¡°And in my bed to boot! What do you got to say for yourself, young man!¡± She shook her finger at him and tried to best to imitate his mom. ¡°You¡¯re being a bad influence on that little angel next door and corrupting her. It¡¯s all your fault! If you¡¯re a man, you have to do better!¡± ¡°Hey!¡± Kyle exclaimed, ¡°That¡¯s not fair!¡± Coughing, he straightened up and took a deep breath. ¡°If¡¯n yer gonna be me girl, then yer gots to be twice da man of any man, jist to be half as good as a true man like me!¡± Thumping his chests with his fist, he let out a small roar. ¡°RAAAHHHHRRR!! ¡°Hey now! Dad isn¡¯t like that!¡± Sera said. ¡°Well not all the time, he isn¡¯t.¡± Kyle admitted and they both broke out in laughter. Taking a bit to enjoy the moment, Sera finally straightened up and pointed upstairs. ¡°Let¡¯s go log in. I¡¯ll have to deal with mom and dad later this evening and try and talk him out of shutting down the store ¨C if nothing else, he can hire someone else to run it if he needs to ¨C so this is the only time I¡¯ll be able to play today.¡± ¡°Sure,¡± Kyle replied as he started up the stairs. ¡°Not that it¡¯ll matter too much, since we¡¯re nowhere near each other in game.¡± ¡°Well, maybe I can find one of those travel ring things you and Heather were talking about and come join you guys soon. The way she was talking, it sounds like there might be one in each starting city for players to travel back and forth between.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± Kyle said shaking his head, as he started down the upstairs hallway heading to his room. ¡°Heather did a good job setting things on fire and blowing them up fairly well. I don¡¯t think anyone¡¯s going to be using the ruins where I¡¯m at, unless they can repair them first. And, I know for a fact, it¡¯s not going to be us repairing them right now. I haven¡¯t even finished making my first leaf bikini yet! Who the heck knew that crafting was such a time consuming thing to do in a game!¡± ¡°I¡¯d probably help if you had the proper tools and equipment,¡± Sera pointed out. ¡°Besides, what are you complaining about? You get to enjoy seeing Heather run around naked everywhere now,¡± she giggled. ¡°Yeah, and if she ever finds out it¡¯s me, I¡¯ll probably end up dead and in a ditch somewhere,¡± Kyle muttered to himself. Sera just smirked and stuck out her tongue at him, before she turned her back and took off her school jacket. ¡°No peeking,¡± she warned. ¡°I¡¯m going to change out of my school clothes. I don¡¯t ever wear them once I¡¯m out of school, and they¡¯d know something was up if I came back with them on.¡± ¡°Fine, I won¡¯t peek.¡± Kyle turned so he could deliberately watch Sera as she stripped out of her shirt, bra, and skirt. Smirking to himself, he was grinning ear to ear while staring at her pale skin and admiring the thin yellow panties she was wearing this evening. Resisting the urge to reach out and stroke her hair, Kyle let his eyes feast on her shapely form as she shuffled in his drawer and then pulled one of his tee shirts up and over her head before turning around. ¡°HEY!¡± Sera stomped her foot and glared. ¡°I thought I told you not to peek while I was changing!¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t peek,¡± Kyle told her with a smirk. ¡°I stared. Shamelessly stared and enjoyed the show! If there was just some music in the background, I would¡¯ve stuck a dollar bill in your waistband!¡± ¡°Oooooo!¡± With a WHAP, Sera grabbed up her skirt from his dresser top, and smacked him across the chest with it. ¡°Then you start stripping! You don¡¯t wear your uniform either, and I¡¯m going to enjoy the show this time!¡± You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. ¡°Fine!¡± Strutting a few times and flexing his arms to show his almost non-existent muscles, Kyle finally started to undress while making ¡°doo dee doo de doo doo¡± noises. ¡°And what the hell is that supposed to be?¡± Sera asked, trying not to laugh. ¡°It¡¯s my striptease. Just for you. And with music!¡± Kyle said as he went back to swaying and singing ¡°doo dee doo dee dum dee do¡±, while pulling off his shirt and waving it back and forth over his head. ¡°Oh, to hell with this,¡± Sera said while wrinkling her nose. ¡°Now that I¡¯ve seen this much, I really don¡¯t need ¨C or want ¨C to see any more. EWWW!¡± With a flop, she fell back on the bed and pulled her pink helmet over her head. ¡°Log in, Winter¡¯s Tale!¡± ¡°Hey now!¡± Kyle stopped and pouted. ¡°I wasn¡¯t that bad!¡± When Sera didn¡¯t respond, he simply sighed and finished undressing and changed into a pair of gray sweatpants. Snorting, he grabbed up his own helmet and climbed across Sera; taking only a small moment to enjoy the feeling of her soft warm flesh beneath him; before finally rolling onto the other side of the bed. As he was getting ready to slide his own VRIG on, Sera pulled hers off and chewed on her lower lip slightly. ¡°Something¡¯s not right here,¡± she told him with a frown. ¡°I can¡¯t log into the game from over here in your house!¡± ¡°Are the servers down, or something?¡± Kyle asked as he tried his helmet on. ¡°I dunno,¡± Sera replied after leaning over and tapping the button on top of the VRIG which enabled the cameras so Kyle could see her while wearing the helmet. ¡°I kept getting some sort of strange message about how my device was incompatible with the installed game version.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s weird. Give me a moment to try,¡± Kyle said. ¡°Log in, Winter¡¯s Tale,¡± he commanded from the blue OS screen floating in front of his vision. Just a few moments later, the background faded and Kylie was once again standing naked in the forest, near the ruins where she and Heather had been killing vines and working on her crafting skills. ¡°I can log in just fine here,¡± Kyle said aloud, while watching the small video screen in the corner of the game world which showed Sera and his bedroom. ¡°That¡¯s really odd! Let me try again.¡± Sera plopped her VRIG back on her head and said, ¡°Log in, Winter¡¯s Tale!¡± A few moments later, she sighed. ¡°It¡¯d not working. ¡°Your current VRIG equipment is not compatible with the version of the game you are currently trying to access. And then there¡¯s a whole bunch of numbers and such, like ¡®Build 0.98b 11.2.687¡¯, whatever the heck that means!¡± ¡°I guess it means you can¡¯t log in to the game from my house, using my piece of crap hardware.¡± Kyle replied. ¡°Can¡¯t you log into the game using the server from your house? Doesn¡¯t the signal reach all the way here?¡± ¡°Normally I could,¡± Sera sighed. ¡°But not today. I didn¡¯t leave my system powered on and running. Someone¡¯s going to have to go over to my house and power on my machine, and then I can connect to the game thru my system.¡± ¡°Somebody?¡± Kyle asked, suspicious that he already knew the answer to whom she expected to go. ¡°Well, not somebody,¡± Sera confirmed. ¡°You.¡± ¡°Why me!¡± Kyle complained, while reaching up to turn off the video on his helmet. ¡°Log out. Power off.¡± ¡°Because you¡¯re the manly man who¡¯s twice the man that I could ever hope to be!¡± Sera laughed. ¡°Fine!¡± Laying his helm down on his pillow, Kyle rolled back over across Sera once more ¨C this time being certain to place one hand firmly on each breast and squeeze once as he rolled across her. ¡°Hey! Just watch where you¡¯re grabbing!¡± Sera exclaimed. ¡°I am,¡± Kyle replied with a smirk. ¡°After all, what else can you expect from ¡®the manly man, who¡¯s twice the man of any other!¡¯¡± ¡°Oooooo!¡± Grabbing the pillow, Sera tossed it at him. ¡°Hurry up and run over there and turn my system on, before my parents get home and catch you!¡± ¡°Yessum, Great Mistress! I, Kyle the Humble, hurry to obey your slightest whim!¡± Laughing, Kyle bent low and made an extravagant bow towards the bed. ¡°Is there anything else I can do for the Great Mistress while I am out?¡± ¡°Bring me back a soda. And a piece of cake, if there¡¯s any left.¡± ¡°Of course, Great Mistress of the Squishy Bosoms. I shall return shortly!¡± Laughing wildly, Kyle rushed out of the room before Sera could throw something else at him. With a loud clattering of footsteps on the floorboards, he was down the steps and gone in just a few short moments. Chapter 39: Finding The Tangler By the time Kyle had gotten back home from turning on Sera¡¯s VRIG server, she was already in the game when he got upstairs. Not wasting any time, he rolled back across her and slid his own helmet back on and logged into the game himself. Once again, Kylie was back in the forest, not far from the river and ruins. ¡°I¡¯m here,¡± Seran told her over the friend chat channel. ¡°It¡¯s all working like it should now. I just can¡¯t log in by trying to connect to your system. It¡¯s too old for my newer equipment!¡± ¡°Well that¡¯s weird,¡± Kylie sent back to him. ¡°Usually things are built to be backwards compatible. I¡¯d expect your helmet to connect to my system, even if my might not connect to yours. It looks like someone did something backwards in this case.¡± ¡°Well, it might explain why you got some of the options at start up that I didn¡¯t see.¡± Seran suggested. ¡°There wasn¡¯t any options for me to make an ¡®Alter Elf¡¯ when I went to log in for the first time. I always thought that was something odd.¡± ¡°I know you¡¯d mentioned that, but I just didn¡¯t think on it much.¡± Kylie admitted. ¡°I thought it might have simply been an option for players who logged in on the first day or something. Who knows, it might have something to do with the system gramps sent me. He said it was one of the ones that they¡¯d had at the company for a while for testing. I don¡¯t know the most about computers, but usually version numbers start at one, don¡¯t they? 0.98 seems like it should be a beta version of the game, or some such thing. ¡°Do you think I¡¯ve got a beta version of the game up and going?¡± Kylie asked. ¡°No idea. Shouldn¡¯t it update to the same version as everyone else, automatically?¡± Seran asked. ¡°No idea.¡± Kylie answered. ¡°I guess it is what it is. Nothing I can do about it now, is there?¡± ¡°Not that I know of,¡± Seran answered. ¡°So what are you doing now?¡± ¡°Playing with my own boobs,¡± Kylie lied as she charged one of the nearest vines. Since Heather wasn¡¯t around and burning everything to pieces, it was an excellent time for her to practice some of her own fighting skills. If she didn¡¯t take time to bash, dodge, and fight, her talents would never improve, and Kylie didn¡¯t want to be just a worthless healer forever! ¡°How about you?¡± ¡°Uhhh¡­ uhhh.. uhh.. Me find knothole in tree! It sappy! ME like!¡± Kylie was so shocked that she stopped moving and was instantly grabbed by the ankles and dragged down by the vine as it began to burn her soft elven flesh. ¡°Sera! What the hell are you doing to some random tree!¡± Frantically, she bashed out at the vine repeatedly. ¡°I¡¯m going to HEAL tell your father on HEAL you, you HEAL pervert!!¡± Rough manly laughter came back through the friend chat channel. ¡°Tree dead! Me smash. Make splinters!¡± ¡°Wait. What?¡± The vine disappeared with a shimmer and Kylie slowly struggled back on her feet and then picked up the green leaf that it left behind. ¡°What the hell was you doing to that tree?¡± ¡°Me smash tree.¡± Seran answered innocently. ¡°What pervert naked girl elf think me do with tree? Me man! Me bash!¡± Grumbling to herself about how stupid a woman-man was, Kylie looked around for another vine to fight. Off to the right, sitting behind what looked like a small ring of vines, was a larger purple plant that she¡¯d never seen before. ¡°Identify¡±, she called out while looking at the purple plant, and a set of information screens popped up.
Creature Identification: The Tangler
Level: 7 HP: 200 / 200 Weak to fire, cold, disease. Immune to poison, electricity. Leech from water, poison, life. ** Other information unavailable due to insufficient skill in Identify.
Congratulations! You have uncovered a new elite creature for your bestiary! (The Tangler) You have been awarded 100 experience! You need 400 more to the next level.
Congratulations! You are the first player to discover, and identify, The Tangler. You have been awarded the title, ¡°Monster Sage (Novice)¡± You have been awarded 1,000 experience! You have advanced a level! You gain 2 HP! You gain 20 MP! You gain 5 CP! You now need 3400 experience to level3!
¡°A named creature!¡± Kylie almost squealed in excitement. After hunting in this area for the last five days, a named creature finally appeared! But it had a ton more health and was much higher level that she was. ¡°Status,¡± she called out to confirm her own abilities better now that she had leveled up. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
Name: Kylie el X¡¯entiaClass: NoneLevel: 2
Race: X¡¯entian Elf (Altered)Experience: 600 / 4000
Title: Exiled Princess of X¡¯entia, Monster Sage (Novice)Status: Exile, Wanted CriminalCP: 5
HP: 36 / 36MP: 240 / 240SP: 20 / 20
PD: 0 (10)DR: 0MD: 0
STR: 11KNO: 100WIL: 10
AGI: 100MYS: 100PRE: 200
END: 16SPI: 10LUC: 10
TALENTS
Mystical Regen: 7.5 ¨C Recovers mystical energy at 7.5 times the normal character rate
Beginner Plant Slayer ¨C 5% bonus to hit and damage plant-type monsters.
Monster Sage (Novice) ¨C5% bonus to identify elite monsters. 10% bonus to loot roots for elite monsters.
SPELLS
HEAL: 40 -- heals 40 HP for 1 MP
SKILLS
Identify ¨C Allows identification of basic items or creatures. (11)
Fighting ¨C Quarterstaff (6)
Dodge (3)
Tailoring ¨C Tailoring allows players to cut and weave various materials into armor, bags, shirts, and other items. (3)
¡°A lot more health than what we¡¯ve got at our level, and about ten times as much as a normal vine. If it lashes and does damage at a comparable increase, it¡¯ll either kill me in one shot or almost kill me. I don¡¯t think I can take this thing alone, the way I am now,¡± Kylie muttered to herself. ¡°And it¡¯s not even targetable right now. From the way this looks, it seems to me like I might need to clear all those vines from around it first, before it becomes active.¡± ¡°Hey Sera,¡± Kylie said across the party chat, ¡°I¡¯m going to be occupied with trying to activate an elite named creature. If I¡¯m slow to respond to you, it¡¯s not because I¡¯m ignoring you; you knothole obsessed pervert. It just means I¡¯m distracted and a little busy at the moment. ¡®K?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Seran sent back. ¡°As long as you remember me SERAN. Me no know smelly SERA. Me man!¡± ¡°Yeah. Yeah. I know.¡± Kylie replied. ¡°But it¡¯s only us in here right now since everyone else is still in school, so it¡¯s no big deal. Do you think I¡¯d make a mistake like that with a naked Heather running around in front of me?¡± ¡°Me not know. Me man. Me think idiot woman like you make mistake; even try pee standing up when wake up. Woman only good for make baby. Not brains.¡± Snorting, Kylie charged the nearest vine in the circle and began to bang on it. Instantly, it and the two on either side of it started lashing out and trying to grab her with their vines. ¡°Shit!¡± She screamed as loudly as possible in her light, feminine elvish voice and hopped back away from the vines. One wasn¡¯t that big a deal now, and two was doable, but three? If the vine from the left got one ankle, and the vine from the right got another, they¡¯d turn her into a wishbone! Waiting several moments for the vines to calm down, Kylie kept repeating identify and watching the one she¡¯d already hit. The vine was recovering health, but it was a slow recovery rate. Taking a moment to calm her heartbeat and breathing, Kylie watched and once the others were still and completely inactive once again, she dashed forward and smashed it as hard as possible, before retreating and running backwards out of range. Kylie¡¯s evening became a repetitive blur of monotonous attacks for a while. Hit and run. Wait and watch. And then hit and run again. Once the first vine was destroyed, things became a bit easier afterwards though, as she could do back to having to watch out for the one vine to the side, since the other side had an empty spot beside it now. After that, it became an exercise in dodge, bash, dodge, bash, dodge, bash ¨C until she failed to dodge and the vine caught her. Then it was bash, heal, bash, heal, bash, heal, once again. And, while bashing and dodging the vines which circled the named plant, Kylie never noticed when Seran logged out of the game, or even when Sera got up and went home. She wasn¡¯t a fighter-build character, and it took a lot of concentration and practice to stay alive and not end up dead. It wasn¡¯t until Heather popped up in the game that she¡¯d even noticed that she¡¯d spent most of the afternoon lost in the repetitive battles. Chapter 40: Risk vs Reward ¡°Fireball!¡± Heather shouted and a small ball of flames flew past Kylie and slammed into the vine she was fighting. With a shimmer, it disappeared and another of the green leafs appeared in its place, startling Kylie so badly she fell back onto the ground, bruising her ass. ¡°What the hell!¡± Kylie yelped in surprise, as Heather rushed up and hugged her out of the blue. ¡°Are you OK? Where were you today? You weren¡¯t in school all day, and neither was that pervert Kyle! He didn¡¯t do anything to you, did he?¡± Heather was excited and all out of breath. ¡°I was worried about you, you know!¡± ¡°Sorry,¡± Kylie replied sheepishly, while once again feeling guilty about deceiving Heather about who she really was. ¡°Kyle didn¡¯t do anything to me. I simply overslept, and by the time I woke up it was already past ten and I just played hooky. Honestly, I¡¯m not going to be able to stay in game much longer. I¡¯m probably nearing the time limit before it makes me take a mandatory break for a bit.¡± ¡°Well, as long as you¡¯re OK.¡± Heather said, finally letting go of her hug. ¡°What the heck were you doing anyway? I can take care of these creatures easily enough for you!¡± ¡°Well, I need to fight a few from time to time to train my skills up too, you know!¡± Kylie replied. ¡°And besides,¡± she let her words trail off for a moment and pointed to the large purple flower nearby, ¡°I¡¯ve almost cleared all the spawns from the circle here so the named creature will go active and you can help me kill it. I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s much too tough for me to take alone, so I was just clearing out the vines in the circle around it, hoping that¡¯ll make it go active. There¡¯s only a few left to deal with.¡± ¡°Then let me finish them off, and we¡¯ll burn this purple thing to a crisp!¡± Heather exclaimed, enthusiastically. ¡°It only takes a few blasts for each of these vines, and I¡¯ll have these last two gone in no time.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you dare!¡± Kylie leaned up and grabbed her hands before Heather could begin any incantations. ¡°That big one is a whole lot more dangerous than these little things. We might need every drop of magic you have to take it down, so you don¡¯t need to be wasting any energy on the trash mobs around it!¡± Tugging Heather back away from the almost cleared ring, Kylie finally sat down near the edge of the creek and dug into the pocket in her cloak, before pulling out the loose leaves and elven trail bread. ¡°Here, have a meal of this,¡± she said while breaking off a piece of the bread and holding it out to Heather. ¡°It helps speed up your recovery times, so it might be necessary for the boss battle.¡± ¡°Fine.¡± Heather reached over and took the small chunk of bread and slowly chewed on a corner of it. ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about me so much, you know. I¡¯ll be fine.¡± ¡°Yeah. Well tough.¡± Kylie told her. ¡°Friends watch out for friends, and they worry about each other. That¡¯s just the way it is. Unless, of course, you don¡¯t want to be friends, or something.¡± Heather just laughed lightly. ¡°No. No. No. It¡¯s fine. We¡¯re friends. We¡¯re friends.¡± She held up both hands in defeat, and Kylie blushed at the perfect view she was being given. Damned if Heather wasn¡¯t one nice looking elf! And a naked one at that! Coughing slightly to cover any embarrassment she might be feeling, Kylie turned and started walking back towards the last two vines that remained. ¡°You rest and get your magic to full. Be prepared for when that last vine falls. I don¡¯t know how long it¡¯ll take that purple named in the center to become active, but we need to be prepared.¡± ¡°You can count on me,¡± Heather replied, seriously. ¡°The moment that purple thing twitches, I¡¯ll unleash everything I have on it. I¡¯ll burn it down before it even knows what hit it!¡± ¡°It¡¯s weak to fire,¡± Kylie informed her. ¡°I learned that by identifying the thing. Maybe you should try and identify it as well. It seems like you can often get better experience or achievements for identifying your opponents.¡± ¡°Sure. I¡¯ll give it a shot,¡± Heather said. ¡°Identify!¡± Sadly, she shook her head. ¡°My skill¡¯s not high enough to get any information on it, and it uses a bit of energy to try. If I¡¯m going to save magic for the fight, I probably don¡¯t want to use it just for identifying the creature.¡± ¡°It does?¡± Kylie asked. ¡°I use identify constantly, and I¡¯ve never noticed it costing me any mana.¡± ¡°A single point of mana,¡± Heather replied. ¡°It¡¯s not a ton, but it does use some energy. I¡¯ll practice on trying to get the skill up some later, when I have extra energy to spare.¡± ¡°That¡¯s just odd. I¡¯m certain it doesn¡¯t cost me any.¡± Kylie said. Watching the mana gauge carefully she gave the command, ¡°Identify,¡± before shaking her head slightly from side to side. ¡°Nope. Didn¡¯t cost me a bit of magic.¡± ¡°Maybe different skills have different cost levels according to class?¡± Heather suggested. ¡°Maybe.¡± Kylie shrugged. ¡°Looks like I¡¯m just going to have to take advantage of the mana free skill use for the ability now, before I get a class later. Take the skill up as high as I can while it¡¯s not going to have any effect on my mana levels.¡± Shrugging once more, she shook her head from side to side. ¡°I¡¯ll worry about that later! For now, it¡¯s time to CHARGE!!¡± Rushing forward, Kylie charged the vine on the left and smacked it soundly with her staff. Without even bothering to retreat, she quickly struck again and again, before the vine had a chance to react. Slowly, her skills with the staff had improved, and this time she was able to destroy the first vine before it could respond to her sudden vicious assault. As the last remaining vine lashed out at her, Kylie jumped to the right and then ran as quickly as she could towards the tangleroot creeper. With a thump, she slammed her staff into the main body of the plant, and then kept on running past if before the vine could catch up to her. Dashing past the reach of the pursuing vine, she finally stopped and took a moment to catch her breath. ¡°You almost ready?¡± She asked Heather with a grin while slowly circling back around to the far side of the plant and away from where its vines currently were. ¡°I¡¯m ready,¡± Heather confirmed, as she got up and slowly moved up to barely be in range to target the purple vine. ¡°But first, you need to join me in a group. Invite Kylie!¡± ¡°Oh! Sorry.¡± Kylie apologized. ¡°I forgot we hadn¡¯t joined up yet! I accept!¡± Waiting a moment for the party window to form, she finally nodded and asked once more, ¡°Ready now?¡± ¡°We sure are!¡± Heather nodded. ¡°Here goes nothing then!¡± Kylie yelled as she charged the last tangleroot creeper and quickly smashed her staff into the main body one, two, three times in rapid succession. With a shimmer, the last vine disappeared and a rare red leaf appeared where it was. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.With a loud rumble, the ground shook and trembled all around and large vines began to pull themselves up from the earth and lash out randomly at anything that was within the circle. Kylie yelped once as a vine grazed her side in a vicious slash, and the smell of smoldering flesh instantly wafted into the air, and almost half her health disappeared in the blink of an eye. A ball of fire engulfed the center of the plant, and it released a strange echoing roar of pain and anger. ¡°ARWOOOO!!!¡± The ground shook and quivered, and Kylie desperately tried to maintain her footing and run out of the center of what seemed like Hell to her! ¡°Heal!¡±, she screamed as she dropped to her stomach and rolled, trying to keep away from another wildly flailing root. Another ball of fire zoomed in and blasted into the center of the creature, and with another roar of its agony, Kylie managed to crawl on hands and feet away from the creature. Glancing back over her shoulder, Kylie saw The Tangler raising several roots up together at the same time. In the blink of an eye, they came down together and some thick green fluid was hurled across the field, where it smashed directly into Heather. A scream of agony burst forth from Heather¡¯s tiny elven lungs that made Kylie shake. ¡°Oh shit!¡± Screaming herself, Kylie rushed towards where she had crumpled and yelled ¡°Heal! Heal! Heal!¡± repeatedly, trying to place her body between Heather and The Tangler. Burning pain shot down Kylie¡¯s back as something with and slimy slammed into her, and her health bar would¡¯ve disappeared completely if she wouldn¡¯t have had the benefit of a heal glowing around her at the same moment of impact ¨C but even then the agony was intense and the smell of burnt and melting flesh was thick in the air. ¡°Heal!¡± Kylie leaped the remaining distance to pounce on top of Heather, and was relieved when another glob of green sap missed and flew past where she was running just a moment before. Wrapping Heather up tightly in both arms, she screamed ¡°HEAL!¡± once more, and then rolled to the side, flipping Heather with her. Another blob of acidic sap splashed and sizzled into the ground just feet away from them. ¡°Let go!¡± Heather yelled, and shoved Kylie off to the side. Glancing over, Kylie saw The Tangler¡¯s vines once again coming down in a vicious arc to toss sap their way once again. With tears in her eye, she screamed ¡°Heal! Heal! Heal!¡±, and firmly rose to plant herself between the projectile and Heather. Pain once again rolled over the front of her body, and her flesh melted even as it was being healed under her constant spam of magic. Another ball of fire flew past and slammed into The Tangler; this time causing several of the vines to wither and disappear. A glob of sap returned and once again scorched and sizzled as Kylie stubbornly refused to move from where she now stood between the beast and Heather. The pain was still just as intense as before, but her health bar didn¡¯t seem to fall quite as fast or as far this time before the healing magic took effect. A fifth ball of flame rocketed past Kylie¡¯s side and slammed into The Tangler. With another roar of agony, it began to shimmer as it had finally reached its limit. In a desperate last ditch effort to take its killers down with it, the purple head on the flower exploded and sap and purple flower petals flew everywhere. Those that hit and splashed Kylie stuck and burned the skin, and her health once again began to rapidly fall. ¡°Heal! Shit! Oh Shit! Heal!¡± Kylie screamed one last time, and then simply flopped to the ground as her magic restored her and the pain subsided. Glancing at her status bars, she had used well over half her magic in that fight ¨C and she had an insane mana pool and recovery rate to pull from! ¡°Just what the hell is up with that damn thing?¡± She muttered, half to herself. ¡°How the hell are people supposed to normally fight something like that?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have a clue,¡± Heather admitted. ¡°That was insane! Are you OK? I¡¯ve never felt anything like that before in the life! Not ever!¡± ¡°I will be, once I get some magic back and catch my breath,¡± Kylie assured her. ¡°But, I don¡¯t want to try that again unless we have a better plan! Next time, we¡¯ll build a wall or something to hide behind first!¡± ¡°Next time?¡± Heather asked. ¡°Are you so certain that we¡¯re even finished this time? I didn¡¯t get a notification that the thing died, and I haven¡¯t gotten any experience yet either.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ Shit!¡± Stumbling up, Kylie slowly took a deep breath. ¡°If it¡¯s not dead, then what do we do next? I swear, I saw it shimmer and disappear!¡± ¡°I did too,¡± Heather confirmed. ¡°Shit! Is it a glitch in the game?¡± Kylie asked, as she slowly approached the center of the circle, where The Tangler had been. Inside, lying on the ground, was a large fist-sized seed which gave off a slightly greenish light. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Heather asked, seeing Kylie stare at it. ¡°No idea.¡± Kylie shrugged, before commanding, ¡°Identify!¡± Two status windows popped up.
Creature Identification: The Tangler
Level: 7 HP: 0 / 200 Weak to fire, cold, disease. Immune to poison, electricity. Leech from water, poison, life. ** Other information unavailable due to insufficient skill in Identify.
Congratulations! You have discovered The Tangler¡¯s Seed!
The Tangler was once a peaceful guardian of The Everlost Forest, before it was corrupted by an ancient evil. Destroying the seed will result in the permanent destruction of this once great guardian, and legend states that doing so will reward those that accomplish such a feat of great power. Of course, it may also be possible to cleanse the seed and restore the creature to its natural state ¨C but who knows if such an action would have any reward at all to doing so! Do you wish to accept the task to restore The Tangler to its former glory?
Yes (Will be given the quest ¡°Tangler: Restoration¡±)
No (Immediate experience and item award)
¡°Oh hell!¡± Kylie exclaimed. ¡°Looks like we have a choice. Destroy the seed and collect the rewards, or keep it and get a quest to cleanse it. Somewhere. Somehow. And which might not have any reward at all to it!¡± Smiling, she shrugged slightly and turned towards Heather. ¡°You killed it. What do you want to do with it?¡± Chapter 41: First Report ¡°Let¡¯s do it!¡± Heather exclaimed, excitedly. ¡°Do it?¡± Kylie asked, while trying not to think of anything perverted. ¡°Do which? Take the quest, or destroy the seed?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s take the quest,¡± Heather clarified. ¡°It¡¯ll be something nice that we can work on together in game, and the end reward will probably be better than just grabbing the immediate experience. Let¡¯s restore ¡®The Tangler¡¯ together.¡± ¡°Fine then, let¡¯s do it.¡± Reaching up, Kylie tapped the button ¡®Yes¡¯ to confirm that she wanted to do the quest. Instantly another pop-up window appeared with some minor information on it.
Party Quest: The Tangler¡¯s Restoration!
The Tangler was once a peaceful guardian of The Everlost Forest, before it was corrupted by an ancient evil. You, and your current companions, have all decided to undertake the great and difficult task to cleanse The Tangler¡¯s seed. Your first order of business is to discover The Ruins of Old Kalash, and see what you can unearth there about the corruption that has altered The Tangler. ? ? ? ? * Other stages will be updated as progress in the quest is obtained.
¡°Did you get all that as well?¡± Kylie asked. ¡°I did,¡± Heather confirmed. ¡°I¡¯ve now got a quest that tells me to seek out The Ruins of Old Kalash, wherever they might be.¡± ¡°Then I¡¯m going to go ahead and log out for a while. The game is going to force me to sleep or auto-log in just a little while, so this seems like a good place for me to take a break and fix something to eat. I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll be able to log back in again tonight, so what say we plan on trying to find these ruins tomorrow evening?¡± Kylie suggested. ¡°That sounds fine to me,¡± Heather agreed. ¡°It¡¯s not like it appears to be one of those quests with a time limit on it. I¡¯ll just hang around in game for a while longer tonight and see if I can get my fireball level up again, and gather up as many of those leaves as I can. If we¡¯re going to be finding and exploring ruins, we¡¯ll probably need some armor of some sort at that point. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll simply be able to sit back and blast things like I have been with the vines around here.¡± ¡°Then it¡¯s a plan. I¡¯ll see you later.¡± Waving goodbye, Kylie finally gave the command to, ¡°Log Out.¡±
A few moments later, Kyle was pulling off his V-RIG helmet and looking around his room. Sera had gotten up and let sometime earlier, and he hadn¡¯t even noticed. Walking over and glancing out his window, he could see her parent¡¯s SUV in the driveway, so he wasn¡¯t worried. She was wanting to talk to her father about the restaurant again this evening, and Kyle didn¡¯t want to intrude on that. Even though he felt like part of the family, he could respect the fact that he wasn¡¯t truly, and that sometimes Sera and her folks needed to work things out amongst themselves without him butting into it. Going downstairs, Kyle headed into the kitchen and rummaged in the fridge for a bit before deciding to just settle for a couple of ham and cheese sandwiches. Trying to fry the ham was simply too much of a bother, so he grabbed a paper plate and tossed a few slices of ham on it, then covered those with a slice of cheese each, and then put a few more slices of ham on top of all that. A slight sprinkling of pepper over the top of the whole thing, and then he stuck it in the microwave and set the timer to sixty seconds. While the ham spun around and popped in the microwave, Kyle rushed to fix mayonnaise, mustard, and some lettuce and tomato slices on his bread. The timer went off a few moments before he finished, so he popped open the microwave door and gingerly flipped the two ham-and-cheese stacks over and then stuck them back in the microwave for another thirty seconds to heat the other side. With a rush of activity, he finished up his bread, and grabbed a bottle of soda from the fridge before the next round of dinging went off. One last quick moment to pop open the microwave once more, gingerly grab up the paper plate and ease the ham-and-cheese stacks onto his awaiting bread, and his sandwiches were done! ¡°Might not be a slop burger, but at least I won¡¯t starve to death on mom¡¯s salad junk!¡± He exclaimed proudly to himself before grabbing his plate and soda and going back up the stairs. It was finally time for him to write his first report on his impression of Winter¡¯s Tale so far, and send it in to his grandfather¡¯s company.
Getting back upstairs, Kyle went over and clicked the button on his old computer on. He hadn¡¯t turned it on, or used it since his grandfather had sent him the V-RIG, but he still preferred to type out things with an actual physical keyboard from time to time. Sure, he could¡¯ve created a virtual desk and keyboard inside the V-RIG environment, but then he wouldn¡¯t be able to sit and enjoy his meal at the same time. Sometimes the virtual world was convenient, and at other times it was simply better to stay grounded in reality. And so Kyle sat and tried helplessly to try and think of what to say in his report. He¡¯d had fun in the game, but how the heck was he supposed to let his grandfather know that he was running around and streaking as a female all this time? What if his parents found out! Sera didn¡¯t want her parents to know that she was running around as a ¡®large-wormed man¡¯ in game. He didn¡¯t want his to know that he was frolicking around the forest as a naked girl! He¡¯d never be able to live that down! Kyle knew when he created the character that they might find out he was playing a female ¨C he just never expected a female to be so anatomically correct inside a game! You¡¯d think there¡¯d be an under-18 setting somewhere which would disallow such graphic elements, but Winter¡¯s Tale didn¡¯t have those. All players had to have a valid credit card to play, and for the makers of the game that was sufficient enough to claim that their product was ONLY truly intended for consenting adults to experience. If children like Kyle and his friends played, then it had to be with their parent¡¯s consent, since they were being billed a monthly fee through the credit card companies to play. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Kyle had the same full-adult content when playing Kylie that any of the other adults could have, and this gave him a sexy, curvaceous female character with all the properly working woman parts inside the game ¨C but how the heck could he explain that to his parents. ¡°Umm, mom¡­ You might hear from grandpa later about me being a perverted girl in Winter¡¯s Tale and running around naked all the time..¡± He figured he¡¯d just die from embarrassment, if something like that ever happened! Several frustrating hours passed without Kyle being able to think of a way to properly describe his character and game experience, before he finally said ¡®Screw it!¡¯ and started typing furiously on his keyboard. Gramps, Here¡¯s my report on my experience in game, for this past week: On the first day, I created a character and entered into the world ¨C an unclassed elf with a strong talent for healing and not much else. I acquired a quest nearly as soon as I logged into the game world, and quickly found myself magically transported to the forest. There I was secluded from the rest of the players and had to adventure solo for a while. My first opponents that I encountered in game was some sort of squirrel-like monster that proved simply impossible for me to defeat with just my powers as a healer. I could out heal the damage they could cause, so the were no real threat to me, but they grew frightened easily and ran before I could close the distance and attack them with a staff. My first day¡¯s game experience was basically just wandering around and being annoyed by those guys. The next day, I managed to wander out of the squirrel¡¯s area and found myself in the area that I¡¯ve been currently camping and fighting at since then. The monsters around are called a ¡®Tangleroot Creeper¡¯, and even though they hit harder and seem to be more dangerous than the squirrels, they can¡¯t run away. I¡¯ve been killing these creatures, and it¡¯s been a slow process as I¡¯m primarily a healer-type character, but I¡¯ve slowly been earning and learning some fighting skills which has helped me improve my rate of killing. These vines seem to drop green and (rarely) red leaves, which are used for crafting purposes. I don¡¯t know what all they can be used for yet, but I have discovered that they can be used in tailoring. The process to craft is time consuming in game ¨C it¡¯s not a simple click of a button and wait three seconds for the results like a lot of other games ¨C so trying to become a tailor has also slowed my progress in gaining levels and rocketing up in levels like I¡¯d first wanted. One of my friends (you know William, I think), has already managed to pass level ten in game. I¡¯m still just now level two ¨C but I have now managed to get my identification skill and tailoring both up to a point where they¡¯re working as much as failing now. I imagine in just a few more days, I¡¯ll be able to make something actually useful from those leaves which I¡¯ve been farming ¨C Leaf Armor is what I think they can be tailored into, which seems to be as good, or perhaps even better, than normal leather armors. Another friend of mine (I don¡¯t think you¡¯ve ever met Heather; she attends the same school with me and is friends with Sera who I know you¡¯re familiar with.), has finally found a way to travel through a set of ¡®Fairy Rings¡¯ to come join me in game. She¡¯s a wizard and very proficient in fire magic, and with her help I¡¯ve been able to quickly and easily destroy those Tangleroot Creepers. Between the two of us, we finally cleared enough of the vines that an epic named creature ¨C The Tangler ¨C spawned for us today. It was quite a powerful beast, and without a tank to soak up the damage for us, we had quite a hard time killing it. Mages and Healers don¡¯t make good walls for friends to hide behind, but we managed somehow. I basically had to stand in front of Heather like a human shield and cast my healing spell over and over on myself so I wouldn¡¯t die, and she kept casting her fire magic over and over at The Tangler. Defeating it gave us a rare item drop ¨C a corrupted seed ¨C which had the options to destroy it or cleanse it. We both decided to cleanse the seed and were given our first party quest: Tangler Restoration. Now we¡¯ve got to find a set of old ruins somewhere and try and uncover what we can about the cleansing process, but it was getting late after we defeated the named creature, so we called it a day. I¡¯ll let you know what we find out about the ruins, about how my crafting is going, and about what all happens next in Winter¡¯s Tale for myself and my character. So far, I can say that I¡¯ve actually been having a lot of fun playing and experiencing life as someone else in this virtual world, and I¡¯m truly grateful for you giving me the opportunity for me to do so. (I¡¯m also looking forward to my first paycheck! MuHahahaha! I¡¯m going to be richer than you soon, gramps!) From my first impressions, Winter¡¯s Tale seems to be a very fun game with unlimited potential. I¡¯d definitely tell everyone to give it a shot and see what they think of it ¨C even you, gramps! Who knows, you might even enjoy being young and wrinkleless once again! Love ya, Kyle, the Awesome! Taking time to read over his short report, Kyle was satisfied. It wasn¡¯t Shakespeare, but it fulfilled his obligation for his job and it didn¡¯t cover any of the truly embarrassing things which might get him in trouble. And, since he¡¯d written it and made it sound kind of dull and tedious, hopefully no one would bother to pull up any actual in-game footage of Kylie as she tromped along naked in the forest with equally naked Heather. Kyle wanted his character to become famous and well-known, but as things currently stood, he wanted a little time to at least get a proper outfit of some sort before he gathered the national spotlight! It was funny in its own way how the game had changed his perspective outlook on life: ¡®Clothes first, fame second!¡¯ was going to become his new motto for life! Chapter 42: A Morning Meeting Waking up the next morning, Kyle groaned and pulled the pillow back over his head. He¡¯d stayed up forever trying to write a silly report for his grandfather, and in the end he wasn¡¯t certain if it¡¯d even pass muster. There were so many things that he¡¯d left out of it, he wasn¡¯t certain it¡¯d be accepted. There wasn¡¯t any video footage uploaded, no mention that he was playing a female, was a princess, and had a quest from the start to overthrow the elven kingdom. Even thinking about it made him groan even harder. Glancing at the alarm, he¡¯d awoken a few minutes before his alarm was set to go off this morning. Not in the mood to hear the incessant beeping, he groggily tossed back his covers and rolled up and flipped the switch off, before it ever even came on. Sluggishly, he got dressed without any enthusiasm and slowly trudged down the steps. His mother was still in bed and hadn¡¯t gotten up yet, since coming in from work late last night, and Kyle didn¡¯t even bother to head into the kitchen to look to see if she¡¯d left him anything for breakfast. He simply didn¡¯t feel like eating anything this morning. Making certain to grab his house keys from beside the door, Kyle headed outside and slowly shambled across the yard to Sera¡¯s house. The air was cold and chilly this morning, but the fresh nip seemed to suit his current mood, so he didn¡¯t mind. Getting at Sera¡¯s, Kyle let himself in through the sliding kitchen door. Fanny was standing at the stove, cooking what looked like pancakes this morning, while dressed in nothing more than a thin pair of white lace panties and a cooking apron. Singing some little ditty to herself about blueberries and strawberries having a fight, she simply waved with the back of the spatula and didn¡¯t bother to greet him this morning. Simply shaking his head to himself, Kyle walked on past as if he hadn¡¯t noticed anything at all. Franklin could catch her and deal with her this morning; Kyle was simply too drained still to worry over it. Getting at Sera¡¯s room, Kyle didn¡¯t even bother to nudge her like usual this morning; instead, he simply grabbed the blanket and tugged it off from her to begin with. Sera was dressed in a long white nightshirt that covered her fairly well for a change, so Kyle didn¡¯t even get to alleviate his mood by staring at her this morning. Feeling the cool morning air, Sera began to twitch and feel for her blanket in her sleep, and taking advantage of the opportunity, Kyle gently reached down and tugged up the bottom of the shirt she was wearing just a bit, until he could get a peek at her bare buttocks. Half smirking, Kyle slowly eased his hand up under the hem of the shirt and gave her a quick little pinch, using just his fingernails. ¡°Yaa!¡± Sera jerked and rolled forward away from him and rubbed her hip with on hand. ¡°Something wrong?¡± Kyle asked, trying not to smile. ¡°Something bit me,¡± Sera pouted sleepily, while still rubbing her backside. Slowly, she focused her sleep-filled eyes up and half glared. ¡°Or else you did something.¡± ¡°Not me,¡± Kyle lied innocently, while going over and digging through her drawers. As he pulled out her school clothes, he simply tossed them over his shoulder and in her general direction. ¡°Get dressed. It¡¯s a nice morning outside today. Let¡¯s take time and walk to school for a change. It¡¯ll give us a bit to chat for a while this morning. There¡¯s several things we should probably talk about.¡± ¡°Well fine.¡± Sera rolled out of bed, half snorted to show she was still irritated, and then pulled off her shirt and tossed it over past Kyle to land on the dresser. She quickly eased into the clothes he¡¯d tossed her way, and by the time Kyle had repacked her drawer where he¡¯d simply rummaged in it and messed it up, and folded up her nightshirt and laid it back neatly on the dresser¡¯s top, she was mostly dressed by the time he turned around. Not even bothering to wait for her to put her socks on, Kyle walked on out and slowly down the steps, where he could now hear Franklin in the kitchen with Fanny, the two of them chatting lightly about who-knows-what. ¡°Hey guys, me and Sera are going to head on out this morning. It¡¯s a nice pretty day, and we¡¯re just going to walk to school. We¡¯ll grab something to eat from the cafeteria there.¡± ¡°Well breakfast is almost done here,¡± Fannie yelled back from the kitchen. ¡°If you guys just want to wait a few moments, you can eat here, if you want.¡± ¡°No thanks,¡± Kyle called back. ¡°I was up late last night dealing with sending a report to gramps so I can get paid, and I¡¯m just not in the mood to eat yet. Maybe after a nice walk in the morning air. ¡®K?¡± ¡°Well, be safe out there, and watch so you don¡¯t get ran over!¡± Kyle half laughed to himself as Sera rushed down the steps to catch up. ¡°Mom! We¡¯re not three anymore!¡± She yelled towards the kitchen, embarrassed. ¡°I think Kyle and I can walk down the sidewalk now safely! It¡¯s not like we¡¯re going to just jump out in front of the first bus or semi that comes speeding down the road doing ninety!¡± Slipping her feet into her shoes, Sera grabbed her jacket and was putting it on as she headed out the front door. ¡°Come on Kyle, let¡¯s get on out of here.¡± Without bothering to reply, Kyle walked on out and shut the door behind him, and the two walked in silence close together for several moments just enjoying the morning air. Finally, it was Sera who spoke first. ¡°I might not be able to join you in Winter¡¯s Tale for a while,¡± she said softly, with a sad tinge to her voice. ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡± Kyle stopped walking and simply stared at her. ¡°I thought you were having fun. Did they find out you¡¯re playing a guy in game or something? Are they going to make you wait till that thirty-day period is up to restart as a female?¡± ¡°No, nothing like that.¡± Sera said, shaking her head from side to side. ¡°In some ways, it¡¯s a good thing. In others it¡¯s not. Honestly, I don¡¯t know how to feel about everything that¡¯s been going on lately.¡± Glancing around, Kyle gently took her hand and tugged on her to follow him. Whatever was up, it sounded serious in its own way, and standing on the middle of the sidewalk wasn¡¯t any place to discuss such things. Pulling Sera along, he dragged her up the street and then down the side alley to where one of the small preschools were. ¡°Let¡¯s talk here,¡± he pointed at the small teeter-totter, before going over and sitting down on one side of it. ¡°It¡¯s been ages since I¡¯ve been on one of these things, and I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll bother anyone out here. We¡¯ve got some time before school still.¡± Slowly Sera walked over and sat on the side opposite him. ¡°So what¡¯s up,¡± Kyle asked as he tried to balance calmly on the teeter-totter without going up and down with her. ¡°I honestly don¡¯t know where to start.¡± Sera complained. ¡°Last night was a complete and utter mess. Father and mother had gone out and bought themselves two V-RIGS of their own yesterday ¨C somebody should come and install them in the house today! I tried to explain to him that he didn¡¯t need three servers, that him and mother could connect to the game with the one in my room, but he didn¡¯t listen! Or care! Or wasn¡¯t smart enough to understand what I was saying. ¡°Whatever the issue, we¡¯re going to have three V-RIG servers in our house now, and they¡¯re all top-end servers like mine! That¡¯s probably more than what the school would even need, if they decided to let every student there log into the virtual realm! It¡¯s nuts!¡± Half hopping up to shake her fist in frustration, Kyle¡¯s side of the teeter-totter suddenly dropped and banged against the ground. ¡°Yeouch! Careful there, don¡¯t break me! I didn¡¯t do it!¡± ¡°Sorry.¡± Sheepishly, Sera slowly sat back down and the teeter-totter rose back up to level out once again. ¡°It¡¯s just frustrating. I tried to tell Papa that the house probably isn¡¯t even wired to handle that big a pull on it. His response? ¡®Then we¡¯ll just get someone to come out and redo the wiring on the house! That¡¯s not a big deal!¡¯ ¡°AAAAAAH!¡± Half shouting, Sera shook her fist at the sky. ¡°So now there¡¯s going to be contractors rummaging around, tearing up who know what, and being a complete nuisance, for who knows how long! And while they¡¯re at it, mom¡¯s going to get the kitchen redone, and maybe the bathroom, and probably their bedroom. And we¡¯ll probably need new furniture, and maybe a solitarium would be nice¡­ Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. ¡°Who knows what the heck our house is even going to look like once she finishes remodeling! She even told Papa that it might be nice if he bought the house beside us and tore it down so we¡¯d have extra room! There¡¯s people living over there ¨C our neighbors!¡± ¡°Do you even know them?¡± Kyle asked, trying to remain calm, while trying not to feel slightly jealous. He couldn¡¯t help thinking that it must be nice to have so much money you can just buy out the neighbors on a whim. ¡°Aren¡¯t they that old couple who spends a lot of their time down where it¡¯s warmer in the winter? They might actually be happy to sell.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not the point!¡± Sera pouted, crossing her arms. ¡°I was happy with where we were living, and with things the way they were. Now our home is going to become a war zone of renovations for the next year, or more!¡± ¡°It might not be as bad as you imagine it to be,¡± Kyle offered, trying to calm her down. ¡°You know, if it¡¯s too much of a hassle, you can always come and stay over at our place until things settle down. Mom won¡¯t mind you staying in the guest room beside mine. You should know that. You¡¯re always welcome, just like I¡¯ve always been welcomed in your home. That¡¯s what friends are for, to be there for each other when life gets annoying sometimes.¡± ¡°You best watch what you say,¡± Sera warned, ¡°I might just talk you up on that offer. If they start ripping out the bathrooms and such, I¡¯ll go nuts if I can¡¯t even take a shower or anything!¡± Laughing, Kyle just nodded. ¡°Well, you¡¯re welcome to come use our shower anytime ¨C just so long as you don¡¯t throw the soap anymore! That hurt!¡± ¡°Well, fine.¡± Sera snorted slightly and was silent for a few moments, before speaking again. ¡°And that¡¯s not all either.¡± Sera sounded quite sad and disappointed. ¡°I couldn¡¯t talk Papa into staying and running the restaurant any longer. He said, ¡®It was fun for a while, but now it¡¯s almost like work. It¡¯s time for me to move on and find something else to do.¡¯ He¡¯s not going to keep managing it, and won¡¯t be opening it or cooking there anymore.¡± ¡°No more Franklin¡¯s?¡± Kyle asked, shocked. ¡°I know you¡¯d mentioned that he had talked about shutting it down, but I thought you¡¯d be able to talk him out of it. That sucks!¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s kind of the good and bad thing,¡± Sera said. ¡°I couldn¡¯t talk him into managing and working there any longer, but I did manage to talk him into not selling it or closing the place down.¡± Pausing and taking a deep breath, she continued, ¡°Instead, Papa¡¯s going to have the title put over in my name, and it¡¯s going to be up to me to run it and manage it. The name might be ¡®Franklin¡¯s¡¯, but the place is actually going to be ¡®Sera¡¯s¡¯ from now on. ¡°And that¡¯s why I probably won¡¯t be able to play Winter¡¯s Tale for a while. I¡¯m going to have to do interviews, hire some workers, train them, set their schedule, and all that stuff! I¡¯m going to have to deal with the suppliers, keeping track of stock and bills and all that junk as well! To be honest, it¡¯s an almost overwhelmingly daunting tasks, and I don¡¯t know if I¡¯m up to it. But,¡± she confessed, ¡°I want to try. I don¡¯t want to see the store just shut down, and I think I¡¯d like to see if I can keep it going.¡± ¡°Then keep it going. You¡¯ll do fine with it, I bet!¡± Kyle smiled and gave her two thumbs up. ¡°You¡¯ve helped Franklin with the place for years now. You know everything there is to know about the customers, the food, and all that stuff. I think you¡¯ll be just fine. And,¡± he laughed while pointing it out, ¡°you know if one of the customers or employees gives you any trouble, Franklin will trample his way through every house between home and the store to smoosh the idiot like a piss-ant, with the slightest little call from you. ¡°Hell, as protective as he is, it wouldn¡¯t surprise me if he doesn¡¯t hire the mafia, three biker gangs, four private investigators, and seventy-six secret security guards to patrol every street from there to here! Remember when we were little kids ¨C four or five years old ¨C and that one brat down the street knocked us in the mud and stole our candy? I remember Franklin hired several security guards from that incident, and they weren¡¯t even for us!¡± ¡°They were for the other kid and his family!¡± Sera laughed, just thinking about it. ¡°I remember that. ¡®They need security around them, to protect the people from their assholeness. I want you guys to keep them under a 24-hour surveillance, and don¡¯t let them harm anyone else. If they try, stop them and call the police.¡¯ Papa didn¡¯t think me or you needed any security. It¡¯s just that the other guy and his family needed to be watched so they couldn¡¯t hurt any other innocents.¡± ¡°I kinda wonder what happened to them,¡± Kyle mused. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s simple!¡± Sera answered. ¡°They ended up moving, thinking that¡¯d help them get away. They claimed father was harassing them, but it¡¯s not against the law for a private investigator to park outside someone¡¯s house, or drive down the same roads, or eat at the same places. You can¡¯t even get a restraining order against them, unless they do something threatening to you. Simply sitting, recording, and writing down every action you do isn¡¯t enough for the law to step in. ¡°But, it¡¯s enough that the guy¡¯s employer thought it was bad for business, so he let him go. The poor guy got fired, his wife almost had a nervous breakdown and ending up divorcing him, his kid got sent off to boarding school somewhere else. All because his son was mean to us, and instead of apologizing and telling him not to do it again, the asshole asked Papa what he thought he could do about it. As far as I know,¡± Sera admitted, ¡°that poor sap still has half a dozen private security watching his every move. Papa¡¯s like a dog with a bone; once he starts gnawing on something, he doesn¡¯t let it go.¡± ¡°So see,¡± Kyle encouraged, ¡°you have nothing to worry about. You¡¯ll be just fine managing Franklin¡¯s. And, if you look at it honestly, what¡¯s the worst thing that can happen? You fail and end up having to close the store? Franklin was going to do that anyway! It sounds like it¡¯ll be a great experience for you, to be honest.¡± ¡°Yeah, but I won¡¯t be able to log in and play with all you guys for a while,¡± Sera pouted. ¡°And how are you going to be able to keep up pretending to be me, where Heather is concerned? She¡¯ll learn that I¡¯m not really playing, before long, if I take over the store.¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s just tell her the truth,¡± Kyle volunteered. ¡°She ran around with William for a while and only ran away because he wouldn¡¯t give her time to breath. I think we¡¯ll be fine working together. It¡¯s not like she¡¯s going to be able to just run off and leave, anyway. She¡¯s the one who destroyed the travel stones, we don¡¯t know of any others nearby, and there¡¯s no other towns or cities anywhere near us. For better or worse, she stranded herself in the middle of the deep dark forest with my character, and I think after our encounter with the named beast we ran into last night, she¡¯ll realize she can¡¯t get out of there without me.¡± ¡°Named beast?¡± Sera asked. ¡°Yeah, ¡®The Tangler¡¯,¡± Kyle answered and then hopped up and back off from the teeter totter, causing Sera to suddenly drop, bang onto the ground, and sprawl out backwards. ¡°Yeouch! What was that for!¡± ¡°Now we¡¯re even; that¡¯s for dropping me on my tush a few moments ago.¡± Walking around, Kyle slowly held out his hand towards her. ¡°Come on. We¡¯ve sat out here talking long enough this morning. After missing yesterday, we don¡¯t want to be late. Let¡¯s go, and I¡¯ll tell you about ¡®The Tangler¡¯ on the way to school.¡± ¡°Fine.¡± Rubbing her hip with one hand, Sera took his outstretched hand with the other and slowly got up. ¡°And, I¡¯ll talk to Heather today and let her know who¡¯s who in game. You guys probably won¡¯t see us for lunch, but I¡¯ll see you after school or in the morning, no matter what.¡± ¡°Won¡¯t make me the least bit angry, you telling her,¡± Kyle admitted as he started walking on towards the school once again. ¡°But for now, let me tell you about The Tangler¡­.¡± Chapter 43: Heathers Secret That day at school was unexpectedly and painstakingly dull and boring for Kyle. Getting to the door, him and Sera separated to each go their own ways that morning. Skipping breakfast, Kyle went to his classroom, sat, and scribbled doodles in his notebook waiting on class to begin. Not long after the morning bell had rung, one of the girls working in the office knocked on the classroom door and told him he was needed to the office. Being led to the vice-principal¡¯s office, the next half hour was a long lecture over skipping school, personal responsibility, and impersonating a parent, where all he could do is sit, nod, and apologize at the appropriate times. How the school knew he had been the one impersonating Franklin the day before, he had no clue, and he wasn¡¯t going to ask. Since it was his first real time of getting in any sort of trouble, he was given a week¡¯s in-school-suspension, where basically all he did was go sit in a cubicle in a small room with a few other kids, and twiddle his thumbs in silent boredom. His books and work were collected for him, and there was always a teacher present to make certain no one got up without permission or spoke to each other. Without anything to distract him, Kyle finished his work in just a few hours that morning, and then had to simply sit and do nothing all day long. For lunch, Kyle, and the other ¡°misfits¡± as he thought of them, got to go between periods and eat, with one student sitting every four or five tables apart. Even then, silence was the golden rule! By the time the final bell had rung ending the day, Kyle felt like he was going stir crazy ¨C and he had four more days to go! And, most annoying at all to him, Sera wasn¡¯t stuck in there with him! Kyle couldn¡¯t believe that she¡¯d ratted him out somehow for a lesser punishment, but he couldn¡¯t think of any other reason why she wasn¡¯t in there with him. OHHH! He was going to have to give it to her good! Fuming, Kyle stormed out of the school and stomped home without even trying to find Sera, or any of his friends. He simply wasn¡¯t in the mood for talking. Getting inside his house, he tossed his keys into the ashtray near the door and stomped upstairs. Without even bothering to take off his shoes, he grabbed up his V-RIG, plopped the helm on his head, and logged into the game. ¡°Come here all you bastards!¡± Kylie yelled as loud as she could into the empty forest around her. Heather hadn¡¯t logged in yet, and that suited Kylie perfectly this evening. Staring at her friend list, she glared and yelled ¡°Ignore all!¡± Now that she couldn¡¯t be bothered so easily, it was time to unleash her frustration! ¡°Turn me in! Hussy! Asshole! Snot Face! DIE! DIE! DIE!¡± Imagining that the nearest vine was Sera, Kylie charged it and attacked relentlessly, not even caring when her own health fell to blinking low levels. In record time, for her at least, Kylie managed to destroy her first vine of the evening; but it did little to ease her temper. ¡°Heal! And now it¡¯s your turn to DIE!!¡± Screeching and snarling, Kylie didn¡¯t even bother to pick up the leaf left behind by the first creature, before she healed herself and charged a second. It might only be virtual violence, Kyle thought, but it suited his mood perfectly this evening! Relentlessly, she let out all the frustration he had kept bottled up all day long and charged one vine after another, barely taking time to heal or even catch her breath as she rushed from one target to another for several hours. Finally, with her stamina bar completely depleted and her feeling faint on her feet from exhaustion in game, Kylie staggered over and plopped down at the bank of the creek. A slow, mocking laugh began off to her side and slowly approached. ¡°Good job! That¡¯s one way to cuss and pummel a vine into submission,¡± Heather laughed. ¡°Feel better?¡± Slowly she eased up and sat down at the bend of the creek near where Kylie was now laying on her back, simply staring up at the sky. ¡°Actually, surprisingly, I do.¡± Kylie laughed lightly, while trying to get her breathing back under control and her stamina gauge to refill. ¡°So, do you care to share what that tantrum was all about?¡± Slowly Heather leaned back and stretched out beside her, to stare up at the sky as well. ¡°It sure doesn¡¯t feel like a game in here,¡± she said quietly, half in awe. ¡°It¡¯s beautiful and peaceful when you take a moment to just enjoy it like this, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°You do realize I¡¯m not Sera. Right?¡± Kylie asked, cautiously. ¡°Not Sera? Then just who are you?¡± Heather sat up all at once and glared daggers down at Kylie. ¡°Are you someone who¡¯s hacked her account? I won¡¯t forgive you if you are! I¡¯ll get an admin in here in a heartbeat and have them arrest you!¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a hacker!¡± Kylie sat up and tried to wave her arms frantically back and forth to emphasis she wasn¡¯t, but in her fatigued state she moved slowly and comically, as if she was trying to make fun of Heather instead. Heather¡¯s eyes narrowed down to slits as a ball of fire slowly began to form in her hands. ¡°Then just who the hell are you? You better start explaining, before I get serious and do something you¡¯ll never forget!¡± ¡°Wait a moment! Wait a moment! It¡¯s me, Kyle! Sera was supposed to talk to you today and explain things! OH SHIT!!¡± Cringing, Kylie wrapped her arms around her torso and half squinted, expecting the worst and to be feeling a repetitive blast of fire over and over as Heather unleashed her magics upon her. Instead, Heather leaned forward, grabbed Kylie soundly on each side of his face, and then passionately kissed her ¨C and held the kiss for several moments as it felt like Heather was trying to wrap her tongue around her tonsils! If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Finally letting go, Heather burst out laughing and flopped back down on the ground to stare back up at the sky. ¡°There¡¯s something you¡¯ll never forget. Jackass.¡± Kylie simply stared into the forest for several long moments, lost in a daze with her jaw half open. ¡°What¡­ What the hell was that?!¡± She finally exclaimed in a burst. ¡°Who the hell does something like that to a person! What¡¯s up with you? Are you an idiot?¡± ¡°Nope, but you are,¡± Heather teased. ¡°Sera already told me you were Kylie and she was Seran. I can¡¯t say it didn¡¯t annoy me, but after we had a while to talk about it, it¡¯s not that big a deal. It is just a game after all, and she might be right; it might be best that I did think you were her in the beginning. I probably wouldn¡¯t have given you a fair chance otherwise, and you showed that you can be dependable and not a completely worthless jackass yesterday when you stood in front of me and kept that acid from melting me into a pile of goo. ¡°I haven¡¯t forgot that already, you know,¡± Heather said, seriously. ¡°I¡¯m not usually a big fan of guys, but I¡¯m trying to work on that. I¡¯ve been trying to work on that,¡± she emphasized. ¡°I just have issues trusting a guy, and I don¡¯t really care to be around them the most.¡± ¡°And why¡¯s that?¡± Kylie asked, all curious. Heather was silent for several long moments before finally sitting up and staring down into Kylie¡¯s eyes. ¡°If I tell you, you better not say a word about it to anyone else,¡± she glared. ¡°I won¡¯t. I won¡¯t.¡± Kylie held up her arms to show she meant no harm. ¡°If it¡¯s a big deal, you don¡¯t have to talk about it, if you don¡¯t want.¡± Heather glared down for a few moments and then finally took a deep breath and let out a long sigh. ¡°I was raped,¡± she said, without much emotion. ¡°It was summer camp, a couple of years back, and a couple of the older boys brought some bourbon for us to try. I ended up getting plastered, couldn¡¯t remember much of what happened, and became the slut of the summer after that. I was so shocked, and so in denial of what happened, that I tried to convince myself that I was dreaming the whole summer episode and would wake up from it later. ¡°Since it was a dream, it didn¡¯t matter what anyone did. Right?¡± Tears were actually starting to drip down her cheeks in the game, that¡¯s how realistic Winter¡¯s Tale was! ¡°When I got home, I tried to pretend it all never happened. At least, that is until I missed several periods. My youngest sister isn¡¯t my sister like a lot of folks think; she¡¯s my daughter. Mom and Dad adopted her because I was too young to take care of her and they tell everyone she¡¯s theirs ¨C and she is! I can¡¯t raise a child; I¡¯m still a child myself! ¡°And, ever since then, I¡¯ve had problems with men and those dangly parts between their legs. And you can¡¯t blame me for that!¡± Crossing her arms stubbornly, Heather glared as if daring me to try. ¡°Wow¡­¡± I had no idea what to say, or how to respond. ¡°Are you OK now?¡± What the hell was I supposed to say? Ask? Do? That sounded amazingly lame even to me, but I had no idea what a proper response would be! ¡°No, I¡¯m NOT OK now.¡± Snorting, Heather flopped back down on the ground once more and stared at the sky again. ¡°I might never be OK, but I¡¯m trying. I realize not every guy is like those at camp. I realize that a bunch of those guys at camp probably aren¡¯t even bad guys, since it was me who let them do whatever they wanted. Some of the blame has to be my own ¨C I know that! ¡°But, it doesn¡¯t keep me from still cringing up inside anytime I¡¯m around a guy,¡± Heather admitted with a shiver. ¡°But you¡¯re OK with me?¡± ¡°I dunno. To be honest, I want to hug you and I want to kill you at the same time. Sera too, truthfully,¡± Heather confessed. ¡°You did go out of your way to stand in front of me and shield me yesterday. I haven¡¯t forgotten that. You also lied to me, making me think you were Sera. I haven¡¯t forgotten that either. I¡¯ve enjoyed the time we¡¯ve spent in game hunting together, and I was happy we earned a party quest together. I haven¡¯t forgotten that. But I haven¡¯t forgotten that summer either¡­ ¡°Let¡¯s just say it¡¯s complicated and leave it at that for now,¡± Heather quietly suggested. ¡°Fine. How about I try and start over, and be honest with you this time.¡± Sitting up, Kylie slowly held her hand down towards Heather. ¡°Hi, I¡¯m the naked elf maiden Kylie, but sometimes I dream that I¡¯m a handsomely rugged guy whom no girl could ever resist, by the name of Kyle.¡± Heather blinked a few times, shook her head as if to clear it, and then leaned up and squeezed one of Kylie''s bare breasts with either hand. ¡°Pleasure to meet you Kylie. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll be certain to remind you that you¡¯re a woman. After an evening with me, you¡¯ll never dream of being a smelly old man ever again.¡± Gripping Kylie¡¯s breasts firmly, Heather puckered up her lips and tugged Kylie forward with enough strength to be almost painful. ¡°OH SHIT! I¡¯m not ready for this!¡± Panicking, Kyle yelled, ¡°LOG OUT!¡±, and sought the refuge of his quiet, tranquil blue OS screen surrounded by darkness. The last thing he heard as his character disappeared from Winter¡¯s Tale was what sounded like the light, musical laughter of a female elf¡­ Chapter 44: Reward or Punishment Taking just a few minutes to calm down, Kyle yanked off his V-RIG helm and went downstairs and fixed himself a quick sandwich of cold bologna and wolfed it down. Snatching up a can of soda, he popped the top and guzzled it as he went back upstairs and then tossed the empty can in his trashcan. Finally, after taking a deep breath to calm himself down, he wiggled the V-RIG helm slowly over his ears and then logged back into Winter¡¯s Tale. Kylie¡¯s first reaction was to cross her arms and protect her chest, even as she glanced around furiously and saw Heather had moved off a ways and was having fun chain blasting Tangleroot Creepers and harvesting leaves. Still not certain what to say to her, or how to deal with the bombshell she¡¯d dropped about her past, Kylie simply sat up and dangled her feet over the bank of the creek and into the cool water slowly trickling by below. While watching blast one vine to oblivion, Kylie waited for her to finish before she offered, ¡°Party Invite, Heather.¡± She wasn¡¯t certain if Heather would accept it since she was obviously soloing at the moment, but she did. ¡°You back, my lovely Lady?¡± Heather teased through the party chat. Like most private chat channels, distance didn¡¯t have any effect on being able to communicate with each other; that was generally a limitation only set to public chat and sometimes special places. ¡°I¡¯m back,¡± Kylie carefully responded. ¡°I just needed to log to grab a quick bite to eat, and to use the bathroom.¡± ¡°And to get away before I could ravish you!¡± Heather teased. ¡°Honestly, what true-blooded guy logs off and runs away when a lovely naked elf maiden tries to have her way with him?¡± ¡°Almost all of them that aren¡¯t perverts!¡± Kylie exclaimed in her own defense. ¡°And besides, I¡¯m not a guy in game right now!¡± ¡°I know!¡± Heather laughed merrily through the chat. ¡°And that¡¯s what makes you safe. No dangly parts for me to have to worry over!¡± For several moments Heather was silent, as if she was lost in thought, and Kylie didn¡¯t say anything either. Finally, Heather slowly turned and gracefully walked over towards the creek where Kylie was sitting. ¡°I gathered the leaves from where you¡¯d killed them all willy-nilly earlier. There¡¯s also few extra that I had drop while you were gone, in there too.¡± Leaning over Kylie from behind, Heather¡¯s breasts gently rested on Kylie¡¯s head as she dropped a whole pile of green and red leaves in front of her. ¡°We¡¯re getting quite a collection of those,¡± Heather observed while Kylie tried not to think about the soft, springy weight resting on her. ¡°Maybe you should simply focus on crafting those all into something useful for us, while I kill these vines and earn us some experience.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t do that!¡± Kylie exclaimed, as she leaned forward to gather all the leaves into a bundle, and to steathfully move away from Heather¡¯s chest a bit. ¡°Let me disband first, so I don¡¯t leech any experience from you. You¡¯d be killing things all on your own; you shouldn¡¯t have to share your experience with me.¡± ¡°Not a chance.¡± Heather immediately vetoed the idea. ¡°It¡¯s only the two of us out here and if I out level you too much, we¡¯ll end up having problems grouping together. We¡¯ve got to work together, if we¡¯re ever going to get stronger and quest together. You¡¯re going to share whatever you craft with me, after you make it. Right?¡± ¡°Well yeah, I was planning on letting you have whatever I made first.¡± Kylie admitted. ¡°Then see, you ARE doing something for me. You¡¯re going to help me grow and become stronger by making me some sort of gear. Why¡¯s it so odd that I help you grow and get some experience by using my skills in return?¡± ¡°Well,¡± Kylie hesitated and then shrugged her shoulders in defeat. ¡°When you put it like that, I don¡¯t guess there is a lot I can say about it.¡± Laughing slightly, she slowly sat back up and started working on stitching two leaves together again. ¡°Go out there and kill some stuff for us, and I might have something for you a little later this evening. ¡°Well,¡± Kylie warned cautiously, ¡°I might! Maybe! I can¡¯t promise anything. IT all depends on if I succeed on the final combines or not.¡± ¡°If not this time, then next time. You¡¯re getting the skill up, you¡¯ll make us some armor before long,¡± Heather said encouragingly, as she slowly turned and walked off to start blasting things again. Sighing to herself in frustration, Kylie couldn¡¯t help but think that Heather had the easier task. Killing wasn¡¯t hard in game; all it took was to hit something repeatedly until it died. Crafting though was a slow and tedious chore, which ended up destroying all the materials that you tried to use in the task. Try to drill a hole in a leaf and fail, and that leaf was used up and gone forever. Try and stick a string through the hole, fail, and both the string and leaf were gone forever. Try to patch the tenth leaf onto a string with nine other leaves, fail, and all ten were destroyed in the process. The bigger and more complex an item was that a person was trying to make, the more chances for failure there were. Kylie shook her head back and forth in disgust. It was almost as if the makers of the game wanted to emphasize destruction of things, over creation of things. To break someone¡¯s gear was as simple as targeting it with several well aimed blows, but to craft that gear back took repeated successful steps in the crafting process ¨C and the skill went up annoyingly slow! Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that they were in a situation where there weren¡¯t any other choices available to them, Kylie wouldn¡¯t bother to try it either; but, when there¡¯s no stores to buy from or sell from, one has to try and make due on their own. It didn¡¯t help any either that leaf armor was considered to be an advanced crafting item either; though Kylie and Heather had no way of knowing that. And so, Kylie spent that evening simply sitting and trying to stitch together the leaves into something ¨C anything ¨C that might be somewhat useful. She had improved her talent to the point where she could reliably stitch one onto a small string which she made out of strands of her own hair braided together, and even stitching two leaves together was now something that she succeeded at more than she failed at, but once it got to the point of trying to stitch three or more together, her success rate dropped significantly and everything was lost. Heather was a godsend for Kylie though. Without her killing and collecting more leaves to replace the ones Kylie lost in practice, Kylie would¡¯ve had to take time to try and hunt between attempts at crafting. As it was, Heather could almost replenish the stock of leaves as quickly as Kylie was destroying them, so the overall store was depleting very slowly. And, slowly, bit by bit, Kylie¡¯s skill increased. Also, thanks to Heather, Kylie slowly earned experience while working her crafting skill up. After a few hours of simply sitting there and stringing things together, Kylie managed to leech herself a level off Heather¡¯s effort in killing everything in sight. The moment she dinged, Kylie sighed deeply and spent all her accumulated character points in the Tailoring skill. With her hard work, and the few points she¡¯d managed to raise it naturally, she finally had a skill of eleven in it ¨C and it was still too low to reliably try and create anything with the green leaves. Looking down at the ever slowly dwindling pile of green leaves, Kylie finally shook her head and made a decision. ¡°Heather!¡± Standing up and waving, she patiently waited for Heather to finish blasting the vine to oblivion she was currently fighting. ¡°Whatcha need, sweetie?¡± Heather teased as she slowly sashayed her way across the clearing, back towards the creek where Kylie was. ¡°This isn¡¯t working,¡± Kylie reluctantly admitted. ¡°Anytime I try and stitch enough of these together to start making them into something useful, I fail. My skill keeps ever so slowly increasing, but I¡¯m afraid we¡¯re going to be stuck out here until Christmas before I make anything useful. Since you¡¯re with me now, I know of something else we should be able to kill. There¡¯s some squirrel-like critters not too far from here, that we can hunt. I couldn¡¯t kill them as they¡¯re opponents that toss nuts at you from a range, and then run away if you try and get close. For you though, with your magic to blast them back from a distance, they shouldn¡¯t be any problem. ¡°They¡¯ll probably be a little worse for you than the vines are, as they¡¯ll be attacking back and not just rooted there were they can¡¯t reach you,¡± Kylie warned. ¡°That¡¯s OK,¡± Heather said smiling, as she slowly flicked her hair out of her face. ¡°It might be a good thing; I could probably use the practice trying to improve my ability to dodge. You know, The Tangler might not have been half as difficult of an opponent, if we¡¯d been fighting and dodging those nuts for the last several days. After getting roasted by it once, I¡¯ll be able for the chance to practice somewhere with easier opponents so I can get my skill up higher. ¡°When you¡¯re dressed like we are; dodge is your friend!¡± Heather exclaimed with a laugh. ¡°Besides,¡± she leaned forward slowly, as if to whisper a secret, ¡°I¡¯ll have you there to heal me when I need it. Right?¡± As Heather fluttered her long elvish eyelashes seductively at her, Kylie reflexively slid backwards away from her. ¡°Kerplash!¡± Water splashed everywhere as she tumbled off the bank and fell backwards into the creek. ¡°And that¡¯s a good idea too!¡± Heather slowly purred as she slowly eased over and down into the stream as well. ¡°A nice bath together for the two of us, before we go traipsing off elsewhere and away from the creek sounds lovely! I don¡¯t mind if I do.¡± ¡°Umm.. Errr. Ahh.. You do remember that I¡¯m actually a guy, right?¡± Kylie asked in a state of half panic as Heather slowly stalked closer. ¡°Not here you aren¡¯t, my dear.¡± Heather was grinning like a cat ready to pounce on an unsuspecting mouse. ¡°Here you¡¯re just about the prettiest little woman that I¡¯ve ever seen. Don¡¯t be shy now; we¡¯ve enjoyed a few nice baths before together. Right?¡± ¡°But.. Errm¡­ Well..¡± Kylie couldn¡¯t think of any excuse that would work in a case like this, and simply logging out and running away wasn¡¯t something she wanted to get in the habit of doing. Finally closing her eyes, she turned her back and took a deep breath. ¡°Just my back then. I can do the rest.¡± ¡°Well, you could,¡± Heather agreed as she leaned in close and softly purred into her ear, ¡°but you¡¯re not. You¡¯ve been working so hard trying to make something useful for us, while all I¡¯ve been doing is playing around and burning some vines in the forest. I think you deserve a little reward, don¡¯t you?¡± Knowing there wasn¡¯t anything she could say, Kylie took a deep sigh and prepared for the worst. Reward, or punishment, it was plain that there was no getting out of it¡­ Chapter 45: Quest Results By the time Kylie had finished being bathed from top to bottom by Heather, it was time to call it a night. Going and hunting the squirrels would just have to wait until tomorrow. Mentally exhausted, and at a loss on how to reconcile the feelings of the experience his female character had underwent with his male mind, Kyle sluggishly yanked his helm off and rolled off into a deep, restless slumber. Kyle was uncertain how much time had passed, when he was awakened with a jolt as his pillow was yanked out from underneath his head. ¡°Whaa?¡± He groaned in confusion as his own pillow smacked down firmly across his face and torso! ¡°You jerkface!¡± Whap! Whap! A pillow shot to the face and chest jarred Kyle the rest of the way awake. Uncertainly what was going on, he covered his face with his arms to protect himself ¨C and then groaned as a sudden sharp pain erupted in his groin as a pillow slammed low. ¡°Asshole! It¡¯s all your fault!¡± Sera was relentlessly pounding away with on Kyle with the pillow she¡¯d stolen from under his head. Trying to protect himself as much as possible, Kyle rolled onto his side and curled into a fetal position. ¡°Sera! Sera!¡± He tried to get her attention, but she relentless keep pounding away and calling him insults. Jerk-wad, ass-face, scum-bucket, fart-brains ¨C for some odd reason, nearly every name she called him was a combination of two things put together. He was even an assy-ass and a stupid-stupid! Knowing Sera as well as he did, Kyle gave up trying to get her attention and simply curled up and waited for her to get it out of her system, and for several minutes she pounded away furiously at him with his pillow until feathers went everywhere as it couldn¡¯t take the beating anymore. Slowly, Kyle moved his hand down from his face and peaked out to see if it was safe to uncurl and find out what the heck was going on. Not seeing any sign of Sera immediately in front of his bed anymore, Kyle slowly uncurled, sat up, and looked around. Sera was now sitting in his chair over near his desk and simply staring in his direction with a murderous look on her face. ¡°Sera?¡± Kyle asked, hesitantly. ¡°Don¡¯t you ¡®Sera¡¯ me!¡± She snorted and pointed a finger in his direction. ¡°This is all your fault, you know! You fink! Rat-finky fink is what you are!¡± Her face was red and flushed, and she was shaking some sort of crumpled up paper in her fist at him. ¡°What¡¯s my fault? What¡¯d I do?¡± Kyle confusedly tried to wrack his brain for anything he might¡¯ve did to upset Sera, but he couldn¡¯t think of anything. If anything, HE should be the one calling her the rat-fink for turning him in to lessen her punishment yesterday! He still had another four days of boring ISS to deal with! ¡°Oooohh. ¡®It¡¯ll be funny.¡¯,¡± Sera said mockingly. ¡°¡¯We¡¯ll get them good.¡¯ You dumb ass!¡± Balling up the paper she was holding, Sera threw it at him. ¡°Well guess what Mister Funny-Ass ¨C we¡¯re married!¡± ¡°Wait! What?¡± Frantically Kyle rolled off the bed and bent over to grab up the paper and uncrumple it. ¡°Oh yeah. We¡¯re married now, you rat fink asshole!¡± If looks could kill, Kyle would¡¯ve been slain so badly by the look Sera was giving him that his undertaker would¡¯ve died as well! Panicking, Kyle stared down at the paper and read over it ¨C it was a very elegantly written and official looking wedding certificate. ¡°This isn¡¯t real.¡± Kyle tried to reassure her. ¡°Remember, we were having the guys fake one for us and send it to your parents. That¡¯s all this is, is that fake. I got to say, the guys did a heckuva good job on it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the problem,¡± Sera snorted. ¡°They did too good of a job, and apparently someone didn¡¯t tell his friends the whole plan. Heather wrote it up, gave it to Darryl, and he took it to the post office ¨C and mailed it to the courthouse! They saw it, saw the priest¡¯s seal and signature which Jason had forged so flawlessly, and filed it before sending a copy back to our parents! Your copy is probably in the mail, going to your father¡¯s house or something, since your mom hasn¡¯t killed you yet over it!¡± ¡°Wait! What?!¡± Kyle was starting to sweat and felt somewhat faint. ¡°What do you mean it was actually filed on record?¡± ¡°Oh, it¡¯s official all right.¡± Sera shook her fist angrily as she continued glaring unblinkingly. ¡°Father spent all day yesterday trying to sort it all out. He even called up the priest to check on things! The poor guy apologized a dozen times and blamed it on one of the girls who helped with the flowers at the fake wedding! He thought she must¡¯ve written it up, passed it to him to sign with a few others, and then mailed it off by accident. Grabbing a tissue box from off the desk, Sera threw it at him. ¡°You got us married for real, jackass!¡± ¡°Uhhhh¡­¡± Kyle¡¯s mind went completely blank and he half toppled back as he sat down on the bed in a daze. ¡°So why hasn¡¯t your dad came and killed me yet?¡± ¡°Killed you?¡± Sera snorted. ¡°Him and mother are calling it ¡®FATED¡¯, and ¡®The will of God!¡¯ Mother even said that it was nice that no one could complain now about me moving in over here while she remodeled over there! They¡¯re just peachy with the whole idea. I¡¯ve got a business of my own now, you¡¯ve got a job and earning your own money. According to father, all we need is a house and we¡¯ll be good to go, and he¡¯s offered to buy us our first one, as long as we choose one somewhere for less than a million. Mom¡¯s even starting to try and decide what her grandchildren should call her ¨C Fran-fran is her current favorite!¡± ¡°Oh¡­ Shit!¡± Kyle really couldn¡¯t think of anything else to say. ¡°We¡¯re actually married?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Sera relied slowly, ¡°that¡¯s what I¡¯ve been trying to tell you. The ¡®fake¡¯ paperwork was mistaken and actually filed on record. Congratulations, we¡¯re married! WOOT!¡± Sarcastically she wiggled her hand around in a circle in fake excitement. ¡°Oh¡­ Shit! OH SHIT! O-SHIT!!¡± Sera just nodded. ¡°Now you seem to be catching on. That¡¯s exactly how I felt earlier when they explained it all to me! Like I¡¯d ever want to be married to a rat-fink like you!¡± ¡°Now hold on a moment,¡± Kyle said while shaking his head and trying to clear it. ¡°I can understand why you¡¯re upset over being married, but why the heck do you keep calling me a rat-fink? You¡¯re the fink, you rat!¡± ¡°Me!¡± Sera stomped up and shook her fist at him again. ¡°You¡¯re the fink who ratted us out and blamed me for skipping! I got three days detention after school thanks to you!¡± The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Wait! What?¡± ¡°You blamed me for us skipping and got me three days¡¯ detention,¡± Sera accused, angrily. ¡°I know you did it, since you weren¡¯t in there with me yesterday evening. It¡¯s also why you were ignoring me in game earlier and refused to talk to me! You fink!¡± ¡°Wait a minute! I wasn¡¯t there yesterday for detention because I had to spend the whole day in ISS!¡± Kyle held up both hands to show he wasn¡¯t crossing his fingers or trying to hide anything. ¡°Honest! I¡¯d even thought that you were the one who¡¯d turned me in since you weren¡¯t in ISS with me!¡± ¡°Then why didn¡¯t you talk to me in game earlier?¡± Sera asked, looking as if she still half suspected him. ¡°I was mad when I got home,¡± Kyle tried to explain. ¡°I actually turned off chat for everyone, since I thought you were the one who turned me in.¡± ¡°Well I didn¡¯t. I wouldn¡¯t do something like that,¡± Sera said defensively. ¡°Well I wouldn¡¯t turn you in either, and you should know that.¡± Kyle said, repeating his innocence. ¡°Besides, we have bigger problems to deal with for now. We have to go tell our parents the truth about what happened. They¡¯re going to murder us if we have to go to court and get it annulled or divorced or whatever.¡± ¡°Fine.¡± Slowly Sera slumped her shoulders and hung her head. ¡°We screwed up big time this time. You¡¯ve got to come with me to help explain all this.¡± Hesitantly, she held out her hand towards Kyle. Slowly, Kyle took it in his own and then began the long, slow shamble out into the hallway and downstairs. For some reason, the hall and steps seemed much longer than usual to him. ¡°What time is it anyway?¡± He asked, uncertain of anything at this point. ¡°Just a little after ten,¡± Sera replied dryly. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you were doing asleep so early. I didn¡¯t think you normally went to bed until after eleven most nights.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t even ask about it,¡± Kyle said dismissively. ¡°Let¡¯s just say it¡¯s been one of those days and leave it at that.¡± ¡°Whatever.¡± Sera simply followed along, not in the mood to pursue the matter. Getting downstairs, Kyle glanced around but didn¡¯t see any sign of his mother. Apparently she hadn¡¯t gotten off work yet. Sighing, he was thankful that he didn¡¯t have to deal with her at the moment, while at the same time he dreaded knowing that he¡¯d have to soon, anyway. Holding his hand back for Sera to take one more time, Kyle led the way hesitantly to the front door and outside. ¡°GOT YA!!¡± Franklin yelled loud enough to scare pigeons off rooftops halfway down the street. Fanny and Kyle¡¯s mother tossed confetti and laughed heartily. ¡°You¡¯re a hundred years too young to prank us!¡± Fanny giggled. ¡°But it was a good try!¡± A surge of relief, then anger, then relief surged through Kyle as his knees felt like they were going to buckle and give out. Tears started to well up in his eyes as he blinked furiously while trying to comprehend everything. Sera however, suddenly stepped forwards and wrapped her arms tightly around him. ¡°Wait!¡±, she exclaimed while clinging onto Kyle for support, ¡°What do you mean you got us? Are you saying it wasn¡¯t real after all?¡± ¡°Nope! We faked the whole speech we gave you, just like you faked this paperwork and sent it to us!¡± Franklin boomed while laughing. ¡°But Papa,¡± Sera screamed frantically, ¡°Kyle just deflowered me so we could make you and Mama some babies like you wanted! What if I¡¯m pregnant now?¡± Franklin¡¯s laugh stopped as suddenly as if someone had cut it with a blade, whereas Fanny simply laughed harder and seemed to bounce even more excitedly. ¡°Honey! Honey! I¡¯m going to be a Fran-Fran! Isn¡¯t it wonderful?¡± Kyle¡¯s mother simply blinked a few times and looked almost as confused and lost as Kyle did. ¡°I¡¯MGONNAKILLYOU!!¡± Franklin roared and pumped his fist in the air wildly towards Kyle. Much to everyone¡¯s amazement, it was Kyle¡¯s mother who calmly reached over, twisted Franklin¡¯s ear and pulled him down so she could stare him in his eyes. ¡°You¡¯re going to do what, to whom? I¡¯d warned you two that someday you were going to push something too far and it would come back to bite you in the ass!¡± Reaching with her other hand, she casually grabbed Fanny by her ear and slowly started to drag both of Sera¡¯s parents back over towards their house. ¡°You two kids get back in that house, and go to bed,¡± she commanded firmly, without even looking back to see if they¡¯d listen. ¡°I¡¯ve got some talking I¡¯ve got to do with some immature brats, and we can talk in the morning. Go to bed and don¡¯t worry about a thing. I¡¯m going to deal with this.¡± ¡°WOMAN¡­¡± Franklin started to say something, but gave up with a yelp as Kyle¡¯s mother dug her fingernails deeper into his ear. ¡°Did I tell you you could talk yet?!¡± She demanded, as she let go of Fanny to open the gate between the hedges. Leaping at the moment¡¯s freedom to escape, Fanny dashed past them both and rushed towards the house. ¡°I¡¯ll turn the tea on and get my pad! This¡¯ll be good!¡± Slowly Sera tugged on Kyle¡¯s arm and the two of them shambled back into his house. Without even bothering to shut the door behind them, they ambled over and flopped down together at the couch. ¡°I¡¯ve never deflowered you,¡± Kyle said finally. ¡°There¡¯s no way there¡¯s a babe in you. At least, not mine!¡± ¡°There¡¯s no babe in me,¡± Sera snorted. ¡°I was just so upset that my parents would pull some crap like this ¨C AGAIN ¨C that I just said whatever I could to try and wipe that smug laugh off him.¡± ¡°Well, it worked,¡± Kyle said weakly. ¡°He looked like he was going to murder me for a moment there!¡± ¡°Yeah, he did.¡± Sera agreed and half laughed. ¡°Not that mother seemed to mind any! ¡®Mom, I¡¯ve been deflowered!¡¯ ¡®Oh, Good! I¡¯m gonna be a Fran-Fran!¡¯ I really can¡¯t understand her sometimes,¡± Sera said while shaking her head slightly. ¡°But your mother grabbing father like that! That was a sight to see!¡± ¡°Sure was. Who knew she had it in her!¡± Kyle exclaimed shocked. The two of them snuggled together on the couch, both drained too much to do much talking after that. Soon, they drifted off to sleep where neither of the slept very restfully for the rest of the night. The group''s first quest together, ¡°The Marriage Retribution Quest!¡±, had apparently ended in complete failure¡­ Not a Chapter: WHO the heck is Seras mom? There''s a recurring glitch in the story here, that I just noticed and am surprised that no one else has noticed before: Sera''s mother''s name is "Fanny"; it''s a name that''s dropped in popularity over time since the 19th century due to the slang associated to it. For whatever reason, it seems about half the time the spell checker wants to mangle this name horribly... Sometimes it becomes Fannie, sometimes Franny, and sometimes Frannie -- and no one caught the glitch until I noticed it this morning. Chapter 10, she''s introduced as "Fanny". As soon as Chapter 11, she''s "Franny". And from there on, her name seems to alternate back and forth between the two, with an occasional "ie" instead of "y" tossed in for good measure. Since this is such a common glitch, I''m *NOT* going to worry about editing and correcting everything written so far. When the book/arc is finished, this can be easily corrected in my manuscript with a "Search & Replace All" type command, since it''s all a single document. On the forums however, it''s a task of opening each chapter, searching and replacing those instances -- and there''s a ton of them! More work than it''s worth, in my opinion, so I ask that readers either make that simple mental adjustment themselves and remember that Franny, Fanny, Fannie, and Frannie are all the same person -- FANNY. If it helps, think of the alternative spellings as a "nickname" for her, since the actual name has fallen out of style for many modern names. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. As to WHY she has such a name, that''s because I like to choose names whose meaning matches the character''s personality. The name derives from the orphic god "Fannes", the creator of the world in the ancient Greek mythology. The word means "bright and energetic" in Greek -- can anyone think of anything more fitting for her personality? ;)
EDIT: Thanks to my obsessive need to try and keep things correct for the readers, I went back and corrected about 30 glitches with the names from several past chapters. I won''t promise that there aren''t more out there, or that there won''t be any more in future. If you guys seem any, point them out to me and I''ll try and make the corrections ASAP. Evil persistent typos be gone! Do I need to sacrifice a 4-colored pen again to try and get the spell checker to work like it should once more? :P Chapter 46: Straight Talk ¡°Wake up, you two.¡± Kyle¡¯s mom nudged both Sera and him several times until they groggily rubbed the sleep from their eyes. ¡°Here, have a cup of hot chocolate.¡± Holding out two steaming cups, she waited patiently until they both took one and were blowing on it. ¡°We need to have a serious talk for a bit,¡± Kyle¡¯s mother said firmly. ¡°First, I want to know, and you¡¯re going to be honest with me; have the two of you had sex already?¡± ¡°Mom!¡± Kyle exclaimed, embarrassed. ¡°Don¡¯t ¡®mom¡¯ me.¡± Staring at both of them, she maintained her stern, unflinching gaze. ¡°Have you, or haven¡¯t you?¡± ¡°We haven¡¯t.¡± Sera confessed quietly. ¡°I just said that last night to get even with father.¡± ¡°Well good for you.¡± Kyle¡¯s mother nodded, as if she¡¯d expected such an answer all along. ¡°Good for both of you. I¡¯m glad there¡¯s no worry about a pregnancy for now. Are you on birth control at all?¡± She asked Sera, not holding back any punches. ¡°I¡¯ve been taking the pill every morning for a while now,¡± Sera confessed. ¡°It helps lighten my period and keeps me from getting bloated or moody as bad.¡± ¡°Good. Good.¡± Once again, Kyle¡¯s mother simply nodded to herself a few times. ¡°You keep taking those then, but let me warn you; they¡¯re not one hundred percent effective. You can still get pregnant even if you¡¯re on them. Even if you use condoms too,¡± she stared directly at Kyle now, who was squirming uncomfortably and trying to hide in his hot chocolate. ¡°The only way to be completely safe is simply not to have vaginal intercourse. Both of you remember that.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll remember,¡± Sera promised. Kyle simply grunted something and nodded his head slightly while trying not to turn crimson red. ¡°Good. Then it¡¯s all settled.¡± Standing up, Kyle¡¯s mom clapped her hands together to signify the topic was closed. ¡°Sera, you¡¯ll be living with us from now on. Fanny and I will pack your things and bring them over for you while you¡¯re at school today, if that¡¯s OK?¡± ¡°Wait! What?¡± Kyle almost spilled his chocolate he was so shocked. ¡°We¡¯re not really married mom!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you think I know that?¡± Quizzically, she arched one eyebrow and stared at Kyle while Sera was being completely silent on her feelings about the subject. ¡°But¡­ Wha?¡± Kyle was baffled and confused. ¡°Mom?¡± ¡°It¡¯s only until Fanny finishes whatever renovations she¡¯s going to be doing over there, for Heaven¡¯s sake!¡± Kyle¡¯s mom threw her arms up in the arm in frustration. ¡°It¡¯s not a big deal, just like I told Franklin. What is it with you men acting like every little thing is the end of the world? She can still see them any time she wants; you both eat meals there more than you do here already; and nothing much is going to change except she¡¯ll have a bed here to sleep in and a place to keep her stuff where she doesn¡¯t have to worry about some perverted construction worker messing with it! A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°For Heaven¡¯s Sake, grow up already Kyle!¡± Annoyed, she turned and started to head into the kitchen. ¡°Should I cook something for breakfast for the two of you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Sera said as she slowly shook her head from side to side. ¡°I¡¯m not hungry yet,¡± Kyle said. ¡°Well good. I didn¡¯t really feel like cooking either,¡± his mom admitted. ¡°And one last thing, you two..¡± ¡°Yes?¡± Sera answered meekly. ¡°If the two of you do start having sex, be safe and use protection. I¡¯ll bring in condoms by the caseload if you need them; there¡¯s a ton of them at the hospital which we give out freely. I¡¯m not foolish enough to think that it¡¯s something that couldn¡¯t happen; I see the results of youngster¡¯s raging hormones every day almost. All I expect is that IF it happens, you both make certain it happens safely.¡± Pausing for a moment at the door leading into the kitchen, Kyle¡¯s mother never looked back to see if they were listening; she was trying to keep from making things as embarrassing as possible for them both. ¡°And, if something unexpected like a condom does break, be mature enough to let me know. There is morning after pills which you can take to deal with accidents like that, and they¡¯re a lot easier to get and deal with than an unplanned birth or an abortion.¡± Going on into the kitchen, Sera and Kyle was left to awkwardly blow on their hot chocolate and stare wordlessly at each other for several long minutes as the sun slowly rose and the sky outside lightened up. ¡°I¡¯d¡­ I¡¯d better go home and get changed for school,¡± Sera said finally. ¡°It looks like it¡¯s about that time.¡± ¡°Uhhh.. Yeah.¡± Kyle agreed, still half dazed. His mother certainly didn¡¯t bother to pull any punches when she wanted to have a heart to heart talk! ¡°I better go upstairs and change too. How about I meet you in about fifteen minutes and we walk to school together?¡± ¡°Sounds fine,¡± Sera answered as she slowly got up and stretched. ¡°I¡¯ll see you in about fifteen minutes then,¡± she promised as she sat the mug of chocolate down and went on out the door. Still embarrassed, Kyle slowly went upstairs and to his room to change and get ready for school. Sera was going to be living with him for now and his mom was going to bring them cases of condoms! It was almost like one of his fantasies made reality, and Kyle kept waiting for his alarm to go off and wake him from a dream, but it never did. When, in fact, the alarm did go off while he was changing clothes, it was simply because it was the time he normally woke up each morning. Sera truly was going to be living at his home for a while! Chapter 47: Collecting Loot Logging back into Winter¡¯s Tale was once again a huge relief for Kyle that evening. His day in school was once again just as boring and drab as the day before. Being in I.S.S. there was literally nothing to do besides sit and twiddle his thumbs almost all day long. No friends to chat with, no distractions as he walked between classes. Just sit, do your work in the first hour or so, and then wait for the day to crawl to an end. Walking home, he was excited to think that Sera would be moving in for a while, but then he remembered that she had detention and had to stay after for at least an hour. And, once she was finished with that, she was probably going to have to deal with sorting out how to hire some people to work at Franklin¡¯s. She wouldn¡¯t be home for a while, and his mom was still at work, so Kyle was ¨C like usual ¨C stuck at home all alone; so he logged directly into Winter¡¯s Tale and Kylie practiced her identify skill until Heather logged in not too long after. ¡°We ready to kick some squirrel ass this evening?¡± Heather asked enthusiastically. ¡°Sure. Just follow me,¡± Kylie replied. ¡°Let¡¯s go get them! And hopefully something a little easier to craft with as well!¡± She tried to match Heather¡¯s enthusiasm, but her forced cheer ended up sounding fake and made Heather laugh instead. Wandering their way back up the stream, Kylie continued to practice identifying everything in sight while Heather ran ahead or to the sides to blast any vines that were close enough to target. The walk back upstream took longer than Kylie would¡¯ve imagined it should; perhaps it was Heather¡¯s fighting things on the side that slowed down their progress somewhat; but it was an easy enough trek through the forest this time, and Kylie took the opportunity to appreciate the detail of her surroundings more. The sky was gray and cloudy, the air warm and humid, while the forest itself was rich and vibrant with various shades of greenery and color from the plants and flowers growing all around. There was even a smell of a hint of rain in the air ¨C it truly was like walking and exploring another world, and Kyle couldn¡¯t help but be amazed at the level of detail in Winter¡¯s Tale. A light, warm rain had started to fall when Kylie first identified a lone ¡°Harvester Squirrel¡± in a tree a slight way off. ¡°Heather! We got one!¡± Kylie yelled excitedly. ¡°Where?¡± Heather asked, looking all around. ¡°Up in the tr¡­¡± As Kylie was trying to point it out, the squirrel tossed a nut and cracked Heather upside the head with it. ¡°Bastard!¡± Interrupting Kylie with a cry, Heather spun to face the direction from which she was attacked; just in time to get slammed upside the nose with another nut. A critical hit message popped up as she staggered and sat on her butt looking dazed. ¡°Heal!¡± Kylie tried not to laugh as she worked her healing magic. One spell was enough to restore Heather back to full health, but she still simply sat there and didn¡¯t move as one nut after another was tossed in her direction. ¡°Heather? You still in game? Lagging? What¡¯s up?¡± Kylie asked after a few moments. ¡°I¡¯m ¡®dazed¡¯,¡± came back Heather¡¯s reply. ¡°For another 30 seconds! Apparently a heal simply restores health and doesn¡¯t remove abnormal statuses. I thought you said you¡¯d fought these things before! Why didn¡¯t you warn me they stun?¡± ¡°Because I¡¯ve never been stunned by them,¡± Kylie answered. ¡°I think it was just a case of bad luck. They seem to like to toss at the back of a person¡¯s head, and you turned around just in time to get almost get blinded with an eye shot.¡± ¡°Well that¡¯s interesting,¡± Heather replied thoughtfully. ¡°If that¡¯s right, targeting specific areas might produce exceptional effects. With the vines, I¡¯ve just been blasting the body itself and letting them burn, but if what you said is right, I¡¯m going to need to learn a little finer control of my magic and try to target specific areas like the head or eyes. You might want to try the same thing with the staff from now on; target specific areas and not just swing at random.¡± ¡°It¡¯s worth a shot,¡± Kylie admitted, as Heather finally stood up and proceeded to try to set the forest on fire with several fireballs in a row blasting out and destroying the squirrel. ¡°Take that, your jerkwad rodent!¡± Heather cried out in triumph as the beast shimmered and disappeared. ¡°I thought you were going to try and be more precision-oriented,¡± Kylie said with a smirk. ¡°That simply seemed like the usual overwhelming destruction and mayhem to me.¡± ¡°Starting with the next one,¡± Heather clarified. ¡°That one had irked me, so it needed to learn from the error of its ways.¡± ¡°Fine, fine.¡± Kylie laughed lightly. ¡°Is it even possible to control something explosive like a fireball? That spell seems kind of like a bazooka and not a sniper¡¯s rifle to me.¡± ¡°Then I¡¯ll just have to swap over to using a different spell,¡± Heather replied. ¡°I¡¯ve been using the fireball since it¡¯s the most damaging thing I know so far, but I¡¯ve got a few other spells I can use. Since those vines didn¡¯t move or dodge, they were perfect targets to simply blast and destroy and it was nice to work up my skill on them. I¡¯ll swap over to a ¡®Flame Dart¡¯ for these things though. It¡¯s less damage, doesn¡¯t hit an area, and uses quite about half the mana of a fireball. Since you said these things were weaker, it should be enough to take them out, I¡¯d think.¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s start squirrel hunting!¡± Kylie said with a smile. ¡°I¡¯ll kill them, so I¡¯ll leave collecting the loot up to you,¡± Heather suggested. ¡°Sounds good,¡± Kylie agreed. ¡°Then go get it!¡± Heather laughed and pointed up into the tree where the squirrel had died. There, laying on the branch where the squirrel had sat, was the shimmering edge of something, though it was impossible to make out exactly what it was since the majority of the item was concealed by the foliage around it. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. ¡°Well tickle me toes and call me Elmo,¡± Kylie said with a sigh. ¡°This looks fun,¡± she sighed sarcastically. ¡°I¡¯ve always wondered what it¡¯d be like to have to climb a tree while naked in the forest.¡± ¡°Well now you¡¯ll get to find out!¡± Heather said with a laugh as she walked up and smacked Kylie lightly across her butt. ¡°And, even better, I¡¯ll get to watch the whole thing from down here and see how it goes. Should I record this moment for prosperity?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you dare!¡± Kylie snorted as she finally started up the tree. ¡°If I see a video of myself climbing some tree later, I¡¯m going to write your name and number in the boy¡¯s bathroom stall at school!¡± ¡°You don¡¯t even know my number!¡± Heather yelled at her back as Kylie slowly climbed one branch at a time. ¡°Don¡¯t be so certain of that,¡± Kylie shouted back. ¡°You¡¯ve gave it to Sera, remember? Don¡¯t think I¡¯m against snooping in her stuff until I find it!¡± ¡°Well fine then!¡± Heather snorted. ¡°No uploading video on the net. But, you should be careful; some pervert might come along and look up your skirt, you climbing a tree like that.¡± ¡°I wish they would. Then it¡¯d mean I had a skirt at least for them to look up! Now hush. I¡¯m almost there.¡± Climbing wasn¡¯t as difficult for her lithe elven frame as Kylie imagined that it would be. Her slight weight and thin frame didn¡¯t put much strain on the tree¡¯s limbs, and they easily supported her as she worked her way up to the branch where the squirrel had been. Finally reaching the limb that was her goal, Kylie was satisfied to find a small roll of gray leather awaiting her. ¡°These squirrels drop craftable items as well,¡± she called out happily to Heather. ¡°Hopefully this will be much easier to work with than those leaves.¡± Stretching, she reached out and pulled the soft roll of leather to her. It was soft, supple, and thin ¨C all qualities which made Kylie think that it¡¯d be much easier and better to work with than the leaves were currently. ¡°Here, catch!¡± Gently, she tossed the bundle down for Heather to catch and then starting climbing back down herself. As she reached the bottom, a ding went off and a message popped up informing her that she¡¯d acquired a skill of 1 in climbing. ¡°Sorry, Heather,¡± Kylie laughed in excitement, ¡°but you¡¯re going to have to take turns with me climbing up the trees and retrieving the loot, whether you want to, or not.¡± ¡°Oh really?¡± Heather¡¯s left eyebrow rose and twitched a few times as she glared. ¡°What makes you think I¡¯m going to do that? I¡¯m not just some pretty face to fetch and do for you anytime you might want me too.¡± Laughing, Kyle quickly reached over and flipped her on the nose. ¡°You¡¯re doing it again.¡± ¡°Doing what?¡± Heather blinked a few times and rubbed the tip of her nose. ¡°Being a bitch. I¡¯m not one of those asshole camp guys. Remember? We¡¯re friends, working together. I don¡¯t expect you to fetch and do things for me, and I never have. Now, have I?¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± Heather still glared slightly, but now she looked a little embarrassed as well. ¡°You¡¯re going to want to take turns climbing up those trees and getting the loot with me, for the skill practice. Just climbing one tree here, and I gained a climbing skill. Who knows when such a talent might be useful later in game if we ever decide to seek treasure on top of a mountain peak, or siege a city wall or something. If you¡¯re fine on passing up on the opportunity to get a new skill and increase it, then that¡¯s fine with me,¡± Kylie said. ¡°It¡¯ll just be a chance for me to improve another aspect of myself even more, while you just sit there and watch.¡± ¡°Fine! I understand.¡± Stomping her foot in a huff, Heather turned her back and started scanning the trees for her next target. ¡°I¡¯ll kill them AND take turns grabbing the loot from the top of the trees, if it doesn¡¯t fall out.¡± ¡°And?¡± Kylie put her hands on her hips and tapped her fingers slightly against her torso. ¡°And what?¡± Heather snorted. ¡°And you¡¯re sorry you were being bitchy and thought I was just trying to boss you around or take advantage of you,¡± Kylie promoted. ¡°Yeah. That too. Whatever!¡± Snorting like a mad bull, Heather stomped off following the water in the creek upstream. ¡°Let¡¯s get back to the hunt! We don¡¯t have forever you know.¡± Smirking silently to herself, Kylie was quite happy. It might not be a proper apology like you¡¯d expect from anyone else, but even that much was a world of improvement when it came from Heather. Maybe there really was hope for her and the two of them could end up better friends. And thus the evening passed in a merry hunt for both of them as Heather blasted squirrels out of the trees, Kylie healed when necessary, and they both took turns gathering up the loot which consisted of red leather, gray leather, and many claws which identified as different things ¨C sharp claws, fine claws, broken claws, weak claws, chipped claws, and worn-down claws. Kylie didn¡¯t bother trying to craft anything yet with the materials they¡¯d gathered; like with the leaves, she wanted to get a nice collection of items in stock before trying anything, and she was carrying nearly everything she could in her arms when she finally said her goodbyes to Heather and logged out for the evening. All in all, Kylie thought it was a nice productive evening in game, and she was even starting to enjoy spending time together with Heather a little more. Occasionally she had to be reminded not to be so bitchy, but it wasn¡¯t so terrible. Lots of loot, good skill ups in Identify, Climb, and Dodge, and increased faction with Heather; not a bad day¡¯s work at all! Chapter 48: Creating Success Yanking his V-RIG helm off, Kyle sat it down and slowly got up and stretched. Winter¡¯s Tale only allows a user to play for about four hours at a time before it makes them automatically log out to ¡°sleep¡± for two hours, so it still wasn¡¯t that late in the evening. Walking around his house, Kyle was disappointed to find that neither Sera nor his mom had showed up yet, so he settled for sticking a frozen pizza in the oven while taking a quick shower downstairs ¨C though this time he made certain to first get a pair of shorts to change into once he was finished, so he didn¡¯t have to worry about Sera catching him in a state of undress by accident once again! After drying off and getting dressed after his quick shower, Kyle rushed into the kitchen to get his pizza before it burnt in the oven. It was just as he was starting to slice it that Sera came in and flopped down in a chair at the table. ¡°Pour me a drink while you¡¯re at it,¡± she demanded while grabbing a slice for herself. ¡°I¡¯m glad I¡¯ve got such good timing this evening; I¡¯m beat!¡± Sighing, but not complaining, Kyle went over and grabbed a couple of sodas from the fridge and passed one to Sera as he opened the other for himself. ¡°Hard time after school? Or at the restaurant?¡± ¡°Both!¡± Sera replied moodily. ¡°Detention sucks. Whoever decided that sitting and writing ¡®I will not skip school¡¯ for an hour an evening for three days was a good idea, was a complete and utter idiot! If they think they¡¯re teaching me something, I have news for them ¨C they are! Teaching me that detention was invented by a total moron! I¡¯ve never been so bored in my whole life.¡± ¡°Well, try it for a whole day in I.S.S.,¡± Kyle responded, unsympathetically. ¡°And then Franklin¡¯s is a complete a total mess!¡± Sera continued her rant, completely ignoring Kyle¡¯s interjection. ¡°The books look like they were kept by a two-year-old on steroids! I don¡¯t have a clue how much of anything was bought, who it was purchased from, who the store might owe money to, or who might owe it money. ¡°There¡¯s half a dozen, ¡°I.O.U. one¡± notes in there, with no signature or indication at all of who owed who what! I don¡¯t have a clue if the place made money, lost money, or was used to laundry money for the mafia. If father ever mentions he wants to start another business in the future, I¡¯m going to neuter him. It¡¯s crazy!¡± ¡°Sounds rough,¡± Kyle admitted honestly. ¡°Sounds like you¡¯re going to be stuck sorting all that mess out for ages,¡± he added, disappointed. ¡°Not anymore!¡± Sera exclaimed. ¡°I called father and told him that all that mess was his to clean up, and that I expected him to deal with it. He laughed at me and wanted to know if it was too much for me to handle, so I hung up on him. I just spent the last hour at home letting him have a piece of my mind over the whole issue! ¡°But,¡± taking a deep breath, Sera tried to calm down. ¡°Hopefully everything will work out now. I made father promise to hire an actual accounting company and let them sort out the books and all that mess. Tomorrow I¡¯m going to put up a help wanted sign and see if I can get some people to come and put in some applications next week. If that works out, I¡¯ll see if I can get them trained in the basics and open the doors back up for business the week after that. ¡°Two weeks to get Franklin¡¯s swapped over and running under new management and new employees. That¡¯s my goal at least,¡± Sera finished, hopefully. ¡°No one should get that far ahead of you in game in just a few weeks,¡± Kyle said, comfortingly. ¡°At the rate I¡¯ve been going, I might manage to craft a leather skirt or something by then! I might even get all the way to level five! Or six! The sky¡¯s the limit when it comes to two whole weeks!¡± ¡°You get too far ahead of me, and you¡¯ll regret it,¡± Sera warned. ¡°If I have to, I¡¯ll travel to wherever William is and make him power level me. From what I understand, he¡¯s rapidly approaching level twenty already.¡± ¡°Level twenty?!¡± Kyle almost spewed his pizza he was so shocked. ¡°How the hell can he level up like that? I spend all evening in game and I¡¯m lucky to get a level every other day! He¡¯s got to be the king of adventure or something!¡± ¡°He¡¯ll probably slow down for a while,¡± Sera said with a slight laugh. ¡°At lunch today, Heather and I sat with the guys to see how they were progressing in game. William apparently got caught by an evil wizard and is now chained in a laboratory somewhere being experimented on.¡± ¡°Poor wizard!¡± Kyle said, half shivering. ¡°I can¡¯t imagine anyone in their right mind would ever trap William in a laboratory! I feel sorry for that fellow. He¡¯s doomed.¡± ¡°How¡¯s that?¡± Sera asked, confused. ¡°From the way William was talking, he¡¯s in a hopeless situation until someone comes and rescues him. He¡¯s trapped in a room with no windows, no door, and no light. It¡¯s dark and he¡¯s all alone in there.¡± ¡°Sure he is,¡± Kyle said with a snort. ¡°Let me ask you something -- Who in their right mind would play a game where they were trapped in such a place for days or weeks at a time while waiting to be rescued?¡± ¡°I dunno,¡± Sera admitted. ¡°I have to admit; it doesn¡¯t sound like it¡¯d be very fun at all. Mom would probably have a blast being trapped like that though! That alchemist would probably have to force her to leave when he wanted her out of there. She¡¯d complain more about being rescued than being trapped!¡± ¡°Well, besides your mother ¨C who¡¯s so weird she never counts for anything ¨C nobody would want to pay to play a game like that. That means the darkness has to have some way to escape from it. And, if there¡¯s a way, there¡¯s a William! For that much, if there¡¯s not a way, William would be the one person in the whole world who manages to find the perfect combination of moves, sounds, twitches, and commands to bug out the system and do what can¡¯t be done. ¡°I¡¯d be just as likely to believe your father is a good accountant, as I would be to believe that someone managed to trap William. If he¡¯s trapped in that lab, it¡¯s because he wants to be trapped there ¨C and you know what that means¡­¡± ¡°Poor, poor old pitiful, alchemist,¡± they both said in unison while shaking their heads. Laughing lightly, Sera slowly got up and stretched. ¡°I¡¯m going to go up, take me a bath, and go to bed. My mind''s just worn out from dealing with everything today. If you get a chance, you¡¯d best log back in to Winter¡¯s Tale and fix your ignore options. Everyone seems a little miffed that you haven¡¯t been chatting with them in game. If you don¡¯t correct that, by the time you get out of I.S.S. you might not have any friends left to play with.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll get it in a bit,¡± Kyle promised as he started to clean up the kitchen. ¡°Honestly, I forgot I even had ignore set for everyone. I¡¯ll log in for a few minutes before bed and deal with it. Thanks for letting me know.¡± ¡°No worries,¡± Sera said with a weary smile as she left and started up the steps. Finishing wiping down the counters and tossing away the box the pizza came in, Kyle finally turned off all the lights downstairs except for the one in the kitchen for his mother, and then went up to his room. The sound of water running coming from the bathroom tempted him to go peek, but the memory of a bar of soap blackening his eye made him resist the urge. Stoically, he swallowed down his curiosity and went to his room instead. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Flopping on his V-RIG helm, he logged Kylie back into the game, even though he couldn¡¯t see anything more than pure darkness. Sleep mode sounded an awful lot like the prison that William was trapped in, to him. No doors, no windows, no light; just darkness all around. Maybe, if the alchemist had found a way to put William to sleep, he might be trapped; but even if he was, there wasn¡¯t anything in the world Kylie could do about it. They were simply too far apart to be of any sort of assistance to each other, especially with the travel stones broken beyond repair. ¡°Ignore everyone, off,¡± Kylie demanded of the system and watched with satisfaction as the mute icon disappeared off everyone¡¯s images on her friend bar. With no reason to stay in game and stare at the back of her sleeping eyelids, Kylie then gave the command to, ¡°Log out, Winter¡¯s Tale.¡± Back at the black background and blue OS screen, Kyle sat and played around with his V-RIG settings for the first time. For a background, he changed the blackness to a nice view of the solar system instead, with stars and comets leaving a trail of stardust all around. With a little practice, he managed to create a virtual desk and computer which he could use to type on and send and e-mails and such on, just like he could on his PC at home. Wanting to test things out, he sat down and typed a quick message and then hit the send button on the virtual computer. Dear Gramps, I¡¯m testing sending email through my V-RIG. Let me know if you get this one. Kyle All he had to do now was wait to get a reply back later, and then he¡¯d know if it worked or not. Not knowing if he¡¯d hear back from his grandfather that evening or not, Kyle didn¡¯t bother to wait for a reply. Instead, he had fun surfing the V-web of movies, TV shows, and endless articles from across the internet. Before he knew it, several hours had passed and it was now passed his usual bedtime. ¡°Log in, Winter¡¯s Tale,¡± he commanded with a slight yawn. Tomorrow was simply going to be another endless day of complete boredom in I.S.S again, so he didn¡¯t feel any pressing need to go to bed. If he fell asleep in I.S.S. tomorrow, it¡¯d simply make his day a little less of a pain! Stretching and looking around, Kylie made certain that there weren¡¯t any squirrels or vines in the immediate area around her. Vines she could kill, squirrels probably not, as she still had no ranged method of firing back at them. Once she was satisfied that the area was clear, she sat down and unwrapped the bundle of goods her and Heather had accumulated so far. Lots of red leaves, a few green leaves still, several rolls of grey leather, a few rolls of red leather, and tons of various claws were what she had to work with. Picking through the claws, Kylie finally settled on a ¡®Fine Claw¡¯ to use as a makeshift tool, and began shoving it through the edges of some of the grey leather to poke holes in it. Once a fine set of holes was poked all the way down the sides, she sat that piece of leather down and picked up a second one and repeated the process. Since neither piece of leather was a failure, Kylie decided to press her luck and use a ¡®Sharp Claw¡¯ to cut inch-wide strips out of another piece of grey leather and used them to string between the two pieces where she¡¯d already poked holes in. Expecting the experiment to fail and destroy her materials once again, Kylie was pleasantly surprised when nothing happened. Two pieces of leather, twined together successfully so far! Feeling exhilarated with her initial success, Kylie picked up another roll of the grey leather and began to poke holes in it ¨C once again, with no issues or failure. Cautiously, and while holding her breath the whole time, Kylie slowly strung the third piece of leather to one of the other two. Once finished, she let out a gasp of relief as it too succeeded without any problem. ¡°One last time,¡± Kylie muttered to herself as she took several deep breaths to calm her nerves before the finally brought the third piece of leather around to meet the first and sew up the holes between them. For several moments after she finished, Kylie held her breath, before two windows popped up in front of her.
Congratulations! You have created a Ragged Leather Micro-skirt! You gain 10 experience. You gain 0 fame in Tailoring.
ItemPositionDurabilityNotes
Ragged Leather Micro-skirtWaist10 / 10A very crude skirt made of poor leather. Offers minimal protection (PD: 1) and the barest essentials of modesty. This appears to have been created by a complete novice, with the roughest of tools.
¡°Oh¡­ Ohhh Ohhh!!¡± Kylie was so excited that tears began to slowly leak down her cheeks. Her first success! Clothing! Ragged, tattered clothing, but clothing nonetheless! After ages of running around naked in the wilderness, she finally had something ¨C anything ¨C to wear. Standing up, Kylie slid the skirt up her legs and then loosened and tightened the leather strips several times until it fit snugly around her waist. The length left something to be desired; the whole skirt was only about eight to ten inches in length and barely seemed to cover her butt ¨C but it was infinitely better than nothing at all! Moving, bending, and hopping up and down a few times, Kylie was quite happy with her work. It wasn¡¯t a designer brand or anything, and the durability wasn¡¯t all that much better than the nighty that she¡¯d first started with, but it was the first thing she¡¯d ever made. One thing about it; it certainly didn¡¯t limit mobility in any way! Laughing and giddy with success, Kylie sat and continued to craft with mixed results until the warning message for sleep appeared once again for her character. Three more ragged micro-skirts, two rough leather sacks, and a tattered leather shawl were the end result of all her work. She¡¯d had several failures, but when working with the gray leather she calculated about a fifty percent chance at success. The leaves she saved by shoving them down in one sack with what was left of her dwindling bread. The red leather and claws she put in the other sack, along with the other items she had crafted. ¡°Log out, Winter¡¯s Tale. System Off.¡± Kyle ordered as he yawned and pulled his helm off. Satisfied and happy, he drifted off and was asleep in no time at all. Chapter 49: Yo-yo Relations ¡°¡­¡± ¡°cake cup¡­¡± ¡°...art place..¡± ¡°WAKE UP, FART FACE!¡± Sera finally resorted to yelling directly into Kyle¡¯s ear, causing him to jerk upright and bang heads with her with a THUNK! ¡°Aeooo¡­¡± Sera staggered back and few steps and sat in the chair at the desk, rubbing her forehead, with slight tears trickling from the corner of her eyes. Kyle, on the other hand, was simply blinking and looking around stupidly, seemingly unbothered by the head-to-head collision. ¡°I always knew you were hard headed, but that hurt, Jerkface!¡± Sera muttered grumpily. ¡°Wha time is it?¡± Kyle yawned and tried to pull the cover back up over his eyes. ¡°Time for you to get your ass up, before I neuter you,¡± Sera growled. ¡°You¡¯re supposed to be waking me up, not the other way around!¡± ¡°Sorry.¡± Kyle slowly stretched and then started to roll out of bed. ¡°Since you¡¯re sitting over there, toss me a set of clothes for school.¡± Yawning one time after another, he just couldn¡¯t seem to keep his eyes open. ¡°Here!¡± Sera pulled open the nearby dresser drawer and haphazardly tossed a shirt, followed quickly by a pair of pants over across Kyle¡¯s head. Sluggishly, Kyle pulled his pants up and then struggled to work his arms into the sleeves of his shirt and button it up. ¡°Sheesh! What¡¯s wrong with you this morning, Kyle?¡± Sera asked. ¡°You act like a zombie. Shove off and let me get it.¡± Smacking his fingers so he¡¯d leave the buttons alone, Sera undid the few that he¡¯d buttoned up wrong and then redid them properly for him. ¡°I logged back into Winter¡¯s Tale last night,¡± Kyle confessed with a yawn. ¡°Heather and I had starting hunting some squirrels which dropped leather and I wanted to be able to surprise her with some clothes or armor from them. She¡¯s got a heckuva anti-guy grudge, so I¡¯m hoping making something in game might calm her down towards my character a bit. Every girl likes gifts, right?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be a chauvinistic pig, Kyle.¡± Sera snorted slightly. ¡°You make it sound like every girl out there is nothing more than a gift grubbing whore or something.¡± ¡°Wait! What?¡± Kyle slowly scratched his head and then shook it a few times. Wondering just what the heck he¡¯d said that was wrong, Kyle just stared as Sera turned and walked out the door. ¡°Come on, pig-boy! We don¡¯t want to be late. Today¡¯s my last day of detention and I don¡¯t plan on giving them a chance to expand on it!¡± Slowly and sluggishly, Kyle shambled out of his room and after her. He wasn¡¯t certain if it was that time of the month again or something, but Sera seemed moody and a little more hateful than usual this morning, so he simply followed along behind her quietly. Since they were already running late thanks to him oversleeping, there wasn¡¯t time to eat breakfast this morning and Kyle had to listen to Sera complain about missing it ¨C and the ride with her parents ¨C all the way as they walked to school. By the time they got to the school, Kyle was happy to part ways with her and head on to the I.S.S room! It definitely must¡¯ve been that time of the month, or something!
I.S.S. was actually not a bad place to be that day. Kyle dozed for short naps between the times when the teacher on duty would yell and tell him to, ¡°Sit up and wake up!¡±, and he still managed to get his work done since there wasn¡¯t anyone or anything else to distract him. By the time school was over, Kyle felt a lot more awake, alert, and active leaving than he had arriving that morning. Whistling and cheerful, he rushed home and went immediately upstairs and logged into Winter¡¯s Tale. Wanting to surprise Heather with the items she¡¯d crafted, Kylie quickly sat down, stripped, and shoved everything down into one of the sacks she had made. Not knowing how long it¡¯d take Heather to log in and join her after that, Kylie sat and had fun playing around with the various claws they¡¯d collected. Using a ¡®Strong Claw¡¯, she discovered that she could work and drill holes in the base of the other claws, and so she sat and worked on that. As she drilled the holes, she strung a few braided pieces of her hair through them, slowly making a necklace. Before she¡¯d finished the first one she was working on, Heather logged in with a lazy, ¡°Evening. Whatcha doing?¡± Laughing, Kylie immediately sat down what she was working on and hopped up and hugged her. ¡°Hey! Wait a minute,¡± Heather exclaimed as she tried to push her away. ¡°What the heck¡¯s up with you this evening?¡± Laughing at her shocked reaction, Kylie grabbed and clung tighter. ¡°What? Don¡¯t you want to bathe me? Or cuddle-wuddle for a bit?¡± ¡°No!¡± Heather said while pushing away, and then stopping. ¡°Yes? Maybe. I don¡¯t know!¡± ¡°What the hell is wrong with you this evening?¡± She asked, confused. ¡°Oh ho ho!¡± Kylie laughed. ¡°I see how this works. You can dish it out, but you can¡¯t take it!¡± She taunted. ¡°I can take anything you can give!¡± Heather snorted, as she suddenly stood rock still like a statue. ¡°Do your worst,¡± she challenged. ¡°Well, OK then!¡± Letting go of her, Kylie skipped back and grabbed up the sack on the left. ¡°Then take this!¡± Heather simply blinked and look confounded. ¡°Go on, if you can take anything I can give, take it!¡± Kylie shook the sack up and down a few times to get her attention before Heather finally reached out and took it. ¡°What the heck is this?¡± She asked, bewildered. ¡°Well open it and find out!¡± Kylie laughed and then sat down and leaned against a tree to watch. Slowly Heather opened the sack, looked inside, and then hesitantly pulled out one of the leather skirts from inside. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± She asked quietly. ¡°It¡¯s a skirt, of course.¡± Kylie laughed. ¡°I couldn¡¯t sleep last night so I logged back in and did a little crafting. I wanted you to have the first set, and to be the first to try them on.¡± It was a small lie, since Kylie had already tried them on herself, but she didn¡¯t figure Heather would ever know the difference. ¡°Go ahead. Try it on! I want to see if they¡¯ll actually stay up, hold together, and work.¡± Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ¡°Su.. Sure.¡± Heather half stuttered as she tried to pull the skirt up over her legs. For some odd reason, her hands were trembling and she was having issues adjusting the strips between the leather, so Kylie chuckled and bounced up to help. ¡°Here, just let go and I¡¯ll do it,¡± she commanded. ¡°It¡¯s my first success, so it¡¯s still not very durable. You¡¯ll probably break something if you¡¯re not careful.¡± Gently, she reached out and slapped Heather¡¯s fingers away and began to adjust the straps herself. Heather stood stone still during the whole process, never twitching a muscle. ¡°There! All finished,¡± Kyle laughed as she slowly walked around and admired her handiwork. ¡°Now that¡¯s what I call a micro-mini! You make an excellent manikin, Heather.¡± Since Heather still didn¡¯t say anything, Kylie leaned over and dug into the sack that Heather had sat down while trying to dress. Pulling out the shawl, she leaned up and draped it over Heather¡¯s head to lay it across her shoulders. Honestly, it was nothing more than several pieces of the grey leathers stitched together in a circular pattern with a hole for the head in the center, but the game declared it to be a shawl. Kylie had no idea what she¡¯d call it except amusing and tantalizing. With just the width of a single strip of leather, the shawl only draped down about eight inches from the shoulders ¨C just far enough to comfortably rest on top of Heather¡¯s breasts and help highlight them, without actually covering them. With a micro-skirt that barely covered her bottom, and a shawl highlighting her breasts, Kylie thought the combination was even more erotic and enticing for Heather than when she was naked! ¡°So.. So how is it?¡± Heather finally asked quietly. ¡°It looks good on you,¡± Kylie replied honestly. ¡°And, even better than looks, it does offer some minor protection and armor. I wouldn¡¯t trust it to deflect a sword or an arrow from a bandit or anything, but it should help with the nuts those squirrels toss. At least, until it breaks, that is,¡± she clarified. ¡°My tailoring is still rather low, and I¡¯ve only got makeshift tools to work with, so nothing turned out the best. They¡¯re not that durable in all honesty.¡± ¡°Better than nothing,¡± Heather finally admitted. ¡°Where¡¯s yours? Surely you¡¯ve made some for yourself.¡± ¡°I have,¡± Kylie admitted as she eased over and starting digging into her own bag. ¡°I¡¯ve got two skirts for each of us, and I made a bag for each of us, and the shawl for you. I didn¡¯t have enough leather to make a second shawl; I still end up failing on the attempts about half the time.¡± ¡°Then take this one,¡± Heather said as she started to pull it off. ¡°Nope.¡± Kylie refused flatly. ¡°That¡¯s yours. You keep it. You¡¯re the one out there blasting at the squirrels for now, so you¡¯re the one they toss their nuts at the most. It only makes sense that you get the armor first. I¡¯ll make some for myself after we get you a little better geared. Besides, I can always heal myself; you can¡¯t. Plus, if I log in and you¡¯re not around, I¡¯m not going to be out here fighting anything anyway ¨C I can¡¯t kill them no matter how long I can stand there and let them toss nuts at me; I haven¡¯t gotten any ranged attacks yet. ¡°So see, it just makes sense that you get the armor first. With it, if you log in and I¡¯m not around, it¡¯ll help protect you and you can fight, hunt, and kill things longer. If I¡¯m wearing it, it still doesn¡¯t really help me with the fight and kill things part at all, and that¡¯s where I¡¯m having issues,¡± Kylie rambled on as Heather shook her head from side to side as if you deny her words. ¡°But¡­ but this is yours..¡± ¡°No buts!¡± Kylie interrupted. ¡°And it¡¯s not mine; those are something we worked together to get and make. I couldn¡¯t have gotten them without your help. I guess if you want to be technical, you could say those are ¡®ours¡¯, as it took both of us working together to make them. Besides,¡± Kylie taunted and wiggled, ¡°don¡¯t you want to see more of my perfect little naked self for a while longer? I¡¯d say by the time Monday comes around and we go back to school again, both of us should have a decent set of rags to wear!¡± ¡°Well¡­ Fine.¡± Heather turned her back and wiped her eyes as if a bug had flown in them. ¡°I better get to hunting something again then, since you¡¯re worthless and can¡¯t do it for us. Hmmpft!¡± Snorting, she tossed her hair back across her shoulder and stomped off to go look for something to kill. ¡°Hey Snooty Ass!¡± Kylie yelled after her. ¡°You¡¯ve forgotten something important again!¡± ¡°Oh? And what¡¯s that?¡± Heather replied, without turning around. ¡°First, you forgot to say, ¡®Thank you, oh great, powerful, lovely, and perfect Kylie, Mistress of the World, who¡¯s a thousand times more skilled than I¡¯ll ever manage to become.''¡± ¡°You can just forget that,¡± Heather snorted and started to walk off again. ¡°And you forgot the most important thing again! Party Invite Heather,¡± she commanded. ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll join,¡± Heather confirmed, and the group party was created once again. ¡°And thanks,¡± she whispered so low that Kylie wasn¡¯t entirely certain she heard her say it, or just imagined it. ¡°And now to kill something!¡± Heather exclaimed as she started walking around and looking for the squirrels up in the trees once more, while Kylie simply sat, worked on stringing together the claws, and enjoyed watching the mayhem. Chapter 50: Nameless Darkness After watching Heather kill and blast the nearby squirrels, Kylie finally finishing stringing all the various claws together with several long strands of her hair, which she¡¯d cut and braided together. Much to her surprise, she was rewarded with a ding and a couple of message boxes that popped up, informing her that she now had a Jewelcrafting skill of one, and that she¡¯d made a ¡®Squirrel Claw Necklace¡¯. The necklace had a common enough description to it; ¡°A weak necklace assembled with various crude claws from Harvester Squirrels, that still seems to give off a slight essence of the beasts.¡±, and gave a slight bonus to evasion and escape style skills. ¡°Oohh! OH!¡± Kylie half bounced, she was so excited. ¡°Heather! Heather! Come take a look at this!¡± ¡°What?¡± Heather turned to look back at Kylie and was promptly pelted by several nuts from the two squirrels she was trying to fight. ¡°Yeouch! You bastards!¡± Turning back around, she blasted a fireball into the top of the tree, instead of the smaller flame darts which she had been using. One squirrel shimmered and disappeared instantly, while the other one screeched, caught on fire, and feel from the branch it was on. Between blasting it once more as it fell, and the impact with the ground, that squirrel also disappeared in a shimmer of lights. ¡°What the hell¡¯s wrong with you?¡± Heather yelled as she stomped over towards Kylie. ¡°Are you trying to get me killed or something?!¡± ¡°No, not at all,¡± Kylie said sheepishly, before muttering, ¡°Heal.¡± Heather¡¯s bruises faded instantly away, but the scowl across her face didn¡¯t. ¡°Sorry,¡± Kylie apologized. ¡°I was just excited and wanted you to come over so I could give you this.¡± Holding up the necklace like an offering, Kylie tried not to look Heather directly in the eyes. ¡°And what would I want something like that for?¡± Heather snorted, wrinkling her nose. ¡°Well, it is magical,¡± Kylie offered. ¡°Identifying it, it has a property which enhances the wearer¡¯s evasion and escape rates. Since you¡¯re the one up there getting nuts tossed at you, I thought it might be nice for you to have to help you dodge them a little better. Dodge the acid from something like that named spitter plant too, if we ever run into something like that again.¡± Heather blinked a few times and then slowly reached out and took the necklace. ¡°You¡¯re making magical necklaces now, too?¡± She sounded shocked as she slowly draped it over her head to let the claws dangle between her breasts. ¡°Why of course.¡± Kylie bragged and flexed her arm to show off the muscles she didn¡¯t have. ¡°It¡¯s a snap for someone as great and powerful as me. Clothes, armor, jewelry, weapons ¨C I can do it all! There¡¯s nothing that someone as great as me can¡¯t accomplish, once I set my mind on it!¡± ¡°Oh grow up!¡± Snorting, Heather turned and flicked her hair back over her shoulder again. ¡°Next time, wait until I finish the fight I¡¯m in before you disturb me. I might just accidentally mistake you for one of those rodents, you know,¡± she warned as she walked back over to collect the items dropped by the last squirrels slain. ¡°No worries,¡± Kylie assured her. ¡°I¡¯m out of materials from what we hunted yesterday. You¡¯re just too slow to keep me in business with the leathers and claws. I¡¯ll have to join in and help for a while.¡± ¡°And what can you do to help?¡± Heather snorted. ¡°I¡¯m the Master Blaster, you know!¡± Kylie stopped, blinked a few times, and then burst out in wild laughter. ¡°That just sounds like a personal problem, if you ask me! Have you been eating a lot of beans lately?¡± ¡°What?!¡± Heather tucked the grey pelt in the sack she was carrying and glared icily at Kylie. ¡°You¡¯re just jealous because you couldn¡¯t be a master of anything, compared to me,¡± Heather snarled. ¡°I bet you even have trouble putting bait on the hook when you go fishing. You can¡¯t even be called a Master Baiter!¡± ¡°And you can?¡± Kylie asked all innocently. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± she bowed low and pretended to curtsy. ¡°I beg forgiveness, Milady Heather. I didn¡¯t realize I was in the presence of a great and skilled Master Baiter.¡± ¡°Well you are¡­ Wait a minute!¡± Heather blinked and then turned bright red. ¡°That didn¡¯t come out right at all, you¡¯re supposed to be the Master Baiter, not me!¡± ¡°Oh no. No no no!¡± Kyle giggled and repeated her curtsy. ¡°I accept the judgement of a true master such as yourself. I shall never be able to become half the Master Blaster, nor a tenth the Master Baiter that you are.¡± Heather was bright crimson as she turned her back and began to stomp upstream. ¡°Just shut it dweeb! Get that loot off that limb up there and catch up, or I¡¯m going to leave you behind.¡± ¡°Certainly, Lady Heather. Whatever you say.¡± Kylie rushed to climb and get the claw and leather from the tree and then scurried to catch up. Smiling, she couldn¡¯t help but think that it was nice that Heather was beginning to try to loosen up and joke around; even if she did get her jokes backwards somewhat.
The rest of that evening, the two of them wandered upstream, killing and blasting as they went. Slowly, over time, the squirrels got slightly larger and more numerous. Groups of two or three showing up at once wasn¡¯t that uncommon, and Kylie had to help in the fights by healing Heather more and more often. At some point, and Kylie wasn¡¯t certain exactly when as she hadn¡¯t been identifying every target all the time, the names of the creatures started to change. Harvester Squirrels were still the most common, but Guardian Squirrels, Avenger Squirrels, and even a Myrmidon Squirrel showed up a few times. The creatures were starting to hit harder, and it was taking Heather several zaps of her flame dart to take one down now, but the loot was also getting slightly better over time. The red leather was dropping more often now, about one time in three, and the claws were getting longer and stronger. The Avenger and Myrmidon Squirrels dropped larger, wider pieces of leather, which Kylie thought could be used to make a longer, less revealing set of skirts, or a nice cloak eventually. The few times she¡¯d been stuck in the rain in game were miserable; her silken cloak, that she¡¯d had from the very beginning, did nothing to really help keep away the rain, and Heather didn¡¯t even have something as flimsy as that for herself. The forest itself was getting darker as the trees were growing taller and the vegetation thicker. Heather, being a natural elf, had no issues seeing in the gloom or twilight, but Kylie was an alter-elf. She didn¡¯t have that same natural elvish vision which helped see at night, so Kylie was having to squint and move much slower and carefully than before. All in all, she really didn¡¯t like the deep forest, even if the loot was better. As the evening passed, first William and then Darryl and Jason all contacted Kylie and fused at her. It took a lot of apologizing, and a promise not to put them on ignore again, before they finally relented and said they¡¯d forgive her. Asking William about how he was enjoying being trapped in a prison, his initial response was, ¡°Huh? What prison? I¡¯m in prison?¡± When Kylie mentioned that Sera had talked about him being trapped in a cell by an alchemist somewhere, William immediately changed his tune. ¡°Yep. It¡¯s cold and dark and gloomy and I¡¯m not doing nothing. Not doing nothing at all! And you can¡¯t prove I did!¡± Kylie half shivered as the hair on the back of her neck stood straight up. ¡°Not doing nothing¡± was a double negative, which meant William was doing something ¨C and she knew him well enough to know she didn¡¯t want to know to know anything more about whatever ¡°nothing¡± was that William was ¡°not doing¡±. Drun Kindwarf, Jason¡¯s character, was still loafing around the dwarven city, doing quests and working for the smiths and steadily improving his smithing and drinking abilities; and Johnb Jovi, Darryl¡¯s alter-ego, had moved on from the graveyard where Seran was last in game at, and was now roaming around the mountains killing sheep and protecting wolves. Normally, most would protect the sheep and kill the wolves, but apparently the rock giants kept the wolves as pets and they had to go out and hunt wild mountain sheep and rams to help feed the pups. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Just as Kylie and the boys had gotten around to discussing plans for the weekend, disaster stuck. From out of nowhere, several large, red, and thorn-covered vines began lashing out and striking at Heather and Kylie, while at the same time half a dozen various squirrels appeared in the treetops and began launching a hail of nuts down upon them. Heather was struck and slashed several times before they even knew what was happening, and then a barrage of nuts rained down and her health fell into the critical levels almost instantly. ¡°Shit! Heal!¡± Kylie yelled, as she struggled to push forward and past Heather to try and bash at the vines. ¡°Identify!¡± She screamed, and a message box indicating they were ¡°Bloodthorn Lashers¡± popped up. Heather staggered back and screamed ¡°Fireball!¡±, as she pointed up at the bunch of squirrels in the closest tree. Several rodents screeched in anger and scattered, but didn¡¯t run away. Several vines ripped out at Kylie and she tried desperately to dodge or block as many as possible with her staff, but still she was struck several times. A scattered barrage of nuts rained down indiscriminately between Kylie and Heather, and both were struck several times. ¡°What the Heal!¡± Kylie screamed as she healed herself and desperately tried to lash out at the nearest vine. She hit, but was much too occupied to try and look for the plant¡¯s core to see how much damage she may have did. ¡°Fireball!¡± Heather again launched another blast of flame up into the tops of the trees, where several more screeching shrieks of pain and anger echoed back. ¡°Damn this! They¡¯re everywhere,¡± she screamed as her spell was recovering for another use. The vines lashed out again, and Kylie screamed in pain as her health bar changed from red tinted to green. Poisoned! ¡°Oh Heal Shit!¡± She screamed as she tried to swing the staff overhead to help block any nuts she could from flying back towards Heather, as they rained down relentlessly once more. The Tangler hadn¡¯t been as difficult an opponent to try and heal and keep everyone alive with, compared to the pure mayhem that was cascading down all around them now. Another blast of fire shot up into the trees and several squirrels finally shimmered and disappeared, raining pelts and claws all around. ¡°Heal!¡± Kylie screamed, as she turned to focus her energy on Heather. Looking at her, Heather was bleeding and bruised in several places before the warm glow of blue-white healing magic washed over her and healed her. Nodding her head in thanks, Kylie couldn¡¯t help but try to smile back in encouragement. Pain ripped through Kylie¡¯s back as the red thorned vines lashed out while she was looking back and healing Heather, and the smile instantly faded to become a scream of agony. Her health dropped down into critical levels, and Kylie was certain she was going to die to the barrage of nuts from above. Instead, a large ball of flame shot out from behind, incinerating the nuts and blasting up into the treetops! ¡°HA!¡± Heather screamed in triumph as her spell had been triggered at exactly the perfect time. ¡°I¡¯m a genius,¡± she yelled, praising herself. ¡°Heal!¡± Kylie was too busy simply try to spam her healing spell as quickly as possible; she couldn¡¯t praise Heather, insult the squirrels, cuss the vines, or do anything else. The pressure to try and keep both of them healthy and up was simply too much to allow her to do much of anything else. Another lashing from the vines was followed once again by a well-timed fireball which vaporized the nuts and caused even more of the squirrels to shimmer and fade. ¡°We¡¯ve got this!¡± Kylie yelled, as the pressure on healing was being reduced thanks to Heather¡¯s careful timing. ¡°If my mana holds up,¡± Heather panted. Gritting her teeth, Kylie decided to trust in Heather being able to blast the nuts once again, and she stood her ground without attempting to dodge the vines; opting to bash out at them instead. Several deep lashes and gashes gushed blood after they struck her relentlessly, but much to her satisfaction, one of the vines shimmered and disappeared as she struck back while yelling, ¡°Heal!¡± Heather¡¯s timing was off with the next wave of nuts, but there were significantly fewer squirrels raining down nuts upon them. Doing a quick gauge of their heath, Kylie once again chose to accept the incoming barrage of vine attacks so she could retaliate and destroy another vine. The next wave of nuts Heather intercepted and the last of the squirrels shimmered and disappeared. ¡°That¡¯s it. My mana¡¯s gone.¡± Heather gasped, trying to catch her breath. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s run,¡± she suggested as she tried to pull Kylie away. ¡°Not yet! Heal!¡± Stubbornly, Kylie forced another heal on herself and bashed out at another vine. ¡°Grab a stick or anything and help me up here! We¡¯ve got this! We don¡¯t want to lose all this loot!¡± ¡°Fine.¡± Desperately, Heather looked around for something suitable to bash with, while the sound of frantic fighting and healing continued behind her. Not seeing anything immediately available, she hopped down into the creek and began grabbing up stones and tossing them into the forest where the vines seemed to be coming from. Even if she didn¡¯t hit anything, she was hoping she could distract them or something! For several long additional minutes, Kylie slowly battered down the vines as her mana dropped little by little. Just as she was beginning to think that even she might be pushed to her magical limit, the last vine shimmered and faded. Almost in disbelief that the battle was over, Heather and Kylie both glanced around nervously, jumping at the slightest movement of shadows or sound. ¡°Did we get them?¡± Heather asked finally. ¡°I think so,¡± Kylie replied. ¡°Quick, grab up all the loot you can and hold onto it! If something were to pop up now, we¡¯d end up dead and would lose it all! Sera said death only makes you lose a single item that you¡¯re carrying, so losing one thing would be a whole hell of a lot better than losing all this!¡± ¡°I¡¯m on it!¡± Heather confirmed, as she crawled out of the creek and began frantically gathering anything that even resembled loot. After a few moments, she stopped and pointed. ¡°Kylie, there¡¯s a hole in the hillside there!¡± Looking up from where she was stuffing her own bags, Kylie strained her eyes but couldn¡¯t make anything out in the dense darkness of the forest foliage. ¡°We¡¯ll check it in a moment! Do you see anything else to grab?¡± ¡°I think that¡¯s it,¡± Heather replied as she scanned the forest all about. Nodding, Kylie slowly approached where Heather had pointed. As she got closer, she noticed It as well ¨C a vine covered entrance of some sort, with a dark tunnel leading down into the earth. Swallowing back her fear, Kylie slowly started forward and peered into the darkness as far as she could. ¡°It looks like a tunnel of some sort,¡± she finally said. Starting a few feet into the darkness, a window popped up, scaring her half to death.
Congratulations! You have discovered a forgotten dungeon! Item drops will increase for the next 72 hours for this zone. Experience will increase by 100% for the next 72 hours in this zone. No one outside your party will be allowed entry into this zone for the next 72 hours. As the discover of this dungeon, you have the right to name it. What would you like to call this dungeon?
Blinking, Kylie just stared back out at Heather, uncertain what to do next. Not a Chapter: End of Book 1 Looking at the manuscript for this story, it now comes to 86,551 words -- which is quite a bit more than my target goal for the first book, and yet hasn''t reached the "conclusion" to the arc that I''ve wanted it to, but which still seems far in the distance. Winter''s Tale isn''t supposed to be an epic fantasy masterpiece with 80,000+ word books. It''s supposed to be something light, easy to read, and an enjoyable little break from reality for a bit. I was hoping to keep it within the generally acceptable limits of a "light novel", but we''ve already surpassed that mark. (Generally speaking, a "light novel" is around 40 - 60,000 words, and Winter''s Tale is well past that count already. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_novel ) Part of the issue with the length, I''m finding, is the fact that Winter''s Tale is trying to deal with the events in both the virtual world and the real world at the same time. In some ways, it seems like it''s two stories rolled into one, and that''s moving the plot slower, and requiring a larger word count than I''d first estimated for things. If I were to continue on to where I was thinking the break in the "books" should go, we might be looking at another 25 chapters and 40,000 words, at this rate! And that''s just too much! Someday, I''d like to get something actually picked up and professionally published (who wouldn''t, right?), and 130k+ words just doesn''t cut it that well in today''s world of publishing. For an excellent article on acceptable novel lengths, check out the article here: http://theswivet.blogspot.ca/2008/03/on-word-counts-and-novel-length.html And what''s all this mean, regarding Winter''s Tale? It means that it''s time to say "Book One: Entering the Tale" is now complete. The story is at a nice transition point here, in many ways. Relationships are starting to grow and change, Kyle and Heather are beginning the transition from the forest to the dungeon; Sera is dealing with the change in where she''s staying, running the restaurant, and watching Kyle and Heather grow closer... Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Lots of things are changing and evolving, and trying to sort those out will probably be best served by putting them in Book 2, where they won''t keep adding unnecessary bloat to the first book. (I''d hate to submit 130k words somewhere for publishing and then get told, "Cut this down to 80k at the most." I think I''d faint trying to sort out what all to remove!) So to sum things up: Winter''s Tale 01 -- Entering the Tale is now complete,. (Current Book Stats for those curious: 50 chapters, 86,551 words, Average of 1731 words per chapter) Winter''s Tale 02 -- Title TBD will pick up at the end of Book 1 and continue the story on from there. So what''s this mean for RRL releases with Winter''s Tale? Not much. The next chapter will be posted and follow directly along after the last one. The only thing that RRL readers will have to deal with is a small break so I can organize my notes, assemble together an index of important people/places/things, go back and do some internal editing and correcting of things, and then compile all the existing chapters into *.epub and *.mobi format for people to enjoy. This editing and compilation time usually takes me a week to two weeks (depending on how much I need to alter, edit, and correct), so there won''t be any releases here (or in my other works hosted on the site), until that''s finished. After editing and compilation is done, I''ll offer you guys a link here where you can download the story for free, if you want to save an offline version for reading or sharing elsewhere.. And then after that? Back to the usual rotational update schedule between The Fallen Ascending, Winter''s Tale, and The 8th Day (if I don''t back up and do a "reboot" of sorts on The 8th Day; I''m still undecided on what I want to do with it.) ;) Index of Important Things (Book 1) People in the Real World: ? Kyle ¨C our main protagonist and hero (?) of the story! ? Kyle¡¯s Grandfather ¨C CEO of VRIM (Virtual Reality Information Media) ? Kyle¡¯s Mother ¨C Kyle¡¯s mom, who works long, grueling hours as a nurse. No nonsense woman, who isn¡¯t active in her child¡¯s life half as much as she wants to be. ? Franklin ¨C Sera¡¯s father. Huge mountain of a man, with more money than you can shake a stick at. ? Sera(phine) ¨C red-haired, busty neighbor¡¯s daughter. Grew up with and around Kyle and now they¡¯re both struggling with mixed feelings as to their relationship. Almost siblings, yet attracted to each other and wanting more ¨C do they dare take that leap forward to try and become something else? ? Fanny ¨C Sera¡¯s eccentrically creative mother. Writes, produces plays, tells stories, gets lost in her own fantasies and sometimes loses track of the rest of the world. ? Heather ¨C Sera¡¯s best friend. Generally has a strong dislike for most men/boys. ? Darryl ¨C Scrawny, tall young man with a patch of scattered stubble he likes to call a beard. ? Jason ¨C overweight, shy boy. Suffers from hypothyroidism, which causes him to be tired all the time and have an excessively slow metabolism. He¡¯s arguably the smartest of them all. ? William ¨C hyperactive, non-stop runt. William is simply William. He has one speed ¨C William ¨C and does everything at his own pace. Impossible to keep up with. People in Winter¡¯s Tale: ? Nan ¨C Kylie¡¯s caretaker at the palace. Sacrificed her own life to help Kylie escape when the council order her death. Dropped one single copper coin on death. ? Kylie ¨C Kyle¡¯s Character. Female Alter-elf, proficient mainly in healing and producing unreasonably huge amounts of mana. ? Seran ¨C Sera¡¯s Character. Male Wildman. Brash, wildly unstoppable warrior style character. Has earned an unique hammer that levels as he does. ? Lady Heather ¨C Heather¡¯s Character. Lady is actually her first name and Heather is her last name in game. She¡¯s an elven wizard who specializes in fire magic. ? Crusher Badass ¨C William¡¯s Character¡¯s actual name. He thought it was funny, changed his mind, and now only answers to ¡®William¡¯ in game ¨C but he is, indeed, ¡°Crusher Badass¡±. ? Johnb Jovi ¨C Darryl¡¯s Character. A Rock Giant, who has obtained the rank of Rock Tosser. ? Drun Kindwarf ¨C Jason¡¯s Character. A dwarf who likes to drink a lot, he¡¯s a DrunKin dwarf. Plays a smith and isn¡¯t interested in anything except drinking, home life, and smithing. Places: ? X¡¯entia ¨C Land of the High Elves, where Kylie was exiled from and lost her position as 2nd princess. ? Unknown Forest ¨C The place where Kylie was transported to when Nan sacrificed her life to help her escape the X¡¯entian Palace. ? Franklin¡¯s ¨C Local restaurant (sawdust floors, rough wood hewn counter, with log table and chairs); an eccentric place! ? Ridgewood Private Academy ¨C The school which Kyle, Sera, and all the others attend ? Berkshire Republic ¨C Country where William started Winter Tale with his character, though he didn¡¯t stay there long. ? Berk ¨C large starting city in the Berkshire Republic where many humans can begin the game at. Terminology: ? VRIG -- Virtual Reality Interactive Gear ? NID - Neural Interface Device (outdated and outlawed technology predating the VRIG) ? Azamon Online ¨C Large online internet shopping company, not at all related to Amazon Online. :P ? ¡°Sounds good. Save me some.¡± ¨C An inside joke between Kyle and Sera¡¯s family. Mostly nonsensical, can be used at any time and for nearly any purpose. TABLES, CHARTS, AND POP-UPS: Chapter 2: Kylie¡¯s Status Screen
Name: NoneClass: NoneLevel: 0
Race: X¡¯entian Elf (Altered)Experience: 0 / 1000
Title: Princess of X¡¯entiaStatus: 2nd PrincessCP: 0
HP: 20 / 20MP: 200 / 200SP: 20 / 20
PD: 0 (10)DR: 0MD: 0
STR: 10KNO: 100WIL: 10
AGI: 100MYS: 100PRE: 200
END: 10SPI: 10LUC: 10
TALENTS
Mystical Regen: 7.5 ¨C Recovers mystical energy at 7.5 times the normal character rate
SPELLS
HEAL: 40 -- heals 40 HP for 1 MP
SKILLS
Chapter3: Inventory
ItemPositionDurabilityNotes
Silk NightyTorso3 / 3Stylish and elegant, offers no protection and is easily torn and damaged
Silken HeelsShoes3 / 3Six inch heeled footwear that only royalty would wear. Completely useless and impractical for most people.
Silken CloakBack5 /5A ceremonial cloak, offering minimal protection from the elements.
Chapter 3: Quests
QuestDescription
Naming RitesComplete the traditional ceremony to choose a name for yourself. Difficulty: F Reward: Character Name, 100 EXP
Survive!Do not die. The elven council has ordered your death, and you should not bow to their whims and wishes. Difficulty: * SPECIAL ¨C Increases in difficulty, over time * Reward: * SPECIAL ¨C Increased experience bonus, over time * Limitation: * SPECIAL ¨C Experience loss due to death increases, over time *
Kingdom ReclamationThe council¡¯s order to execute you was not well received by the king. His refusal to obey the council¡¯s decision has led to the elven nation of X¡¯entia falling into rebellion, revolution, and chaos. Reclaim the kingdom for your family! Difficulty: * UNIQUE ¨C Game altering quest; of the highest order.* Reward: Restoration of Title, Cancellation of Council¡¯s Death Order
Chapter 5: Identify Failure
Name Damage Durability Notes
Rough Wooden Staff** / ** -- skill not high enough to identify
Chapter 5: Generic Information Pop-up
You must wait 10 seconds before using that skill again.
Congratulations! Your skill in Identify has improved (1)!
Chapter 5: Identify Success
Name Damage Durability Notes
Rough Wooden Staff1 - 35 / 5A rough wooden stick found anywhere trees grow. Has almost no value.
Chapter 6: Kylie¡¯s Status Screen
Name: NoneClass: NoneLevel: 0
Race: X¡¯entian Elf (Altered)Experience: 0 / 1000
Title: Exiled Princess of X¡¯entiaStatus: Exile, Wanted CriminalCP: 0
HP: 20 / 20MP: 196 / 200SP: 20 / 20
PD: 0 (10)DR: 0MD: 0
STR: 10KNO: 100WIL: 10
AGI: 100MYS: 100PRE: 200
END: 10SPI: 10LUC: 10
TALENTS
Mystical Regen: 7.5 ¨C Recovers mystical energy at 7.5 times the normal character rate
SPELLS
HEAL: 40 -- heals 40 HP for 1 MP
SKILLS
Identify: 3 ¨C Allows identification of basic items or creatures.
Chapter 8: Elven Trail Bread
NameDamageDurabilityNotes
Elven Trail BreadNA18 / 20Bread baked by master elven chefs. Has a limitless shelf life and requires consuming very little for a meal. Those that eat a meal of this recover health and mana 25% faster, for a period up to twelve hours after eating.
Chapter 8: First Monster Defeat
Congratulations! You have defeated an unknown vine! You gain 10 experience. You need 990 more to the next level.
Chapter 8: Low Durability Warning
Warning! Your silken heels have low durability (1 / 5)!
Warning! Your silken heels have been destroyed!
Chapter 8: Green Leaf
NameDamageDurabilityNotes
Sturdy Green LeafNA10 / 10A durable green leaf of unknown properties. This item may be used in crafting.
Chapter 9: Identify Tangleroot Creeper (Insufficient)
Creature Identification: Tangleroot Creeper
Level: 3 HP: 25 / 25 ** Other information unavailable due to insufficient skill in Identify.
Chapter 9: New Bestiary Entry (Tangleroot Creeper)
Congratulations! You have uncovered a new creature for your bestiary! (Tangleroot Creeper) You have been awarded 50 experience! You need 930 more to the next level. Tangleroot Creepers will now be counted for ¡°Plant Slayer¡± achievements.
Chapter 9: Identified Creature Kill
Congratulations! You have defeated a Tangleroot Creeper! You gain 20 experience. You need 910 more to the next level. You need 9 more kills for the Beginner Plant Slayer achievement!
Chapter 9: Achievement Unlocked
Congratulations! You have unlocked the Beginner Plant Slayer achievement! Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.You gain 1 strength. You gain 1 endurance. You now have a 5% bonus to hit and damage plant-type monsters. You gain 100 experience. You need 630 more to the next level.
Chapter 13: Several Pop-ups, but no new ones worth indexing Chapter 17: Death
You have been slain! You lose 0 experience. You need 1,000 more to your next level. You have 30 minutes till forced respawn.
Chapter 17: Force Respawn
Would you like to force respawn now? Warning: Doing so will result in an inability to be resurrected or regain any lost experience.
Chapter 17: Item Lost to Death
Warning: You have lost a random item, due to death. Gray Wolf Kilt has been removed from your inventory!
Chapter 25: Elvish Naming Ceremony Quest Completed
Congratulations! You have completed a traditional elven naming ceremony! ** One with the blood of a royal or elder, has announced your name to a diverse group of peoples. ** One of pure elven blood has accepted and witnessed the name. ** At least three others have witnessed and accepted the name. ** The ceremony was started and completed on the same moonday. You gain 500 xp! You have advanced a level! You gain 2 HP! You gain 20 MP! You gain 5 CP! You now need 1940 experience to level 2! Your name shall now be Kylie el X¡¯entia!
Chapter 26: Kylie¡¯s Status Screen
Name: Kylie el X¡¯entiaClass: NoneLevel: 1
Race: X¡¯entian Elf (Altered)Experience: 480 / 2000
Title: Exiled Princess of X¡¯entiaStatus: Exile, Wanted CriminalCP: 0
HP: 34 / 34MP: 220 / 220SP: 20 / 20
PD: 0 (10)DR: 0MD: 0
STR: 11KNO: 100WIL: 10
AGI: 100MYS: 100PRE: 200
END: 16SPI: 10LUC: 10
TALENTS
Mystical Regen: 7.5 ¨C Recovers mystical energy at 7.5 times the normal character rate
Beginner Plant Slayer ¨C 5% bonus to hit and damage plant-type monsters.
SPELLS
HEAL: 40 -- heals 40 HP for 1 MP
SKILLS
Identify ¨C Allows identification of basic items or creatures. (9)
Fighting ¨C Quarterstaff (1)
Tailoring ¨C Tailoring allows players to cut and weave various materials into armor, bags, shirts, and other items. (1)
Chapter 39: The Tangler
Creature Identification: The Tangler
Level: 7 HP: 200 / 200 Weak to fire, cold, disease. Immune to poison, electricity. Leech from water, poison, life. ** Other information unavailable due to insufficient skill in Identify.
Chapter 39: Elite Bestiary Entry
Congratulations! You have uncovered a new elite creature for your bestiary! (The Tangler) You have been awarded 100 experience! You need 400 more to the next level.
Chapter 39: Achievement Award: Monster Sage
Congratulations! You are the first player to discover, and identify, The Tangler. You have been awarded the title, ¡°Monster Sage (Novice)¡± You have been awarded 1,000 experience! You have advanced a level! You gain 2 HP! You gain 20 MP! You gain 5 CP! You now need 3400 experience to level3!
Chapter 39: Kylie¡¯s Status Screen
Name: Kylie el X¡¯entiaClass: NoneLevel: 2
Race: X¡¯entian Elf (Altered)Experience: 600 / 4000
Title: Exiled Princess of X¡¯entia, Monster Sage (Novice)Status: Exile, Wanted CriminalCP: 5
HP: 36 / 36MP: 240 / 240SP: 20 / 20
PD: 0 (10)DR: 0MD: 0
STR: 11KNO: 100WIL: 10
AGI: 100MYS: 100PRE: 200
END: 16SPI: 10LUC: 10
TALENTS
Mystical Regen: 7.5 ¨C Recovers mystical energy at 7.5 times the normal character rate
Beginner Plant Slayer ¨C 5% bonus to hit and damage plant-type monsters.
Monster Sage (Novice) ¨C5% bonus to identify elite monsters. 10% bonus to loot roots for elite monsters.
SPELLS
HEAL: 40 -- heals 40 HP for 1 MP
SKILLS
Identify ¨C Allows identification of basic items or creatures. (11)
Fighting ¨C Quarterstaff (6)
Dodge (3)
Tailoring ¨C Tailoring allows players to cut and weave various materials into armor, bags, shirts, and other items. (3)
Chapter 40: The Tangler (Non-Death Status)
Creature Identification: The Tangler
Level: 7 HP: 0 / 200 Weak to fire, cold, disease. Immune to poison, electricity. Leech from water, poison, life. ** Other information unavailable due to insufficient skill in Identify.
Chapter 40: The Tangler¡¯s Seed Options
Congratulations! You have discovered The Tangler¡¯s Seed!
The Tangler was once a peaceful guardian of The Everlost Forest, before it was corrupted by an ancient evil. Destroying the seed will result in the permanent destruction of this once great guardian, and legend states that doing so will reward those that accomplish such a feat of great power. Of course, it may also be possible to cleanse the seed and restore the creature to its natural state ¨C but who knows if such an action would have any reward at all to doing so! Do you wish to accept the task to restore The Tangler to its former glory?
Yes (Will be given the quest ¡°Tangler: Restoration¡±)
No (Immediate experience and item award)
Chapter 41: Party Quest: The Tangler¡¯s Restoration
Party Quest: The Tangler¡¯s Restoration!
The Tangler was once a peaceful guardian of The Everlost Forest, before it was corrupted by an ancient evil. You, and your current companions, have all decided to undertake the great and difficult task to cleanse The Tangler¡¯s seed. Your first order of business is to discover The Ruins of Old Kalash, and see what you can unearth there about the corruption that has altered The Tangler. ? ? ? ? * Other stages will be updated as progress in the quest is obtained.
Chapter 48: Tailoring Success ¨C Ragged Leather Micro-skirt
Congratulations! You have created a Ragged Leather Micro-skirt! You gain 10 experience. You gain 0 fame in Tailoring.
Chapter 48: Ragged Leather Micro-skirt Information Screen
ItemPositionDurabilityNotes
Ragged Leather Micro-skirtWaist10 / 10A very crude skirt made of poor leather. Offers minimal protection (PD: 1) and the barest essentials of modesty. This appears to have been created by a complete novice, with the roughest of tools.
Chapter 50: Unnamed Dungeon Discovery
Congratulations! You have discovered a forgotten dungeon! Item drops will increase for the next 72 hours for this zone. Experience will increase by 100% for the next 72 hours in this zone. No one outside your party will be allowed entry into this zone for the next 72 hours. As the discover of this dungeon, you have the right to name it. What would you like to call this dungeon?
Chapter 50+: Kylie¡¯s Status Screen
Name: Kylie el X¡¯entiaClass: NoneLevel: 3
Race: X¡¯entian Elf (Altered)Experience: 3100 / 8000
Title: Exiled Princess of X¡¯entia, Monster Sage (Novice)Status: Exile, Wanted CriminalCP: 0
HP: 39 / 39MP: 262 / 262SP: 20 / 20
PD: 0 (10)DR: 0MD: 0
STR: 11KNO: 100WIL: 10
AGI: 100MYS: 100PRE: 200
END: 16SPI: 10LUC: 10
TALENTS
Mystical Regen: 7.5 ¨C Recovers mystical energy at 7.5 times the normal character rate
Beginner Plant Slayer ¨C 5% bonus to hit and damage plant-type monsters.
Monster Sage (Novice) ¨C5% bonus to identify elite monsters. 10% bonus to loot roots for elite monsters.
SPELLS
HEAL: 40 -- heals 40 HP for 1 MP
SKILLS
Identify ¨C Allows identification of basic items or creatures. (13)
Fighting ¨C Quarterstaff (10)
Dodge (7)
Tailoring ¨C Tailoring allows players to cut and weave various materials into armor, bags, shirts, and other items. (12)
Climbing (3)
Jewelcrafting (1)
Chapter 51: Idiots Paradise ¡°Sera¡¯s Twat!¡±, Kylie suddenly shouted with a grin. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t you dare,¡± Heather warned, as a confirmation pop-up appeared before the two of them.
Do you want to name this Dungeon: ¡°Sera¡¯s Twat?¡± (Majority approval from the party that discovered this dungeon to be accepted.)
¡°Yes!¡±, Kylie shouted. ¡°No.¡±, Heather vetoed the option. ¡°She¡¯ll kill you and me both if she ever found out about such a silly name.¡± A new window popped up as soon as she declared her vote.
The name ¡°Sera¡¯s Twat" was rejected. It did not meet majority approval from the party. What would you like to call this dungeon?
Pouting, Kylie simply stared at Heather. ¡°Then you pick a name, if you don¡¯t like mine.¡± Thinking for a moment, Heather finally nodded. ¡°Idiot¡¯s Paradise,¡± she finally answered, and the confirmation window popped up again.
Do you want to name this Dungeon: ¡°Idiot¡¯s Paradise?¡± (Majority approval from the party that discovered this dungeon to be accepted.)
¡°Fine,¡± Kylie shrugged and then nodded. ¡°I approve, but I still like my choice more,¡± she pouted. ¡°Yes,¡± Heather confirmed. ¡°It¡¯s ¡®Idiot¡¯s Paradise.¡± Once again, the popup window disappeared and another one took its place once the voting was done.
Congratulations! You have successfully named this dungeon, ¡®Idiot¡¯s Paradise¡¯. For someone to alter this name, they must successful conquer the dungeon core and claim ownership of this dungeon. Idiot¡¯s Paradise is currently an unowned dungeon.
¡°An unowned dungeon?¡± Kylie asked, shocked. ¡°Does that mean if we conquer the dungeon core ¨C whatever that is ¨C that we become the owners of this dungeon?¡± ¡°That¡¯s what it certainly sounds like,¡± Heather agreed. ¡°What do you say? Want to go inside and check it out? Wouldn¡¯t it be something if we could take the dungeon ourselves! Let¡¯s give it a shot!¡± ¡°Sure!¡± Kylie readily agreed. ¡°But I¡¯d like to take a little while on the inside to see about repairing our stuff a bit, and maybe make some extra armor from all the things that just fell, before we trying going in too much deeper.¡± ¡°Sounds like a plan then,¡± Heather agreed. ¡°We¡¯ll go in just far enough to peek around a bit, find somewhere safe, and let you do some patchwork and armor making. Usually, most dungeons in games have a safe spot somewhere near the entrance so people can prepare to gather their group and go in deeper. I don¡¯t see why Winter¡¯s Tale doesn¡¯t do similar.¡± ¡°Well, I wouldn¡¯t completely rely on that. Winter¡¯s Tale doesn¡¯t seem to follow half the rules of the rest of the games I¡¯ve ever played,¡± Kylie warned. ¡°Let¡¯s just go in, take it slow and easy, and see if there¡¯s someplace safe to work. With the way we got swarmed out here, I don¡¯t think I want to just stand around at the entrance all day long and wait for that to happen once more.¡± Without saying anything else, Heather pushed past and slowly started to make her way down the darkened tunnel. After a bit, she disappeared out of sight and Kylie rushed to catch up with her. There was a moment where Kylie was afraid she might be stuck in the dark forever, but then it quickly passed and a dimly lit cave opened up in front of her. ¡°I was thinking it might be like this,¡± Heather said, smirking. ¡°A lot of games have ¡®zones¡¯ where you transition from one playing field to another. That dark entrance seems to be the ¡®zone in¡¯ for this dungeon. I was a little worried that the whole place might be dark and require us to either make torches or use magic to see, but I¡¯m glad that¡¯s not the case. And, I¡¯m glad to see that we can use the same tunnel for the ¡®zone out¡¯. Some games have a one-way entrance, with you having to go through the whole place before finding the exit,¡± Heather stated, knowledgeably. Glancing around, the entry room was nothing more than a simple cave with a few tunnels leading off in different directions. The floors and ceiling were dirt, with a strange stone intermingled throughout that gave off an eerily greenish-yellow illumination. It was dark in the cave, but not unbearably so. Kylie could make out things nearby in the cavern, but the dim light quickly swallowed her sight if she tried to peer deeply down a tunnel. It was a lot like having dim candles scattered at irregular intervals ¨C enough to see by, but not so much light that you didn¡¯t feel the looming presence of the dark all around either. ¡°Over here looks like it might be a safe spot to rest,¡± Heather pointed to one of the tunnels. ¡°It looks like a little alcove in there, and we could probably use it to get away from the entrance a bit, in case anything tries to wander in and out of here like some of those squirrels from up top.¡± ¡°Sounds good,¡± Kylie agreed, as she slowly walked into the tunnel Heather had pointed out. ¡°Apparently your eyes are a lot better in here than mine are,¡± she told Heather. ¡°So, I¡¯m going to rely on you to be the lookout in here for me. I don¡¯t think the elven sub-race I chose has a natural night vision ability like yours does.¡± ¡°That¡¯s OK,¡± Heather said as she followed into the small chamber she¡¯d pointed out. ¡°I¡¯ll keep an eye out for any sign of trouble while you do the armorwork for us. It¡¯ll be nice in a way to have something constructive I can do, besides just blast things to pieces.¡± ¡°Not that blasting things isn¡¯t important too,¡± Kylie informed her as she slowly stripped out of her micro-skirt and slid into her spare. ¡°Without you killing the things and getting the drops for us, I wouldn¡¯t have the items to make armor or to repair it. Blasting things is quite important, if you ask me.¡± The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Well¡­¡± Heather shrugged slightly, as she began to strip off her own tattered skirt and shawl. ¡°I just feel like I should be doing more sometimes, you know?¡± Tossing the two items over to Kylie to catch, Heather pulled her spare skirt out and pulled it up. ¡°You¡¯re fighting. You¡¯re healing. You¡¯re identifying things, making armor, and now even making jewelry. All I¡¯m doing is blasting things to pieces and picking up loot. Sometimes it just doesn¡¯t feel like I¡¯m pulling my weight.¡± ¡°Pish-posh,¡± Kylie laughed. ¡°If you look at it like that, all I¡¯m doing is sitting around and playing with fur and claws, and trying to stitch them together. You¡¯re out fighting everything, getting injured and hurt, and gathering all the loot, while I¡¯m just leeching experience and items off you. Thinking like that, I¡¯m worthless and not pulling my weight, and that line of thought¡¯s all wrong too. We¡¯re working together, doing what we can to support each other, and working together as a group ¨C and that¡¯s what we should be doing. ¡°You¡¯re pulling your weight just fine,¡± Kylie reaffirmed. ¡°Now quit moping about not doing enough and keep watch while I play with the furs and claws for a bit! Sheesh!¡± Laughing, Heather walked over and ruffled Kylie¡¯s hair gently. Laughing a second time, she suddenly leaned down and grabbed both of Kylie¡¯s breasts in her hands and squeezed them firmly. Slowly, she let her hands lightly slide away, lingering on the nipples for a moment, before lightly pinching and tugging them once before letting go and then turning to walk over where she could sit and watch out the tunnel and keep an eye out for any trouble which might approach. Kylie smiled at the head rubbing, and then stiffed and turned bright red as Heather groped her breasts and tugged on her nipples. Blushing, she stared down at her own chest wordlessly and blinked at the stiffened nipples, as if they had somehow betrayed her. Bewildered, she had to admit -- It was hard to be a girl around Heather! For several long moments, Kylie simply sat and tried to sort out the confused emotions that she was feeling, before finally giving up and pushing them to the side. Heather was¡­ complicated to say the least, to be around. Playing a female, while being a male, was just as complicated. Trying to sort out the way she felt about both right now was simply impossible, so instead she decided to focus on her crafting. For several hours, Kylie sat and stitched pieces of leather together like she had before. The more she practiced the process, the faster she was getting, and with the addition of stronger, sharper claws to use, she made much better time than before. As the in-game time limit was rapidly approaching for their evening session, Kylie finally motioned for Heather. ¡°Heather, come on over here and give this a try and see what you think. I think I¡¯ve got most of a leather suit crafted for you now.¡± ¡°A suit?¡± Heather asked, as she slowly got up and walked over. ¡°Well¡­¡± Kylie blushed and then shrugged slightly. ¡°Not quite. You¡¯ll see,¡± she said as she pointed to a small stack of items nearby. Looking a little puzzled, Heather leaned down and picked up the first item ¨C her shawl ¨C and slide it over her head like before, to let it rest above her breasts. The next item she picked up was a single piece of leather with holes sewn in either side of it. Puzzled, she looked at Kylie with an eyebrow raised, uncertain what it was for. ¡°That¡¯s a bracer,¡± Kylie clarified. ¡°Wrap it around your lower arm, and lace it up like you did the sides of the skirt. It¡¯ll help protect your arms a little better.¡± Blushing, Kylie laughed lightly. ¡°I¡¯m afraid that I don¡¯t have a clue how to make a shirt, or anything like that. I¡¯ve never stitched a lick in the real world, so this is all a new experience for me. ¡°Besides,¡± she explained, ¡°the more items I have to stitch together, the greater the chance for failure is. I was thinking piecemeal armor might be the best way to go for now. There¡¯s similar bracers for the upper arms, upper and lower legs, and a basic wrap around girdle for the stomach.¡± ¡°Oh, so no bra or top, you pervert?¡± Heather said, cocking an eyebrow slightly. ¡°Umm¡­.¡± Blushing, Kylie stared at her hands and twiddled her fingers together nervously. ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m afraid not. I don¡¯t know how the heck to make anything like that, yet.¡± ¡°Good!¡± Heather laughed all at once and then leaned down and repeated groping Kylie again. ¡°Then these won¡¯t be getting away from me for a while longer, at least!¡± ¡°Uhh¡­ umm¡­¡± Kylie was trying to think of a comeback to say to that, when the screen went black and her character slowly nodded over ¨C she¡¯d exceeded the four hours a character was allowed to play and was now in forced sleep mode. ¡®Phew!¡¯, Kylie thought; she¡¯d never been so happy to be forced asleep before! ¡°Looks like my time is up for now,¡± she told Heather through the friend chat channel. ¡°Are you going to be around tomorrow? I know we¡¯re not all getting together like we did last weekend, but that still doesn¡¯t mean we can¡¯t set a time to log in together and try and explore this place some.¡± ¡°How¡¯s eight sound?¡± Heather asked. ¡°Then we can play from eight till noon, and take a two-hour break for lunch. Then we can log back in and play till six, take a break till eight, and then log back in one last time until midnight. We¡¯ve only got seventy-two hours to enjoy the item and experience drops from the bonus for finding this place. Let¡¯s take advantage of that as much as we can, since it¡¯s the weekend.¡± ¡°That sounds excellent to me,¡± Kylie confirmed. ¡°For now, I¡¯m going to log on out and I¡¯ll see you tomorrow.¡± ¡°Awww.. You don¡¯t have to go,¡± Heather teased. ¡°I was just having soooo much fun with your helpless, angelic-looking self as you lay here sleeping.¡± Half shivering imagining what Heather might be doing to her, Kylie commanded, ¡°Log Out!¡± Chapter 52: Motherly Advice Pulling off his helm, Kyle slowly stretched and looked around. In some of the animes that he¡¯d watched, people would log into the virtual world for twenty hours a day and grind, grind, grind their way to power. Living the reality though was somewhat different, and Kyle was actually glad that the game had a built in sleep function. Somebody someday would probably find a hack around it, but even if they did, it wouldn¡¯t be something that Kyle would ever use ¨C four hours of letting his body lie there in rest while his mind was occupied elsewhere was crazy hard on the body. Even as a young teen like him, it made him stiff and sore sometimes; leaving Kyle to simply imagine what large gaps of inactivity would do to a person over time. If he was going to become a professional gamer and earn a living by playing in the virtual worlds out there, sooner or later he was going to have to find a way to help address the problem and find balance. He couldn¡¯t imagine what lying motionless for forty plus hours a week would do to a person over a long term period. Making a mental note to ask his mother about how worried he should be, or what steps he should take so it doesn¡¯t become something that¡¯ll kill him when he¡¯s forty. Finally finishing stretching, Kyle eased out of his room and tip-toed down the hallway. Sera had plenty of time to finish her detention at school, and was probably lurking around somewhere since he hadn¡¯t seen her name highlight in game this evening. Being slow and stealthy, Kyle peeked around the corner of the door which opened into the guest room where Sera was staying, but didn¡¯t see her there. Shrugging slightly to himself in disappointment, Kyle finally walked on past the door and down the stairs. It¡¯d be impossible to sneak down the stairs anyway, the way some of the steps creaked and groaned naturally, so he wasn¡¯t even going to bother in even trying. Getting at the bottom of the steps, he heard some voices speaking quietly in the kitchen, so he headed that way. Sera and his mother were sitting at the kitchen table, Sera drinking hot chocolate and his mom drinking a cup of coffee, when he walked in. ¡°Waters hot, if you want a cup,¡± his mom offered, changing the subject from whatever her and Sera had been whispering about together. ¡°Uhm.. Sure.¡± Kyle said hesitantly, uncertain if he was interrupting something he shouldn¡¯t be. He was a guy, so he knew not to intrude in girl talk ¨C especially if it was between a nurse like his mom and a girl. The things he¡¯d heard her blabbering about with a female patient over the phone sometimes made his young male self cringe and want to hide. ¡°I¡¯m not intruding, or interrupting anything, am I?¡± He asked tentatively, prepared to fake an excuse and run away at the first sign of trouble. Glancing over at his mother, Sera just shook her head slightly from side to side. ¡°Nah. We were just talking about father being a real pain in the ass. I just needed to vent over the state of things at the restaurant. It¡¯s a mess, and I don¡¯t know when ¨C or if ¨C it¡¯s ever going to get sorted out. Even the guys he hired to work on it are in there crying and joking about how it might be better to ¡®accidentally¡¯ burn the place down, collect the insurance, and simply rebuild and start over. It¡¯s crazy!¡± ¡°And, like I told you before,¡± his mom reached across and slowly squeezed Sera¡¯s hand which was resting on the table, ¡°you¡¯re young. Things seem to take a long time to sort out at your age, and you haven¡¯t developed a bit of patience. As you get older, it gets easier to wait and let things take their natural course. Sometimes, if you push something too hard, you just make it worse in the long run. Slow and steady, dipped in sugar instead of vinegar, wins the race.¡± ¡°Yeah! It¡¯ll all work out,¡± Kyle encouraged, clueless to both women rolling their eyes behind his back as he was fixing his chocolate. ¡°Those guys just need a little time to sort it all out. Surely it can¡¯t be that bad; your dad did have to file taxes on Franklin¡¯s every year. All that paperwork has to be in there somewhere where he either just filed, or was getting ready to file for this year.¡± Laughing lightly, Sera simply shook her head from side to side while getting up to walk over and hug him quickly and gently. ¡°Thanks Kyle,¡± was all she said as she let go and walked out of the kitchen to head upstairs. ¡°I¡¯m going to take me a shower and then log in and play for a little while tonight before bed. I¡¯ll see both of you tomorrow. I¡¯ll take that advice, Ma, and take the weekend off and let the professionals have a little time to sort out the taxes and all.¡± ¡°Hey,¡± Kyle called out behind her, ¡°don¡¯t stay in game too long tonight. Heather and I are going to try and meet up in game around eight in the morning and explore a dungeon together. I know you aren¡¯t right there with us, but why don¡¯t you log in and join us anyway. We can still all talk and joke around through the party chat and all.¡± Sera didn¡¯t reply, so Kyle wasn¡¯t certain if she¡¯d heard and was going to join them or not. Half shrugging to himself as it wasn¡¯t something to worry too much about one way or the other, Kyle asked his mother, ¡°Anything good to eat down here? What¡¯d you women-folk have for supper?¡± ¡°I fixed a salad and Sera ate some Chinese which she brought home with her,¡± his mother informed him. ¡°She must¡¯ve either stopped somewhere on the way in, or else had it delivered to the restaurant while she was there earlier. I don¡¯t think there¡¯s any left, but there¡¯s still plenty of other things in the fridge and cabinets so you can fix something for yourself. You¡¯re not going to starve.¡± ¡°But moooom! I¡¯m gonna starve,¡± whined Kyle, helplessly. His mother simply lifted her cup, sipped on her coffee, and ignored him. ¡°Fine.¡± Kyle knew when to admit defeat. ¡°I¡¯ll stick the barbeque in the microwave and nuke it and just fix me a few sandwiches.¡± ¡°See,¡± his mother encouraged, all-knowingly, ¡°I knew you wouldn¡¯t starve to death.¡± Muttering under his breath ¨C too quietly for his mother to understand what he was saying ¨C Kyle complained about how unfair his life was and how difficult women were in general, as he went about fixing his own snack. As he was smearing some mayonnaise on his buns, Kyle finally settled down enough to ask, ¡°Mom, while it¡¯s on my mind, I wanted to ask ¨C is there any problems with lying down and staying in the virtual world too long? Sometimes I end up all stiff and sluggish after I¡¯ve been in there for a while. If I want to become a professional gamer, is that something I need to watch out for? Something I can do to keep it from being a problem?¡± The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Straightening up a little in her chair, his mom pointed to the spot across the table from her that Sera had occupied just a little while ago. ¡°Sit,¡± she demanded, as she put her serious face on. Nodding, and grateful that it wasn¡¯t because he¡¯d did something to get in trouble from again, Kyle finished flopping his sandwiches together and sat down where she was pointing. He didn¡¯t have a drink yet, but it could wait. He¡¯d learned at an early age to pay attention whenever his mother got serious. Finally satisfied that he was where she wanted, his mom nodded slightly to herself. ¡°Have you heard about soul?¡± She asked, curiously. ¡°Soul? Like what goes to heaven or hell when we die?¡± Kyle asked, uncertain what she meant. ¡°S. O. L. It¡¯s pronounced ¡®soul¡¯.¡± His mom clarified. ¡°Shit Outta Luck!¡± Kyle laughed, only to be have his mother glare at him. ¡°Sorry,¡± he apologized. ¡°Sedentary-Oriented Lifestyle,¡± his mom replied. ¡°It¡¯s something new that a lot of doctors and patients are just now starting to truly diagnose and we¡¯re seeing more and more cases of it all the time. For a long time, the medical industry has known that extended periods of bed rest were bad for a person. Bed sores, muscle deterioration, depression, loss of appetite, hair loss, erectile dysfunction ¨C all sorts of things happen to someone who¡¯s simply stuck in bed all the time. ¡°And we¡¯re now starting to see those type of symptoms on otherwise normally healthy people. Office workers who spend all day sitting and typing can develop blood clots in their legs. They become moody, depressed, sometimes even suicidal. People didn¡¯t evolve to be sedentary creatures,¡± his mom warned. ¡°It can lead to all sorts of medical problems over time. ¡°To be honest,¡± she admitted, ¡°I don¡¯t think there¡¯s been any real studies done on the effects of someone¡¯s body being in the virtual world for excessive lengths of time, while their body remains stationary and inactive, but I¡¯m certain there will be soon with the popularity of those new toys out there. And, I don¡¯t imagine that they¡¯re going to get good reports. We know simply sitting all day in front of a computer and typing is bad for a person. I can only imagine how much worse lying around with your brain occupied elsewhere must be.¡± ¡°Well, Winter¡¯s Tale only lets you play for four hours at a time, at most, and then it basically goes into sleep mode for at least two hours,¡± Kyle tried to explain, somehow feeling defensive and wanting to prove that what she was saying didn¡¯t apply to him. His mother simply snorted and shook her head. ¡°If it was up to me, I¡¯d make them reverse those numbers. Don¡¯t let a person play for more than two hours at a time and then make them sit out at least four. I imagine in time, there¡¯ll be lawsuits back and forth and the government will eventually have to set some sort of limits like they do with truck drivers and aircraft pilots already.¡± ¡°But four hours doesn¡¯t seem that long,¡± Kyle repeated, ¡°and there¡¯s a forced two-hour break after.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± his mother said patiently, like talking to a little kid. ¡°But how much activity do you get in those two hours? A trip to sit on the toilet, to sit and eat, or to sit and watch T.V.? That¡¯s not being active. It¡¯s just changing one sedentary activity for another, and that¡¯s got to be all sorts of bad for a person.¡± ¡°Then what do you suggest?¡± Kyle asked, earnestly. ¡°I think I¡¯d like to pursue gaming as a career, if I can, but I don¡¯t want to do something that¡¯ll make me end up dead by the time I¡¯m forty either.¡± ¡°The best I can suggest for now,¡± she offered, ¡°is to make certain you¡¯re active as much as possible between those periods of inactivity. Do aerobics; go outside and play soccer, or baseball, or something. Learn yoga, go running, do cardiovascular exercises like push-ups or sit-ups. Bicycle around the block three times. Anything active and physical to get your heartrate up, work your muscles, and help keep you active. ¡°And make it part of your daily routine, and not just something you do once or twice to feel good about yourself and then forget about it,¡± she warned. ¡°I¡¯d like to see you do something more with your life than just play games, but...¡± She paused a moment for emphasis. ¡°But, if that¡¯s what you¡¯re going to do, then make certain you stay active, exercise more than usual to make up for all the time where you don¡¯t do anything while logged into that game, and eat properly.¡± ¡°I will,¡± Kyle promised, as he finished off his last few bites and got up to grab a soda. ¡°I¡¯ll sort out some sort of exercise schedule tomorrow and start on it then. But, for now, I¡¯m going to head on up to bed.¡± ¡°And Kyle,¡± his mom yelled out after him, ¡°let me give you a little motherly advice before you go to sleep ¨C Men are idiots who always like to chase the shiniest, newest things that glitter around them, and that¡¯s fine usually. Just don¡¯t forget about the treasures you already have at home. If you¡¯re not careful, someone might steal them if you don¡¯t keep up and protect them.¡± ¡°Uhmm? I will, mom.¡± Kyle didn¡¯t have a clue what she was going on about, but he did listen and try to file her advice under ¡®Wise things my mother told me, that I was too stupid to understand at the time¡¯. Making a mental note, he promised to try and figure out what she was warning him about later. But for now, he was off to bed early, so he wouldn¡¯t have any issues with the long day him and Heather had planned for the next day. Chapter 53: A Buzz at The Bazaar ¡°Welcome to Winter¡¯s Tale Virtual Bazaar¡± was what the sign in front of the mysterious cloaked figure read. The figure was standing in front of a massive open sky bazaar, inside one of the many virtual trading programs dedicated to buying and selling Winter¡¯s Tale items. This virtual business was set up like an outdoor bazaar, with one long road leading to a large central circle where people would stand and hawk their goods to anyone within earshot. The stranger didn¡¯t care what goods others had for sale. The cloaked figure was on a mission and was on the hunt with a single burning purpose. With confidence, they rudely snarled at goods being hawked in their direction and headed directly to the center of the central hub. ¡°LISTEN UP, ASSHOLES!¡± The cloaked figure yelled in a booming voice and several people immediately turned to stare; waiting to see if the bazaar¡¯s security would arrest, detail, or exile them for disturbing the peace. Vulgarity was against the rules of the marketplace, and yelling such things in public was a surefire way to get the attention of the moderators who patrolled as armored guards here. ¡°Somebody is going to make a lot of money,¡± the figure continued. ¡°I¡¯ve got a commission to gather a potion, scroll, or magical device that allows one to travel to a distant party member. My opening offer is ten thousand dollars, and I¡¯m authorized to offer more if necessary. Name your price, produce the item, and we¡¯ll finish this transaction here and now. If no one can respond to my offer in the next two minutes, I¡¯m going to move on to the next bazaar and make my offer. This is your only chance; take it now, or not. I really don¡¯t give a shit.¡± Jaws dropped open around the whole circular hub and everyone stopped what they were doing to stare. Winter¡¯s Tale was still a relatively new game, and characters were still low level. Items and gear were selling for tens of dollars, not hundreds or thousands ¨C and whoever this was, they were offering ten thousand dollars for a simple party travel item. ¡°Go home, scammer!¡± Someone shouted from a shop off to the side. ¡°It¡¯s fake! You can¡¯t cheat us ¨C we¡¯re not noobs here!¡± Someone else yelled. Soon many voices gathered together in a clamor yelling about how fake the offer was, telling the cloaked figure to leave, and calling for the admin to come ban the idiot from the bazaar. As the figure slowly turned and started to leave, someone jokingly yelled out, ¡°Hey scammer! I¡¯ve got a scroll of distant journeys with my character in Winter¡¯s Tale. It¡¯s not on me, but I¡¯ll meet you in game and deliver it to you, if you¡¯re near one of the starting cities. You can have it for fifty thousand!¡± ¡°Sold,¡± the figure said simply, turning to look for the speaker. ¡°That¡¯s American dollars, not some cheap foreign thing where fifty thousand is a dime or something,¡± the first speaker said once more. ¡°I said ¡®Sold¡¯, did I not?¡± The cloaked figure asked, seemingly unconcerned about the type of currency. ¡°Don¡¯t do it man! It¡¯s a scam of some sort,¡± someone yelled warningly to the guy who was offering to sale. ¡°They¡¯re mug you or PK you, or something in game I bet!¡± For a long moment, the courtyard got quiet as everyone waited to see what would transpire from the transaction. Apparently the two figures were chatting in a private channel, as they never said another word and simply stared at each other for several moments before disappearing in a black puff of smoke that showed they¡¯d both logged out of the bazaar. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. An instant clamor of yells, catcalls, and bets took place amongst the people who were there, over whether the seller was going to be paid, robbed, murdered, or simply scammed. No one believed it was an honest deal, with almost all bets going to robbed, murdered, or scammed. Several minutes later, the seller reappeared in a puff of black smoke. The moment they logged in, they staggered and flopped to sit hard on their ass, while blinking with wild eyes in disbelief. ¡°Scammed! Wasn¡¯t ya! Told you!¡± Someone shouted. ¡°Nope, he was robbed! That¡¯s the look of someone who¡¯s been robbed or murdered,¡± someone else shouted. Several yells of various terrible fates filled the courtyard, until the guy slowly shook his head from side to side. ¡°I got paid in full, and the cash is already in my account,¡± he whispered so lowly that only the people standing near him heard it at first. Immediately, they too were blinking and looking dumbstruck, which caught the attention of the people around them. Slowly, silence descended over the courtyard of the bazaar, as everyone could tell that something shocking had happened. ¡°They paid me fifty thousand for a scroll of distant journeys,¡± the guy muttered again, a little louder. ¡°They paid me fifty thousand American dollars for a scroll of distant journeys,¡± he repeated again, a little louder and more firmly. ¡°I GOT FIFTY THOUSAND FOR MY SCROLL!!¡± He finally screamed to the world about his unbelievable luck! The highest item sold for Winter¡¯s Tale so far had been a sword that went for twenty-two dollars. The game was still in its infancy, and so was the market for buying and selling items from the game. No one had believed that a person would pay a nickel, much less thousands of dollars for a means to travel to another player, but someone had! Why they simply couldn¡¯t use the travel portals to head to the closest starting city to the other player was a complete mystery; it was how everyone else was traveling back and forth and meeting distant friends and family who had started the game elsewhere. It was a complete mystery that had everyone abuzz about how, what, why, and who, and soon the bazaar was an empty ghost town as people started disappearing in poofs to smoke to go share what they¡¯d seen and heard elsewhere. There were some who were hoping to make a living buying and selling virtual goods from Winter¡¯s Tale, and a lot of people had claimed that it was too early in the life of the game to make anything more than petty cash from it. Other older, more established, games were still the focus of The Dark Net players, as they were commonly called, but that one sale would probably start to change that. It had proven, beyond a doubt, that somebody, somewhere, had money to invest in the items in the game. And nobody invested that much money, unless they were certain they were going to get a larger return on their investment! Something in Winter¡¯s Tale was worth spending thousands of dollars on, and even if The Dark Net players didn¡¯t know what that was right now, it didn¡¯t mean they weren¡¯t going to find out about it! Chapter 54: Breakfast with Sera The next morning, it was a damp and foggy day with gray skies and icy mist slowly tingling on the roof as Kyle tried to wake up. Stretching, he couldn¡¯t help but yawn repeatedly as he tried to fight the gentle sound of the frozen rain beating on the roof above him. It took a herculean effort of will, and a raging desire to not keep Heather waiting so they could explore the Idiot¡¯s Paradise together, to make himself finally open his eyes and roll out of bed. Shambling into the guest room, Kyle decided if he was going to have to suffer being awake so early, Sera would just have to join him. Yawning, he didn¡¯t even take time to admire her sleeping form this morning before he was tugging the blankets off her bed. ¡°Hey Sera! Wakey up and get up with me.¡± Yawning and rubbing his eyes, Kyle smiled lightly and perked up a bit, feeling slightly better about the morning, as he stared down and watched Sera slowly stretch. She was wearing one of his long button-up shirts to sleep in, and only a single button was still fastened at her navel, holding the two halves of the shirt loosely together in the middle. Her full mounds of soft round flesh were trying to escape from the top, and the bottom was scarcely what he¡¯d call covered; with a nice full view of her hips, thigh, and curvature of her buttocks as she slowly stretched, lying on her side, facing him. ¡°Mo¡¯ring.¡± She unabashedly yawned and stretched as she slowly sat up in the bed. Her hair was a rumpled red mess of bed head, with strands poking in every direction in chaotic disarray, and she wobbled unsteadily as she tried to stand; almost falling back on to the mattress in her morning wobbles. ¡°Save me some?¡± She asked, cryptically as Kyle wrapped an arm around her to catch her, while stealing a long look at the treasures his shirt was barely covering. ¡°Almost seven,¡± he answered, somehow knowing exactly what she¡¯d meant. ¡°We were going to log in around eight, and I thought a nice breakfast together would be good for us before we started playing today. You OK to stand up and walk on your own now?¡± ¡°I ¡®ate mo¡¯rings,¡± Sera griped while slowly nodding her head up and down, and starting to rub her eyes. ¡°Then come on downstairs in a moment and join me. I¡¯ll go fix us something quick for breakfast,¡± Kyle offered. ¡°¡¯Kay.¡± Sera promised. Taking on last, long stare, Kyle unwrapped his arm from around Sera, where he was helping support her. For a moment, he watched her protectively to make certain that she wasn¡¯t going to stumble again while half asleep. It was only when he was certain that she was stable enough to be steady on her own that he turned and went out into the hall and down the stairs to the kitchen. Rummaging around the kitchen, there wasn¡¯t any sign of his mother leaving breakfast already prepared for them; so it looked like it was up to Kyle to toss together something quickly. Looking in the fridge, he decided to simply fix an oversized omelet for him and Sera this morning. Breaking open a dozen eggs into a bowl, he shredded a chunk of cheese and tossed in half a pound of ground sausage into the mixture and beat it senseless until it seemed all mixed up to him. Turning the stove eye on, he poured a little vegetable oil into a large frying pan and then dumped the whole mixture in his mixing bowl into the pan and started stirring it slowly so it wouldn¡¯t stick to the bottom as it cooked. Several minutes later, Kyle could only shrug as his omelet turned into a gooey mess of scrambled eggs instead. Yelling, ¡°Sera! You coming?¡±, Kyle sprinkled a little pepper on the eggs in the pan and then walked over to toss a few pieces of bread into the toaster. ¡°I¡¯m here. I¡¯m here.¡± Sera slowly shambled into the kitchen, still wearing nothing more than Kyle¡¯s oversized shirt, and plopped down in a seat in front of the table. ¡°So whatcha fixing?¡± She asked, while stifling back a yawn. ¡°Well, it was going to be an omelet,¡± Kyle admitted, ¡°but now it looks like scrambled eggs. The toast¡¯ll be done in a moment and we can just scoop from the pan and make sandwiches. You want any ¡®mater or mayo on yours? ¡°Nah. I¡¯m not really that hungry anyway,¡± Sera said, shaking her head from side to side, causing her hair to become even more disheveled than previously. Kyle winced inwardly while staring at the tangled mess that was Sera¡¯s hair, and began to look around for a brush instinctively, before he was interrupted by the toast popping up. Sighing, he walked over and grabbed the now browned bread from the toaster, and dropped it in a plate before walking over to sit down at the table across from Sera. Kyle couldn¡¯t help but smile and think that this was a good morning, and he had a lovely view to enjoy while eating breakfast. Other folks might be complaining about the fog and icy drizzle clouding the morning outside, but he was perfectly content to sit and enjoy his meal sitting across from Sera and watching her almost have a wardrobe malfunction all throughout breakfast. As she slowly started to waken with a hot meal filling her stomach, Sera finally noticed where Kyle¡¯s eyes were locked on her chest. Sighing lightly, she muttered something about perverts which Kyle couldn¡¯t quite make out ¨C and was certain that he probably didn¡¯t want to ¨C and then proceeded to finally do up all the buttons on the shirt she was wearing. With an accident of epic proportions finally adverted, Kyle finally managed to blink a few times and start to get his brain working again. ¡°Sorry,¡± he said, laughing lightly. ¡°For some reason, I was distracted this morning, and I didn¡¯t even bother to ask what you¡¯d like to drink with breakfast. Heck, I didn¡¯t even get myself a drink.¡± You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ¡°Idiot.¡± Sera stretched and then slowly got up and walked over to the fridge. ¡°Get the cups, I¡¯ll get the juice.¡± Kyle got up, went to move over to the cabinet where the cups were stored and stared distracted as he watched his shirt ride up Sera¡¯s back when she bent over to get the juice from the bottom of the fridge. CRACK went his big toe as he stubbed it hard into the cabinet. ¡°Yeouch!!¡± Kyle hopped backwards, trying to grab his foot with one hand, and tripped over the chair he was sitting in, causing it to clatter to the ground with a crash and him to end up lying dazed and sore on the ground. ¡°Kyle!¡± Sera dashed over, sat the Orange Juice on the table, and knelt down to check on him. ¡°Are you alright? What happened?¡± ¡°I think I broke my toe,¡± Kylie groaned, tears leaking from the corner of his eyes. ¡°And how the hell did you do that?¡± Sera asked, both confused and concerned, and amused. ¡°I just did!¡± Kyle said moodily, as he slowly got up and hobbled over to a different chair to sit in. Laughing slightly, Sera bent over and righted the chair that had flipped over, but Kyle was too busy caressing his injured foot to enjoy the show. ¡°I thought I was the one who was bad with mornings,¡± Sera joked as she got two cups from the cabinet and then sat down in the chair Kyle had occupied previously. ¡°Yeah, well,¡± Kyle just shrugged slightly, ¡°anyone can stub their toe. At least I didn¡¯t forget to put on a pair of pants this morning,¡± he grumbled moodily. Glancing down at herself, Sera blushed slightly. ¡°I couldn¡¯t help it,¡± she said defensively. ¡°I¡¯ve never been a morning person, and I was up late last night killing wolves for my tribe, in Winter¡¯s Tale. I haven¡¯t been able to play during the week like everyone else, and I didn¡¯t want to fall too far behind.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter,¡± Kyle told her, reassuringly as the pain in his toe was beginning to settle into a dull throb. ¡°We¡¯re not going to leave you behind or anything. We¡¯ll all catch up together later in game. There¡¯s travel rings at the major cities, and even rings scattered in the wilderness and throughout the land in different spots. All we need to do is find another one of those and then we can all catch up to each other. If Heather could find her way to the middle of nowhere, where I¡¯m currently stuck at, I¡¯m certain there¡¯ll be a way for you to join us as well, sooner or later.¡± ¡°It might not take as long as you think,¡± Sera said with a half-smile. ¡°Last night I killed a wolf that dropped a Scroll of Distant Journeys. It¡¯s supposed to let you travel to anywhere someone in your party, friend, or guild list is. I might be able to use it to travel to you guys. If you think a mostly-naked warrior would be useful in your group. I still don¡¯t have any real armor besides a loin cloth,¡± Sera admitted, worriedly. ¡°If you¡¯d prefer me to keep fighting till I can get a suit of wolf-hide armor, I¡¯d understand.¡± Laughing, Kyle slowly stumbled up and hobbled around the table to ruffle her hair. ¡°We¡¯d love to have you with us. I¡¯m a healer. Heather¡¯s a mage. A warrior would definitely make a world of difference in what we could fight! The only thing,¡± Kyle said, thinking about it, ¡°is that I¡¯m not certain if you¡¯ll be able to join us. The dungeon we entered had a seventy-two hour lockout for people not in our party. You weren¡¯t with us when we discovered it, so you might not be able to join us in it.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you leave it long enough for me to travel to you?¡± Sera asked, half pouting. ¡°Sure can. We¡¯re right at the entrance,¡± Kyle assured her. ¡°But, I don¡¯t know if you can enter into it with us once you travel to the forest.¡± ¡°That¡¯ll be fine!¡± Sera said brightly. ¡°Worst case, I¡¯ll just die in the forest and find out where the graveyard is for you guys. Then I can hunt there for the next little bit until that timer runs out and collect whatever¡¯s needed so you can make me armor. I¡¯ll just go Seran-crazy on things nearby and murder them until they murder me. All my loot can pile up at the graveyard, and sit there so I won¡¯t lose it when I die. It¡¯s how I was hunting anyway the last time I played. This time I¡¯ll at least be close enough that I can pass all I¡¯ve collected to you so you turn it into something useful for me.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t you ever think about crafting it into something useful?¡± Kyle asked, curiously. ¡°Nope. Me Seran! Me man, me fight! Puny woman-girl do sew-sew!¡± Sera pumped her fist high in the air, giving a loud, ¡°HURRAH!¡± Kyle gave a loud wolf-whistle* watching the bottom of her shirt lift as Sera pumped her fist in the air, causing her to blush brightly and turn to head upstairs. ¡°Come on, pervey. It¡¯s about time to log in, and you don¡¯t want to be late.¡± ¡°I¡¯m coming,¡± Kyle told her as he took a moment to put the dirty dishes in the sink. Hobbling as fast as he could with his toe still throbbing, he tried to get to the steps in time to see Sera before she made it all the way to the top, but he was too late. Sighing slightly in disappointment, Kyle slowly worked his way up the steps and to his room and slid on his V-RIG helmet. It was time to head back to Winter¡¯s Tale!
*Spoiler: Wolf Whistle Kyle Chapter 55: Messages Turning the local camera and mike on his helmet on, Kyle slid over and made himself comfortable on the bed in case Sera wanted to join him there like her and Heather had the last time they all played together. Logging into his OS while waiting, Kyle noticed that he had two envelope icons floating in thin air, awaiting his attention. ¡°Read first message,¡± Kyle commanded to his virtual desktop, and the envelope opened itself and a message appeared on the screen. [table=black]To all Virtual Reality Information Media Employees, Late last night, around 4:00 UTC, there was an unprecedented purchase in The Winter¡¯s Tale Virtual Bazaar, where a Scroll of Distant Journeys sold for a staggering price of $50,000 American. Our research team has been diligently working non-stop since to determine why such an item was sold for so high above the normal market price, but so far have uncovered no definitive answers. The current theory is that the scroll must be used for some time sensitive quest, with substantial in-game rewards, though the person who made the purchase, and is performing said quest has not issued any information to the public currently. Any VRIM Employee who discovers the quest and divulges the information to VRIM will be rewarded a one-time bonus of $10,000. Any employee who completes said quest, records the event, and shares it with VRIM will receive a one-time bonus of $10,000 plus 10% of all advertising revenue earned during the broadcast of said event. It is strongly advised that any VRIM employee who currently is in possession of a Scroll of Distant Journeys, save the item as the market price and value has risen in leaps and bounds overnight, with no end in sight. A SoDJ is the most sought after item in action, and bids keep increasing as players gather and hoard the SoDJ, in case multiple versions of the scroll are needed to complete the quest, or in case of quest failure while attempting to uncover and unearth the full purpose of the scroll and which quest it pertains to. Winter¡¯s Tale executives refuse to release any public information regarding which quests may or may not exist in game, but they have confirmed that multiple players are already assigned and working on Unique-Rank Quests, which may have untold game altering results upon completion. Speculation currently exists that the SoDJ may be a required item in such a massive quest-chain, and as such information on this item, quest, or quest-chain is of highest interest here at VRIM, and bonuses will be given to any players who discover the full purpose of the SoDJ. Sincerely, Damien Whitefield, Senior Game Coordinator of VRIM Enterprises.[/table] Reading the message, Kyle¡¯s eyes grew wide with wonder ¨C that was the scroll which Sera said she¡¯d just had drop for her last night. Talk about lucky! He didn¡¯t know what the current market price on one was, but it was probably insane; and just going up! Yanking his helm off, Kyle rolled out of bed and rushed into the next room. ¡°Sera, you got to hear this!¡± ¡°What?¡± She asked, calm and curious, as she sat on the edge of the bed brushing out her hair, still wearing his shirt. Apparently she hadn¡¯t actually changed yet, and Kyle stared for several moments at her long, smooth legs before he half slapped himself to keep from getting distracted. Breathless with excitement, Kyle rushed to tell her, ¡°That scroll you found last night in game, it¡¯s apparently used in some Unique-Level quest! They¡¯re selling for a fortune now, in game! Someone at Gramp¡¯s company sent out a message to all employees talking about how important it was and how valuable they are now! They said for us to save them and not use them, except for the quest!¡± ¡°Then I guess it¡¯s a good thing I don¡¯t work for the grandfather,¡± Sera said calmly. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°I guess!¡± Kyle agreed, and then blinked several times in confusion. ¡°Wait. What? Why?¡± ¡°Because I plan on using mine here in a little bit to come to you guys.¡± Sera stated bluntly. ¡°I don¡¯t have whatever the quest is, don¡¯t know where to get it, and frankly, I¡¯d rather play with my friends anyway. I can do a quest anytime.¡± ¡°But.. but¡­¡± Kyle stammered trying to collect his thoughts. ¡°The memo said someone paid $50,000 for one of those scrolls last night sometime. What if you could get that selling yours?¡± Sera just shrugged, uncaring. ¡°Kyle¡­ Are you like some of those dummies at school who think I¡¯m a charity case?¡± Sera asked, looking serious. ¡°Last year, Father earned over 1.2 billion dollars. That breaks down to him earning about three million a day, and that doesn¡¯t include mother¡¯s income either. That¡¯s just what we get from the mines and other businesses. I¡¯m not worried about such petty cash, compared to being with my friends.¡± ¡°Well¡­ I guess that¡¯s true,¡± Kyle said, blushing slightly. Sera and her family didn¡¯t normally showcase their wealth, and it was easy to forget just how much of it they had. According to Forbes, her family wasn¡¯t in the top 100 of wealthiest in the world, but it wasn¡¯t far from there either. Once he¡¯d thought about it seriously, Kyle had to wonder just why they chose to live where and how they did, and then he shrugged it off as probably being Fanny¡¯s idea. Sera and her family could live in a palace, any place in the world that they wanted to live in, and for whatever reason, they lived next door to him. It seems if one owns and controls a diamond mine somewhere, they simply don¡¯t have to think about money matters like other people do. Laughing lightly, and dismissing the matter as if it was absolutely no importance, Sera turned to the side and held the brush out. ¡°Here, finish my hair real fast. I don¡¯t want the tangles sticking to the helmet and pulling when I take it off later.¡± ¡°Sorry,¡± Kyle apologized as he turned to leave the room. ¡°I¡¯ll have to pass this time. I had another message to read, and I should probably check it out real fast while you finish getting ready. Hurry it up though, or Heather¡¯s going to be annoyed if we make her wait.¡± ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll hurry,¡± Sera promised behind him. Heading back to his room, Kyle still felt foolish thinking about the difference in his family¡¯s finances and Sera¡¯s. His parents did well, and his grandfather did amazingly well, but they couldn¡¯t hold a candle to what Franklin and Fanny earned each year. Fifty thousand would be a huge fortune to Kyle, but Sera just ignored it completely. Not for the first time, he thought it must be nice, as he slid his helmet back on and logged back into his virtual OS, where a single message was now waiting. ¡°Open message,¡± Kyle commanded, and watched in amusement as it unfolded itself and opened in thin air. [table=black]Jerkface, I¡¯m awake and surfing the net. Let me know when you¡¯re ready to log in. (Just reply to this message if you¡¯re too stupid to know how.) And if you don¡¯t know who this is, you¡¯re even more stupid than I thought, and in that case, DON¡¯T send me a reply.[/table] Sighing, Kyle knew exactly who that message was from. ¡°Reply to the message with ¡®Logging in, Worthless Twat. I hope you won¡¯t make me do ALL the work today. From Nobody.¡¯¡± Glancing over the white piece of paper that appeared floating in midair in front of him, Kyle nodded in satisfaction. ¡°Send that, and log into Winter¡¯s Tale.¡± Soon the screen to his OS was fading out, and the darkened cavern where Kylie had camped out at began to fade into view. Chapter 56: Squishy-squishy, soft-soft? The moment Kylie appeared in game, she instantly spun around and checked to make certain that she was still safe. Once she¡¯d verified that the small alcove was safe, she tiptoed over to the hallway and peaked down it, confirming that there weren¡¯t any patrolling monsters in sight. None of her friends were in game yet, so she quickly and quietly tiptoed back to the far corner of the alcove and spent a few moments organizing the items in her rough leather pack. After only a few minutes, Lady Heather shimmered and appeared in game in game, her face wrinkled up in a snort. ¡°Worthless twat, my ass! At least mine works in both this world and the real one. You¡¯re the one with a worthless twat, worthless twat Nobody!¡± ¡°Oh hush!¡± Kylie didn¡¯t look up from her pack. ¡°Do you need some trail bread to help with your mana recovery? I don¡¯t have much left, but this would be a good place for it. And join my party, won¡¯t you?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll join, but I¡¯m good on the bread from last time still,¡± Heather replied, joining the party. ¡°Party Invite Friend Seran,¡± Kylie commanded the system, seeing Seran¡¯s picture icon appear and hover near the corner of her vision. An error message popped up notifying her that such wasn¡¯t currently possible, as they were out of range. ¡°Hey guys,¡± Seran¡¯s deep masculine half yawned through the friend channel. ¡°Is it OK for me to travel to you?¡± ¡°Not here,¡± Kylie warned him. ¡°Give me and Lady a moment to get outside.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Heather looked completely confused, as she asked in party chat, ¡°How¡¯s Seran going to join us? Isn¡¯t he like half a world away?¡± ¡°He thinks he¡¯s found a magic item which can bring him to us. We won¡¯t know if it¡¯ll work for certain until he tries it, but I don¡¯t think he can come into Idiot¡¯s Paradise with us currently. Man, I wish we would¡¯ve called this place Sera¡¯s Twat. It¡¯d be priceless to see her reaction,¡± Kylie giggled as she slowly moved out into the hall and back to the entrance. ¡°Hold up a second,¡± Heather called as she hurried to catch up. ¡°We don¡¯t know if all those vines and nutcases respawned and are waiting outside for us.¡± ¡°Damn¡­¡± Kylie half shivered at the prospect. ¡°I hadn¡¯t thought of that.¡± ¡°Hey Seran,¡± she called out over the friend channel, ¡°be ready to try that scroll out. We¡¯re going outside and might get swarmed with enemies. If so, we could use a big meatshield to hide behind as quickly as possible.¡± Seran¡¯s gruff voice immediately responded back. ¡°Me meat more than big enough to shield pretty elf-lady! Me be ready!¡± Rolling her eyes, Kylie slowly stepped through the darkness and eased forward until the sound and smell of the forest carried to her again. ¡°OK, I think we¡¯re at the edge of the entrance. You should be able to come here, I hope. If this works, we won¡¯t have to try and go out any further and possible get ambushed.¡± Heather eased up beside her and wearily keep watch down the small tunnel leading back to the creek and jungle. A few tense moments passed and then a swirling blue portal opened up between Kylie and Heather, pushing them tight against either side of the tunnel. When it faded and disappeared, a huge almost naked man stood in the center of the passage with a massive pile of what looked like dirty laundry in his arms. ¡°ME HERE!!¡± Seran roared loudly, announcing his arrival to the world. A brief moment of silence carried from the forest and Kylie and Heather looked at each other nervously. ¡°Party invite Seran!¡± Kylie yelled, taking a step back closer to the dungeon darkness, as sounds of hooting, chittering, and howls could be heard forming outside the tunnel. ¡°Me join.¡± Seran said calmly, as if the ever growing din wasn¡¯t the least bit of concern to him. The moment his name appeared on the party list, Kylie grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the entrance to the dungeon, but was stopped by some mysterious force as a window popped up.
Seran of the Wildmen is currently locked out from entering Idiot¡¯s Paradise. As the current Keepers of the Lock, do you wish to allow him access. (Note: Only those in your immediate party may be granted access, and only if a majority of the Keepers of the Lock agree.)
¡°Yes! I agree! I agree!¡± Kylie yelled in a panic. ¡°Heather, agree quick! They¡¯re coming!¡± ¡°What coming?¡± Seran asked, still just as calm as ever. ¡°It something me need smash?¡± ¡°I agree!¡± Heather yelled, shoving Seran forward harshly while Kylie now pulled and tugged once again. For a long moment, they were lost in the darkness again, until they reappeared on the other side, once again safe in the dimly lit tunnels. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°It dark. Make Seran squinty eyed,¡± Seran said, stating the obvious. ¡°It is,¡± Heather said, still trying to push the massive man in front of her, who didn¡¯t seem to notice at all as he calmly looked from side to side, letting his eyes adjust to the dimmer lighting. Finally giving up with a sigh, she eased around Seran¡¯s massive frame and moved to the small alcove on the side. ¡°Follow me in here. It seems to be a safe spot for setting up and organizing parties.¡± Seran raised an eyebrow questioningly, but when Kylie went on in, he finally followed. Dropping the huge bundle of pelts and such onto the ground with a loud ¡°KA-THUMP¡± which caused dust to scatter everywhere, he began to dig through the pile until he finally pulled out a massive two-handed maul that made Kylie¡¯s jaw drop open in amazement. The hammer head looked to be almost as large and heavy as a full-sized smith¡¯s anvil, and the handle attached to it was longer than she was tall, and as thick as her elvish forearm. ¡°How much does that damn thing weigh?¡± She blurted out, dumbstruck. ¡°It seven stone,¡± Seran said as he lifted it high in the air in one massive hand. Kylie quickly took a moment to convert those figures to their real world equivalent. In Winter¡¯s Tale, a ¡®stone¡¯ was the basic unit of weight for many things, and was roughly what a fist-sized chunk of granite would weigh, which was close to seven pounds or a little over three kilograms. That¡¯d put the weight of Seran¡¯s hammer somewhere close to fifty pounds, or close to twenty-three kilograms! ¡°Holy hell!¡± Kylie blinked a few times and stared at Heather, who stared back just as wide-eyed. Seran¡¯s weighed at least half as much as either of them did, and there he was lifting and holding it with one hand, showing it off. ¡°Here,¡± Seran pointed down at the remaining pile of stuff at his feet. ¡°Little naked elf woman can have this. Me not sew-sew. Me just smash-smash!¡± ¡°That¡¯s a lot of stuff there,¡± Kylie said as she slowly walked over and bent to rummage through it. The whole pile seemed to be nothing more than lots of wolf pets, with various claws and fangs scattered throughout the mess. As she started pulling the pelts up one by one to fold them and identify their quality, a huge masculine hand reached around and suddenly grabbed her breast, pulling her small body tightly back against Seran¡¯s massive frame. ¡°Squishy-squishy, soft-soft! Me like!¡± Seran exclaimed as Kylie yelped and kicked frantically, all for nothing. She might as well have been trying to escape from a bear¡¯s hug, for all the good her feeble struggles seemed to do. ¡°Seran! If you don¡¯t watch yourself, anything you do to me in game, I¡¯m going to do to you in the other world,¡± Kylie warned, as she finally just gave up and let herself be squeezed and felt. ¡°Ha! You no got balls enough.¡± Seran snorted; stealing another squeeze before finally letting her go. ¡°But me want to see if other cute elf Lady squishy-squishy, soft-soft too!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you even think about it,¡± Heather warned icily. ¡°I¡¯m not some helpless little healer like her. I¡¯ll melt those balls right off from you,¡± she warned. ¡°HA! HAHAHAHAHA!¡± Seran laughed hearty and heartily. ¡°Me thought you say me could rubby-rubby, kissy-kissy you anytime?¡± He asked, staring straight at Heather. ¡°Well¡­¡± Heather blinked a few times, looking uncertain. ¡°That was Sera, not you. Well, I know it¡¯s you, but you aren¡¯t you you! You¡¯re you!¡± Just trying to follow along with what she was saying was making Kylie confused almost as bad as Heather seemed to be, but Seran just laughed and slowly approached her anyway. ¡°Me, me!¡± Seran said loudly, thumping his chest with his free hand that wasn¡¯t holding his hammer. ¡°And me coming for you!¡± Heather paled slightly, then took a step back, before slowly taking a step forward once again. Finally standing rock still, she closed her eyes so tight that tears leaked out the corner of them. Trembling slightly, she said nothing as Seran slowly lumbered closer, before finally reaching and giving her left breast the lightest of squeezes. Heather paled and looked as if she was about to pass out or faint even from such a small squeeze, but Seran turned and started walking towards the exit. ¡°It not Squishy-squishy, soft-soft. Me like others better. Them mine now, me not want those.¡± Kylie just stared, uncertain what to do or say. Seran was going out and turning down the hall, Heather had sunk to her knees and was trembling like a leaf in a hurricane, and Kylie was simply lost at what the hell she was supposed to do, and how the heck she was supposed to react to Seran. To be honest, she felt like simply sitting and shaking too for a while. ¡°COME WOMEN!¡± Seran yelled from the hallway. ¡°WE HUNT!¡± Chapter 57: The First Room Shaking her head from side to side, Kylie slowly sat down the pelt she was examining and walked over to hold out a hand to Heather. ¡°You OK?¡± She asked, gently. ¡°I.. I¡¯m.. I¡¯ll be fine,¡± Heather stuttered. ¡°I just wasn¡¯t expecting anything like that,¡± she whispered softly, as she slowly rose to her feet while ignoring Kylie¡¯s outstretched hand. ¡°Let¡¯s catch up to Sera. I¡¯ll feel better after blasting something anyway.¡± ¡°Are you certain?¡± Kylie asked, still concerned. ¡°I¡¯m certain!¡± Heather snapped. ¡°Don¡¯t make me blast you too! Let¡¯s go.¡± Wiping her hand quickly across her eyes, she stomped towards the exit, leaving Kylie to stand there alone and even more confused. ¡°Women!¡± She tried to stomp off herself, but being forced to walk on her tippy toes made that almost impossible and she felt foolish even trying. Grabbing up her pack and staff from where it was lying, she firmly thumped the staff on the ground with each step to show her annoyance as she rushed to catch up to the others, leaving the pile of furs, fangs, and claws behind. Getting outside and in the hallway, there was already sounds of a massive battle taking place down the corridor. Heather was halfway down the tunnel, running with a small trail of fire flickering from around her hands, and there was no sign of Seran anywhere in sight. ¡°Dammit!¡± Kylie cussed to herself as she rushed to catch up. As Heather darted into a room at the end of the tunnel straight in front of her, Kylie ran past a tunnel that veered off to the left, and another that lead off to the right. She could only hope that there wasn¡¯t danger down them which might circle up behind them all, as the sounds of battle was intense already from straight ahead. Squeals, grunts, growls, intermingled with loud sounds of thumps, crashes, and things just generally being pounded on. A flash of light flared out from the room, almost blinding as her eyes had adjusted to the dim light of the fluorescent moss, as Heather apparently unleashed a blast of fire upon something. With one arm up to help shield her eyes from the sudden change in lighting, Kylie finally ran into the room to a scene of pure pandemonium. Seran was in the center of the room, kicking and stomping at large rat-like creatures, swinging his massive hammer wildly left and right, slamming it against the ceiling and floor more than he was the creatures. Heather had run in, backed up a bit into the far corner and was blasting away freely at rat-beast after rat-beast as they scurried around and tried to swarm Seran, who himself was bleeding and clawed in several places, while laughing wildly like a madman, apparently completely unconcerned about his own wounds. ¡°Heal!¡± Kylie screamed, trying to get Seran¡¯s health back up. Much to her surprise, Seran¡¯s health only rose to about the halfway point and was immediately starting to go back down from the rat¡¯s constant assault. Another blast from Heather forced some to scatter back, and they tried to turn their attention in her direction until Seran jumped back in front and slammed his hammer back into the ground spraying dirt and dust everywhere, drawing their attention back to the closer, more immediate threat. ¡°Heal! Heal! Heal!¡± To Kylie, it seemed it was all she could do to keep casting her spell fast enough to keep Seran¡¯s heath up, but slowly it began to go up faster than it was going down as Heather thinned out the swarm. Once there were only four or five rats left circling and snapping at Seran, Heather leaned against the back wall and sank down to her knees, looking pale and sweat drenched. By the time Seran had kicked and beat the last few creatures into smithereens, Kylie felt about the same. Only Seran looked around when the carnage was over, pumping his huge hammer up in the air in victory. ¡°HISSS HISSS!¡± He yelled strangely in victory, before finally going around and starting to collect all the loot that was lying nearby. Kylie wasn¡¯t even certain what type of treasure these things had dropped; she was simply exhausted. Glancing in the corner, she wearily forced herself to get up and wobble over to where Heather had flopped down. ¡°You OK?¡± She asked. ¡°Just drained,¡± Heather replied, looking up with a slight grin. ¡°That was intense as heck! I don¡¯t know exactly what those were, or how many we killed, but I got a level in that mess.¡± ¡°It was a stupid mess,¡± Kylie said with a snort. ¡°Sera didn¡¯t have to go rushing off like that. She ran right into the middle of them all! We probably could¡¯ve lured a few out of the room if we¡¯d been careful and fought them in the hallway.¡± The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Heather paused for a moment as if considering and then slowly shook her head from side to side. ¡°I don¡¯t think so. Seran¡¯s ¨C not Sera, by the way ¨C Seran¡¯s hammer is too large for the hallway. There¡¯s not enough room for him to swing it there. He had to fight in the room.¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± Kylie said, still half angry. ¡°He could¡¯ve waited on us at least!¡± ¡°Actually,¡± Heather leaned up closer to whisper, ¡°I think I know why he didn¡¯t. He was building up agro so he could keep the creatures on him and away from us for the entire fight.¡± ¡°Fat lot of good that would¡¯ve did, if he would¡¯ve died,¡± Kylie griped, looking for anything to complain over now since it seemed Heather was taking sides against her. ¡°If me die, me just pop back to entrance and run back,¡± Seran answered, apparently getting close enough while looting to hear the last complaint. ¡°Me only lose bottom. Me never lose hammer. It bonded, no trade weapon. Them kill me, me near entrance, me just come back.¡± ¡°Fine. Whatever. I give up.¡± Slumping back against the wall, Kylie took a moment to look at her own mana gauges. Surprisingly, she still had considerable reserves of mana left over, and was steadily recovering what was lost. Thinking about it, Kylie had to admit that it made sense, since she had accidently spent a ton of points to get an ungodly mysticism and mystical regeneration talent, but it was still just shocking to her, to witness the difference in her mana levels and recovery rate compared to Heather¡¯s. ¡°Come woman.¡± Seran held out a single massive hand towards Heather, who still looked the most exhausted. ¡°Go back to safe room. Rest there.¡± ¡°Fine. Whatever. I give up.¡± Glancing over and smirking slightly at Kylie, Heather slowly took Seran¡¯s massive hand in hers and staggered up. ¡°Copycat,¡± Kylie teased as she slowly got up once again as well. Heather simply ignored her by pretending not to hear, as they both slowly followed Seran back out and up the hallway to the little alcove where all the pelts were. ¡°I guess since no one else can come in here for the next few days, and since no monsters come here, this room can make a nice little storehouse for us,¡± Kylie said thoughtfully as Seran dumped everything back into the same pile in the middle of the room. ¡°What¡¯d we get from those rat-things anyway? I didn¡¯t see what you looted for us.¡± ¡°Tails ¡®n¡¯ Teeth,¡± Seran said with a laugh. ¡°Them drop many tails and lots of teeth.¡± Nodding to herself, Kylie began once again digging through the pile and separating everything. Once she had a sufficient pile of furs stacked off to the side by themselves, Heather came over and got them and made a separate pile out of them off to the side and stretched out on it resting to recover her mana quicker. Seran watched for a while, but then quickly got bored. ¡°Me go scout. Keep watch.¡± Turning, he started to head back to the main tunnel. ¡°Don¡¯t get swarmed by yourself out there,¡± Kylie warned. ¡°We won¡¯t be with you while we¡¯re meditating back up, and I know you have experience now to lose if you die. Be careful. Be safe.¡± ¡°Me always safe. Me Seran!¡± Thumping his fist against his chest, he slowly walked to the exit, before stopping to giggle girlishly in his rough manly voice for a moment. ¡°Besides, silly! I¡¯ve got a ninety-six percent reduction to any experience loss penalty now. I don¡¯t have to be careful. I really have very, very, very little I can lose.¡± Sticking his tongue out at Kylie, he skipped out of the room whistling lightly to himself, not a care in the world. ¡°Must be nice to have such a massive advantage,¡± Kylie griped jealously. ¡°I¡¯ve got just the opposite. My penalty just gets worse and worse all the time. Since I¡¯ve barely leveled at all, it¡¯d probably put me all the way back to level zero or something if I ever died.¡± Sighing heavily, she sat down and began seeing what she might be able to stitch together for someone in the party quickly. Heather would need a few minutes to get her mana back, and Kylie thought if she could work the massive wolf pelts, she might be able to toss something together for a little more armor and protection so the next fight would be just a bit easier than the last one. Chapter 58: Seran: Guinea Pig! Finding some of the lowest quality wolf pelts, in case she might fail in her tailoring, Kylie set to work jabbing holes in the sides of one of them with an Exceptional Claw. The claw was higher quality than anything which she had previously found, and easily pierced the tattered pelt, making her task go quicker than she¡¯d expected. Glancing around after, Heather was still lying and resting on the pile of furs she¡¯d laid out on the ground, and Seran wasn¡¯t back yet. Figuring there was a little time still left before Heather would be ready to go out again, Kylie dug through the assortment of recent drops and began pulling out rat tails. The rat tails seemed to be a standard item, much like the green leaves or red leaves were which was dropped by the vines, and didn¡¯t have any quality rankings describing them like the teeth or claws had, so she figured any of them would work for her purposes. Using the tail, she folded the pelt almost in half and then began stitching the rail through the holes she¡¯d made previously. A tail up either side helped tie the pelt up to make a rough sack like her and Heather carried, and then a few more tails stitched around the inside in a circular pattern helped reinforce and give the sack a frame, making it look more like an oddly shaped, lumpy egg of sorts. A quick glance showing that Seran was still out patrolling gave her a few more moments to finish her work, which she did by quickly jabbing a few holes in either side and threading a long tail through to use for straps. When she was finished, she held her breath for a moment expecting the item to disappear in a blue cloud with a notification that her skill wasn¡¯t high enough, but instead she was pleasantly rewarded with a pop-up.
Congratulations! You have created a Rough Reinforced Backpack! You gain 25 experience. You gain 0 fame in Tailoring.
ItemPositionDurabilityNotes
Rough Reinforced BackpackBack10 / 10Smelly, but usable, this is an oddly crafted backpack made from a wolf¡¯s pelt and rat tails.
Slowly, Kylie picked it up and examined it. ¡°It¡¯s ugly as sin, but I guess it¡¯ll work.¡± Looking around, Seran wasn¡¯t back yet, but Heather was now standing near the entrance and keeping a watch out down the hall. ¡°No sign of brute boy?¡± Kylie asked. ¡°Nope.¡± Heather shook her head slightly. ¡°But, he should be back soon. I¡¯ve been chatting privately with him so he¡¯d know when to come back and we wouldn¡¯t interrupt your work. What¡¯d you make this time?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a backpack, and I need an idiot to wear it and test a few things out for me,¡± Kylie said with a half laugh. ¡°I figure it¡¯s better to learn some things now than it is to find out about them the hard way at higher levels when we have better stuff we might lose.¡± Going over, she began to stuff a few different pieces of leather, fangs, and claws into the pack. ¡°An idiot for testing?¡± Heather asked, curiously. ¡°Seran¡¯s almost here. He just came around the corner.¡± ¡°Well good!¡± Grabbing the pack with its now assorted contents, Kylie walked over to the entrance with Heather and then out in the hallway. ¡°Me back.¡± Seran declared, thumping his chest with his free hand. ¡°Me check many tunnels. Find many rats. Also find spiders. But me not squish without women.¡± ¡°Well good,¡± Kylie said, grinning evilly. ¡°Here, wear this.¡± Holding out the backpack, Seran took it and then slide it over his massive back and worked an arm through each rat-tail strap, without even bothering to see what was inside. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Good job!¡± Kylie laughed. ¡°Now, go out there, find the largest group of monsters and die.¡± ¡°Me die?¡± Seran asked, looking puzzled. ¡°Why me need die?¡± ¡°First, because you don¡¯t lose much experience when you do die,¡± Kylie explained, coolly logical. ¡°Second, so we can test the effects of what happens when we die with something like a pack on. There¡¯s only a few items in that backpack. You always lose something when you die, but what happens if it¡¯s the pack you lose? Can a death steal all the items in a pack? If so, we¡¯d want to have several small packs instead of one large pack like that one to carry our stuff in.¡± Seran nodding, thinking it over, before sitting down and snorting. ¡°That good test, but me got better test. Me not need rat eat Seran. Women kill Seran.¡± Kylie blinked a few times as Seran crossed his arms and closed his eyes. Glancing over at Heather, she looked back at Kylie and then the corners of her mouth started to twitch up into a smile. ¡°Ooooohhh¡­ I¡¯ve been wanting to kill you for a while now. Don¡¯t tempt me!¡± ¡°Me not tempt.¡± Seran said, snorting. ¡°Me tell woman, ¡®Woman, kill me¡¯. Woman should listen.¡± ¡°And why the hell should we kill you?¡± Kylie asked, wondering why Seran wanted to make them murderers. ¡°Because it¡¯s a good test of the game,¡± Seran answered, not sounding as rough and stupid as usual. Apparently she was willing to forsake playing her role from time to time, if she felt it was necessary to get a point across. ¡°Can another player tell if you¡¯re a PKer? Do you get fame, or infamy? A bounty put on your head? How long does it take to go away? We really don¡¯t know much about the PvP aspects of the game, so why don¡¯t we learn about those while out here in nowhere land, down deep in a dungeon, where we don¡¯t have to worry about town guards or anything arresting us.¡± Looking back over at Kylie, Heather simply shrugged and walked back into the alcove, apparently leaving it up to her to test. ¡°Fine,¡± Kylie finally said with a sigh. ¡°Just don¡¯t think it¡¯s going to be quick. You¡¯re a warrior with a good bit of health and I¡¯m an idiot who¡¯s going to beat you to death with a stick.¡± ¡°No you¡¯re not!¡± Heather called out, walking back out into the hall. ¡°I¡¯ve got this.¡± She was grinning evilly, and slowly stalking towards Seran with a long claw in her hands; her fingers clutched so tightly around it, they were white from the pressure. Seran still sat calmly, eyes closed, as if he didn¡¯t have a care in the world. ¡°He hehe heh!¡± Heather was beginning to laugh eerily under her breath, and with a sudden leap she pounced down towards and Seran¡¯s legs and jabbed relentlessly into his crotch. Even though she was a girl in game, Kylie groaned and quickly turned her head away as Seran let out a blood curdling yell that echoed down the tunnels. ¡°A crit!¡± Heather yelled gleefully. ¡°Hehe and another!¡± She was half laughing, half trying to talk to give an update on her status, and Kylie finally muttered frantically, ¡°Log out. Log out. Log out!¡± The moment he was back at his OS screen, safely away from the sounds of blood squishing and squirting, intermingled with painful screaming and wild laughter, Kyle pulled his helmet off and retreated back to the real world. Looking around his room with wide eyes, the first thing he noticed was that Sera had climbed up onto his bed and was resting beside him with her helmet still on. She twitched and jerked slightly from time, and the reminder of what was going on in game made Kyle crawl across her and rush out of his room and downstairs. Going to the kitchen to get a cold soda from the fridge, he couldn¡¯t help but shiver a bit thinking about how crazy women were. He wasn¡¯t certain which was worse ¨C Heather for neutering Seran, or Seran for letting it happen! Either way, he knew he simply couldn¡¯t sit in there and watch it any longer. Chapter 59: Test Results While Kyle was still sitting at the table sipping on his drink, Sera came down the steps and walked into the kitchen. Glancing up at her, Kyle finally noticed that she¡¯d changed out of his long shirt sometime and was now wearing a thin, pink pull-over and a small, loose white skirt. Opening the fridge and grabbing herself a soda, she finally asked, ¡°Are you OK, Kyle?¡± ¡°Damned if any of that was OK,¡± Kyle muttered. ¡°Both of you are crazy.¡± ¡°Sorry,¡± Sera apologized. ¡°I may have overdone it a bit.¡± ¡°Overdid it?¡± Kyle asked, shaking his head in bewilderment. ¡°How the hell can you overdo something like that?¡± ¡°Well,¡± Sera said, blushing slightly as she sat down at the table beside him, ¡°it really didn¡¯t hurt that bad. Even being a crit to such an area on Seran, it barely registered as anything more than a slight twinge. Apparently, dying several thousand times in a row has built up my character an insane level of physical endurance and physical resistance. I could probably bathe in acid and not be affected by it too much, except for the fact that it¡¯d kill me. Loss of health, or pain isn¡¯t such a concern for my character. ¡°I was just putting on an act for Heather,¡± Sera admitted, while looking a little embarrassed. ¡°Sorry,¡± she apologized again. ¡°I didn¡¯t think it¡¯d bother you that much.¡± ¡°And that just shows that you¡¯re not a real guy,¡± Kyle said, snorting. ¡°There isn¡¯t a guy in the world who wouldn¡¯t cringe seeing and hearing something like that. I can¡¯t think of a guy in the world who wouldn¡¯t be bothered by that. I¡¯m going to have nightmares for a week!¡± Shivering slightly, Kyle screwed the lid back on the plastic soda bottle and then tossed it at her. ¡°The two of you ever do something like that again around me, and I¡¯ll bend you over and spank both your asses here in the real world,¡± Kyle warned. ¡°That was probably the most blood curdling thing I¡¯ve ever seen in my whole life! And the fact that it was there in the virtual world, where I could hear it, see it, even smell it! BRRRRR!!¡± Shivering again, Kyle crossed his arms on the table and then rested his head in them. ¡°Never again,¡± Sera promised. ¡°Never ever again,¡± Kyle emphasized. ¡°Never ever again,¡± Sera repeated, laughing lightly. ¡°But, you might be pleased to know that we did learn some interesting things.¡± ¡°Like what?¡± Kyle asked, listlessly. ¡°Well, for one, we learned you¡¯re a wimp who logs off and runs away when someone¡¯s in real trouble.¡± Sera said, smirking slightly. ¡°Just shove it.¡± Kyle muttered. ¡°And we learned that players can and can¡¯t get murderer status,¡± Sera continued. ¡°Can and can¡¯t?¡± Kyle asked, curiosity causing him to finally raise his head up from his arms. Sera nodded affirmation. ¡°The first time Heather killed me, she got a bounty for ¡®assault¡¯, which we both found a little odd. The second time she killed me, it didn¡¯t affect her at all. The third death got her a bounty for ¡®murder¡¯.¡± ¡°What the heck was the difference?¡± ¡°We think it was witnesses,¡± Sera explained. ¡°For the first one, you saw her attack me but logged out before I died. My eyes were closed and I didn¡¯t see her, so she just got a bounty for ¡®assault¡¯. For the second one, I kept my eyes closed and never saw her, so she didn¡¯t get any penalties. For the third death, I watched her do it and she got a bounty for ¡®murder¡¯. The game lets you PvP whoever you want, but if the person sees you or someone else does, you get negative penalties for it.¡± ¡°Well that¡¯s interesting,¡± Kyle said, perking up a little. ¡°I wonder how poison or something would work?¡± ¡°You¡¯d probably get away with it,¡± Sera said with a shrug. ¡°Unless someone could prove you were the one who used it somehow.¡± Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°And how long does it last?¡± Kyle asked. ¡°It seems to vary. For assault, Heather has a month long warrant. For murder, three months.¡± ¡°So she¡¯s going to have to be careful if we do manage to find any sort of town or village anytime soon in game.¡± Kyle commented. ¡°Serves her right,¡± he added as an afterthought. ¡°Seems like it,¡± Sera agreed. ¡°But you guys have been in game for a month already, and haven¡¯t seen no sign of anyone else. Nowhereland was a good place to test it out to learn from,¡± she said, bragging on herself. ¡°And, you¡¯ll also be proud to know that we have the results for your test as well,¡± Sera added. ¡°So what¡¯d you learn about items and packs?¡± Kyle questioned. ¡°For starters, we learned that you can lose items from the packs. The first death I lost a claw. The second death was a pelt. The last time I died however, I lost the backpack itself.¡± ¡°I was afraid of that,¡± Kyle sighed. ¡°If you¡¯re unlucky, you could lose a whole lot of stuff at once.¡± ¡°Nope!¡± Sera said with a giggle as she waved her finger from side to side at him. ¡°Tsk. Tsk. You¡¯re jumping to conclusions. I simply said I lost the pack. I didn¡¯t say I lost the pack and all the contents. When I respawned at the entrance, all the items in the pack tumbled out and scattered on the ground around me. I lost the backpack, but kept all the other stuff. I just didn¡¯t have anything to carry it in, so it all dumped out and made a mess on the ground.¡± Kyle was quiet for a moment, thinking, and then he slowly frowned and shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s such a good thing or not. In this case, it¡¯s not bad since all we had were durable items in the pack, but what if you had a pack full of crystal figurines or something? Have those appear and tumble to the ground, and they might break or get damaged. I don¡¯t know if I¡¯d rather have them stay in the pack so they¡¯d be safe and I¡¯d have to retrieve them all or once, or if I¡¯d prefer to have them come to me if I lost the pack.¡± ¡°I guess that means we¡¯re going to have to learn to be careful and watch how we pack valuable things that can break,¡± Sera said. ¡°Better to learn about it now than later, when we do have something valuable to protect.¡± ¡°I guess,¡± Kyle agreed, finally getting up and stretching. ¡°You about ready to head back in?¡± Sera asked, getting up and stretching herself. ¡°Heather and I decided to log out for about half an hour or so, since you weren¡¯t there with us. The game makes you take a break anyway, every little bit. Us all leaving at the same time counts towards that break time, doesn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°It does,¡± Kyle confirmed. ¡°The game counts the time when you¡¯re logged out as if it¡¯s time when your character is asleep. I guess it¡¯ll count it as if we had a little catnap or something.¡± Staring over at Sera, he pointed a finger at her. ¡°As long as you and her don¡¯t do something nutty like that again, I¡¯m ready to log back in.¡± ¡°I promised!¡± Sera said, laughing slightly. ¡°Never ever ever never ever again!¡± ¡°Fine. Then let¡¯s go. We¡¯re never going to get Idiot¡¯s Paradise explored at this rate,¡± Kyle muttered moodily. ¡°That¡¯s not true!¡± Sera said defensively. ¡°I¡¯ve already scouted out several of those tunnels, and I¡¯ve been watching ¨C the room we cleared hasn¡¯t had anything respawn in it yet. We¡¯ll definitely be able to clear the place!¡± ¡°We¡¯ll see.¡± Kyle walked out of the kitchen and started upstairs. ¡°One thing about it. Where we¡¯re at, we don¡¯t have to worry about other people showing up and bothering us, even after the lock-out time expires.¡± ¡°Yep!¡± Sera agreed, enthusiastically. ¡°We¡¯ll get to the dungeon core and conquer the place eventually for certain!¡± Chapter 60: Winters Tale -- Serans Way! By the time Kylie and Seran had logged back in to the dungeon, Heather was already there, looking smugly satisfied. ¡°Is wimp boy back and good to go again?¡± She teased. ¡°Me no wimp! Me man!¡± Seran thumped his chest and shook his hammer savagely. ¡°Not you,¡± Heather sighed. ¡°Kylie.¡± ¡°Kylie not man,¡± Seran declared. ¡°Not wimpy or otherwise. Kylie got boobs! Her woman, silly Heather!¡± ¡°Oh¡­ Whatever!¡± Heather snorted and started walking out of the small alcove they¡¯d been using as their ¡°base¡± for now. ¡°Let¡¯s go kill something. Let¡¯s see what secrets this Idiot¡¯s Paradise holds.¡± ¡°Me ready! Me hunt!¡± Seran thumped his chest and stomped to the exit leading out into the hall, stopping only long enough to grab Heather by the shoulders, lift her up, and sit her to the side out of his path. ¡°Silly Heather. Man goes first. Weak little finger wiggling women follow behind man.¡± Laughing lightly, Kylie rushed past her to catch up behind Seran. ¡°And us sweet little healers stay in the middle so if anything sneaks up on us we don¡¯t die. Wizards are expendable, healers aren¡¯t.¡± ¡°Suits me just fine,¡± Heather agreed, as she moved forward to reach and smack Kylie lightly across the butt. ¡°I don¡¯t mind standing back here and watching the goodies wiggle and waggle so tantalizingly in front of me.¡± ¡°Hey!¡± Kylie half jumped, and then turned to glare back. ¡°I¡¯m warning you too. Anything you do to me in here, I¡¯m going to get even and do to you, in my dreams. Don¡¯t act surprised when it happens; I¡¯ve warned you here first.¡± ¡°Oh ho ho! I don¡¯t think so,¡± Heather snorted, glaring. ¡°I¡¯d end up making use of what I learned earlier from Seran; if you get my meaning.¡± ¡°You wouldn¡¯t dare.¡± Kyle stopped walking and turned, hands on her hips, to glare back. ¡°Just try me.¡± Kylie and Heather were both intensively staring at the other, neither one the least bit willing to back down, when a loud manly roar echoed down the tunnels. ¡°RRRAAAHHHRRRRGG!!!¡± Seran charged forward, dropped his hammer on the ground, and proceeded to kick something down the passage. ¡°Home run!¡± He yelled and put his hand up to his eyes to watch whatever it was bounce against the ceiling and roll several spans deeper into the darkness. ¡°Three points!¡± As he lifted his arms in the air to signal the goal was good, several large spiders came skittering out of the darkness and swarming. ¡°Watch out, dufus!¡± Kylie yelled, as she moved up to close the distance between her and Seran. ¡°And it¡¯s a field goal worth three points, not a home run.¡± ¡°Where me come from, it home run,¡± Seran said defiantly as a large spider jumped on his leg and bit. The color of his health bar changed to a sickly green, indicating he¡¯d been poisoned. ¡°No neuter Seran! Make Kylie cry. Her like me snake!¡± Reaching with both hands, Seran grabbed the spider firmly and ripped it from his leg, before drawing it back and throwing to down the hallway. ¡°You jerkwads are in the way!¡± Heather screamed. ¡°I can¡¯t blast them without blasting you too. Give me some room, dammit!¡± Kylie struck out at one spider, squashing it off the ceiling with the end of her staff, and Seran simply crossed his arms and waited. ¡°Seran not move. Seran man! Spider not move man!¡± ¡°Jerkface!¡± Heather yelled at his back, while trying to get as far to the right side as possible in an attempt to blast something along that side, since Kylie was lashing out at anything she could reach with her staff on Seran¡¯s left. Several more spiders were now scurrying up the passage, and Seran simply stood his ground; a stoic wall between the women and the beasts. Suffering several bites over the next few minutes of Seran-obstructed battle, Kylie and Heather had to fight around him as he stubbornly refused to give ground. The green gauge indicating Seran¡¯s heath continued to grow a deeper, more intense shade of green with each bite, and Kylie found herself being forced to throw her heals more and more frequently before the battle was over. Once the last spider had died, Heather stomped up, pulled on the back of Seran¡¯s hair to force him to turn to face her, and then slapped him. ¡°Just what the hell was you doing?¡± She screamed in frustration at him. ¡°I could¡¯ve blasted the whole tunnel, if you¡¯d just moved out of the way! And why the hell didn¡¯t you squash them with that big ass hammer of yours?¡± ¡°Hammer too big for little tunnel,¡± Seran said simply, ¡°but tunnel right size for Seran. Me not able swing at spider, but me not let spider get women until them beat me first. And if them beat Seran, then them all be in tight group and easy pray for Heather.¡± ¡°Well¡­ Did we ever say we wanted you for a shield?¡± Heather snorted, a little softer this time. ¡°Not matter what woman want,¡± Seran answered. ¡°Only matter what Seran want. Seran not want puny wiggle-finger women hurt; Seran not let puny wiggle-women get hurt. Seran not care if woman not like what Seran does. Seran man! Man do what man want do!¡± ¡°Yeah, that might be so,¡± Kylie agreed, simply because she knew there wasn¡¯t any reason to argue otherwise, ¡°but man needs a second tool for these smaller tunnels. Just standing there and waiting to die, isn¡¯t really the most help you know. I¡¯ve got to work myself to death, just to keep you alive! Even now, you¡¯re a drain on my mana, as I¡¯m having to constantly keep working on healing you until the poison wears off.¡± ¡°Not me problem.¡± Seran snorted. ¡°Healer heal me, or me die. Me not care which. Me just come back if me die.¡± ¡°Well I care, dammit!¡± Kylie said, stomping her foot lightly on the ground. ¡°Consider it my pride as a healer, if you have to. Try not to just stand there and get chewed on so much, or poisoned so many times!¡± ¡°HA!¡± Seran laughed and grabbed up his hammer, slinging it across his shoulder. ¡°Me tell you ¨C ¡®Not me problem¡¯. Healer not like me be poisoned, then healer not fuss at me. Healer just learn cure. Make poison go away, easier than make Seran change mind!¡± This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. ¡°It¡¯s not that simple!¡± Kylie yelled. ¡°Do you think spells just appear out of thin air. Wishing for them doesn¡¯t make them appear, you know.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Seran asked, quietly. ¡°Why? Why what?¡± Kylie repeated. ¡°Why wishing not make spell? How make skill?¡± ¡°How do you make a skill?¡± Kylie repeated, again. ¡°You simply keep trying it over and over, until you get it right enough times to learn it. Fail at several hundred attempts at crafting, and you can get a crafting skill of one.¡± ¡°Then why not fail hundred times at remove poison? Kylie not do it, cause Kylie not even try it!¡± Seran was smiling broadly now, having finally made his point. ¡°This start dungeon. These weak enemies. Seran not care if them bite him to death many, many, many times here. Seran improve ¡®Physical Resistance¡¯. Seran improve ¡®Poison Resistance¡¯. Seran not got room swing hammer, learn fight better, but Seran able improve how resistant and durable Seran is. When leave little dungeon, Seran be better prepared for longer, harder fight in deeper dungeon. ¡°No run from weak poison,¡± Seran declared boldly. ¡°No hide! Seran embrace weak poison, trust healer, and improve tolerance. When meet scorpion later, Seran go, ¡®HA! You call that single-step kill-all poison. That tickle!¡¯ Not Seran fault if Healer not take chance to fail, fail, fail, until succeed! Not Seran fault if puny wizard not learn control magic to go around Seran. Seran learn! Seran grow! Others whine and stay weak if they want. Not me problem.¡± Striding on down the hallway, ignoring the loot left behind, Seran boldly moved forward to the next intersection to look left and right for any sign of trouble. Kylie took a moment to stare thoughtfully at Heather, who seemed lost in her own thoughts as well. ¡°He might be a jerkface as a man,¡± Kylie finally muttered, ¡°but he also might be right. You learn skills through practice and failures. I was always assuming that you¡¯d learn magic from books, scrolls, or a trainer ¨C but I don¡¯t see why simple self-practice and self-research wouldn¡¯t work, from what we¡¯ve seen so far.¡± ¡°But is it possible to alter how magic performs?¡± Heather asked, quietly. ¡°Could I possibly make a ball of fire arc, change course, go around him ¨C or around a corner even?¡± ¡°Damned if I know,¡± Kylie admitted, ¡°but he¡¯s right about one thing ¨C we haven¡¯t even tried yet. It took me several hundred failed attempts at Identify before I got a skill in it, but I managed to get it just by trying it over and over. I don¡¯t have a clue how the hell to work a Cure Poison spell, but as long as I have the mana and he has the health not to be in serious danger of dying; from now on, I¡¯m going to be trying everything I can think of to make it happen. It might take a thousand failures, but only one success will make it worthwhile in the end.¡± ¡°Fine,¡± Heather agreed, softly. ¡°I¡¯ll see if I can make my magic do more as well. Just watch jerkwad¡¯s health a little more. I might fail in arcing something around him and set him on fire instead.¡± ¡°As long as it¡¯s accidently, I don¡¯t mind,¡± Kylie warned. ¡°I¡¯ll watch closer.¡± ¡°It¡¯ll be accidental, if it happens,¡± Heather promised. ¡°I don¡¯t think that idiot would care anyway. He¡¯d probably thank me for helping him practice his ¡®Fire Resistance¡¯. The only person I¡¯d end up hurting would be myself, and my chance to improve my magic.¡± ¡°Then I guess we¡¯ll try ¡®Winter¡¯s Tale ¨C Seran¡¯s Way¡¯ for a while,¡± Kylie giggled. ¡°No need to think. No need to plan. Simply charge in, say ¡®to hell with it, if it kills me, it¡¯ll just make me stronger¡¯, and focus on improving anything we can for the long term rather than a short term gain.¡± ¡°So in other words, we just pretend we¡¯re guys?¡± Heather laughed. ¡°We¡¯d better grab this loot up and catch up to dufus up there. Who knows how long he¡¯ll stay in one spot and let us chat?¡± ¡°I think he¡¯s letting us rest and get a little mana back,¡± Kylie stated. ¡°But, you¡¯re right; trouble might come up any of those tunnels at any time. Let¡¯s grab what we can and catch up with him.¡± ¡°What¡¯d we get from spiders, anyway?¡± Heather asked. Identifying the different items around, Kylie finally answered, ¡°Spider ichor and Spider Silk. Both can be used in crafting, though I don¡¯t have a clue how we¡¯d gather and keep the ichor. Maybe in the waterskin?¡± Kylie wrinkled her nose, looking down at the green viscid liquid puddled atop the dirt floor. ¡°As long as we don¡¯t try and drink it,¡± Heather warned. ¡°Who knows how rare the stuff is in other places. Not everyone is going to be a nutcase and want to fight things that poison you and keep damaging you even after the fight is over, like Seran.¡± ¡°That¡¯s probably true!¡± Kylie laughed. ¡°If it was just me, I think I¡¯d avoid something that could poison me to death, even after I beat it. In fact¡­¡± She laughed again and then waved down the hall. ¡°Hey Seran! We have a job for you! It¡¯s something only a real man could do!¡± ¡°Me man! What me do?¡± Seran yelled back, completely heedless about who or what might hear him in the dungeon, and slowly started walking back to the others. ¡°Just scoop that green glop up and put it in the waterskin there for us,¡± Kylie laughed, as she tossed her waterskin over to him. ¡°It¡¯ll probably poison you, since we don¡¯t have any real tools for gathering it with, so it¡¯s something only a real man would do.¡± ¡°Me man! Me not scared of poison! Me put goo in bottle!¡± Seran thumped his chest several times and then knelt down to start gathering the green ichor. Kylie laughed lightly, shrugged at Heather, and then started experimenting with her magics to see if she could cure the poison that Seran was constantly exposing himself to by scooping it up from the ground and slowly draining it into the wineskin. Chapter 61: Improving Ones Self Over the next several hours in the dungeon, Kylie discovered several interesting things with her magic. With a subtle manipulation of her healing spell, she could increase the amount that it healed. She could decrease the amount that it healed. Occasionally, she could make it heal over time ¨C which seemed to be a good counter to the poison. Seran would lose health to the poison, only to have it go back up as the healing spell slowly triggered and released some of its energy, restoring a small portion of his health. Her most interesting discovery with her magic came in the middle of a fight with several of the spike-haired rats. Seran had been bit a few times ¨C nothing drastic with is higher level of health ¨C and Kylie had taken a back seat to fighting to simply practice variations on her healing magic. One moment Seran was happily bashing away, yelling, and stomping at the rats in front of him; the next he looked like one of them! With a twist of the magic, Kylie altered the spell which normally regrows flesh and blood, and instead made it grow hair! Black hair grew from every follicle on Seran ¨C from top of bottom ¨C and covered him in nearly two feet of thick, course black hair. One moment he was a man, the next moment he looked like a Wookie on Rogaine! Fighting was all but impossible for Seran at that point, as he kept tripping on his own hair, yanking his hair, and basically just cussing his hair. For someone like Sera, who had never even worried about managing her hair in the ¡®dream world¡¯, it was an instant hell. The only good point of the whole occurrence was the fact that the rats were actually having just as much trouble trying to chew past the fur to get to the warm flesh inside. Heather ended up laughing so hard from the situation that she blasted the walls and ceiling as much as she blasted the rats, and it ended up with Kylie being the one to have to finish off the rats. Once all was finished and the rats were cleared once again, several methods were attempted at removing the hair. First was cutting it with a sharp claw; but that was determined to take too long. Second was a simple attempt at death, which ended up restoring Seran at the entrance ¨C long hair and all. Heather finally ended up scorching and setting it one fire and burning the air off, one extremity at a time, while Kylie used magic to keep Seran¡¯s health up. All in all, it was a time consuming, but memorable experience. When they all logged for lunch, Sera couldn¡¯t stop laughing about how oddly it felt, and how frustrating it was to have so much hair to deal with. To her way of thinking, it was a ¡®secret move¡¯ which Kylie should work on perfecting as much as possible ¨C just not on her! ¡°Just think,¡± Sera laughed while sitting and nibbling on her salad in the kitchen, ¡°what would happen to some enemy wizard if we ever have to fight PvP with someone else and you blast them with a hair-bomb like that. Or even a knight in all his armor! He¡¯d suffocate before he could even get his helmet off!¡± The more she tried to imagine what could¡¯ve happened if Seran had been wearing heavy clothing or armor, the more she laughed and giggled over it. ¡°Fireball? Who¡¯s scared of a little fireball? Everybody builds up a tolerance and a resistance to fire magic,¡± Sera laughed. ¡°But who the heck builds up a tolerance to healing magic? Or hair magic? Nobody! It¡¯s a perfect sneak attack. And the person you beat with it will probably be too embarrassed to ever admit to anyone what happened.¡± ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Warrior Badass. I lost my last duel due to hair problems!¡± Sera laughed and thumped the table so hard, she knocked her plate in the floor scattering salad everywhere. ¡°I¡¯d never admit to such a thing, and I can¡¯t imagine any real warrior ever would either.¡± ¡°Well, to be honest,¡± Kyle admitted, half smirking himself, ¡°I wouldn¡¯t admit to it as a healer either. Death by ¡®excessive hair growth¡¯ just doesn¡¯t seem like something you admit to. Especially since it carries over after you die!¡± ¡°Well, you have to admit, it does make an odd sort of sense. After all, if you spend time letting your character¡¯s hair grow out, you¡¯d be disappointed to have it just disappear when you died,¡± Sera reasoned. ¡°Maybe,¡± Kyle argued, ¡°but it still seems like one of those convenient double-standards in a game. Let something melt your face off with acid, and you can back with hair. You don¡¯t restart bald, you know.¡± ¡°All games do that, to one degree or another. It has a lot more to do with pleasing the customers and giving them what they want, than it does with trying to maintain logical rules for every little thing.¡± Sera offered. ¡°The game probably has some rules to help it sort out what to do and not do in cases like that. Being struck with a flaming sword or whip would leave a brand, and no one would want that. Can you imagine how you¡¯d look after a few thousand fights or deaths? And yet, how¡¯s that so different from getting a tattoo in game?¡± If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°It might be a really simple game logic, and we¡¯re overthinking things,¡± Kyle mused. ¡°You were in my party, it was a healing spell, so the game may have viewed that as a ¡®willing alteration¡¯ to how you appeared. On the other hand, an attack from a monster, trap, or something else might be a ¡®temporary unwilling effect¡¯. ¡° ¡°You know, you should write that up and send it in as a report for your grandfather¡¯s company,¡± Sera suggested. ¡°The makers of the game aren¡¯t actually confirming any of the game mechanics, allowing players to learn and discover the rules of the world on their own. I imagine it¡¯d be something a lot of people would be interested in reading and learning about, and might help you stay hired on longer, or even get a permanent position.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll do that!¡± Kyle declared enthusiastically. ¡°But, not until after the weekend is over. I¡¯m enjoying the added experience rate and drop bonus too much for now to take time out to write up a report.¡± ¡°By the time Monday rolls around, you¡¯re going to have an almost unmanageable pile of items for crafting. We¡¯re stocking up on them a whole heck of a lot faster than you¡¯re using them right now. It might get to the point where Heather and me will have to start using some things. I wonder if any of those items have an expiration date, before they spoil or rot or anything?¡± Sera mused. ¡°Nothing that I¡¯ve identified yet,¡± Kyle answered, ¡°but the two of you taking up some craft skills might be useful in the long run also. Heather really needs to meditate and work on her mana recovery as much as possible, so it might be better not to ask her to worry over crafting anything yet, but Seran could take up cooking for us.¡± ¡°Cooking doesn¡¯t seem like a very manly skill,¡± Sera complained, wrinkling her nose slightly. ¡°Your dad¡¯s a cook!¡± Kyle reminded her. ¡°See! That proves my point!¡± Sera giggled and then slowly shrugged. ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll see if I can cook some of the stuff we¡¯ve had drop. Rat meat is probably cookable. Is there any specific reason why we need food though?¡± Sera asked, curiously. ¡°So you don¡¯t get hungry for starters!¡± Kyle exclaimed, half laughing. ¡°Do you mean to tell me you¡¯ve never gotten hungry in game?¡± ¡°Nope.¡± Sera shrugged slightly. ¡°I guess I¡¯ve just died too often to get hungry. I just thought food was there simply to add to the immersion of the game. You know; a nice feature like the smell of a rose, that really didn¡¯t do anything.¡± ¡°It does stuff,¡± Kyle informed her. ¡°Good food, like the elven trail bread which I started with, gives a bonus to your health and recovery rates. I imagine going hungry would lower those rates, and might even eventually lead to you dying or not being able to use magic.¡± ¡°Then the next time we¡¯re in game and Heather needs to try and meditate, I¡¯ll see about trying to cook something while you do the armor and jewelry making for us,¡± Sera offered. ¡°And once Heather improves her meditate skill, we¡¯ll find something she can work on crafting for us. We¡¯ll split the work, share the burden, and pool our work to improve ourselves together.¡± ¡°Sounds like a plan,¡± Kyle agreed, ¡°when we can log back in. What say you clean that mess of your up out of the floor, and then we go for a jog or something.¡± ¡°Are you saying you think I¡¯m getting fat?¡± Sera asked, tapping her fork on the table warningly. ¡°Not at all!¡± Kyle laughed, holding up his hands defensively. ¡°I¡¯d talked to mother earlier and she¡¯d warned me about how gamers got sick and all from simply sitting around and being too inactive. If I¡¯m going to try and work as a professional gamer, I¡¯ve got to boost my activity levels while I¡¯m out of game like this, to make up for the time my body just lies there while my brain is lost in the virtual world. ¡°It¡¯s not you at all, it¡¯s me!¡± Kyle clarified. ¡°I just want to make the most of the two hours we have before we can log back in again. I don¡¯t want to spend that time surfing the web, watching TV, or killing myself being a couch potato, like some of those other gamers end up doing.¡± ¡°Sounds good!¡± Sera said, hopping up from her chair and moving around the table. ¡°Just one change in that plan ¨C you clean up the dishes and the mess in the floor, while I go upstairs and change into something else. I can¡¯t go out jogging like this!¡± Without bothering to even wait for his response, Sera was out the kitchen and heading up the steps. ¡°Figures,¡± Kyle griped. ¡°Just like usual, I get stuck with all the work.¡± Chapter 62: New Blood A little while later, Sera came back downstairs in a pair of Kyle¡¯s sweatpants and a thick sweater. ¡°I¡¯m ready, as soon as I toss my shoes on, and they¡¯re at the door,¡± she cheerfully informed him. ¡°Then you finish drying and putting everything up, while I go toss on a thicker pair of pants. We might be going jogging, but it¡¯s still the middle of February out there,¡± Kyle griped as he tossed the wash towel over to Sera to catch. ¡°It¡¯s a shame you¡¯ve never pestered your parents to buy a treadmill or something. Then we wouldn¡¯t have to go out in the cold like this.¡± ¡°Well, I could get a couple easily enough,¡± Sera volunteered as began dying and stacking the plates. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare,¡± Kyle warned, giving her a slight slap across the cheek of her butt as he walked on past and started out of the kitchen. ¡°Mom would kill you and me both for cluttering up the house ¨C especially when warm weather got here and it wasn¡¯t used anymore. We¡¯ll just trudge through a few more months, and then the weather will be improving quickly enough.¡± ¡°At least it¡¯s warm in Winter¡¯s Tale,¡± Sera laughed. ¡°Otherwise, things would be quite a pickle with the gear we¡¯ve all been wearing.¡± If Kyle heard her, he didn¡¯t answer. He was already heading up the steps to change.
Meanwhile, not very far away, there was a swirling ball of light floating in front of a forest glade, with a tranquil pool and waterfall nearby. Floating above the ball was the words, ¡°SEX: Male, Female, None, Hermaphroditic.¡± ¡°I¡¯m a god damned man!¡± A gruff masculine voice echoed throughout the glade, causing birds to scatter and the forest to go silent. The ball of gas altered slightly and took on a basic outline of a male¡¯s form, and a popup for races appeared. ¡°Human, Elf, Fairy, Dwar¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m a god damned man!¡± The voice yelled and boomed again, and outline changed to become slightly taller and wider looking, with the bare look of a bald human male. The text floating above the image now read, ¡°Sub-Race: Common, Ocean, Mountain, Tribal, Bar¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m a god damned man, you stupid assed thing! Look at me! Dammit! I¡¯m a god damnable man! Just a man! Nothing but a man! I don¡¯t want to be anything beside a damn man! I¡¯m a M¡­ A¡­ N!¡± Seeming to finally understand what he wanted, the text disappeared and the figure altered slightly to take on a reddish tint to the skin and had black painted fingernails and toenails. The ears were slightly pointed, and the head was still bald. The text changed to now read, ¡°Customize Appearance?¡± ¡°No. Don¡¯t give a damn,¡± was the gruff and firm response. The text disappeared and a screen popped up which had a set of stats and numbers on it. ¡°Points Available: 100¡± ¡°STRENGTH : 10 ¡°AGILITY : 10 ¡°ENDURANCE : 20 ¡°MYSTICISM : 10 ¡°SPIRITUALISM : -10 ¡°KNOWLEDGE : 10 ¡°WILL : 10 ¡°PRESENCE : 20 ¡°LUCK : 10¡± ¡°Don¡¯t give a damn,¡± was the gruff and firm response again. The text shimmered and then reappeared. ¡°Points Available: 100¡± ¡°STRENGTH : 10 ¡°AGILITY : 10 ¡°ENDURANCE : 20 ¡°MYSTICISM : 10 ¡°SPIRITUALISM : -10 ¡°KNOWLEDGE : 10 ¡°WILL : 10 ¡°PRESENCE : 20 ¡°LUCK : 10¡± ¡°I¡¯ve done said I don¡¯t care! Like I know what the hell those damn things are. Skip it! I don¡¯t need ¡®em!¡± The gruff voice thundered about the forest, scaring everything back to silence. The window flickered and a screen popped up with an option to choose skills or spells. ¡°Don¡¯t need ¡®em. Don¡¯t want em! Let me play already, dammit!¡± A confirmation box appeared, asking to choose a name before entering the game. ¡°Franklin! Just Franklin! Now let¡¯s go!¡± This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
The forest scene faded out, and a red skinned male with black nails and a bald head appeared, standing at a cliff overlooking the ocean. He was wearing old, worn leathers and carrying an obsidian spear. Looking around, there was a small status window floating off to the side that caught his attention
Name: Franklin JusfranklinClass: NoneLevel: 0
Race: Human (Hellspawn)Experience: 0 / 1000
Title: Child of DamnationStatus: Hunted, God-CursedCP: 0
HP: 40 / 40MP: 10 / 10SP: 0 / -10
PD: 0 (10)DR: 0MD: 0
STR: 10KNO: 10WIL: 10
AGI: 10MYS: 10PRE: 20
END: 20SPI: -10LUC: 10
TALENTS
Diabolical Bloodline ¨C Unknown advantage which will grow and evolve over time.
SPELLS
SKILLS
¡°Don¡¯t know what the hell all that means,¡± Franklin muttered to himself, as he hefted and felt the weight of his spear. ¡°Don¡¯t matter none neither. I¡¯m off to gp kill something and cook it! Maybe I can find me a dragon to cook. Always kinda wondered what they tasted like.¡±
At the same time, there was a female¡¯s voice singing and yelling at the ball of light that hovered in front of a small waterfall glade, deep in the forest. ¡°Nope nope nope nope nope! Jump a rope! Jump a rope! Jump a rope! I¡¯m a ghost! Ghost! Ghost!¡± BZZZT! ¡°You have insufficient points to choose ¡®Ghost¡¯ as your starting race. Choose Another.¡± ¡°I¡¯m a ghost!¡± BZZZT! ¡°You have insufficient points to choose ¡®Ghost¡¯ as your starting race. Choose Another.¡± ¡°I¡¯m a ghost!¡± BZZZT! ¡°You have insufficient points to choose ¡®Ghost¡¯ as your starting race. Choose Another.¡± ¡°I¡¯m a ghost!¡± BZZZT! ¡°You have insufficient points to choose ¡®Ghost¡¯ as your starting race. Choose Another.¡± ¡°I¡¯m a ghost!¡± BZZZT! ¡°You have insufficient points to choose ¡®Ghost¡¯ as your starting race. Choose Another. Would you like to contact customer service?¡± ¡°I¡¯m a ghost!¡± BZZZT! ¡°You have insufficient points to choose ¡®Ghost¡¯ as your starting race. Choose Another. Would you like to contact customer service?¡± ¡°I¡¯m a ghost!¡± BZZZT! ¡°You have insufficient points to choose ¡®Ghost¡¯ as your starting race. Choose Another. Would you like to contact customer service?¡± ¡°I¡¯m a ghost!¡± BZZZT! ¡°You have insufficient points to choose ¡®Ghost¡¯ as your starting race. Choose Another. A customer service reprehensive will be with you shortly.¡±
Fanny wasn¡¯t even in game yet, and she was already having the time of her life ¨C and already causing problems for the poor game administrators who didn''t realize yet what evil was about to be unleashed upon their creation. Chapter 63: Thawing Out ¡°You¡¯re crazy!¡± Sera ran inside, slamming the door behind her. ¡°Yeouch! Watch it,¡± Kyle warned. ¡°I¡¯m just as co¡­ col... cold as you are!¡± Shivering, Sera tugged her soaked sweatshirt off and tossed in into the floor, uncaring that Kyle could see her in her lacy pale pink bra. Her long red hair stuck wet and damp to her back and she half hopped kicking off her shoes. ¡°Let¡¯s go for a jog. Le¡­ let¡¯s stay ¡­ stay in shape.¡± Her teeth were chattering and she was using blowing in her hands and trying to use them to rub some warmth into her arms. ¡°Who th¡­ th... hell go¡­ goes jogging in th¡­ the mid.. middle of win¡­ winter?!¡± Teeth chattering, Sera was starting to pull off her sweatpants. Letting them drop around her ankles, she half hopped towards the bathroom. ¡°How was I su¡­ supposed to know it was going to come a freezing rain!¡± Kyle wasn¡¯t shivering quite as hard, as he¡¯d doubled up on his clothes before going running. He¡¯d wanted to work up a good sweat, to help him stay in shape, and the extra sweatshirt and pair of pants had helped protect him a little better from the cold. His cheeks still felt icy and frozen, and his fingers and toes were cold and numb; but he seemed to be doing better than Sera. ¡°You... you¡­ you check the¡­ the¡­ wet¡­ wet¡­ wetter¡­ first!¡± Sera¡¯s teeth were shivering too hard to even say the word ¡®weather¡¯, as she headed out of the living room. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Sor¡­ Sorry!¡± Kyle tried to apologize as he tugged off his own damp clothes. By the time he¡¯d stripped down to his underwear, the sound of water running in the first floor shower was loud and clear. Half trembling, he followed the train of discarded feminine underclothes and headed into the downstairs¡¯ bathroom. ¡°Ma.. make room,¡± Kyle warned, ¡°I¡¯m co¡­ coming in!¡± Hot steam filled the air the moment he slid back the shower door, and Sera half jumped. ¡°Ky.. Kyle!¡± ¡°Hu.. hush it!¡± Blushing slightly, Kyle finally yanked off his briefs and stepped up into the shower. ¡°My legs and feet are too co.. col¡­ cold to try and go up tho¡­ those steps!¡± ¡°Id¡­ Idiot!¡± Wrapping her arms around his neck, Sera pulled Kyle tightly up against her and under the water as much as possible. ¡°You¡­ you almost fro¡­ froze us to death!¡± Shivering from the cold, there was nothing Kyle could say in response.
For several long moments, Kyle and Sera enjoyed the feeling of each other¡¯s warmth and the warmth of the hot water as it cascaded down and around them. Gradually, the hot water began to run out; but by that time, another source of steam had continued to fog up the mirrors. When the hot water was completely used up and gone, neither Kyle nor Sera noticed. They¡¯d already ignited a fire that wouldn¡¯t be quenched by something as trivial as a cold shower. Chapter 64: Girl Troubles ¡°And just where the hell have the two of you been?¡± Heather demanded to know, the moment Kylie and Seran appeared in view. ¡°I thought we were going to conquer this place this weekend! What kept the two of you?¡± ¡°Me took three bath,¡± Seran exclaimed boldly, while thumping his chest. Heather blinked a few times in confusion. ¡°Three baths? What the heck did you need three baths for.¡± ¡°Bath one was to get warm from run in icy rain,¡± Seran exclaimed, as the corner of his mouth began to twitch up and down. ¡°Bath two was from Kyle in dream. Him give me bath in man juice.¡± Seran¡¯s mouth was beginning to spasm. ¡°Need third bath to clean up from Kyle bath!¡± Finally, he couldn¡¯t contain himself anymore and fell over in a fit of wild girly giggles. ¡°What the hell is he talking about?¡± Heather asked, turning to look at Kylie, who was a bright shade of crimson from top to bottom. ¡°I don¡¯t know!¡± Blushing furiously, Kylie rushed out of the little alcove that they¡¯d been resting in and dashed on down the hallway. Watching her reaction, Seran collapsed to the ground and giggled uncontrollably while holding his sides. Tears ran down Seran¡¯s cheek, and he laughed so hard he could barely breath, while Heather just stared dumbfounded and completely lost. It took several minutes for Seran to compose himself and finally settle down enough for Heather to ask questions once again. ¡°Sera ¨C don¡¯t give me none of this ¡®I¡¯m Seran and a man crap¡¯. Tell me what the hell is going on. Did something happen with you and Kyle? You¡¯ve chased him off and he hasn¡¯t come back yet, you know.¡± ¡°I know, I know,¡± Seran replied, apologetically. ¡°I just couldn¡¯t help it. He¡¯s just so embarrassed over the whole thing, and it¡¯s really not a big deal at all, and somehow it just makes it oh so funny!¡± ¡°What thing?¡± Heather prodded, trying to understand. ¡°Well, let me start at the beginning,¡± Seran suggested. ¡°We logged out. Ate lunch. Went for a jog. Nothing too unusual except for the fact that we got caught out in a sudden shower of freezing rain! By the time we got back to Kyle¡¯s house, I thought I was going to freeze to death or get frostbite!¡± ¡°Okaaay¡­¡± Heather nodded, showing that she was following so far. ¡°So, I climbed into his mom¡¯s shower downstairs to get under the hot water,¡± Seran added. ¡°I probably would¡¯ve as well,¡± Heather agreed. ¡°Heck, almost anyone would¡¯ve.¡± ¡°Exactly. It was cold, we were almost frostbitten, and no one felt like stumbling up the steps to the other shower,¡± Seran explained. ¡°It wasn¡¯t long after I was in the shower, Kyle climbed in and joined me.¡± ¡°I would¡¯ve neutered him,¡± Heather threatened, eyes narrowing slightly. ¡°Maybe you would¡¯ve,¡± Seran laughed, ¡°but I didn¡¯t mind. We used to bath together when we were younger anyway. It¡¯s not that big a deal. If anyone made a mistake, I guess it was probably me. I was cold; I knew he was cold; and the shower isn¡¯t that large. Without even thinking about it, I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him up close to share the water with me.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t!¡± Heather gasped and look almost appalled at the very idea. ¡°I did,¡± Seran reconfirmed. ¡°And then one thing led to another. I started to rub him to warm him up. He started to rub me. Next thing I know, this lead into that and well¡­¡± Blushing slightly, she didn¡¯t finish. ¡°You did the wild thing?!¡± Heather half shouted, her voice echoing down the tunnels. ¡°I¡¯m going to neuter him yet!¡± Giggling again, and half blushing, Seran shook his head slowly from side to side. ¡°Not quite,¡± he explained. ¡°We would¡¯ve did the ¡®wild thing¡¯, as you called it. I don¡¯t think it would¡¯ve been bad, if we would¡¯ve ¨C you know?¡± Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°No. I don¡¯t know.¡± Heather snorted and shook her head several times. ¡°I don¡¯t want to know either, I don¡¯t think!¡± ¡°The thing is,¡± Seran giggled, ¡°we never actually managed to do it. I guess going from the freezing cold to the sudden warmth of the shower was too much for Kyle. That and the fact that the shower was just too small and cramped and we couldn¡¯t get a good position to actually do the ¡®wild thing¡¯. There was a lot of rubbing, a good bit of kissing, lots of trying¡­¡± ¡°But,¡± Seran blushed brightly and giggled again, ¡°let¡¯s just say Kyle showered me with his affection before we could do the ¡®wild thing¡¯.¡± ¡°So he misfired early.¡± Heather declared, laughing lightly. ¡°It¡¯s not really a big deal,¡± Seran explained, in Kyle¡¯s defense. ¡°It happens from time to time.¡± ¡°Oh really,¡± Heather smirked, raising an eyebrow questioningly. ¡°So it¡¯s happened to you before? You¡¯re used to it now, I guess?¡± ¡°No! It hasn¡¯t happened to me before,¡± Seran replied, matter-of-factly. ¡°But it still isn¡¯t a big deal. It¡¯s not like we can¡¯t try again sometime later and do better you know!¡± ¡°Woah! Woah!¡± Lifting up to hands to show she didn¡¯t mean any offense, Heather half laughed herself. ¡°I¡¯m certain you can,¡± she agreed. ¡°That is, assuming that Kyle¡¯s pride isn¡¯t too damaged to try again now. Laughing like a crazy woman about it in front of him was something meaner than what even I¡¯d do!¡± ¡°Well I didn¡¯t mean anything bad about it,¡± Seran exclaimed. ¡°It¡¯s just his face and reaction was so cute and embarrassed, it made me laugh. He¡¯d tease me if I¡¯d did something embarrassing,¡± she added defensively. ¡°Not about something like that,¡± Heather warned. ¡°Most guys are insecure. You¡¯ve probably embarrassed and scarred him for life. He might never have the courage to try something like that again with you¡­ Which is fine by me, if you ask,¡± Heather laughed. ¡°It just means I don¡¯t have to share the goodies!¡± ¡°I¡¯d told him it wasn¡¯t a big deal!¡± Seran snorted. ¡°And you expected him to believe that?¡± Heather asked patiently. ¡°Well yeah¡­¡± ¡°Then you don¡¯t know guys very well at all, do you?¡± Heather snorted. ¡°And you do?! You don¡¯t even like guys,¡± Seran sulked. ¡°I don¡¯t,¡± Heather agreed, ¡°but that doesn¡¯t mean I don¡¯t understand them. I think in this case; I seem to understand much better than you do. I just can¡¯t believe I¡¯m actually sticking up for the little twerp!¡± ¡°So I guess I need to find him and apologize?¡± Seran sighed deeply, hanging his head slightly. ¡°That¡¯s probably your best bet, if you ever want to try again in the future with him,¡± Heather nodded, slowly reaching over and hugging Seran ¨C even if the act did make her wrinkle her nose in disgust. ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll go apologize.¡± Sighing deeply, Seran picked up his massive hammer and slowly walked out of the room. Grumbling echoes of ¡®stupid boys¡¯, ¡®no big deal¡¯, ¡®get over it¡¯, followed softly in his wake. Shaking her own head to clear it, Heather waited several moments before she started out of the room herself. As odd as it was, she felt somewhat sorry for Kyle ¨C and she couldn¡¯t hardly believe it! She¡¯d never thought she¡¯d ever care about how a guy felt ever again. Slightly troubled herself, she slowly walked down the hall towards where they were fighting last, feeling no need to rush -- Seran and Kylie needed a few moments alone to sort things out between them, and she understood that. What bothered her the most was her own troubled feelings. Just why the hell did she even care the slightest about how Kyle was feeling?! Chapter 65: Reconciliation By the time Heather had caught up with the others, Kylie and Seran were hugging lightly, apparently having made up. She was still troubled and uncertain of her own inner feelings and simply flicked her hair back over her shoulder and demanded, ¡°Enough huggy kissy! Do that in your dreams! We¡¯ve wasted enough time in here already. Let¡¯s get to conquering this place before the creatures respawn or the lock-out timer runs out and some wandering idiot comes in and takes all the real treasures from us.¡± ¡°ROOOAAAARRR!¡± Letting out a cheesy roar, Seran suddenly grabbed Kylie up and tossed her over his shoulder. ¡°No steal Seran¡¯s treasure! Seran guard!¡± ¡°Let me go you big moron!¡± Thumping at his massive back with her small elven hands, Kylie tried to wiggle and get free, but Seran hardly even noticed. Laughing manfully, Seran sat his hammer down and then reached up and gently stroked Kylie¡¯s butt cheeks. ¡°Hey! Quit that!¡± Squirming even harder, Kylie started to beat her fists on Seran¡¯s back; which, once again, he hardly even seemed to notice. Seeing Kylie¡¯s cute little elvish face wrinkled up and struggling was too much for Heather. ¡°Hold on a moment, I¡¯ll help!¡± Rushing up, she advanced on Seran¡¯s back and then grabbed Kylie¡¯s exposed chest. Squeezing and fondling her breasts wildly, Heather laughed heartily. ¡°We¡¯ve got her,¡± she exclaimed jubilantly to Seran. ¡°Shoo! Shoo!¡± Seran snorted. ¡°Go away. Me woman!¡± ¡°We can share!¡± ¡°Let go of me!¡± ¡°MINE!¡± ¡°Share the bounty!¡± ¡°I¡¯m going cook someone!¡± ¡°MINE!¡± ¡°Get off me!¡± ¡°YAARGG!!¡± Staggering, Seran suddenly plopped forward falling face down on the ground. Kylie instantly took the opportunity to spring up and leap for Heather. ¡°Come here you! It¡¯s my turn to squeezy squeezy bounce bounce!¡± Yelping, Heather turned and tried to run down the hall while laughing lightly, only to find her knees growing weak and herself tumbling to the ground. ¡°He hehe hehehehe!¡± Cackling to herself, Kylie slowly advanced on the now immobile Heather. ¡°Guess what I figured out! Healing magic can be used to numb wounds before a healer goes to stitch someone up. Right? Well apparently, if a healer gets annoyed enough and pumps larger amounts of mana into that numbing, it works wonders on numbskulls!¡± Reaching down, Kylie slowly lifted the bottom up on Heather¡¯s leather skirt and gently rubbed her butt cheeks a few times. Then, with a resounding THWAP, she smacked her hand hard across Heather¡¯s bottom. THWAP! THWAP! THWAP! Several little smacks later, Kylie finally eased up, laughing herself, and walked over to Seran. ¡°You¡¯re too big of a numbskull to even notice a spanking here,¡± Kylie sighed. ¡°I¡¯ll just have to get even with you the next time we¡¯re in a dream together.¡± This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ¡°Probishes, proglishs,¡± Seran slurred as the numbing effect was slowly starting to wear off his body. ¡°Yeah,¡± Kylie agreed, smirking, ¡°it is a promise. Just wait until we¡¯re in the ¡®dream¡¯ later. I¡¯ve done warned you. Anything you do to me here, I¡¯m going to do to you there.¡± ¡°Then dob thaaa mean inbethang you dooz thar, I can doob here?¡± Seran slurred, struggling to rise with arms and legs that felt like they were made out of jello. ¡°No! It doesn¡¯t work both ways,¡± Kylie exclaimed. ¡°We never agreed to that!¡± ¡°We never agreed to the other, either,¡± Seran smirked, wiping drool from off his chin. His natural resistances and recovery rate was phenomenal! Already the effects of the magic were wearing off of him, while Heather still laid limp and unmoving, her skirt pushed up in the back revealing several bright red hand marks across her cheeks. ¡°I think it¡¯s only fair,¡± Seran reasoned. ¡°Anything you do to me in the dream world, I should get to do to you in this world.¡± ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t think I like that idea,¡± Kylie shivered. ¡°That¡¯s just too weird!¡± ¡°Then I guess you¡¯d best be careful what you try to do to me in the dream world,¡± Seran laughed and winked warningly, as Heather was just now starting to wiggle and squirm slightly. ¡°We really should get back to clearing this place out,¡± Kylie laughed lightly, trying to change the subject. ¡°Heather¡¯s right. We need to take advantage of the time we have. The bonus experience and loot is nice, and even if no one shows up to steal this place from us, it¡¯s going to run out soon.¡± ¡°Then me go hunt!¡± Seran exclaimed, grabbing up his hammer and starting down the tunnel. ¡°Me not think there much left on this floor. Most tunnel lead to dead end now. Not many ways left to go.¡± ¡°Probably not,¡± Kylie agreed, skipping to catch up. ¡°We haven¡¯t found any sort of core around here, so there¡¯s probably another floor below us. We just need to find the stairs down.¡± ¡°Then us hunt stairs!¡± Stomping fearlessly forward, Seran moved deeper into the tunnels with Kylie close on his heels. ¡°Waib on meeeee¡­¡± Heather slurred, as she feebly twitched on the ground, left behind and ignored. Chapter 66: Merciless Maidens By the time Heather had caught up with the others again, Kylie and Seran were in the midst of a ferocious battle with several of the large dungeon rats they¡¯d encountered before. Seran was yelling and stomping, half covered by the beasts as they jumped onto his back and clawed at him, while Kylie was pointing and putting one beast into a state of paralysis at a time. Astonished by Kylie¡¯s inattention to Seran¡¯s life, Heather pulled forth her magic and blasted everything with a large ball of flame. Fueled by her anger at being left behind, half a dozen rats instantly disappeared leaving hides, tails, and teeth behind. ¡°Watch Seran¡¯s health,¡± Heather demanded, as Kylie hopped and yelped as she healed herself from the flames. ¡°I can¡¯t, you idiot!¡± Kylie spun around with her quarterstaff to face Heather, face red with irritation. ¡°He¡¯s cursed!¡± ¡±Cursed?¡± Heather asked, puzzled. ¡°What do you mean cursed?¡± Tossing another smaller arrow of flame, Heather blasted another rat out of existence. ¡°Me be back,¡± Seran yelled as he shimmered and blinked out of existence. Several windows popped up informing the group of his death, and several more windows popped up extending Heather¡¯s status as a player killer and increasing the bounty on her head. Several more popped up conveying the same statuses on Kylie, but to a lesser extent as she hadn¡¯t had any previous PvP status effects. ¡°Dammit! I didn¡¯t know,¡± Heather yelled in apology. ¡°Watch these rats,¡± Kylie warned, as she continued to paralyze any that were moving. ¡°Some of them have a ¡®Blackened Bite¡¯ which seems to reverse healing effects. Seran got bit a few times and I tried to heal him and almost splatted him on the spot! He was holding on okay until you blasted us all with that damnable inferno!¡± ¡°Dammit, I didn¡¯t know,¡± Heather muttered again as she blasted the last rat moving into oblivion. ¡°You could¡¯ve said something,¡± she pouted. ¡°How?¡± Kylie snorted. ¡°You didn¡¯t give us a chance to say anything. You walked around the corner and then BLAMO ¨C nuked Seran to oblivion!¡± ¡°Well¡­. Dammit, I didn¡¯t know.¡± Blushing slightly, Heather pointed to the rats lying prone on the ground. ¡°What you going to do with those,¡± she asked, trying to change the subject. After all, there¡¯s only so many times a person can tell someone they didn¡¯t know any better. If Kylie kept pressing her, she¡¯d end up having to apologize or something else horrible like that! ¡°No need to really do anything with them, until Seran catches back up with us,¡± Kylie shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m happy to just let them lay there numbed and see how long it takes for the effect to wear off, if that¡¯s fine with you.¡± ¡°Fine by me,¡± Heather shrugged, and then laughed. ¡°In fact, it might even be better than fine!¡± Striding over to the nearest rat, she picked it up gingerly by its tail and then threw it at Kylie. ¡°Hey! What was that for,¡± Kylie pouted. ¡°Safe skill practice, dufus,¡± Heather explained with a sigh. ¡°It¡¯s a dangerous beast, it¡¯s coming in a leap towards you. You should be able to dodge it and get your skill up somewhat!¡± ¡°Maybe,¡± Kylie said doubtfully, as she bent down and picked up the same rat. Laughing lightly, she drew back and hurled it at Heather as hard as she could. ¡°If nothing else though, it might give some sort of throwing skill!¡± The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Dodging to the side, Heather tried to grab the rat¡¯s tail as it sailed past her and missed. Hitting the wall and thumping it head first, the rat¡¯s health bar fell about a fourth of the way. ¡°Try and catch it, if you can, while dodging,¡± Heather laughed as she grabbed up the beast and hurled it back at Kylie, who tried to dodge and snatch it in midair. For several long minutes, Heather and Kylie continued to toss rats back and forth in a game of ¡®Dodge-Rat¡¯, trying to work up their skills. As the rat¡¯s health decreased, Kylie would heal them back up. As the paralysis wore off, she¡¯d numb them again. Occasionally Heather would set a rat aflame as she tossed it, forcing Kylie to yelp and bat wildly at it instead of trying to catch it. After several moments, a pop-up appeared in front of both girls.
Congratulations! You have unlocked the Merciless achievement! You gain 1 strength. You gain 1 endurance. You gain 1 will. You now have a 5% bonus to damage living creatures. You now have a 5% penalty to healing living creatures. Your compassion decreases by 100! Your reputation decreases by 100!
¡°Payday!¡± Heather shouted, tossing the rat she was holding up in to the air and blasting it into smithereens. ¡°My ass,¡± Kylie muttered, crossing her arms in frustration. ¡°This achievement sucks! It reduces the effects of my healing magic!¡± ¡°Yeah, but it makes my magic more damaging,¡± Heather laughed, sticking her tongue out at Kylie. ¡°Sucks to be you,¡± she teased. ¡°Yeah, laugh it up chuckles. Just wait until I fail to heal you someday and you die by one percent,¡± Kylie warned. ¡°Just see if you¡¯re laughing then!¡± ¡°Well, I guess that just means you have to work five percent harder now,¡± Heather giggled. ¡°After all, it was your idea to start with!¡± ¡°Well yeah, I guess it was¡­¡± Kylie blinked a few times and then kicked the rat in front of her over at Heather. ¡°It was not! It was all your idea!¡± ¡°But you have to admit, you were the one who decided to heal them and keep them suffering,¡± Heather laughed, batting her eyelashes furiously while faking a pout. ¡°You have to admit, that¡¯s pretty darned merciless!¡± ¡°Well maybe, but¡­¡± ¡°ME BACK!!¡± Seran yelled as he ran wildly into the room. Getting in the center, he suddenly spun around and lifted his hammer high in the air. ¡°Me find company!¡± ¡°God dammit Seran! How the hell can you be half dead already, just coming here?¡± Yelling, Kylie tossed a large blast of healing magic which washed over Seran and restored him to perfect health. ¡°Wrong turn,¡± Seran explained with a shrug as a set of large black beetles suddenly scurried into the room, making a beeline for him. ¡°HAMMERTIME!¡± Laughing and swinging madly in great arcing motions, Seran began splatting bugs left and right¡­ Chapter 67: Exceptional Booty! ¡°Seran,¡± Kylie asked once the battle was over again, ¡°where the hell did you pick up beetles at? That¡¯s the first we¡¯ve seen of them.¡± ¡°Me no know.¡± Seran shrugged his massive shoulders and laughed slightly. ¡°Me run down tunnel. Me go this way, then that way, then this-that way and that-this way. Then me see foggy smoke wall which me think funny. Me walk up and try bash smoke wall like all men would!¡± Proudly, he thumbed his chest to show just how manly he was. ¡°Smoke break and wall go ¡®POOF¡¯. Bugs try bite Seran after.¡± Laughing wildly, Seran looked over at the two elven girls and grinned wildly. ¡°Seran think, ¡®no be greedy, need share¡¯, so me run slow so bug can follow and find squishy-squishy bounce-bounces!¡± ¡°So you ran into a swarm of beetles and then trained them on us without even a warning?!¡± Heather snorted, walked up and then kicked him in the leg. Wrinkling her nose slightly in pain, she stepped back a few steps and then lightly rubbed her foot up against her other leg. ¡°That what me did,¡± Seran agreed happily, seeming not to even notice that he¡¯d been kicked. ¡°Me know you want me share, so me share!¡± Beaming like an idiot, he looked exceptionally proud of himself. Sighing, Kylie tried to tune out the argument that was now beginning to heat up between Heather and Seran. Looking around, she distracted herself by gathering up the loot from the rats they¡¯d killed, and then turned her attention to identifying the items from the beetles. One new item of interest which caught her attention was called a ¡°Black Beetle Shell¡±. Killing the beetles had left several of them behind and studying them Kylie thought they could probably be used for bowels or even a small pot to cook in. Completely ignoring the loud argument raging behind her, she laughed lightly and held a shell up over each of her breasts. Laughing lightly at the result, Kylie smirked to herself and then pulled out her strongest fang and began to slowly drill a few holes in the side of each shell. Sighing slightly since she didn¡¯t have any leather handy ¨C all of it was stored back in the first little alcove near the entrance to the dungeon with the rest of their gear ¨C Kylie pulled several strands of hair around in front of herself and braided them together. All that time taking care of Sera and Fanny was proving useful now! Once she¡¯d finished braiding her hair into two long strands, she cut those and then tied them through the holes on one side of the shells. Taking that shell and placing it so it rested against her breast, she wrapped the two braids around her back and then held the other shell in place. Guessing at how much hair was needed, Kylie cut the hair and tied what was left to the side of that shell. All that was left now was to braid one last section of hair, cut it, and then lace it through the remaining holes in the shells and pull them tight together. The moment she finished, a ding went off and a set of system pop-ups appeared before her.
Congratulations! You have created a Golden Black Top! (Exceptional Quality) You gain 100 experience. You gain 10 fame in Tailoring.
ItemPositionDurabilityNotes
Golden Black Top (Exceptional Quality)Waist25 / 25An unusually elegant and exotic top made of the golden hair of an elven maiden, and the shells of a rare black beetle. Decent protection and the exotic materials used make this a top fit for the most special of occasions! Wearer gains +5 charisma. Wearer gains +10 sex appeal. Wearer gains +10 seduction. Wearer gains +10 bartering/trade. *Note: Has increased effect on those who are lecherous by nature. *Note: May offer negative effects on those who are jealous of the wearer.
¡°Woah!¡± Wiggling slightly, Kylie turned to show off her top to Heather and Seran, who were both now standing nose to nose. Heather was shouting something and waving a finger up and down at Seran, while Seran was picking his nose and looking completely disinterested ¨C which made Heather yell and shake her fist even harder. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Hey guys! Hey!¡± When no one paid any attention to her, Kylie tapped her foot a few times warningly in frustration. Finally having enough of being ignored and tuned out, she pointed a finger over at Heather and zapped her with a slight bolt of white healing magic. Instantly Heather''s jaw slacked opened and she began to drool as she tried to talk. ¡°¡­anbb lebb me.. Dabbit Kbby!¡± Turning to shake a fist at Kylie for numbing her face again, her lips hung low and spittle sprayed as she tried to talk. ¡°Whib bee? Whab I¡¯b boo?¡± ¡°You wouldn¡¯t shut up and tell me how amazing I look in my new top,¡± Kylie answered, not entirely certain what the question was Heather was asking. ¡®Why me? What I¡¯d do?¡¯ was what she was guessing Heather had meant to say. ¡°Mabe meb one!¡± Heather pleaded, still spraying drool everywhere with every word. ¡°Me not like! Me want squishy-squishy bounce-bounce,¡± Seran pouted. ¡°Tough shit,¡± Kylie told him, staring him in his eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t care if I run around showing my squishy bouncers to the world. Hell, I¡¯m used to that by now. But I don¡¯t like the idea of leaving that much flesh exposed so a rat can bite off something I¡¯d rather not have bitten. ¡°Or would you prefer to see your precious squishy-squishy bounce-bounce missing the lovely cherries on top?¡±, Kylie asked with a smirk. ¡°Me want cherries.¡± Seran pouted and then walked over and squeezed the shells a few times. Sighing deeply, he pouted even harder. ¡°Me really not like, but me not want cherries eaten by stupid rats either.¡± ¡°Welb, I still wab one,¡± Heather reminded her, as the numbing was beginning to wear off once again. ¡°I¡¯m getting better at that spell,¡± Kylie praised herself. ¡°Actually, I¡¯m getting better at all my spells. They¡¯re getting easier to work and control all the time. This has been a good dungeon for us.¡± ¡°It has been,¡± Seran agreed readily enough. Pausing for a moment, uncertain if she should say it or not, Kylie finally asked, ¡°Think you can wait until later for a top, Heather? I promise, I¡¯ll make you one as well. It¡¯s just I can do it when we need to take a break for mana and all. Do we really need to take a break now to make one?¡± ¡°But you have one,¡± Heather pouted. ¡°And you not need one,¡± Seran argued, staring at Heather. ¡°Fire girl not get bit by rat! Her hide in back and throw flame! Her not need bouncy-bouncy covered!¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t mean I don¡¯t need armor too, meathead!¡± The numbing having worn off, Heather was now back to her same loud self once again. ¡°What if we run into something that throws stuff again?¡± ¡°Then you hide behind me,¡± Seran reasoned. ¡°Not need no clothes on fire girl!¡± ¡°How about I melt the clothes off you, jerkface!¡± ¡°Now! Now!¡± Moving to get between the two, Kylie held a hand out in front of either of them. ¡°Heather needs her clothes and armor as much as anyone else, Seran.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± Heather said, sticking her tongue out at Seran. ¡°I knew you¡¯d see things my way.¡± ¡°BUT,¡± Kylie spoke a little louder, slightly annoyed at the interruption, ¡°that doesn¡¯t mean you need one right this minute. You¡¯ve been fine without one, and as far as we know, you¡¯ll continue to be fine without one. I¡¯ll make you one the next time we stop and take a break. Okay?¡± ¡°Fine.¡± Crossing her arms across her bare chest, Heather slowly walked towards the tunnel Seran had emerged from with the beetles close on his heels. ¡°Stupid ass boys,¡± she muttered slightly under her breath. ¡°Whether in game or in life, they just want to start at my boobs!¡± Glancing back to check on them, Seran and Kylie were both looking at each other and grinning mischievously for some strange reason. ¡°Are you jerkfaces coming?¡± Heather asked, frustrated even more for some odd reason. ¡°Apparently doofus found a secret area somewhere and it might be where the core is, or the stairs down to the next level. Let¡¯s go check it out!¡± ¡°Me lead way!¡± Stomping forward, Seran grabbed her soundly on the rump as he passed, making Heather squeal and smack him across his massive back as he passed by. If he noticed at all, he didn¡¯t show any sign of it. ¡°Onwards to the beetles then,¡± Kylie commanded. ¡°Apparently their shells are rare loot and make exceptional gear! Even if it¡¯s not the steps or core, they¡¯re still something we want to hunt to extinction!¡± Chapter 68: Feeling Down ¡°It this way,¡± Seran stated confidently, as he strode along the tunnels to a dead end. Tapping the walls a few times with his hammer, he shrugged lightly. ¡°It that way,¡± he stated confidently, pointing back up the way they had come. ¡°So you don¡¯t know where you found the beetles, doofus?¡± Heather sounded exasperated and shook her head in disgust. ¡°Me told you. Me went this way. Then that way. Then this-that way, and the beetles were that-this way,¡± Seran snorted in response. ¡°We only go this way. How you expect find beetles unless you follow instructions? Now we go that way. Then this-that way, and then we find then that-this way!¡± ¡°What type of stupid man logic is that?¡± Heather screamed, throwing her hands up in the air. ¡°Why can¡¯t you just go back to where you were before you found us?¡± ¡°Because me smart. Me know to follow directions,¡± Seran replied with a smirk as he turned and walked back past her. Once again he tried to grab Heather¡¯s rear, but this time she jumped out of the way and pressed her butt tight up against the safety of the wall. ¡°Hands off, jerkface. Or else,¡± she warned. Stopping, Seran turned and raised an eyebrow slightly. ¡°Or else what? Else you come visit me in dream world and squishy-squishy bounce-bounce me?¡± Staring directly at Heather, Seran held her gaze in his own, waiting for her answer. ¡°Umm...¡± Squirming a bit uncomfortably to have such a large manly presence hovering over her and staring so intently at her, Heather began to fidget and leaned back tight against the wall. ¡°Well yeah. Yeah, I¡¯ll do that! You touch me, and I¡¯ll fondle you for hours in the other world!¡± ¡°Hmmm¡­¡± Rubbing his chin for a moment, Seran seemed to be thinking it over, and then he calmly let his hammer down, leaned up and wrapped a massive hand around each of Heather¡¯s bare breasts, squeezing them lightly. ¡°Deal.¡± Laughing lightly, he leaned up so close his breath was thick against Heather¡¯s cheeks. ¡°Me can live with that deal. After all,¡± kissing her lightly on the nose he whispered, ¡°you already do that when you visit and think me sleep.¡± Blushing and looking a little wide-eyed, Heather just stood rock still and trembled slightly as Seran felt and squeezed her several times before finally letting go, turning and picking up his hammer, and walking on down the hall back the way they¡¯d came. Whistling lightly, he pointed ahead. ¡°It that way now!¡± ¡°Are you okay?¡± Easing up, Kylie held out a hand for Heather, who simply brushed it away. ¡°Jerkface!¡± Snorting, she ignored Kylie and turned to follow in the direction Seran had just traveled. ¡°Just what the hell did I do,¡± Kylie mumbled softly to herself as she followed several steps behind, not wanting to draw any more attention ¨C or ire ¨C from Heather. Working their way through the tunnels in a scattered line, with Seran leading the way, it took many wrong turns and almost half an hour of wandering before Seran finally decisively declared, ¡°This the right that-this way! Beetles down here!¡± ¡°That¡¯s what you said the last three times,¡± Heather murmured sarcastically. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Kylie replied, shaking her head slightly. ¡°He might actually be right this time. These tunnels look a little different than the others.¡± ¡°How so,¡± Heather asked. ¡°They all look the same to me; cramped, dirty, and full of nasty webs that just won¡¯t stay out of my hair.¡± ¡°Spider in tunnel, web in tunnel. Not take idiot to know that,¡± Seran stated as he trudged ever onward. ¡°Me sure it this way now! Me not walk into dead end.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s part of what I¡¯d noticed,¡± Kylie laughed. ¡°It seems like we¡¯ve walked quite a bit further down this passage than the ones on either side before, but that¡¯s not the biggest thing that makes me know we¡¯re on a different path.¡± Smirking mysteriously, Kylie didn¡¯t say anything else. ¡°Well, what is it?¡± Too impatient to wait for her to spit it out, Heather had to take the bait and ask. ¡°My toes tell me we¡¯re going down now,¡± Kylie laughed. ¡°I guess walking around on my tiptoes I¡¯ve gotten used to walking on the flat surface, but for a while now the feeling has been different with each step. We¡¯re walking down a subtle slope. I can feel the difference in my ankles with each step. ¡°By now, we¡¯ve probably went low enough that we¡¯re going under the other tunnels now,¡± Kylie grinned, proud of her own deductive powers of reasoning and observation. ¡°Me think you right,¡± Seran agreed. ¡°Look!¡± Pointing ahead, he indicated a sudden turn in the tunnel. ¡°Me think us go back under other tunnels now.¡± ¡°Then you mean all we had to do from the beginning was just blow a hole through the floor?¡± Heather looked steamed. ¡°I could¡¯ve blasted our way down from the start and saved us a lot of useless wandering around.¡± ¡°Not useless,¡± Kylie reminded her. ¡°We¡¯ve gained a lot of valuable loot, improved our skills, and went up a few levels.¡± ¡°Go through floor stupid,¡± Seran snorted. ¡°What if core not here but still up top where we not go yet? Then we have to fight way back to rest room. Not have safe room for Fireboob to rest.¡± ¡°My name¡¯s not Fireboob,¡± Heather stated icily. ¡°I¡¯m going to turn your pecker into a candle yet, if you don¡¯t watch yourself,¡± she warned, glaring daggers at Seran¡¯s back. Stopping for a moment, Seran turned to ask, ¡°Fireboob want Firedong? That odd. Unusual. Kinky. Maybe we try that later. But now¡­¡± ¡°Now we find and kill beetles,¡± Seran laughed, turning back around and walking around the corner. Heather stood and trembled, flicks of fire licking around the corners of her hands. ¡°Calm down,¡± Kylie advised. ¡°Save that magic for the next fight. You killed him earlier remember, and that didn¡¯t help any, now did it? ¡°It helped me feel better,¡± Heather muttered. ¡°RAAAAAAHHHHRRRR!! SMAAASH!!¡± Seran¡¯s loud battle cry echoed around the corner, cutting her off if she was going to say anything else. Taking a moment to stare at each other and shake their heads in disbelief, Heather and Kylie both took off running around the corner to see what type of trouble Seran had managed to get himself into this time. Chapter 69: Party Wipe Rushing around the corner and down a small hallway, Heather and Kylie stormed into a small underground cavern just as Seran roared again. ¡°RRRAAAAAAGGGGRRR!¡± A bestial, primal roar full of half anger and half agony echoed back and forth off the walls. In the center of the small cavern, was a massive black beetle which stood as tall as a horse and three times wider; and there, standing directly in front of it and swinging his hammer like an idiot was Seran, thick black goo smoking and making his flesh bubble where the beast had already spit on him. ¡°Seran¡¯s going to go down,¡± Heather screamed, as she tried to blast the beetle with a ball of flame to draw its attention away from him. ¡°Jackass warrior!¡±, Kylie cursed, pulling in her magic. Only by a split second¡¯s realization, she manged to stop before she released it. ¡°I can¡¯t heal him,¡± she cried out the Heather. ¡°What?¡± Blasting the beetle a second time, Heather took a moment to look back, confused. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°It¡¯s the goo on him! It¡¯s like what we saw earlier,¡± Kylie explained. ¡°It corrupts healing magic and I¡¯d end up killing him.¡± Hit by another blast of fire, the beetle began to turn its attention away from Seran ¨C but only for a moment! Taking advantage of the opening, Seran screamed again and slammed his massive hammer into the side of the creature¡¯s massive head, causing it to stagger and reel for a moment. ¡°Then what the hell do we do,¡± Heather shouted, looking distressed. ¡°The damn thing has barely lost a fraction of its heath! The acid alone will kill him before we take it down. I think this thing is the boss!¡± ¡°A mini-boss at least,¡± Kylie agreed, trying to desperately think of a plan. ¡°Only one chance that I see,¡± she shouted back at Heather, ¡°and that¡¯s for you to blast him! Maybe you can burn the goo away and then I can heal him!¡± ¡°Burn him to bandage him? Sounds extreme!¡± Laughing wildly, Heather turned and unleashed her next attack ¨C a massive area of effect fireball ¨C into the center of the room, erupting flames all over Seran and the beetle both. ¡°I like it,¡± Heather laughed. ¡°Extreme is good! Especially if I get to blast Molester-Perv!¡± The moment the flames flickered down, Kylie threw the most powerful heal she could muster and crossed her fingers; all the while preparing to run like a coward. Either it¡¯d work and the flames would neutralize the goo, or else Seran would die and the beetle would be free to come from them next. If that happened, no matter how angry Heather might get at her, Kylie planned on using her as a speedbump and running like hell! After all, she was the one with the quest the increased her penalities for dying; but, much to her relief however, Seran¡¯s health shot back up to full and he roared again with renewed vigor and continued to slam his hammer into the beetle¡¯s face and side. ¡°Save your magic!¡± Kylie screamed at Heather. ¡°What? Why?¡± Heather looked puzzled, but she slowly released the magic she¡¯d been gathering to throw. ¡°You¡¯ll need to burn the goo clear off Seran when he¡¯s hit again,¡± Kylie reasoned. ¡°This is going to have to be his battle, with us just playing minor support. The fire didn¡¯t seem that effective against the creature¡¯s shell anyway.¡± ¡°Dammit! I don¡¯t want to play support. I want to blast things to pieces!¡± Even though she griped and complained, Heather still held her magic in reserve and watched closely to see how the beetle did its acid attack, while Kylie continuously spammed tiny heals which only used a single point of mana over and over. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you save your mana as well?¡± Heather asked, yelling. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Kylie assured her. ¡°As long as it¡¯s this small of a heal, my mana regen and energy pool could keep this up all day! I¡¯ve got to try and keep Seran¡¯s health up as high as possible so he won¡¯t die the moment you blast him!¡± ¡°Fine. Whatever.¡± Feeling almost like a third wheel, all Heather could do is stand and watch the fight drag on for several long minutes. Seran bashed, the beetle bit and snapped back at him, Kylie tossed a minor heal. Bash, bit, heal. For the first time since she¡¯d started playing Winter¡¯s Tale, Heather regretted that she hadn¡¯t tried to use any weapon at all. She¡¯d told herself that having one would just take time away from her skill use and practice with her magics, but she was regretting that decision now. She wanted to do something. Anything! And then that moment came! After a massive hammer smack to the creature¡¯s torso, it staggered back several steps and then shook its head for a brief moment before spewing a steaming black acid all over Seran and everything else in front of it. ¡°Now,¡± Kylie screamed, but Heather was already blasting Seran and the beetle once again with the largest area effect fireball she could produce. Flames erupted all around them. Seran¡¯s fur tunic smoldered, shimmered, and then disappeared, revealing his bare chest burning and blistering under the fiery onslaught. By the time the flames had died down, Seran¡¯s health had dropped considerably and was blinking warningly. ¡°Maybe not so much flame next time,¡± Kylie suggested as she hurled a massive healing spell back into Seran, restoring him to perfect health. ¡°Sorry,¡± Heather laughed, not the least bit sorry. ¡°I¡¯ll tone it down a bit,¡± she promised. Once again, it was a waiting game for Heather as the others did all the work. Bash. Bite. Heal. Bash. Bite. Heal. All she could do is stare and watch. Stare and Watch. Watch and Stare. For several moments, all Heather did was wait and watch impatiently, but then she noticed it again! That same pattern of movements; move back, shake its head¡­ Guessing that the acid spew was coming next, Heather unleashed a large ball of intense flame right at the creatures face. KA-WHOOOSSH!!! Fire erupted everywhere and the beetle exploded in all directions. Seran shimmered and instantly disappeared, blown apart in the same fiery explosion which sent chunks of smoldering beetle parts in all directions. A flaming leg rocketed forward, as if propelled by a missile, and buried itself in Heather¡¯s chest. Half the leg stuck out of the front of her chest, while the other half burnt and spasmed erratically on the other side of her back. One of the last things Heather saw before her health bar completely depleted and disappeared was one of the long sickle-like mandibles the beetle had been biting Seran with, flying in a flaming, spinning arc directly for Kylie. For a moment, as the world flashed warningly between red and black, letting her know that death was immenient, she saw Kylie take a step forward to stagger onto her knees, looking almost as if she was kneeling to pray, before her head fell backwards, rolled down her back, and bounced a few times across the floor. With a last painful gurgle of, ¡°Awww Hell..¡±, Heather¡¯s health disappeared and she also died. Chapter 70: Nobility and Lords ¡°Ahhh hell¡­¡± Despondant, Kylie sat and slowly read the hoard of information windows that popped up before her. Some were just standard combat and death messages such as ¡°You¡¯ve been slain, yada yada¡­ You have dropped your tattered pelt.¡±, but some were downright depressing to read over. ¡°Guys, I lost two levels,¡± Kylie pouted, while reading her other messages. ¡°That funny. Me not even see experience blip,¡± Seran laughed. ¡°I only lost about a tenth of a level,¡± Heather exclaimed. ¡°That¡¯s insane! ¡°Well, it was barely two levels,¡± Kylie explained. ¡°I went up a level when that beetle exploded, and then lost the level I gained and another one. I¡¯m sitting right at ninety-six percent now, so I just barely lost two levels.¡± ¡°Still, that¡¯s a massive loss,¡± Heather offered sympathetically. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± she whispered, too quietly for anyone else to hear. ¡°Sucks to be you,¡± Seran laughed, flexing his muscles. ¡°All me lose me get back when me smack fart out of fly later. Me not even have clothes to lose,¡± Seran chuckled, while strutting around and flexing naked. ¡°Acid melt clothes and fire burn clothes and now Seran all natural man again! HISS! HISS!¡± Thrusting out his pelvic region, Seran made several loud hissing sounds before breaking down into manfully girlish giggles. ¡°Just shut it,¡± Kylie snorted, tossing a tattered wolf hide over at Seran, and wrap that around yourself. I¡¯m still sorting this crap out. It looks like my ¡®Don¡¯t Die¡¯ quest has been updated. Apparently when a member of the royal bloodline dies, they leave behind something called an ¡®Essence of Nobility¡¯. I don¡¯t have a clue what the hell that is, but I¡¯ve got to find it and absorb the essence one again. Until I do, I¡¯ve got a fifty percent penalty to experience, negatives to my charisma and diplomatic abilities, and I¡¯ve lost all the benefits of my noble bloodline and authority ¨C whatever the hell those are!¡± ¡°Noble bloodline?¡± Heather asked, looking at Kylie a little oddly. ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you I was an exiled elven princess, hunted by the people of my land, with an ever increasing bounty on my head?¡± Kylie replied, looking innocent. ¡°Nooo, I don¡¯t think I¡¯d heard quite all of that before,¡± Heather replied, looking a little shocked and hurt. ¡°Sorry.¡± Blushing slightly, Kylie simply shrugged in apology. ¡°It all good,¡± Seran laughed, walking towards the exit of the room they¡¯d respawned in near the entrance. ¡°Heather know now, and not matter anyway. Princess or pig, our Kylie still just our Kylie. Long as her got squishy-squishy bounce-bounce, we still love her. Now come! Let¡¯s go get noble smoble back. No one here but us; it just sit there like happy noble turd in golden chamber pot.¡± ¡°Fine,¡± Heather snorted, flicking her hair back over her shoulder in what Kylie had learned was a certain sign of annoyance. ¡°Let¡¯s go get this ¡®Essence of Nobility¡¯. Who knows, maybe I can absorb it and become a royal elf,¡± Heather laughed, an evil glint in her eyes. ¡°In fact, that sounds like a great idea!¡± Turning and running, she suddenly dashed past Kylie and out the exit. ¡°Hey! Wait a damn minute!¡± Rushing after her, Kylie ran out of the room and past a confused looking Seran. ¡°I need that! I don¡¯t want to be stuck with a permanent penalty like this!¡± ¡°Finders Keepers!¡± Laughing wildly, Heather completely ignored Kylies pleas, curses, and promises to make her pay as she ran on recklessly back where they¡¯d came from. Running breathlessly behind her, Kylie screeched to a stop and looked puzzled at one of the intersections. Suddenly cackling wildly, she yelled down the tunnel after Heather, ¡°Wrong way, idiot!¡± Giggling madly to herself, she turned and ran down a different passage to her left. Several minutes later, Seran finally caught up to the same intersection, strolling along casually. Hearing footsteps echoing from straight in front of him and from the left of him, he shrugged and then turned to the tunnel on his right and started down it. ¡°Good idea, me guess. Split up and look for new things to splat. Me think us almost done in here. This good idea. Faster!¡± ¡°Hey! Rat. Spider. Beetle. Me come for you!¡± Laughing, he tapped his massive hammer in his hands and wandered off alone to see if he could find anything else to indulge bashing on. * * * * * * * * After wandering hopelessly lost back and forth through dozens of different side tunnels and passages that all seemed the same, Kylie was about ready to give up and just cry. Without much time left in their session, she was going to be forced to log out without having found the way down once again, and that worried her to no end. She¡¯d never lost her ¡®Essence of Nobility¡¯ before, and didn¡¯t know what it was, how it behaved, and how long it¡¯d last on its own. Would it melt like ice over time? Could a creature in the dungeon consume it and gain whatever bonuses it gave? She simply didn¡¯t know and that uncertainty was twisting her stomach in knots. ¡°Hey jerkface!¡± Heather¡¯s voice suddenly came across the party chat, making Kylie jump and spin around like an idiot. ¡°Guess what? I¡¯ve found it!¡± Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°You have not!¡± Kylie yelled back in denial, praying that it wasn¡¯t true. ¡°I sure have,¡± Heather taunted. ¡°It looks like a sparkling little diamond and is giving off a pulsing white light. Finders Keepers!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you dare! I need that,¡± Kylie pleaded. ¡°Too late. I¡¯ve already tried to use it,¡± Heather laughed bitterly. ¡°Tried?¡± Swallowing down a lump in the back of her throat, Kylie asked, ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°Not a damn thing,¡± Heather responded, sounded disgusting. ¡°I got a stupid pop-up that told me, ¡®Only those recognized as nobility can consume an Essence of Nobility. You lack the proper qualifications at this time.¡¯ Dumb ass rock. I should just melt it.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you dare! You just wait until I find my way there,¡± Kylie commanded. ¡°Fine, but I get first choice out of the other loot that dropped,¡± Heather bartered. ¡°Fine! Fine! Just don¡¯t melt my essence,¡± Kylie agreed. ¡°Seran no need loot,¡± a rough male voice interrupted and joined in the conversation. ¡°Seran just need smash!¡± ¡°Fine! The you two can¡¯t regret it later!¡± Heather laughed freely for a few seconds and then the party chat went quiet. A moment later the ground shook and thunderous rumbling echoed up and down the tunnels. A moment later, a think wave of blackness washed over everything, causing Kylie to close her eyes tightly against the sudden change in lighting. When she opened them again, she was back at the small entrance with Seran and Heather both standing nearby. ¡°What the hell was that?¡± Kylie asked, confounded. ¡°I claimed the dungeon,¡± Heather giggled, holding up what looked like a midnight black pearl. ¡°It¡¯s exiled anyone not in our party from the dungeon, I now have the right to rename it, and there¡¯s about eight million options that the core opens up!¡± ¡°Sounds great,¡± Kylie muttered, feeling a bit taken advantage of. ¡°Where¡¯s my essence?¡± ¡°Oh! Here.¡± Taking her other hand, Heather tossed a small shimmering gemstone over to Kylie. Pulsing with a light white glow, a window popped up the moment Kylie caught it. Reading over it, she quickly nodded. ¡°Yes, dammit, I want claim this essence.¡± The gemstone pulsed brightly a few times in her hands and then disappeared, leaving behind more system messages for Kylie to read. Looking at first one girl staring off into space and reading messages only they could see, and then watching the other do the same, Seran shrugged his massive shoulders and started to walk out of the room. ¡°Me go smash. Stupid women stare at stupid air. No fun. Bash better!¡± ¡°Oh no you won¡¯t,¡± Heather replied, as she moved to block the exit. ¡°The creatures in here now are ours. We have the dungeon core! From what I can tell, we can earn experience, levels, bonuses, and all sorts of different things if we can grow and level the dungeon up.¡± ¡°How level dungeon,¡± Seran asked, looking puzzled. ¡°I¡¯m not entirely certain,¡± Heather admitted. ¡°There¡¯s a lot of crap to take in all at once with the core. I think the general idea is when the dungeon kills hostile invaders, it accumulates experience kind of like we do. The things in here now, whatever there is that¡¯s left, will work to protect the dungeon and kill invaders.¡± ¡°Not smash beetles?¡± Seran pouted. ¡°Not if they¡¯re in the dungeon now,¡± Heather reinstated. ¡°Things in here are off limits.¡± Looking a little puzzled, Kylie asked, ¡°But how does the dungeon kill things? None of the creatures outside followed us in through the darkness earlier.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Heather admitted. ¡°Like I said, there¡¯s a lot to sort out with this damn thing. Maybe there¡¯s an option to open the front door or something. Or maybe dungeons only grow by killing invading players. I¡¯m not certain. It looks like the dungeon has a natural growth rate, and a respawn rate. It also looks like there¡¯s some way we can add new creatures to the defenses. The thing is, everything seems to take Dungeon Points, which the crystal seems to earn very slowly naturally, but which can be sped up by the killing of invaders inside the dungeon.¡± ¡°That simple then,¡± Seran laugh. ¡°Now we go hunt forest. Catch enemy. Drag it in home. Then smash!¡± ¡°That might work,¡± Heather agreed, ¡°if it¡¯s possible to catch things. We never have before.¡± ¡°Yes we have,¡± Kylie said, laughing slightly. ¡°Rat ball, remember?¡± ¡°Rat ball,¡± Heather agreed, a large smile starting to spread across her face. ¡°Rats balls make rat babies,¡± Seran agreed, having no idea what the heck they were talking about. Kylie looked over at Heather and then both burst out laughing. ¡°I¡¯m gone before the timer runs out again,¡± Heather told them, waving briefly before saying, ¡°Log out.¡± Looking over at Seran, Kylie nodded once showing that she was ready as well. ¡°Log Out,¡± they both said together, escaping to the real world to celebrate becoming lords of their own dungeon together. NAC: End of Book 1 And, we can now bring a successful close to the first book in Winter''s Tale. We''ve met several of our main characters and gotten to know them. We''ve gained some insight into the game and their daily lives and routines. They''ve accomplished their first major accomplishment by captured their own little dungeon... It''s a good place to conclude our ''introduction arc'', and get ready to move on to... whatever comes next! (No spoilers. LOL!) Book 1 is 115,350 words, in 70 chapters, and that gives us an average of 1,648 words per chapter -- for those folks who like to keep track of such statistics. What comes next? Like usual, whenever I finish any book, I like to take a few days to congratulate myself and to simply rest and enjoy the feeling. Then, I like to take about a week or so to go back over the story and edit it, making corrections to grammar and syntax, and fleshing out any little areas and clarifying any scenes that seem to need it. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. After that, I try and wrap everything up in a nice epub/mobi format so people can enjoy it offline, and then I''ll enjoy another small break before going back into the normal rotation of things.
If you haven''t yet, now would be a good time to take a moment to rate the story, offer a review (or update an older one, if you have one that you did back around chapter 10 or something), and point out any problems or issues that you''ve seen or encountered anywhere. Like usual, I hope everyone has enjoyed our ride getting here so far. I sincinerly hope you folks are all enjoying reading the story as much as I am in telling it. I personally find Winter''s Tale to be lighthearted, fun, and just plain enjoyable for me. I hope you all find it the same. For now though, I''m off for a while to simply bask in the enjoyment of saying, "This one''s a keeper!" (At least, in my opinion, it is. ;) ) Jasons Tale 00 -- Before the Tale Author''s Note: According to the poll I did previously, the overwhelming majority of people seem to like the idea of me sticking with "Winter''s Tale", as told from Kyle''s perspective, and it makes me quite happy to see that so many people have gotten invested with our main characters and are wanting to see how the story/plot progresses for them. Unfortunately for those readers, at this point, I''d rather take a bit to do some backtracking and fill in the blanks better for our other characters in Winter''s Tale. Lots of little interesting things have been going on in various places in Winter''s Tale, and Kyle and his group have been at the fringes of it all, lost in their own little forgotten corner of the world. William has been meddling and causing his own brand of havoc. Jason has integrated himself into life in the dwarven capitol. Other things are moving, shaping, and taking place in the rest of the world, and I feel it''s important to bring those events to light for the reader to fully understand more about what''s going on and how/why it''ll end up affecting Kyle and company later. So, with no further ado, I present the start to "Jason''s Tale". I don''t know at this point how long it''ll be -- whether just a few short chapters as an "interlude", or a whole novel itself -- but I want to take the time and effort to flesh it out fully, until I''m satisfied for myself that it''s been done the justice it deserves. I hope everyone who''s followed along this far continues to follow along with us as more and more of Winter''s Tale presents itself to us, and will enjoy the ride as we shift focus on to a different character for a while. If not, I understand fully, and perhaps I''ll see you guys again later once we get back to "Kyle''s Tale" once more. For now, all I can do is follow the story where it''s telling me to take it, and right now that''s "Jason''s Tale".
¡°Welcome home, Young Master Jason. Can I take your coat?¡± The maid that greeted him at the door today, like most other days, was Penny Wordsworth. An older woman, Penny was had several streaks of white in her long, carefully tended hair, and a perpetual scowl on her face. Even when she didn¡¯t seem upset or angry over anything, the corners of her lips curled up slightly at the edges in a wrinkled snarl. ¡°It¡¯s ok, Penny,¡± Jason told her, smiling wearily in her direction. ¡°I¡¯m tired. I¡¯ll take it off when I get up to my room and then I¡¯m going to lay down for a while.¡± ¡°Have you been taking your medicine properly?¡± Bending over, Penny stared directly into Jason¡¯s eyes, intently watching for his answer. ¡°I have been,¡± he answered truthfully. ¡°It¡¯s just been a long day at school today and I¡¯m tired.¡± ¡°Hmmpf!¡± Straightening up, Penny seemed to accept his answer at face value, before changing the subject and asking, ¡°More trouble from those Braxton brats?¡± ¡°Just Mitch. I didn¡¯t see Michael today,¡± Jason confessed. ¡°It wasn¡¯t anything big. He just harassed me for a bit about my weight and all, and then he took my books and hid them from me. I never did find my Literature book.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be certain to have another one fetched for you,¡± Penny promised as the corners of her mouth twitched up into an even harder snarl. ¡°Young Master, you really should go to your father or mother and tell them about what¡¯s been going on with those young hooligans. I¡¯m certain one meeting with the young boy¡¯s parents, or their parent¡¯s lawyers, and the issue would quickly settle itself.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not going to sue them,¡± Jason said, slowly shaking his head from side to side. ¡°Father would claim it was harassment, hazing, a violation of human rights, discrimination against the disabled, and I don¡¯t know what all. He¡¯d turn the whole thing into some huge media campaign for the human rights movement, or some such crap, and I¡¯d just end up being even more of a freak at school than I already am. No thanks.¡± ¡°But Young Master¡­¡± ¡°No buts!¡± Brushing past the older woman, Jason moodily stomped off to his room, leaving her behind to scowl as he slowly went down the hall. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
A slight rapping knocked at Jason¡¯s door, and a vibrant, youthful voice called out, ¡°Young Master, are you decent in there?¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine. Come on in,¡± Jason replied, as he slumped down in the lush leather chair sitting in front of his desk. Softly the door creaked ajar and a pretty young girl peeked her head inside the crack before finally pushing it fully open. Pam ¨C Pamela was her real name, but everyone called her Pam for short ¨C laughed lightly and then carefully eased into the room carrying a small silver tray. ¡°Gran told me to bring this to you,¡± she said, smiling lightly. ¡°Where do you want it?¡± ¡°Just over her on the desk somewhere,¡± Jason said listlessly, barely waving a hand back and forth. ¡°Or over on the bed would be fine too. I¡¯ll get to it in a bit.¡± Wearily, his head drifted down to rest against his chest as he closed his eyes to rest. ¡°I¡¯ll sit it on the dresser here,¡± was the soft, almost gentle reply. A few moments later, the sound of the tray sliding gently across the desk gently drifted to Jason¡¯s ear as he slowly began to nod off. Honestly, he probably would have fallen asleep right then and there, if it wouldn¡¯t have been for the feeling of someone pulling on tugging on his leg which aroused him. Glancing down, Pam was kneeling at the base of his seat, untying his shoes and trying to tug them off. Embarrassed, he half jerked backwards and slid the chair several feet back across the floor. ¡°I... I can do that!¡± ¡°I¡¯m certain you can,¡± Pam laughed, as she slowly eased up and ran a hand through her black, short-cropped hair. ¡°You just seemed like you were going to sleep and I thought you¡¯d rest a little better,¡± Pam explained, with slight dimples twitching across her face, causing Jason to blush slightly as he stared at her. Pam wasn¡¯t the most beautiful woman he¡¯d ever seen, nor was she even the most beautiful girl his age that he knew, but there was simply something about her smiles and dimples that filled Jason with a warmth that always embarrassed him. If his father found out that he was the slightest bit attracted to the hired help, he¡¯d fire her on the instant ¨C and probably her grandmother Penny to boot! ¡°I¡¯ll¡­ I¡¯ll get it,¡± Jason stammered again, as he slowly tilted his head to the side to hide his reddening cheeks. ¡°Are mother or father home yet?¡±, he asked to change the subject. ¡°I don¡¯t think either is expected until late,¡± Pam told him gently, as she slowly turned and eased to the door. ¡°From what gran was telling me, your father is in a meeting till late and your mother will be busy with some charity function. Neither are expected back for supper this evening.¡± Slowly turning to stare at her backside as she eased to the door, Jason had to admit to himself that he did appreciate the view of the way the white maid¡¯s dress clung to her curves. Stopping at the doorway, Pam gently asked, ¡°Was there anything in particular that I should tell the chef to cook for you this evening?¡± For whatever reason, she didn¡¯t turn around to look back at him, which allowed Jason a chance to stare just a moment longer. At first, he smiled softly to himself as he stared up and down at the soft feminine curves of her back, but then he blushed brightly, worried that perhaps she had somehow caught on to his shameless leering. ¡°It¡­ It¡¯s fine,¡± Jason stuttered. ¡°Anything will be good. No need for him to go out of his way for me. I¡¯ll eat anything.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll tell him that.¡± Swiftly, Pam walked on out of the room and shut the door behind her. ¡°Dammit! I suck.¡± Slowly, Jason raised his hands to his head and rubbed his temples. ¡°Congrats Jason boy, you just scored a creep factor of twelve.¡± Slowly, he slid his chair back up to the desk in front of him and lifted up the lid to the silver tray sitting there. Feeling tired and depressed again, he snaked on the carrot slices and finger sandwiches without half even noting them. Once again, Jason was left all alone in the world. Jasons Tale 01 -- Limiting Choices After finishing his meal, taking his medicine, and then resting for a while, Jason got up and slowly walked over to rub his V-Rig. As expensive as they were, he was still amazed that he¡¯d managed to talk his parents into letting getting one for him ¨C and a Model XLV II at that! Not quite suitable to be used as a full-fledged server, it was still what many would consider a ¡°high end model¡±, and most of the bells and whistles that comes with such a piece of hardware. Tons of memory, terabytes of data storage, quad-core VGP, with its own firewall and router built in ¨C it was a dream come true for him! At lunch, his friends had all confirmed that they had purchased a copy of Winter¡¯s Tale, and they were all going to play it, and that made him ecstatic! Due to his weight and his health, Jason didn¡¯t usually get to join his friends if they ever got together and did things. He¡¯d missed out on summer camp, all sorts of sports activities, and hadn¡¯t even been able to join band due to his severe lack of stamina. But this time ¨C this time there shouldn¡¯t be any reason why he couldn¡¯t join them for fun and adventures inside a virtual world! Gently picking up his silver helmet, Jason took a few moments to rub and polish it before putting it on his head. Clicking on the local video and sound, he eased over to his bed and slowly laid down upon it. ¡°Log in, Winter¡¯s Tale,¡± he softly commanded as he settled into a comfortable position. Moments later, Jason found himself floating in thin air, hovering in front of a pulsing white light of pure energy. Gentle bird songs and insect calls mingled with the gentle tricking of water as a small waterfall splashed down into a small forest pool back behind the ball of light. Taking a few moments to hover around, Jason indulged in the beauty and realism that the virtual environment had created for him. If it wasn¡¯t for the small video screen which showed the ceiling of his room, from where he¡¯d turned his local camera on before logging into the game, Jason could almost believe that he¡¯d died and was a soul awaiting to be reborn in a new world somewhere. The sights, sounds, and even the smells of the area were completely realistic to him, and he was blown away by it all! When they said Winter¡¯s Tale was pushing the boundaries of virtual technology, they weren¡¯t kidding! After spending what felt like hours exploring the limits of the small glade used as the backdrop for the character creation process, Jason finally turned his attention to the pulsing orb of energy floating before him. After a few moments of concentration, words formed and floated above the orb reading, ¡°SEX: Male, Female, None, Hermaphroditic.¡± Puzzled, Jason couldn¡¯t help but ask himself, ¡°Hermaphroditic?¡± Almost instantly, and much to his amazement, the floating orb changed to shape itself into an outline of a naked humanoid figure with both breasts and a penis visible. Blushing slightly, Jason was glad no one else was around who could watch him as he stared for several long moments at the figure before finally stuttering, ¡°Ma¡­ ma¡­ male, please!¡± Once again, the orb shimmered and slowly changed to take the shape of a floating humanoid male figure. ¡°Sorry WT, but I don¡¯t want any man-boobs,¡± Jason whispered quietly to no one. ¡°I want to play somebody strong, sturdy, and healthy. I don¡¯t want to be some weak, fat, freak that everyone sits around and makes fun of. I want to be someone respectable. Someone strong that people can look up to. I want to be someone who can help support my friends and someone they can rely on. The brochure says, ¡®Winter¡¯s Tale, where anything is possible¡¯. Is there any chance that it¡¯d be possible for me to play a character like that?¡± Much to Jason¡¯s amazement, the avatar floating before him slowly started to change and reshape itself and the message above the figure changed to read, ¡°Too many variables present. Please continue to limit choices.¡± Talking to himself, Jason asked, ¡°Limit choices? Too many variables?¡± Taking a moment to think about it, he floated above the avatar trying to think of how to limit the possibilities. Finally, desperately, he asked thin air, ¡°WT, how can I limit my choices? Can you help?¡± Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. The words above the avatar slowly changed once again to read, ¡°Magical Aptitude?¡± ¡°Magical Aptitude?¡± Jason pondered, before slowly shaking his head from side to side. ¡°No, I don¡¯t want magic. I figure everyone else will probably want to play some sort of magical character. In fact, I want to play one that¡¯s magically resistant instead of magically endowed.¡± Slowly the avatar changed shape one again, flickering through the various possibilities still available. The old message slowly faded and a new one appeared which read, ¡°Spiritual Aptitude?¡± ¡°No. No spiritual aptitude for me,¡± Jason answered, grinning slightly as the avatar continued to alter and grow a little more definable. ¡°I¡¯m not a priest, holy knight, or anything like that. They have too many restrictions to follow.¡± ¡°Social Standing?¡±, was the next question that appeared. ¡°Umm¡­ Slightly wealthy, but not so wealthy that it¡¯s going to get me in trouble,¡± Jason answered after a moments pause. ¡°And a respectable member of society, not some odd outcast like a crazy hermit in the woods either. I want to play someone who interacts with a lot of other people.¡± ¡°Family Status?¡±, the game prompted him. ¡°Family Status?¡± Puzzled, Jason had to think for a bit about what it might be asking. Was it asking if he wanted to come from a noble family or some such thing? Wasn¡¯t that what social standing was? Thinking about it, if he saw such a question on a modern questionnaire, he¡¯d assume it was asking about marital status. ¡°Married, with two children,¡± Jason answered, half joking. Much to his embarrassment, the prompt changed once again to, ¡°Partner¡¯s Sex?¡± ¡°A female! A female! I¡¯m married to a female,¡± Jason answered, feeling himself grow flush with embarrassment. Much to his relief, the question above the avatar quickly moved on to ask something else for him to answer, followed by another question and then another, for what seemed like an eternity of endlessly making choices to narrow down what character might suit him best in the game.
After what seemed like an endless series of questions, the floating avatar settled into the form of a short stocky dwarf and didn¡¯t change anymore. Floating above the avatar was a message reading, ¡°Winter¡¯s Tale recommends this character. Do you accept?¡± Taking a moment to think about it, Jason finally nodded and said, ¡°I do. I¡¯ll try this guy out.¡± The text above the avatar slowly altered and changed to become, ¡°Old Name: Borean Silveraxe. Please choose a new name.¡± ¡°A new name?¡± Jason muttered to himself, wondering about the impact of what he was seeing. Apparently he had an old name in the game, but now he had to choose a new one. Why? Shouldn¡¯t he be making a character from scratch? Why would it have an old name listed? Did every character start out with multiple names, or just him? If so, why? Why would players need two names? Or why would he? After several long moments of uncertainty, Jason slowly shook his head and shrugged. Until he actually got into the game and started exploring and asking questions, he¡¯d just be guessing at answers. Stuck at the login screen, he had no way of knowing if he was the only person to have two names, or if it was common for everyone else as well. Smiling to himself after thinking for a few moments more, Jason finally spoke up. ¡°I am Drun Kindwarf,¡± he stated, trying not to laugh. From what he knew about dwarves from The Lord of The Rings, and from different role playing games he¡¯d played in the past, he¡¯d always seen them represented as heavy drinkers and a people who loved their ale. What could be any more suitable for a name than one which played on the ¡°drunken dwarf¡± stereotype? Moments after he confirmed his choice of name, the forest glade faded out of the background and a different scene began to fade into view. Jasons Tale 02 -- Drun Kindrawf ¡°Quit yer spacing out and give me mah change!¡± Almost as soon as Drun appeared in the game, a stocky long-bearded dwarf was up in his face and shouting at him. Startled, Drun blinked in confusion and muttered, ¡°Cha¡­ change?¡± ¡°Aye! Are ya damn daft man? Ya said the blade was four silver crown to fix. I gave ya a gold eagle. Ya owe me six crowns, and don¡¯t think ya going to be able to cheat me out of it! I¡¯ll report ya to the Crafters, that I will!¡± The dwarf was turning slightly red in the face and shaking his fist slightly to show he meant business. ¡°A moment. One moment. I¡¯m sorry!¡± Almost instantly, Jason¡¯s instincts to apologize kicked in, and he tried to diffuse the problem. ¡°Sorry?¡± The other dwarf blinked a few times, looked around stupidly, and then shook his head from side to side. ¡°Forget about it. ¡®T¡¯ain¡¯t a big deal anywho. Just take it off me next visit.¡± Looking confused and perhaps even a little bit embarrassed, the other dwarf turned and purposefully strode towards the door, leaving Drun alone in what appeared to be the front office of a workshop or smithy. ¡°What the heck was that all about?¡±, Drun whispered softly to himself as he began to look around, confused. What type of game logged you into an immediate confrontation with an angry dwarf?! Where was the learning curve, with the starting quest giver standing nearby to tell a new player how to proceed and what to do? Taking a moment to first pull up his stats, Jason was surprised to that there wasn¡¯t any listing for ¡°Class¡± anywhere that he could find. He was level one, had stats, titles, skills, and other such game related things that he could see, but nowhere in all those status reports could he find a listing for his class. He was simply a first level dwarf with what appeared to be some basic skills in fighting, smithing, and basic accounting, reading, and bartering. Truly, the character system wasn¡¯t anything at all like he had been expecting it to be, and looking all around, nothing seemed to be what he had been expecting. The shop around him was pristinely clean, with every surface polished, shined, and buffed to a luster. Various metal pots, pans, knives, swords, and suits of metal armor were laid for display on various shelves and a long counter with what appeared to be an abacus and a moneybox was off to the side of him. The level of detail was beyond anything he¡¯d ever imagined or expected from a game; looking down, he could even make out the worn scuffmarks on the stone flooring from where countless metal boots had traipsed across it numerous times. The smell of steel, oil, and sweat mixed in the air and hung heavy over everything, giving it an odor that seemed somehow nostalgic to him. ¡°Is this my shop?¡± Looking all about, he couldn¡¯t find any sign of another person or shopkeeper around, so Drun took his time to slowly walk the smithy and examine everything. He didn¡¯t know anything about weapons in the real world, but when he picked up one of the well-polished axes, a blue screen appeared hovering in front of him that told him all about it.
NameDamage Durability Notes
Mastercrafted Dwarven Axe (Steel)10 - 2025 / 25An axe crafted by the Dwarf Mastersmith Drun Kindrawf, shaped and forged with the talent of a master of the art of metalworking, who puts his heart into each of his creations. Unnamed, this piece is fitting to be give a name by its first owner. Current Market Value: 1,000 gold crowns
¡°A thousand crowns?¡± Drun blinked a few times and then sat the axe down and stared up and down the walls were dozens of weapons and suits of armor sat lined up in perfect order. The dwarf earlier was arguing over silver change from a single gold, so his mind was telling him that even fractions of a gold coin had enough value for people to fight and complain about. Silver wasn¡¯t like pennies back in the real world, where you shrugged off and dropped into some ¡®give a penny, get a penny¡¯ jar at the cash register ¨C it was valuable enough to argue over, and gold was ten times more valuable that that! And here, around him, were dozens of items that were worth hundreds and thousands of gold each! ¡°I¡¯m fugging loaded!¡± Drun whispered to himself, half in awe. ¡°What type of dang character starts out with such wealth? Or has mastercrafted goods at their disposal as a noob? Something¡¯s wrong here, I think!¡± This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Fretting nervously, Drun paced back and forth, trying to compare what he was seeing to any other game he¡¯d ever played. No matter how much he tried, he couldn¡¯t remember ever starting out at level one with such high quality gear, items, and wealth before. The game claimed these were items he¡¯d made, but he¡¯d never crafted anything before in his life. As a sudden thought of what would happen if he couldn¡¯t repeat the process and actually make master gear ran through his mind, he felt a cold shiver of fear trickle down his spine. A shop like this had to cost an arm and a leg to own, rent, or maintain. Steel and other materials had to be expensive to buy and replace. He¡¯d went to school with a lot of other students whose parents ran various businesses and shops, and he understood all about the pressure of supply and demand, shop reputation, quality vs quantity of goods, business overhead, taxes, and the effort required to balance the books. If he¡¯d started with some sort of reputation as a master smith, selling items worth thousands of gold in his shop that he¡¯d supposedly made before starting his character, and couldn¡¯t make those items now¡­ Drun shivered again and rushed over to the door as fast as his stubby little feet would take him. Flipping the sign in the window to where it¡¯d read ¡®CLOSED¡¯ on the outside, he quickly locked and fastened the multiple locks and chains on the door. ¡°Oh. Oh! Oh! CRAP!¡± Rushing into the back of the shop, Drun headed to the smithy area and began to look around. Various barrels of waters and oils lined the wall, several piles of ores were stacked neatly in one corner, several piles of various colored coal were stacked in a different corner, and all sorts of tools were hung up on the wall, ranging from hammers to tongs to screwdrivers to items he had no idea what their function was. A huge black anvil sat prominently in the center of the room, and a massive chimney rose up in front of a blackened stone alcove in the middle of the right wall. ¡°How the heck do I make a sword? I don¡¯t know anything about this!¡± His dwarven heart pounding massively in his chest, adrenalin rushed throughout Drun¡¯s body, making his massive iron muscles twitch expectantly. ¡°First thing first. First thing first. First thing¡­ ¡°FIRE,¡± Drun yelled, like a caveman, as he ran over and grabbed several shovels full of coal and dumped them into the alcove under the chimney. ¡°Matches. Matches. Lighter? Fireball?¡± Dashing around, half laughing from the sheer rush he was feeling ¨C this was great! In the real world, Jason had to watch and not get excited. Not raise his blood pressure. Not rush around. His parents had pampered him and sheltered him, and he wasn¡¯t allowed to do anything to serious exert himself physically. ¡°Screw it!¡± Laughing, with the first beads of perspiration already starting to drop down his nose, Drun ran over to the wall and grabbed two massive metal hammers. Rushing as fast as his little dwarven legs could take him, he dashed over and grabbed one of the square metal bars from the corner and then sprinted to the alcove. Sitting one hammer down as a base, he placed the metal bar on it, and then began to bang it rapidly with the other hammer. Muscles rippling, adrenalin pumping, Drun was laughing and smiling broadly. He felt so strong! So energetic! So free! A dozen wildly passionate strikes later, the sparks flying off the hammer striking ore finally ignited the coal, causing a small trail of smoke to trickle upwards and drift lazily through the chimney. ¡°HURRAH! FIRE!¡± Half dancing a crazy little jig, Drun cheered at his own success as he tried to grab up the ore and then flung it half across the smithy. ¡°Hoy! Hot! Ho!¡± Shaking his hand, he blew on his fingers several times, and then laughed at the thick layer of callouses that covered his fingers and palms. His hands in the real world were baby smooth and had never had a blister in their entire life, but Drun¡¯s hands were the calloused, scarred hands of a dwarf who had worked for years mastering his art. Grinning broadly, Drun grabbed the handle of the hammer he¡¯d laid down to use as a miniature anvil at its far base, and then he carried it over to the small worktable near where they hung. Taking time to rub both hammers with an oily rag nearby, he cleaned and shined them both back to looking like new before he hung them back up on the wall. From what little he knew about smithing, all he needed now was to get the metal hot until it turned red or white, and then he just had to place it on the anvil and beat the heck out of it until he shaped it into something. Didn¡¯t sound that hard at all. Right? Jasons Tale 03 -- Unexpected Encounter ¡°Hi Ho! Hi Ho! Off to work I go! It¡¯s the only words of the song I know! But I¡¯m having fun, sooooo! Hi! Ho! Hi! Ho! Hi! H¡­¡± ¡°What the hell are you caterwauling about you damn fool man?!¡± A woman¡¯s sharp voice echoed over the clanging of the hammer and the unorthodox singing Drun was doing, startling him so bad that he spun and flung his hammer across the room at whoever was yelling at him. With a loud ¡°BLANG!¡±, the hammer stuck the wall a few feet away from a stocky female dwarf and fell to the ground to clatter several times on the stone floor. ¡°You. Did. Not. Just. Throw. That. At. Me.¡± With a look that made his heart tighten and want to hide, the woman slowly stomped across the floor. Storming to a stop a few feet in front of him, the female dwarf ¨C Drun assumed she was female because she had a curve for large boobs under her tunic, but he wasn¡¯t one hundred percent positive as she had a beard almost as long as his ¨C reached over, grabbed his beard in her right hand, and tugged him forward until he thought he might topple completely over. Leaning up, she planted a deep passionate kiss on him before letting go. Dazed and befuddled ¨C it was the first time he¡¯d ever kissed anyone like that in his entire life ¨C Drun staggered a step back and then sat firmly on his ass. ¡°Stupid man.¡± Sighing, the woman reached down and grabbed him by each shoulder and then pulled him back up to his feet. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you today? Act like you¡¯ve never kissed your wife before. Or ever tossed a hammer at my head either! HA!¡± Barking a loud laugh, she looked around and shook her head at the mess the smithy was in. ¡°I was wondering why the sign said closed when I got her.¡± Sighing, she walked over and slid a pair of the thick fire-resistant mittens on her hands. ¡°Looks like you have so confounded idea for something new again. Am I right?¡± Picking up a twisted and mangled piece of metal, she sniffed at it lightly, wrinkled her nose, and then tossed it into a huge cauldron sitting under the workbench. ¡°I can smell the passion, but see the suck in that one. Didn¡¯t do right at all, did it?¡± Walking over, she picked up another of the failed pieces of metal that Drun had tried to create something with and wrinkled her nose at it again. ¡°Damn man. When you ever going to learn to pick up after yourself. Think just ¡®cause you got a little talent, you can make all the damn mess you want, and then leave it to me and the kids to pick up?¡± Turning, she shook the twisted and warped metal slab in her hands at him. ¡°Me and the kids aren¡¯t gonna take it, and you know that!¡± ¡°Married?¡± Drun blinked stupidly and looked around left and right to see if someone was recording the scene as some sort of prank. ¡°Kids?¡± ¡°Drunella and Cedrine, you foolish old fart!¡± Tossing the twisted metal into the same huge cauldron, the dwarf woman put her hands on her hips and tapped her foot at him. ¡°And don¡¯t you even pretend not to know who they are! Cedrine has enough to put up with, with all the other fool folks looking at her funny for having magic ¨C don¡¯t you dare try and do it too!¡± ¡°I¡­ I wouldn¡¯t!¡± Startled, Drun blinked a few times and then shook his head vehemently in denial, swaying his long beard back and forth across the top of his chest. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t make fun of anyone ¨C whether they have magic or not!¡± ¡°Well good. You better not forget that!¡± Mumbling to herself, the dwarf woman ¨C his wife?? ¨C slowly walked around and continued to pick up the discarded failures that Drun had tossed so carelessly aside in trying to figure out the proper steps to making something. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. From what Drun had learned with his own experimentation before his wife¡­ The odd woman claiming to be his wife ¨C he still had trouble trying to accept that it wasn¡¯t an odd prank of some sort¡­ What he¡¯d learned before SHE had come in, was that he had an incredible skill in smithing. Try as he might, he couldn¡¯t actually get a ¡®full failure¡¯ to happen for him. Sure, he¡¯d failed at all sorts of things, but he¡¯d always managed to salvage something back from the attempt, and that usually turned into the twisted, worthless, lumps of junk metal that SHE was collecting and tossing into a series of different pots stored under the worktable. ¡°Why¡¯s it so blasted damn hot in here?¡± Grumbling something about stupid men trying to melt something off the something, the dwarf woman stopped cleaning up long enough to take the mittens back off, toss them on the ground, and then pull her tunic over her head and throw it unceremoniously onto to workbench. Chest bare, with her beard braided neatly between the large mounds of her exposed breasts, she picked the mittens back up and started back to work on her cleaning. ¡°Don¡¯t just stand there and ogle me like it¡¯s our honeymoon!¡± Shaking a fist at Drun, she motioned around the room. ¡°Help me clean this mess up so we can get back and put supper on the table! The young ¡®uns will be home soon from the academy!¡± ¡°Uh¡­¡± Blushing, Drun turned his back and scurried over to pick up the nearest piece of junk behind her. Wife? Kids? Breasts? Drun didn¡¯t have a clue what the hell was going on, but glancing over his shoulder at the muscular woman with the large breasts bouncing free, it put a large grin on his face! No wonder ¡®Winter¡¯s Tale¡¯ was rated for adults only ¨C you could start off and see boobs right from the very beginning! Whistling lightly to himself the whole time, Drun puttered about trying to steal glances whenever the woman ¨C He didn¡¯t even know her name yet! ¨C wasn¡¯t looking. It was odd seeing a woman with a braided beard hanging down her chest, but watching it sway from side to side was almost mesmerizing in its own way. So what if she was a little different and had a beard? Shrugging slightly, Drun laughed and then walked over, wrapped his arms around her, and hugged her tightly up against him. Laughing, the woman wrapped her arms tight around him in return, and then leaned forward and kissed him passionately. When she finally released the kiss, she suddenly stomped down hard on his foot, making Drun hop a few steps back and fall on his ass again. ¡°Quit that!¡± She demanded, placing her hands wide on her hips and giving Drun a perfect view of her front. ¡°I done told you we got to get back for supper and the kids! They¡¯ll be time enough for that tonight, you horny old dwarf,¡± she promised, giving a wink and a half wiggle before she went back to her cleaning. ¡°Tonight?¡± Looking at his game timer, Drun almost felt like crying. He¡¯d been in the game so long, trying to sort out the proper order how to make things out of steel, that it was almost time for him to log out. He didn¡¯t know what might happen in game, but he wasn¡¯t going to be around to get to experience it. ¡°Log out, Winter¡¯s Tale,¡± he mumbled regretfully. ¡°Power off, sleep mode.¡± Jasons Tale 04 -- Resisting Temptation? A light tapping sounded at Jason¡¯s door. When no one answered, a few moments later the door quietly creaked open and Pamela tiptoed into the room. ¡°Young Master? Are you awake?¡± Laid on his bed, arm draped lazily across his eyes, Jason didn¡¯t respond. ¡°Asleep already.¡± Laughing very quietly, Pam eased over and gently rubbed the hair away from his round, chubby cheeks. Placing a hand on his forehead, Pam felt for his temperature like she¡¯d been taught to. Not sensing any irregular hotness or coldness, she pulled a small notepad from the apron pocket on her maid¡¯s uniform and scribbled a few notes in it before tucking it back away and out of sight. Sighing deeply, she tisked a few times to herself softly as she stared down at Jason¡¯s sleeping form. Passed out wearing his school uniform once again, Jason was sleeping deeply. Not bothering to even try to wake him, Pam softly tiptoed back out of the room. A few moments later, she eased back in, closely followed by her grandmother. Neither Pam or Penny said anything ¨C all it took was a few gentle nods for each of them to know what the other was going to do and assist them ¨C as they worked harmoniously together to unbutton Jason¡¯s clothes and strip him. Pants, shirt, even socks were fair game ¨C by the time the two of them had finished, only his blue boxers were safe from their hands. Working together, the two eased the blankets down on the bed a corner at a time, until they worked them past his ankles and could tuck him in. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Penny checked his forehead for herself, before nodding slightly in satisfaction, and then quietly creeping out of the room, leaving Pam behind all alone. After waiting and watching for her grandmother to fully leave, Pam started to slowly pick up the room and get everything ready for the next morning. A fresh pair of pants, underwear, socks, and shirt were pulled out from drawers and neatly stacked on top of the dresser. Shoes were picked up from the floor and wiped clean, then stacked neatly together beside the clothes. The tray with the leftover meal from earlier was picked up and any stray crumbs were wiped up or picked up and placed on the tray to be disposed of on the way out. Glancing around to see if she missed anything, Pam gathered up the clothes her and her grandmother had just taken off Jason and tucked them tightly under her left arm to take down to the laundry later. Grabbing the tray in her right hand, she turned, started to the door the same way she did nearly every evening, and then stopped after a few steps. Glancing first towards the door, and then back towards the bed, Pam struggled for a moment in obvious indecision. Shaking her head to fight off temptation, she resolutely marched out the door without looking back. A few moments later, she quietly dashed back in and grabbed up the VRIG helmet in her right hand and rushed guiltily out of the room. Jasons Tale 05 -- Stalker Girl? After having dumped the dirty clothes in the laundry for Penny to do in the morning, and having cleaned the silver tray and few dishes, and put them back in their proper place in the kitchens, Pam rushed into her room and locked the door behind her. Sitting the VRIG helm down on her bed, she kept guiltily staring back at the door, half expecting her grandmother to come knocking and demanding to know what she was doing stealing Jason¡¯s stuff. Not that she was stealing it exactly¡­ After ten anxious minutes of waiting, her grandmother never appeared and Pam began to slowly calm down a little. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she kicked off her shoes ¨C not caring where they might end up, which she was certain would horrify her prim and proper grandmother ¨C and then wormed her way out of her dress, while kicking off her socks with one foot and then the other. In nothing but her small white lace panties ¨C she usually didn¡¯t wear a bra as she didn¡¯t like the way it somehow felt like it was smothering her as they clasped her breast tight ¨C she eased up and tiptoed over to check the door again. Satisfied that it was fastened, Pam draped the dress that was her maid uniform over a chair, and then pushed the chair up against the door handle for good measure. Heading back over, she flopped on her back on the bed and slowly picked up the helmet and held it out at arm¡¯s length above her. Studying it, she tried to tell herself that it wasn¡¯t too late yet to turn back. She could clean it a bit, shine it up, slip her dress back on and if her grandmother caught her she could just say she¡¯d took it to clean it. Glancing back at her door, she half started to get up to do that, but then, giving in to a sudden impulse, she slid the helmet on over her head and tapped the power button. After a few moments, the system¡¯s start up screen appeared, seemingly surrounding her completely. Astonished, Pam spent several minutes simply playing around with the system interface itself. She¡¯d heard all about the virtual reality devices ¨C they were the rage for all her friends to speculate and drool over, even if they couldn¡¯t afford them ¨C but this was the first time she¡¯d actually had a chance to experience the technology for herself. ¡°Show me the user log,¡± she commanded, and just a split second later a small window appeared hovering in front of her, with just a few entries. For all the power of the technology, Jason used it mainly for some minor research, or to visit sites with images or videos of women ¨C Pam made a point of promising herself to check those out later, just so she¡¯d know the young master¡¯s tastes and preferences so she could better serve him in the future. Down at the bottom of the list of user entries was where Jason had accessed something called ¡°Winter¡¯s Tale¡± ¨C Pam knew it was supposed to be the latest game for virtual technology, but she didn¡¯t know much more than that about it ¨C and then there was the entry where she¡¯d signed in as a ¡°guest¡±. ¡°Delete guest entry from log, please.¡± She politely asked the system, smiling with relief as it faded from the user log. ¡°Create new account for Pame¡­¡± Shaking her head a bit, she quickly corrected herself. ¡°Scratch that. Create a new account under the name, ¡®Sexy Babe¡¯.¡± A second later, a pop-up appeared wanting her to enter password and other relevant information. Going through the whole process, Pam¡¯s last few commands to the system were, ¡°Make Sexy Babe¡¯s account hidden and private. Delete user log activity for all guest activity and Sexy Babe activity. Switch to Sexy Babe¡¯s account.¡± A few moments later the virtual environment around her faded away and Pam found herself floating in a sea of blackness, with just the default blue OS screen hovering in front of her. Laughing merrily, Pam relaxed in the quiet for several minutes and then commanded, ¡°Open game, Winter¡¯s Tale.¡± Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. The black background and blue screen slowed faded away, and a peaceful forest glade with a waterfall and small pool faded in all around. A shimmering white ball of energy floated and cracked in the air before her, and trying to look at herself simply ended with a change in perspective. ¡°This is strange,¡± Pam muttered to herself, as she floated around and explored the environment for a few moments, before turning her attention to the ball of energy floating nearby. Translucent words hovered above the orb, reading, ¡°SEX: Male, Female, None, Hermaphroditic.¡± ¡°Female,¡± Pamela answered, staring as the white orb of energy slowly changed shape to make the outline of a female floating in thin air in front of her. The words floating on top slowly faded away, to be replaced with, ¡°RACE: Human, Elf, Fairy, Dwar¡­¡± Frowning for a few moments, Pamela thought and then shrugged lightly to herself. ¡°I want to be the same race as my friend, Jason Craimer, whatever he made.¡± The image flickered for a few moments, then settled on an image of a stocky muscular woman with a beard. ¡°He made a dwarf?¡± Laughing, Pamela blinked a few times in surprise. Jason wasn¡¯t that tall himself ¨C she was about the same height as him ¨C so she would¡¯ve imagined him to want to play something taller and more powerful. Somehow she couldn¡¯t help thinking, as she smiled to herself, that it somehow seemed suitable for him. A new window popped up, asking Pam to distribute points into her stats. Since she didn¡¯t even know what most of them were, she simply shrugged her shoulders in confusion. ¡°Skip it,¡± she told the system. ¡°I¡¯m still a kid and haven¡¯t found my path yet. I¡¯ll distribute my points later.¡± A few more screens of information and choices popped up, and Pam rushed through them, postponing putting any points into anything that she didn¡¯t have to. She could always spend those in game later, and if she ever managed to cross paths with Jason, she could make her character into something suitable to help him in game. Maybe, she thought guiltily, if she did something like that, he wouldn¡¯t be so angry at her for using his stuff without permission. Finally, all that was left was to customize her appearance. ¡°Lose the beard,¡± she commanded. ¡°I think it¡¯d itch me to death. I don¡¯t want one. And make me a little skinnier, shrink my boobs a bit. I¡¯m tired of having big ones all the time. They get sore bouncing around sometimes you know!¡± Spending a few more moments, Pam finished customizing her appearance, and was left with one last pop-up to answer, ¡°Name: ??¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know anything about dwarven names,¡± Pam admitted to the system. ¡°I¡¯ll take a default one.¡± The name that appeared above the hovering avatar was ¡®Cedrine Kindwarf¡¯, and a final pop-up appeared asking her to confirm that she was happy with her choices. ¡°It¡¯s all good,¡± Pam laughed. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Slowly the forest glade began to fade away, to be replaced by a small, tidy bedroom in the dwarven capitol, not too far from the smithies¡­. Jasons Tale 06 -- Morning Routine The next morning Jason woke up late and sluggish as usual. Yawning, he fumbled out of bed and groggily went over to change his boxers and get dressed. As he was contemplating crawling back into bed and hiding from the world for a few more hours, someone lightly tapped on his door and then opened it. Peeping her head inside, Pamela have bobbed in in respect, before checking to see if he was suitably dressed. ¡°Looks like you¡¯re up and ready, Master Jason,¡± she said, beaming a large smile in his direction. ¡°Have you taken your medicine this morning? Should I get you a drink to help wash the pills down?¡± Glancing down, she half laughed and bounced on into the room. This morning she was wearing a long sleeved, pink knit sweater that showed off her curves as it wrapped tightly around her, and a pair of thick blue pants. Already she had a pair of no-nonsense, thick-soled boots on and laced up all the way. Gaily, she bounced over, causing Jason to turn his head and cough slightly as he tried not to stare at the bouncing motion on her chest. ¡°Need me to help you with your shoes?¡± She asked, grabbing them from the dresser¡¯s top for him. ¡°I got it,¡± Jason mumbled, half embarrassed as he took them from her. ¡°That¡¯ll be all fine then,¡± Pam laughed, heading back towards the door. ¡°Drink or no,¡± she asked, stopping to tilt her head to look back at him. ¡°Some orange juice for breakfast,¡± he told her softly, ¡°and maybe some French toast if we have time. I¡¯ll be certain to grab my pills and take them. Don¡¯t worry.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll let the chef know then,¡± Pam promised, skipping on out, with the door swinging wide behind her. Glancing sheepishly, Jason stared as he watched the wiggle of her butt as she went down the hall, before she turned the corner and disappeared out of sight. Smiling slightly to himself after, he eased over and popped open the container holding his daily pills. Picking it up, he tilted the plastic organizer and dumped the pills out into his hand, and then tossed them into the back of his throat and forced himself to swallow. School itself might suck, Jason thought to himself, but at least his mornings usually weren¡¯t so bad. Sitting back down on his bed, he struggled with his shoes for several moments. By the time he managed to get both on and tied, he was out of breath again and decided to lay back and relax for a few moments before actually getting up and going downstairs for breakfast.
Breakfast itself was a rather dull and unappealing ritual, just like always for Jason. The chef brought in whatever he¡¯d ordered, laid it before him, bowed solemnly, and then left him sitting all alone at the huge table by himself. Jason¡¯s father didn¡¯t think it was appropriate for the family to mingle with the hired help at meal times, and he and Jason¡¯s mother were usually already up and gone by the time Jason came downstairs. The trip to school itself was just as mundane and repitative. After breakfast, Penny would notify the chauferer that he was ready and Jason would go outside and sit in the back of whichever vehicle was warmed up and waiting for him. The ride to school was quiet, dull, and also very lonely as the older gentleman driving never spoke to him, except to take directions on where to go. Even after working for his family for several years now, Jason wasn¡¯t even certain if he knew the guy¡¯s name or not. He thought it was Frank, or Hank, or something that ended with an ¡°ank¡±, but he wasn¡¯t certain. This morning, like most mornings, quickly turned dull, monotone, and languid for Jason.
For Pam, mornings were a flurry of furious activity. Wake up. Get dressed. Check on Jason, see if he needed any help. Rush downstairs, let the chef know what to cook. Help do the dishes in the kitchen. Grab herself a quick meal of whatever was fixed and chat with Gerald and Penny for a few brief minutes, before taking time to do up whatever dishes they¡¯d dirtied up. If she still had a little time left, she¡¯d try to sweep and mop the floor in the kitchen and clean down the counters, to help reduce the work her grandmother had left to do. After that she wrapped up tightly in a thick jacket, gloves, and scarf, and rushed outside and all the way down the block to wait at the bus stop with all the other kids. She couldn¡¯t afford to go to the prestigious private school that Jason and his friends attended ¨C she went to District 27 Public School. Go tigers! (Tigers were the school mascot, and the school colors where orange and black in honor of them.) The ride to school itself was full of constant laughter, horsing around, and endlessly loud as everyone indulged in their own private conversations with their friends and whoever was sitting nearby them ¨C much to the Pam¡¯s annoyance! All she wanted to do was sit in her seat, not be disturbed by the idiots nearby, and read her books or research whatever found her interest at the moment. Jason¡¯s morning was one of silence, introspection, and a desire for human contact and communication. Pam¡¯s was one of endlessly rushing, being annoyed by some idiot boy who wanted to ask her out in an attempt to get into her pants, or being pestered by one of the girls close to her age about some stupid cat video or something else worthless they found online. Neither was exactly leading the life that they dreamed about.
Getting to school, Jason¡¯s driver waited patiently until he could pull directly in front of the building, before getting out of the car. Ignoring the angry beeps of other drivers in a rush to just drop off their kid and go, he always took time to brush down the wrinkles in the front of his uniform, don his cap, and then walk all the way around the car to open and hold the car door for Jason. To make matters even worse, he had to close the car door and then stand there and watch to make certain that Jason made it all the way inside the school itself, before finally turning and slowly walking back to get into the car and drive off. All of which was a large source of embarrassment for Jason, so he usually tried to rush away from the school entrance once he¡¯d gotten inside, and find a place to hide until time to head to class. One thing he was always careful about was to keep an eye open for two different groups of people ¨C Mitch and Michael Braxton, and what he considered the ¡°Todd Westley Goonsquad¡±. Mitch and Michael Braxton were nothing more than two idiot jocks who liked to bully Jason for being a ¡°lazy, overweight, lard-ass loser¡±, as they called him. They either didn¡¯t understand that he had a medical condition, or else they simply didn¡¯t care. Active in nearly every sport that the school had, the two boys were extremely popular with the girls, got on fabulously with the teachers, and were the golden children of the coaches. Many people seemed to be of the opinion that they were able to walk on water and turn it into wine, but Jason hated them. Verbally abusive, they never went so far as to do anything to physically harm him, though they did often make him feel like crap and sometimes took his things from him and ran off and hid them ¨C all in fun, of course. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Todd Westley and his goons however were a completely different matter. They generally were disliked by everyone, watched by teachers and staff, and ended up in detention, isolation, or sent home on a regular basis. They were more than just playful mischief makers; they were downright criminal in many cases. One two things saved them from serious jail time ¨C they were minors and Todd¡¯s parents were diplomats from another country. No one wanted to cause serious problems with Whogivesafuckstan (as the students called it), so anytime Todd was involved in some petty scheme or other, it was swept under the carpet and quickly forgotten about. Between the jock brothers harassing him, and the diplo-crooks trying to extort anything useful from him ¨C money, homework, anything at all which they were interested in ¨C Jason¡¯s life at school felt like his own personal hell to him. This morning wasn¡¯t so bad for him though. He¡¯d managed to keep from falling back asleep, had gotten up just a little late ¨C which was really kind of early for him ¨C and he¡¯d managed to get to school at a time where no one was really expecting him. The path was clear all the way from the entrance to the library, so Jason worked his way there and sat down at the closest desk to the reception area. With an authority figure like the librarian around, he wouldn¡¯t be bothered, so he laid his head down in his arms and closed his eyes, resting for as long as possible, taking as much refuge as he could before he had to head back out and weather the storm that was his school life again.
When the school bus arrived at her school, Pam always sat and waited to be the last person off, taking time to put up her books and carefully straighten her things. For a while at the beginning of the school year, some jackass boy or another had waited around to try and get her attention, drawn by the large curves of her boobs. Having shot them down, one after another, with cold efficiency and no hint of compassion, they had slowly learned and drifted away. Content now to just sit back and stare at her as she walked by, none of them approached her, considering her to be a ¡°lesbian ice queen.¡± Pamela simply tuned them out and completely ignored them. She didn¡¯t have time for the young idiots, and she couldn¡¯t tell people what to look at, or how to look at it. If they wanted to stare at her ass, or watch her boobs sway, that was their problem, not hers. She wasn¡¯t the least bit concerned about what they ¨C or anyone else ¨C thought about her. They might have dreams, desires, fears, and doubts about what their futures held, but she didn¡¯t. Her grandmother was getting older every year, Jason needed someone to watch over him, and she¡¯d been there long enough to see how kind, gentle, and compassionate he was. She was going to be the one to work for him and take care of him; she knew it, and she was happy with it. She simply didn¡¯t have time for the jackasses who weren¡¯t serious about any sort of long term relationship ¨C she didn¡¯t think a single one of the jerks was actually looking for anything like marriage or commitment. All they wanted was a good time feeling up her breasts and maybe bouncing her in whatever out of the way corner they could find to do it in. No thanks. She simply wasn¡¯t interested. What Pamela was interested in was making the most of her time in school. Every class that she took was an honor¡¯s class, and she was already working on some of the Advanced Placement classes for college credits. She hadn¡¯t decided yet if she was going to go to college after high school or go directly to work for Jason and his family, but she wanted to be prepared no matter what came up. Jason hadn¡¯t announced any intentions to apply for college yet, but she wanted to make certain that her grades and academics was high enough to allow her to follow him wherever he went. Jason¡¯s father might be somewhat of a pompous jerk, but Jason wasn¡¯t anything like that, and her family owed his a debt that they could never repay. Back during World War 2, her grandmother¡¯s family had been persecuted and locked away for their beliefs. While out at one of the work camps, Jason¡¯s great-grandfather had been instrumental in helping her family to escape and smuggled them abroad. It wasn¡¯t until after the way that Pamela¡¯s family had learned that he¡¯d been caught, tortured, and send to take their place in Auschwitz, where he died. As the only means of repaying the debt, her family emigrated to America and devoted themselves to serving his. Penny still told tales that her mother told her about those horrors, and she showed photographs of her mother¡¯s tattooed and branded arms to Pamela. No matter how big a jerk Jason¡¯s father was, that didn¡¯t make up for a drop in the bucket that her grandmother felt they still owed the family for his grandfather¡¯s sacrifice. Penny¡¯s mother had served the family. Penny served the family. Her mother had served until she died in a car accident, and Pamela was going to follow that same tradition. And the fact that Jason was a kindhearted, gentle young man, who took more after his great-grandfather than his father, didn¡¯t hurt any either. While all the other idiots at school were roaming around with no real purpose or direction in their lives, Pam knew exactly where she was going to be and what she was going to be doing. She was going to be with Jason and taking care of him ¨C and that¡¯s what she devoted herself to wholeheartedly at school. Advanced math classes to help him balance his books if he needed it. Home Economics to improve her cooking, cleaning, and general skills as a caretaker. Health classes so she could learn to take care of him if he got sicker in the future. Each class she took was based on some part on ¡°how can this be useful to him,¡± or ¡°how can this make his life any easier.¡± Pamela didn¡¯t have time for boys, bullies, girly gossip, or mischief making miscreants. If any tried to harass her, she was the type of girl to kick them in the crotch, beat them half to death with whichever book she had in her hands, and then return home, tell Jason¡¯s father, and let him press charges or deal with any fallout that might result from her actions. Strike once. Strike hard and with certainty. Deal with the issue sufficiently the first time, that the fools will have proper respect not to bother her a second time. Then she can go back to her learning, studies, and work on improving herself so she can take better care of her young master. Truly, everyone considered her to be a ¡°violent lesbian ice queen¡±, and her school life was generally worry free, and this morning wasn¡¯t any exception. As she got off the bus, she calmly walked into the school, ignoring all the people around her, and headed to the library. Jason might go there to rest and relax; but she went there to research and learn anything that might be the least bit useful to him. Today, she logged onto the school¡¯s computers and began to research fantasy dwarves, virtual reality games, and most useful support class character setups. Jasons Tale 07 -- Bathroom Buddies Jason¡¯s first real misadventure of the day occurred as he walked into the bathroom between second and third period classes. The moment he walked in, the door shut behind him, and he rounded the corner to the stalls, Jason knew he was in trouble. Zack and Razor ¨C What a pretentious name that was, Jason thought! ¨C were standing in front of the sinks, laughing and horsing around while pretending to be brushing their hair as they kept watch in the mirror for any of the teachers or administrators. Seeing him come in, Zack laughed and half turned to smirk over at Jason. ¡°Hey! Lookie what we got here Todd! It¡¯s a rich little piggy wiggy!¡± ¡°Oink! Oink! Boy, he¡¯s a fat ¡®en, ain¡¯t he?¡± Laughing, Razor brushed past Jason and leaned his massive frame against the door. When someone pushed against it to try and open it, he called out, ¡°Sorry! We got a leak in here. This toilet¡¯s broken. Gotta use the one downstairs.¡± Gulping at his own misfortune, Jason glanced back over his shoulder, seeing he was trapped by Razor ¨C a large, muscle-headed moron who was into motorcycles, punk rock, and death metal. Dressed in black leather pants, with a white shirt emblazoned with a ¡°God kills. I kill. I must be God!¡± motif, Razor rubbed his comb through his greasy black hair and smiled evilly. Face pockmarked and scab-covered from what Jason considered a terminal case of acne, Razor relaxed against the door, blocking the way to safety. Moving hesitantly into the bathroom, Jason nodded lightly over at Zack. ¡°Mor.. Morning,¡± he stuttered nervously. ¡°Mo.. mo¡­ mo.. morning,¡± Zack taunted back, laughing loudly. Sounds like a cow to me. ¡°Mooooo moooo mooooo mooooorning!¡± Dressed in a pair of torn blue jeans, faded gray muscle shirt, and wearing camouflaged combat boots, Zack cupped his hands to his mouth and mockingly imitated Jason. ¡°MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOorning!¡± ¡°He¡¯s not a pig, Razor,¡± Todd corrected, coming out from one of the stalls, blowing smoke, with a joint burning in his left hand. ¡°I think Zack¡¯s right; he¡¯s a cow. A big cow¡­ cow¡­ coward!¡± Casually walking over, he took a long drag from the joint in his hand and then blew the smoke directly into Jason¡¯s face. Holding the stub out, Todd half laughed as Jason coughed and brushed at the air in front of him. ¡°Want a hit, or are you too cow¡­ cow¡­ coward to try?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t,¡± Jason wheezed, sitting his books down on the countertop. ¡°It messes with my asthma.¡± Digging into his shirt pocket, he pulled out an inhaler and shook it a few times. ¡°Share and share alike,¡± Zack laughed, grabbing out and snatching the inhaler. ¡°Let me have a puff or four. I hear these things are steroids.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t be steroids,¡± Razor barked. ¡°Maybe flabby fatoids!¡± Ignoring him, Zack lifted the inhaler to his lips and then pumped the release button several times in a row, while Todd casually blew another puff of smoke directly onto Jason again. ¡°Hey little buddy,¡± Todd laughed, wrapping an arm around Jason as he hacked and wheezed, ¡°you wouldn¡¯t happen to have a little cash we could borrow from you, would you? You know we¡¯ll pay you back for it someday.¡± Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ¡°I don¡¯t..¡± Jason tried to shake his head to refuse, but suddenly stopped as Todd¡¯s fist slammed hard into the center of his chest, knocking what little air he had in his lungs out of it. Gasping, Jason clutched forward and fell to his knees, involuntarily losing control of his bladder. Laughing, Zack reached into Jason¡¯s back pocket and yanked out his wallet. Opening it up, he pulled out all the cash inside and then casually flipped the wallet over his shoulder, narrowly missing the toilet. ¡°Ya sucks Zack.¡± Snorting, Razor stomped over and grabbed the inhaler from him. Sticking it under his arm, he pumped the nozzle several times, using at as deodorant on first one pit and then the other. ¡°It¡¯s like this,¡± he told the others, as he half hopped and imitated a hoop shot. Yelling, ¡°He shoots!¡±, Razor tossed the inhaler up into the air. Landing in the center of one of the toiler bowels, he yelled again. ¡°And he scores!¡± ¡°That¡¯s how it¡¯s done,¡± he turned, bragging to Zack. Ignoring him, Todd took a final drag from what was left of the joint, before flipping the stub over at Jason¡¯s hair. Walking past Zack and Razor, he snatched the cash from Zack¡¯s hand and headed to the door. ¡°The bells already rung. Let¡¯s get on out of here. What you guys think about hitting one of the fast food joints for a bit? I got the munchies.¡± Whatever the others answered, Jason missed it as he was hacking and wheezing on the bathroom floor, struggling to catch his breath. After laying on the ground for most of his third period class, Jason finally caught his breath enough to crawl over to the commode and fish out his inhaler. Lungs burning, he feebly shook it several times and then puffed as deeply from it as he possibly could. Getting a few feeble breaths of air back into his protesting airways, Jason coughed feebly a few times and then puffed another time on his inhaler. Trying not to let tears blur his vision any more than they already had, Jason slowly got up and stumbled over to the sink. At least his books hadn¡¯t been bothered this time. All they¡¯d wanted was his wallet so they could ditch school, and Jason didn¡¯t even care enough about it right now to bother to try and pick it up. Ignoring where they¡¯d tossed his wallet, Jason held his books low to try and hide the wetness staining his crotch and slowly worked his way out the bathroom door and down the hall. At least he was lucky this time, he ruefully thought to himself. It could¡¯ve been worse and happened during lunch when students walked the halls; then he would¡¯ve had to hide in a stall, wait, and miss his meal, so no one could see him. Since it was between class now, Jason could work his way carefully back to his locker without anyone noticing, get the sweatpants he wore for gym, and then wear them for the rest of the evening. He¡¯d stand out and feel foolish wearing his gym clothes for the rest of his classes, but not as bad as he would walking around with urine staining the front of his pants. It was the smallest of victories, but for Jason, it was one he¡¯d learned not to take for granted. Jasons Tale 08 -- Guilt By the time Jason got home that evening, he was exhausted. Shambling zombie-like through the door, he tried to sit the pack with his books in it on the table nearby. Lacking the energy to sit it back far, the backpack teetered for a moment and then fell to the floor with a slight crash. Blinking dumbfounded at it, Jason half leaned against the wall and stared at the pack like it¡¯d betrayed him somehow. ¡°Young master? All you all right?¡± Coming around the corner with her hair up in a net, Penny had a worried expression on her face, which quickly turned to alarm. ¡°Jason, are you okay? Did you take your medicine proper this afternoon?¡± Dropping the duster she was holding, she rushed over to where he was and quickly placed a worried hand to his forehead. Worried, Penny yelled out for her granddaughter. ¡°Pam! I¡¯m going to need you in here. Bring us a chair, and be quick about it!¡± ¡°I¡­ I forgot it this afternoon,¡± Jason mumbled, leaning on Penny as she wrapped an arm around his waist to help steady him. Pamela came rushing into the living room, dragging a kitchen chair with her. The top on her maid¡¯s uniform was completely unbuttoned and she only had one sock on ¨C apparently she¡¯d been in the middle of changing when her grandmother called. ¡°Here, sit,¡± she offered lightly, sliding the chair behind Jason. Wrapping an arm around him, she helped Penny ease him down into it gently. ¡°He forgot his medicine again,¡± Penny informed Pam, clicking her tongue in the top of her mouth disapprovingly, before turning her attention back to Jason. ¡°Is your emergency medicine in your pack, young master?¡± Not bothering to wait for an answer, Pam rushed over and grabbed up his backpack. Unzipping it, she began to search all the different pockets. Not finding what she was looking for, she dropped the pack on the floor, hopped over the books and papers that spilled out, and rushed deeper into the house. A few moments later, she dashed back in to the living room and tapped a vial a few times against her hip to make certain the medicine was properly shaken up ¨C they had been warned that it could sometimes settle in the liquid, or something like that. Taking one of the needles in her other hand, she lifted it to her mouth and tugged off the plastic shield over the end, and then stuck it into the top of the bottle and filled it with a steady hand. ¡°This might sting a little,¡± she warned Jason, kneeing down to take his left arm, not the least bit concerned about the view she was currently offering. Tapping his arm with her fingers a few times, she located what felt like a good vein to her and, with practiced precision, injected him smoothly with his medication. ¡°There. All done,¡± she told him, sitting the needle down on the ground and digging in the pocket of her uniform to pull out a small piece of cotton to hold over where she¡¯d injected him. After a moment, to make certain the bleeding had stopped, Pam switched hands and held the cotton with her left fingers, while digging into the pocket of her uniform again with the right. Pulling out a bandage with a purple dinosaur design decorating the back, the peeled it open gently with her teeth and then placed it over the cotton to hold it in place. Penny watched over everything with a furrowed brow, but said nothing. Nodding to herself in satisfaction, she bent down and picked up the used needle and small vial of medicine. Holding her hands out to take the trash from the back of the bandage from Pam, she nodded lightly before heading back into the house. ¡°Watch him and yell at me if he doesn¡¯t straighten up soon,¡± she told Pam, stopping at the door to the other room. ¡°I will Gran,¡± Pam promised, easing over to start picking up whatever had fallen out of Jason¡¯s backpack. ¡°Good,¡± Penny nodded. ¡°Just one thing dear. You might want to button up before someone else gets here.¡± Turning with a half smirk on her face, she slowly strode out of the room. Glancing down puzzled, Pam half blushed and turned her back to the doorway where her grandmother had just walked out of. Staring over at Jason, Pam half shrugged to herself, unconcerned that he might see her. Bending over, she deliberately ignored the way her top fell open as she bent down and pulled the one sock off her right foot. Straightening up, she tucked it into the left pocket on her uniform and then walked over to feel Jason¡¯s forehead with the back of her hand. Relieved that he didn¡¯t feel quite as cool and clammy, Pam began to button up the top of her dress. ¡°So where¡¯s your uniform, Jason?¡± She asked lightly, frowning a little to herself. ¡°Someone stole it from my locker during gym,¡± Jason lied, head tilted back and eyes closed. ¡°I looked for it after P.E. and couldn¡¯t find it anywhere. I missed my shower, so I probably stink and need to go take one.¡± Seeing he was struggling to rise, Pam forgot about her top and wrapped her arm around his waist instead. Worriedly she asked, ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you wait a few more moments before moving around much?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be fine,¡± Jason tried to reassure her, even as she guided him through the house. Blinking a few times in confusion, Jason finally asked, ¡°Pam? Where we going? We missed the stairs to the second floor.¡± ¡°I¡¯m taking you to the servant¡¯s bath,¡± she told him in a voice that brooked no arguing. ¡°I don¡¯t trust you going up the steps just yet, and if anyone doesn¡¯t like it they can just kiss my ass. And that includes you,¡± she told him, imitating her grandmother¡¯s exasperated half-snort. ¡°Yes ma¡¯am,¡± Jason told her, not arguing the point. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± he apologized lightly. ¡°I¡¯m such a burden. To you. To father. To everyone.¡± Sighing deeply, he hung his head as he let himself be guided down the narrower servant hall. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you if you¡¯re ever a burden to me,¡± Pam snorted, stopping to make certain the looked at her. ¡°Until then, I don¡¯t ever want to hear you say such things again. I can¡¯t speak for your father, or for anyone else, but you¡¯re not burden for me. And,¡± half glaring at him, ¡°unless you just consider me a nobody, that means you¡¯re not a burden to everyone either. I don¡¯t want to hear that type of talk anymore either.¡± ¡°Sorry ma¡¯am,¡± Jason blushed, looking down, unable to meet her fierce gaze. Sighing deeply, Pam slowly started walking again, heading into the bathroom. ¡°The name¡¯s Pam, not ma¡¯am. They¡¯re similar enough but different. Seems like someday you¡¯d remember it,¡± she sighed. Making certain the lid was down on the toilet ¨C sometimes the cook or driver would leave it up like some sort of wild barbarian ¨C Pam gently guided Jason over and sat him down upon it. Without even asking, she knelt down, unlaced his shoes, and yanked them. and then his socks, off. ¡°I¡¯ll be back in just a moment,¡± she promised, letting him rest his head against the wall where the toilet paper hung, before turning and walking out of the room. By the time she¡¯d returned a few moments later, dragging the kitchen chair with her from where he¡¯d sat earlier in the living room, Jason had already struggled out of his shirt and pants and was standing there in just his boxers. ¡°I told gran to bring you a fresh change of clothes for the evening,¡± Pam told him, nonchalantly ignoring his state of half dress as she placed the chair in the shower and turned it on, checking the temperature with her hand. Turning the knobs a few times until she was satisfied, she finally turned and looked back over at Jason. ¡°Well just don¡¯t stand there like a lump on the log,¡± Pam laughed lightly. ¡°Get those off and get in here. Or,¡± pointing to his boxers, she asked, ¡°do you need my help with those?¡± ¡°I.. I don¡¯t need any help. I can take it from here,¡± Jason assured her. ¡°Not gonna happen.¡± Shaking her head defiantly, Pam flatly rejected his objection. ¡°You¡¯re still too staggery to stand on your own; I¡¯m not going to leave you now.¡± Striding over, she gently tugged at the top of his boxers, pulling them down, and then wrapped an arm around his waist again. ¡°Lean on me,¡± she commanded, as she helped guide him to the shower. ¡°Careful stepping up and in. Don¡¯t fall on us now.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t,¡± Jason promised, slowly and carefully working one leg and then the other up into the tub. The effort was enough to make his knees start to knock and tremble together, causing him to plop down in the chair a little harder than intended. The wood creaked warningly and slid, leaving a stained streak where it scrubbed the bottom of the tub, but held. Sighing with relief, Jason titled his head forward and leaned under the water as it rained down, massaging his neck and shoulders. Keeping a hand on him for a moment more to make certain he was steady and wasn¡¯t going to tilt to one side or the other, Pam finally let go of her hand on his shoulder and backed up into the bathroom. Taking a few quick moments, she picked up his dirty clothes and folded and stacked them neatly on the sink. Grabbing several towels from the small closet, she laid them thick across the floor, not caring how many she might dirty up. Finally, she pulled a few extra towels and washcloths from the closet and draped them over the edge of the shower where they¡¯d be easy to reach. Checking to make certain that all the soap and shampoo was already where she could reach it, she nodded in satisfaction to herself. Without bothering to unfasten the few buttons she¡¯d already did up on the front of her dress, Pam pulled it up and wiggled it over her head. A moment later, she stepped out of her panties, picked them up, and then stacked her clothes in a neatly folded pile beside Jason¡¯s, before finally stepping up into the shower behind him. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°Wha¡­ what?¡± Startled, Jason opened his eyes and glanced back noticing her when she started to rub her hands through his hair. Confused, and blushing slightly, all he could do is call out her name. ¡°Pam?¡± ¡°Close your eyes,¡± she ordered, gently flicking him on the nose. ¡°I¡¯m sorry!¡± Jason blushed brightly, turned his back to her, and closed his eyes shut tight. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to look. I was just surprised.¡± ¡°Not that,¡± Pam assured him with a laugh. ¡°I just didn¡¯t want you to get soap in your eyes and burn them. Keep them closed while I wash your hair.¡± ¡°I.. I can do that,¡± Jason assured her, hoping she didn¡¯t see how red his face was. ¡°You probably can,¡± Pam agreed, ¡°but not tonight. You missed your medicine and I¡¯ve seen you like this before. You¡¯ll be lucky to keep your eyes opened during the whole bath.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t,¡± Jason said, trying to joke. ¡°You already told me to close them. There¡¯s no way I can keep them open for the whole bath.¡± ¡°Ha ha. Very funny mister.¡± Pam lightly flipped him on one ear with a wet and soapy finger. ¡°You know what I meant.¡± ¡°Sorry,¡± Jason apologized. ¡°And don¡¯t say you¡¯re sorry all the time,¡± she told him. ¡°Aren¡¯t you the boss around here?¡± ¡°Sorry,¡± Jason apologized again, reflexively, causing Pam to laugh lightly. Trying to steer the conversation in the direction she wanted it to go Pam asked, ¡°So why¡¯d you miss your medicine at lunch anyway?¡± Letting her lift his head back to scrub under his neck, Jason cracked open and eye and peeked at the water draining down and around her bare breasts. ¡°My friends and I got to talking about a new game we were playing ¨C ¡®Winter¡¯s Tale¡¯. William got so excited telling us all about the things he was doing, that I just got wrapped up in the moment and forgot.¡± ¡°Lean up,¡± Pam ordered lightly, ¡°and rinse that out. If you¡¯re not too dizzy or anything, stay leaned up for a few moments and I¡¯ll wash your back.¡± Nodding, Jason leaned forward and let the water wash back over his head and neck, while taking the opportunity to stare freely at as much of Pam¡¯s legs and feet as he could see without her noticing as she stood beside him. Squirting cool soap from a bottle down his back, Pam slowly began to scrub and lather it up. ¡°So in this game, are you having fun? What are you playing?¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s a lot of fun,¡± Jason told her. ¡°It¡¯s a little confusing sorting everything out, since there¡¯s no real instruction manual to anything. The developers wanted it to be a ¡®learn as you go¡¯ type experience, and from the way it sounded with everyone talking at lunch, I¡¯m not so certain if it doesn¡¯t have multiple ways to do things. ¡°Kyle talked about how he created his character,¡± Jason told her, stretching to lean forward a bit more so Pam could scrub his lower back easier, and so he could have a better look at her lower half. ¡°I don¡¯t think his process was anything like how I did it,¡± he informed her, a slight smile twitching at the corner of his mouth. ¡°He selected everything from a list, whereas I told the game what type of traits I wanted in a character and it generated one for me.¡± Sticking her hands under the water, Pam rinsed off the suds covering them. As she took a step up closer around the side to direct the water flow with her hands so it¡¯d rinse over his back better, Jason grinned widely as he could see the well-trimmed black hairs of her pubic region. ¡°Curl¡­ curly,¡± Jason whispered softly as he stared. ¡°What was curly?¡± Pam asked, at first thinking he was talking about the game. When Jason didn¡¯t answer, she instinctively followed his gaze and half blushed. Stubbornly, she held her head high, took a deep breath, and then took another stop around the side of the chair. ¡°Lean back again,¡± she ordered lightly, working up her courage. As Jason slowly leaned back, she moved and stood directly in front of him. Letting the water run over her own short hair, she steeled her face to not blush as she lifted both arms and began to scrub her fingers though it. ¡°Is there a problem with them being curly?¡± She asked, ¡°No¡­ no¡­ Not at all!¡± Jason reassured her, turning bight as he stared her full naked body up and down as water and suds slowly drifted over it. ¡°I just thought you might¡¯ve shaved it or something,¡± Jason blabbered on, not really knowing what to say. Keeping her tone purely conversational, Pam asked, ¡°Do you prefer them shaved?¡± ¡°Errr¡­¡± Blinking, Jason blushed brightly a few times and then simply shrugged his shoulders. How could he possibly admit that he¡¯d never actually seen a woman¡¯s bottom in person before, so all he had was his imagination and the internet to guess at which was better ¨C and from that limited experience, he thought either way was quite fine with him. ¡°I¡­ I guess I¡¯m not picky,¡± Jason finally answered. ¡°I try hard not to judge anyone on looks at all. I want to get to know them for the type of person they are, not the way they look as a person.¡± Laughing lightly, Pam turned to rinse the water from her hair, giving him a good look at her whole backside. ¡°That¡¯s an excellent answer,¡± she told him seriously. ¡°You¡¯re a good man, my lord Jason.¡± Inwardly, she made a mental note to shave later, thinking he probably preferred a woman smooth, but was simply too embarrassed to say so. ¡°So this game,¡± she asked, laughing as she turned back around and knelt on her knees before him, ¡°what are you playing in it? Are you some type of huge barbarian warlord or something?¡± Squirting soap on a washcloth, she leaned up and began to lather Jason¡¯s legs to clean them. Too embarrassed, and enjoying the view too much, Jason didn¡¯t try and tell her to stop. ¡°I¡¯m a dwarf in the game,¡± he told her, half hypnotized enjoying the sensation and watching her at the same time. ¡°A dwarf?¡± Pam kept her voice cool and neutral, and kept her head down to hide the blush on her face. She really shouldn¡¯t be prying into Jason¡¯s personal business, but she just couldn¡¯t help herself. If she was going to help him in game, she had to learn more about which character he played and how she could be of service to him. ¡°What¡¯s his name? What¡¯s he do? Is he a guard?¡± Both bright red and ashamed of themselves ¨C for two vastly different reasons ¨C Jason answered any question Pam asked about the game, immediately forgetting about it afterwards. His brain was boob-damaged ¨C embarrassed, unable to stop watching and staring, trying hard not to let the blood flow so quickly to his nether regions so as to embarrass him for life. Took many thoughts, emotions, and worries were filling his addled brain, and he answered every question almost robotically. By the time Pam had finished bathing him from head to toe, she was almost in tears. Turning her back on Jason, she scrubbed herself hard, trying to wash the guilt away. She¡¯d broken his trust, learned everything about his personal, private character, and it was all for her own selfish reasons. She truly was a horrible person. Jason, on the other hand, felt almost as horrible. Her she was, sacrificing her modesty to help talk care of his worthless self, and all he could do is stare and ogle her like some fat pervert. He¡¯d enjoyed the show, but he was feeling guilty for being the type of loser that someone like her had to endure being around, just because it was their job! She wasn¡¯t even eighteen yet, and her she was, still stuck taking care of a loser like him who just treated her like a fancy piece of meat, like any other chauvinistic pig. Neither said much, lost in their own guilt, as Pam helped him out of the tub and unto the towels. Grabbing one from where she¡¯d laid it early, she glanced over and saw that her grandmother had apparently came by and checked on them while they were in the shower. Both her clothes and Jason¡¯s were gone, replaced by a small bundle of clean ones. Digging into them, Pam helped Jason into a clean pair of silken blue pajamas ¨C it was all Penny had left for him ¨C and slid a long thin nightshirt over her own frame; it too being the only thing for her to wear. ¡°Let¡¯s get you on upstairs and to bed for now,¡± she softly whispered to Jason, wrapping an arm around his shoulders once again. ¡°What would you like for supper? Anything in particular? Would you like for me to wait and bring it a little later to you this evening, so you can rest without being disturbed for a while.¡± ¡°Anything¡¯s fine,¡± Jason shrugged. ¡°Waiting until later would be nice though. I¡¯m fine now, but I¡¯m tired. I wouldn¡¯t mind sleeping for a few hours, if you don¡¯t mind bringing me something into my room then instead?¡± ¡°That¡¯ll be fine,¡± Pam promised, happy to see that his steps were much more solid and that he barely rested any weight on her shoulders now. The bath and the medicine was working. Getting him back into his room, she helped tuck Jason into bed, then tiptoed out and gently shut the door behind her. Easing several steps down the hallway so she wouldn¡¯t disturb him, she finally broke into a dead run, rushing to lock herself in her own room. Leaping on the bed, she pulled her pillow up tight against her chest and bawled into it like a baby, wracked with the guilt she felt for lying and invading Jason¡¯s personal business. Jason, on the other hand, was also clutching a pillow tight. Guilt and embarrassment forgotten now that he was alone, his mind rewound every moment as he shamelessly tried to burn Pam¡¯s image into his brain, with his pajamas pulled down around his knees. Both slept deeply for a while after that, though both for vastly different reasons. Jasons Tale 09 -- FFA Forever Waking up much later, Jason was feeling much better, though hungry. Easing up, he pulled his pajama¡¯s back up around his waist and groggily stumbled his way out down the hall and into the restroom. A few minutes washing up and splashing cold water on his face helped clear the matter from his eyes and the cobwebs from his mind. ¡°Pam! You up here somewhere?¡± Yelling, he stepped out of the bathroom and glanced up and down the hallway looking for her. A slight thump echoed from her room, followed by what sounded like a small crash, before her door opened and she rushed out, rubbing lazily at her eyes. ¡°Yeah! I¡¯m here. Are you okay? Do you need me?¡± Leaning up against her doorframe, she was wearing the pajama top that matched his bottom, trying hard to wake up. ¡°Sorry,¡± Jason muttered. ¡°I¡¯m fine. I didn¡¯t know you were asleep or I wouldn¡¯t have yelled and woke you.¡± ¡°Slo¡¯kay,¡± Pam yawned. Raising her arms high over her head, she stretched freely, pulling the shirt up and unconsciously showing everything. Grateful he¡¯d already washed the sleep from his eyes, Jason stared hungrily at her for several moments while he thought she wouldn¡¯t notice, and then turned his back and started to slowly walk to his room to hide the blushing grin that spread across his face. ¡°Whatcha need?¡± Pam asked, yawning again, oblivious to it all. ¡°I was just going to ask if supper was ready yet, and if you¡¯d mind bringing it up to me in a while,¡± Jason told her, easing back into his own room. ¡°I can come downstairs if it¡¯s a bother,¡± he offered. ¡°Not a bother. Just give me a moment to get dressed and then I¡¯ll go down and see what¡¯s available and bring something up for you,¡± was the soft response that followed him into the room.
Quickly going back into her room and changing into a clean uniform and panties, Pam rushed downstairs, bare feet making soft pattering sounds on the step as she went. Remembering the kitchen chair she¡¯d left in the bathing room, Pam worked her way through the servant hall to get it. Dragging it behind her, she worked her way back to the main sitting room and then stopped. ¡°Mrs. Craimer,¡± Pamela exclaimed! ¡°What a surprise. I didn¡¯t realize you were home already.¡± ¡°Is it that surprising to see me in my own house?¡± Reclining on the couch, both feet propped up on the cushions with her shoes scattered on the floor around her, was Jason¡¯s mother. Still beautiful at the age of thirty-two, she looked much too young and vibrant to be mother to a child as old as Jason. In fact, there were times when people mistakenly thought of her as his sister ¨C though she quickly and unabashedly corrected such misconceptions. Mrs. Craimer had been a wild child in her youth, had gotten pregnant by the time she was fourteen, and unlike some in her situation, she wasn¡¯t the least bit ashamed of herself. It was a part of her past, a part of who she was, and if anyone didn¡¯t like it, she simply didn¡¯t like that person in return. Stubborn, she didn¡¯t care what people said about her. If they thought she was some greedy gold-digger chasing a man twenty years her senior, that was their problem, not hers. Laughing lightly, she sat upright and patted the couch beside her. ¡°Come. Join me for a few minutes. Care for a glass of wine?¡± Picking up a crystal glass from the stand beside her, she tantalizingly held it out towards Pam. ¡°You know I¡¯m not allowed to drink, Mrs. C.¡± Smiling brightly, Pam skipped over and curled up on the couch beside her. If it would¡¯ve been Jason¡¯s father, Pam would have politely refused, excused herself to do some chore, and then rushed off. She found him old, stuffy, dry, hard to relate to, and intimidating. Jason¡¯s mom on the other hand was a much more relaxed and casual person, who she didn¡¯t feel like she had to be on her guard with all the time. ¡°More for me then,¡± Jason¡¯s mother joked, taking a slight sip from the glass before sitting it back down. Brushing her hands through her long black hair, she sighed slightly to herself. ¡°It¡¯s starting to go gray,¡± she mused softly. ¡°I guess it¡¯s just a sign I¡¯m getting old.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not old Mrs. C,¡± Pam assured her cheerfully, ¡°and it¡¯s not gray. It¡¯s pure silver strands, plucked from the filament of the heavens, placed carefully amongst the shadows of your hair to reflect the light of your smile and bedazzle the world!¡± ¡°Oh! Aren¡¯t you a cleaver girl, good with words!¡± Laughing merrily, Jason¡¯s mom reached over and ruffled Pam¡¯s hair slightly. ¡°I like that,¡± she admitted, ¡°but I know the truth. My family always grayed early on the women¡¯s side. I expect I¡¯ll be peppered in another two or three years and probably fully grey by the time I¡¯m forty. It¡¯s just the way it is.¡± ¡°You could always dye it,¡± Pam suggested. ¡°I¡¯m certain I could help you with it, or grandmother, if you didn¡¯t want to go somewhere else to have it done.¡± ¡°What?!¡± Sitting upright, Jason¡¯s mother put her hands to her face and over exaggerated looking shocked. ¡°And hide the silver strands of heaven¡¯s something something?! Never!¡± This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.Pam giggled lightly, shrugging. ¡°It was just an idea.¡± ¡°Perish the thought,¡± Jason¡¯s mother said, waving her hands dismissively. ¡°If I grow all gray, people might quit telling how my husband robbed the cradle with me. Like that¡¯s any of their business,¡± she laughed. ¡°Busy bodies always want to find something to gossip about.¡± ¡°But enough about them. Tell me how¡¯s my boy,¡± she said, changing the subject. ¡°I don¡¯t see him nearly enough. I know, I know, I¡¯m a terrible mother.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not a terrible anything, Mrs. C,¡± Pamela assured her. ¡°You¡¯re just busy, and Jason understands that. He¡¯s proud of you and Mr. Craimer, you know. Your husband might be the fancy lawyer that deals with all the business stuff, but you¡¯re the one who helps keep his image polished and works the media and publicity. Just between us,¡± Pam leaned up and whispered, ¡°Mr. Craimer has all the personality of a withered up piece of old sandpaper. If you didn¡¯t keep the name out there and relevant, most people would forget who he is ¨C like that guy in those eye drop commercials.¡± Laughing gaily, Jason¡¯s mom reached over and tussled Pam¡¯s hair. ¡°Is that any way to talk about your employer? Or my husband?¡± ¡°It is,¡± Pam giggled, ¡°when he isn¡¯t around to hear it.¡± Laughing, Jason¡¯s mom picked up her glass and took another sip of it. ¡°So how is my boy then? All well?¡± ¡°He¡¯s fine,¡± Pam assured her, straightening up and getting serious herself. ¡°He forgot to take his medicine again today at school, and yesterday he told Gran that he¡¯d been bullied by one of the jerks again. They stole one of his books or something.¡± Sighing, Jason¡¯s mom shook her head sadly. ¡°Jackasses,¡± she muttered softly. ¡°Jackasses,¡± Pamela agreed, before adding, ¡°but don¡¯t say anything about them. Jason asked grandmother to keep it quiet. He was afraid his father might want to try to sue someone or something.¡± ¡°Crusty old stuck-up fart probably would,¡± Mrs. Craimer agreed. ¡°He¡¯d call it a matter of pride or something. Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t mention it. I¡¯ll mull it over for a bit and see if I can come up with something to do. How have you been doing yourself?¡± She asked offhandedly. ¡°I¡¯m rotten,¡± Pam admitted, hanging her head, a few tears starting to well up in the corner of her eyes. ¡°Jason¡¯s going to end up hating me.¡± ¡°Awwwwww sweetie, Jason¡¯s not going to hate you.¡± Sitting down her wine, Jason¡¯s mother reached and pulled Pam over close, hugging her. ¡°What makes you think something like that?¡± ¡°Because I¡¯ve been doing a lot of things I shouldn¡¯t,¡± Pam told Jason¡¯s mom, looking up with little tears in her eyes. ¡°I told his gaming helmet without asking. I snooped around his account to see what he was going, just so I could play the same game he was, and then I even made my own account with his gear. I followed him into the game, and I don¡¯t even know what I¡¯m doing. I¡¯m a creepy idiot stalker girl.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not an idiot,¡± Mrs. Craimer laughed. ¡°I chased after a gentleman twice my age because he had fancy cars, took me to elaborate places to eat, and showed me a side of life I¡¯d never imagined. I did a lot more than you ever have, and I don¡¯t regret one moment of it. I found a home. Family. People who love me. And, I¡¯ve never wanted for anything. Chasing after something you want doesn¡¯t make you an idiot. It just means you¡¯re not afraid to chase after something you¡¯re interested in.¡± Softly, Jason¡¯s mother asked, ¡°Why exactly did you do those things?¡± ¡°I was really just wondering if I could help Jason somehow in the game, or something,¡± Pamela admitted softly. ¡°I just don¡¯t think that¡¯s going to be possible.¡± ¡°Why not dear? I¡¯m certain Jason would love for you to join him playing whatever game it is.¡± ¡°There¡¯s only one headset,¡± Pamela explained quietly, wiping at her face. ¡°Only one of us could log into the game at a time, no matter what.¡± ¡°Well that¡¯s easy to fix,¡± Mrs. Craimer told Pam, pulling her up and kissing her on the head lightly. ¡°I¡¯ll just pick up another one of these helmet thingies, and then you can keep it in your room. It¡¯ll be a secret between us girls. What do you think?¡± Shocked, Pam stared up at Jason¡¯s mom wide-eyed. ¡°You¡¯d do that?¡± ¡°Well, I don¡¯t see why I wouldn¡¯t dear. Us girls have to stick together after all. Now,¡± she leaned forward, whispering conspiratorially, ¡°tell me all the juicy dirt you uncovered. Is there anything I¡¯m probably not supposed to know?¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± Frowning a little, Pam thought for a moment, figuring out where to start. ¡°I think he likes a smooth bikini bottom for starters¡­¡± Giggling girlishly, Mrs. Craimer huddled in close to compare notes about the differences and similarities between father and son, thoroughly determined that no secret was going to be safe from the FFA -- Fantastic Females Association -- which they¡¯d just formed together! Jasons Tale 10 -- Truth Revealed Jason was half pouting as he headed back upstairs with a sandwich in his hands. He¡¯d waited and waited for Pam to bring supper up to him, but she never showed up with it. When he went downstairs to question her about it, she was huddled up on the couch with his mother and the two of them were giggling like young school girls together. When he asked what was up, his mother simply shooed him off with a wave, telling him, ¡°It¡¯s girl time.¡± Girl time? With Pam and his mother?! What the hell was up with that! Then, on top of all that, supper had already been served and cleared by the time he¡¯d given up waiting and had went downstairs to check on things. All he had was a couple of cold ham and cheese sandwiches, which he had to fix for himself to eat! Gosh darned women! At least he didn¡¯t have to deal with them in game! Swallowing the last dry bits of his sandwich, Jason trudged into his room, picked up his VRIG helmet and flopped down moodily on the bed. Wiggling the helm down over his head, he leaned back on the bed and closed his eyes. ¡°Log in, Winter¡¯s Tale,¡± he commanded softly.
¡°You grungy old asshole! Pay attention to me when I¡¯m talking to you!¡± A woman¡¯s voice was loud and yelling into his ear the moment Jason appeared in the game. ¡°Don¡¯t just stare off into space like a complete and utter idiot! Have you, or have you not, finished with Rottooth¡¯s blade!¡± ¡°Umm¡­ What?¡± Blinking stupidly, Drun tried to sort out what was going on and why he was being shouted at. He¡¯d logged out back in the house after supper, but now that he¡¯d reentered the game, he was back in the smithy with Cedine screaming in his ear and some old, bearded dwarf watching the two of them while shuffling his feet as if he was almost embarrassed. ¡°Look, errr, if¡¯n it¡¯s not finished yet, I can always come back later,¡± Rottooth offered helpfully, eyeing first the door and then Cedine¡¯s angry face. He looked like he was getting ready to bolt and run at any moment. ¡°What? Don¡¯t you what me!¡± Reaching out, Cedine grabbed Drun by the beard and suddenly yanked his face up to hers, until she was staring nose to nose at him. ¡°Have you, or have you not, finished with that old bastard¡¯s blade yet?¡± Drun blinked several times, and the words barely seemed to escape his stocky dwarven frame. ¡°Umm¡­. Not?¡± ¡°Now, was that so damn hard?¡± Wrinkling her nose slightly, Cedine leaned forward, gently kissed him on the nose, and then released him. Turning back to the dwarf, she stomped her foot and pointed to the door. ¡°You heard the man! Get the hell out! He¡¯s not finished yet; come back tomorrow. Or even better, don¡¯t ever come back!¡± As she moodily shook her fist at him, Rottooth held up both his hands, slowly turned, and then marched out the door without saying a single word. Turning back around to face Drun, Cedine firmly planted her hands on her hips and glared at him. Arching an eyebrow towards the sky, she moodily asked, ¡°What the hell was that all about?¡± ¡°Umm¡­ What?¡± Shrugging his shoulders in an automatic reflex, Drun blushed and looked completely lost. ¡°Are ye sick?¡± Frowning, Cedine leaned forward and placed her right hand up on his forehead. ¡°You don¡¯t seem to be having a temperature. Just why the hell did you stop talking and just stare off all stupid like a half-wit for, a moment ago? You almost scared me out of my wits! I thought ye might be having a brain stroke or something!¡± ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m sorry!¡± Tugging away, Drun waddled over to a nearby stool and flopped down heavily on it. ¡°I don¡¯t know what the hell is going on here, or in the real world either!¡± His gruff dwarven face wrinkled up and he almost looked as if he was going to cry. Shocked at his strange reaction, Cedine walked over, flipped the sign at the front of the shop to closed and locked the door. Easing back to Drun, she walked up behind him and gently wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pulling his head back to rest against her breasts as she gently stroked his hair. ¡°Drun, hun, this is the real world. If¡¯n it isn¡¯t, just what is it? What¡¯s happened to my poor, wee babe?¡± Softly rocking as she held him, Cedine hummed lightly, trying to help calm Drun down. ¡°This isn¡¯t real,¡± Drun muttered quietly, shaking his head from side to side in denial. ¡°You¡¯re not real. Even though this amazingly feels real, it¡¯s all just a game. I¡¯m not Drun Kindwarf. I¡¯m Jason.¡±Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Cedine¡¯s fingers stopped slowly, and she half trembled as she leaned behind him. ¡°Are¡­ Are ye possessed? What type of fiend are ye? What do you want with my husband?¡± Her voice was quiet; barely above a whisper; and Cedine trembled harder and harder as she forced the questions out one after the other. Barely loud enough to be heard at all, she asked, ¡°Gods forbid, do I need a priest?¡± Reaching up and taking her hands gently in his, Drun slowly shook his head. ¡°There¡¯s no need for a priest. They won¡¯t be able to help.¡± Taking a deep sigh, he slowly rotated in the stool so he could stare up directly at Cedine. ¡°I don¡¯t know how much of this you¡¯re going to be able to process and understand, but I¡¯m not really your husband. If you want to consider it as if I¡¯m a ghost who possessed him, that¡¯s fine as well. The actual truth is probably something you couldn¡¯t comprehend or wouldn¡¯t believe.¡± ¡°I¡¯m actually Jason,¡± Drun told her, as he gently let go of Cedine¡¯s hands and stared into her eyes. ¡°I hope you¡¯ll believe me, but I don¡¯t want to harm you or your husband at all.¡± Staring at him suspiciously for a few moments, Cedine was quiet as she tried to appraise the situation. Finally, frowning heavily, she asked, ¡°Then what do ya want?¡± ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know,¡± Drun answered, slumping his shoulders and looking defeated. ¡°My friends came to this game¡­ Err, this world of yours,¡± he corrected, seeing the puzzled look growing on Cedine¡¯s face. ¡°My friends came to this world, but we got separated by¡­¡± Frowning, Drun tried to come up with a way to explain things to one of the NPCs in the game. Just how advanced was their A.I. anyway? Uncertain, he shrugged to himself and tried to keep it as simple and game-generic as possible. ¡°My friends came to this world, but we all got separated by some powerful force. It scattered our consciousness across the world and separated us. I¡¯m not a mighty warrior, nor a powerful wizard. I just wanted to be able to come here and become someone who could help offer them support. I wanted to be able to help make them powerful armors and weapons to try and keep them safe in this new world,¡± Drun explained in a rush. ¡°I suppose my soul was drawn into your husband because of his talents as a smith. I¡¯m sorry,¡± he apologized, feeling a little foolish for taking an NPC so seriously. Cedine slowly nodded several times and then slowly walked over and sat down on a stool not far away. ¡°That¡¯s about the most damnably unbelievable thing I believe I¡¯ve ever heard,¡± she snorted after a moment. ¡°Souls from another world coming here and taking over our people. No damn body would ever believe such a tale!¡± Banging a fist on the sale¡¯s counter, she got up and stomped back and forth, pacing hard across the floor several times. ¡°But one thing is fer certain; I¡¯ve been married to ya crazy ass long enough to know you¡¯re not my Drun Kindwarf!¡± Stomping over, Cedine grabbed Drun by the beard and tugged his head until he was staring her directly in the eyes. ¡°Jason? Isn¡¯t that what ye said your name was? Get the hell outta my Drun!¡± ¡°Please¡­ Please don¡¯t make me do that,¡± Drun looked up at her, tears starting to run down his weathered dwarven face, soaking into his beard. Sputtering in shock, Cedine took a step back, letting go of his beard. In all the long years she¡¯d been married, she¡¯d never once seen her husband cry, except for the birth of his daughters. The tears streaming so shamelessly down his face now tugged at her heart. Quietly, instinctively lowering her voice so it wasn¡¯t as hard or demanding, she asked, ¡°And why the hell not? Why can¡¯t ya just go back home?¡± ¡°I can,¡± Drun admitted pitifully. ¡°It¡¯s just my friends are still here and I don¡¯t want to abandon them. The magic that allows my soul to come here has its limitations. It can only connect to a single person or creature and then the bond is permanent.¡± Drun tried hard to explain in words which an NPC might understand, considering the game setting and all. ¡°Drun is the only one who my soul can resonate with here. If I let him go free, I¡¯ll be abandoning my friends.¡± Cedine¡¯s first instinct was to tell him to simply get the hell out of her husband, his friends be damned, but duty, honor, and the bonds of true friendship are ingrained deeply into the dwarven heart. Sighing deeply, she flopped back down onto the stool opposite him and slowly shook her head from side to side. ¡°Then just what the hell are ye going to do? Just what the hell are Drun and I supposed to do?¡±¡± ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know,¡± Drun admitted sadly after a few moments. ¡°We were told this was ¡®an experience unlike any other¡¯. I just had no idea that things would be so advanced here. That you would be so much like ourselves.¡± Jason knew Winter¡¯s Tale was just a game. His mind accepted that fact easily enough, but watching Cedine¡¯s expressions of concern, worry, and doubt, his heart felt guilty. He really was left with a feeling that he¡¯d possessed someone else and stolen their life, and he didn¡¯t have a clue what the hell to do about it. ¡°You know,¡± Drun admitted softly, ¡°this isn¡¯t the first time I possessed this body. I¡¯ve been here before.¡± ¡°Oh, ye have?¡± Raising an eyebrow curiously, Cedine asked, ¡°When was ye here last? How long do ya visits take?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know how long it¡¯s been in this world, since my last visit,¡± Drun admitted. ¡°It was the other day for me, when I first came here and started trying to figure out how to turn raw steel into something useful. You saw all the failures and picked them up for me.¡± He blushed slightly, remembering Cedine stripping topless to cool herself from the blazing heat of the smithy. ¡°I was here all for supper and then¡­¡± ¡°OI! Ya perverted spirit bastard!¡± Leaping up, Cedine suddenly slapped him hard across the face. ¡°I ¡®member that night, and I know what happened after that! Get ye ass out of my Drun right now; I¡¯m gonna neuter ya, ya bastard!¡± Jasons Tale 11 -- Loser Logging out, Jason wearily pulled his VRIG helmet off his head and slowly dropped it to the ground. He was exhausted and on the verge of tears ¨C even the women inside a game ran roughshod over him! That¡­ that¡­ that little witch Cedine had grabbed him by the beard and spanked him! HIM ¨C a player character, while she was nothing more than an NPC! Why couldn¡¯t he be more aggressive? Why didn¡¯t he just grab up one of the nearby axes and chop her head off? Why was he such a loser? Curling up, Jason grabbed his pillow and clutched it tightly against his chest. The problem, he admitted to him grudgingly, was the fact that the game was too well done. He¡¯d told Cedine that he had ¡°possessed¡± her husband with his spirit, and apparently that¡¯s not too far from what happened according to the NPC viewpoint. Drun had a backstory, a family, and a life, long before he¡¯d ever logged in and started to play him. To the characters who ¡°knew¡± him in game, he really was acting off-script and seemingly possessed. Which led Jason to his next area of confusion ¨C what happened to characters that logged out, like Kyle¡¯s character? Didn¡¯t Kyle tell him that his character faded from the world and then faded back in later? Why was Drun different? Apparently when he logged out, the A.I. took over and ran its standard scripts and interacted with the environment the same as usual. What was the difference? Was it the fact that he was playing a shop keeper and a craftsman? In a way, such behavior would kind of make sense to Jason. If he was gone for a few weeks, his character would still run the shop and keep producing common items. Maybe it was something to do with where one logged out? Safe zones like the city allowed your character to go into auto-mode and do day-to-day chores for you and interact with the populace? Maybe if he logged Drun out somewhere dangerous, he¡¯d fade out and only reappear when he logged back in again? Or maybe there was some sort of setting which a player to toggle to change that ¡°auto-pilot¡± command for their characters. Winter¡¯s Tale was a game without an user¡¯s manual after all. The developers were ¡°hard core¡± when it came to the rules of their game and refused to reveal anything at all about the game mechanics about how things worked. Hell, for all he really knew, Jason thought to himself, the game might really be snatching his mind and sending it out across another dimension to possess some innocent inhabitant of another world! Shaking his head from side to side, Jason tried not to worry about it too much at the moment. Winter¡¯s Tale apparently was more complex and dynamic than anyone had considered it to be so far. After all, who would believe that a player would start out married and with grown children in a game ¨C and that their wife would reject them stepping into the role as her husband! It was insane! And rules! That little she-devil Cedine had laid down a complete set of rules which he was supposed to follow, whenever he came back and ¡°possessed¡± her husband! What type of game has such settings to it?! Jason¡¯s mind was boggled as he thought back to what she¡¯d demanded from him.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. First, whenever he logged in now, he was supposed to wear a red handkerchief wrapped around his upper arm as an armband to signify that he wasn¡¯t the ¡°real¡± Drun anymore. He had to call Cedine ¡°sweetie¡±, and never call her ¡°honey¡±; apparently she was designating the two different nicknames so she¡¯d know at a moment who was actually with her ¨C Jason or Drun. He had to promise to do his best not to sully her husband¡¯s name, work, or reputation, or to do anything to harm her family. She¡¯d basically laid down the law about what he was allowed to do and not do in game! No visiting the wenches. No flirting with other women. No slacking and falling behind on work ¨C she was adamant on that point, maybe more than all others! The was only two decent points which made the whole situation bearable, and which convinced Jason to not give up on the game already. One, Cedine was going to start coming to the forge and helping to teach him what to mix, and what portions to mix it in, and what to do with it afterwards, so he could actually use the smithing skills his character had starting out. Two, she¡¯d agreed to play along if any of his friends ever showed up, and not to embarrass him. As long as he was willing to try and play the part of Drun Kindwarf with the rest of the NPCs, Cedine had agreed to do what was necessary to allow him to play his part with the other PCs. If his friends were to ever learn that he¡¯d allowed himself to be pushed around and bullied so much by a character in a game, Jason knew he¡¯d never be able to live it down! Particularly with William! William would tease him to the end of time, if he ever found out about what¡¯d just happened to him in game. But¡­ Frowning, Jason stretched and slowly eased up out of bed to go place his helm over on his dresser. Why had Cedine agreed to play along in front of other players which he knew were ¡°possessed¡±? If she could embarrass him out of her husband so he¡¯d never log in and play again, why wouldn¡¯t she? Wasn¡¯t her goal to protect her husband and family first? Damn it! It hadn¡¯t seemed like she was lying when she¡¯d promised to help him support his friends, but now that he¡¯d thought about it, Jason wasn¡¯t certain. He hadn¡¯t created some massive bloodhungry warrior in the game, or some all-powerful wizard to blast everything in sight. All he¡¯d wanted to be able to do was to log in, when he felt up to it, and do what he could to support his friends. He¡¯d thought crafting weapons and gear for them would be perfect for his playstyle ¨C stay at home, earn some money, offer support, and he wouldn¡¯t have to worry about letting anyone down if he couldn¡¯t log in to join them in a dungeon or on a raid¡­ And now? Now he was worried he wouldn¡¯t be able to even offer that little bit of support, without them finding out about how bullied he was in game! He¡¯d learned to hide and cover up a lot of the harassment which he suffered from during time at school, but he didn¡¯t have a clue how he¡¯d survive becoming a total laughing stock in a game all his friends played! Climbing back into bed, Jason hugged his pillow tight to his chest and sobbed quietly into it. Maybe it¡¯d be best if he just quit already and didn¡¯t log in anymore. Sometimes, he felt like it might be best if he just quit life itself! Nothing he ever tried to do worked like he wanted. Feeling like a total failure, Jason finally drifted off to fitful sleep, unable to even escape his doubts and worries even in the deepest recesses of his subconscious mind as nightmares rampaged uncontrollably all night long. Jasons Tale 12 -- Morning Mayhem ¡°Hey! Wake up. Wakey, wakey, wakey already!¡± Exasperated at her fifth trip into his room to try and wake Jason, Pam was about ready to beat him with her slipper. ¡°I don¡¯t want to,¡± Jason muttered sleepily, his head buried deep into his pillow. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if you want to,¡± Pam reminded him, matter-of-factly. ¡°It¡¯s a school day and you need to attend. You¡¯re not sick, so there¡¯s no excuse just to play hooky!¡± ¡°Just a few more minutes,¡± Jason pleaded softly. ¡°No.¡± Grabbing his pillow, Pam began yanking and tugging on it, trying to wrest it from Jason¡¯s grip. ¡°No more minutes. No more seconds. It¡¯s time to get up and you need to get up NOW!¡± Half yelling the last word, she jerked the pillow hard enough to tug Jason all the way out of the bed and onto the floor. ¡°OOOOFFF!!¡± Jason exhaled a large burst of air from his lung as he tumbled out of bed. ¡°Now I really can¡¯t go to school,¡± he told Pam quietly, pooching his lip out slightly. ¡°I think I¡¯m dying from injuries sustained being slammed into the floor by some crazy pillow-stealing ogre!¡± Looking up, he couldn¡¯t help but blink foolishly as the position he was in let him see up Pam¡¯s gown, highlighting most of her inner leg all the way up to her pale pink underwear. ¡°You¡¯re not dying, and I¡¯m not an ogre,¡± Pam chided him lightly, before leaning down and smacking him several times with the pillow she¡¯d stolen. ¡°Now, can you get up on your own, or do you need some help?¡± Tossing the pillow back onto his bed, she held down a hand towards Jason. ¡°I can get up on my own.¡± Ignoring her hand, Jason slowly eased up to sit on the edge of the bed. Walking over to his dresser, Pam picked up the stack of clothes laid atop it and carried them over to sit on the bed beside Jason. Grabbing the pair of socks, she sat down cross-legged in the floor and tugged his foot over to her lap without asking and began to slide the first one up over his foot. ¡°I can do that, you know,¡± Jason insisted, blushing slightly. Staring down at her as she was pulling on his socks, Jason could catch glimpses of pale soft mounds from inside the top of Pam¡¯s gown as it swayed forward and back and she focused on her task. ¡°Not this morning, you can¡¯t,¡± Pam snorted. ¡°You¡¯ve been in bed too long and don¡¯t have time to lollygag around. Let me get this done and over with, and then I¡¯ve got to get myself ready for school as well, or I¡¯m going to end up missing my bus and having to walk the whole way.¡± ¡°Sorry,¡± Jason sighed. Once again, he was just making life difficult for everyone around him. ¡°Can you get the rest?¡± Easing up, Pam rubbed a few strands of stray hair out of her face and frowned towards Jason. ¡°Maybe I should help you with everything else real fast,¡± she half muttered to herself. ¡°No need.¡± Shaking his head left to right, Jason tugged off his nightshirt and grabbed his school shirt from the stack of clothes beside him. ¡°I¡¯ve got it from here. You have to get ready yourself still.¡± Smiling weakly to show he was awake now and capable of being able to take care of himself, he slid the shirt over his arms and began to button it closed. ¡°Fine. Just don¡¯t forget to take your medicine this morning as well,¡± Pam reminded him as she turned and slowly eased out the room and down the hallway. Jason couldn¡¯t help stop buttoning his shirt and lean forward so he could watch the slight wiggle of her butt until she walked into her room and casually shut the door behind her. ¡°If she ever knew I stared at her like that, she¡¯d fuss at me worse than that dwarf woman did last night,¡± Jason muttered forlornly to himself, before going back to sluggishly buttoning his shirt up.
¡°No time. No time. No time!¡± Yanking her gown off, Pam tossed it unceremoniously across the room and into the corner. Her grandmother would either find it and pick it up sometime later today, or else she¡¯d take care of it when she got home from school this evening. Looking at the clock, she couldn¡¯t believe that she¡¯d let Jason sleep so late! If he wasn¡¯t lucky, he was going to be late for school today ¨C and it¡¯d be all her fault. Grabbing her bra from where it was sitting folded on her dresser, she crumpled it in her fist and tossed it over to join her gown. It didn¡¯t matter if it was clean or not right now; she simply didn¡¯t have time to worry about it! Grabbing up the pale blue dress from the stack, she wiggled her head and arms into it and tugged it down over her body. For a moment, she hesitated, staring at the sweatpants which were already laid out, but then she ignored them with a shrug. It might be a little cold on her legs while she walked to the bus stop, but the bus and the school itself were warm enough. If she was a little chilled this morning, it only served her right for letting Jason oversleep the way she did. Ignoring the pants, and even the socks which were laid out beside them, Pam turned and dashed out the door and down the steps. She had to rush it, if Jason was going to have time to eat anything this morning!Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. She certainly didn¡¯t want him to have to suffer just because she couldn¡¯t do her job properly!
Jason stared down the hall as Pam dashed out of her room and down the stairs, taking them two or three steps at a time. He couldn¡¯t help but wonder how the heck she managed to change so fast? He¡¯d barely even finished buttoning up his shirt and she¡¯d had time to change completely already! Sighing, he couldn¡¯t help but shake his head sadly as he pulled off his pajamas; it was just another example of how slow and sorry he was. Everyone claimed girls took forever to change clothes, yet Pam had changed from what she slept in to clothes for school, in a fraction of the time it took him to get dressed. Sighing heavily, he eased up and stared to pull his school pants on. What¡¯d that say about him, when he took longer to get dressed than a woman did?
Rushing through the kitchen, didn¡¯t bother to try and tell the cook to fix anything for Jason. They were running late and the bastard didn¡¯t know how to rush at all! Everything had to be done properly, seasoned just right, and yadda yadda yadda! Idiot cook! Completely ignoring the older gentleman, Pam yanked down one of the large frying pans and sprayed it with whatever non-stick cooking spray was handy. Rushing to the fridge, she yanked out the eggs, cheese, and ham and dashed back over to the stove and turned the cooking eye on high. Furiously, she rushed to crack one after another into the pan, not even bothering to count how many she used. There were a few open spots in the carton when she started, and she didn¡¯t stop until she ran out of eggs to use. Grabbing a fork from the nearby drawer, she rapidly began to stir the eggs back and forth in the pan as it got hot. ¡°Quit zat! Zee will ruin the pan!¡± Half screeching, the cook rushed to grab at the handle of the frying pan. ¡°Lay off!¡± Stabbing downward, Pam would¡¯ve impaled his hand with her fork, except he jerked it back away to safety first. ¡°I don¡¯t screw with your cooking. You keep your grubby ass paws away from mine!¡± ¡°Well I never!¡± Looking shocked, the old cook tossed his hat down into the sink and stormed out of the kitchen. ¡°Well, I guess you have now,¡± Pam mumbled under her breath, as she went back to furiously scrambling the egg in the pan, before sitting the fork down and opening up the package of shredded cheese. ¡°I wonder how much of this to use,¡± she muttered to herself before shrugging and dumping half the package into pan. Grabbing the fork back up, she raked the mixture together back and forth a few times to keep the eggs from sticking to the bottom of the pan. ¡°No time to cook the ham,¡± she reminded herself as she sat the fork down and ripped open the package. Luckily this was already sliced so she didn¡¯t have to worry about that too! With a relieved sigh, she tugged off several paper towels from where they hung near the fridge and laid them out on the counter. Pulling several slices of ham out of the package, she layered them one half across the other atop the paper towels, before going back to stirring her egg and cheese mixture. Frowning, she couldn¡¯t help but ask herself, ¡°Is this done?¡± It was hard to tell what was runny egg yolk and what was melted cheese now. ¡°Just a moment more is okay I guess,¡± she told herself. Looking around, she grabbed up the nearby pepper container and thoroughly sprinkled it across the mixture in the pan several times. ¡°Guess I¡¯ll call it finished!¡± Laughing lightly, Pam clicked off the oven eye and started scooping the mixture out and laying it in piles atop the ham. Once she was satisfied she had enough on one, she went and repeated the process on the next pile of meat. When she was finished, she rolled the rest of the ham up over the egg mixture and then folded the paper towel around it to hold it all in place. ¡°Breakfast wraps!¡± Beaming proudly to herself, Pam couldn¡¯t help but laugh at her own creativeness as she carried one in each hand and headed back out of the kitchen, ignoring the mess behind her. The cook could deal with everything later, or else her grandmother would just let it pile up in the sink and make her deal with it when she got back from school. For now, she was just happy that she¡¯d finished in time!
¡°I¡¯ve got your breakfast,¡± Pam beamed up at Jason, holding out a wrap in each hand as he started down the steps. ¡°Come grab these and you can eat them in the car on the way to school. I¡¯ll help you with your shoes as soon as you take them. Have you took your medicine this morning?¡± Even though she was trying to calm down and slow down, Pam was still rushing wildly from one topic to the other. ¡°Umm¡­ Sure?¡± Taking the two wraps from Pam, Jason suddenly found himself caught up in her pace as she pushed him towards the door. Getting there, she bent down and grabbed both his shoes before yanking on his pants leg to make him lift his foot one after the other so she could put them on him. ¡°Your jacket,¡± Pam told him, tugging it down from the coatrack and holding it out. ¡°Here, I¡¯ll help you with it, since your hands are full. Give me your left arm,¡± she commanded, waiting for him to hold it out so she could work the sleeve over it and pull the jacket around his body. ¡°And now your right,¡± she repeated the process, before opening the door. ¡°And now you¡¯re all set to go,¡± Pam assured him, grabbing up his school pack and carrying it out to the car. ¡°Hurry up,¡± she called back at him, ¡°the ground¡¯s cold and I haven¡¯t put my own shoes on yet!¡± ¡°Sorry,¡± Jason muttered softly, trudging to catch up as Pam laughed, opened the car door, and slid his pack over to the other side. Pam was laughing and smiling as he slid himself into the vehicle, before slamming the door shut behind him. ¡°And still a few minutes to spare I think,¡± she proudly beamed at the driver, before turning and rushing back inside the house. She still had to get her own shoes and jacket on!
Jason waited quietly until the driver got in and started down the road, before finally sitting one wrap down on the seat beside him. Frowning, he peeled back the paper towel and stared confused at the gooey ham and melted cheese mess inside. ¡°What the heck is wrong with the cook today?¡± He asked himself, wrinkling his nose in confusion. ¡°Where¡¯s the bread? How am I supposed to eat this without making the world¡¯s worse mess? And where the heck is my drink?¡± Sighing heavily, he dropped both wraps into the small plastic bag the driver kept in the car for trash and shook his head from side to side. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll have to try and grab something from the school cafeteria this morning,¡± he told himself. ¡°And I might have to talk to mother about the cook. I wonder if he was drunk or something this morning?¡± Jasons Tale 13 -- Monster in the Kitchen Jason was both relieved and apprehensive when he got home from school that afternoon. He was relieved since today at school was one of those times when he could avoid all the bullies and just keep his head down without any trouble. For once, he had one of those rare days of lazy harmony at school. What was the source of his apprehension this evening was all the shouting coming from the kitchens when he got home. He didn¡¯t know what had happened, but it sounded like the cook was ready to burst a blood vessel screeching about something or other. For the briefest of moments, he considered going to see what the issue was, but then shrugged off the idea. No need for him to get involved with whatever was going on ¨C Penny or his mother could sort the mess out without him having to but his nose in where it didn¡¯t belong. Kicking off his shoes, Jason quietly hung his jacket up on the coat rack at the door and then began to tiptoe up the steps. He wasn¡¯t feeling so bad this evening ¨C it was a perfect time for him to log in to Winter¡¯s Tale, and maybe try to make peace with that crazy dwarf woman, Cedine!
¡°Look at zis! Just look! Zat child has ruined my good pans! How am I supposed to cook with this?¡± The chef was red faced, waving a frying pan back and forth in the air wildly, pure anger plainly visible on his face. ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± Jason¡¯s mom nodded. ¡°It¡¯s ruined. I can see why you¡¯re upset. I¡¯ll deal with the problem,¡± she promised coolly, staring hard at the frying pan and the old cook. ¡°Then you vill not let zat monster back in here anymore?¡± Smirking over at Penny, the chef had a look of triumph on his face. ¡°Zey do not belong in a kitchen!¡± ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± Jason¡¯s mom agreed, wholeheartedly. ¡°Madam?¡± Penny¡¯s eyes widened to the point that it seemed almost as if she was going to cry. ¡°She¡¯s just a child still,¡± she pleaded passionately. ¡°I¡¯ll teach her better, I promise! You don¡¯t have to punish her!¡± Walking over, Jason¡¯s mother gently wrapped her arms around Penny and hugged her gently. ¡°Don¡¯t worry sweety. No one¡¯s going to punish our Pam,¡± she reassured her lightly. Penny softly returned the hug, looking confused and bewildered. Letting go of her embrace, Jason¡¯s mother straightened up and turned to glare back over at the old chef. ¡°Get out,¡± she demanded, cold steel in her voice. ¡°As you say, there¡¯s no room for monsters in these kitchens or this house. You¡¯re fired. Leave.¡±Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Vat?!¡± The old chef¡¯s eyes opened wide with shock and he sputtered several times. ¡°Ze can not fire me! Ze man of ze house zill not allow it!¡± ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t think he will?¡± Eye¡¯s narrowing, Jason¡¯s mother strode several steps forward and poked her finger hard into the center of the old cook¡¯s chest. ¡°You¡¯re right. My husband does like eating your cooking. He also enjoys his nights in my bed, as well. Given the choice between which of the two he¡¯s going to have to give up, do you honestly believe he¡¯s going to chose your French ass over mine?¡± ¡°Zis¡­ zis is an outrage! Ze can not do zis! I have done no zing wrong!¡± The old chef was slowly being pushed back by the intimidating presence Jason¡¯s mother was exerting. Desperately, he looked over to Penny for support, only to take another step back as she looked away from him. Not believing what was happening, he cried out loudly, ¡°Why? Why am I fired?¡± ¡°Because,¡± Jason¡¯s mother glared at him coldly, ¡°you dared to call Pam a monster in front of me. Do you think I give a damn how many of your precious pans she ruins? Do you think I care if that child kicks you out of the kitchen and turns all your damn precious work into charcoal?¡± Her eyes were cold steel, and her fists were clenched tightly as she glared daggers over at the old chef. ¡°Pam has been here since the day she was born. When her mother died, who do you think it was that helped Penny raise her and watch over her? I may not have given birth to the child, but she¡¯s as precious to me as if she was my own daughter,¡± she declared boldly. ¡°And you¡­¡± Jason¡¯s mother sputtered for a few moments, struggling to find the words to express the emotion she was feeling. Half growling, Jason¡¯s mother reached over and picked up one of the nearby knifes from the kitchen counter. ¡°You think I¡¯m going to let some jackass bastard who knows how to cook some type of fancy ass pastry convince me to fire her? To tell her she¡¯s not allowed to go where she wants in my house? Cook what she wants? Ruin whatever fucking pan she wants?¡± Jason¡¯s mother clutched the handle of the knife in a death grip, her hands starting to tremble from the tension. ¡°I¡¯ve already told you you¡¯re fired. You¡¯ve been requested to leave. If you¡¯re not out of here in another three seconds, I¡¯m going to start to fear for my safety and gut you like a god damned fish right here in the kitchen,¡± she warned the old cook. Eyes cold and merciless, he could almost see the reflection of the grim reaper in them, staring out towards him. ¡°Ze has not heard ze last of this!¡± Trembling, the old cook turned and rushed out the side door in the kitchen. ¡°Ze vill hear from my lawyer!¡± Snarling, Jason¡¯s mother hurled the knife as powerfully as she could, sticking it in the doorframe several feet above the old cook as he ran out it. As it slowly vibrated from side to side, she slowly straightened up and turned back to half laugh towards Penny. ¡°Jackass forgot, his lawyer just happens to be my husband. I don¡¯t think that¡¯ll help him any. What do you say we call for takeout tonight, Penny?¡± Tears running down her cheek, the old woman simply nodded and then walked over to hug her in a tight embrace. Jasons Tale 14 -- Negotiations Unaware of the changes unfolding in the household below, Jason eased into his room and plopped down on the bed. He¡¯d managed to avoid any real trouble in school today, and his only real shame had came at lunch as he enjoyed a nice lunch with his friends. Everyone was talking about their characters in Winter¡¯s Tale and all the great adventures they were having and such in game, and he¡¯d been to embarrassed to tell them about what was actually happening with Drun. ¡°Guess what guys? Apparently the character I play runs around and does things when I¡¯m not online, is married, and has children. Oh, and as if that isn¡¯t odd enough, I¡¯m a smith who can¡¯t make anything except ruined junk. On the upside, at least his wife hates me!¡± My god, he¡¯d die from embarrassment if something like that were to ever leak out to his friends! William was dragging Heather all over the land, Darryl had met Seraphine¡¯s character in game. Only him and Kyle had managed to pick places where the others couldn¡¯t get to them easily and interact with them, and he was worried to death that might change at any moment. The way Williamwas bouncing all over the lands, who knew where he was going to end up next! A look of determination crossing his face, Jason grabbed up his VRIG and sat down on the bed. Pulling the helm up over his head, he leaned back on the mattress and took several deep breaths to calm himself. ¡°Log in, Winter¡¯s Tale,¡± he commanded softly as his device booted up. Even as much as he dreaded confrontation, he was determined he was going to have to settle things once and for all and take control of at least one part of his life for a change ¨C even if that was just his game life!
The moment Jason¡¯s awareness shifted to becoming Drun, who was in the smithy, his resolute resolve melted like ice caught in a blazing inferno. Boobs! Boobies! Ta-tas! Whatever you wanted to call them, there they were, bare and uncovered, layered in a glistening sheen of sweat, with a tightly braided beard dangling between them. With his mouth agape wide enough to place a boiled egg upright in it, all Drun could do is stare in amazement. ¡°Hey, ghost boy! Eyes up top,¡± Cedine commanded, yanking on his beard and forcing his head up until they were looking eye to eye. ¡°Don¡¯t be getting no stupid ideas, brat. These aren¡¯t for you to be touching. They¡¯re off limits! Understand me?¡± ¡°Yes¡­ Yes, ma¡¯am,¡± Drun stammered, blushing brightly. ¡°How¡¯d you even know it was me?¡± He just couldn¡¯t understand how she¡¯d know that he¡¯d taken back possession of her husband¡¯s body so instantly. Did all NPCs know when a player was in them, instead of the character running on auto-mode? Somehow, he didn¡¯t think so, or else Cedine would¡¯ve never needed to tell him to wear a blue armband. ¡°Ya quit ya singing,¡± Cedine told him, snorting. ¡°I talked to my Drun about your stupid spirit and what was going on. Foolish idiot thinks it¡¯s something to be proud of. ¡®I be chosen by the gods or some other great spirit, to be their vessel on this earth. As long as they don¡¯t hurt me family, I think it¡¯s one of them things that can help bring honor to our family, our line!¡¯¡± ¡°Dumbass man said he wouldn¡¯t fight with ya, and would help ya support ya friends, as long as you agreed to a few of his rules as well,¡± Cedine told Drun firmly. ¡°What rules?¡± Blushing brightly, Drun had lost all thoughts about standing up and asserting his dominance. Boobs! Bare, bouncing, sweat-glistening boobs!! All he could think about was the full view he¡¯d seen, and it took all his willpower to keep his eyes focused up on Cedine¡¯s, without letting his gaze fall down for another view. ¡°First, I¡¯m off limits,¡± Cedine reminded him sternly. ¡°I married that stupid jackass, not you. No touching, no kissing, nothing inappropriate like that at all, or else the deal¡¯s off.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± Drun agreed, blushing brightly. Given the chance, would he? Cedine was a bearded dwarf after all ¨C and that wasn¡¯t what anybody considered to be a high standard of beauty or sex-appeal in the world. On the other hand, there was boobs! Could he really resist the lure of such a powerful thing? Slowly, he found his eyes starting to wander downwards for another glance ¨C just to make certain he could resist temptation, of course! ¡°SMAAKK!!¡± Cedine¡¯s open palm slapped hard against his jaw, the surprised shock snapping his head back up and forcing his eyes back up to meet hers as she glared daggers at him. ¡°Second,¡± Cedine went on, as if nothing had happened at all, ¡°you can¡¯t do anything which will get anyone in our family in trouble or tarnish our reputation or honor.¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°I¡¯m not a bad guy,¡± Drun assured her, rubbing his cheek lightly. ¡°I¡¯m not interested in doing anything which might get me a red name. I¡¯m not a PKer, thief, assassin, or crook. I just wanted to learn how to make stuff to help my friends out, if I can.¡± ¡°And what¡¯s your friend¡¯s purpose,¡± Cedine asked, wrinkling her forehead, looking very worried and serious. ¡°Are they up to no good? Why come here and take over the people of this land? What¡¯s their purpose?¡± Blinking, Drun look stupefied for a few moments as he considered it. What was their purpose in playing Winter¡¯s Tale? Unlike a lot of games, Winter¡¯s Tale didn¡¯t seem to come packaged with some great evil out there for the characters to level up and fight. No demon lord, evil invading army, or dark alien threat. Winter¡¯s Tale had simply been packaged as, ¡°a game where anything is possible¡±. It really didn¡¯t seem to have some great underlying theme, with a plot that eventually channeled the players into ever smaller zones as they leveled up, until they all encountered and did battle with the final boss of the highest tier raid zone. What exactly was their purpose in playing Winter¡¯s Tale? It was an open ended environment with no end goal in sight. The only answer Drun could come up with was ¡°just to have fun¡±, but he didn¡¯t think Cedine would like to hear that one the most. ¡®Oh, hi Cedine. Me and my friends, we¡¯re just bouncing into your world, possessing the people you seem to know and love, and making them do whatever we feel like because we¡¯re bored. It¡¯s all just for fun. Ha ha! What a great honor for your husband to be chosen for my entertainment!¡¯ Somehow, he just didn¡¯t think an answer like that would go over too well! ¡°Well?¡± Impatient for his answer as the moments dragged by, Cedine grabbed him by the beard again, gripping it firmly in her fist. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ It¡¯s supposed to be a secret!¡± Not certain what else to say, and not being a very good liar, Drun tried to stammer out an excuse. ¡°A secret?¡± Cedine twisted her fist, pulling his beard tight in her grip, and forcing his face down closer to hers. ¡°Ya come here and possess my husband, and then try and tell me it¡¯s some secret? You¡¯re going to tell me this secret purpose, before I go find a priest and have them exorcise you back to whatever hell you came from!¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t come from hell,¡± Drun tried to reassure her. ¡°The truth is¡­¡± Biting his lip, Drun¡¯s mind ran in circles as he tried to think of what to say. ¡°The truth is, we came here to stop one of our great evils which escaped from harming this world. Darth Vader was defeated by Chuck Norris and body slammed into the blazing heart of a Star-Destroyer class shop. His spirit escaped the hell it was supposed to go to, thanks to Lex Luther and Dracula teaming up to defeat the Grim Reaper, and then it fled here with a whole swarm of other evil spirits.¡± ¡°My friends and I are here to stop them before they can rise to power and bring chaos and destruction to your world,¡± Drun finished, trembling slightly, expecting her to laugh at him any moment. ¡°So evil spirits have invaded our world¡­¡± Letting go of his beard, Cedine turned and slowly paced back and forth, rubbing her chin and mumbling to herself in deep thought. Rubbing his own chin to ease the soreness out from her rough handling of it, Drun stared shamelessly, taking in each move, each wiggle or bounce, as Cedine paced back and forth. ¡°I guess that makes sense,¡± Cedine finally decided, turning and placing her hands on her hips. ¡°You don¡¯t seem like an evil bastard spirit, or else ya¡¯d just do whatever the hell ya wanted. Ya would¡¯ve murdered me, robbed this place, and then went on ya merry way. I¡¯ll trust ya ¨C fer now!¡± ¡°Tha¡­ than.. thanks,¡± Drun stammered several times, staring hard. ¡°I¡­ I¡­ I really don¡¯t mean¡­ mean you any harm. Or.. Or¡­ Or your family!¡± Watching him blush and stammer, Cedine slowly shook her head from side to side. ¡°Take a damn good look, ya perverted ghost bastard, and get it out of ya system. It¡¯s too damn hot back in here with all the damn doors and bays shut, and we can¡¯t leave them open and let the damn people find out a worthless bastard like you has taken over my husband and can¡¯t even make a damn frying pan proper!¡± ¡°Feast ya damn eyes on these perfect puppies,¡± smirking lightly, Cedine placed one hand under each breast and then lifted them slightly, ¡°and then let¡¯s get to work teaching ya how the hell ta be a smith ¨C as long as you agree to my idiot husband¡¯s last request!¡± ¡°What¡­ What re.. request?¡± Drun was scarlet from head to toe and fidgeting from foot to foot like a young child wanting cotton candy at a carnival. ¡°Ya got to share whatever knowledge ya have in that spirit mind of yours with us. Ya might not even know it yourself yet, but Drun believes you might have knowledge from whatever previous life or world you came from, that he could end up using in his work here. He¡¯s willing to let ya use his body to help ya friends with their armor and gear, but ya got to share your mind with him. With us,¡± Cedine corrected herself, shaking her head slightly from side to side. ¡°The idiot bastard doesn¡¯t even remember when you take over his damn body. He said it just reminds him of when he¡¯s drank too much one night and then it¡¯s all gone the next morn.¡± ¡°Ya share ya thoughts and knowledge with me,¡± Cedine stressed, ¡°and Drun won¡¯t complain about sharing his body with ya.¡± ¡°Sure,¡± Drun agreed, finally turning his back to Cedine. She might just stand there like it wasn¡¯t a big deal ¨C and maybe in some ways it wasn¡¯t; after all, he was inside her husband¡¯s body right now ¨C but it wasn¡¯t something he could accept all at once. People just didn¡¯t run around like that back home ¨C at least not unless they were blond haired, at a lake, and trying to attract some psycho killer! ¡°I don¡¯t know if anything I know will be useful to you or your husband, but I¡¯ll share what knowledge I can with you,¡± Drun promised solemnly as he tried to calm the blush down out of his body. ¡°Good!¡± Cedine laughed lightly and gave out a slight sigh of relief as if she¡¯d half expected him to refuse. ¡°Now,¡± she commanded firmly, ¡°get ya perverted spirit ass over here and I¡¯ll get ya started on the basics!¡± Jasons Tale 15 -- Fired Up and Falling Down Jason was quite surprised by how enjoyable he found the next several hours in game. Cedine was a hard taskmistress, expecting him to pay attention to whatever she said the first time so she didn¡¯t have to repeat herself, but she was willing to answer any questions or go back over anything that he didn¡¯t understand fully as she taught him. She¡¯d complain and bitch about having to repeat things, or clarify things, but she¡¯d do it all the same. Some of the first things that Jason learned was that smithing inside the game didn¡¯t necessarily have to follow the same laws of physics as the real world. Apparently just using different material to polish a weapon could give it different temporary properties. A blade polished with a cotton rag would shine and gain a temporary bonus to its durability, whereas a blade polished across a leather strap would glint and gain a temporary bonus to its damage. Since Drun was as talented with smithing as he was, he was able to polish a weapon or suit of armor with up to three different clothes, bestowing three separate effects upon them. When smithing, the choice of liquid which a weapon was quenched in as it came off the forge affected it. A blade quenched in normal water gave a normal effect to the steel. One quenched in holy water seemed to pick up some of those holy properties and was more effective against unholy creatures like the undead. A weapon quenched in oil seemed to produce a less damaging, more resilient result. Even such things as kegs of milk, beer, tree sap, and even blood could produce various effects when a weapon was cooled in them after coming off the forge the final time. There was so much information to take in, Jason wasn¡¯t certain how anyone was supposed to ever learn it all! If the forge was fired with wood, it could produce a different effect on the final product than if coal, peat, or oil was used. Mixing metals to create different ingots to work with required precise combinations of metal ¨C which he could kind of relate to, if he thought of something such as gold. Gold comes in various karat amounts, depending on how much other metal are mixed in with it. Twenty-four karat gold is pure gold and is too soft to be used for many things, with twelve or fourteen karat gold is what is used for most things, and the metals used in smithing in Winter¡¯s Tale were similar to that. Depending on how iron, copper, and tin were mixed, it could produce anything from bronze to steel to hybrid combinations that didn¡¯t exist in the real world ¨C or at least didn¡¯t exist as far as Jason was aware of, like Copper-Steel, which had the coppery sheen but still most of the durability and power as regular steel.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Stupidly enough, gold could be used to harden metals in Winter¡¯s Tale ¨C which went against everything his real world logic told him about metallurgy. Gold-Steel was heavier, more durable, and more damaging than normal steel, which made absolutely no sense to him since gold by itself was so soft. Black Gold Steel even surpassed normal gold, but it required first smelting gold with black iron, then smelting that combination with plain iron to produce the final product. All in all, Jason had to admit the he was enjoying himself learning how it all came together. He¡¯d figured it¡¯d be some simple system of ¡®take ore, beat with hammer, make sword, repeat thousands of times for skill-up¡¯, but apparently the game didn¡¯t work like that at all. At least, not according to what he was learning from Cedine! Skills affected the chance of success, and apparently anything was possible in game ¨C even such things as smelting bone powder into iron ore was possible! What Winter¡¯s Tale seemed to rely on was imagination to create new recipes, repetition and practice to get skill levels up, and quality of ingredients. Jason was beginning to think it really was a game world where ¡®anything was possible¡¯, like they claimed, when suddenly everything went black and faded to nothingness. Disorientated, it took Jason several moments before he realized he was starting at the inside of his VRIG helmet, which had somehow lost power. Tugging the helm off his head, he glanced around expecting to find himself in the midst of a blackout or something, but was surprised to see Pam standing there instead in one of her long white dresses embossed with a yellow flower pattern across it. ¡°I¡¯ve been trying to get your attention for a while now,¡± she told him moodily. ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m sorry,¡± Jason stuttered reflexively. Somehow, it seemed to him that he was always apologizing to the women around him. ¡°It¡¯s not a big deal,¡± Pam shrugged slightly. ¡°I just wanted to let you know supper¡¯s here. We¡¯ve got pizza tonight for a change.¡± ¡°Bring me up a couple of slices if you will, and a drink too,¡± Jason told her, half smiling. ¡°Can¡¯t do it,¡± Pam told him sadly, shaking her head from side to side. ¡°I don¡¯t work here anymore. Your mother fired me because I irritated the chef and he quit today. I¡¯m not allowed to work anymore. You¡¯ll just have to get it yourself.¡± Turning her back, Pam turned and dashed down the hallway to her room, slamming the door behind her. Dazed, Jason blinked several times in confusion. Pam didn¡¯t work there anymore? Because of the cook? What? Since when! Was she going to be allowed to keep living there? Not wanting to believing it, he got up and stomped several feet towards the door, before the room suddenly seemed to spin and he found himself staggering and falling to the floor. Hearing the blood pounding furiously in his own ears, he struggled to rise a few times. Struggled to catch his own breath, to try and control his breathing. In the end, it was too much for him, and he slumped into the deep darkness of unconsciousness, his frail body once again failing to obey his will and wishes. Jasons Tale 16 -- A Broken Heart? Jason¡¯s head was throbbing madly when he finally managed to force his eyes to squint open once again. Uncertain how long he¡¯d laid on the ground unconscious, he could taste the bitter bite of blood inside his mouth, making him want to gag. Groaning slightly, he forced himself to sit half up and then crawled over to the bed so he could lean back against it and rest. Groggily, Jason tried to sort the cobwebs from his mind to think back on what he was doing. It was something important, at least he felt like it was something important, but his brain just wouldn¡¯t focus enough for him to sort everything out. Squinting past the pain throbbing relentlessly in his head, it appeared he was at the door when he¡¯d fell and passed out. Was he coming in, or going out? The pounding in his temples wouldn¡¯t let him sort it out. Placing the palm his left hand up to his face, Jason gripped behind his eyes and squeezed his temples tight to try and ease the relentless pounding in them, causing flashes of light to dance wildly across his vision and a nauseous feeling to swell up in his stomach. Groaning from the pain, Jason gritted his teeth so hard they felt almost as if they might break inside his mouth and forced himself to push up against the bed until he could lift himself off the ground enough to force his ass back onto the mattress so he could sit on it. Sweating and shaking just from the effort of getting himself up to sit, Jason leaned forward, rested his arms against his legs, and rocked slightly back and forth on the edge of the bed as he tucked his head down low and tried to shield himself from the light. He felt awful; in fact, he couldn¡¯t remember the last time he¡¯d felt as terrible as he did now. His head was pounding. He could taste blood inside the corners of his mouth. Had his nose bled, or did he just bite his cheek or tongue when he fell? He couldn¡¯t tell with the way he was feeling currently. His heart was racing, pounding inside his chest and his lungs felt as if they were on fire as he struggled to force in each ragged breath. ¡°Ppppppttaama¡­¡± He tried to call out to Pam, hoping that she was nearby, but his voice wouldn¡¯t work; he couldn¡¯t seem to get enough air into his lungs to force the words out. ¡°Pptppttaaam,¡± he tried again, with the same wheezing lack of success. Desperation lending him strength, Jason struggled to force himself to his feet. Struggling against an endless wave of vertigo, he forced himself to stagger drunkenly one step after another until he could make it across the few steps in the room to lean against the wall at the door leading out into the hall. Knees trembling, feeling as if he might fall or pass out again at any moment, Jason rested all his weight against the wall and slowly worked his way laborious step after laborious step down the hallway. After what felt like hours, he made it to the doorway of the first guest room and struggled to force himself to open his eyes long enough to look inside and see that it was empty. Repeating the process three more times, he slowly worked his way past the rest of the empty guest rooms upstairs and all the way down the hall to the closed door which led to Pam¡¯s room. Fumbling with the handle several times, Jason worked to turn it and push the door open. Stumbling drunkenly inside, pure relief washed over him as he saw Pam turn to look back at him from where she was sitting at her desk doing something. ¡°Pppttaam¡­. Plound poo¡­¡± Slurring his speech, Jason struggled to let Pam know he was grateful he found her as he staggered over and collapsed face first down on her bed. His head hurt. His lungs were burning. Jason felt completely terrible ¨C and yet, somehow, he had a small contented smile on his face as the darkness washed back over his consciousness. He¡¯d found Pam; he knew everything was going to be alright now.
Pam was sitting at her desk, humming happily to herself and scribbling in her diary. Today was probably one of the best days in her life! Oh sure, she¡¯d gotten fussed at a bit because the old cook was a cranky bastard and didn¡¯t like her making a mess of the kitchen ¨C but that wasn¡¯t important! Mrs. C had fired her, and Pamela couldn¡¯t think of anything that could have been more perfect than that!This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. She didn¡¯t have to do chores anymore. She didn¡¯t need to clean, or do laundry, or dust, or anything like that anymore! Mrs. C had firmly laid down the law and told her she wasn¡¯t allowed to deal with such things any longer; she was going to hire some more maids to help Penny take care of the house. All she was expected to do was to go to school, keep her grades up, and to be certain to graduate with honors ¨C which she was doing already! The lady of the house had basically ordered her to quit working and to simply focus on enjoying her high school years and her studies. ¡°You¡¯re not working here anymore,¡± Mrs. C had told her in a tone that brooked no argument. ¡°Honestly, you never should¡¯ve been forced to work here to begin with,¡± Mrs. C informed her gently. ¡°You¡¯re young. You¡¯ve got school, education, and all the rigors of high school to deal with. This whole mess with Chef Poophead has shown me that you¡¯re not ready to work yet, and it was wrong of us to expect you to.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Mrs. C had laughed, ¡°I¡¯ll deal with my husband. You¡¯ll be staying with us the same as always. You¡¯ll get your paycheck the same as always ¨C call it your allowance if you want to call it that. We haven¡¯t did as we should have been doing and supporting your education fully, so we¡¯re getting you one of those virtual helmet things to help with your studies.¡± At this point, Mrs. C winked at Pam and a smile flickered mischievously across her face. ¡°Something like that will help you with your studies won¡¯t it,¡± she¡¯d asked Pamela, smirking heavily the whole time. ¡°It¡­ It would,¡± Pam agreed, finally understanding what was going on! Mrs. C was supporting her just like she said she was going to! Her workload was being cut, she was being given her own V-RIG, and she wasn¡¯t going to lose out on any of her income or anything else! Mrs. C was using the incident with the old chef to clear the way so she could have free time to log into Winter¡¯s Tale and secretly support Jason in there! Getting ¡°fired¡± had never been so exhilarating and liberating an experience, and Pam couldn¡¯t stop smiling and humming over it as she struggled to write her feelings down in her diary. She couldn¡¯t imagine anything which could ruin her mood this evening¡­ ¡­And then the door to her room slowly creaked open and Jason staggered in pale and trembling, looking more like a corpse walking than a young teen boy. Eyes wide, she stared in shock as he shambled several steps forward and then mumbled something incoherent to her. Leaping up, knocking her chair back against the wall hard enough it dented the plaster on the walls, she was already rushing wildly to his side even as he was collapsing face down across her bed. ¡°Jason!¡± Screaming his name, Pamela was instantly across the room and by his side at the bed. Leaning across his limp form, Pam grabbed for his wrist and felt for the pulse. Relieved to find one, she couldn¡¯t help but release the long breath she¡¯d been holding. Her first thought was that he might have stumbled into her room and died or something, and even though his pulse was erratic, she was relieved it was stable. Letting go of his wrist, Pam sprung up from the bed and dashed over to where her chair laid tumbled in the floor. Without giving a second thought to what she might end up breaking, she quickly scooped it up, ran out into the hallway and hurled it over the bannister and down the stairs. Without taking time to listen as it crashed down one step after another before finally banging and breaking against the door at the bottom of the steps, Pam rushed back into her room and struggled to turn Jason over to his back to check his breathing. ¡°What the hell¡¯s going on up there?!¡± Penny opened the door, yelling up the steps before yelping in surprise as what was left of the chair tried to tumble down on her. ¡°Something¡¯s happened to Jason,¡± Pamela screamed back! ¡°Call 911!¡± Pushing herself up away from her bed, she rushed over to her dresser and pulled open the top drawer. ¡°He¡¯s passed out in my room and I don¡¯t know what¡¯s happened!¡± Grabbing an emergency inhaler ¨C she always kept one in her room so she¡¯d always know where to find one if needed ¨C she rushed back over and held it in front of Jason¡¯s mouth. ¡°His pulse is throbbing, his breath is ragged, and he¡¯s pale as a ghost!¡± ¡°OH!¡± Penny¡¯s worried gasp whispered up the steps as she turned and rushed to the phone. A moment later, Jason¡¯s mother thundered up the steps and into Pamela¡¯s room, concern written heavily on her face. Tears filled her eyes when she saw Jason¡¯s pale form sprawled out across the bed. She¡¯d seen him look bad before in the past, but never this pale and sickly. Rushing over, she knelt down beside Pamela and took Jason¡¯s other hand in hers and tried to offer as much comfort to him as she possibly could. She wasn¡¯t a nurse; she didn¡¯t know the first thing about tending to someone sick. All she could do is hold his hand and pray the ambulance wouldn¡¯t be long. Jasons Tale 17 - Hospital Knight? Even before he opened his eyes, Jason knew from the sterile disinfectant stench that he was in the hospital again. Groaning slightly from the ache of the lights, he forced his eyes opened and glanced around the small private room he was in. From his experience, he believed once you¡¯ve seen one hospital room, you¡¯ve seen them all, and he wasn¡¯t disappointed to find that this room was like all other¡¯s he¡¯d ever been in. Sterile white paint on the walls. Cream white shades pulled to block the sunlight or glare of headlights from passing vehicles driving around the parking lot outside. A bed with a mattress hard enough to encourage the sick to want to get up out of it, with just a single recliner and a small hard chair for guests to use when they visit the room. The only bright points to the room at all were the small television hanging down from the ceiling across from the bed, and the sight of Pam sitting and sleeping half curled in the recliner only a few feet away. Trying to smile made the corners of Jason¡¯s mouth crinkle unpleasantly, as parched and dried as they were, causing him to glare around and look for a drink of some sort. Usually a large cup or pitcher of ice water would be sitting on a small table beside the bed, but unfortunately he didn¡¯t see anything of the sort this time. For a few moments, Jason tried to fight back the dry thirst in the back of his throat so he wouldn¡¯t disturb Pam, but it proved to be a futile fight as he soon coughed and hacked dryly several times. Yawning widely, Pam stretched in response to almost the first dry cough. Turning slightly to face in his direction, she sleepily rubbed her eyes several times before blinking and looking over at the bed. When her groggy mind finally registered that Jason was awake, Pam jerked in sudden surprise then fell over the corner of the chair¡¯s armrest, tumbling into the floor. ¡°Pam?!¡± Forcing her name from his parched throat was a struggle for Jason, as he squirmed and tried to weakly turn for a better look into the floor to check on her. Much to his relief, Pam was giggling lightly and already climbing up to her feet while blushing embarrassedly. ¡°Sorry,¡± Pam apologized, standing and dusting her dress off slightly. She seemed wide awake now; smiling and laughing brightly as she bounced over to sit down on the edge of the bed. ¡°It just surprised me to see you awake already,¡± she admitted, embarrassed red tint slightly coloring her cheeks. ¡°Are you feeling better now?¡± She asked gently. ¡°A drink please,¡± Jason croaked hoarsely. ¡°I think I can do that,¡± Pam reassured him. ¡°I¡¯ll let the nurses know you¡¯re awake in case they want to come in, or the doctor. Just give me a few moments after that and I¡¯ll run down to the cafeteria. I¡¯ll let your mother know you¡¯re awake ¨C she was going down to grab some coffee, I think ¨C and then I¡¯ll bring you back a couple cans of soda and a straw.¡± ¡°Water,¡± Jason corrected, dryly. ¡°Then a couple of bottles of water and a straw,¡± Pam assured him. Reaching up, she took his hand in hers and gently squeezed it once, before turning and rushing out of the door and down the hallway.
A little while later, Pam and Jason¡¯s mother walked back into the room together, chatting lightly back and forth. Seeing Jason still awake, his mother unscrewed the lid from a bottle of water and stuck a straw down in it, before walking over and holding it out towards him. ¡°How¡¯s my little man,¡± she asked? Ignoring Jason as he reached for the bottle, his mother instead chose to hold it up to his mouth for him to sip directly.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°I¡¯m okay,¡± Jason croaked hoarsely in response a moment later. ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°The doctors say it¡¯s nothing bad this time,¡± his mother reassured him. ¡°You had an asthma attack which they think may have led into a panic attack, which caused your heartbeat to rise, surged your blood pressure, and basically caused you to faint. They gave you a breathing treatment to open up your airways better, and have run several tests while you rested and recovered.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Pam chimed up, interrupting suddenly, ¡°it¡¯s not going to work this time!¡± Taking another sip of water from the bottle his mother was still holding, Jason frowned slightly and asked, ¡°What¡¯s not going to work?¡± ¡°You¡¯re not getting out of school this time, silly!¡± Giggling slightly, Pam half skipped back over and pounced into the recliner. ¡°The doctors have already said they¡¯re going to release you in the morning. They probably would¡¯ve released you in the middle of the night tonight, but your mother got in a fight with one of the doctors! She told him you were sleeping and they weren¡¯t going to move you; that they should let you get a good nights sleep; and the doc wanted to send you on home in an hour or two, to free up the hospital bed.¡± Trying to laugh, but coughing instead, Jason smiled slightly. ¡°I guess we see who won that fight. Momma¡¯s stubborn.¡± ¡°I am not,¡± his mother insisted, as Pamela readily agreed with, ¡°Ain¡¯t that the truth!¡± Looking back at first one and then the other, Jason¡¯s mother scowled at both Jason and Pam, causing Pam to giggle suddenly and Jason to hack and cough several more times. ¡°I wasn¡¯t stubborn at all,¡± she insisted, half frowning and half smiling at the same time. ¡°I was just having a simple adult conversation with the medical staff here.¡± ¡°Which led to security being called for,¡± Pam reminded her, giggling even harder. ¡°Well,¡± Jason¡¯s mother straighten up and sat the bottle down on the nightstand near the bed, ¡°that might have happened.¡± Going over, she sat down on the small chair and flattened her skirt with her hands, before primly crossing her legs and acting as if nothing had happened. ¡°You two get some rest. Morning will be here before you know it, and you both have school tomorrow. I don¡¯t see any reason for either of you to miss. You can sleep through the whole weekend if you need to.¡± Nodding slightly, Jason reached for the bottle to sip another long drink, while Pam stretched and slowly moved around to the left side of the bed. ¡°Scoot over,¡± she commanded, pushing Jason slightly with her hands. ¡°Huh?¡± Sitting the bottle back down, Jason blinked several times, looking confused. ¡°Scoot,¡± Pam repeated. ¡°I can¡¯t sleep sitting up in some stupid chair and there¡¯s plenty of room if you just slide a foot over or so.¡± ¡°Oh, sorry,¡± Jason apologized, turning on his side and sliding up closer to the bars on the right side of the bed. He wasn¡¯t certain what Pam was doing, but he¡¯d play along with her for now, just to see what she was up to. Everyone knew hospital beds were single patient only! Giggling lightly, Pam pulled the covers back and then gently slid in and snuggled up to Jason¡¯s back. The war pressure of her breasts squishing against his back was enough to make him smile even past the shock that flashed on his face. ¡°See,¡± Pam giggled again, ¡°plenty of room!¡± Pulling the covers back up over the both of them, she settled down, giving every indication that she was intending to stay there. Watching the whole scene with a raised eyebrow was Jason¡¯s mother. For a moment, she frowned several times, as if it seemed she was struggling over saying something or not. Finally making up her mind, she stretched lightly and slowly stood up and strode outside the room, pulling the door shut behind her. Leaning back against the wall beside the door relaxing, she pulled out her phone and typed several messages to her husband and then Penny, letting them know everything was fine. Every time a nurse or orderly walked past, she glanced up from her phone and gave them a stern, unflinching glare. The cubs were sleeping peacefully while the mother bear watched protectively over them from right outside the den. A quick update A quick update on life, writing schedules, and all that good stuff: 1) First, let me assure everyone that I''m not dead and that I haven''t dropped any of my stories. I have arthritis and my knuckles swell and ache like mad in the cold months of winter, so I simply just hide under my covers and hibernate as much as possible. I told you guys that I''d be back sometime when Spring rolled around... Guess what? IT''S SPRING! I''m back! 2) I want to take a moment to apologize for my long delay on returning. I wanted to sit back down and start writing once again back at the end of March, but I "broke" my elbow. I went to the doctor with it, and it wasn''t actually broken; I''d actually somehow pinched the nerve that runs from the shoulder down along the inner side of the arm to the wrist; but it sure as heck hurt as bad as any break I ever had. I was going to type a quick note to let folks know my return was delayed, but it hurt to lift my arm up from where I had it cradled against my chest to keep from whimpering and annoying my wife all the time. Luckily, much like how that pain mysteriously appeared overnight (I suppose I slept on the arm funny and compressed the nerve somehow), after a couple of weeks, it''s finally cleared up and went away. I''m happy to report that I''m now back up to feeling 100% once again. (At least until hay season kicks in in a few months and drives my allergies crazy! Good news with them is I can usually shut the door, hide from the great outdoors, and it doesn''t affect my writing like Winter aches and pains do.) 3) So what have I been doing for the last several months? Thinking hard on my stories, working on the plots, characters, and settings, is what you guys would like to hear, right? HA!! I''ve been a vegetable!! The last several months has seen me binge watch television until I almost went blind, read a million manga, and catch up on dozens of novels which I''d been sitting aside and waiting to finish. I haven''t thought about a thing, worked on anything, or worried one single bit about my stories. Out of sight, out of mind, completely holds true in this case. 4) So what the heck does this inactivity mean with my works? Not much really. I''d like to remind everyone that first and foremost, I write for my own enjoyment. If other folks like it, that''s fine; it makes me happy that other people take the time and enjoy the things I write; but I don''t necessarily write for the benefit of those other people. (My irratic writing schedule probably proves that as much as anything else I could possibly say.) I tend to write when the mood and inclination hits me. I don''t promise to keep to any specific schedule and I''ll focus on whichever story I want just whenever the mood hits me. For the last several months, the cold and the aches and pains which accompany it has meant that I simply didn''t feel like writing; ergo, I didn''t write. The last month I''ve really enjoyed catching up with my reading and didn''t think too much about writing while my arm was healing; ergo, I didn''t write. BUT... I''ve grown tired of watching the same old drivel on the television over and over. How many damn CSI shows are there? Law and Order? I find one show I like and then the next thing I know there''s half a dozen spin-offs of that show bombarding the airwaves, which eventually ruins the experience. I like pizza. I like pizza a lot. BUT, if I had to eat a cheese pizza for breakfast, a pepperoni pizza for lunch, and a supreme pizza for supper, EVERY DAY, I''d grow sick of pizza. Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and all these other streaming services which let you catch up on whole seasons of a show at once are ruining the enjoyment of the shows for me! Don''t believe it? Go binge watch 8 seasons of CSI, then another half dozen of CSI:Miama, followed by a few seasons of CSI:NY, followed by whatever damnable CSI spin-offs there are.... Then tell me you''re still interested in watching another episode of the same thing!!You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. /BLARG!! I''ve grown tired of watching the television. I''ve caught up with my reading. I''m not aching, paining, hibernating or hiding. Once again, I feel that burning restlessness inside which tells me it''s time to start entertaining myself once again... In other words, it''s time to start working on my stories once again! 5) About damn time, you guys say? You want to know when you can expect the next actual update to something to come out, and what I''m going to be working on, and what order I''m going to work on it? Due to my brain dribbling out my ear and drying up over this extended break and excessive time spent pretending to be a potato on my couch, I''m going to take a few more days to refresh myself on my notes and actually READ MY OWN WORKS once again to get the flow/style/storyline and all back fresh in my mind. Lately, I find myself thinking about "Jason''s Tale" (book two of Winter''s Tale), and it''ll probably be the first one I go back to and work on. Updates for it should begin within the next week or so. Depending on how much the floodgates open once I sit down and start working on Jason''s Tale, I''ll swap back and forth between my other works as time and inclination dictates. If I find myself drawn back into Jason''s Tale, I might focus on it until I finish his whole arc/book up, before moving somewhere else. If I find getting back into the groove to be a little difficult and I get stuck on what to do/where to go with his story, I''ll sit it aside and work on something else... Like always, it''s simply a case of "I write as time and interest dictates". And for now, my general plan is: Winter''s Tale: Jason''s Tale -- I''m going to start with this one and we should see updates soon?. Game On -- This will be the second story I''ll add back into my writing rotation, once I swap focus out of Winter''s Tale and start divering my attention back and forth again. The Fallen Ascending -- I haven''t forgotten this work either! I still plan on getting book #2 out for everyone soon. Michael''s story isn''t anywhere close to being finished. It''ll be added to my writing rotation after Game On. Dreambreaker -- This story comes and goes and keeps to its own schedule. I go months without having a single thought about it and then it appears and haunts my dreams for the next month and I have to write it down to purge it from my thoughts. No specific plans for working on it on a regular basis, at the moment, but it has a will entirely of its own. Dreambreaker gets written when Dreambreaker wants to get written -- all other works be damned! The GOD Chronicles -- Maybe sometime around Halloween. I just haven''t been in the right mood or mindset to work on it at all. This is definitely a "niche story" of mine and only gets worked on when the stars align properly and there''s nothing else to hold my focus at the time. It''s not "dropped", but on "permanent hiatus". The 8th Day -- I thought I''d hung my pen up on this story, but I find myself being drawn back into it more and more all the time. No promises for the fans of the story, but I have a feeling that I''m going to be drawn back into working on it again before this year is over. I have everything laid out for it, sorted out, and thought through for the next half dozen books or so -- I just got bummed out dealing with a lot of crap from people, the site, and everything else concerning the story, so I dropped it out of annoyance. Thing is, time heals all wounds and I find myself no longer annoyed over those people/comments/events as I once was. As the memory of that frustration/annoyance goes down, the desire to get back and finish the work goes up... Honestly, I do expect that I''ll be back to working on it again sometime in the next few months -- but I won''t promise anyone that. We''ll just have to wait and see... 6) And that''s everything I think, except perhaps for an apology for my "quick update" being anything but quick. I told you guys, I''m back in the mood to write and I guess this just proves it!! Even a "quick update" seems to be a whole dang chapter in a story! Sorry! 7) A quick summary: A) I''m not dead. B) I''m tired of watching TV, reading OTHER people''s stories, and being a couch potato. C) I''m writing again and there should be an update out for "Winter''s Tale: Book Two -- Jason''s Tale" in a week or so. Game On and The Fallen Ascending chapters will be coming after that, with Dreambreaker being updated irregularly. D) You''ve finally finished reading this "quick update"! Jasons Tale 18 - It Can Only Get Better The next morning was a blur of chaotic activity in the hospital room, with Jason sluggishly trying to button up his shirt while Pam struggled to slide his socks onto his feet without pushing him off the far side of the narrow bed. Voices of nurses and doctors loudly echoed through the thin door leading out into the hallway even though it was closed, and occasionally Jason¡¯s mother¡¯s voice would rise to smother out all the rest. From all indications, it sounded as if another World War was being fought on the other side of the thin frame separating the room from the hall. ¡°Jeeze, hold still,¡± Pam demanded, dropping one foot and tugging up Jason¡¯s other to start trying to fight a clean sock on it. ¡°Your mother is expecting both of us to be on time for school this morning and you¡¯re going to make us late!¡± ¡°Make us late?¡±, Jason exclaimed, huffing a little red faced from his struggle to stay upright while being pushed on by Pam while also trying to button up his shirt without getting it crooked. ¡°The doctors haven¡¯t even released me yet this morning! They usually don¡¯t do that until after nine or ten o¡¯clock, you know! School will start well before they ever let us out of here!¡± ¡°And,¡± Pam sighed, looking up a little exasperated as she took a break to push a few stray hairs out from in front of her face, ¡°do you think that¡¯s going to stop your mother?¡± ¡°Well¡­.¡± Taking a moment, Jason stared over towards the door and listen to the shouting, before shrugging defeatedly as he finished fastening the last button on his shirt. ¡°We might be late,¡± he muttered softly to himself, under his breath.
¡°It¡¯s this way,¡± Jason mumbled under his breath as he slowly led his mother through the school and to his classroom. Luckily, the hallways were empty as it was a few minutes after the start of first period ¨C they would¡¯ve made it to class on time, except they stopped by Pam¡¯s school and let her out first as it was on the way and that slowed them down a bit ¨C and Jason was happy to see that Todd and none of his cronies were around to harass him this morning. If they saw him being escorted to class on the arm of his mother, that¡¯d be something he¡¯d never live down! Blushing slightly, Jason finally stopped in front of the door to his classroom and took a deep breath before opening it. ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± his mother assured him, squeezing his arm slightly, ¡°I¡¯ll deal with this.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m kind of afraid of,¡± Jason whispered under his breath as he slowly walked in and tried to slink off to his seat. Every eye in the classroom was focused on him and then his mother as she confidently strode into the room behind him, still barefoot and wearing the plain rumpled white one piece that she¡¯d had on all night long at the hospital. Taking a moment, she turned her head and stared intently back and forth at each person in the classroom, before focusing her gaze over to the teacher. ¡°Jason¡¯s not late and he¡¯s not absent,¡± she told the older gentleman, quite firmly, before warning, ¡°I best not find him marked either for today at the end of this semester.¡±This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Excuse me?¡± The older gentleman -- Mr. Flemming ¨C blinked a few times and looked baffled as several students began to snicker quietly at his shocked expression. ¡°Just who are you again, Miss¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m his mother,¡± Jason¡¯s mom explained, pointing a finger directly over at him, before asking exasperatedly, ¡°What type of jackass teacher doesn¡¯t even know the parents of their students? Just how much the hell am I paying you to be such an incompetent asshole?¡± ¡°Wha¡­ Umm.. What?¡± Blinking several more times, Mr. Flemming struggled to comprehend the situation. Ridgewood Private Academy was a high class private school for the elite of society; people simply didn¡¯t speak in such a manner to the teachers and faculty here! ¡°And you,¡± Jason¡¯s mother turned and pointed a finger at the young gentleman sitting closest to her, ¡°if you don¡¯t take your eyes off my ass, I¡¯m going to pluck them out and stick them in your ears!¡± ¡°EXCUSE ME,¡± Mr. Flemming half shouted and half coughed at the same time, as he hurried over from where he was standing at his desk in front of the class. Grabbing Jason¡¯s mother by the arm, he quickly pulled her back outside the door and slammed it behind him. Silence descended heavily upon the classroom as everyone struggled to hear the conversation going on right outside the room. Only a single solidary ¡°THUMP¡± was heard as Jason dropped his head down upon his desk and tried to pretend to not exist for the rest of the morning.
The rest of the day was stressful, but relatively uneventful for Jason. Todd and his goons never bothered him, and everyone else was too busy quietly whispering and gossiping between themselves about what happened to actually ask Jason anything. From some of the whispers that he¡¯d overheard, he wasn¡¯t certain if he wanted to actually talk to anyone for a while. Rumors of ¡°Jason brought a prostitute to school today to pretend to be his mother¡±, to ¡°Did you see the cougar Jason brought in? I hear he¡¯s blackmailing her¡±, to ¡°that was his sister, just pretending to be his mother¡±, all whispered back and forth around the school. Apparently nobody could believe that such a plain fatty as him could have such a beautiful woman for a mother. She was too young, too sexy, and too assertive ¨C none of the things which most people associated with him. The only redeeming thing that occurred to brighten up Jason¡¯s day at all occurred at lunch. While he was sitting with Kyle and Darryl like usual, two of the prettier girls in their class came over and joined them. He wasn¡¯t quite certain how Kyle knew the scholar student Sera, but the two seemed rather friendly with each other. Somehow it seemed like the two of them might live close to each other and know each other that way ¨C which seemed kind of odd to Jason. He couldn¡¯t think of the name of any of his neighbors that he really knew, but in the end it didn¡¯t really matter. In the end, they¡¯d all agreed that they were going to meet over at Kyle¡¯s house in the morning and then spend all weekend playing games with the girls! And, after deciding that, the rest of Jason¡¯s day blurred into a peaceful dream of unbelieving bliss. The only girl whom he¡¯d ever spent any time with were Pam, her grandmother, and his mother. To think that he was going to get to spend the whole weekend with two of them?!! This weekend was going to be amazing! Jasons Tale 19.1 -- Lewd Aspirations The start of the next morning was an unusual blur of hectic activity for Jason. Excited about spending the weekend at a friend¡¯s house, Jason slept fitfully and suffered from vague wisps of dreams which lingered at the edge of his consciousness which he couldn¡¯t remember fully. For the first time in a long time that he could remember, Jason actually awoke on his own without Pam playing the role of his alarm clock in the morning. Taking a shot from his inhaler mainly to help steady his breathing and calm his nerves, Jason slowly and quietly took time to dress in the dark before easing up and turning on the light to his bedroom. Looking over at the clock on his dresser, it read six twenty-three in the morning ¨C much earlier than he normally ever got up! As a sudden thought wormed its way across his mind, Jason began to creepily rub his hands together and giggle slightly as the corners of his lips slowly twisted up into a smirk. Softly, he whispered, ¡°Payback,¡± as he cracked open the door to his room and eased down the darkened hallway to the room where Pam was sleeping. Normally, Jason knew Pam would already be awake and busy helping to prepare for the school day, but this was the weekend. Today, she should still be sleeping peacefully, curled up in her bed, enjoying the freedom of not having to rush to get everything ready for school so early. Giggling slightly to himself, Jason slowly tiptoed down the hallway, smirking evilly as he imagined easing into her room, grabbing her, and scaring the bejeebers out of her as he interrupted her peaceful dreams for a change.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. Time slowed as he carefully crept down the hallway, trying not to make a single peep. Every time the floorboards creaked under his weight, Jason held his breath and slowly counted to ten while waiting to make certain he didn¡¯t hear any sound of movement from Pam¡¯s room. Halfway there¡­ Kapump! Kapump! Jason could feel his heart beginning to pound slightly in his chest. This was going to be sooooo funny! Three quarters of the way there¡­ Kapump! Kapump! Kapump! ¡°Hee heee hee!¡± Jason couldn¡¯t contain the light giggle that was escaping from the corner of his mouth. What if she was sleeping naked, screamed, and suddenly jumped up and into his arms or something? ¡°Hee heee heeee heee!¡± Suddenly he was directly in front of the door. Kapump! Kapump! Kapump! Reaching down slowly, palms of his hands damp with anxious perspiration, Jason slowly caressed the door knob in his grip. ¡°Heee hee hee hee! This is going to be sooo good! I can¡¯t wait¡­¡± Kapump! Kapump! ¡°DING DONG! DING DONG! DING DING DING DING DING DONG!!¡± Suddenly the doorbell from downstairs began to go off incessantly. ¡°AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!¡± Built up tension released in an instant, Jason screamed and dashed back to his room, face burning bright red with embarrassment at the thought of being caught sneaking into a girl¡¯s room while she was sleeping. ¡°DING DING DING DING DING DING DONG!!¡± The incessant ringing of the doorbell echoed throughout the house, seemingly laughing at him as he tried to bury his face and hide back under his covers. Jasons Tale 19.2 -- Hurricane?! Penny was sitting, relaxing on the couch, sipping on a fresh cup of brewed coffee, first thing in the morning when the doorbell exploded in a frenzy of repetitive chiming. ¡°DING DONG! DING DONG! DING DING DING DING DING DONG!!¡± ¡°Oh my!¡± Almost spilling her hot drink, she hopped up as fast as her old bones could and began to hurriedly hobble over towards the front door. Mornings were always rough on her joints and it often took her a few minutes to get herself up and going properly while the rest of the household was still sleeping in. ¡°AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!¡± A frightened scream from upstairs made her hop, standing her hair up on end, and sent coffee exploding everywhere as she tossed her cup halfway across the floor in shock. What the hell was going on upstairs now?! ¡°DING DING DING DING DING DING DONG!!¡± Worried as much as she was about whatever was going on upstairs, the doorbell downstairs wouldn¡¯t stop its incessant blaring. ¡°I¡¯m coming! I¡¯m coming,¡± she cried out towards the door, worriedly looking back towards the stairs going up. She had no idea who or what was at the front door, but they weren¡¯t giving her time to breath, much less check on things in a different part of the house. She¡¯d just have to trust that if something was wrong, Pam would be able to handle it for a dew moments before somebody broke the chime to the doorbell! ¡°BAM! BAM! BAM!!¡± Whoever it was now knocking on the door ¨C almost frantically ¨C as Penny rushed over and fumbled with the chain and lock. ¡°One damn minute!¡± Cussing, which was quite unusual for her, was a sure sign that she was almost at her wits end as she finally pulled open the door wide and glared out to see who was beating on it so recklessly, before asking peevishly, ¡°What the hell do you want?¡± ¡°GRANNY!¡± Laughing merrily, a young man which she didn¡¯t recognize instantly skipped forward and threw his arms around her waist and hugged her tight. ¡°It¡¯s been so long since I saw you! How are you! Are you good! Did you miss me? How is everybody?!¡± Like a hurricane, his voice instantly rambled from one thing after another, leaving her blinking in surprise as he suddenly released his hug from around her waist and merrily skipped into the house.Stolen story; please report. ¡°I¡­ I think you¡¯re confused with something young man,¡± Penny stammered as she brushed the wrinkles out of her dress. A tidy appearance could help lead to a tidy mind, and her mind needed tiding up this morning. ¡°I¡¯m afraid that I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever seen you before,¡± she stated kindly, thinking the young man was lost and confused. ¡°Uh huh! I know, right?!¡± Half dancing, the young gentleman spun around in place and laughed merrily. ¡°I¡¯m over sixteen now and I haven¡¯t met you yet, so it¡¯s been a looong time, hasn¡¯t it! At least another lifetime for me, if we even met before in the previous one, you know!¡± Skipping over, he suddenly reached out and grabbed Penny¡¯s hand and pumped it up and down furiously several times. ¡°Hi! I¡¯m William,¡± he suddenly introduced himself. ¡°Now we¡¯ve met! What¡¯s for breakfast? A pretty granny like you probably has some type of pie in the kitchen for me. Right?¡± Staring directly in her face, William¡¯s eyes opened wide and he fluttered his eyelashes furiously several times while grinning wildly with his eyes sparkling bright and innocently. Blinking several times, Penny couldn¡¯t help but laugh at the youthful exuberance and innocence the young man was exerting so brightly before her. ¡°I think I can probably find a piece of pie somewhere in the kitchen,¡± she admitted, as a slight smile slowly crept across the corner of her face, ¡°but¡­¡± ¡°But? But what?!¡± William¡¯s eyes opened even wider and he looked as if he was hanging onto her every word. ¡°There¡¯s no buts in pie!¡± ¡°BUT,¡± Penny continued, a little more firmly, ¡°you¡¯re going to have to clean up the mess in the floor first. You made me spill my¡­¡± Before she could finish complaining about spilling her coffee, William turned and bolted past her and deeper into the house at a dead run. ¡°FOR THE PIE,¡± he screamed as he ran down the hall and threw open the first door he came to, looking for a towel or something similar to clean the floor with. ¡°Wait a moment,¡± Penny cried out after him. ¡°That¡¯s the Lady¡¯s bedroom!¡± Too late¡­ William¡¯s voice echoed out the door and down the hallway. ¡°HI! I¡¯m William! Nice boobs!¡± Trying not to laugh, Penny slowly turned and shut the door, before heading into the kitchen to look for pie. NAC: Authors Notes/Updates/Life Rant So, as many of you long time fans and followers might''ve noticed, I''m back -- once again -- from an extended break on the forums here. "Where have I been," you ask? The simple answer is the same place I''ve always been: at home. I haven''t died. I haven''t went to Timbuktu or anyplace exotic. I''ve been sitting at home, honestly doing nothing more than twiddling my thumbs a whole lot for the last several months. "So why the heck haven''t you been updating your stories?!" I just know several folks are going to want to know the reason for this, and the simple answer there is "technical difficulties". First my computer died and the folks at Geek Squad took a look at it to fix it. A week later, I brough it home, plugged it in -- after giving them a nice chunk of cash -- and turned it on... Where it promply failed once again right on the VERY FIRST startup! GAHHH!! So, a new appointment was made so they could fix the problem, and several days later the machine was back over at Best Buy/Geek Squad. And, once again, it was over a week before I got it back.. This time, MISSING the screws which hold the expansion cards such as the graphic cards and sound cards! WTF Geek Squad!! For the prices you guys charge, how the hell can you be so damn worthless!! Needless to say, I didn''t trust their repair at all this time, but I plugged it back up and turned the machine on -- and simply let it set for a few days to see if it''d go back into its endless restart cycle. (I suspected that the issue was the power supply not always generating enough power for all the peripherals and thus shutting down as it spiked. Geek Squad claimed it was a bad video card and charged me to install a new card.) At first, everything seemed to be working as it should -- but then, when the 30-day repair warrenty ran out, the damn thing began to shut itself down once again randomly! I honestly think this is just a case of the damnable power supply acting up as it gets hot or has to generate peak power, such as when a hard drive resumes from standby mode, but I haven''t had it back in the shop to have it tested. The reason it lasted about a month is just from where it was using less power to support a single video card than what it used to use to support the nice dual graphics cards which I had in there...This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. So, needless to say, all this just annoyed the hell out of me and took away whatever desire I had to sit down and be creative and write, so I just took a nice long break from things until my stress/annoyance levels went back down... So, I haven''t written anything for the past several months, but now I''ve gotten where I really miss indulging the creative side of myself once again, and I wanted to start back up and just let my mind wander once more. At first, I was going to start on my existing works here, but then I realized something rather shocking for me: I forgot my characters, settings, and what the hell I had going on with every story!! I need to take time to sit down and reread my own work, refresh my memories of the stories and where I was going with them, and THEN pick them back up from there. BUT... That takes time, and I found myself with the desire to CREATE something, rather than just spend several weeks revisiting something I''d already created, so with very liittle arguing with myself, I decided on the following plan: 1) Start something NEW, which will hopefully be a single, stand-alone story, without expanding it into the usual series which I seem inclined to do. Give it a start/middle/end, and use it as an opportunity to get back into the habit of writing on a regular basis. Fate''s Fortune ( http://royalroadl.com/fiction/14441/fates-fortune ) is going to be that story. 2) Once Fate''s Fortune is finished, and I take a small break it edit, proof, and format it properly, I''m going to choose one of my exisitng works and take a week or two and catch up on rereading it and refamilarizing myself with all the little intricies of the story world, and then I''m going to restart it with a rather slow release schedule. (Probably only a chapter a week or so.) 3) While releasing new chapters in whichever work I pick up first, I''m also going to spend a little time catching back up with my other works and slowly restarting them until I get everything back into a normal writing rotation like I used to do. Now, I don''t have a clue what I''m going to catch up to and work on first once I finish up Fate''s Fortune. I suppose it''ll depend on what mood I''m in when I finish FF. For now though, don''t expect to see any real updates for any of my other works, until Fate''s Fortune is wrapped up and completed. I''m *NOT* dropping any of my stories which I''ve been working on and sharing; but I am leaving the rest of them n hiatus for now, until I get back into a nice writing routine and get caught back up with where and what was going on in with all the rest of our beloved characters and their respective worlds which they exist in. I hope everyone can understand and bear with me as I move ever forward with writing at my own pace and enjoyment. If not: "PBBBBBBBTTTTTTTTBBBTTTTT!!! Tough titty!" Darkbringer NAC: Author Update I must apologize to all you guys. I never intended to let all my work end up and go dormant, but I did. I''m sorry for that, and I wanted to take a moment to explain: Last year, the doctor told me that I had an aneurysm bulging on the side of the main artery coming out my my heart. When I visited the surgeon, he informed me that the size of the aneurysm was such that it only had a 6% chance of rupturing every year. Of course, if it does rupture, that''s a case of almost instant death as it''s the main artery right at the heart itself... I was advised that with my weight (over 300 pounds), the risk of performing "the most dangerous surgery in the world" (the surgeon''s exact words), was greater than the risk of the aneurysm rupturing and killing me. He refused to do the surgery... So, I''d basically been advised, "You have a timebomb at your heart that can explode and kill you at any moment, and there''s nothing we can do about it." Needless to say, the worry and depression that caused, basically destroyed any motivation I had to do much of anything -- much less write... Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. BUT... We all pass sometime, and time helps one come to terms with anything. Excessive boredom while doing nothing is a great motivator too, so I eventually decided to sit back down and write again to help pass the time as I struggle to lose weight so I can have the surgery (the surgeon said he''d want me to drop to below 200 pounds), or I simply meet my expiration date. I''ve completely lost track of my old stories, and since I''m wanting to write now, without having to catch back up to where I was previously, I decided to start and share a new work, which you can find here, if you''re interested: Two Times Perfect Best of wishes, and I''ve got to admit, it''s nice to know that I still have some fans around who might remember my work. "> NAC: Just an update on life Sorry I haven''t been around for a while guys. I truly haven''t planned on abandoning any of my works, and it''s been much too long since I''ve written anything for the site here (or anywhere else, for that matter). Life has just been playing hell with me for the last few years, and I haven''t had neither time, nor motivation, to sit and put quill to paper. As some of you know, a few years back, I was diagnosed with having a large "ascending aeortic aneurysm". Basically, the main artery coming out of my heart has a knot on it swollen up like a balloon. With my weight, and general health, I don''t qualify for any sort of surgery on it -- "It''s the world''s most dangerous surgery, and you''re not likely to survive it." According to all estimations, this gives me about a 10% chance to die in any given year... And, I''ve already beaten the dice and survived two years with this damn aneurysm; who knows how many more I might repeat my luck?! Needless to say, depression fell upon me, with such heavy news suddenly popping up out of nowhere. It kicked my ass, and I wasn''t in much shape to write for a while. Then, just as I started coming to terms with the shadow of death looming so prominently over my head, and as I was wanting to start writing once again, my wife got sick. Diabeties led to liver and kidney failure. She suffered terribly, and I spent every waking moment that I could with her, as she was hospitalized with illness. The last three months have been hell, with her stuck in constant quarentine as she was shuffled back and forth between various hospital wings and rehab, with me being unable to go to her side and be with her. And then, on Wednesday, July 15th, she lost her battle and passed away... and after that, all hell broke loose in my life. My mother fell and broke her hip. The anethesia they administered to her has led to her exhibiting Altheimer-type situations. Confusion. Lose of memories, places, people, events.. Dealing with her is a complete drain, even as much as I love her. NO family is ever prepared for one of their loved ones to lose themselves in such a manner. My uncle died the same day as my wife, just a few hours ealier. The day after my wife died, my estranged daughter''s husband called me up, "Hey Steve. We got the message. We''re not going to the funeral. Never contact us again after this. Thanks!" I still really don''t know how to process that! The only way I can currently handle their extreme action is just to tell myself, "My daughter died one day after my wife," and then leave it at that. I have no clue what happened between her and her mother for my daughter to pull away with such vitriol, but I''m going to respect her wishes. I''ll never contact them again, as long as I''m living. The day before my wife''s funeral, my jackass brother got drunk and totaled his car, tearing himself up in the process. He''s alive -- seeming invulnerable like most total dumbasses are -- but it certainly didn''t do anything to help relieve any of my stress levels... Life has been a rollercoaster ride, and I''m just currently shellshocked. The house is finally quiet again, with just me and my little pup (Shadow) here all by ourselves. My mind clouds and rolls in circles, and I need something to distract me from everything that''s going on. Bills are piling up. My wife''s income is gone with her. The house is silent beyond belief now, in the midst of the night. And so, I started this little exercise in fantasy wish fulfillment. My personal future seems bleak with lots of hardship and few rays of light within it, so I need some outlet to bypass those dark, gloomy thoughts which are hovering so heavily around. And where''s that leave the future of this story? Of all my other stories? At the moment, I don''t know. I honestly have no clue what tomorrow is going to bring. Will my mood change? Will I feel like continuing to work on this strory? Will it ever reach a conclusion? Will I even still be alive tomorrow? I don''t know. All I know is I need a distraction from life for the moment, and this is it. I''m enjoying sitting down and escaping my woes and burdens with this little story, and someday in the future I hope to return to my others. I haven''t gave up on any of them, but life has driven most to the furtherest reaches of my aging memory, and I''ll have to read back up on them, and my notes for them, before I can continue any of them again. What I can predict is that this story, like all others of mine, will probably go on hiatus when Winter rolls around. I have arthritis in my knuckles, and the cold inflames them, making it hard for me to type and write as I''d want to. Winter will be a good time for me to reread and catch up on my old works, and if I''m still alive when Spring comes back around, I''m hoping to work and develop several of them further. For now though, I just need to escape my life and indulge my worries in a second life -- thus my new story (https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/34398/a-second-life) was born. How long it''ll live, I have no clue, but that suits me just fine. After all, I''m no longer certain how long I''ll live either. Read it and enjoy while you can, or not. Either way, I don''t care. I honestly just need to sit and write something to focus my thoughts and escape my reality, and this is my escapism at work. If you''re interested, you can read the eulugy I gave at my wife''s funeral here: Spoiler: Spoiler Remembrance of My Life¡¯s Light First of all, I want to take a moment to thank everyone who has showed up here today to join with us in this day of deep sorrow and mournful remembrance. We¡¯re all gathered here today to remember, and say our goodbyes, to my wife of 25 years, Lori Duncan McNeill. Everyone¡¯s support has been overwhelming in this difficult moment of time, and I, personally, wanted to take a moment to show my gratitude for all the warmth and support which the community has showered so lovingly upon us. And, while I¡¯m standing up here, in front of you all, I hope you can all indulge me for a few moments as I take this opportunity to reminisce over the past, present, and future. Something a lot of people have asked me recently, is, ¡°Steve, how did you and Lori meet?¡± Or, they¡¯ll ask, ¡°When did you first meet?¡± The answer to that is: We met multiple times, for the first time. Sounds a bit confusing? Well, it really isn¡¯t. Our very first meeting was all the way back in high school. I was a chubby little kid back then, who was sneaking candy, fireballs, and bubblegum off to school to sell for inflated prices. Lori was simply one of the cute girls in Coach Hawkin¡¯s history class who learned how to flutter her eyelashes daintily, and get free samples from me. We met, but we didn¡¯t have that much interaction, nor know each other that well, during those years. After she graduated ¨C she was a year ahead of me in school ¨C I completely forgot about her. Then, back in about 94, or so, my grandmother was suffering from the terminal sickness known as old age. One afternoon, I was outside, painting her porch with some white paint she¡¯d shuffled up from somewhere, with Greg Thomas, when a car drove up past the little one lane dirt road behind us. Greg turned to me and said, ¡°Who¡¯s that? I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever seen that girl around here before.¡± Jokingly, I replied to him, ¡°It¡¯s my future wife.¡± Never could I have predicted at that moment that my words would hold true. A few moments later, the car turned around at the top of the hill, drove back down the road, and lo and behold, it was Lori who stepped out of the car. Wearing a pure white dress, hair pulled back, and with a smile beaming across her face that lit up her surroundings; it was Lori. A shining light, who had come to help take care of my grandmother, and shine her radiance to ease the burdens we were facing. At the time, Lori was a CNA with Arcadia health care, and she had been sent ¨C some say by them, but I say from Heaven above ¨C to come and help take care of my grandmother. And, it was during this time that I suppose one could say that we really met. I was staying with Granny, watching over and taking care of her, as much as possible, in the hundred- and twenty-degree house she lived in. Weighing all of ninety pounds, Granny was thin blooded, cold, and froze all year round. Even in the midst of the hottest summer heat, she kept her a fire in her home, and the place was sweltering hot. It was this heat ¨C bless you and thank you for it, Granny ¨C which allowed me to get to spend as much time and get to know Lori as I have.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Instead of staying inside, sweating ourselves to death, we¡¯d meet outside, or on the porch, and discuss Granny¡¯s health, when Lori showed up to relieve me of my duties, so I could go to college. Being a naturally early person by nature, Lori would arrive early at the house, and me being a naturally late person, I¡¯d linger around to make certain she was settled in properly, before I left. Over time, this overlap, gave us the opportunity to speak and remember our history together, from our time together in History class. And, over time, as we got to know each other better, Lori started to arrive earlier and earlier each day, while I waited longer and longer before heading out to go to school. Honestly, I can¡¯t say that such a plan was very good for my grades, but it was an excellent choice for my life! Back on September 17th, 1995, we got married in Mom and Dad¡¯s living room. Leon Alley was the minister. Lori was wearing a simple flower dress ¨C very similar to the one she¡¯s wearing even now, here in her final bed before us ¨C and I was in a simple pair of black sweatpants and a white shirt ¨C much like what I¡¯m wearing now, as well. Some people spend thousands of dollars to get married. We spent all of about $20. There was a small fee at the county courthouse to get the license, and Leon charged us $10 ¨C which is what he gave to someone he knew who had a beautiful hand at calligraphy, to write up the wedding certificate for us. And, it was at that point in time that we became as Ephesians 5:31 says; ¡°Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.¡± And, that¡¯s exactly what we became ¨C one flesh. After our wedding day, I can honestly say that I¡¯ve now spent more time with her in my life, than I ever spent without her. When I got a job working nights at the mall, Lori got a job working as a CNA at Heritage Hall, so we could ride together to work and be together all the time afterwards. When I got a job working as a cleaner at VTLS, Lori quit her job as a CNA and joined me. When I started working at Victory Stadium, Lori followed me there, as well. When I got a job delivering papers here in Floyd, Lori joined me for it ¨C and we held that job for 17 and a half years. No days off. No holidays. No breaks. Seventeen years of working 365 days a year, 6 hours a day, every day, side by side. She¡¯d drive and I¡¯d pull the papers over the seat and put them in the boxes. Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter went by over and over, with neither of us leaving the other¡¯s side. We woke up together. We went to sleep together. We ate together ¨C we ate too much, but we ate too much together. For 25 years, after the day of our wedding, we spent nearly every waking and sleeping moment, together. If you remember she¡¯s only 47, and I¡¯m still only 46, that means that in our lifetimes, we have spent more hours together than we¡¯ve ever spent apart. We two truly merged and became one. A truly blessed and tight union of man and wife. In fact, it may have been too tight. Back in 2015, or so, I ended up hurting my back. I couldn¡¯t work any longer, and I was disabled. Lori, unfortunately, wasn¡¯t. I began drawing disability insurance, while she was forced to leave my side and return to work as a CNA up at Skyline Manor, in Floyd. For years and years, we had spent every waking moment together, and now, all at once, she couldn¡¯t remain by me constantly. Somewhere, deep in the back of her mind, Lori decided that she should get on disability with me. Depression began to settle into her heart ¨C even though the time we were apart was short and light ¨C and many of her behaviors began to change. One of the biggest changes which overtook her, was an addictive obsession with sugary substances. She¡¯d drink 9 to 10 liters of soda a day. Eat two to three pounds of chocolate, candy bars, or snacks. Her weight ballooned up from a point that was about half of mine, to a point that was matching mine ¨C and, as you can tell, I have entirely too much of that! Soon the doctor was telling her she was borderline diabetic. He told her to stop her over consumption. She didn¡¯t, but she told him she did. To keep her from becoming diabetic, they started her on insulin. At this point, she finally got her wish and was placed on disability as well. Once again, we were back to the point where we were together all the time, just as we had been, before my injury. Her depression subsided, she was once more filled with joyous contentment, and the world was all good and right as it was before. Except, it wasn¡¯t. The addiction to all that sugar had taken deep root in her body. Her mind and spirit were now at peace, now that we were together again, but her body contained that craving for sugary sweetness. She couldn¡¯t give up the dozens of cans of soda which she drank daily, nor could she pass up the candy and chips that society makes so incredibly easy to access. As my heath started to improve ¨C I went from needing a wheelchair, to needing a walker, to needing a cane, to finally being able to walk properly once again ¨C Lori¡¯s health deteriorated. Her kidneys began to weaken, and the battle between the sugar and the medicine started to damage her liver. Had she just controlled her habits; she¡¯d still be here with us today. It¡¯s just that addiction is a terrible darkness for even the brightest of lights to fight. And, in case anyone has any doubt about it, I truly feel that Lori was indeed one of the brightest of lights which I¡¯ve ever been blessed enough to encounter. She was a light in the darkness, which helped ease my burden and care for my grandmother. Her smile, laughter, and poetry were a light which reached and illuminated many of the people sitting here today, and echoed in their hearts. Lori loved helping people, and she strived to learn the word of God, so she could help bring it to people. One of her greatest unfulfilled desires was to someday become a pastor, or preacher, and help share the Word for others. If anyone is going to be allowed entry into those pearly gates, I can¡¯t help but believe that she¡¯s going to be there. Her time on this Earth is done. Her fight, and her temptations are now over. I feel as if half of my heart left this world and went with her; but I remind myself, we¡¯ll only be apart for a little while. Given any chance at all, and if God is willing, I hope to meet her again on the other side. Please everyone, let¡¯s take a moment of silence to allow ourselves to remember her, and to wish her the utmost enjoyment and bliss amongst the heavenly horde. (pause for several moments, before continuing) Now, several people have asked me where our daughter is, in this most trying of times. The unfortunate truth is, she has chosen not to be here with us today. For some reason, unbeknownst to me, Elizabeth grew distant and estranged from us. All I know of the situation is she stopped calling, visiting, or wanting contact from any of us. Something happened in her life a little over a year ago, and she broke all contact with¡­ Well, with everyone. She left Facebook. She closed all her social media accounts. She changed her phone number. She moved to a new home and gave no one the address. One day she was there; the next day she had broken all connections with her family. I didn¡¯t even have a contact number for her, as no new numbers were given to anyone, but Mom had the number to her husband¡¯s phone. Reaching out to him, several messages were left, informing the two that her mother had passed. When they finally responded, their message was, ¡°Hi Steve. We got your message. We¡¯re not going to the funeral. Don¡¯t contact us ever again after this.¡± (I know I¡¯ll need to pause a moment here to calm down.) Now, like many of you, my first reaction to hearing such a response is one of utter disbelief and anger. How can anyone react and respond in such a way, in such a time of hurt and emotional turmoil? It¡¯s easy to let a dark knot of anger fill your heart, knowing that somebody is capable of acting such a way. But, thank God, Lori¡¯s light is still shining on me and illuminating my life. The reason she struggled and lived as long as she did with her illnesses, is she was always holding out hope to be reconciled with her daughter. For the last several months, Lori hovered at Death¡¯s door. Each time, when she fought her way back to the living, she asked about Liz and prayed to see her once again to say goodbye. (Pause here a moment again. This damn part is just too much for my poor heart. I know I¡¯m going to need a break reading this; I certainly need one writing it.) In life, there are many moments when we have to make choices on who we want to be. Are we going to be someone like Lori ¨C though flawed, as all humans are ¨C she was a light which brought warmth, love, and joy to all those around her. Or, are we going to be someone who dwells in the darkness of hate, anger, despair, and frustration? I can¡¯t imagine the darkness ¨C the wellspring of hatred ¨C which must be currently infused in my daughter¡¯s heart, to make her react as she has, but I can easily see how tempting it is to succumb and fall to its shadow. Lori wouldn¡¯t want that. I don¡¯t want that. Instead of letting that shadow of anger affect any of our beloved friends and family gathered here today, I ask instead that you embrace the light. Embrace it for Lori, if for nothing else. Don¡¯t resent Elizabeth ¨C I have no idea what happened to lead her to hardening her heart against her family in such a manner. Don¡¯t be angry with her. Don¡¯t let a hatred form in your heart against her, nor her husband. Instead, embrace the light. Pray for them. Pray they both will someday feel the Grace in their heart to cleanse them of the anger that currently consumes them. Lori would ask us for our prayers, so God could help show them the way to release the darkness inside their hearts, and bring back peace to their lives. Since this is Lori¡¯s day, and this is Lori¡¯s moment, please, let us follow her wishes in this matter. (Pause one more time, and try not to let the emotions consume me.) And with all that, guys (and gals), I just don¡¯t think I can stand up here any longer and say anything more. This has been such a trying week, even with the support of all of those who are here ¨C and the support from all of those who can¡¯t be here, due to restrictions and concerns over the virus which pervades so much of our current lives. My heart is just too raw and my mind is too blank to continue any longer. I love each and every one of you, and I know Lori did as well, and now I¡¯m going to sit down and let Kevin take over and lead us in prayer and song. Kevin, if you will¡­ As you can tell, just from it, things have been hectic as hell in my life lately, and that leaves me completely uncertain how to answer any question concerning the future of anything, at the moment. All I can really say is, "I just don''t know." We''ll see how far this escape takes me, and we''ll have to wait for tomorrow to find the answers about tomorrow. For those who might be interested, you can check out my new story at https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/34398/a-second-life, where I''m working on getting back on my feet and get back into the habit of writing daily again. And as for this story, and all my others, I honestly think it''ll be at least Spring of next year (if I live that long), before I''ll get started back on any of them again.