《Virago》
Prologue
It was a regular mundane night in Alex life. He was done with work, which felt utterly pointless in the grand scheme of things. Doing the same thing over and over, just so he could wake up the next day to do it all over again. With all childhood dreams gone, no real friends or close one except for the usual superficial relationships everyone gets throughout life. Walking through the park after groceries shopping, while silently bemusing about what type of entertainment he would pursue on this beautiful star filled winter night so he could forget about the completely gray and dull point he has gotten to in this world.
''I wish there was something more...''
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While having some of his usual fancies of glory and riches maybe even some crazy powers, he saw the biggest shooting star he ever saw
¡°Heh. Does this mean I should make a wish?"
''Give me a more magical and exciting life, where I actually feel alive and not just drifting through''
While having idle thoughts about some random fantasy, panic suffused his whole body. The shooting star was growing bigger and it looked like it was heading directly for him.
Being frozen with shock and indecision the world went dark.
The inglorious end of an average antisocial bloke ended on the front page of news and social media sites, getting his 15 minutes of fame as being the unlucky guy who was hit by a meteorite. Luckily he was the only casualty.
Chapter 1
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¡°Aaaaah!¡±
I was panting and breathing heavily while I looked on the grisly sight of my work. His head was caved in and some brain-matter was seeping out of the cracks. I had put my full weight behind those stomps, with my sturdy winter boots this tiny feral midget who probably weight less than half of me had no chance. And when the shock of the ordeal was over I promptly emptied my stomach.
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I was sweating from the exertion and heat that built up from me being overdressed for the warm climate. The clothes had helped me mitigate some of the damage the vile creature I started to call goblins tried to do to me.
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Chapter 2
¡°Lyria get your fat ass over here, he doesn''t look like he will survive for long.¡±
The black clad Inara shouted towards her lagging companion.
Nyla was fidgeting around unsure of what to do, he had made eye contact with her for a second before he promptly fainted. He looked half dead, his face was smashed and covered in muddy blood. But the weirdest part about him were his clothes, unlike anything they have ever seen before. A dark blue thick coat, with some-kind of shirt under with a colorful picture on it. The pants were a shade lighter blue also made out of an unknown material, and the boots were really well made looking high class with a unique design.
Cassandra the fourth member of their party quickly cut a path open through the tight foliage, making a path for Lyria to catch up.
¡°Move Nyla¡± Lyria quickly passed by her companions while she started to chant her healing spell. Her hands glowing with a golden glow that spread towards the unconscious man. They could see his nose popping back out and the bleeding from his several wounds stopping before they closed up and healed at a visible pace.
¡°And your ass is fatter than mine, can you please stop calling me like that¡± Lyria interjected after the healing had done its work with a slight pout on her face.
¡°As long as your ass is the slowest you will forever be the fat ass of the party¡± Inara grinned while poking fun at her friend.
¡°Enough, we are still in the endless forest. Go and make sure there isn¡¯t anymore danger around if you have nothing better to do.¡± Cassandra admonished Inara.
¡°Hey I also want to see the guy, at-least clean him up first so I can take a peek¡± Inara pouted slightly before her perpetual mischievous smile came back to her face.
Cassandra could only sigh before she quickly started to chant.
A water stream materialized around the guy before it gently flowed around his body, picking up muck and blood from him. She followed up with another chant that created a warm breeze that quickly dried of the remaining liquid that was left from the cleaning.
There was a collective moment of silence followed by Nyla swallowing.
Lyria had a slight blush on her face, and Inara was starting to chuckle after the initial moment of shock.
¡°Hehehehe, we hit the jackpot. We found our own hunk in distress. Do you think he is some-kind of noble with those clothes?¡±
Inara couldn¡¯t help herself and ask the question.
¡°Stop daydreaming Inara, we don¡¯t know who he is. And don¡¯t expect that he will fall for you like in the stories you read.¡±
Cassandra like always was the voice of reason to Inaras crazy delusions.
¡°Hey, it¡¯s Nyla and Lyria who always reads those stories not me. Nyla this will be up to you. When he wakes up you have to show him your best side.¡±
Inara quickly threw the responsibility on their knight.
That was enough to wake her up from her stupor.
¡°But I don¡¯t know how? What if I fail?¡±
¡°Shut up you sissy, you¡¯re our best bet. You just have to be confident and show of your strength. Guys love strong confident women that can protect them. With the dramatic rescue we had, you should be a shoe in.¡±
Inara quickly answered while plotting the whole ordeal.
¡°Stop dillydallying, we should bring him back to camp and rest for the night. We can¡¯t stay here fantasizing the whole time.¡±
Cassandra could only sigh again while taking control of the situation.
¡°Good thinking, then I''ll just scoop him up and carry him to the camp¡±
Inara quickly stepped ahead while she got a lecherous grin on her face.
¡°No, you will do your job and scout ahead for danger. Nyla will carry him while Lyria sticks close. Ill cower our back¡±
Cassandra interjected before Inara could pick up their rescue.
She also had to tap Lyria on the shoulder who had been staring at his sleeping face with a slight blush, completely oblivious of everything around her.
The trek back to their camp was quiet and without any new surprises. With Inara scouting ahead and Nyla floating on cloud nine with her price, getting to carry a pretty man in a princely carry was the highlight of the entire foray. Forget the fact that they had completed their misson or had the biggest harvest of monster cores ever, they also found some rare plants that would net them a hefty sum on their return. Top it off with the last minute rescue the trip couldn¡¯t get any better, well it could but then she would be dreaming. Getting a stupid grin on her face she was almost ready to start humming and skipping the last stretch of the trip.
***
Waking with a start I found myself resting in a small tent. My jacket and shirt were gone, replaced with a rough linen shirt that scratched my skin and was really tight around the waist and shoulder. Fortunately my jeans and boots were still on. I suddenly remembered the escape and the bear that raked my back. Quickly checking myself for injury I was shocked that I felt better than I have in years, and all my injuries were gone.
Before I could properly orient myself the tent flap opened and the giant elf peered inside. Without the tears in my eyes and dizziness from getting my head smashed against the tree I could clearer make out her features, she didn''t have her platemail on which meant that I could clearly see the muscle bulging everywhere. Even her face looked more masculine now, everything except her silver hair that was put up into a ponytail and had some shimmering rainbow underlights. Her body was like that of a strongman with arms bigger than my thighs. Pure muscle on her chest and a hefty stomach, not from fat but pure girth and power almost like the world-record holders for power-lifting. She hadn¡¯t skipped legday either, and came in the whole I can crush you into a pretzel package. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
She had a strained smile on her face that didn¡¯t quite match the rest of her countenance.
¡°Heime, tye''re awa. Manen are tye eling? Ni''m Nyla bime i pata.¡±
Her melodious voice with a hint of bass shook me out of my stupor and I instantly bowed my head down.
¡°Thank you for saving and nurturing me back to health, but I don¡¯t understand you.¡±
It would be rude of me to openly gawk at my savior. So I tried to convey my sincerity and gratitude through my voice and bodylanguage as I was sure this wasn¡¯t earth and I really doubted that she would understand anything I said either.
When I lifted my head she was fidgeting with her head slightly cooked to the side. She glanced behind her before saying something new to me, but as it stood we were at an impasse where both were uncertain on how to properly communicate with eachother. While I was racking my brain on how to proceed, as it was vitally important for me to stay on good terms with my rescuers if I wanted to have any chance to survive in this strange new world.
The few seconds of silence was enough for the giant, she got a slight frown on her prominent brows before she stepped outside the tent and yelled out to her companions.
¡®Well that didn¡¯t go as I hoped¡¯
Unsure of what to do I stretched and marveled on how good my body felt. I felt better than I can remember, and that was after I almost died to a giant monster bear. Either I was asleep for a long time or they really had magic powers, which wasn¡¯t something I would discount after everything I have seen.
I could hear some noises outside and a couple of women talking to each other. After what felt like an eternity, but was probably a couple of minutes I couldn¡¯t sit still anymore. Standing up I left the tent and right outside I came face to face with the most beautiful women I have ever met. She was just about to enter the tent so we were practically brushing our noses together. She had straight dark red hair down to her shoulders, sharp reddish brown eyes with delicate eyelashes. High cheek bones with a perfectly shaped nose. She was wearing thick leather with a cloak over that cowered most of her. I couldn¡¯t help but swallow while fidgeting for a response. She looked equally surprised as me, but quickly composed herself and took a step back while saying something in their melodic language.
I scratched my head before I noticed what I was doing, and that there were three other women standing behind looking in our direction. One was of course the giant elf, the other was wearing very dark brown leather armor, she had black wavy hair down her neck. She also had cat ears on top of her head and a sensual face, while the woman in-front of me had a beautiful while strict face. The cat girl still just as beautiful had an outrages body and a predatory glint in her eyes, while sporting a mischievous smirk on her full lips. And the last was a short girl with a baggy cloak that covered her, but I could see a cute dainty face with a small nose and pretty pink lips, she was a mixture of both beautiful and cute leaning towards the cute side. But she slinked back when my eyes turned towards her direction.
At this point I was completely out of water, they would put models back at home to shame and here there were three of them standing ahead of me.
Taking a deep breathe I focused on the girl in front and bowed down while saying.
¡°Thank you so much for saving me.¡±
Hoping that it was a universal sign of gratitude and respect. I held my head down for a few seconds before I raised my head.
The red headed beauty had a stoic expression on her face before quickly saying something herself.
I could only shake my head, pointing at myself.
¡°Alex¡±
Looking expectantly at her, she gave a slight sigh before copying me.
¡°Cassandra¡±
She pointed at the muscular elf who quickly shouted with enthusiasm.
¡°Nyla¡±
Followed by the cat girl giving me a slight wave.
¡°Inara¡±
And finally the cute girl with barely a whisper that I couldn¡¯t quite make out.
¡°Lyria¡±
I could see Inara laughing and giving Lyria a hard time, while Cassandra was shaking her head, Cassandra promptly pointed at Lyria and repeated her name for me.
They seemed like a close and nice bunch, but the atmosphere was still kinda awkward. There was some fidgeting going around, and everyone except Cassandra were giving me slight glances here and there.
I could understand, with me being a guy dressed in distinctively different clothes from any of them. Helplessly lost and dying in the forest, who couldn¡¯t even speak their language. I would be skeptical and curious about me as well.
While musing about how I could better communicate with them and how to proceed my stomach interjected and gave itself known. With my loud stomach rumble I could see Cassandra pointing me towards a fire they had in the middle of the camp. Giving her a quick nod I stepped towards the crew who were getting back towards the log they used as a bench and joining them.
When Inara saw me slightly hesitate, she grabbed a rabbit skewer from the fire and passed it to me while indicated for me to sit down. She than pulled Nyla towards me and gave her a slight wink before finding her own food.
While I was trying to absorb this whole situation I saw Nyla was sitting next to me while throwing me glances. I could see in my periphery that Inara was indicating and saying something to Nyla, she patted her arms and nodded towards me.
While I was eating the surprisingly delicious rabbit skewer Nyla got up her courage and pointed at the rabbit and called it ¡°Tyre¡± she continued to point and gesture while clearly pronouncing the word for the gesture like eating was ¡°Arde¡±. They were really considerate since we clearly had a communication barrier they went out of their way not only rescuing me, but also healing, feeding and now trying to teach me.
I could see she was also flexing her muscles, when she pointed at certain stuff she would curl her arm up so she could flex her bicep. Especially when she passed me her water skin. She was also contorting her body slightly as if she was casually practicing for a bodybuilder contest, but it looked kinda awkward with the fact she was trying to act natural while at the same time flexing her muscles. I could feel my face muscle twitch as my smile was getting more and more strained by the second. Paying attention to her lessons was really important for me to learn and understand them better. Yet the blatant display of her body and the overly friendliness couldn¡¯t help but remind me of how some awkward nerds flirted when I was in high-school, if you replaced the flexing part with inane random knowledge that they spewed to hold the conversation going. Everything seemed strained and forced with the slight glances towards me to see how I react to every move she does, to the fact she turned towards Inara several times when she couldn¡¯t come up with something new to teach me. The answer always came back to more flexing. It was clear she was trying to show off, and Inara was giving her full support.
¡®Is she trying to set me up with Nyla? Maybe she has problems with getting a guy and they are trying to hook us up.¡¯
Even though I can¡¯t really know what she was trying to accomplish it was so silly I couldn¡¯t help but hold back a laugh and my smile grew slightly wider while nodding towards her. She was contorting her upperbody while flexing her offhand and pointing towards a tree pronouncing its name ¡°Verde¡±. And when she saw me smile her whole face lit up and she became even more enthusiastic about the whole ordeal.
I really wanted to pay attention to all the words she was teaching me, but I couldn¡¯t keep up with the tempo of the whole experience. Especially while I was trying to eat my giant rabbit skewer. My rescue came when Cassandra called out to her members who promptly started to pack up the camp. Even though I would have liked for any of the other girls to show me the same interest as Nyla did, but it still felt kinda good to be wanted. It was a new experience for me and the fact that I was working on a full stomach and had people to help me really reduced the stress and anxiety I had in the first few hours of waking up in this world.
Chapter 3
¡°Hey, how about we take a slight detour and take a quick stop at the glade?¡±
Inara said as she was making her plans.
Cassandra scoffed at her.
¡°That will extend this trip with at least a week, why would we waste our time when there is nothing to gain there.¡±
¡°But there is a lot to gain, its a beautiful idyllic safe spot with a waterfall.¡±
¡°And we gain what from it?¡±
¡°We can extend the trip and show Alex a nice cozy spot while we teach him Valerian. Or would you rather we hurry back to town where he could be snatched up. Do you think his gratitude would extend beyond being friends if we got back right away?¡±
Cassandra could only shake her head.
¡°I don¡¯t want you to put so much stock in him, we don¡¯t know anything about him. And if he is a noble he would quickly disappear after we came back to town either way.¡±
Inara threw a glare towards her companion.
¡°Why do you always give up before we even try? What¡¯s the reason for us to constantly take dangerous missions? Are we just seeking strength and money for the sake of it? I for one have always done it so I could get a nice guy, so I can hold my head up high. With your methods we would work on it slow and steady for years, before we are finally strong enough to demand the respect we want yet too old to enjoy it. But now we have a good opportunity to get it right away, instead of toiling further. Why not extend the trip for a week or two. It¡¯s worth it even if there is only a small chance.¡±
With Inaras sudden outburst Cassandra could only relent unless she wanted to escalate the situation.
¡°Take it easy Inara, you are right there is no problem in taking a detour. We had a really successful hunt this time so we wont be strapped for cash when we get home. But I''m worried for you, we only rescued him last night and you are already so emotional about it. Lyria you¡¯ve also been unusually quiet since he woke up, what do you think?¡±
They could see she was in her own world, which wasn¡¯t unusual but not to this degree. She barely even reacted when Inara had her outburst.
¡°Uhhmm¡ I¡¯m feeling fine it was just that, when he looked at me I got a weird feeling. It wasn¡¯t unpleasant it¡¯s just¡ New to me.¡±
Lyria hesitantly answered.
¡°I know, when he looked at me it was unlike how anyone else have ever looked at me. I got butterflies in my stomach just remembering. There was no disgust in his eyes, but something else.¡±
Inara interjected while getting a slight smile on her face.
Cassandra felt like she sighed for the hundred time today. She could get exasperated with Inara, but this was something else.
¡°You two are acting like young girls in love. Now we are out of the deep parts so there is little chance to meet monsters, but I still want you two too pay attention. There are still dangers and nasty creatures in this forest.¡±
While giving up on dissuading them from their newest fancies she yelled back towards Nyla who was fully immersed with teaching the guy.
¡°Nyla, Extend the trip or hurry home?¡±
Nyla turned away from her charge and quickly replied.
¡°What?¡±
¡°Take a detour to the glade so we can spend more time with Alex or go home?¡±
¡°Detour!¡±
She answered almost instantaneously.
Cassandra looked at Lyria who quietly answered the implied question.
¡°Extend.¡±
Inara got her patented grin on her face and laughed.
¡°See that wasn¡¯t so hard, and everyone agrees.¡±
¡°But I still feel like his smile is forced, and since you are our resident expert why don¡¯t you help her out with Alex?¡±If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
Since the plan was set Cassandra wanted to get some jabs towards Inara putting extra emphasis on the expert part.
¡°That¡¯s because she lacks confidence. And you know why Nyla is the one doing it. But you got a point we should all take turns teaching him, so everyone gets a chance to talk to him.¡±
Unperturbed Inara replied while grinning towards Lyria.
Lyria released a cute yelp. She had never actually spoken to a man, and was already extremely shy towards any stranger she met.
While Inara was laughing at her friend Cassandra was done idling.
¡°Girls gather your gear and lets set out. Nyla pack the tents and take the rear, I will take the lead while Inara can keep Alex company.¡±
Cassandra quickly cast a simple water spell that extinguished the waning fire. And the rest of the crew got all their things set, they were experienced mercenaries and got ready in a few minutes. Alex was still gawking between the fire and Cassandra when Inara stepped up to him.
She was a lot more nervous than she wanted to admit, but she knew that Nyla wasn¡¯t the best teacher. So if they were hoping for any progress in actually learning the language than she and Cassandra had to step in.
And in truth getting the chance to closely teach him did slightly excite and scare her.
¡°Hey Alex, I will be taking care of you now.¡± She smiled, gloating that she could be so forward to a guy. Even one who couldn¡¯t understand her.
Alex reacted with a startle, he hadn¡¯t noticed when Inara stepped up to him. He smiled towards her when he turned around, and she saw that he did a slight glance toward her chest. Out of habit she tried to hide her chest making it look smaller. Alex was also quick to look ahead towards Lyria and Cassandra who were in front. It dampened her mood yet when Alex turned back towards her there was no disgust, he looked clearly in her eyes while he scratched the back of his head and did a small bow while pressing his hands together. She couldn¡¯t understand why he would act like that, as if he did something wrong. But the slight blush he had on his cheeks and the fact that he glanced hopefully toward her when he raised his head made her laugh. He looked so cute with his slight fidgeting and reactions, it reminded her of Lyria.
She got a warm feeling and renewed confidence when he looked relived by her laugh and gave her a charming smile. This might actually work, she looked forward for this trip.
***
I¡¯m glad Inara was easy going, she was clearly miffed when I checked out her body. It¡¯s hard when you have a bombshell of a woman next to you, she is the whole hourglass figure package that could put any pornstar to shame. Even her eyes were a mesmerizing gold, and I also noticed that her eyes dilated into slits before quickly turning back to normal.
She was a better teacher to boot, more patient and repeated herself while properly indicating and gesturing to try and help me. There wasn¡¯t any of the rushing and flexing that Nyla did which made it a lot easier to pay attention even with her outrages body and added cat ears, the thin tail that was sticking out of her generous backside. I even noticed that her nails where slightly thicker, longer and sharper than normal.
I guess it would be hard to properly focus with any of these girls, for various reasons.
There was a second problem as well, the pace they were going was really fast for me. I was really struggling to keep up after the first hour of walking. Now they found a quick solution for that, which I wasn¡¯t really thrilled by.
I ended up sitting on the elfs shoulders, she was beaming while taking over the lessons again. And it seemed like I was relegated in her care for the foreseeable future.
It was a very relaxing trip everything considered, there were no incidence and nothing got hurt except for my pride. While I was going over the alphabet in my head that Inara taught me they were setting up camp. Inara who had disappeared at the end of the trip came back with a surprisingly normal sized deer that she promptly gutted and parted. While Cassandra and Nyla was setting up camp Lyria fixed the fire and started to roast the legs she took from Inara.
They were very organized and seemed at ease in the forest, I couldn¡¯t help but marvel how they could be so casually yet so efficient while they set everything up without any of the wildlife attacking. We didn¡¯t see any of the goblins jump us, but I guess that¡¯s the difference between experts and a bumbling city dweller like me. I wanted to interact with Lyria and Cassandra as well, but they seemed to be avoiding me. And I didn¡¯t want to be a bother to them either, they were already extremely nice and forthcoming with me. A stranger that they didn¡¯t know, but yet helped to the point of even carrying me.
¡®It feels bad being so useless...¡¯
While moping over my own uselessness Nyla called
¡°Alex come ira ty fire er eat lyr unsi.¡±
I was surprisingly able to pick out some of the words. But as they were repeated to me several times earlier, or when we were eating by the fire on the first day. It wasn¡¯t something I could brag about until I could actually clearly understand and speak to them. But I could at least feel pleased with the noticeable progress.
I sat besides Nyla and Lyria, she handed me a generous slice of meat on a stick that she had rubbed in with several herbs she picked on the way.
This was the first time I got so close to Lyria, and I thanked her like I always did by slightly nodding my head while saying.
¡°Thank you.¡±
When I looked up into her big beautiful sky blue eyes, she visibly recoiled for a second. While I got sad over her reaction she grabbed me by the face when I lowered my head and intensely stared into my eyes, before grabbing my hand and checking my nails quickly. I was really shocked how the short quiet girl of the party suddenly looked so serious and was suddenly assertive. While I was flabbergasted she started to say something in a weird magical way, that sounded distinctly different from their language. But quickly her hands were covered with a warm glowing light that seeped into me. My head cleared up my breathing became easier and I felt something coming up from my lungs that I coughed out. It was a clump of black tar.
While feeling shocked I saw the world clearer than ever before, I could breathe easier as my nose and lungs were completely cleared. My head felt like it was constantly foggy without me knowing it, but now it was completely clear.
I didn¡¯t know what she did but I would bet everything I had that she was the one who healed me, and now she made me even better.
I wanted to hug her and thank her, but I restrained myself from being overly dramatic. I bowed deeply and thanked her profusely. She was an angel and I felt extremely lucky that I had met them.
Chapter 4
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Chapter 5
Cassandra was fuming, they had gone complacent the last few days. Going through the forest like they were on a casual stroll and not one of the more dangerous places around. It was true they were at the edge where monsters rarely showed up, but letting a kril get so close to them without anyone noticing was a testament to their negligence.
¡°Its good that no one got hurt, but we can¡¯t continue like this. Inara you are on scouting duty again, Lyria take care of Alex while we march.¡±
Inara scrunched her eyebrows and was ready to protest, but she thought better of it after she felt the gash in her armor. She really liked her time with Alex. He was always smiling at her and very attentive to everything she said or did while holding her lessons, not to mention the way he looked at her. She sighed while getting a sad look, but this wasn¡¯t the time or place. She had more important things to do, and the first thing was digging out this core.
Lyria who had just cleansed the land from the quills corrosion looked up at Cassandra with a horrified look on her face.
¡°But I don¡¯t know how.¡±
¡°No buts, just treat him like a regular person and teach him Valerian to your best abilities.¡±
Cassandra shut down Lyrias protest immediately. That girl needed to learn to socialize with others especially men.
After they cleaned up the battlefield and stored all the valuables from the kril they continued the journey.
Lyria tentatively stepped close to Alex while they were marching, they had slowed down the pace to normal speed again. She glanced up towards Alex, who was looking directly at her with a grateful smile.
¡°Hey, thank you¡±
He spoke in Valerian to her, she gulped and focused back on the road while trying to build up her courage to speak up. She didn¡¯t know what to do and say, it felt like she already messed up while the building silence was pressing down on her.
¡°Fight strong beast.¡±
She was woken from her stupor when Alex spoke again. When she looked at him he mimed by spreading his fingers over his head, making a whoosh sound while sending them outwards and growling.
¡°Beast?¡±
¡°Eeeeeh, kril?
She managed to squeak out.
He followed by repeating kril while sagely nodding to himself, then got a grin on his face before he started to reenact the fight with sound effects and exaggerated motions.
Lyria couldn¡¯t help but giggle while looking at him, he looked so silly doing it. Completely different from anyone she has ever seen or heard about. He wasn¡¯t stuck up or looked down on her. He even helped her out when she was supposed to be his teacher, but couldn¡¯t even manage to speak.
At the end he putt his arm up to protect himself, making pinging sounds he put his hands in front like there was a wall there. After that he nodded towards her.
¡°Thank you.¡±
She blushed while he was looking directly at her with admiration in his eyes.
She could feel butterflies in her stomach, yet her mouth was in a full bloom.
***
There was no more surprises the next two days. Well except for the fact that Nylas giant backpack was able to store all the quills, skin and a lot of other stuff inside that should have been at least five times more than its size.
The heavy tensions was also lifted as the trees where getting smaller and the oppressive feeling from the forest subsided. The girls were clearly more relaxed than they were yesterday.
I was glad my gambit payed off, I was really nervous when I started goofing around after the fight. I just felt like I needed to break the ice somehow.
It was really cute to see Lyrias reactions, she had such a pretty laugh. And the fact that she was so shy and uncertain while teaching me was endearing. I would never have guessed that someone as beautiful as her would be so shy and quiet. She probably grew up in a monastery bereft of men, its probably like in the fantasy trope that priests are healers.
While I was musing to myself we walked into a breathtaking clearing. There was a waterfall that splashed into a crystal clear pond, that had a small stream flowing from it. The sun was shinning and there was pretty flowers growing around the edges. Yet the picture was broken when I saw a bunch of dirty goblins gorging on a fawns corpse.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
They stood up with a shrill hiss when they saw us, but before they could charge they were promptly decapitated by Inara. She was grumbling about something while looking down in disgust on the skeletons left from their previous meals and defecation that was spread across the bank of the pond. Cassandra summoned a stream of water that quickly swept away all their filth after Inara had cut of their left ears.
This was the most picturesque place I had ever seen, baring the small goblin infestation that was removed. When I walked up to the pond I could clearly see the bottom. It was shallow barely going down tree meters at the center and lower towards the edges. I could see tiny fish swimming in there, but barely anything else.
We had been walking through the forest for the last seven days since I met them. And with the fast pace, no change of clothes I was feeling very clammy. I couldn¡¯t help but stare at the crystal clear water.
I turned around and saw Nyla was next to me.
¡°Water safe?¡±
I asked in Valerian without hesitation. She slightly tilted her head and started to pass me her waterskin.
¡°No. Water safe?¡±
I pointed at the pond and imitated swimming and washing myself.
She looked uncertain before turning towards Cassandra and calling out to her. But before she could answer Inara appeared next to me while nodding.
¡°Yes. Ira water na safe.¡±
She also mimed swimming and told me what it was called, the same for washing.
I saw Nyla looking between Cassandra and Inara. Cassandra just sighed and went back to setting up her tent. Meanwhile Inara was getting her predatory grin while pulling Nyla away and pointing towards a boulder several meters away at the edge of the pond.
It looked like a good place to undress, I didn¡¯t really mind doing it right where I stood since I was going to keep my boxers on. But since she was nice enough to point it out for me, and it might be inappropriate to just do it out in the open so I followed her advise.
When I went into the water the cold stopped me at thigh high. I always needed to hype myself up before I could do the plunge, even if I knew it would get better after a second.
Looking back towards the camp, Nyla was staring at me with her eyes wide open. Inara was nowhere to be seen, Cassandra was meditating in the sun as she always did after we set camp. When I looked towards Lyria she quickly turned away, but she tried to glance back after a few seconds. It was really funny to see her reactions.
Taking a deep breath I dived in the water, it felt really good having clean water wash away my sweat. And after a few minutes of swimming and floating I started to scrub myself, I lacked soap but it was better than nothing.
It was nice just swimming and floating in the pond, I felt more at ease than in a long time. Not having my smartphone or the internet constantly drawing my attention was weird at first. But it really isn¡¯t so bad to just enjoy nature and relax, better stress relief than anything I did back home on earth actually.
***
Inara almost dropped out of her stealth when he brazenly walked out in the pond. She thought he would just quickly splash and wash himself in the water that was hidden away, but he just causally strolled out. With no sense of modesty he even turned around and directly looked at the girls sitting in the camp. Nylas eyes where almost popping out of her skull with how shocked she was.
She wondered if she should just sit down and enjoy the show, his tight underwear showing his buttocks and that bulge. His bare body glistening in the water. It was good that she stopped Cassandra from just casting her spell to clean him. Getting a show for the whole party was already worth the trip to this glade.
Yet his mystery kept on growing, he didn¡¯t know their language. He had the most unique clothes she ever saw. He had no modesty about his body compared to other men. And he didn¡¯t know any magic at all, even the basic self care that every awakend learned. He was even amazed and enraptured by the things they did, even when nothing was actually truly special or impressive. Good thing she went all out carrying that boar, it was so satisfying seeing him gape at her when she came back to camp.
It was expected they could do at least that much as veteran mercenaries, they weren¡¯t green horn rookies anymore. If you wanted to survive in the endless forest this level of power was needed, and that¡¯s only good enough for the periphery.
But Alex had no knowledge or power that would be required to live or survive in such a place, he really is an enigma.
Wait maybe he was a regular person? But it''s impossible for a mundane person to survive in the forest, the mana intensity alone would poison him after a few weeks.
Shaking her head she focused back on the view, dismissing her last thought.
Idly fantasizing Inara even had the weird idea of diving in with him. How would he react?
The way he acted to her was very warm, and the slight glances towards her body actually made her feel good about herself.
Alas it was still to scary, what if he was just tolerant. She really wasn¡¯t confident enough in her body to just do it.
Idly looking at him frolicking around in the water she was musing about her thoughts and fantasies.
She saw him coming back to the boulder after awhile, she was sitting stealthily on top of it the whole time. What shocked her to the core was that he dried himself on the shirt he got from Cassandra and then pulled of his wet underwear.
It was so unexpected that she lost her concentration and revealed herself right in front of him.
They both stood there shell shocked for a second. She couldn¡¯t even properly processes what happened before panicking and dipping out of there.
While she was moving to the camp she was screaming at herself for being so stupid. Now he would think she is a pervert that was peeking at him. Would he hate her now? How could she even face him later?
Nyla saw her walking back into the camp with a blank face and obliviously started talking to her.
¡°Did you see him swimming in the pond, I never saw a guys body before. Does that mean he likes us and wants to create a family with us?.¡±
Nyla was extremely excited and couldn¡¯t help pestering Inara who was completely lost in her own world after the latest fiasco.
Chapter 6
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Chapter 8
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Chapter 9
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Chapter 10
Cassandra was getting back home from her shopping, she stopped by the market and bought fresh produce for supper. She also went to the book store and got Alex a notebook, language book and she was planning on letting him borrow her encyclopedia.
They were going to go too the headquarter tomorrow to sell of all their loot and deliver the requested materials for the mission. It was the furthest they ever went into the endless forest, and the compensation for it would be a good pay day. It wasn¡¯t everyday you could find a reaver core and crystal bloom.
Good thing reavers tended to congregate towards any type of crystals since the energy from them was their best nourishment. It was pure luck that this particular specimen was guarding the rare flower while basking in its aura.
To top it off they found Alex shortly after, it seemed like there luck had turned in this couple of months. The crew was more lively and happier than she had ever seen them.
Lyria was becoming more confident. Inara was getting cracks in her mask. While Nyla was her usual boisterous self, she wasn¡¯t obsessed with using her giant strength technique for cosmetics anymore.
Yet she couldn¡¯t help but worry, with so many good things happening at the same time. It almost felt like something was bound to screw them over.
Life was never this kind.
She shook her head, clearing her groundless worries.
When she got back inside she called for everyone. They only had four rooms and it was clear they wanted Alex to stay.
¡°Okay, we need to figure out where Alex is going to sleep.¡±
Inara sprung up immediately.
¡°He can sleep in my room.¡±
Lyria glanced at Alex, and it looked like she wanted to say something as well.
¡°Lyria?¡±
If Cassandra didn¡¯t encourage her she would stay completely quiet during group decisions.
¡°No, I was going to suggest letting him sleep in my room as well.¡±
Lyria talked softer for each word while her face grew increasingly red and she slowly lowered her head while barely muttering out the last part.
Cassandra could only sigh, wasn¡¯t she getting more confident? Why is she so meek now.
¡°Okay so where are you going sleep Inara?¡±
¡°In my room?¡±
Inara shamelessly answered.
¡°Do you honestly think he would be okay with that?¡±
Cassandra could only shake her head by Inaras brazenness.
¡°We could ask him.¡±
Inara smiled before going to Alex who was trying to follow the conversation.
She pointed at him than herself before saying.
¡°Sleep with me?¡±
He looked confused for a second before his eyes shot up and he opened and closed his mouth a few time without saying anything.
¡°See you are taking this to far...¡±
Before she could finish her sentence she saw Alex meekly nod his head with a slight blush.
Inara got a relieved look on her face before a blissful smile took over.
¡®Wait this is going to fast, no guy are so brazen and forward¡ Is he a incubus in disguise?
How else would everyone get infatuated so fast, they were already emotional about him after a single day.¡¯
Cassandra felt like this had to be it. There wasn¡¯t any other logical explanation for his peculiar behavior.
¡®He probably found us and pretended to be hurt while in danger, so he could more easily infiltrate our group before draining us of our lifeforce.¡¯
¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be better to wait until he learns Valerian? You can sleep with me in my room while he stays in yours.¡±
Cassandra tried to delay the situation while she figured out the truth and her next step.
¡®But the demons are supposedly stuck on the lost continent, and I barely feel any mana or power coming from him. The text back at home said that demons were extremely powerful and insidious creatures that live for pain and destruction of all life.¡¯
¡°Don¡¯t worry so much Cassandra, you saw that he agreed. I''m not going to force myself on him if he doesn''t want to.¡±
Inara huffed at her.
¡®I don¡¯t know how to stop this. I should warn them later when he isn¡¯t in the room.¡¯
¡°It seems kinda improper, he might have misunderstood what you meant...¡±
She looked around the room for help with a small glimmer of hope. But it was quickly crushed when the rest of the party agreed. Nyla was looking at Inara with admiration while Lyria was glancing longingly towards Alex.
¡®Damn it he even has his hooks in Lyria. What should I do? Well first I got to get him out of this room.¡¯
Cassandra stood up from the chair and pulled out the books she bought, giving them to Alex. She looked at Nyla.
¡°Nyla can you show him his room. By the way this are the books I bought to help him learn Valerian. It would be nice if you could help him with them as well.¡±
Inara also stood up.
¡°Shouldn¡¯t I bring him up to my room?¡±
¡°No, there was something else I wanted to say to you.¡±
Cassandra calmly stopped Inara.
Alex nodded towards her and thanked her. She felt a sliver of doubt.
¡®No he is trying to get into my head as well.¡¯
When he and Nyla left she looked seriously at Inara and Lyria.
¡°I think he is a incubus and is trying to drain us of our lifeforce.¡±
Inara gaped at her.
¡°Are you crazy, those are just bed time stories. Besides he doesn''t have a lick of power compared to those heaven defying demons we heard about.¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Lyria was staring at her with utter shock.
¡°And if he was a so called incubus, how would you know?¡±
Inara wasn¡¯t taking her seriously at all.
¡°Well incubus drain power from sexual intercourse, they always take the guise of good looking frivolous men. So you would be greatly drained while he would be empowered if the books I read are true.¡±
Cassandra answered hesitantly.
Inara got her mischievous grin on her face.
¡°So you are saying you can detect it after he sleeps with one of us?¡±
¡°Well yes, but I wouldn¡¯t recommend it. You would be on the brink of death if he chooses to completely drain you. And you would be helpless during the incident.¡±
Cassandra tried to dissuade her companion before she started laughing.
¡°Hahahaha. Hey Lyria, she wouldn¡¯t recommend sleeping with Alex. Would you agree with her?¡±
She couldn¡¯t understand Inaras outburst, was she that badly affected by him? Cassandra looked hopefully at Lyria, she would surely take her side.
Lyria was looking incredulously at Cassandra while her face got a deep crimson shade.
¡°Uhhhm, me and Alex already did it back in the dancing pig¡.¡±
She hesitantly answered after a few seconds of silence while Inara was holding her stomach from laughing.
Cassandra could only look at Lyria in muted shock, it took her a few seconds before she ran up to her and started to touch her face and feel her energies.
She was completely fine. Actually she was slightly stronger than the last time they practiced together before the mission.
¡°But why is he so forth coming, frivolous and eager if he isn¡¯t a incubus?¡±
Inara stopped laughing while Cassandra was incapable of understanding the enigma of Alex.
¡°Yeah, he''s different but that''s the best part about him.¡±
Inara warmly replied.
Lyria was nodding along with Inaras statement.
¡°Don¡¯t worry Cassy, good things can happen to us. We are allowed to be happy.¡±
Lyria said while hugging Cassandra who was still right in front of her.
¡°Yeah you should have seen them going at it. Never seen Lyria so happy before.¡±
Inara had to break the moment with her crass humor, putting extra emphasis on happy while grinning and giggling to herself.
Cassandra looked horrified at Lyria, but Lyria just shyly smiled while blissfully closing her eyes.
¡°Yeah, it really was a happy moment.¡±
***
Inara couldn¡¯t believe how much of a worrywart Cassandra was. She actually believed that he was a mythical demon because she couldn¡¯t wrap her head around his behavior and origin. She had a tendency to always assume the worst case scenario, but this one took the cake.
Chuckling to herself she went upstairs to her room. When she entered she saw Alex slowly reading through a picture book with Nyla sitting next to him while helping him pronounce the words.
¡°Hey Inara, what did Cassandra want to talk about?
Nyla asked, turning towards her curiously.
¡°Nothing, she was just needlessly worried about stuff again. Ill tell you later, you are going to laugh so hard when you find out. Anyway ill take it from here.¡±
Inara shooed her friend out of the room while sitting next to Alex on the bed. She saw that he had scribbled in his notebook with both Valerian and in text that she never saw before, probably his own original language.
There was still a few hours left of the evening before it got late, so she took over for Nyla and continued the lesson.
They ate supper that Lyria made, Nyla was laughing so much that tears were coming from her eyes when she heard about what happened. It was the first time Inara could remember Cassandra actually blushing and lowering her head down in shame. She was always so stoic, Alex managed to even crack her facade.
After they ate they went back up to her room.
There was still a couple of hours until nighttime, so they continued their language sesion. He had progressed considerably far with the language, relative with how little time he had studied it.
¡°Are you sure about sleeping with me?¡±
She hesitantly asked, her nerves where getting more frayed by the minute.
The closer they got nighttime the more she was getting cold feet and second guessing herself.
He looked at her trying to decipher what she said. He got a slight blush while nodding.
¡°Yes I like you, happy to sleep. Very sure.¡±
She felt giddy in her stomach from his reply. It was finally going to happen.
The next hour went like a blur for her, she was trying to hype herself up. Going over what to do and how to do it so the night could be perfect.
¡®Don¡¯t be nerves, this is it. You got this, just do it like you planned.¡¯
She had gone absent minded and when Alex touched her while indicating a word he didn''t understand. She yelped while jumping up.
¡°Sorry, that¡¯s healthy. It means¡ Not sick, strong body.¡±
He looked slightly worried at her, but nodded.
¡°Healthy, okay I understand. We take break?¡±
"I¡¯m fine just continue.¡±
Inara was completely stiff with nerves now.
Alex shook his head and closed the book looking directly at her.
She audibly gulped while trying to get her emotions under control.
He put his hand around her, he could feel that she was shaking.
She saw him look gently at her before letting go and giving her space.
¡®No this isn¡¯t how it was supposed to go. But what if he reacts like the gigolo .¡¯
She remembered vividly how that haggard looking man had scoffed at her. When they finally undressed he looked at her in disgust before saying.
¡°I can¡¯t get hard while looking at those ugly lumps, you don''t even have any muscles to show off. Come over here, I''ll give you a hand job. Same price.¡±
It was the most shameful memory of her life. It cut as deep as when she got thrown out of her tribe when she was a small kid, unwanted and weak.
She was visibly shaking now while getting tears in her eyes.
¡®Why am I so pathetic? STOP CRYING THERE LIKE A BITCH AND GROW A SPINE!¡¯
She was mentally yelling at herself, but it didn¡¯t matter. Her body didn¡¯t listen, she was paralyzed in fear of rejection.
She curled up on herself.
¡®He is going to hate your guts now, who would want someone so pathetic. Weak, ugly useless bitch that no one could ever love. What would you think if you saw a grown woman acting like you in front of a guy?¡¯
She was disparaging herself, going back to the self hating ways from her younger days. Falling deeper into the abyss for every second.
Suddenly she could feel him hugging her, he was stroking the back of her head with one hand while holding around her with the other.
¡°Shuush, it¡¯s okay, it¡¯s okay.¡±
He was holding her while talking gently, soothing her.
They stayed like that for an indefinite amount of time. She was crying on his shoulder for a long while, before she finally relaxed.
Her eyes were puffy and red from all the crying, she had snot running out of her nose. She was a mess and she knew it.
¡®Oh my god! Why can¡¯t you just act like a normal person? You are lucky Alex is such an angel, but would he still be interested in you after that?¡¯
She couldn¡¯t help herself. This was the most embarrassing moment of her life.
It was late at night and they were lying on the bed fully dressed. She tentatively let go of him, standing up from the bed she couldn¡¯t face him and set for the door. She would sleep downstairs tonight.
He grabbed her arm and turned her around. Gently cleaning her face with the towel she had on her cupboard. He kissed her on her forehead, while pulling her back towards the bed.
He tapped the bed, gave her a gentle smile before heading for the door himself.
¡®What? No! I''m supposed to be the women here. And he is letting me sleep in the bed while taking care of me. I can¡¯t live with myself if I let him go like this.¡¯
¡°No.¡±
She yelled out louder than intended. She cringed at her actions before grabbing his hand and pulling him back.
Lowering her head she took a deep breath and started to undress.
She didn¡¯t dare look at him before climbing into the bed laying down under the cover. She tapped the bed next to her, hoping that he would at least be willing to share a bed with her.
When she looked at him he was staring wide eyed at her. It took him a moment before he hesitantly undressed himself.
She had the same reaction, no even bigger. Her mouth opened wide, he was pitching a tent when he got his pants off. He was trying to hide it, and when he saw her reaction he scratched his head before sliding under the cover on the other side of the bed.
¡®He is hard for me? Even after all that?¡¯
She glanced towards him, but Alex was laying on his back with his eyes closed and went to sleep.
Chapter 11
¡®How am I supposed to sleep like this?¡¯
After a few hours Inara had turned in bed and wrapped around me like i was a hugging pillow.
She was resting her breasts on my chest while holding her arm around me, her face laying in the nook of my shoulder. And her leg draped around my feet.
Inara was considerably bigger than Lyria, and her slight smile and drooling face looked surprisingly cute on her sensual face.
I kinda figured that she had some issues with male contact, but it seems she is traumatized by it. The reaction she had earlier was kinda extreme.
It hurt my heart watching her break down like that. She always seemed so confident and relaxed. Sporting her mischievous grin while eyeing me with her predatory gaze, that was the Inara I knew. But when I hugged her, or after the morning with Lyria she showed some cracks in her armor. And tonight it completely broke down.
She was trying her hardest to get over her issues, it¡¯s clear that she wanted to step beyond them. But things like that aren¡¯t easy to resolve.
She showed it with the fact that she invited me to sleep with her, it couldn¡¯t have been easy. And even after all that she still wanted to at least sleep in the same bed.
Yet when she undressed I couldn''t even keep calm, her big luscious ass when she took of her pants was so tantalizing. And when she released the bandaged around her chest seeing them peek out on the sides even from behind was to much.
I felt bad thinking about fucking her even after what happened. Quickly jumping in bed and trying to clear my mind and sleeping felt like the gentleman thing to do. But still my mind was in the gutter, and now I¡¯m in this situation...
Somehow I managed to fall asleep, since I woke up by a startled Inara who did a cute cry while jumping off my chest.
¡°Good morning.¡±
I smiled at her while trying to keep my focus on her eyes., it wasn¡¯t easy. She opened and than closed her mouth, before hiding her face in her hands.
She still hadn¡¯t covered herself she was only hiding her face from me. I guess she was embarrassed by yesterday, it¡¯s understandable considering everything.
I stretched my hand and gently scratched around her ears. I wanted to do it again after I did it the first time.
Inara did a slight jump when I touched her, but she actually pressed her head into my hand when she realized what I was doing.
I could hear a slight purr build up from her while she snuggled my hand.
She looked so cute, like a scared kitten who finally found the joy of petting.
Except for the extremely sexy bombshell part.
After a short while I sat up from the bed and dressed with my back turned towards her. I didn¡¯t want her to see my morning wood. It would be to crass showing it now, better to take things slow.
When I turned around she was hugging the cover against her chest while dreamily looking at me. I smiled while winking at her.
No matter how much I wanted to look at her getting dressed I decided to leave the room and give her some time for herself.
***
Nyla was sitting down eating breakfast with Cassandra and Lyria when Alex came downstairs. She got a proud grin on her face while thinking about how Inara was always a step ahead of them. She was really dependable no matter what situation occurred.
It didn¡¯t take long before Inara also joined them.
¡°We are leaving for the guild after we have eaten.¡±
Cassandra promptly announced after Inara sat down.
¡°Uhhhm, I don¡¯t think we all need to go to the guild. So I thought I could stay home with Alex?¡±
Lyria hesitantly proposed while slightly fidgeting.
Nyla saw a weird look on Cassandras face, she was always so stoic. So it was weird seeing slight twitches around her eye.
¡°That¡¯s fine, if it¡¯s what you want.¡±
Lyria happily nodded to Cassandras reply while eagerly blurting out.
¡°Yes!¡±
It was nice seeing Lyria become so animated since Alex came. She was always so shy and quiet before. Everything was going so great this last month. Nyla grinned to herself happy for her friends.
They left for the guild shortly after.
¡°Hey Inara, how was it?¡±
Nyla curiously asked Inara.
¡°How was what?¡±
¡°You know, you and Alex last night.¡±Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
Inara jolted while her face went stiff.
¡°Ehhhh¡ Of course it was amazing. We did it for so long, and uhmm I made him go weak in the knees at the end...¡±
Nyla was nodding along while listening attentively to her, she looked at Inara with admiration while asking.
¡°As expected. Could you maybe teach me what to do? Since I never did it before I¡¯m kinda scared if I screw up...¡±
There was a mute pause before Inara answered her.
¡°Well¡ You just have to be confident, and take the lead¡ And if your unsure of yourself he won¡¯t mind it. Alex really is an angel, there is actually nothing to worry about...¡±
Nyla couldn¡¯t understand the melancholic look that Inara got when she said the last part.
It didn¡¯t take them long before they entered the guild house. There were mercenaries loitering around the first floor lobby. Some gathering around the bar in the corner, while others were crowding the mission board. The lines for the guild attendants only had a few people in it. As most people had finished their business earlier in the day, or would come back in the evening to report and deliver their requests.
¡°Hey it seems like the freak show is still alive and kicking. Thought you girls died since I haven¡¯t seen you in a long time.¡±
Nyla scowled, she was the last person they wanted to meet. Roxanne grinned at them while her party laughed.
¡°We took a grade three mission that requested some rare materials. Now if you''ll excuse us.¡±
Cassandra still upheld some decorum with the asshole, but she didn¡¯t have a pleased look on her face.
¡°Oooo, the lump squad thinks they are hot shit now that they did their first proper mission.¡±
Nyla was fuming inside, she clenched her hands while her knuckles turned white. Glaring at Roxanne she was really itching to punch her face in.
¡°What? You wanna go? I''m always open for exchanging some pointers at the practice ground. You know, help you out a little.¡±
She got a sneer while staring directly back at Nyla.
Cassandra put a hand on her shoulder.
¡°We are busy right now, come on let''s go.¡±
She turned away from the bitch and walked towards a counter. They reluctantly followed.
Nyla really hated the fact that they didn¡¯t stand a chance against Roxanne. As long the other side was stronger they couldn¡¯t do anything to stop the harassment.
¡°Hahahaha, I see the chicken shits are living up to their name again.¡±
She couldn¡¯t help but get the last word in while her party was laughing and enjoying their drinks.
Their business didn¡¯t take to long since most of the materials already had standardized prices and the reward for the mission was already set.
When they were exiting the building Inara spoke up.
¡°I don¡¯t think we should take high profile missions for a while, it¡¯s better to enjoy our windfall for now and just take on simple extermination missions around the farms.¡±
¡°We should discus this with Lyria as well before we decide. But if we go for it, then it can only be for a short while. And meanwhile I expect all of you to put more emphasis on personal training and not just relax at home.¡±
***
We were sitting in the dinning room while studying. I was overly conscious of Lyria now, her sweat smell, cute face and clear blue eyes dominated my focus. She was sitting right up to me while I was reading the book. And I had to force myself not to turn my eyes downward or get lost in her eyes when I looked at her for clarification.
¡®Why are you like this? You know that learning the language is the most important thing for you right now. How do you expect to learn magic and have actual conversations and real connection with them without it?¡¯
Admonishing myself while I refocused on the book I slowly continued reading.
It was kinda embarrassing studying from a picture book of all things. But I guess with no real way of translating anything between us makes this the best choice I had.
We were slowly making progress the two of us, and I was actually proud of how far I¡¯ve come in this month. I could understand a lot of the basic conversations. It was a lot harder to talk and read though, so I still had ways to go.
Turning back towards Lyria for clarification she blanked for a second while dreamily gazing at me. Getting a slight blush on her face she quickly answered with a higher pitch tone than usual.
¡°I guess I¡¯m not the only one having a hard time focusing.¡¯
I got a slight smile while musing to myself.
It didn¡¯t take long before we both ended up gazing at each other, I forgot what I was even asking about when I turned.
Seeing her cute pink lips reminded me of her sweat taste when we kissed. And it seemed as I wasn¡¯t the only one as her dainty tongue peeked out and sensually licked her lips while longingly gazing at me.
I couldn¡¯t help it anymore I slowly bent forward going for the kiss.
She reciprocated by bending forward while placing her hand on my thigh.
There wasn¡¯t any slow build up, we started vigorously. She instantly shoved her tongue in my mouth while stroking my thigh closer and closer towards my groin.
I could feel a light current running from my head through my body towards my crotch.
My hand slowly went up from the side of her slim stomach towards her peeks.
¡°Hey! We¡¯re back.¡±
Nyla yelled when she boisterously entered the house.
We both jumped and quickly scrambled away from each other.
I picked up the book while they entered the dinning room.
¡°Welcome back.¡±
Lyria squeaked out while her face was completely red.
Cassandra narrowed her eyes while looking at us. Nyla just looked curiously on Lyria before asking.
¡°Are you okay? Did something happen?¡±
¡°Nothing, I''m fine.¡±
Lyria blurted out.
Meanwhile Inara was intensely staring at me.
¡°You seem kinda flustered, but if you say your fine... Anyway we got everything sorted, we have enough money now to buy a few potions for all of us and manage for a month or two.¡±
Cassandra skeptically said the first part before promptly getting back on track.
I could actually follow most of the words, but it was more of me filling the blanks through context than true understanding.
They discussed more about what they would do, and they made a decision on spending five days at home training and relaxing, before taking a quick two day extermination mission.
When night time came I saw the longing look on Lyrias face, I was also eager to be with her again.
Swallowing I decided to sleep with Lyria tonight, Inara surely needed time after last nights debacle.
Walking towards her I smiled at her while taking her hand in mine.
I could see her face heating up and a look of anticipation suffused her face.
¡°We go together sleep?¡±
I asked with moot confidence.
She nodded while a joyful smile bloomed on her face.
Chapter 12
It was a wild night, when I woke up I could see Lyria lying in my arms. She had a blissful look on her face while a slight trickle of drool was seeping out of her cute pink lips.
She woke up from my stirring. Opening her beautiful sky blue eyes, I got lost in them for a second.
¡°Good morning.¡±
Smiling at her I gave her a gentle kiss.
¡°Good morning.¡±
She responded while giggling and positively glowing.
Taking our time getting out of bed I was on cloud nine when we entered the dinning room.
Everyone else was already there.
But what struck me was Inara looking sad and fidgety, she glanced at me when we came in before quickly lowering her head.
¡®Shit, I didn¡¯t properly talk to her last night. And it might have been bad for her confidence when I ditched her after that one night...¡¯
It was dumb of me loosing myself to lust and not think about how Inara would react, with me going for Lyria right after her incident.
It hurt my heart seeing her so sad. Cassandra was looking worriedly at her, the same with Nyla. They were both sitting next to her.
Tapping Nyla on her shoulder I asked.
¡°Can I?¡±
She looked between me and Inara before nodding and giving me her seat.
I put my arm around her shoulder I felt a slight jolt when I touched her. She was like a scared cat, jumping by the smallest touch.
She looked nervously at me and that nearly broke my heart. She was scared and in pain because of me.
¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±
Giving her a hug I stroked her back while deciding to spend more time with her and be more attentive. I also had to learn the language faster for so many things.
¡°Tell when ready, I wait you.¡±
Gently whispering to her that I would wait for when she was ready.
She responded by meekly nodding, I could see that her face went from sad to embarrassed.
Thinking of how I could help her I thought of Nyla as well.
I haven''t really done anything special for her, well she always seemed happy and content.
¡®Damn it¡¯s not easy being with three women...¡¯
***
The following week I always greeted Inara with a hug, trying to get her more comfortable with me. I was spending almost all of my time on learning to read and studying the language.
I was kinda wrong with what I thought Cassandra said earlier, since she gave them some intricate gems as well as pills and potions. What I thought meant potions was probably resources.
Except for Cassandra they were teaching me in turns while the others were meditating or they left for the guild together for practice.
Cassandra still felt distant with me, but it was understandable with me only knowing them for a month. It was the other girls who were probably overly friendly compared to the clear headed Cassandra.
Lyria also taught me how the kitchen worked so i could make some simple dishes for myself and the girls.
I ended up spending a couple of hours alone at the house everyday.
And It became really boring and lonely the two days they left, I had gotten used to spending a lot of time with them.
Plus the nights with Lyria¡
She had become more assertive and frisky with time, as her confidence was built up.
When they came back I greeted them all with a hug, Cassandra looked skeptical when she stepped out of it.
I had gone trough the books religiously while they were away, and I felt like my mastery of their language had risen to new heights.
While I was hanging out with Inara I asked her.
¡°How I do magic?¡±
She looked oddly on me.
¡°Well you use your soul to control your affinity. Affinity is a connection to the worlds mana, and you manipulate it.¡±
¡°Soul, affinity?¡±
I needed more details than what she gave me.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.
¡°Didn¡¯t you sense it when you awakened?¡±
¡°Awakened?¡±
Asking inquisitively at the new word she said.
¡°Wait, can you sense your soul?¡±
I wasn¡¯t exactly sure of what she meant, but I still answered.
¡°No.¡±
¡°What! Impossible, we found you in a mana dense area. Regular people would be overwhelmed by it¡¯s concentration and become sick after a week or two...¡±
She was distressed while talking to fast, there was a few new words that went over me.
Inara stood up while pacing around and mumbling.
¡°It makes so much sense, he was always so amazed by even regular spells...¡±
I was getting worried with how she reacted, but before I could ask her to clarify she promptly left.
***
Storming into the basement Inara saw Cassandra and Nyla talking together. She didn¡¯t even wait for them to acknowledge her before she hectically started to talk.
¡°Cassandra, could you help Alex awaken. We haven¡¯t really talked about it, we all expected he already was when we first saw him. But now I¡¯m pretty sure he never did.¡±
Cocking her eyebrow Cassandra replied.
¡°Are you sure that he isn¡¯t? The way he looks and where we found him should all but guarantee that he has.¡±
¡°He asked about spells again and when I tried to explain it to him he was oblivious about sensing any mana or even his soul.¡±
Cassandra looked skeptically at Inara.
¡°Well I guess we can try¡ You know there is little hope since everyone who has the talent for it does it at a young age. I don¡¯t know of any cases of people who failed their awakening while young managing it later.¡±
Cassandra carefully said.
¡°Well I did it later than most, and he might have never actually tried to awaken. He was really amazed every time we cast a spell or technique while we traveled together.¡±
Inara held some hope when she spoke.
Nyla lowered her head while listening to them. She never even considered that he was a mundane. He would grow old while they still were in their prime if that was true, maybe they weren¡¯t so lucky as they thought.
¡°How can someone live so long without even trying it ones?¡±
Cassandra asked incredulously.
¡°At this point it wouldn¡¯t be the weirdest thing about him.¡±
Inara refuted, for some reason looking really determined.
¡°You shouldn¡¯t get your hopes up Inara. At least you can enjoy some time with him now, but we can¡¯t really make a family with him then.
Inara glared at Cassandra when she said that, but she turned her head down without refuting.
¡°No, I¡¯m sure he can. He has to.¡±
She quietly muttered.
***
¡°We got everything ready to do Alexs awakening.¡±
Lyria jumped out of her seat when she heard what Inara said.
¡°What?¡±
She was staring at me while her eyes teared up.
Why was Lyria looking so sad and scared while looking at me?
There was only one word I didn¡¯t understand, but it seemed like the most important one. It was also the one that Inara mentioned before she stormed out.
I went looking for Inara, but instead I bumped into Lyria. I was about to ask her for some clarification, but before I could even mention it Inara stormed in.
¡°What is awakening?¡±
I asked hopeful that it wasn¡¯t something bad.
¡°It¡¯s how we unlock hidden potential a person has. We will check if you can do magic, as you called it. Don''t worry it''s nothing dangerous.¡±
Cassandra explained, stepping into the room after Inara.
Some words went over my head, but I understood the gist of it.
They were finally going to teach me magic, but it seemed like it wasn¡¯t a guarantee. Seeing some of their reactions.
I gulped, suddenly getting really nervous. This was the moment I had been dreaming about since I first saw Cassandra cast a spell.
Solemnly nodding I looked seriously at Cassandra.
¡°Thank you. I¡¯m ready.¡±
She looked curiously back at me.
¡°You never tried anything like this before?¡±
I was confused why she would ask me that.
¡°No, everything here is new to me.¡±
I honestly answered.
¡°Hmmm¡ Weird, where are you from Alex?¡±
Cassandra looked inquisitively at me, I wanted to tell them everything.
¡°Not from here, can¡¯t explain yet. Too hard.¡±
Cassandra sighed before indicating for me to follow her.
¡°Well it¡¯s good that it¡¯s your first time at least.¡±
She said while we were walking.
When I turned around to see the other girls Inara and Lyria were staring hopefully at me now, while Nyla gave me a thumbs up. It was funny since I taught them the meaning of it, her action actually relieved some of the tension I was feeling after the earlier solemn atmosphere.
We went downstairs to Cassandras work space. She took out a silver plate with intricate engraving on it. Placing it in the middle of the floor while inserting a beautiful prismatic gem in the cavity on it. It started floating upwards while making a mesmerizing orb of shimmering runic text with different colors that constantly osculated between each other. It had a two meters radius and was mostly hollow with a lot of empty space in the middle. It was like it projected a hologram of runes in the shape of a globe.
Cassandra pointed me towards the center while saying.
¡°Sit down right under the array core and focus on drawing in the energies into yourself.¡±
I needed her to clarify and explain it several times before I felt ready and understood what I was supposed to do.
Swallowing the spit that had built up in my mouth, I took a deep breath and entered the contraption.
Sitting down cross legged I started to meditate like I have been doing daily since I saw Cassandra do it. Trying again to sense the world around me with my eyes closed. I tried to draw in the supposed ambient energies that the ¡®array¡¯ as she called it produced.
I sat there for several minutes trying to visualize or feel the motes of energies that were visible to my eyes when I entered inside the orb.
Suddenly I felt a surge of energy, it filled me with vitality and a deep sense of life. Putting my full attention on the feeling I tried to draw it inside me while marveling and analyzing the sensation as much as I could. It flowed through me invigorating all my cells, I was basking in its glow when I could sense a heavy indescribable feeling take its place and wash over me.
It felt like space was warping all around me, I was first floating in it before it started to press down on me from all directions. It felt like I was stretched before promptly squished into a tiny ball. I was completely disoriented as if I was swapping locations while all of this was happening. I was overwhelmed by all the incongruous feelings this new sensation presented. It felt like a was lost in it for an eternity before I blacked out.
Chapter 13
Inara woke up, rising from her sleeping bag she looked at Alex who was still sleeping. Yesterday really was a roller coaster of emotions.
She was really anxious when the awakening started. Usually it takes a few seconds before they at least show some minor affinities with one of the elements. But Alex sat there for a few minutes without stirring any of the common affinities or aspects at all. In most cases that was a clear sign of a failure, a mundane person.
Yet when she started to feel her throat clog up and heart sink, they saw him having a minor affinity for life. She was so happy she could cry, it didn¡¯t matter that it was only a tenuous connection.
In fact for a guy it was perfect. He didn¡¯t have to become a healer, or do anything dangerous anyway.
This was the best for personal health and longevity. It also had an added bonus of more vigor she smiled to herself.
The biggest shock came when he actually showed an affinity for space. That was extremely rare, they were coveted by all factions. If they became skilled enough they could create bags of holding, or even in the legendary cases create real storage spaces and even teleport.
But that was highly unlikely, he started to late. The insane amount of talent and hard work required to become a space mage or artificers was prodigious.
Cassandra also said it was an average level of connection, not genius type of level that would be need for him to have any hope of becoming something really special. At best he might be able to create a simple space compressed bag of holding like the one they had now.
Good thing that didn¡¯t matter at all, they would take care of him while he could stay safely at home.
Gently watching him sleep she chuckled to herself while remembering how Lyria sat in the room by his side until she chased her out late at night.
She had quickly brought him to her room after he was done and collapsed.
They both had it bad for him.
He started to stir in the bed before groaning and opening his eyes.
¡°How do you feel.¡±
Inara gently said.
¡°Huh, Where am I?¡±
¡°Our home in the city of Nara.¡±
¡°Inara?¡±
Understanding suffused his eyes before he whooped and threw his hands up in the air.
He looked at his hands before closing his eyes again.
His face went strained for a few seconds, before he disappointingly exhaled.
¡°Hahaha, you can¡¯t use your mana without practice silly.¡±
His reaction was like any kid who just awakened. They instantly tried to summon their powers, thinking they suddenly became a powerhouse or sorcerer.
¡°Can you teach me?¡±
He was scratching his head while bashfully looking at her.
Inara could only shake her head.
¡°No, it''s better to let Cassandra teach you. But for space you need to get a proper teacher or some books and a lot of hard work if you want to do anything with it.¡±
He nodded to her while stretching his hands.
Getting up from the bed he walked up to her and hugged her.
She stiffened for a second, before relaxing and hugging him back.
¡°Thank you, again.¡±
He let go after a few moments before asking.
¡°Why was Lyria so scared when awakened talked about.¡±
She sighed before answering him.
¡°We thought you were already awakened since we found you in the infinite forest. With your clothes, looks and location it was impossible for a mundane to be there. We were right, you just hadn¡¯t actually done it yet. Which is surprising. Normally unawakened people at your age would mean that they don¡¯t have the talent.¡±
¡°To fast, don¡¯t understand.¡±
She forgot herself and talked to fast, having to go over everything again while slowly explaining it.
She was looking forward to the day he properly learned Valerian. It wasn¡¯t that fun explaining the same thing three different ways so he could understand and learn every time.
After he understood.
¡°But why scared and looks?¡±
¡°Well, people who are awakened don¡¯t make families with mundane people. It greatly reduces the chance for your children to have the talent. It¡¯s the biggest shame a talented person can do. Nobles directly throw away and exile every child without talent. And usually people who are touched by mana are better looking...¡±
She explained properly this time, while looking sad at the last part.
After getting everything straight she shook her head while looking at him.
¡°I really want to know where you came from. You don¡¯t know any of this, and act completely different from every other person I know.¡±
He looked seriously at her before saying.
¡°Tell you all later, too hard now. Not from here.¡±
She laughed at his answer.
¡°Of course your not from around here. We already got that part. Come on everyone is waiting.¡±
They promptly left for downstairs.
Lyria jumped out of the chair when she saw them come, but she quickly froze and started to hesitate.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Alex smiled at her before opening his arms inviting her in.
She blushed before going for it.
¡°Congratulation.¡±
Lyria was beaming with happiness, smiling from ear to ear.
Nyla looked hesitant as well before awkwardly standing closer to them.
Alex promptly hugged her as well. It was becoming a habit of his, it seemed. Not that she would complain.
He looked inquisitively towards Cassandra who was still sitting at the table.
She raised an eyebrow while drinking her tea.
He smiled before bowing his head towards her.
¡°Thank you all again, for everything.¡±
If it was one thing he learned quickly that was how to thank them.
***
I was finally going to learn magic, I couldn¡¯t help but get giddy with excitement.
After breakfast I went with Cassandra down to the basement. She was going to teach me the basics.
¡°What an awakening does is unlocking your connection to your soul. With this you can use your soul to manipulate and gather mana that you have an affinity for. Soul power can also be used as a universal mana that directly effects the world, that''s why it¡¯s also called personal mana by many. This is weaker than using gathered natural mana, but gives you a lot more flexibility. You will need to have perfect understanding and control of it and what you want to accomplish to have any real effect outside your body as it isn¡¯t part of the natural world. Most people never use it for anything else except for gathering mana and strengthening their own bodies with an internal cycle. And as you can only generate soul power yourself it makes it so only the strongest and most knowledgeable mages can use it properly for spells. The only way to increase it is to strengthen your soul. Which is a slow and gradual processes of self discovery, personal growth and from constant usage.¡±
Taking her time she went over everything from the start.
¡°The first thing you need to learn is how to gather natural mana and control it in your body. Reason for that is it both supplements your natural mana and trains your soul at the same time. Gathering can be done in many different ways. The most important one, and the one we are going to focus on is becoming one with nature and drawing it¡¯s power into your soul. The other methods are using potions, pills or natural treasure to faster accumulate your reserve. Those methods are either expensive or with drawbacks, often times both. So you need to know what your doing before getting outside resources¡±
She was talking clearly and concisely while I was scrawling notes as fast as I could while trying to digest the information. I still had to ask her to explain a few words and repeat herself for clarification.
¡°You can only gather mana that are of the same type as your affinity, the better connection you have the faster you can draw it, use it and integrate it into your soul. Since you have a minor life affinity, you wont be able to become a proper healer. But instead if you focus it on yourself It will increase your vitality and endurance. You will never get sick and will heal faster from all wounds and afflictions. Lyria has a holy affinity which is more versatile, but life affinity is better for longevity and passive benefits if you incorporate it in your bodily cycle.¡±
Making sure I understood everything before she continued.
¡°Now the big one, you got an average space affinity. Don¡¯t misunderstand, the average part is how well you will be able to absorb and use it. Space is one of the rarest affinities out there, and are highly sought after. But at the same time it¡¯s one of the most difficult to understand and master. Very few people can actually make something out of it without a mentor who can guide them through it¡¯s mysteries.¡±
She was going over several concepts and methods that were the usual practice. How I should go about it and what I would feel and what to expect.
¡°The gist of it is that you should relax, clear your mind and try to feel, understand and connect with your affinities. Life affinity is simple enough since you will generate it personally, and it¡¯s mostly supplemented from energy rich food and plants. There is very little of it in the air. While space is everywhere, it¡¯s also very obtuse and will be what you have to focus on.¡±
Cassandra got up from her chair while walking towards the bookcase.
¡°Here, you can have this book on basics of mana. It contains the incantations for some spells and explain all the common knowledge that you can reference for help.¡±
I was curious about the incantation part since almost all the spells I saw them cast had it.
¡°How incantation come in all this?¡±
¡°Well, before Empress Valeria unified the races against the monster king there was almost no mages. There was no sharing of information and you need complete understanding of what your doing to cast a spell. The high elfs shared some of their secrets with all the races on behest of Valeria. They had managed to decipher the language of mana, that made it so people only needed to know the bare minimum while manipulating mana to a certain degree. The incantation speaks directly to the mana and will guide it to do a specific effect. In other words it¡¯s a shortcut that made it easy to produce a lot of battle mages and healers who had the talent for it, while not having the actual skill and knowledge required.¡±
She went on explaining nuances about casting spells and other tidbits while making sure I understood everything correctly.
After a few hours I was ready to start. Going up to the garden, as It was easier for me to relax outside in the fresh air. After all this time I could finally take my first step.
Getting comfortable under the clear blue sky I closed my eyes and started meditating in earnest.
My first goal was to feel the space around me and when I could sense the mana I would absorb it into my soul. How it worked was usually very individualistic since everyone had a different concept who they were, and what worked for them. But there was still a lot of general guide lines.
The better you understood your affinity and the clearer the image you made with it was always the most effective.
Some people became friends with their mana inviting it in, while other subjugated it through force and some just naturally absorb it like sunlight.
They hadn¡¯t come to a consensus about what worked best, since all of those different methods and more had produced several legends throughout time.
Clearing my mind of the lesson I was pondering about, I tried to just sense the space around me.
¡°Alex Dinner is ready¡±
Nyla called out to me.
Sitting up after a few hours with a sour look, it didn¡¯t go as smoothly as I thought it would. I really didn¡¯t know how to connect with space and absorb it properly. It was just a slight inconsistent trickle that came in and a faint sense that was only a shadow of my awakening. That was the only thing I could honestly feel.
I don¡¯t really understand what space really is, except for it¡¯s where everything resides¡
Going inside to take a break and eat dinner with girls.
¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±
Lyria asked concernedly, she noticed my damp mood.
¡°I don¡¯t know how connect space? Small progress.¡±
Smiling Cassandra answered.
¡°That¡¯s normal, you just awakened and it¡¯s like everything else in life. It needs a lot of practice. If people were expert from day one then we would have legends running around all over the place.¡±
Inara also jumped in trying to comfort me.
¡°Besides you don¡¯t need to worry so much, we will take care of you. Since you started so late you shouldn¡¯t put to much pressure on yourself.¡±
Accepting that it wasn¡¯t realistic to just instantaneously become a wizard after a single day. I nodded my head in understanding while making a plan for the future. But I noticed something that Inara said, looking up at her with some consternation.
¡°Take care like what?¡±
I didn¡¯t like the sound of how she said it.
¡°You can just stay at home, take it easy and enjoy life while we make sure everything is in order. You don¡¯t have to worry about becoming someone great.¡±
Inara answered with a gentle smile on her face.
That was the last thing I wanted, was I supposed to become some useless stay at home dad?
It felt bad enough when I couldn¡¯t do anything the entire trip. And the last thing I wanted is to become a nobody in this second chance I got, I lived a mundane existence back at home. There was no way in hell I would do it again, especially in a world of magic. How could I have pride in myself around strong beautiful women if I just accepted being taken care of for the rest of my life?
Lyria saw that I was brooding and tried to comfort me as well.
¡°You shouldn¡¯t worry so much. Most people start of when they are really young, and most of them still don¡¯t make it. You have one of the hardest affinities on top of that. It¡¯s better if you don¡¯t put to much pressure on yourself. We will take care of everything.¡±
That had the opposite effect from what she intended. There was no way I was going to take it easy after what they said. If regular hard work doesn''t cut it than I just had to work both harder and smarter. Brimming with motivation I was determined to succeed.
Chapter 14
After dinner I went outside again, this time I wanted to focus on manipulating my mana inside my body. It was the first step that was required before you got any real power. If you didn¡¯t have control of your energies it would be impossible to infuse yourself for more power. And manipulating mana outside was supposedly ten times harder than internally.
While going over the lesson that Cassandra gave me I sat down in a comfortable position and focused inwards.
There wasn¡¯t a specific point where the soul or your power resided. It was in an incorporeal space that was connected to your body. What you could find in your body was lifeforce generated by your heart. And since I had a minor affinity to it I would generate more and actually use it, compared to everyone else who just had it as a passive force that kept them alive and healthy.
Healing with lifeforce was supposedly using a sliver of your own lifeforce to guide and invigorate the other persons lifeforce. A person had a blueprint of themselves and lifeforce was what tried to keep the soul and body in equilibrium. Well that was beyond me, as doing that was even harder than manipulating mana in the air.
What I could do with it was to more actively and efficiently infuse my body with lifeforce that would generally give me more endurance and vitality, while also increasing all my parameters all around.
There was supposedly hundreds of techniques and methods that could make it more efficient than just blindly marinating your entire body in it, but I had to start somewhere.
Trying to find my lifeforce I was completely immersed in sensing the waves I could feel that my heart was pumping throughout my body. It was way different than what I felt before the awakening. Having meditated for the last month had at least helped me sense the difference, and it prepared me for this moment.
I spent the rest of the evening trying to make it stick and linger in my cells, instead of just washing over them.
When the sky grew darker I had minimal success, but I felt like I could at least nudge it the way I wanted when I put my full focus on it.
Not getting discouraged I went inside while thinking about what I experienced and learned today, and how to proceed.
While musing to myself I felt a hand pat me on the back while someone sat next to me.
It was only now that I noticed Inara sat down on the chair next to me while looking concerned.
¡°I''m fine, thinking.¡±
I smiled towards her while answering.
¡°Don¡¯t put to much pressure on yourself and expect fast results, there has been a lot of people with delusions of grandeur that ruined themselves.¡±
Teaching me a few new words she tried to dissuade me from overworking myself.
¡°Thank you.¡±
It felt good to be so deeply cared for, I smiled at her while kissing her cheek.
She went red in the face while fidgeting. I heard an audible gulp coming from her before she whispered.
¡°I¡¯m ready.¡±
She was looking detirmined into my eyes, i could see she was tense though with a blush building up on her face.
We went upstairs to her bedroom and sat on the bed.
Closing her eyes she slowly inched her face towards me, puckering her luscious lips I could feel a slight tremble coming from her hand that I was holding.
She looked adorable, it was completely different from what you would expect from such a sexy woman. But I guess in this world she wouldn¡¯t count herself like that.
Bending forward I gently kissed her back, tasting the sweet taste of her lips.
Remembering how she reacted when I stroked her tail, I went down and grabbed her tail with one hand. She gasped while her eyes shot wide open, but before she could do anything else I gently started to stroke her tail at the base. Her eyes went from shock to that of lust, her gasp turned into moans and she jumped me.
Straddling me she licked my neck before clawing at my clothes, she became frantic. I was so surprised by her transformation that I let go of her tail.
She was pulling my shirt off while breathing heavily, I took my chance and flipped her over.
Some clarity came back to her face before she got a scared look on her face.
Before she could start to cower I gave her a deep kiss putting my tongue in her mouth. Letting go after a few seconds I pulled back and smiled at her while taking off my clothes.
She was staring wide eyed at me while I pulled down my pants, and she was completely entranced by my dick that was standing at full mast when it came out.
I went towards her and gently started to take off her clothes, she woke up from her stupor when I pulled her shirt off. And started to frantically take the rest off herself.
When she pulled of her chest wrapping I could see her gorgeous huge breast become fully exposed and free from their constraint. She was the most stacked of the group and it clearly showed, her hard pink nipples standing up looked so inviting.
Swallowing I went closer to her, I kissed her gently on the mouth before slowly and gently kissing my way down. When I got to her breast I grabbed a handful as it spilled over my hand, it was so soft and springy I could get lost in it¡¯s sensation forever. Putting her nipple in my mouth I started to lick and suck on it.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
I could hear her moan while she pressed a hand towards the back of my head, smothering me in her bountiful chest.
My other hand continued down her side and towards her glistening thighs, I stroked around her forbidden zone before plunging two of my fingers deep inside. She was already wet and ready before I reached there, bending my fingers I nudged her g spot. I could feel a shiver going through her body, her pussy constricted around my fingers trying to suck them in. She was crying in pleasure while pressing my head even harder against her chest.
After a few seconds she slumed down on the bed while looking dreamily up towards me.
¡°No, I¡¯m the woman here.¡±
I could hear her mumble out. She lifted herself up and pushed me down on the bed straddling me again.
With a look of determination she mounted my standing member. There was a slight pause before she shoved it completely in. Gasping for breath she steeled herself and started riding me.
The view was sublime, her toned sexy glistening body. Her lust ridden face that was moaning with pleasure, and her unreal breasts that were both huge and perky swinging in front of my face. After a few minutes we both came.
She collapsed on top of me while breathing heavily, but I wasn¡¯t done. After a few seconds of pause I flipped her over, she rolled over on her stomach presenting her big sexy ass to me. I grabbed her ass with my hands and entered her pussy from behind.
Getting a touch of inspiration I started to stroke her tail at the base, her pussy instantly tightened around my dick while her moans became even loader.
I lost myself in pleasure as we went for multiple rounds that night.
***
Nyla was eating breakfast when she saw Inara and Alex coming downstairs together. Inara was sporting a huge grin while she had a jump in her step.
Alex was smiling as well while holding her hand.
It was nice seeing Inara so happy now, she was so distressed only a week ago.
¡°Good morning.¡±
She called out to them.
They both greeted back before going to the kitchen to grab their own breakfast.
Nyla saw them sitting next to each other, Inara cozying up to him while having a happy hum that almost sounded like a purr.
She also wanted to get close to Alex, but she didn¡¯t want to intrude on Inaras moment.
Not knowing what to say she felt like a third wheel sitting there.
Sighing to herself she quickly ate the reminder of her breakfast and went outside for some light training.
Exercise was always the best medicine for dour thoughts and bad moods, she could get lost in the routine and safety of training for hours.
She knew what to expect, no surprises and no one would usually bother her.
After doing her warm up routine Alex came outside.
¡°Hey, okay I join you?¡±
He asked while nodding towards her.
She quickly nodded while pumping herself up. This was her chance.
¡°Of course.¡±
She quickly replied while smiling.
¡°Thanks, you are very strong. I wonder if you could help me?¡±
Nyla blushed by the sudden compliment, scratching her head she hesitantly answered.
¡°Well I have the aspect of strength so it¡¯s kinda a given, although I got a bad variant...¡±
Alex looked puzzled at her.
¡°Why is it bad? I don¡¯t really understand aspect so good.¡±
¡°Ehhh, my aspect makes it a lot harder for me to build muscles. Normally aspect of strength will make you naturally more muscular while at the same time increase the efficiency and capacity that your muscles can hold mana.
For me it makes my muscles even more efficient with slightly more capacity than normal aspects, but I cant really grow big...¡±
Looking even more confused he tilted his head while thinking.
¡°But except for being unable grow bigger it sounds better. Why it bad then?¡±
¡°Your body can only hold a certain amount of mana before it starts to dissipate. It¡¯s decided by a lot of factors like race, condition, bloodline and aspect. If a bigger person uses the same technique as a smaller one at the same proficiency than she will always be stronger since she can overcharge her body with more mana.¡±
¡°So more muscle more capacity?¡±
Nodding to his response.
¡°Yes, exactly.¡±
¡°But your muscles are better at handling mana, and you can grow with your technique. Wouldn¡¯t that make it a very good aspect?¡±
She fidgeted at the comment before responding.
¡°Not really, my technique is actually unpopular. It¡¯s a lot harder to use then most, and you need to master it to a certain degree before it becomes good. My aspect just makes it viable...¡±
She didn¡¯t want to admit that she mainly picked it so she could look strong and more feminin.
¡°Okay, it¡¯s a technique for people with your type of aspect. So how does strengthening techniques work?¡±
Continuing his questioning Nyla felt pressured by how inquisitive he was.
¡°Uhhhm, I can¡¯t really reveal my technique because it belongs to the mercenary guild. They have an extensive collection that is only available for members.¡±
¡°That¡¯s fine, but can you explain strengthening in general?¡±
¡°Well you spread the mana inside you while holding an image that represents strength?¡±
She was unsure, as she never tried anything special herself.
Alex looked skeptically at her after that answer.
¡°Could you tell me difference between general and techniques?¡±
¡°Well techniques has either runes or mana structures to support the image.¡±
¡°And runes are mana language like incantation, just written form?¡±
Nodding to his response.
¡°You got it, but it¡¯s really hard to make a good technique. Only the greatest geniuses can manage that. Most of us just use what we can get.¡±
He continued to question her about some nuances before sitting down under the tree and started to meditate.
Nyla was happy that she could help, but she wanted to get closer to him. She still hadn¡¯t spent time with him outside language lessons and now on strengthening lessons. Sighing she went back to her own exercise and they both silently spent a couple of hours training.
When she was about done and going inside Alex posed another question to her.
¡°Why do you train so hard instead of focus on technique if you can¡¯t gain muscles?¡±
¡°Ohhh that, Well I did use my technique. I made myself bigger, didn¡¯t you notice. If you don¡¯t use your body actively while practicing than you won¡¯t properly acclimate your body to the mana. And you need to practice strengthening while moving if you want to prepare for the real thing and improve. You won¡¯t have the chance to relax and sit still when your out in the real world.¡±
¡°I see, thank you.¡±
He looked attentively at her, seeing that she was five centimeters taller than when they kissed.
She still had the habit of keeping giant strength up at all times, before it was both on her shape and size. But now she was content with just making herself taller and slightly bulkier.
Smiling at her he nodded towards her before sitting down under the tree again.
He was really dedicated since he awakened.
Chapter 15
I have been making minute progress over the last two days since I awakened. I had asked Cassandra about images, since Nyla and the book talked about it. It seemed like the image was used to convey intent. Because the clearer your intent and image, on top of a lot of other factors the better your mana would work towards the intended result.
I still hadn¡¯t made any specific progress concerning that yet. I needed to learn how to properly manipulate my energies before I could start with the next step.
The good news was that I learned a neat trick, it was written in the book that Cassandra gave me.
You just had to expel a thin layer of mana from yourself with an image of being clean, or expel dirt and it would naturally push off everything your body didn¡¯t consider a part of you.
It explained why they didn¡¯t have baths, yet were always sparkly clean. You just had to remember not to do it with your clothes on.
While I was idly musing to myself I saw Lyria was heading for the door.
I hadn¡¯t left the house for almost two weeks now. I really wanted to stretch my legs and see the city.
¡°Hey Lyria, where are you going?¡±
She turned around while giving me a beautiful smile.
¡°I¡¯m going to visit the monastery. I haven¡¯t been there for some time, with everything that happened lately.¡±
Bashfully looking at her I asked.
¡°Could I come with you? I really want to see the city, and would be nice if you could show me around.¡±
¡°I would love to.¡±
Beaming me a smile she skipped towards the rack grabbing a cloak for me.
A couple of weeks ago she would always be so shy and timid around me. It was good to see her so happy and bubbly with me now.
Walking out on the street I enjoyed the sight around me. Lyria was pointing out the shops, her favorite street food. And ofcourse things I should avoid, like back alleys and rovdie looking crowds and other things i should avoid and who to steer clear of.
I had my cloak pulled over my head and made sure that I was as inconspicuous as possible. I didn¡¯t want to have an incident like at the tavern happening again.
After a few minutes of walking we came outside a grand building, it was an alabaster white cathedral that would put cathedrals back on earth to shame.
While I was thinking it was our destination we went straight past it and towards a brick building a few blocks away.
¡°Here we are.¡±
Lyria said while pointing at it.
¡°This is the monastery dorm, it¡¯s also an orphanage.¡±
Following her inside I saw her greet a plump looking older woman in priestly garbs.
¡°Ho ho, why isn¡¯t it little Lyria. We haven¡¯t seen you here for a couple of months.¡±
¡°Sorry Mother Eris, we took an extensive mission that took awhile and a lot of things happened.¡±
¡°Nonsense, nothing to be sorry about. The kids have missed you though, you should go and greet them.¡±
Smiling at Lyria she ruffled her hair before turning towards me.
¡°And who do we have here? Did you make up with your brother little Lyria?¡±
Shyly smiling she looked down while muttering.
¡°No this is Alex his ehhhm.¡±
Not managing to actually admit what we were I stepped up while grabbing her hand.
¡°I¡¯m Alex, her man. It¡¯s nice meeting you.¡±
Eris put her hand in front of her mouth while her eyes went wide open for a second.
¡°Oh my. Ho ho ho, I¡¯m sorry Lyria my mistake. I guess your not so little anymore.¡±
She laughed while clapping Lyria on her back.
When we stepped into the backyard there was throng of kids playing around. When a girl turned and noticed Lyria she quickly yelled while running towards her.
¡°LYYRIIIAAA!¡±
The other children turned and did the same, a cacophony of voices burst out while I could only pick out tidbits here and there.
¡°Tell us about your adventure.¡±
¡°Did you bring candy?¡±
They were crowding her while she was smiling and ruffling heads telling them about her adventures.
¡°This seems like a good place, everyone looks happy.¡±
I mused to Eris.
She smiled gently.
¡°It wasn¡¯t always like this, but Captain Eris donations made life a lot easier for us. Don¡¯t tell Lyria, she wanted to keep it a secret from her.¡±
I looked confused at the old caretaker, it seemed weird she would share a secret like that.
¡°Why tell me then?¡±
¡°Ho ho ho. Don¡¯t mind me, just my feeble old mind forgetting itself.¡±
She looked coyly at me with a slight smile on her lips.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Letting the subject drop I just looked at the spectacle of Lyria playing with the children.
It didn¡¯t take long before they saw me standing next to Eris and some inquisitive girls jogged over.
¡°Who are you?¡±
¡°I¡¯m Alex, what¡¯s your name?¡±
¡°I¡¯m Allie, you talk weird.¡±
It was funny how brazen small children could be, they really didn¡¯t mince words. I still had a distinct accent it seemed, well it was to be expected with how little time I spent here.
The other girls that came up were looking shyly at me while one blurted.
¡°Wow pretty guy, would you play with us?¡±
I couldn¡¯t help but laugh, they were so innocent and forward.
Lyria noticed what was happening and came over.
¡°They aren¡¯t bothering you Alex?¡±
¡°No no, it¡¯s fine.¡±
The children that where with Lyria plus those that had come over instantly started to barrage her again.
¡°You know this pretty big brother?¡±
Lyria smiled with a slight blush before saying.
¡°Yes, his with me¡±
¡°Your friend?¡±
¡°No I''m her man¡±
I replied, wanting to see their reaction.
¡°Ooooooh. Woooow¡±
There was a storm of gasp while most of them stared at me and Lyria with their mouths wide open.
¡°What?¡±
¡°How?¡±
¡°Tiny Lyri got such a pretty boyfriend?¡±
I could see she got a slight smile before she pouted at all the kids that were throwing shade at her.
¡°Hey, I¡¯m bigger than all of you.¡±
Lyria refuted.
¡°Nuuu uuh. Your old and small, when I grow up I''m gonna be big and strong like empress Valeria!¡±
A boisterous little girl humphed while putting her hands on her hips and puffing her chest out.
Smiling at their antics I stepped behind Lyria and hugged her.
¡°I like your size, you look so cute that I want to snuggle you all day.¡±
Lyria got a blush on her face while shyly smiling and looking down.
The kids went on their second spree.
¡°Kyyyyaaa¡±
¡°I¡¯m small too.¡±
Going through cute cries and some of them blushing while other where blatantly pointing at us with shock in their eyes.
¡°His so brazen.¡±
¡°I¡¯m jealous¡.¡±
That last voice came from another caretaker, this one was slightly masculine and looked slightly older than us.
¡°Hey Lyria, I see that you''re back.¡±
Lyria smiled brightly at the new arrival.
¡°Hey Lisandra. Is everything okay at the clinic? Do you need any help?¡±
Lisandra smiled back at Lyria while shaking her head.
¡°No we are doing fine without you, It¡¯s been peaceful lately. Old lady Nira misses you though, you should visit her sometime.¡±
They went and talked about old times while I was swamped with the kids.
It was nice relaxing and getting my mind of training. I still got tired in the end by the boundless energy all children have.
The cocky girl that claimed to grow up into a powerhouse even offered me a spot in her future harem.
After a couple of hours we went back home, Lyria took a different route back so she could show me more of the city.
We even picked up some snacks on the way from street vendors.
On the way back I asked something that was on my mind.
¡°I only saw small girls there. Why?¡±
Lyria looked sad while answering.
¡°Boys will always get snatched up if they become orphans, and a lot of girls back there where dumped by their families cause they were to small. They are deemed too weak too work and help the household. So poor people will dump them and even sometimes sell the boys they get.¡±
This world really was different from back home. But the fact that they could be so happy after everything they experienced showed how good that place was.
I took Lyrias hand in mine and we walked silently the reminder of the journey home.
***
Nyla was moping while sitting in the dining room. It has been almost two weeks since Alex awakened, but that wasn¡¯t what was bothering her.
Inara saw that her friend was brooding about something and sat down next to her.
¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±
¡°Nothing...¡±
She said sadly.
¡°Come on, you can tell me. You know ill help you out.¡±
After hesitating a little bit she started talking.
¡°Well I haven¡¯t made any progress with Alex at all¡ I can¡¯t be assertive as you, and even Lyria became really close with him. But I just don¡¯t know what to do, what to say...¡±
Inara got a pondering look on her face.
¡°But don¡¯t you train almost everyday with him In the backyard, plus you had all those language lessons with him.¡±
Nyla sighed exasperated.
¡°That¡¯s the problem, if I got a subject to talk about than I know what to say. But outside the lessons or helping him train I¡¯m drawing blanks¡ I just don¡¯t know how to act around him or what to talk about. I just default into silence and ultimately nothing happens...¡±
Inara looked thoughtful on her companion.
¡°Well. I know I say this a lot but, you should have more confidence in yourself and just act like you usually would with us. It¡¯s the best advice I can give you. You shouldn¡¯t be scared of Alex, he really doesn''t act like a guy anyway. Sometimes it feels like he is more like one of the girls...¡±
Nyla looked pleadingly at Inara.
¡°But don¡¯t you have something concrete, maybe a trick or something I could talk about or do?¡±
Inara sighed while looking at her.
¡°How about I talk to Alex for you?¡±
Nyla looked horrified at her.
¡°NO! What if he thinks I''m weak or scared if I can¡¯t even speak for myself...¡±
¡°Then show him your not scared. Ask him what he thinks of you next time you train together, or just tell him you want to sleep with him like I did. It worked for me.¡±
Nylas face went tomato red, it even felt like steam was rising from her ears.
¡°That¡¯s too forward, I can¡¯t do something brazen like that. I just wanted maybe another kiss and act cozy with him like you and Lyria does sometimes...¡±
Inara looked amused at her.
¡°Didn¡¯t you ask for tips in bed earlier?¡±
Nyla hesitated a little before answering.
¡°Well yes, but that was for the future. I still want to do this properly and take it a step at the time.¡±
¡°If you''d like I could give you the whole run down, what he likes and everything.¡±
Inara was wiggling her eyebrow while having her mischievous smile on her face.
¡°Waaaaah, too much. I just want it simple and romantic and not make a fool out of myself.¡±
She pouted.
¡°Hahahaha, who knew you were so innocent. Your really missing out.¡±
Inara laughed while clapping her on the back.
¡°If it¡¯s like that then just act like yourself, and maybe try giving him a hug. You¡¯ll be surprised how friendly he is.¡±
Winking at Nyla, Inara gave her last advise before standing up and leaving the room.
Chapter 16
Sitting outside I was going to try something new. My manipulation has improved over the weeks, but it¡¯s still an excruciatingly slow process.
I still gathered mana at a slow trickle, and I can only make it flow like a viscous sludge clogging through a pipe.
My biggest problem though is my lack of understanding.
The only thing I could remember that has any effect on space is gravity.
And the best example is black holes that scientists claim even have space-time anomalies the closer you get to them. The sheer mass and gravitational pull from them is enough to distort reality itself, according to some theories.
So my plan is simple since a part of this is hocus pocus based on images and intent. I''m going to try invoking the most powerful image I can think of and hope it will increase my paltry gathering speed at least. I hope that my understanding on what a black hole is sufficient enough that it actually has an effect.
Focusing my mind completely on making an image of a black hole, I try to encapsulate everything I know about them. Concentrated mass of preposterous proportions, a gravitational pull that is stronger than light itself. I remembered some of the feelings from my awakening and I was focusing on the pulling and pressure part that I felt. It should pull everything around it towards itself while having an earth-shattering pressure at its core. The closer you get to it the stronger the pull, and when you get into its event horizon there is no turning back.
Creating that image was easier said than done. The picture wasn¡¯t clear in my head and I could feel it¡¯s instability. But the slight increase in space mana that I was pulling showed that it was a success.
I felt a strain on my mind after a couple of minutes, and when I came out of it I was drenched in sweat.
Smiling to myself from my progress and joy of achieving what I set out for, kinda.
The exertion from my attempt was vastly more than my gains, but it showed me that I was on the right track. Before I was completely lost on what space was. I still am, but now I have an avenue to explore and improve.
Standing up I decided to do some physical training while my mind rested. I really wanted to take a break for today, but I wouldn¡¯t make any progress if I was content with every minor success or stopped for any drawbacks for that matter.
¡®A healthy body behests a healthy mind, or something like that.¡¯
I thought to myself while doing push-ups in the garden.
When I was feeling the burn in my muscles I tried to invigorate them with mana, it helped me push out a dozen more than I could without. But it exacerbated my headache while making me dizzy.
Guess I had overexerted my soul, I wasn¡¯t used to the drain my new image put on me.
Standing up i was going inside when I saw Nyla stepping out to train, she looked embarrassed at my bare chest. I didn¡¯t like sweating in the rough linen shirt, I didn¡¯t really like to wear it at all. It was so rough¡
Since it was so warm out anyway I decided to just go shirtless from now on when I would train in the sun. The looks I got from the girls seemed like an added bonus.
She shuffled where she stood before hesitantly said.
¡°You''re done for now?¡±
¡°Yeah, I tried something new. Was very tiring.¡±
Nyla deflated a little while nodding and going outside.
I was curious about her reaction, but with my headache the only thing on my head was going inside and taking a nap.
***
Cassandra had just come home after visiting the guild. She saw a very lucrative mission posted and was ready to hit the road again.
The group had gotten way too comfortable relaxing at home with Alex, they would lose their edge if they didn¡¯t hone themselves in real combat. Those two extermination missions they took were close to the city and weren¡¯t meant for veterans as there aren¡¯t any real threats that close. Just some vermin goblin infestations getting too close to the farms.
The real deal is in the danger zones that have higher mana concentration.
Monsters and treasures can¡¯t grow in populated spaces where the mage tower had siphoned most of the mana so that it would be livable for regular people, plus power the city-wide arrays and their experiments.
If it wasn¡¯t for those advancements humanity wouldn¡¯t be able to expand towards the
endless forest. Creating new opportunities and frontiers.
Calling a meeting with the rest of the crew.
¡°Our vacation has been long enough, there was a mission posted about a new cave with earth crystals recently discovered. They needed an extermination squad that could clear out the cave for any monsters residing there.¡±
¡°Where is it?¡±
Inara asked.
¡°It¡¯s towards westridge plateau, they are sending a preliminary party that will set up camp and prepare the whole endeavor. I got us in as a part of the escort group and took the extermination mission at the same time. The reward is very generous since there has been a shortage of earth crystals lately.¡±
Nyla was nodding along ready to get going, she was eager to get her blood pumping again.
Inara and Lyria looked more hesitant.
¡°But this mission would last at least three weeks.¡±
Inara spoke up with some reservations.
¡°This mission should be easier than the last one we took to the forest, and it pays even better. We can¡¯t sit at home on our laurels, if we stop now we are never getting up to elite status.¡±
Cassandra refuted Inara while looking reproachfully at her and Lyria who were clearly not enticed.
¡°What¡¯s wrong, you would have jumped in seconds on this opportunity before.¡±
Lyria hesitantly answered.
¡°But what about Alex, he isn¡¯t completely set in yet. Wouldn¡¯t it be good to take a few more easy missions and do the harder ones after he is more comfortable with the language and city?¡±
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
Cassandra could only sigh at her.
¡°He has to take care of himself sometimes anyway, it¡¯s better he gets used to our lifestyle early. We are leaving tomorrow, this is an express mission. You can spend today setting everything up.¡±
Lyria and Inara resigned themselves, this should be an exciting opportunity but they still sulked.
Inara even muttered to herself.
¡°Not fair, tomorrow is my turn...¡±
Cassandra could only shake her head while getting up from her seat.
¡°I¡¯m going to pack and get everything ready. I suggest you do the same.¡±
They were getting way too mushy for her liking, she had to whip them into shape on this foray.
***
Lyria was frantic after the meeting, there was so much to do.
This was honestly the best mission they ever gotten so it was understandable that Cassandra picked it without discussing it with them.
An express mission was a hot commodity that got snatched up the second they were posted for their lucrative bonuses.
She still didn¡¯t feel comfortable leaving Alex at home alone so soon. He was barely acquainted with the city and being left alone for up to a month was a long time. So many things could happen.
Lyria was packing as fast as she could while getting everything she needed ready.
She didn¡¯t have time to waste, it was important to teach and show Alex everything he needed to know before the day ended. There was just to little time. Why didn¡¯t she do this earlier, she was lost in the moment and completely neglected to prepare him for this possibility.
She always knew that they would get back to their usual routine someday, but it came to fast.
While worrying her heart out she stormed out of the room towards the backyard where he was usually training at this time of day.
Coming outside she saw him sitting shirtless in the sun meditating, there was a slight distortion flickering around him at random intervals. She lost herself for a moment looking at his bare body that was glistening in sweat.
¡®No focus, you can enjoy him tonight. This will be the last time for a while though...¡¯
¡°Alex¡±
He opened his eyes when he heard her voice, he visibly grimaced while putting his hand on his head.
Lyria worriedly ran up to him seeing him like that.
¡°What''s wrong? What happened?¡±
Giving her a strained smile.
¡°Nothing, I¡¯m working on new image for space.¡±
So that was what the distortion was, but it seemed like it was in its infantile state with how unstable and minuscule its effect was. It was still extremely impressive that he was moving so fast in his training, most waited a year before they had enough clarity and understanding for an image to manifest.
¡°You shouldn¡¯t force an image so early, especially for space. Building up a reserve of space mana that can reinforce the image would make it a lot easier and without the headaches, if it¡¯s properly done.¡±
He bashfully scratched his head while muttering.
¡°But it¡¯s so slow without¡ Anyway what¡¯s up?¡±
Again he talked in his weird terms, couldn¡¯t he just say what¡¯s going on or something¡
¡°We took an extensive mission, it will likely take over three weeks to complete...¡±
He looked surprised for a second before asking.
¡°Can I come along, it seems like a long time.¡±
Shaking her head she looked sadly at him.
¡°No we can¡¯t bring people on this expedition, besides it¡¯s too dangerous.¡±
He shifted in his pose while looking uncertain.
¡°I¡¯m going to show you around the city again, we can also go to the monastery and if you¡¯d like you could stay there as well. I think it would be better than being alone at the house for so long...¡±
While explaining her plan Inara burst through the door.
¡°Alex!¡±
She dramatically yelled out his name before seeing Lyria standing there with him and slowing down.
¡°Ohhh, Your already here.¡±
¡°Yeah, I just told him.¡±
Inara nodded to Lyria before looking unusually stoic.
¡°You have to stay away from ruff women, if they give you trouble ignore them and walk away. Don¡¯t walk in deserted streets or shady looking parts of town. Never go inside an alley and never ever go outside when it¡¯s night time.¡±
She continued peppering him like a concerned parent with an innocent teenage girl that would stay alone at home for the first time.
After she barraged him with everything she could think of.
¡°Damn it, why don¡¯t we have reliable friends that could take care of him while we are gone...¡±
Grumbling to herself Inara was pacing around getting more worried for every scenario she laid out for Alex.
¡°Actually I thought about letting him stay at the monastery while we are away, I think it would be good for him to be around people so he can practice Valerian and not be stuck alone.¡±
Inara looked thoughtfully at Lyria.
¡°Yeah, that doesn''t sound like a bad idea. It¡¯s not like those chaste priestesses would try something funny.¡±
Nodding to herself Inara was again making her own plans in her head, muttering to herself.
¡°And then I know who to blame if anything happens.¡±
Lyria was horrified when she caught what she said.
¡°No Inara! You''re not doing anything, and nothing is going to happen.¡±
Lifting her hands in defense.
¡°No I was just joking, relax.¡±
Inara awkwardly laughed while waving her hands in denial.
Lyria could only take a page out of Cassandra''s book and sigh at her.
¡°Sometimes I wonder what goes through your head¡ I¡¯m sorry Alex, I would¡¯ve liked for us to stay at home for a few weeks longer, but duty calls.¡±
"It''s okay I understand."
Alex answered sadly.
Inara decided to tag along with them, they went from the house and towards the monastery while Inara and Lyria tried to point out anything that might be relevant for his stay alone.
They pointed out the stores and taught him what things where worth, the money was copper coins, silver, gold and lastly mana crystals. It traded ten for one and crystals had several grades as well, but crystals were mostly used for runic gear or resources. Only things pertaining to the gifted would cost in mana crystals usually.
Eris was really open about letting Alex stay with them. She said it would be nice to have a guy around for once.
When they were getting back home towards the evening Inara couldn¡¯t keep her big mouth shut.
¡°Hey, how about we go for a threesome tonight.¡±
She was wiggling her eyebrows while saying it.
¡°What? No! How can you be so shameless.¡±
Lyria was feeling exasperated with her now, looking at Alex for help she felt shocked that he was looking intensely at Inara while his nostrils flared, before he looked pleadingly towards her.
When he noticed the incredulous look she gave him he coughed while looking embarrassed.
¡°Sorry Inara, maybe another time.¡±
Oh my god, he was just as shameless as Inara, how could a guy be so frivolous.
Well he did jump her the first time he saw her naked.
¡°But this will be the last time in a while, you would have joined if it was my turn.¡±
Inara pouted.
¡°It wouldn¡¯t have come up if it was your turn.¡±
She felt slightly bad about shutting down Inara like that, since she planned to thoroughly enjoy herself tonight, but just slightly.
Chapter 17
Waking up the next morning I was feeling melancholic.
Lyria was already gone, I guess I slept too deeply for them to just run off like that. They said that they would set out on dawn, they wanted to make good time and not waste any sunlight.
This would be the longest time spent apart from the girls, and I really became enamored with them. Just remembering how assertive Lyria was last night, she was a different person in bed compared to her usual shy persona. Last night she took it to another level, it was as if she was savoring the experience and trying to make up for everything she would miss out on the trip. Well I guess she wasn¡¯t that shy with me anymore, but around other people she was still hesitant and cute.
I couldn''t help but get a slight smirk on my face remembering the little vixen.
When I came downstairs there was a note on the dining table.
¡®Alex I¡¯m sorry that we couldn¡¯t say goodbye, you were sleeping so soundly I didn¡¯t have it in me to wake you up.
We left the array key with you, it¡¯s on the table.
There is also a pouch with ten gold, silver and fifty copper coins next to it so you can buy food and other necessities.
I left a map of the city on the table. The house, relevant stores and the monastery are marked on the map.
Stay safe and try to cover your face whenever you go outside.
We will be back within a month I promise.
Lyria¡¯
Lyria was really worried about me staying home alone, it felt like I was a small child while the parents went on an extended business trip.
Looking down on the note I saw it had some scrawling on the backside.
¡®I¡¯m coming for that ass as soon as we come back.
Inara.¡¯
I had to laugh at her crude writing, both in form and function.
It was nice how Inara was back to her confident self after a couple of nights together.
She was over her issue and now was even more brazen than before, mostly because I encouraged her whenever she tried something.
After I ate my breakfast I decided to train in the backyard before visiting the monastery.
I had pondered as much as I could on my affinities, but unfortunately without the internet I really wasn¡¯t that knowledgeable about most things.
I can¡¯t understate how much I relied on my smartphone or computer for almost everything I knew. It wasn¡¯t that important to really understand or remember the details when everything was readily available at the tip of my fingers. I have seen a lot of documentaries and know a lot of general and inane knowledge, but those are more anecdotal in recollection. It¡¯s not real understanding if you just superficially know something from a couple of articles and maybe a documentary or two.
Feeling hamstrung on that front I could only work on my skills the good old fashioned way, practice. The things that I knew and wanted to try was still impossible anyway, because of my lack of abilities concerning mana in general. I was still a rookie, a couple of weeks wasn¡¯t enough to make me an expert in any sense of the word.
After a couple of hours of my routine training I finally left the house.
I considered staying alone at the house for a couple of days, but since Eris knew I was going to visit and stay with them I didn¡¯t want them to needlessly worry about me for not showing up.
Going towards the dorm I picked up a bag of meat skewers from a street vendor, it only cost 2silver for thirty of them. I had eaten them with Lyria on our first trip and they had a nice spicy flavor.
When I was getting close to the Cathedral I saw that there was a large congregation of people gathering outside.
Stepping closer to see what¡¯s going on I heard murmurings of saint Joseph visiting the premise, he was supposedly a big shot seeing everyone gathering here.
There was an excited buzz in the air like a rock star was going to step up on the stage.
The crowd kept growing and since I wasn¡¯t exactly comfortable being pushed around so that other people could get a closer spot I started to head out while listening to the people.
¡°Wow, we get to see Saint Joseph in the flesh.¡±
¡°I heard that he is considered as one of the top ten beauties in the kingdom.¡±
¡®Oh my god, this is more like a Japanese idol that lonely guys are drooling for rather than a rock star...¡¯
Having lost my curiosity I was heading out of the crowd.
¡°I never expected such a big shot would come to the frontier.¡±
Still picking up a few tidbits here and there I was out of the crowd when they started cheering.
Turning around in curiosity I saw a feminine man standing in a pristine white robe stepping out of the balcony and waving to the people while he was flanked by two old priestesses with elaborate robes.
I can admit that he was like a boy band pretty boy, and probably the best looking guy I had seen in this world. But that wasn¡¯t anything special, putting the whole ordeal out of my mind I left for the monastery.
Walking into the dour building I was greeted by mother Eris.
¡°It¡¯s good that you showed up, I was getting worried you got snatched up on the way.¡±
She gave me a jovial smile while nodding towards me.
¡°Hey Mother Eris, I was just taking my time. I brought snacks for the kids.¡±
Showing her the bag of skewers, it should be enough for everyone. I saw around twenty girls when I was here the first time.
¡°Hohoho, you shouldn¡¯t spoil them. They will expect something every time you come to visit like that.¡±
Smiling at her.
¡°It¡¯s fine, they looked cute being excited seeing Lyria last time.¡±
Going outside with my bag I was quickly swarmed by the rascals.
¡°Pretty big brother.¡±
¡°Is Lyri here?¡±
¡°What¡¯s that?¡±
I laughed at their boisterous reaction.
¡°Relax, I brought snacks. And my name is Alex, remember.¡±
They ignored the relax part when they found out I brought food, swarming me I had to get help from Eris to put them in order. I insisted they lined up before I would hand out anything.
Afterward Eris showed me to a modest room that I could stay in. When I had dropped off the few things I brought with me she gave me a tour of the place.
The entire building and its facilities were modest and spartan in its functions. There was a small mess hall that could room around forty people, with a simple kitchen in the bacl. They had a classroom with benches lined up for seats. Except for that the building was mostly dorm rooms with bunk beds that held 8 kids per room. And at the back they had an outhouse while a neighboring building at the side was their clinic.
When we entered the clinic it had a medicinal smell, it seemed like it wasn¡¯t just healing magic that they used here.
I greeted Lisandra who was there, she introduced me to their last member. A spindly girl that was walking around with dropped shoulders and long black hair lazily drooped over her head.
¡°This is Clara, she is our alchemist. She is a little anti-social but when you get to know her she is a sweetheart.¡±
Lisandra clapped Clara on her shoulder pushing her towards me from the corner she was skulking in.
¡°Uuuuh, hhhii. I¡¯mmm Cla ra.¡±
She stammered out while blushing when we came face to face.
¡°She is a little shy around new people, don¡¯t worry about her.¡±
Lisandra guffawed while Clara slinked away.
¡°Nice to meet you Clara.¡±
I waved towards her while leaving the premise.
This was where I was going to stay for a while.
***
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The trek towards the cave was mostly uneventful, it took them seven days to get to westridge plateau. While sitting down for a quick break Cassandra could see the logistic part of the team was already setting up a permanent outpost that was only a hundred meters away from the infamous cave.
The guard team was making a parameter, while the other team that was responsible for clearing the surrounding had already left the premise.
They were getting ready for their first foray into the depths. The scouting party that found it was attacked by cave hulks. They were big bipedal beasts that were a mixture of gorillas and ogres. They had the gait and elongated hands of a gorilla but looked more like stretched ogres with less fat on their stomach. Cave hulks variant also liked to dwell in the walls as they made indents in the caves that they snuggled into and while sleeping where complete indistinguishable from the walls with their hard earth like skin. They usually hibernate until they feel tremors trough their skin and ambush whatever intrudes into their domain.
It was an annoying foe to fight in the tight confines of a cave. As they were impossible to detect unless they were active, and they didn¡¯t like to attack until you were in range.
The cave variant wasn¡¯t the biggest of creatures as they became more compact to easier fit into their environment. But what they lacked in size they made up for in toughness and brute strength. And you could never call something that was almost three meters tall small anyway, it was only compared to marsh hulks or forest hulks that could grow up to five or even six meters.
It would still be an easier fight than the ones they had in the endless forest against the kril or reavers as it wasn¡¯t as fast and lacked ranged options, as long as they didn¡¯t get caught off guard that is.
Going over the information in her head Cassandra rallied up the party. Nyla was rearing to go, but both Inara and Lyria had been distracted whenever they stopped for camp.
¡°I hope I don¡¯t have to remind everyone on what to do and what to expect?¡±
Inara lazily waved her hand back and forth while unenthusiastically responding.
¡°Of course not, they are just some lumbering oafs that Nyla has to bait out and then we just chip it down. Easy peasy.¡±
Looking sternly at Inara Cassandra narrowed her eyes.
¡°You shouldn¡¯t underestimate hulks, they are still fast and deadly monsters. It¡¯s a reason they are classified as a class three threats like the kril and reaver.¡±
Shrugging her shoulders Inara lackadaisical attitude grated on her. She was really going lacks since Alex came into their lives. At least Nyla and Lyria were still properly training and taking their responsibility seriously. But Inara had started to daydream and slack around even after she admonished her.
Stepping up to forewoman Gina.
¡°We are heading into the cave, we will clear and secure a spot for you girls to prospect and mine within midday.¡±
Gina smiled at Cassandra while nodding.
¡°Good, I like your no-nonsense attitude. Now get to it.¡±
Gina was a gruff wide dwarf woman who was even more direct than most dwarfs.
They really didn¡¯t like beating around the bush and were always on point, telling things as they thought them with almost no filter.
They headed for the cave entrance in formation, Nyla was in front with Cassandra right behind and Lyria after her. Inara was holding the back as she shimmered into the background and disappeared.
The cave was spacious with a positive glow of energy flowing through it, it wasn¡¯t hard to see that it contained mana laden treasure inside. It had moss glowing a brownish-orange hue and a few stalactites on the roof filled with bats hanging on them. They didn¡¯t really care so much for them as Cassandra could easily dispatch a weak swarm with an aoe spell.
They had walked in complete silence, it was a slow trudge with Cassandra sending cascading waves of detection spells inwards while Nyla was conspicuously ahead poking the walls periodically. It wouldn¡¯t do them any good rushing this. As a cave hulk with that much earth mana in its vicinity would be sturdier than normal, even having a chance of awakening an ability on top.
Hearing a rumbling ahead a swarm of bats flew towards them.
Cassandra was prepared for this eventuality and quickly cast a firestorm in the air, it wasn¡¯t at its strongest, but for this kind of critters it was more than enough.
Lyria had already cast a weak shield on all of them that would protect them from the billowing heat that rose in the air.
When the firestorm and bat corpses dropped to the ground a boulder launched itself on Nyla, it had stirred the bats with its presences before launching itself at its prey.
This wasn¡¯t unheard of that monsters had instinctively learned to take advantage of their environment, so they weren¡¯t taken flatfooted by its sudden appearance.
Nyla visible grew to almost matching it in height of two and a half meters, but it was still over twice as wide, and probably weighed over two tons. The sheer force of their collision shook the cave, but such a place was severely reinforced by its ambient mana. It would take more than a hulk to actually invoke any sort of collapse or real damage to the cave at this point.
Being forced several meters backward while her shield billowed darkness on the contact point, she didn¡¯t even have the chance to counter-attack as she needed both hands on her shield to keep the monster from overpowering her.
The rest of the crew wasn¡¯t idle Inara appeared behind the hulk and did a flurry of blows to the back of its knees. She had equipped a mace that could bash and impair its movements, it was pointless trying to cut through its hard rock-like skin.
Lyria was enhancing Nyla with all her might, supporting her front-line with as much power as she could.
While Cassandra herself was building up a sun lance that could penetrate the prodigious defense a cave hulk sported. It wouldn¡¯t be as quick and easy as downing a kril.
The monster bellowed a thunderous roar that sounded like grating rocks it shook their bodies to the core, it had a special quality to it that scraped their ears and blew out their hearing.
Lyria who had the weakest body even had blood seeping from her ears while she cast a healing spell on all of them.
Cassandra was just about ready to launch her spell, but she couldn¡¯t call out for Nyla and Inara to move away. She kicked a rock at Nylas back who quickly got the memo and disengaged from the fight, the hulk turned towards the pesky fly the was constantly barraging all its joints. But Inara would never stay in front of her foes and made like the wind as soon as she was its main focus.
Unleashing her full force on the beast the light was even more intense inside the enclosed space, the rocky ground close to its feet was bubbling and close to going molten.
The monster was still standing it had a gaping hole in its chest, but it still stood and radiated pure killing intent while pure hatred suffused its eyes. It roared while rushing towards Cassandra, Nyla slammed into the hulk from the side crashing it into the wall.
The hulking monster had problems standing up after all the damage it sustained, and it didn¡¯t get up when Inara plunged her sword into the open wound that left its entrails exposed.
If this was the level of monsters in the cave, it might take them longer than planned to clear everything out. It had actually gained a concussive roar that could affect them through their mana enforced bodies.
¡°Good job, start harvesting the hulk while I and Nyla make sure nothing untoward comes our way.¡±
Wiping her head of sweat Inara exhaled.
¡°This was a big girl, it was sturdier than I thought. Good thing we have you.¡±
Smiling towards Cassandra she casually went towards the monster.
¡°Don¡¯t relax yet. We still haven¡¯t gotten to an earth crystal deposit, and we still need to secure a space for the workers within four hours.¡±
This day was far from over.
Chapter 18
It wasn¡¯t exactly peaceful living in an orphanage, the kids would pester me when I tried to train outside. So I ended up meditating in my room most of the day, and do my training in the evening when the kids were inside.
I had cooped myself in my room way too much the last week and decided to spend some time outside and maybe take a gander around the town later.
Going outside I saw the children were having a lesson with a gentle-looking old lady, she would have been a looker in her earlier days. Which means she was probably harassed for looking weak.
Coming closer to listen she was showing them how to sew while telling stories about regular people and other vocations.
There were examples of barmaids and shop keepers, stable girls and farmers, cleaners and cooks. The stories convened hope and decent life that regular people lived and their importance to society.
While I was musing about the stories and watching her expertly sew a shirt at the same time Mother Eris stepped up to me.
¡°Nira comes around sometimes to help the children.¡±
I turned towards the caretaker while cocking my head.
¡°Is she the one that Lisandra mentioned to Lyria?¡±
¡°Yes, she was a seamstress that hurt her hand and couldn¡¯t afford any healing. Lyria healed her when she visited her shop to buy some clothes for the kids. She was always a sweet girl that would help anyone in need.¡±
Nodding and smiling at Lyrias story I could easily imagine her concerned face turn serious while she cast her healing.
While I was turned towards Eris I heard a frustrated cry coming from the rumbustious future powerhouse.
¡°It seems like not every child is happy with the lesson. Rina is looking peeved sitting with her needle over there.¡±
Eris shook her head while gently explaining to me.
¡°It¡¯s true that around ten percent of the population has the talent to become something magical, but almost all of them come from gifted parents and nobles. The children here are mostly from poor regular families and it would be a miracle for any of them to awaken. It would be better if they could learn some skills for their future and not pin all their hopes on something outside their reach.¡±
She looked sadly towards Rina who was always proclaiming herself as the next hero.
I could only sigh on the brutality of life, in this world I was one of the lucky ones. It could be said I was one of the lucky ones back at home as well, but I still wasn¡¯t thrilled with my station both back at home and here.
There was still a long way to go before I could live up to my new expectations, at least here I had wonderful company and hope for the future.
I was really missing my nights with the girls after a week, getting used to and learning each other''s preferences made it more enjoyable as time went on.
Shaking my head as my mind went into the gutter I decided to take a look around town and maybe buy some sweets for the kids. I haven¡¯t really spent that much time with them for the last two days.
Waving goodbye to Eris I went inside to grab my cloak before stepping outside the monastery.
Taking a deep breath I looked around the street, it was still weird walking around the town. Seeing the exotic sights of unusual beast and different races, in truth they were mostly humans and it didn¡¯t help that it was dominated by women. It was weird seeing so few guys out in the street, and I couldn¡¯t remember seeing a guy walking alone. Well maybe they were like me and hiding who they were to dodge unwanted attention.
Walking towards a nearby bakery, the sweets were mostly baked goods with some local sweetener and berries. It wasn¡¯t exactly the same as back home, at least not the ones I have come in contact with.
I was wondering if I should extend my foray or just do a short trip, there wasn¡¯t really anything I wanted to do or see per sey.
Being lost in my own thoughts I bumped into someone.
¡°Hey, watch it peep squeak. Before I crush you.¡±
A gruff voice sounded down on me, it was from a monstrous woman that had scars on her face.
Ducking my head down.
¡°Sorry.¡±
Hearing my voice she grabbed my shoulder.
¡°Hey now, why are you in such a hurry? Shouldn¡¯t you show some sincerity and show your face when you apologies?¡±
She had a leer on her face and an iron grip on my shoulder.
¡°I¡¯m in a hurry, my apologies.¡±
I mumbled while trying to extract myself out of this predicament.
Huffing she grabbed my cloak and pulled it off, her smile only grew wider when she saw my face.
¡°Now why is such a pretty little thing walking around the streets alone? Why not let big sis here take care of you?¡±
¡°I already have a family.¡±
¡°Well I don¡¯t see them anywhere.¡±
This was getting ridiculous, she wouldn¡¯t take no for an answer and I was running out of polite ways to refuse.
Remembering how the girls would emit some kind of pressure in these types of situations I could only try to imitate. I focused on my black hole image and tried to point its pressure directly on her.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
There was a slight distortion a few centimeters from my body, but she pulled her hand away from my shoulder as if it scalded her. Her eyes went wide with shock while she stepped back. She looked scared around herself before quickly bailing.
The street around me went quiet for a second before the people started to murmur and pointing at me, it was really discerning how they reacted.
A strong looking woman in leather armor came up to me while the commotion from my actions went on in the background.
¡°Hi, I¡¯m Natalie. Would you like an escort so the riffraff doesn''t bother you? I¡¯m a merc by the way.¡±
She gave me a confident smile with sharp eyes that looked directly at me.
¡°No I¡¯m fine, thank you.¡±
She looked uncertain for a second before getting her smile back.
¡°Come on, you will be pestered by lowlifes for the rest of the day if you walk around alone. Besides we gifted should help each other out, right?¡±
I could only sigh, this was another attempt to get close to me. It was a little flattering, but with the fact I already had my hands full with the most beautiful women I could ever imagine. I wouldn¡¯t waste both our time when random strangers tried to pick me up.
¡°I already have a family. They are doing a mission now, that¡¯s why I¡¯m alone. Besides I¡¯m on my way home anyway.¡±
Natalie clicked with her tongue before her smile went away and she walked away. Muttering something under her breath that I couldn''t quite catch.
This removed any intentions I had left in exploring the city, quickly buying a bunch of sweet breadsticks I hurried back to the monastery.
When I got back to the orphanage the girls were playing outside, Allie saw me and tentatively came towards me. She was usually beaming with curiosity and joy, but now she seemed uncertain.
¡°Are you mad at us?¡±
Looking quizzically at her I tilted my head while answering.
¡°No, why?¡±
¡°You haven¡¯t come out to play with us for the last two days. And you seemed miffed when we bothered you earlier...¡±
She was more mature than most other children, and she seemed more attentive as well. I pat her head while smiling at her, she was probably very cognitive towards people''s feelings after being abandoned.
¡°No, I¡¯m sorry I was just practicing and I got to caught up in it. Besides I¡¯m taking a break now, I even brought a present for you girls.¡±
Smiling at her I took out a breadstick and handed one to her. Her face lit up and she happily ate it while looking at me.
¡°What are you practicing? We saw you run around and thought you were playing. And later you just sat there with your eyes closed.¡±
She really was a curious child, she would always barrage me with different questions whenever we were together.
¡°Well the running was so I could become stronger and healthier, while the sitting still was me meditating and practicing my mana control.¡±
She looked at me with big shining eyes.
¡°Wow, could you show me some spells?¡±
Scratching the side of my head I looked at how excited she was.
¡°Well no, that¡¯s why I¡¯m practicing so I can learn to use them.¡±
¡°Oooh, but why do you want to get stronger? Guys don¡¯t need to be strong.¡±
Laughing at her childlike innocence I pat her head.
¡°Well I want to be strong so I can join Lyria on her adventures. Wouldn¡¯t it be more fun going around seeing the world with your loved ones, instead of just sitting home alone?¡±
She looked serious while thinking, before nodding in understanding.
¡°I know, you want to be like warrior prince Victor. I also would like to go on adventures, but Mother Eris is saying that it¡¯s better to find something else to enjoy.¡±
Ruffling her head, it wasn¡¯t easy knowing what to say to a child who was full of hope when it was unlikely to pan out.
¡°Here take another, but it¡¯s a secret okay?¡±
Winking at her while giving her another breadstick I called out to the other children.
It was still hard to get them lined up properly.
Playing cops and robbers, or monster and rabbit as they called it was a fun time. But after a while I taught them hide and seek before sneaking away.
Sitting under the sun in a corner of the compound I meditated on my image while trying to refine it and make it more stable. I still got headaches every time I did it, it miffed me that they still came in full force after all this time.
¡°You shouldn¡¯t force an image like that.¡±
I heard Mother Eris talking to me opening my eyes and looking quizzically at her.
¡°I¡¯m surprised that you have something like this, normally people don¡¯t have an image that exceeds their soulpower.¡±
¡°Sorry, I never heard anything about it being dangerous.¡±
¡°No very few people know about it. It¡¯s not like kids don¡¯t try to make a grand image of dragons, volcanoes or even the sun. But they are only making a cheap imitation with barely any understanding. You on the other hand actually have some substance behind it, I can see it with the random fluctuations that have an oppressive quality to it. That¡¯s also the problem, you can''t keep a stable control of it while the power fluctuations are all over the place. When they hit their highs they put a strain on your soul that can be detrimental to your future. You have an understanding of whatever you''re trying to create, but its only tentative with some critical holes in it. You either need to get a more powerful soul, or fix the holes in your knowledge to alleviate your problem. Before you manage that I suggest you take a step back on your image, its best to keep to what you know.¡±
Looking at Eris in a new light.
¡°I never knew you were so knowledgeable, even Cassandra never mentioned anything about it.¡±
¡°Hoho, It usually only happens when a master shares too much with some younglings. I used to teach at the main branch before, I was a big shot back in my days.¡±
Looking incredulous at the portly grandmother that humphed in pride, I couldn¡¯t help but disbelievingly say.
¡°Really?¡±
¡°Hohoho, not really. I was a teacher at the main branch, but I was only a regular instructor there. But I did come across a case like yours when a master grandparent shared too much with a prodigy from her family. It gave her knowledge beyond her capabilities without the full understanding.¡±
¡°Awww¡ I hoped maybe you could help then. I have an affinity for space, but it¡¯s so hard to understand, or even imagine how I¡¯m supposed to manipulate it.¡±
She looked thoughtfully at me.
¡°That¡¯s a tough one kiddo. I can¡¯t really help you with space as I was a teacher of the holy scriptures. And even then I can only teach those that are a part of the church.
With space if you don¡¯t have a master then the only options I can think of is joining the mage tower, or getting special access at the library.¡±
¡°How does the mage tower work? And I didn¡¯t know that their even was a library that contained that level of information.¡±
She cocked her eye upon the question.
¡°You must be from far away to not know any of this.¡±
I scratched my head while laughing nervously.
¡°Yeah, sorry I don¡¯t know a lot. I just got to this country a couple of months ago, I came from a place called Earth.¡±
¡°Erth? Never heard of it¡ Well to your question the mage tower would gladly accept any person who has space affinity especially a male like you. You would be taken in as an initiate for a year where you would live in their dorms and be cut off from the world. If you show talent you can get a master, but most just become common apprentices that only attend classes while doing their basic duties. The mage tower is an insular organization, when you join you become a part of them and cut off from your old family and life. The library on the other hand is open too all, but only the public section if you pay a membership fee. They also have an exclusive section that contains the theories of mana and techniques, plus other important subjects.
You have to have good connections or deep pockets to get access to the exclusive section. Outside that you need to become someone really special or do something extraordinary to have the chance of entering.¡±
Grimacing at the options she gave me, neither seemed viable to me. I refused to cut the girls out of my life for the mage tower, and I didn¡¯t have the ability to pursue the library option either.
¡°Do you have any tips on how I could train my soul faster?¡±
Eris shook her head at me.
¡°I doubt its anything you haven¡¯t heard before, its mostly practice and personal growth. How the soul truly works is beyond what we know. I can tell you that those with strong wills and confidence often makes it the farthest, but it¡¯s a fine line since those who are arrogant and overconfident are often the first to fall.¡±
Nodding towards Eris as thanks.
¡°Thank you for your help Mother Eris. I would have kept pushing myself without knowing it was detrimental without your advice.¡±
I guess I need to rethink my options going forward now.
Chapter 19
Sitting down in front of their tent Nyla was enjoying a well-deserved meal. They had been clearing out the cave for a week now, it had gone slower than intended. But that was to be expected when it was discovered that the whole cave complex was a lot bigger with higher levels of mana then anticipated.
¡°Hey slowpokes, since you aren¡¯t done with your mission. How about we help you out for a cut of the reward.¡±
Hera and her crew that was responsible for clearing the area for any dangerous animals and monsters were coming back to the camp for dinner as well. For some reason she decided to swoop by their location.
Inara looked miffed towards them.
¡°Stop dreaming, you guys would die if we let you inside. Go hunt some rabbits in the bushes instead of bothering us.¡±
Hera was a rugged looking woman with scars crossing her face, she was getting up in the years. She wasn¡¯t happy with us since she was over thrice our age, yet we recently overtook her in rank.
¡°Heeeh, we aren¡¯t the ones who can¡¯t keep to our schedule. Do you think you can manage to get it done within the week before we are set to head back? I would gladly give you a hand for say, half the reward. Hahahaha.¡±
Laughing with her obnoxious raspy voice she was taking potshots at us since the first day.
Nyla was scrunching her eyebrows while flexing her fingers, they were itching to punch that smug smile off her face.
¡°You know that the cave ended up a lot bigger than projected, and with all the veins we found from silver and earth crystals made it an even a better site. Your just jealous of the bonus we are getting.¡±
Inara smugly refuted her, she knew exactly how to rile her up.
Scowling and humphing at Inara Hera refuted.
¡°Your only getting the bonus if you get the job done.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t worry about us old woman, we aren¡¯t old and washed-up as some.¡±
Gnashing her teeth she could only swallow her indignation, not coming up with any comeback she glared at Inara before spitting in disgust before going back to her own spot.
She was technically still young as she would live to at least two hundred years old unless something untoward happened to her, but the chance of her actually becoming an elite was getting smaller by the years.
¡°Nice one Ina, she was getting on my nerves.¡±
Nyla happily complimented her friend.
¡°She had it coming with how obnoxious she is. But it¡¯s harder then we thought, the lurkers were a nasty surprise.¡±
Inara replied.
Cassandra came into the conversation with a pale face Lyria behind her.
¡°I hope that taught you a lesson on vigilance and not relying on the guild info, your lucky Lyria managed to save you in time.¡±
Looking down with an embarrassed look.
¡°Yeah, sorry about that Lyri. I got complacent after we got in the groove of taking out the hulks...¡±
¡°It¡¯s okay I just overexerted myself a little.¡±
Nyla felt bad as well since she was the shield of the team she always felt responsible for her teammates safety. But those nasty bugs always jumped people from behind, launching out of their hiding holes when the prey was unaware.
Cassandra was looking seriously at Inara.
¡°Forewomen Gina gave us another five days to clear out as much as we can. I¡¯m planning to up the tempo, but I expect increased vigilance. Inara I will cut your bonus if you continue being careless.¡±
¡°What? But I was just unlucky last time.¡±
¡°You have been slacking the entire trip plus in your training back at home since we found Alex.¡±
Cassandra looked reproachfully at Inara while admonishing her.
¡°What''s the problem with not giving my full effort all the time? It¡¯s not like it hurt anyone, we have been going hard for so long. I just wanted a break.¡±
Inara looked defiant towards Cassandra while fuming herself.
¡°Are you crazy? No one got hurt this time! That won¡¯t be the case every time. How many rookies that started at the same time as us are still here? Remember Darcias team, they acted carefree like it was all a big adventure. Where did that end for them? You only started to take breaks after Alex came into our lives, I thought you wanted to go far. Show everyone that they were wrong about us, that we had it in us...¡±
Cassandra was yelling at the start of her rant but slowly lost steam the further she got. She sounded genuinely sad at the end.
Inara looked hurt upon Cassandra.
¡°I¡¯m sorry, okay? I still want to go further, it¡¯s just that we already made it farther than anyone expected of us. I didn¡¯t even think I would become anything before I met you¡
But now look at us, we are still young and already veterans. I know it¡¯s all because of you, I was just so happy and content last few weeks¡ Everything has been looking up for us lately, and they still are.¡±The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
Inara had a positive smile after her spiel. It reminded her of old times, and how far they come.
Nyla was standing at the side fidgeting, she was really worried when Cassandra started yelling. The last thing she wanted to be was for the group to form cracks, they had been dedicated and on the same page for so long now. Good thing that it didn¡¯t escalate into anything major.
Cassandra sighed, but she got a slight smile on her lips.
¡°Good, I expect that you pucker up and start taking this seriously again.¡±
Inara fidgeted a little when Cassandra said that, she got a tentative look on her face before opening her trap again.
¡°But I think we have earned a little break after all these years.¡±
When Cassandra glared at Inara she quickly shook her hands while clarifying.
¡°No no, I don¡¯t mean right now. I¡¯m gonna give this mission it¡¯s full attention, no more relaxing or mistakes. It¡¯s just when we get back we don¡¯t have to run off to everything we find all the time¡¡±
She lowered her head at the end, not managing to handle Cassandras glare.
Lyria was the one who came to Inaras rescue while Cassandras brows continually scrunched up.
¡°Cassy, Ina is right. We have gone hard for the last six years, it would be good for us to take it easy sometimes. With Alex coming into our lives this should be a good opportunity to take it slower for a couple of months. We get a much-needed break, plus help him get set into his new life.¡±
While Lyria was looking pleadingly towards Cassandra she could only sigh. She put her forefinger and thumb between her eyes while closing them. It looked like she was staving off a headache.
After a few seconds she opened them again while breathing out, looking towards Nyla.
¡°What do you think Nyla? Do you agree that we should take a break?¡±
The stares concentrated on her from the whole party made her nervous. She didn¡¯t know what to say since she was uncertain herself. She could see where both sides were coming from and didn¡¯t want to disappoint either side.
Gulping she tentatively opened her mouth.
¡°Well¡ We could maybe sign up for the fighting pits when we get back? It would be good practice and break from long trips at the same time?¡±
In the end she went with her own wish, she still wanted tough fights. It didn¡¯t have to come from dangerous missions.
Inara couldn¡¯t help but laugh.
¡°Hahaha, I can¡¯t believe you¡¯re such a meathead. You¡¯ve been wanting to join there for a while haven¡¯t you?¡±
Scratching her chin in embarrassment she could only meekly nod.
¡°Alright, we will have this discussion back at home. For now I expect all of you to fully focus on our current mission. And when it¡¯s all over and we are back, only then will we come to the bottom of this.¡±
Cassandra ended the current discussion with a rowing look on all of them, she lingered a couple of seconds longer when she came to Inara.
***
Damn after the discussion with Eris I was kinda bummed out. I thought I was unto something, but it seemed like I was trying to run before I even learned to crawl.
I was putting more focus on manipulating my internal cycle and physical training. While I was absentmindedly running I was trying to remember anything else I could about space and black holes or generally about physics that I learned so long ago¡
¡°BOOO!¡±
Rina jumped out in front of me trying to scare me, but since I wasn¡¯t paying attention I ended up crashing right into her.
I quickly hugged her while twisting us to the side so I didn¡¯t land on top of her. I was to abrupt in my movements and ended up twisting my ankle.
¡°Sorry, are you okay Rina?¡±
She had tears in her eyes while trying to look strong and unaffected.
¡°Heroes don¡¯t cry.¡±
I heard her mutter to herself.
Chuckling to myself I stood up while lifting her up with me. I grimace from the pain I felt in my right ankle though.
¡°Aah, your hurt. I¡¯m sorry, don¡¯t tell Mother Eris. We got to get you to Mother Lisandra.¡±
She became frantic when I grimaced and started to pull on my hand towards the clinic.
Taking me to the clinic it had a few people that were sitting there, an old couple and a mother with two kids. Lisandra was busy treating those that came and when she saw us I waved at her.
¡°It seems like your busy.¡±
She raised her eyes while looking at me.
¡°There are a couple of patients today. I didn¡¯t expect you to visit me here, what''s going on?¡±
¡°Nothing important, I sprained my ankle and Rina wanted to take me here. I''ll just walk it off no problem¡±
She smiled at me.
¡°Well you could go to Clara and get an ointment for it, they work wonders for small injuries.¡±
¡°Thanks, ill do that. She is in the back right?¡±
¡°Yeah¡±
Going to the back I knocked on the door.
I heard Clara call.
¡°Come in.¡±
Rina was the first to rush through the door.
¡°Clara you got to help¡±
¡°Relax I¡¯m working on an experiment here.¡±
She was handling some vials while turning around.
I moved closer in to look as I was curious about what she was working with.
¡°So what are you here fo¡ Yaaa!¡±
She jumped when she saw me standing close behind her when she turned around.
Spilling the content of her vials all over my shirt I was shocked and jumped back.
Luckily I didn¡¯t get any on my face and it was mostly on my shirt so I quickly pulled it off my head since I was scared it might be dangerous.
¡°I¡¯m sorry i-i-t-t¡¯s no-o-th-i¡.¡±
Claras face went deep red while she was apologizing, when she saw me pull the shirt off she went completely mute while her mouth opened and closed like a goldfish.
Rina did a cutesy cry at the same time.
¡°Kyaaaa, is this what a promiscuous guy is like?¡±
I forgot that me taking my shirt off was the same as a girl flashing her boobs in my world. And with the way Clara reacted it seemed even worse. I still wasn¡¯t used to the way people acted around guys here.
¡°Sorry Clara. You said it was nothing dangerous I hope?¡±
She was blankly staring at me while her eyes were big as saucers, I had to repeat myself while waving in front of her.
She meekly nodded before her knees buckled and she started to topple over.
I was quick enough to grab her by the waist and hold her up. When I grab her I could see her eyes roll back into the top of her head and she fainted.
¡®Well this is a mess¡''
Sighing and shaking my head I gently placed her on the floor while looking around for something to cover my self with. I didn¡¯t want to put on a shirt that was covered in unknown alchemical substances.
Finding a towel that I could wrap around myself I looked towards Rina.
¡°Could you get Lisandra, and maybe find something for me to wear? I don¡¯t want to startle anyone else.¡±
Rina was standing there with her hands in front of her face, but the fingers were spread and she clearly could see everything between them.
She quickly nodded like a woodpecker before running out of the room.
Sighing again I sat down on a chair while looking towards the fainted Clara.
It took a couple of moments before they came back.
¡°So what happened here?¡±
Lisandra asked while looking amused by my getup and not even batting an eye for her colleague that was lying on the floor.
¡°Well when we got here Clara got startled when she saw me and spilled whatever she was holding over my shirt, I quickly took it off since I was afraid of it being harmful. She didn¡¯t take that too well as me stripping was too much for her and she fainted.¡±
¡°Hahahahaha. I wish I could have seen it¡ Don¡¯t worry about Clara, this isn¡¯t the first time she got anemic from getting startled. She is a real delicate flower, hahaha.¡±
Lisandra was having a hoot over the situation, she came with a linen shirt for me that I gratefully took, she also found an ointment that she handed me.
¡°This is for your sprain, just rub some on the place you hurt. I''ll take care of this, you two should head out for now.¡±
¡°Thank you Lisandra, I¡¯m sorry for the trouble I caused¡¡±
She just smiled and clapped me on my shoulder.
¡°Nonsense, this will probably be the highlight of my week. You just brought some needed entertainment for my day.¡±
Laughing again she shooed us out of the clinic.
Chapter 20
Waking up I was ready to try out another idea I had, since it was premature for me to use my black hole idea I would try something else.
This was more for the technique aspect and strengthening. I remember the difference between graphite and diamonds was only the covalent bonds they had. Meaning that they were made from the exact same material, but the different way their covalent bonds was set made them diametrically opposed. One was a flaky dull matt material that was used in pencils, while the other was known for being the hardest and one of the most beautiful materials on earth.
Now I didn¡¯t actually remember how the diamond was setup, but I did remember the hype from graphene, and that had an extremely easy hexagonal single-layered design that made an extremely tough flexible light material that was an excellent conductor.
I was wondering how that would work with mana, as a lot of engineering was about how to maximize your materials. The same amount of metal could break under a hundred kilos or easily hold up several tons if it was structured properly.
My plan was simple I would first try to superimpose my mana over my body in a hexagonal grid with concentrated mana on the connections with a solid flow between them. It wouldn¡¯t be easy as my manipulation skills weren¡¯t up to par for doing it at the levels I intended, so at the start it would be a crude experiment.
The addition of a proper image and intention would come later. I also wanted to create a complete mana structure that properly overlapped and reinforced my bones, muscles and add a layer of it on my skin for protection, but that would all come later. My start would only try to simply create a structure of my body with a layer of hexagonal grids. I needed to make them as small as possible while trying to see if it had any positive effect or not.
Mixing my lifeforce with my soulforce I was sitting in a comfortable position while trying to create the intended result. I wanted to see if this would have a better effect than just marinating my body in mana.
Spending most of my day just sitting still and trying to get the right flow going was all that I managed, but I wasn¡¯t worried.
This was excellent practice as it was the hardest thing I had done with mana itself, and I didn¡¯t expect to suddenly succeed and become superman on my first attempt.
In the worst-case scenario this would be manipulation practice and in best I would create my personal technique.
I really wanted to sign up for the mercenary guild and get access to some real techniques. They might also have some incantations for space spells that I could use and study. But I would wait for the girls before I would go that route, it would be better to do it with them after I have some information and maybe some semblance of strength.
After I felt completely drained by my experiment I headed for the clinic. I wanted to see if everything was okay and wondered how Clara was doing.
Getting inside the clinic it was empty this late in the evening, there wasn¡¯t that much traffic here anyway.
Knocking at the side of the door.
¡°Hello? Anyone here?¡±
Lisandra stuck her head out of the side room, seeing me she smiled while waving.
¡°What brings you here today? You didn¡¯t get hurt again, or did you want to give us another show? Hahahaha¡±
Lisandra was a jovial person, always laughing and having a friendly smile on her face.
¡°No, I was just making sure everything was okay. I felt bad about the mess I caused here. Plus I wanted to see how Clara was doing.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t worry about her she is fine. But it should be fun seeing how she will react when she sees you again. Let''s go, she is in the back.¡±
Getting a bigger smile on her face she leads me back towards Claras workshop.
¡°Hey Clara, look who came to check up on you.¡±
¡°There is nothing to worry about Eris, I¡¯m fi¡.¡±
She was talking normally until she turned around and saw me standing next to Lisandra.
Freezing completely in her motion she stopped dead still with her mouth still open while her face grew a shade redder by the second.
¡°Hey, I¡¯m sorry for scaring you yesterday. I wanted to see if everything was okay, hope I didn¡¯t ruin your work¡¡±The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
¡°Hahahaha, It¡¯s fine she was trying to make some kind of skin cream or something. It doesn''t work at all since it just adds a layer above your skin that is smooth and shiny. By the way your shirt is over there if you want it back.¡±
Looking at the shirt that was drenched in alchemical fluids, it had a smoother look to it than it used to.
¡°So there is no problem with this?¡±
¡°No no, if you''re unsure about it just wash it or we can take it off your hands.¡±
Picking the shirt up it was smooth and felt nice to the touch, completely different from the rough feel that linen clothes had. It was smoother than cotton shirts back at home, but not quite like silk.
I was intrigued by it as I still wasn¡¯t completely used to the clothes I was using here.
Trying to rub the stuff off didn¡¯t work. The fabric had absorbed the substance and gave the shirt a completely new quality.
¡°Wow, this feels really good. Do you know if it¡¯s temporary or will it last like this for some time?¡±
Clara jolted when I turned towards her with my question. Fidgeting she was still red in the face and while lowering her head she stammered out.
¡°I d-o-n-n¡¯t kn-o-w-w, i-i-t w-w-a...¡±
¡°Oh my god, get it together woman. How can you be so timid...¡±
Lisandra got exasperated from the slow stammering Clara was pressing out. Looking towards me she continued for her.
¡°She was trying to make a healing cream that helped with small cuts and dry cracked skin with some cheaper ingredients so that it wouldn¡¯t be so expensive to make. This was her second or third attempt, and I haven¡¯t heard about it used on anything except for its intended use, so she probably doesn''t know. You should just wash it and see what happens.¡±
Shrugging her shoulders at the end Lisandra just shook her head towards Clara who was completely petrified in my presence after what happened yesterday.
¡°Well sorry again for yesterday, I¡¯ll try the washing thing and see what happens. Cya.¡±
Nodding towards them I headed out of the clinic.
Walking back towards my room I rubbed the shirt even harder trying to see if I could peel it off if I added some effort, it actually held. I had seen some better quality clothes on some rich and affluent people I saw, but I didn¡¯t really know how theirs compared to this. Well this was interesting, musing to myself I idly wandered back to my room.
***
¡°HULK BEHIND!¡±
Inara yelled out to her companions.
There was a hulk that ran into the fight, the lower reaches of this cave was insane. It kept stretching further down with the mana density constantly increasing.
Cassandra quickly cast a concussive flash in front of the hulk''s eyes while the party swerved. The monster kept rushing ahead like a freight train, but since Lyria and Cassandra had already moved out of its way it slammed into the wall with a deafening crash.
It bellowed its grating soul-crushing roar while Nyla was busy keeping their initial contact at bay while the whole party shifted.
They were fighting a humback centipede, it was a monstrous centipede that had long sickle forearms and a hump over its head that stored noxious acid that it sprayed on its foes. It was two meters wide and part of it was still outside their line of sight stretching around the roof from its hidey-hole, they couldn¡¯t see the whole length of the nasty bugger. It¡¯s glistening deep purple carapace was harder than metal and the razor-sharp mandibles could cut through regular steel like butter.
Inara knew she had to buy some time for the party and instantly moved towards the hulk. It was slightly faster and stronger than the first one they met in the cave complex, but they had gotten familiar with fighting them over time.
Inara threw a knife into it¡¯s blinking eyes while yelling at it.
¡°Hey you fat blob of shit, come get me!¡±
Smashing her mace into its groin, she quickly ducked under its two-handed grab that tried to crush the pesky bugger that was bothering it. Being thoroughly enraged it roared with pure hatred while staring death upon her and rushing her with its gorilla charge.
Inara jumped backward while making sure the hulk always had a clear sight of her, she was leading it towards the way they came from. She knew that direction was cleared of any beast or roaming monsters. In this case it was her job to keep the additional threat busy until the party could either disable or disengage from the initial fight.
She had to lure it towards a side path that was cleared out before, so the party had an open route back towards the surface. The last thing she wanted was to pincer her friends between two monsters if things went south.
Staying dangerously close to her foe she kept on edging it with slight dodges followed up with jabs towards any vulnerability she could reach, it wasn¡¯t about outpacing it or doing damage. It was mostly so that it would feel some pain and be close enough that it¡¯s focus never wavered from her.
Hearing a deafening crash from the other room she could only hope that it was a good thing. Inara had to quickly roll out of the way when the hulk leaped during her brief moment of inattention. It¡¯s following roar shook her core, but she had learned how to reinforce her ears and body against their type of sonic attacks.
She might have called them slow oafs at the start, but that was only compared to speed type creatures. Hulks really deserved the level three threat classification as she couldn¡¯t imagine an army of regular people would have a chance to hurt or even survive against this tank.
Getting it to the designated location she could finally start dishing out some hurt and not just jump around like a monkey.
Turning around she slipped under its huge stretched out arms while nicking it under its armpit. Before it could turn around she stabbed her sword into it¡¯s minuscule ear, like the rest of it the ear was a veritable fortress of rock-like hide and thick muscle that protected it from any forms of penetration. But it was still thinner with an entrance point for her edge to draw a sliver of blood. The hulk waved its arm backward in an arc trying to swat her out of the air, its breathing became more ragged from the rage while it turned around with its swing.
Giving it her predatory smile she chuckled while moving in again.
¡°Stupid oaf, you should have hid in your corner. Might have come out of this alive¡ Not.¡±
Widening her smile from her own joke she was ready for the long haul.
Chapter 21
Wearing my new favorite shirt I was ready to continue my training. Even after a few washing both in cold and hot water it was still smooth and held nicely. I even tried to rip a corner to compare durability against other linen fabric and it held up while the others would tear. It even got a slight elastic property that normal linen didn¡¯t have, it wasn¡¯t anything major but you could stretch it minutely.
I was planning to visit the clinic to ask about Claras experiment, it would be nice to have better clothes if it was viable.
Starting with light exercise before I would do my daily meditation and technique practice I saw that Nira was visiting the orphanage again. Cutting my training short I wanted to ask her about fabrics, since she was a seamstress.
¡°Hello, Mrs. Nira I presume.¡±
She was heading for the classroom, I assumed some of the kids were gathered there. Probably some of the older ones who were preparing to leave and start their own lives.
¡°Why hello young man. How can I help you? And you don¡¯t have to be so polite with little old me.¡±
Smiling an amused smile towards me she looked curiously at me.
¡°Sorry for bothering you, my name is Alex and I was wondering about clothes and fabrics so I wanted to ask you a few questions if that¡¯s okay?¡±
¡°Hmm, I was going to help some of the girls how to get work right now. But I guess we could talk after that, how about in the afternoon when I¡¯m done.¡±
¡°Yes that works fine for me, thank you.¡±
Making my appointment with Nira I left her for her business.
Well since I could find out more about fabrics later I should ask Clara how much it costs to make the substance itself. It was best to get this out of the way right now, I wouldn¡¯t gain anything from waiting around anyway.
Heading for the clinic I knocked on the door before entering.
¡°Hey¡±
Lisandra looked at me from the note she was reading at the desk.
¡°Hey Alex, what brings you here?¡±
¡°I wanted to ask Clara about the substance she made, this shirt is really nice and I was wondering how much it costs to make her experiment.¡±
¡°I doubt it would be worth it, as the material for the healing salve is magical in nature. So they cost a lot more than regular clothes.¡±
¡°What? Aww¡ Well now I feel bad about making her lose all of it like that. You didn¡¯t even ask for payment when you gave me the salve either.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, the experiment was a failure anyway. And the salve is one of the products Clara makes for the local shops. Alchemy is a really lucrative profession so giving you a little dash of salve won''t hurt us.¡±
¡°Okay, that¡¯s good to hear. Is Clara in the workshop?¡±
¡°Yeah, I can call her for you. No matter how funny I find it when you surprise her it¡¯s better if she actually manages to talk.¡±
Shaking her head Lisandra stood up and knocked on the workshop door.
¡°Hey Clara. Alex wanted to ask you something.¡±
I could hear a yelp and a crash from the other room.
¡°Hahaha, what am I going to do with you if you collapse just from hearing his name.¡±
Lisandra was laughing while waving me towards her.
I could see Clara was smoothing her robe and looking flustered while walking towards us.
¡°H-e-e-l-ll-oo A-a-le-x.¡±
She swallowed hard after greeting me with visible sweat forming on her forehead and a slight red ting building upon her face. She was really unaccustomed and uncomfortable around men, especially me after the show I gave her.
¡°Hey Clara. You don¡¯t have to be so nervous, I don¡¯t bite.¡±
Smiling at her it didn¡¯t seem like I was able to break the ice and relax her.
¡°I was wondering about the experiment you did, the shirt that I¡¯m wearing now became really high quality compared to how it was before. And even after washing and scrubbing it didn¡¯t come off. It seemed that the material completely absorbed the substance. What I¡¯m curious about is how much it cost, and if it was possible to make a less concentrated batch and maybe other configurations that added a color pigment to the mix?¡±
She visibly relaxed while I was talking before at the end she had a pondering look on her face and she muttered to herself.
After a few moments Lisandra shook her head before turning towards me.
¡°She gets like that sometimes, you probably gave her new ideas and showed her an angle that she didn¡¯t see before. She will come back to us in a moment, hopefully.¡±
Lisandra turned towards Clara again while calling out to her.
¡°Clara how much did the experiment cost, and was anything that he asked viable?¡±
She was still lost in her own world when Lisandra called her, yet she still started talking. This time it was completely fluent like she forgot I was even there. It was more like she was monologuing for herself.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
¡°I was working on a cheaper version, so it only cost two gold in ingredients. But maybe I could dilute the batch to make more and see if I added some croat roots for color and replace the valum bloom with its stalks instead...¡±
She continued to mumble about changes and other ingredients, temperature and what not that mostly went over my head.
¡°I was thinking about this wrong, how can it have such an effect on linen? What other materials would get a change? Potions can be used on other things than people...¡±
Lisandra shook her head while sighing.
¡°We lost her, I would recommend you come back tomorrow after she gets this out of her system.¡±
Looking towards Lisandra I helplessly shrugged.
¡°Well since I was the one who was interested and got this whole thing started, I got a few gold coins that I can donate to the cause.¡±
Shaking her head towards me.
¡°No need.¡±
¡°No I insist, besides if it works I can claim some of the experiments as more clothes maybe.¡±
Smiling towards Lisandra I handed her four gold coins while heading out.
I had barely spent any money this whole time, so I hoped it would be okay using some of the gold I got.
If everything panned out it would be a worthwhile investment that paid for itself.
I wasn¡¯t able to properly concentrate on my training while I waited for Nyra, and after what felt like several hours she walked out towards me. We had agreed that I would wait for her on the bench in the compound.
¡°You wanted to ask me a couple of questions young man?¡±
¡°Yeah. Clara made an experimental substance that changed my shirt, If you''d like to touch.¡±
Presenting her my sleeve she stretched her hand out and felt the clothes.
¡°Hmm, interesting. This got a very nice feel to it. But I don¡¯t really understand why you would ask me. I don¡¯t know anything about this material, it''s completely new to me.¡±
¡°Well I have only had linen shirts, and was wondering about other materials and how much they cost.¡±
Looking amused at me she gently answered my question.
¡°I mostly work with linen and wool, most people don¡¯t use wool unless it''s cold. Cotton and silk are used by the more affluent citizen. For cost linen cloths go-between copper and silver depending on the quality and size of the wear, wool goes for the same but slightly more expensive. Cotton is rare around these parts and goes for up to a gold coin, so it''s rare to see people wear it. Silk is something I never came in contact with as only nobles and wealthy merchants dabble in it.¡±
She shook her head sadly at the end part.
¡°Thank you, I also wondering if you could maybe sew something for me. It''s a new kind of clothes, I saw that the chest wrapping my family is using is kinda tedious to put on and take off. So I thought about making a new kind of support for the chest.¡±
Showing her the sports bra drawing that I did in my notebook.
¡°Hmm, I¡¯m unsure since linen or wool seems unsuitable for this. How would they put it on if its to tight? And if it isn¡¯t tight enough it wouldn¡¯t really work and have enough support.¡±
True they didn¡¯t really have proper elastic materials.
Drawing a slit at the bottom of the bra in the front I added four holes on the sides and added a thread.
¡°Would this work? They can tighten by pulling the string and tying a knot after putting it on, and I planned to treat them in the same solution as my shirt. So the quality should be the same as my shirt.¡±
She looked thoughtfully at the picture, nodding slowly after a moment she looked at me.
¡°Well it''s interesting, I haven¡¯t done anything like this before. But I¡¯m curious, I saw you here last time I visited. And I was wondering why a guy like you would be here, and even know who I am?¡±
Scratching my head I guess I got overexcited and didn¡¯t properly introduce myself and just jumped right into it.
¡°I¡¯m with Lyria, she and the rest of the girls went on a mission. I¡¯m staying here so I didn¡¯t sit alone at home.¡±
¡°Oh my, Little Lyri has grown up.¡±
She had her hand in front of her mouth while a smile lit up her face.
¡°How is she doing? I haven¡¯t been able to spend any time with her lately.¡±
¡°Lyria is doing great, she is a sweet girl and lately her confidence has gone up a lot. Actually the first time I interacted with her she was really shy and fidgety, but when she saw that I was hurt she instantly became serious and healed me on the spot. It was really funny seeing her attitude switch so fast.¡±
¡°Yeah she was like that when she entered my shop as well¡¡±
We both sat there smiling and sharing our stories about Lyria.
***
Cassandra was getting her dinner from the logistic personnel, she was brooding while completely ignoring everything around her.
The job was over now, but it grated on her that they couldn''t finish it. They had discovered basilisks in the lower levels, and they weren''t equipped or strong enough to take on that foe. A class four threat was beyond them and the forewoman didn''t even cut the bonus that she promised them after they found out that the initial assessment was off.
They had cleared up the uppersides and secured a couple of veins that the crew could work on. Fixing an alarm system towards the lower reaches was also easy work with the equipment that the expedition brought with them.
Sighing to herself it really grated on her when she left something undone.
They were going to head back for the city tomorrow with some of the people here that were done with their work or was going to get replaced. The forewomen would send people back with samples and a report about the whole expedition, they would be the escort back with one other team that was responsible for clearing the immediate area.
Walking towards their campsite she heard Hera and her crew boisterous laughter.
"It will be so good to come back to civilization. I can''t wait to hit the brothels."
Hera was her usual loudmouth self.
"You girls still haven''t gotten yourself a proper man yet?"
Inara who was walking past stopped and tsked at them.
Sneering Hera yelled back.
"Shut up you ugly virgin, you couldn''t even get a whore to lick your clit if you showered him with gold."
Getting her usual grin on her face Inara puffed out her chest while looking down on them.
"I already have a hunk that is waiting for me. I''m not some lonely old bag that has to pay for some skin."
Why does Inara always have to make trouble wherever she goes? Sighing to herself Cassandra just shakes her head while positioning herself so she can help her friend if it gets rowdy.
Hera spits on the ground while humphing.
"Yeah right, if anything you got a blind mundane guy that''s only there for the money. I didn''t know you went so low that you got yourself a regular. I guess it makes sense as you never had any hope of anything better."
"Hahaha, you wish. Not only is he awakened, but he also can''t wait for me to come back. The nights we spend together is something else. You can only dream about what I have."
"Do you honestly think I will belive your bullshit?"
"Do you want to bet on it? How about five mana shards?"
Sucking in a deep breath Cassandra could see that Heras party also recoiled from the bet she set.
"Sure I''ll take it."
One of Heras''s companions grabbed her shoulder.
"Hera are you sure? She seems awfully confident."
Hera just leered at Inara while increasing her volume.
"You said that he can''t wait for you to get back, so you claim you''re some kinda playgirl in bed. Well I bet five shards that you don''t have a hunk of an awakened guy pinning for your touch back at home."
"Hahaha I always knew you were a moron, easy money for me."
"Don''t laugh so fast, since we are playing with so much money when we get back to the city we are going together directly to your so-called man. Anyone could get a guy to pretend to be their man for that sum. So when we get back I want to make sure that not only is he a hunk as you said, but that he agrees that you''re also a goddess in bed."
Cassandra got a slight smile on her face, they actually had the most shameless guy at home so it should be fine. When she turned towards Inara she actually didn''t look that confident after the last requirement with some sweat building on her forehead.
Hera laughed her grating obnoxious laugh.
"I''m gonna hold you to it girly."
Chapter 22
I have felt a distinct difference in my strength after a week of practice with my new technique. It took a while to manage my mana correctly while moving, at first I barely could keep everything going while sitting still. When I first tried to move it promptly unraveled and I face smashed into the ground from the involuntary jerk my body did when I lost my enchantment.
But now I could actually run and jump with it. It was so exhilarating jumping over two meters upward and running faster than Usain Bolt. I didn¡¯t have a timer for my hundred meters, but I believed it would take me less than eight seconds now.
I would have liked to have proper weights and tracks that could measure my progress, but here it was only on gut feeling and for now it was more than enough with how easy it was to see the difference from before I came to this world.
It really brightened my day that it worked, I was getting noticeable progress and it was without those god awful headaches that my image produced. Now I only had a slight sting in my muscles and a sense of accomplishment.
Smiling to myself I sat down to take a breather while practicing my technique. It was still nowhere close to where I wanted it to be. It was a rough approximation of my goal, and it was still unstable and crude while I was moving. It was extremely hard for my concentration to keep up the whole thing while moving. I needed to make it into muscle memory, or is it called soul or mana memory? What I knew was that keeping it up and controlling it actively wouldn¡¯t work. Until I had it down pat and could do it subconsciously it would be relegated to safe environments only, as I couldn¡¯t rely on it if I wasn¡¯t relaxed and mentally prepared for the endeavor.
It was enough that one of the orphanage girls called to me that the whole thing unraveled at this point.
I guess that¡¯s why Inara appeared in front of me when I was undressing at the glade, the shock was enough to rile even her who was experienced with her technique. The memory brought a chuckle to me, at that point I didn¡¯t even know she was an insecure pervert that only pretended to be a tough girl. It wasn¡¯t an accident that she was there like I thought at first.
The thought of the girls reminded me that a month had already passed. Lyria promised that they would be back at this point and I was getting worried.
What if something happened to them? Their profession couldn¡¯t be a safe one with going out into the wild fighting monsters that could easily rip a person to shreds with a casual swipe. The bear that they rescued me from wasn¡¯t even counted as a monster, they didn¡¯t even see it as a dangerous creature to them. But back at home it would have been an apex predator that could easily win versus anything that earth had to offer. Only the dinosaurs would have a chance against that juggernaut, here it was only a big beast dangerous for regulars but expected that any awakened worth their salt could take it down.
My stomach chruned from imagining them being hurt. Putting a dampener on my good mood I went towards the clinic to get my thoughts away and check out how they were doing. Nira had made sports bras for herself, Clara, Eris and Lisandra to see if it would work, they were the only ones she could take measurements for the trial. As for now only the initial recipe that Clara spilled over me worked. The other test didn¡¯t have the same effect, or it didn¡¯t get completely absorbed by the material and got washed out. The best effect came from letting it lay in it for a whole day before drying for another day.
Well the good news was that a batch could be used on two to three clothes depending on how big they were.
Knocking on the clinic door I headed inside.
¡°Hey, so how is the bra treating you?¡±
¡°Ooh, hey Alex. It feels really nice, I never had cloths of this quality before. I get now why those pompous merchants and nobles always dress in finery. I didn¡¯t even realize how different it would feel until I tried it. The best part is how easy it is to take on and off compared to my usual bindings.¡±
Smiling towards me Lisandra looked up from what she was reading.
¡°That¡¯s good to hear.¡±
¡°By the way Nira came earlier. She is in the back with Clara.¡±
Nodding towards Lisandra I headed for the workshop. It seemed that Nira was excited about the new product as well.
Knocking and heading inside I saw them standing over a tray, it was a test with some color pigments. It was a dull blue but compared to the dour brown colors from most outfits it was a fresh of breath air. Especially for Nira who was a seamstress and found something completely new for her profession. Only the expensive clothes from the upper class had any color in their outfits.
¡°Is the latest test going well?¡±
Clara did a cute yelp when she heard me. She was completely fixated on the experiment until then, she didn¡¯t even hear me knock on the door when I entered. It wasn¡¯t anything extreme like in the past, but she was still stammering in my presence and had a problem with eye contact.
Nira turned around with an excited smile on her face and a glint in her eyes.
¡°This is wonderful. I always dreamed of working with this kinda of material and different colors. But I never thought I would have the chance, especially now when I was getting up in my age. I feel like I¡¯m young again with how excited I am.¡±
Smiling towards her I nod.
¡°That¡¯s good to hear. There hasn¡¯t been any problems with the bras or the material degrading?¡±
¡°No it¡¯s all working great with the initial formula at least. But I¡¯m worried about how we are going to sell them. I worked with regular people and they can¡¯t afford to use gold for clothes, a whole family can live for a couple of months with that kind of a sum.¡±Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.
She got a pondering and uncertain look on her face while airing her concerns.
¡°Yeah, I though about that. We should be fine, just have to wait for my family to come home and I wanted to try something¡ I¡¯m kinda worried about them since they said they would be back by now¡¡±
I had a worried tone by the end, it reminded me that they still hadn¡¯t come back.
¡°It will be fine Alex, mercenary work is never precise. They are smart girls that have done this for a long time. I¡¯m sure they are doing just fine and will be back any day now.¡±
Nira comforted me with her gentle smile while clapping me on the shoulder.
Clara was fidgeting the whole time uncertain of what she should do or say, whenever I turned towards her she would swivel her head a different direction.
Sighing I really hoped everything was alright with them.
¡°Thanks Nira. There isn¡¯t any problem with the bras your wearing? How do they feel?¡±
¡°It¡¯s wonderful. It¡¯s such an easy concept that I¡¯m surprised no-one has come up with it yet. It¡¯s so much more comfortable than the usual wrappings and easier as well. Maybe the nobility have something like this, but I never came across something quite like it.¡±
Nira was beaming while answering she really liked this new type of underwear.
Clara was nodding along the whole time, and when I looked inquisitively towards her she gulped while grabbing the hem of her robe with both hands. Taking a deep breath she stammered out.
¡°I-t-t¡¯s re-a-a-lly nice. Tha-thank yo-you.¡±
Well it was an improvement compared to before, but it was still a long way until she was comfortable around me.
Waking up the next day I heard a commotion outside going towards the noise I was thrilled. The girls where back, I saw Lyria run towards me with a beaming smile on her face, Inara was looking smugly towards me with a crew of rough looking women. There was a scarred thirty year old that was scowling towards me with the rough looking crew around her looking shocked. Nyla waved towards me with a proud look on her face, I didn¡¯t see Cassandra though.
Lyria jumped into my embrace and I twirled her around.
¡°Hehe, we¡¯re back.¡±
¡°I¡¯m glad you are safe.¡±
Letting her go I walked towards the rest of them, I saw that Inara was somehow holding back. She was looking awfully stoic and proud, while talking with the crew.
¡°Welcome back.¡±
Calling out I waved towards Inara and Nyla. I wanted to go up there and hug them, but since they were in company I held back for now.
¡°I missed you Alex.¡±
Nyla smiled while coming towards me I hugged her as well.
Looking inquisitively at Inara who was still standing there with the crew. She introduced me to her presumable friends, I was uncertain with how they were acting and looking at me. But since they came together I assumed that they were at least somewhat friendly.
¡°This is Alex, my man that I told you about.¡±
Beaming with pride she looked smugly towards the scarred women in front that seemed like their leader.
¡°Hey Alex, are you really with this bunch of misfits? Your not their brother or something?¡±
I didn¡¯t like the tone she said it in, she was both surprised and disdainful at the same time and calling them misfits was really unnecessary. Scowling towards her I refuted her.
¡°Of course I¡¯m with them. I¡¯m more surprised that they brought you over instead of coming by themselves.¡±
¡°Hahaha, sorry about that. I was just so surprised that at least some things she spewed where true. Inara here was telling so many unbelievable stories about you that I had to make sure. You know she told me that she is a goddess in bed, and that you couldn¡¯t wait for her to get back. That you were completely enamored with her and had completely submitted to her.¡±
Inara looked shocked towards the woman, crying out.
¡°I did no such thing, I never said I had submitted him or anything like that.¡±
¡°Shut up girly, you insinuated it. You should hear her yap about herself during our trip, if you didn¡¯t know her better you would think that she was an elite merc that had a guy wrapped around each arm. I don¡¯t know how she acts around you, but among us women she shows her true colors. I would suggest you find yourself a better family, someone like you could do so much better.¡±
Who was this woman? She didn¡¯t even introduce herself and started talking shit about Inara in front of me. I know she likes to brag and make herself bigger, but that just makes her cute in my eyes. She just wants to impress people because she is uncertain about herself.
¡°I¡¯m disappointed in you Inara.¡±
I could see her flinch and get a hurt look on her face, the crew behind the scarred woman started snickering and laughing while she got the biggest leer on her face.
¡°Instead of coming straight back to me you brought this buffoon with you. Even if what you said is true I don¡¯t want you to share our moments with strangers. You know I was waiting for you girls to come back, that I was worried about you. Dreaming of you in my lonely nights while you where away aching for your touch. As punishment you are mine for the whole night, until I¡¯m completely and utterly satisfied. Don¡¯t expect to get any sleep tonight.¡±
Everyone around me where gaping with their mouths and eyes wide open, no-one expected me to say something like that at all. Nyla was redder in the face than I ever saw her before. Mother Eris who was close by put her hand in front of her mouth.
¡°Hohoho, oh my.¡±
Inara who was at first looking distressed when that woman started to talk shit had gotten the biggest smile I ever saw on her while she held her head out high and puffed her considerable chest out in pride.
¡°You heard him Hera, pay up and get lost. We don¡¯t have time wasting it on you buffoons.¡±
After a moment of shock Hera turned and glared hatefully at Inara.
¡°I don¡¯t know how you told him but this is bullshit, no guy would ever say that voluntarily.¡±
Walking up to Inara I looped my arm around her thin waist, looking directly at Hera.
¡°I don¡¯t know anything about what is going on, I didn¡¯t even know they would come home today. But your not going to talk shit about my family in front of me and expect that I will play ball.¡±
¡°So you admit that what you said is bullshit!¡±
¡°There was no bullshit involved, what I said was the truth. I would never talk like that among real company but when assholes like you disparage them I¡¯ll gladly set things straight. No matter how embarrassing the truth is.¡±
The girls where glaring at them now.
¡°Hey, stop trying to weasel your way out we had a bet and you lost, or are you telling me that you never intended to honor your word?¡±
Growling under her breath Hera glared at me before tossing a small pouch at Inara. It flew so fast that I couldn¡¯t see it, but Inara just casually snatched it out of the air. Looking inside she smiled.
¡°It¡¯s all here, hehe I told you easy money. Now get lost, I have an obligation to fulfill.¡±
Winking towards the crew Inara laughed out loud while turning around so we could walk away.
When the crew had grumpily disappeared around the corner Lyria went up to me and entwined my arm.
¡°Did you miss me like that as well?¡±
She looked directly into my eyes with her beautiful sky blue eyes, I could see a hint of jealousy from the way she had a slight pout on her cute pink lips and a determined glint in her eyes.
¡°Of course, I thought of you everyday and night.¡±
Bending down I gave her a deep kiss, when I pulled back I could see a dreamy gaze in her eyes.
¡°It¡¯s unfair that I have to wait now¡¡±
She pouted after a moment.
Inara just laughed at her.
¡°Should have taken me up on the threesome then. Now it¡¯s my turn.¡±
She was positively beaming since I disparaged Hera.
¡°What?¡±
Nyla cried out, she had been quiet since the whole ordeal. But the look of shock on her face and how red she was gave me a chuckle. I didn¡¯t know she could blush even harder, but guess I was wrong.
¡°Where is Cassandra by the way?¡±
¡°Ohh, she went to the guild to give her report on our mission. We couldn¡¯t finish it so they need to send a stronger team to get the rest.¡±
Lyria answered me.
Chapter 23
¡®This is the best day ever.¡¯
Smiling to herself Inara was beaming with happiness since Alex talked her up.
She was really worried about the bet, since Hera added the fact that he had to acknowledge her skills in bed she wasn¡¯t sure that he would speak up for her.
No guy would actually admit that even if it was true. But on top of it the truth of the matter was that she was always dominated in bed. She tried to be the woman of the relationship but whenever they spent the night together he would always target her weak points. It was unfair how he would always take the lead from her after a few moments, he never relented in bed. She wanted to pout because how defeminated it made her feel being dominated like that, but she couldn¡¯t actually speak up because she loved every moment of it.
Well tonight she would live up to his expectations, she would lead the whole time and last longer than him while taking the dominant position.
Daydreaming to herself she didn¡¯t notice Alex bringing them towards a small shack. They had said goodbye to the orphanage and thanked them for taking care of him while they were on the mission.
¡°I have a surprise for you girls. It¡¯s not done yet since we need to take measurements, but with the help of Nira and Clara I managed to make a new type of wear.¡±
They entered the small dilapidated shack.
¡°Lyria, you¡¯re back. I¡¯m so happy that you are safe and sound. Come over here so I can see you.¡±
Nira was really happy to see Lyria, Lyria walked up to her old friend with a smile on her face greeting her.
¡°Hey Nira.¡±
Giving her a hug they smiled at each other.
¡°So what is this about a new wear?¡±
Lyria asked.
¡°Ohh, Alex here is a brilliant young man. He noticed how inefficient the usual chest wrappings worked so he made up a new type of underwear that is really comfortable and easy to use.¡±
Alex looked embarrassed from the praise and scratched the side of his head.
She had noticed that he would do that whenever he felt embarrassed about something. The funny part is that he was completely immune to the usual things that men found embarrassing, but on random occasions that didn¡¯t make any sense he would. Getting praised for inventing a new type of clothes was embarrassing for him but he could plainly say in public that he was aching for her touch and show of his bare chest or initiate sexual contact¡
¡®I guess he is a pervert¡ How lucky.¡¯
Getting lost in her thoughts again she didn¡¯t notice what they were talking about.
¡°Inara.¡±
Jolting out of her own world she looked at Nira who was just done measuring Nyla.
¡°It¡¯s your turn.¡±
¡°Huh? Yeah coming.¡±
She didn¡¯t even know what she was measuring for, it seemed like the others had seen it and shown how it worked already. It was some kind of underwear that was supposed to replace the chest wrapping but that was all she knew.
Well if it was a present from Alex so she would appreciate it no matter what it was.
Getting it done and over with they left with promise that she would have them done in two days, and that they should send Cassandra her way.
Getting home they sat around the table while telling about what happened while they were gone. It was really nice to hear how much he improved his Valerian while they were on the mission. He still had a distinct accent, but he understood everything they talked about. And he didn¡¯t have any problem telling them about his time, she was livid when he told her about the woman who grabbed him.
While they were relaxing and talking to each other Cassandra finally came home.
¡°I¡¯m back.¡±
¡°Welcome home.¡±
Smiling Alex stood up and went over to hug Cassandra as well. She mutely hugged him back, Inara couldn¡¯t for the life of her understand why Cassandra was still so standoffish with Alex. It didn¡¯t even feel like she was intrested in him outside the fact that the rest of them wanted it.
¡°So I assume the bet went well with how hard your smiling right now Inara.¡±
Laughing when she was reminded about what happened earlier.
¡°You should have seen it, the faces on all of them where so dumbstruct. It¡¯s like they couldn¡¯t even understand what happened.¡±
Smiling towards her she nodded.
¡°I told you there was nothing to worry about.¡±
That was true she did call Alex shameless and that he wouldn¡¯t even blink while doing something outreages.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.
Changing the subject while smirking from the memory.
¡°So did you get everything set at the guild?¡±
¡°Yeah, it was just a report about the cave complex and what we found. The money is also paid in full, including the bonus.¡±
Alex looked inquisitively at them.
¡°Didn¡¯t you say that you didn¡¯t finish the mission?¡±
¡°The mission was a lot bigger and more dangerous than they initially projected, so obviously they couldn¡¯t dock our pay. So was it alright staying by yourself Alex?¡±
¡°Well, I prefer it if could be with you girls. It was okay and the people at the orphanage are really nice. But I was wondering if you could help me train and maybe I could sign up for the guild.¡±
They looked skeptically at him at the last request. Not really knowing how to properly reject his request Inara deflected.
¡°We are planning to stay at home for a while now, we got a good commission plus a bonus from Hera. So we can figure it out later if you show that you got what it takes.¡±
The rest of the girls nodded to Inaras suggestion.
¡°Mercenary work is very dangerous and I¡¯m not sure how I would handle bringing you along. When you told us about what happened to you my heart was in my throat even when I knew you were alright. I¡¯m just glad that nothing untoward happened to you when that nasty women grab you.¡±
Lyria added.
Alex looked sad when he heard their response, but that look quickly turned into determination.
¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m gonna make sure that I won¡¯t become a hindrance. And it¡¯s the same for me when you left. I was worried sick about you girls out there, when you didn¡¯t come back after a month it was the worst¡¡±
The mood became slightly dour after that. Nyla squirmed in the mute silence that followed and after a moment tried to liven up the mood and change the subject to something else.
¡°Well it¡¯s nothing to worry about. All¡¯s well that ends well. It was really satisfying seeing you put Hera in her place Alex. And was there anything you wondered about the city now that you got to spend some time here?¡±
¡°Well I rarely see any guys out and about, it¡¯s mostly women.¡±
¡°That¡¯s normal guys tend to stay at home watching the house and kids they also take care of pregnant wifes. Normally women are responsible for most things outside the house and only in poor households or when a guy fancys something that they get a job or vocation.¡±
Inara answered his question, he really didn¡¯t know the most common things.
With the mention of kids and pregnancy Alex got a worried look on his face.
¡°Shit, I forgot. We have been going at it without protection, ehmm about pregnancy¡¡±
Lyria giggled at his hesitation while answering his implication.
¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, for regulars it might have been a problem. But we can control if we can become pregnant or not. And it¡¯s a women¡¯s job to worry about pregnancy silly.¡±
Nyla also spoke up she asked him the question everyone of them had on their mind.
¡°Alex, where are you from? We have been curious about it for a while now, since you are so different from anyone we ever met before.¡±
Looking hopefully and inquisitively at him there was a silent tension in the room.
He took a deep breath while looking seriously at them.
¡°The truth is I¡¯m from another world.¡±
Everyone reacted slightly differently, Lyria had her mouth open looking shocked at him. Cassandra cocked her eyebrow while looking skeptically at him. Nyla just looked confused.
¡°What? Did you mean another continent or something?¡±
Inara was trying to get him to clarify.
¡°No, I¡¯m from another planet, world. There is no magic there, no elves, dwarfs, beast-people and no monsters. There are the same amount of men as there are women, and humans are the only sentient race on the planet. I always found it weird how there are so many women here compared to men.¡±
Cassandra mechanically responded to his implied question while having a blank look on her face, trying to process what he said.
¡°What do you mean the same amount of men as women? It doesn''t make sense. A man can impregnate a hundred women at the same time while a women can only hold one child at the time. For the species to prosper and propagate it''s logical that more women should be born. And there is no magic? How can anything survive and thrive then? Are you lying to us? If this is a joke it¡¯s not funny at all.¡±
Shaking his head at Cassandra he looked dead serious.
¡°No it¡¯s the truth, I don¡¯t know how I got here. But there isn¡¯t a problem to survive without magic, everyone is just like a regular person. And since there is no magic there are no insane monster to defend from. Besides we have science that made powerful enough weapons to handle most things anyway.¡±
While Cassandra was opening and closing her mouth like a goldfish unsure of how to respond Lyria blurted out.
¡°Those weird clothes that you came with were made from a material we never saw before and in a unique style, is it from your home world?¡±
¡°Yeah, some of it is synthetic material from back home. You know back in my world you girls would be deemed as some of the most beautiful women around.¡±
Smiling towards us he dropped another bombshell.
¡°What? I¡¯m considered attractive?¡±
Inara couldn''t help but blurt out.
¡°Yes, I feel extremely lucky to have met you girls. Back home I would never even dream about getting close to someone like you. But here I got three of you that would even gladly share me. It¡¯s so insane that I have to remind myself that I¡¯m not dreaming everyday.¡±
They were all staring at him in mute shock now. Inara couldn¡¯t really believe what she was hearing but it made so much sense. No guy from here would act and react like he did towards them and everything around them. He didn¡¯t even know about awakening and found them attractive. He often acted more like one of the girls instead of a dainty guy.
There was so much evidence pointing that he was speaking the truth, but it was still hard to wrap her head around since it was so impossible. Glancing towards Cassandra who was muttering to herself.
¡°Cassy?¡±
When in doubt they always trusted her judgment. After hearing her name her mumbling became louder.
¡°I know about teleportation across the continent, I have heard about ritual summoning that spawn entities from other planes. But those are rumors from ancient time and all the stories are hearsay about summoning incorporeal elementals or twisted soul entities.¡±
Lyria on the other hand was beaming with happiness while they were trying to digest what was going on.
¡°The Goddess listened to my prayers, I wanted for our dream to come true. For us to be happy and she obliged.¡±
Shinning with fervor she stared at Alex with glowing eyes.
¡°Shut up, you know the Gods don¡¯t answer prayers, there has to be another explanation.¡±
Pouting towards Inara Lyria went over to Alex and tightly hugged him.
¡°Well you don''t have a better explenation. I believe in you Alex. I''ve been so happy since we met that I honestly don¡¯t care where you are from. As long as you are here with us I¡¯m content.¡±
Inara nodded towards Lyrias statement.
¡°That¡¯s true, it doesn''t change where you are from considering you are already here. What it does is explain your lack of common sense and unique outlook on life.¡±
Which was a good thing since he actually thought he was lucky to be with them, when he could probably get a stronger and richer family whenever he wanted.
This whole time Cassandra was trying to understand how it could be possible while muttering to herself.
Nyla was looking completely out of it swiveling her head between Cassandra and Alex looking for some answer that would clear up her confusion.
Lyria was blissfully hugging Alex while looking fervently towards him.
And Inara was mutely standing there unsure of what to do, she still wasn¡¯t sure on what was really going on. At least Lyrias last statement had relaxed her considerably.
Chapter 24
Inara was overwhelmed with Alex''s revelation. The tales he told about metal carriages that people traveled in, metal birds that people could ride inside. That they had left the planet into space among the stars, he said it was just outside their planet and not really among the stars. But she couldn¡¯t even imagine how they could reach the moons, and they had gone further than that.
The biggest shock came from that everything was done without magic. How is that even possible? He described buildings scraping the sky artifact carriages that traveled faster than sound and it was done with science¡ Wasn¡¯t that just their name for mana maybe?
The tales of the internet and how they had all information public and available at all times inside their magic pocket-sized plate, that could show images from the real world while talking to people across the globe even in other countries and continents.
How could he be amazed by the things they have when everything from his world sounds so magical. It was supposedly completely safe from any external threat and all dangers came from people themselves. The clothes he wore were common apparel that anyone could have.
She had never in her life owned something that looked as well made as the boots he came with. And she never touched material that was smoother than his overcoat even when it was shredded. Well to be honest she never touched silk that all the pompous merchants and nobles always raved about. But even then it wasn¡¯t a fair comparison since his clothes were according to him equivalent to linen and wool that they used.
She was jolted out of her musing when Alex hugged her from behind.
¡°How is it going? I know it¡¯s a lot to digest. We can just relax tonight if you want.¡±
Smiling at Inara he kissed her cheek before letting go and walking upstairs.
It was late at night and the girls had dispersed after his revelation and stories, everyone lost in their own thoughts. Inara was the last one who was still in the dining room.
She shook her head.
¡®Damn I¡¯m acting pathetic again¡ Why do I always end up looking so unreliable in front of Alex¡ I had looked forward to this night for over a month, and even after everything he said I¡¯m not going to chicken out now. It¡¯s like Lyria said, it doesn''t matter. He is here with us now.¡¯
Hurrying up after him she entered her room. He turned towards her when she entered smiling gently towards her. Gulping she took a deep breath while trying to look as relaxed and confident as she could.
¡°Your revelation isn¡¯t enough for me to break my promise. I¡¯m going to satisfy all your desires tonight.¡±
She hoped she looked and sounded more confident then she felt.
He looked hungrily at her, his smile turning predatory from the previous gentle one.
¡°My only desire is to indulge in you, It was so hard waiting for you this month.¡±
She felt a shiver run through her body while her body heated up.
¡®That¡¯s so unfair, I¡¯m supposed to say that.¡¯
She didn¡¯t know how to respond she was actually aching for his touch now, not trusting herself she took the easy choice and kissed him deeply. Roaming her hands over his body she could feel him reciprocate by grabbing her ass with one hand while pressing his body on her, the other hand roamed awfully close to her tail before he shifted course and glided towards her stomach and up towards her peaks.
She was happy that he was giving her a chance since if he went all out she would lose herself and end up as putty in his hands. Grabbing the hem of his shirt she started to undress him. He let go of the kiss smiling at her he stepped back while taking off his clothes and moving in to help her.
Fully undressed she pushed him down on the bed, tonight was supposed to be her moment. Her breathing had turned more ragged while staring at his proud member standing up. Feeling slightly lost if straddling him was the move or not she gulped before asking.
¡°You said tonight I was yours, well do you have any requests?¡±
Giving him her best smile she tried to look as confident and in control as possible.
¡°There is one thing I always wanted, could you suck my dick?¡±
She was surprised by his request. Inara already experienced some unorthodox things in bed with Alex, but she never thought of sucking his dick before. It did seem inviting twitching in the air like that.
Swallowing she moved her face closer to his member.
¡°I never tried something like this before, but if you want.¡±
¡°I can guide you. You just have to be careful and not use your teeth.¡±
Licking it lightly she tasted a peculiar taste that she kinda liked. Putting it in her mouth it was so big that she had to gape her mouth wide open to fit it inside. It wasn¡¯t as bad as she thought. Glancing towards Alex she looked into his eyes checking if she was doing good.
He was smiling blissfully at her.
¡°You can try putting it deeper in your mouth while sucking, and switch between licking it and taking it in and out of your mouth.¡±
Nodding to him with his cock in her mouth she tried to shove the whole thing inside. That was a bad idea since she felt her gag-reflex when he hit the back of her throat.
Coughing she let go of his cock. Alex bent forward and stroked her hair and ears lovingly.
¡°Easy there, you have to be more careful until your ready.¡±
He kissed her on her forehead while making soothing sounds.
¡°Sorry, you don¡¯t have to do this if you don¡¯t want to.¡±
¡°No, I want you to feel good. This is the first thing you asked me.¡±Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
She couldn''t back out from a single mistake, instead of wooing him with her skills and allure she failed again.
Going down on him with renewed vigor she started by licking the whole shaft. She noticed that he would react when she licked around the top, remembering what he said she started to suck and lick at the top part. She started to jerk off his dick as well, her hand became a good indicator of how deep she could swallow it.
Hearing him moan got her excited she could feel a tingle from her crotch while she became more and more entranced in his dick. Slowly increasing the speed she could feel him twitch inside her mouth.
¡°I¡¯m cumming.¡±
She wasn¡¯t ready for the gush that erupted in her mouth. She let go of his dick while coughing out the sperm that went down her throat.
¡°Shit, I¡¯m sorry. I should have pulled out.¡±
Wiping a tear that came from her eye he lifted her head towards him.
¡°It felt amazing, thank you.¡±
She swallowed the rest that was left in her mouth, feeling a little embarrassed about how clumsy she was about the whole thing.
Seeing her blush he smiled while looking into her eyes.
¡°Let me reciprocate, I want you to know how good this feels.¡±
Before she fully understood what he meant he already stood up from his lying position and flipped her on her back. His head went towards her clit that he licked and gently sucked. While his fingers went inside her pussy and started wiggling and scratching her walls. It was like lightning went through her body, she started to moan while her head bent backward and went completely blank of anything else than the ecstasy she felt. When he hit her g-spot she felt the biggest orgasm of her life while her whole body convulsed and she squirted.
Laying completely still on the bed while breathing raggedly she realized what happened.
¡®Did I just lose control of my body so hard that I peed? Oh my god, why is this happening? I can¡¯t look Alex in his eyes after that. I was going to establish dominance not fail miserably at all turns...¡¯
Inara put her hands in front of her face in embarrassment.
¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±
Alex had come up towards her laying down next to her while his hand roamed around her body. They settled on her heaving breasts and gently massaged them, she couldn¡¯t help but moan out in pleasure with how good it felt.
¡°I¡¯m sorry that I peed on you. I keep screwing up when I¡¯m around you¡¡±
¡°Hahaha. You didn¡¯t pee, you squirted it¡¯s different. I¡¯m actually glad you did because it showed me that I made you feel incredibly good. And I never felt like you screwed up around me. People are never perfect and when you show me those vulnerable sides of you it makes me feel closer to you, since I get to see all aspects of who you are.¡±
He hugged Inara closer while stroking her head, he scratched around her ears that made her involuntarily pure in delight. She felt really warm, comfortable and safe in his arms.
Jolting out of her haze she shook her head away from his hands.
¡°No, I want you to see me as a dependable and strong woman. I can¡¯t let you play with me however you like in bed.¡±
She quickly straddled him. He looked amused at her while his hands set themselves around her waist, he was helping her again. Guiding her towards his member.
In indignation she thrust the entire length into her in one motion. Inara gasped from feeling him enter her deepest parts. It might have been presumptuous of her to try to dominate him like that. Not giving her a chance to catch her breath he attacked again.
¡°But I already see you as a dependable, strong, beautiful and absolutely ravishing woman that I¡¯m lucky to have in my life.¡±
Not ready for the unfair attack Inaras body shook while her pussy contracted around his cock.
¡®How is this fair? I haven¡¯t even started moving.¡¯
Seeing that she closed her eyes while taking a deep breath to calm herself down Alex thrust his hips upwards.
The pleasure she felt was immediate she was moaning and crying from how good she felt. Her body sagged over his and he took the opportunity to passionately kiss her. Her mind was completely blank from pleasure and without noticing he had already flipped her over and was vigorously plowing her. One of his hands started to stroke her tail and another electric current went through her body. When the other started to massage her chest and lightly pinched her rock hard nipple she couldn¡¯t hold herself and cried out in pleasure.
The rest of the night was a blur to her, she was completely lost in the perpetual orgasms and pleasure.
***
Waking up I couldn¡¯t help but have a content smile suffuse my face. Inara was again hugging me with her head inside the nook of my shoulder. She was drooling while her face sported a silly grin. Her huge breasts were nestled between my arm and her body was glistening in sweat from last night''s ordeal.
She looked absolutely ravishing and it was hard to not continue from where I left off.
Enjoying the sensation of having her in my arms I gently stroked her head with my other hand.
Inara giggled and snuggled closer to me while pressing her head towards my palm. She was still asleep, but even then her body reacted to me.
It took a few moments before she woke up. She was hazy and started to purr while mumbling incoherently. I didn¡¯t even notice that her eyelids had slightly opened before she suddenly jolted.
¡°Good morning.¡±
Smiling at her I gently kissed her on her luscious pink lips.
She had a content smile on her face before her face went pale for a moment and she hid her face behind her hands.
¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±
Nudging her I was worried about how she reacted. She was usually really jovial after a night together, but now she looked embarrassed.
¡°Aaaah¡ Do you think I¡¯m a bad lover?¡±
Inara cried in frustration before hesitantly asking her question.
I felt bad seeing her like that, I really liked to play with her in bed since she was so sensitive and the sensual look that she got on her face when she was enthralled in pleasure got me harder than anything. Seeing that I could make such a sexy bombshell become putty in my hands was such a confidence boost that I always ended up going too far when we were together.
¡°No you¡¯re a fantastic lover. It feels so good being with you that I always lose my head and kinda go nuts. Sorry.¡±
¡°No don¡¯t be sorry, I just wanted to take charge last night. But ultimately I just made a fool out of myself. I even bragged how good I am in bed with you, yet I always just lay there barely holding on.¡±
Damn I keep forgetting that in this world it¡¯s the women who are in charge. What I¡¯m doing is probably the equivalent of femdom from back home.
¡°Don¡¯t say that, you didn¡¯t make a fool out of yourself. I love every single moment with you. I meant it when I said you¡¯re a fantastic lover, I was a little mean with you since I kinda love to see you lose it when I push your buttons¡¡±
Inara started to blush, and after a moment started to shake her head.
¡°Damn it! This is what I¡¯m talking about. With you I end up whiny and uncertain like a little boy. I¡¯m the one supposed to be the rock in the relationship, but every time it¡¯s you who takes the lead and comforts me while I freeze up, do something stupid or lose my head¡¡±
Laughing I hug her while stroking her head.
¡°There isn¡¯t any right or wrong in a relationship, they are unique and different for everyone. I don¡¯t think less of you for the things that have happened, I actually feel closer to you. And this is a work in progress, compared to how you were when we first met this is already miles ahead. No matter what you think happened last night I can tell you for a fact that I was complete and utterly satisfied.¡±
Inara got a warm smile on her face while she lowered her head.
¡°Not helping, you¡¯re still comforting me.¡±
¡°Hahaha. Besides you¡¯re the rock in this relationship, because you¡¯re the one who makes me rock hard.¡±
Inara snorted at my lame joke.
¡°Now you¡¯re just messing with me.¡±
She lifted herself out of my hug and had her patented smirk on her face. I was relieved since her eyes were shining in happiness while she tried to show a confident and strong front.
Stretching her arms above her head she arched her back and presented her glorious body to me. She learned that it wasn¡¯t flexing her biceps that got me riled up but showing off her incredible body.
¡°Well, shall we head down for breakfast?¡±
Smiling victoriously at me while I was completely lost in her she winked at me before bending down and started to get dressed.
Chapter 25
Coming downstairs I could see the whole gang was gathered and eating breakfast, I was the last one down.
¡°Good morning.¡±
Smiling towards them I sat down between Lyria and Nyla. Inara glanced towards me while doing a cute pout.
Kissing Lyria on her cheek she giggled cutely.
¡°Good morning, it¡¯s good to be home.¡±
I turned towards Nyla and kissed her as well.
¡°Yeah, I really missed you all. It seems like you girls have come to terms about me being from another world.¡±
Nyla responded to me with a slight blush before nodding.
¡°Well it was hard to fathom or even imagine the world you came from and that something like that was even possible. But as Lyria said, you are here now so it doesn''t really matter.¡±
Inara got a serious look on her face.
"I think that we have to keep this a secret between us. If the mage tower finds out they might take Alex into custody so they can study him and extract everything he knows. The church might also either use him as a sign from the gods or hunt him down while calling him an invader or devil..."
Lyria looked horrified at the prospect and instinctively grabbed my hand.
"Yes you''re right Ina. We can''t let anyone know about this, I didn''t even think about it."
Nyla was nodding along agreeing to keep this a secret.
I guess I was too lax and didn''t completely consider what me being here actually represented for the people and powers around. It wasn''t an everyday occurrence that someone was ported to another world.
I gently stroked Lyria''s hand with my thumb.
"It shouldn''t be a problem since you are the only one that I have shared this secret with. As long as we keep this to ourselves and you fill me in about a plausible back story from where I''m from then everything should be good."
After making up a story in case I ever needed one the girls were able to relax.
With the matter settled I tried to change the subject.
¡°So you said that you were going to stay at home for a while?¡±
Inara looked my way.
¡°We haven¡¯t decided yet, but we talked about it before we came. All in favor of taking it easy for a couple of months?¡±
Lyria nodded right away, Cassandra was chewing her lips while seeming out of it.
¡°Well I was thinking about signing up for the fighting pits I always wanted to try it, but yeah I¡¯m up for staying at home.¡±
Nyla was the last to answer.
¡°Then it¡¯s settled we are taking a break for around two months.¡±
Inara grinned while settling the matter.
¡°Huh? What I didn¡¯t follow?¡±
Cassandra was really out of it, she was lost in her thoughts while throwing me glances sometimes. It was uncharacteristic of her not to take charge of a discussion or pay attention to the conversation.
The girls giggled at her reaction.
¡°Haha, I never thought I would see the day that you of all people would be so out of it.¡±
Inara laughed the loudest.
While I was smiling at the scene Lyria stroked my thigh under the table. Looking surprised at her she gave me a coy look while licking her lips, before turning back to her breakfast.
***
The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Nyla was exercising in the back yard. After breakfast, Alex and Lyria had gone to the orphanage for a visit and settle some matters for his project.
It was good to be home, but she still didn¡¯t know how to proceed with Alex, Lyria and Inara made it look so easy. But she always went completely blank when she wanted to get closer to him.
Sighing she threw herself into training, thinking about it only made her more depressed while getting her nowhere. She could only try to follow Inara''s advice and be herself, the problem was that she didn¡¯t know how to do that around him.
¡°Hey Nyla.¡±
Alex called out to her while stepping outside.
She lost herself in the motions and didn¡¯t even notice how long she was out training, looking up she saw that the sun had moved considerably since she started.
¡°Hey, Alex. Are you done with your errand?¡±
She saw Alex scratching his head while having a slight smile.
¡°Yeah, I just got back and came for some exercise myself. I¡¯ve really improved while you were gone, watch this.¡±
Getting a big smile on his face he looked into her eyes before taking a deep breath shifting into a concentrated look for a couple of seconds, after exhaling he went into a full sprint in the limited area they had.
He was going at a decent clip, it wasn¡¯t anything special. But compared to how he was before their trip it was a clear improvement.
Smiling happily at how cute he looked showing his progress to her like this.
She clapped her hands while nodding towards him.
¡°That¡¯s really good, I see you have been diligent in your training while we were gone.¡±
Seeing her reaction he got a strained smile on his face while scratching his head.
¡°Well I kinda made a technique for myself since just using mana for empowering had limited results. It¡¯s still far from what I intended it to be but I¡¯m a lot stronger now than before.¡±
Gaping her mouth she couldn¡¯t believe what he said, but making a technique that actually worked was only something geniuses could do. The only other cases where when old monsters through sheer experience and expertise did it.
¡°Wow, that¡¯s amazing.¡±
He was positively glowing in pride when he saw her reaction. He started to explain it to her, something about making a proper exoskeleton structure with mana that overlaid his body and focused the reinforcement on the bones and muscles while having a defensive layer outside the skin. With some kind of specific shape grid structure that overlapped the human skeleton and muscles to support them like the foundation of a building, she didn¡¯t really understand exactly what he meant as it was so different from the usual methods but it sounded complicated.
Nodding towards him she acted like she was following what he said and when he was done she happily smiled while congratulating him.
¡°That¡¯s really amazing. Making something that works is a real feat, I¡¯m proud of you.¡±
Hoping that she said the right thing she gave him a thumbs up.
¡°Thanks, I still have a long way to go. It¡¯s really hard to hold everything together, especially while moving.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t worry about it that¡¯s normal. It wasn¡¯t that long ago that you even awakened so the progress you have shown so far is really impressive.¡±
She mentally patted herself on the back for not saying for a guy, it was good that she showed some tact here. Inara would be proud.
Nyla hadn¡¯t really planned to train for so long, but since Alex was here she decided to extend her stay. Since these were the moments she could most easily spend time with him. Maybe she could find something to talk about outside training as well.
Her plans didn¡¯t pan out since she didn¡¯t know how to broke any subject, going blank whenever she wanted to talk to him didn¡¯t help.
When it was getting close to dinner time she was bummed out since she didn¡¯t make any progress again. Slumping her shoulders she turned towards Alex, before she could figure out what to say or do.
¡°Hey Nyla, we haven¡¯t really done anything together outside training. I feel kinda bad about how I have been neglecting you¡¡±
¡°No no no, it¡¯s not your fault. I never proposed or did anything myself so you don¡¯t have to worry about it¡¡±
Shaking her head after the initial shock, she had been so passive that he was taking charge again.
Damn it, no wonder she had so few friends and never got close to any men. Unless the people around her initiated she would always just stand there like a doofus not doing anything.
¡°No still, is there anything you want to do?¡±
Alex looked gently towards her, she felt her heartbeat getting louder while her face heated up. This was a golden opportunity, a chance.
¡°Uuuhhh¡ We could¡ schedule our training together?¡±
¡®NOOOOO! You idiot.¡¯
Lamenting about how stupid she was in her head she was frantically searching for a way to salvage the situation.
Alex got a coy smile on his face while raising an eyebrow.
¡°No I thought about something else, we are already training together every day. Well I wonder if you could help me with my project in a couple of days. And if there is anything you want to do or just sit down for a talk find me. Okay?¡±
Nyla nodded towards him while mentally berating herself. She didn¡¯t even notice he stepped up to her, not until he put his hands on her shoulder and pulled her down toward him. She was going on autopilot until she saw his face right in front of her, and he gave her a deep kiss.
¡°I wouldn¡¯t mind spending the night with you either.¡±
Winking towards her after he pulled back she stood there shell-shocked. It was like lightning coursed through her body when he put his tongue in her mouth and her mind went completely blank. It was so different compared to her first kiss, and the pecks he gave her.
Standing there dazed while licking her lips remembering the sensation, after a few moments she jolted.
¡®Nooo! You just stood completely and utterly still while he did everything. Inara would berate me so hard if she finds out¡¡¯
Her face went red when she remembered how forward he was, he even said that he wouldn¡¯t mind spending the night with her. But this was to fast, she wasn¡¯t ready.
She wanted to do it right, follow the steps like in the stories she read. They would first get to know each other than go on a date where she would show off how strong she was while dazzling him and making him blush by her womanliness. On the way home, he would throw shy glances towards her and she would take his hand in hers. When they finally got home she would pick him up give him a loving kiss and carry him to bed where they would consummate their love.
But now a kiss was enough to knock her off her game. She couldn¡¯t even imagine how she would react to the real thing. It was Nyla that acted like the shy bachelor not the other way around. The whole script was completely flipped.
Shaking her head Nyla promised herself that she would do better next time, and when she was confident in herself then she would lift him up and carry him to her room like a real woman. But first she had to help him with his project and become more natural and relaxed around him.
Chapter 26
The next two days went peacefully as the crew relaxed at home. Alex and Lyria had just come back from visiting the orphanage and Nira. He had done his market research on the cost of cotton clothes and silk that the richer and more affluent members of society used and gotten a piece of cotton fabric for comparison. Clara had also managed to make her solution add a light blue color to the fabric at the same quality and slightly increased the amount she could make with the same ingredients making it more cost-efficient.
¡°Hey we¡¯re back. Your present is done.¡±
Calling out to the others I had a set of sports bras and shirts for them. Cassandra still hadn¡¯t gotten her measurements taken so I could only get her a shirt, she was to busy with her own things and didn¡¯t see the point of it.
Inara lazily came from her room, it looked like I just woke her up from her nap as her hair was disheveled and she was scratching her stomach lifting the shirt while walking groggily towards us. I guess she was catching up on sleep after last night.
Nyla came from the backyard glistening with sweat, her linen shirt clung to her body showing her toned body while smiling towards us. She was really dedicated to her training.
Cassandra came out of her basement with her usual stoic expression on her face.
Smiling at the scene I handed out the shirts to all the girls, I withheld it from Lyria so they could all get it at the same time.
¡°Wow this is nice. I never got a present from a guy before, and it feels really smooth. Thank you Alex¡±
Getting a big smile on her face Lyria was checking out the shirt she got. It was the first piece of clothes she had that was so colorful. It wasn¡¯t the standard brown, gray, or beige.
¡°Yes thank you Alex.¡±
Nyla nodded along while holding hers.
Inara just pulled her shirt off her head, she hadn¡¯t put her chest-wrapping on since yesterday and her big bountiful chest was released for the world to see.
I was momentarily mesmerized by the titty drop before I got my senses back. Even though I had seen her naked and played with her on numerous occasions it still was a pure delight every time I saw any of them naked.
¡°Wait, before you put the shirt on I got the bras here as well.¡±
Passing it out to the girls they looked keenly at them.
¡°So those are the underwear you girls were talking about.¡±
Cassandra looked the most intrigued.
Inara who took hers also looked curiously at it.
¡°So how does it work?¡±
Weird. I explained it to them when I first showed them back at Niras, but I guess she forgot or didn¡¯t pay attention.
¡°You just put it on and tighten with the strings.¡±
Inara nodded to me while still standing there topless, she seemed unperturbed by the nudity and just put it on with little fanfare.
¡°Nice. It feels incredible compared to the usual chest-wrapping, it¡¯s so smooth and snug. And look at this, it¡¯s holding my breast a lot better as well.¡±
She was jumping up and down and swinging her chest from side to side testing how it worked. The sight of her only wearing casual pants and the mat blue bra while swinging her chest around was hypnotic.
Poking my stomach Lyria looked cutely up towards me with her big blue eyes. She had a mischievous glint in them as she pulled her shirt off and pulled off her wrappings. Getting another titty drop my eyes shot wide open. Lyria got a smile on her face while putting on the bra slowly she jiggled them in front of me.
¡°How do I look?¡±
She knew I was mesmerized by Inara and got jealous. Lyria was the most assertive in bed, and it seemed like it was slowly spilling outside as well.
Gulping I nodded mutely before getting my head in place.
¡°You two look amazing in them, I hope that they are doing their job and are better than the wrappings.¡±
¡°They are amazing Alex, thank you. This is so much better, my breast had always been a bother with how big and ungainly they are. But with this they aren¡¯t getting in the way nearly as much. Cassy you should really get them as well, it¡¯s worth it.¡±
Inara was really happy testing them out, like a kid at Christmas.
Cassandra lifted her eyebrow while crossing her hands in front of her chest.
¡°It looks good and all, but it seems like a waste of money. It can¡¯t be that cheap, this material looks better than cotton and that cost in gold coins. It would be better to save the money for resources so we can get stronger. No offense Alex.¡±
¡°Well actually it costs around four gold for everything, not counting labor cost.¡±
Lyria nodded her head to concur.
¡°Yeah, and it was so easy putting it on. It feels incredible as well, you¡¯re missing out Cassy. Think of all the time you will save just on not having to wrap your chest every day.¡±
Inara looked towards Nyla before egging her on.
¡°Hey Nyla try them out so you can tell Cassy how good they feel.¡±
Nyla got a slight blush, glancing towards me she looked down on the ground while mumbling.
¡°I¡¯m sweaty from my training, so I should go to my room and get cleaned up before putting them on. Thank you Alex.¡±
Cassandra sighed at them before reluctantly nodding.
¡°Well it¡¯s cheaper than I expected, so I guess I can get them¡¡±
¡°Nice, you can come with me and Lyria to Niras tomorrow. It will be done in a jiffy.¡±
Just seeing the show I got and how happy Inara got was worth the effort. I still hadn¡¯t cashed in on the endeavor either, I really hoped it would turn out fine. Getting a temporary selling license had emptied the last of the money I got from them.
***
Nyla put on her new shirt and bra, they were really nice and she was amazed at how Alex hadn¡¯t only learned their language in some short three months'' time. He also made a brand new technique and a new type of apparel. He was really smart and driven, he was completely different from everyone she had ever known.
It was the main reason it was so easy imagining that he actually came from a different world.
Today was the big day he invited her to help him. It was a couple of days after he gifted them with their new clothes. There were so many new things she experienced this short few months with him and it was still the early days.
Inara and Lyria where always sporting content and happy looks and the mood of the house was a lot more lively than before. The days where they were always fighting and striving somberly for recognition and strength were behind them. It was like a hidden pressure was released from the group.
It was sad that Cassandra was quieter lately, she was still driven for strength like before. But since the party was content and slowed down that had put a slight wedge between them.
¡®It would be so nice if Cassy could relax and try to get to know Alex as well. She has been the hardest worker of us all for so long¡¡¯If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Shaking her head she took a deep breath and focused on the task at hand. She would spend the day with Alex helping him. It was paramount for her to do a good job, maybe then she would impress him and show how reliable she was.
¡°Ready to go Nyla?¡±
Alex called out to her after breakfast. He was wearing his new set of clothes sporting an eager smile.
¡°Yeah.¡±
Nodding her head she was a little nervous with the endeavor, he hadn¡¯t told her what their plan was and she wanted to do a good job.
¡°So what¡¯s the plan?¡±
Looking up at her.
¡°We are going to get Nira and the clothes that are treated before going towards the guild.¡±
She cocked her head.
¡°Why the guild?¡±
¡°Well it seems that mercenary work is really lucrative so I wanted to try selling it to them first. I don¡¯t know much about the richer part of town.¡±
She nodded her head, she still didn¡¯t know what her job was.
Getting to Nira¡¯s she had a heap of clothes ready, seeing the amount she instantly volunteered to carry them. It was good that Alex made her bring the bag of holding.
¡°Hey Nyla. Could you transform so you look like when we first met?¡±
¡°No problem.¡±
¡®Did he finally start to see the appeal of muscles?¡¯
Nyla had mixed feelings about the request because she could show off what she had practiced so hard for over all these years. But that would also mean he would be attracted to all the other beefy mercs that were out there. And it seemed like a bad thing for Lyria and Inara.
They set up a stand with a bust that he pulled a bra over in a corner of the market next to the guild. Putting the shirt and pants on display Nira looked nervously around.
¡°Are you sure about this Alex? I never did anything like this before, and selling for gold out in the open like that seems weird. Normally stalls sell things for copper and silver, expensive things always come from proper stores or auctions.
Alex gave a confident smile to them.
¡°It¡¯s fine. No matter what happens it will be a learning experience. It¡¯s not like we will lose anything if we don¡¯s sell.¡±
Taking a deep breath he looked out towards the crowd and pulled his cloak of.
¡°Step right up! I have come from the mysterious shadow islands and brought a new type of wear for all you lovely ladies to enjoy. Experience the illustrious material that has never been seen in this city before, and superior chest wrapping that is a lot easier to use that will make sure everything is held tightly even during the most arduous endeavors.¡±
Nyla was shocked by how he boldly stepped up calling out to the crowd in a loud and clear voice. She got slightly nervous seeing how the women around stopped to look at him, they lifted their brows in interest. But she suspected that most of it were because of his looks.
¡°Hey pretty boy, what kind of illustrious clothes have you brought here?¡±
A huge scared woman stepped up towards him with a sleazy smile on her face.
Alex just turned towards her and gave her a big smile.
¡°Well as you can see here this bra is an easier and better form of chest wrapping that is superior in all fashions, we only have a limited amount to a few specific sizes. Since they have to be specifically made you can order one for later. We just have to take your measurements first. But fear not we have also regular clothes from the same material that you can test and buy right away, you will become the envy of your friends when they see the rare and rich clothes that you are wearing. It will put you among the vaunted members of society and give you the look and status a powerful woman like you deserve, everyone will be able to recognize that you are a person of means when they see you on the street.¡±
He blasted out a whole spiel in a clear and concise fashion, she looked down on her own shirt wondering if people where thinking she was someone rich because of how much she stood out from the regular crowd. She didn¡¯t notice on her way here, but that could be because she was fully focused on Alex while trying to look cool and in control.
¡°Ohhh, interesting I might consider buying a pair if a lovely guy like you would join me for some drinks.¡±
¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I¡¯m busy right now and can¡¯t take you up on the offer.¡±
¡°Come on if you come with me you never have to work like this again, I will treat you right.¡±
Nyla couldn''t take it hearing that woman flirt with him right in front of her like that. It was infuriating hearing her say that she would treat him right. As if he was forced to work by them or something. Before she could take her first step and speak up.
¡°I¡¯m doing this because I want to, and I doubt someone who can¡¯t even afford my products can treat me right. Now if you would step aside so real customers can have a chance.¡±
Nyla could see a vein popping out on the side of her forehead while her face got a red tinge to it.
¡°I could easily buy out your whole rickety shop, I just don¡¯t waste money on frivolities. I¡¯m not some pompous noble that has to dress up and show his status through spending.¡±
Getting a bigger smile Alex looked at the enraged woman that tried to look in control. It was unseemly getting talked back from a guy like that, but it would be even worse if she exploded out in the open just from a few comments from a guy.
¡°Well if you can so easily buy out my shop are you going to actually purchase anything or just grandstand there while blocking real customers?¡±
¡°Well show me your so-called clothes, if they really are everything you said it out to be then I will buy a set.¡±
Nyla wanted to snicker seeing how easily Alex managed to bait her with her pride.
Alex moved quickly when he had his confirmation. He grabbed his cotton sample and brought over a large shirt.
¡°Here you can compare the texture quality of cotton and this new material called nylon, you can feel that it is smoother, got more resilience and is slightly elastic. Even after pulling it will quickly restore its shape.¡±
The woman huffed towards him while touching both fabrics. There was a nervous sheen building upon her forehead now. It seemed that she recognized that the quality was clearly superior compared to cotton. And cotton clothes would easily cost between two and five gold depending on the piece.
Suddenly she heard a ripping sound. She looked shocked at how the woman had ripped a tear out of the shirt. Getting a leer on her face she spat on the ground.
¡°Trying to trick me, see how your shirt got ripped while I put just a little strength behind it. Telling me that it''s superior to cotton when it breaks so easily. When I tested your cotton it held up nicely even when I used more strength. Don¡¯t listen to this harlot wasting our time with his stories.¡±
She threw the shirt and cotton fabric on the floor while huffing and walking away.
¡°STOP! Nyla.¡±
She quickly sprang in action and grabbed the woman when Alex yelled out. She tried to get loose while looking enraged towards her.
¡°Let me go. I¡¯m not taking responsibility for your scam.¡±
Alex looked pissed off while Nyla held her in place.
¡°I don¡¯t appreciate how you besmirched me and my products. It was my mistake thinking that you were a person of competence and quality. Since you clearly felt that the material was extraordinary and realized that you can¡¯t afford jack shit you ripped up my product.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t start making shit up about me you loose mutt.¡±
Alex looked sharply at her before turning toward the crowd.
¡°Is there any respectable and honorable woman out here that can check if what I said is true?¡±
He looked around the crowd that had built up during this time. He pointed out three women that had the most expensive-looking gear.
¡°It would be my honor if you beautiful women could help me out and put everything to rest. I¡¯m sure the crowd will be more trustful to your judgment compared to this ruffian.¡±
Nyla saw that two of them puffed their chest out in pride with the lavish praise that he gave them. The last just lifted her eyebrow and looked amused.
¡°Sure, but if what she said is true I¡¯m not going to back you just because of some flattering words.¡±
The last woman was the first to speak up and walked ahead. The two other quickly said similar words trying to look regal walking up towards the stand.
¡°Well since she has already ruined this shirt I want you three to compare the cotton fabric with this shirt and after touching it try ripping both up and see if you can feel the difference.¡±
They quickly in turn touched and pulled on the fabrics before putting some force to it.
¡°Hmmm this is some interesting fabrics. It feels better than the cotton and I had to put a lot more strength to rip it up. I actually have cotton clothes back at home, but they can¡¯t compare to this. The color is also a nice bonus, the only thing negative I can say about it is how plain-looking it is outside the fabric.¡±
The first woman nodded while giving her review the other two also agreed.
¡°I will buy a full set and order a bra as well, you have me intrigued.¡±
Smiling Alex nodded thankfully towards her.
The woman in Nyla''s arm did a desperate jank trying to get loose after the reveal.
Alex turned towards her.
¡°Since you ruined this shirt I expect some compensation. But since you seem like a poor person trying so desperately to avoid buying anything I will let it off for only three gold and you can even take the shirt with you.¡±
Turning back towards the woman that bought some clothes he gave her a big smile.
¡°The shirt and pants cost five gold each and the bra is made for order, it will cost six gold and you will have to let Nira back there take your measurements so we can have it made for your size. We will be back here next week, you don¡¯t have to pay for the bra until then. So what would you like and how many?¡±
The woman lifted her brows in surprise by the price.
¡°Ohh, I expected it to be a lot more expensive. Haha this is a bargain, ill get four sets of clothes and two bras. I¡¯m really curious if they will live up to your promises.¡±
After the initial ordeal the crowd quieted down, more people came up to test and buy the clothes it seemed they were intrigued after that woman endorsed Alex.
It took them only a couple of hours to sell out and get ten different orders for the bras which Alex stopped as the limit.
Packing up and going back home Nyla was dizzy with the whole ordeal, he only brought her as a pack mule and a guard. She had to chase away a few ruffians that tried to get handsy with Alex and a couple of thieves. It all went well in the end but she still felt overwhelmed, good thing it seemed like he had everything in order. They had made close to two hundred gold which was insane. That was twenty mana shards or two small mana crystals. It was more than they made on their usual missions.
When they got back to Niras she looked towards Alex with a sigh of relief.
¡°That really scared me, I have never been so nervous in my whole life young man. Are you trying to make me have a heart attack with all this excitement?¡±
She smiled towards him while slumping down in her chair.
¡°We just sold for more money than I have ever seen in my whole life. And it was done within a couple of hours¡¡±
Alex laughed while walking up towards her taking his pouch out he dropped forty gold to her.
¡°And it couldn¡¯t have been done without you or Clara. I hope I don¡¯t put to much pressure on you with all these orders?¡±
She shook her head while having an excited smile on her face.
¡°No I haven¡¯t felt so energized in years so it shouldn¡¯t be a problem. But I¡¯m out of regular clothes now¡¡±
¡°Don¡¯t worry I can just buy normal clothes from other shops while you focus on the bras. If several people have the same size we can always make extras. It would be a good idea to note down what sizes sell so we can have some ready to go. And could you recommend someone I can buy from?¡±
After he got all their business done with Nira they left for home.
Walking quietly down the streets Alex nudged Nyla who was still lost in her thoughts.
¡°Hey want to buy some snacks and take a stroll through the city?¡±
She looked surprised by his suggestion but quickly nodded her head while a smile grew on her face.
¡®Is this a date now?¡¯
He took her to some street stalls and bought food and snacks while they lazily walked around town chitchatting. They saw some of the sights the city had to offer, and after they ate she glanced towards his hand.
Alex noticed her look and smiled up to her before taking her hand in his and entwining their fingers.
She blissfully smiled while humming to herself. This was such a good day.
¡®Wait! He was leading the whole time. And it was me who shyly glanced towards him. Nooooo! It¡¯s completely flipped again¡¡¯