《Chains of Dominion》


 Chapter 1: Purgatory

    Jake mopped the 7/11 bathroom floor absentmindedly as he ran through strategies. The local tournament was tonight, an all-night caffeine-fueled orgy of tactical action. He¡¯d practiced for this for three years, and there wasn¡¯t much more he could do to prepare, but thinking of the game relaxed him.


    Fantasy Tactics Online had some randomness, in the hit calculations and the order in which job spheres were unlocked, but randomness of that type was still fair. Everything in the game was one hundred percent fair, and tournament mode even more so.


    That was probably what he loved about it.


    That, and the fact that he could distract himself from the smeared fecal matter he had to clean up, and the ungrateful customers he had to deal with, and the hundreds of other unfair things that happened in his life.


    He finished mopping, then spent the whole recommended twenty seconds scrubbing his soaped-up hands before washing them off.


    He pulled the mop and bucket out of the bathroom and saw a man in a suit and tie impatiently staring at the checkout counter where Jake was supposed to be standing. ¡°Come on man, I got places to be, people to sue. Maybe I¡¯ll add you to the list if you don¡¯t get your ass over here and let me pay for my shit. If I wasn¡¯t such an upstanding citizen with such a deep respect for the law I would¡¯ve walked right out with these corn chips.¡±


    Jake left the bucket and walked to the counter and ran the corn chips over the scanner. The newspaper said he had five years left in this gig, tops, before a machine took over that duty. How long until machines could scrub away poop?


    The machine had already processed the cost and was prompting the suit to pay.


    ¡°One thirty seven? Robbery.¡± The suit grinned. ¡°Legal robbery, my favorite kind. And¡­ hey kid, you all right? You on oxy?¡±


    ¡°Just tired.¡±


    ¡°Okay, but¡­ look, if you are, I have a class-action lawsuit going you might want to join.¡±


    ¡°Trust me, I can¡¯t afford oxy.¡±


    ¡°You will after the lawsuit!¡± The suit¡¯s credit card finished processing and he did a two-finger cub scout salute. Probably didn¡¯t know what it meant. ¡°You take care. And call me if any of your friends are hooked! There¡¯s lots of money in avenging ruined lives.¡±


    Twenty-seven more minutes until his shift ended.


    The clock slowed to a crawl, and he played out several common micro-skirmishes in his head. An archer versus a fire dragon ¡ª that one was simple, the archer would win as long as there was sufficient cover that didn¡¯t burn. A geomancer versus a summoner who had called forth Fenrir ¡ª that one was more complex. The strategy would rely on the geomancer¡¯s ability to manipulate the earth; if he could sneak around and take out the summoner while avoiding Fenrir, then he could win. But if his opponent was any good, he¡¯d know the signs of earth manipulation¡­ Jake would have to create decoy manipulations to disguise his true strategy. So he¡¯d¡ª


    ¡°Hey, kid. You already checked out?¡± The battlefield fell away and Jake was back in the 7/11, with his shift replacement shaking his arm. ¡°Seriously, how many customers have you ignored because of your daydreaming?¡±


    His shift replacement was a fifty-five-year-old man, struggling to support himself yet still full of pride. The old man¡¯s thinning hair was combed neat and slick, and he always had a story of an almost-conquest from the day or week before. Never any actual dates, but he was always this close.


    Jake knew that would be his fate in thirty years, but he tried not to think about it. His other friends were getting jobs, wives, children, while he continued in stasis. Twenty-five years old and the only exceptional thing about him was how good he was at Fantasy Tactics Online.


    Then again, maybe this weekend would be his big break. It was the local tournament, an official tournament, one whose winner would go on to state. That was where the prize money and sponsorships started. If he won state and got to national, things could really start happening.


    He clocked out and waved to the old man as he left. He realized as he got in his car that the dirty mop bucket was still sitting outside the bathroom, but that was no longer his problem. Not until he was yelled at the next day.


    Besides, if he didn¡¯t hurry then he¡¯d be late for the tournament and it would all be for nothing.


    It had been three years since the tournament had come to Eagleton, and in those in-between years he couldn¡¯t justify the gas and hotel costs. He¡¯d improved a lot in three years, especially in the last year where he¡¯d focused solely on tournament play.


    A horn honked and he swerved back into his lane. The car zoomed to pass him, and an obese man leaned out the passenger side window to yell obscenities as they passed.


    Jake turned on the radio to drown out the yelling, and as static filled the car he remembered that the radio antenna had broken three days ago. He¡¯d chosen to enter the tournament rather than fix it.


    Five minutes later he showed up at his rundown apartment complex. Commute length was very important to him ¡ª any longer and he¡¯d show up at work sweaty from his car¡¯s lack of AC.


    ¡°Ya bring me a slurpee?¡± the grey-haired woman who lived downstairs sat on her porch rocker, patiently awaiting her chance to harass the neighbors as they came home. What a retirement. When he didn¡¯t respond she stepped up the assault. ¡°You¡¯re never going to make friends if you don¡¯t bring them slurpees. You¡¯re going to grow old at that job. No 401k. All because you never learned how to network.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m taking the management track,¡± he mumbled as he passed. Which meant that, in ten years, he might have one or two sad-sack employees under him, if the robots didn¡¯t destroy it all first. A 7/11 management track was a no-outlet cul-de-sac attached to a dead-end job. But what else was he to do? The old woman¡¯s advice was one hundred percent aimed at getting herself free slurpees, not at getting him ahead, and the only way out of this place was moving to the big city, tripling his rent, and hoping for an unpaid internship.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    At least in Fantasy Tactics Online, things were fair.


    He opened the door to his apartment, flipped on the light. ¡°Hello, friends!¡± he yelled. The cockroaches scattered. ¡°It¡¯s okay. You¡¯d be bad friends anyways.¡±


    Shower came first, and then changing clothes from his smelly 7/11 uniform into jeans and a Zelda t-shirt. He grabbed three Red Bulls from the fridge and tossed them in his backpack, along with a half dozen snack bars and an extra shirt. GameShop would provide the VR headset ¡ª a much better model than he had at home.


    ¡°Goodbye, friends,¡± he said as he walked out the door and flipped off the light. ¡°Don¡¯t mess with my food while I¡¯m gone.¡±


    Jake barreled down the highway, his mind already in tournament mode. They¡¯d be doing a three-character scenario, locked down to level thirty and ten thousand AP, with only one rare class allowed on the team. He already had his classes selected and his point allocations worked out. There was nothing left to do but win.


    Figuring these things out was what the last year had been about. He¡¯d ignored every other scenario, ignored the open-world online play he¡¯d used to love so much, and focused solely on what would bring him victory in the tournament.


    Level 30, 10k AP, with an archer, a geomancer, and a rogue. It was a rare strategy; geomancers were notoriously difficult to fight against, but they were even more notoriously difficult to use. However, with the right point distribution, the rogue would be un-findable and the archer would be un-reachable.


    The GameShop parking lot was crowded already.


    He had an unbeatable strategy, but he found himself getting nervous anyways. Sweat rolled down the small of his back. He parked and wiped his brow. Hadn¡¯t he just showered?


    He would win.


    His friends were there.


    There was nothing to worry about¡­ except for the fact that, if he lost, he¡¯d face another three years of purgatory before getting another shot.


    The asphalt simmered underfoot as he stepped out of the car.


    When he stepped into the GameShop, the AC was a welcome relief. Even with the two dozen people crowded into the shop it was cooler than outside.


    An even bigger relief was when Jake saw Todd¡¯s trademark Goku¡¯s Gym muscle shirt and buzzcut blonde hair from across the room. Todd had seen him as well and jaunted across the room with a big grin pasted across his face. ¡°Hey maaaaaaaan!¡±


    He went straight for the bear hug, which nearly choked Jake, both from the force of the squeeze and the miasma of weed that followed. Jake nearly coughed. ¡°Hey man.¡±


    ¡°How¡¯s my favorite nerd?¡±


    ¡°Dude, you¡¯re at a Fantasy Tactics Online tournament. Wearing an anime shirt.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m only here to support you.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re playing.¡±


    ¡°Someone¡¯s gotta take eighth place.¡±


    ¡°You qualified just the same as anyone else here.¡±


    ¡°Whatever, man.¡± Todd shrugged. ¡°After this tourney¡¯s done, you gotta come back to online play. We miss you¡­ looting dungeons and seiging castles just isn¡¯t the same without your squad.¡±


    It was easy for him to say that. This was just a game to Todd. He was on track to take over his dad¡¯s carpeting business and marry his high school sweetheart. He¡¯d just lucked into life, and¡ª


    ¡°Yo, man, you¡¯re getting all tense on me. You gotta relax. You do best when you¡¯re relaxed.¡±


    Jake forced a smile. ¡°Thanks, man. After this tournament, it¡¯s back to online play. How far behind have I fallen?¡±


    A snide voice cut into their conversation, a sharp whine. ¡°Online play is the least of your worries. Why not think about how far behind you¡¯ve fallen in life?¡±


    Mike sauntered towards them, followed by Brendan and Eddy, his sycophantic followers. They all wore ridiculous pink polo shirts, each shirt with a starched and popped collar.


    ¡°Well, if it isn¡¯t our stinky duo. Burnout McMuscleface and Mr. Slurpee.¡±


    Brendan high-fived Mike. ¡°Good one. Keep this up and you¡¯ll be an even better politician than your dad.¡±


    ¡°You knew we would be here,¡± said Todd. ¡°Don¡¯t act like even more of an idiot than you actually are.¡±


    Mike ignored the insult, ignored Todd entirely, and focused in on Jake. ¡°You ready to lose again? Just like three years ago?¡±


    Brendan grinned. ¡°He¡¯s spent three years practicing nothing but losing. I¡¯d say he¡¯s ready.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t denigrate our friend, the human slurpee dispenser,¡± said Eddy, the other sycophant. ¡°It¡¯s a valuable service.¡±


    ¡°What do you think¡¯s gonna replace him first? An immigrant or a machine?¡± Mike nodded to his followers, cue-ing their laughter.


    Brendan was ready to pile on. ¡°Either one would be good¡­ they¡¯d both do a better job for less money.¡±


    Eddy cackled nervously. ¡°Better learn to code, slurpee boy.¡±


    ¡°Ignore them,¡± said Todd. Despite his own advice, Todd¡¯s fists were clenched tight.


    ¡°Careful, McMuscleface,¡± said Mike. ¡°Brendan is one eighth Native American. Touch him and it¡¯s a race crime.¡±


    ¡°You mean a hate crime?¡±


    ¡°Whatever.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right, we should ignore them,¡± said Jake.


    In Fantasy Tactics Online, everything was fair.


    This was not Fantasy Tactics Online.


    It was for the best that he didn¡¯t have Todd¡¯s muscles. Never mind the consequences, the jail time¡­ beating down Mike and his friends would just feel so damn good. If he had Todd¡¯s muscles, there would be blood on the floor.


    He forced himself to look away.


    His eyes landed straight on the most amazing sight he¡¯d encountered in a good five years. Long dark slightly wavy hair, perfect golden-brown skin, skin-tight red gown that advertised her ample breasts and perfectly shaped ass. The medieval cosplay was technically modest, but it still left Jake with a raging boner.


    The girl¡¯s eyes flicked back and forth across the room, trying to take it all in. She was nervous about something. Was this her first tournament? Maybe she needed a mentor. He could help her.


    Their eyes met and he stopped breathing.


    She had a look of intense longing, of buried desperation. It was like this was her escape, her only chance out of a hellish situation.


    He recognized that look.


    Or was he just projecting?


    One of her hands reached into an oversized burlap bag ¡ª it didn¡¯t match her dress at all ¡ª and began to clutch at something. Her face changed again into frustration, another look he recognized. It was the face he made every time he¡¯d wanted to talk to a cute girl but decided not to. Or was that projection again?


    And yet with her, despite being so much more attractive than the single girls in this small town, she felt¡­ approachable. He should go talk to her. He should¡ª


    Mike¡¯s laugh snapped him out of his reverie. ¡°God, you¡¯re pathetic. Eye-raping the first girl you see, so much that she grabs her mace.¡±


    Jake turned to Mike and got in his face, two inches away. Boners made him bold, apparently. Not bold enough to start throwing punches, but bold enough to tell the bully off. ¡°We¡¯re on my turf now. It doesn¡¯t matter that your dad¡¯s a senator, or that his friends run the newspaper. This is Fantasy Tactics Online, where things are fair. And whenever things are fair, you will lose.¡±


    Brendan¡¯s jaw dropped. ¡°Whoa.¡±


    Eddy looked around nervously. Todd started chuckling. ¡°Dude. We just gotta keep hot girls around and you¡¯re gonna start killing it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna kill it anyways,¡± said Jake. ¡°I¡¯ve studied for this for too long. This is a fair game, and when games are fair, I win.¡±


    Mike smirked. ¡°Cool story. Looks like the tournament¡¯s about to start. I wonder if there¡¯ll be any announcements.¡±


    The GameShop employee started in on the opening spiel, laid down the ground rules. Eight participants, single-elimination. All as expected, but Mike¡¯s warning had made him suspicious. What sort of announcement could he mean?


    Then it happened.


    The deathblow.


    ¡°We¡¯ve made a slight adjustment to the rules. Instead of using level thirty characters with ten thousand AP, we¡¯ll be using level ten characters with nine hundred AP. We¡¯ll also be reducing the squad size from three to two.¡±


    All the plans he¡¯d made in the past year, all the contingency plans, every single calculation he¡¯d done to ensure he would be unbeatable¡­ completely gone.


    Mike didn¡¯t even try to hide his glee. ¡°What a surprise, slurpee-boy. What a surprise.¡±

 Chapter 2: Game Plan

    His plan was ruined.


    An entire year down the drain.


    The room blurred and started swimming, and Mike was cackling so loudly that the GameShop employee had to tell him to quiet down.


    Instead of three squad members with 10k AP, he had two squad members with 900 AP. Literally everything about his strategy would have to change, and it would have to change right now. Once he selected his team, he couldn¡¯t change the jobs they held, only the distribution of AP. Tournament rules.


    Should he stay with a geomancer? The geomancer was his trump card, but only when they were fully tricked out. Could he make a 900 AP geomancer work? And then he¡¯d be stuck with half the damage-dealing capability he was used to, while the enemy¡¯s damage would only be cut by a third. He had to make it work. He hadn¡¯t played as any of the other classes since he¡¯d settled on his trifecta, and just an archer and a rogue together were untenable.


    Or were they? With 900 AP his rogue could get some basic traps and some basic stealth capabilities. For most players that wouldn¡¯t be enough protection for the archer, but Jake wasn¡¯t most players. And with only 900 AP per character, his opponents wouldn¡¯t be as formidable as he was used to.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay man,¡± said Todd. ¡°After the tournament, you still got your old crew online. Life isn¡¯t just about winning.¡±


    ¡°Yes it is,¡± said Jake.


    ¡°Dude, seriously¡­¡± Todd was only trying to help, but the fact was that the man didn¡¯t have to spend double-shifts at a dirty convenience store just to live in a cockroach-infested apartment. He could relax because he didn¡¯t have to win.


    Jake had no such luxury. ¡°I am going to win. It¡¯ll just be harder than I thought.¡±


    Todd shrugged. ¡°If it¡¯s worth so much to you, I¡¯m sure you¡¯re going to do great.¡±


    The GameShop employee started calling out the first matches. Todd was against Mike, and Jake was against Brendan. Both games would take place simultaneously, and after they finished, the next two matches of round 1 would occur.


    Jake went to his VR headset and started plugging in. The shell covered his eyes and ears, a familiar comfort, and it shrunk so it form-fit his head. Then he lay back in the fancy reclining chair they¡¯d set up for the players and relaxed. The Fantasy Tactics Online startup screen came up in its full visual glory, far brighter and clearer than on his personal VR headset.


    Then the chair tightened around him, grabbing his arms and legs. Unfamiliar sticky electrodes suctioned onto his skin, a damp discomfort, and then the real world disappeared. He was plunged into the FTO startup sequence, falling through the air in a panic. The character hit the ground and he felt it in his bones.


    He heard dim laughter that might have been from the GameShop.


    Reality Mode, he commanded.


    A tiny screen popped up showing the outside world and removing the noise cancellation effect of the headphones.


    ¡°As you can see, we were able to borrow the latest in immersive technology, thanks to our sponsor, the Eagleton Big Money Casino. Would you like to say a few words, Mr. Running-Bear?¡±


    Bernard¡¯s father stepped up next to the GameShop employee. He wasn¡¯t actually Native American at all ¡ª he was from an old-money banking family and had married Bernard¡¯s quarter-Cherokee mother ¡ª but he dressed in a parody of the culture¡¯s war regalia.


    ¡°How,¡± he said, waving. ¡°It looks like most of you are eighteen, yes? Well, I have good news. If you like the machines we¡¯re loaning for tonight, I want you to know that they¡¯re available at the Eagleton Big Money Casino twenty-four seven, three-sixty-five. Not all of you are going to play with them in the tournament, but they¡¯ll be available afterwards for you to try. They¡¯re completely immersive! If you look on the readout screens¡ª¡±


    He gestured to two televisions that were blacked out by the headset¡¯s algorithm. One would display exactly what the player saw, while the other would provide an overhead view of the battle and some stats on each character.


    ¡°¡ª You¡¯ll see that we have the vital stats of the players. As you can see, Mr. Jacob Wagner has an elevated heart rate indicative of excitement. He¡¯s turned on reality mode ¡ª hello Jacob! ¡ª which means he¡¯s not experiencing the effect right now, and he can¡¯t interact, but his heart rate is still high! And his skin conductance tells an amazing story. Not to mention his face.¡±


    Jake grimaced.


    ¡°Go back to the game, Mr. Wagner. You don¡¯t want to get behind in the character selection process. Oh look, another heart rate spike!¡±


    The room filled with laughter.


    Fuck that old man and his tricks.


    Jake plunged back into the game. The intro cinematic was at the part where a character was plunged into a swamp, and he felt the stickiness, the crawling of worms on his skin.


    Character Selection Screen.


    The worms were gone, replaced by stale air, bright lights, and the familiar guitar riffs of the competitive-play character selection screen.


    Archer.


    The stats for a level 10 Archer popped up, along with the available skills. They didn¡¯t show any that cost over 900 AP.


    Select Archer.


    A screen popped up ¡ª Archer selected.


    Rogue.


    Select Rogue.


    ¡ª Rogue selected.


    Continue.


    ¡ª Is this your selection? You will not be able to change this for the duration of the tournament.


    Yes.


    ¡ª Your opponent¡¯s characters are a Warrior and a Priest.


    Classic healer-tank combo. It was kind of embarrassing how basic it was.


    Yet, it was effective.


    Bernard and his dad were perfectly willing to do things that were embarrassing but effective.


    There was no time to worry about that, however¡­ he had three minutes to assign his AP before the match started.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    The randomly assigned map was a hilly plains area, with a river on one edge and a stand of trees in the middle. In online play there would be no hard and fast borders, but in tournament play the field abruptly stopped at an invisible wall that would be marked only by a thick red line on the ground.


    The highest point was on the opposite edge of the map from the river, towards the bottom, with five other hills spread out near the borders of the map. As an archer, controlling the highest hill would give him a distinct advantage, especially since neither of the opposing characters had strong ranged attacks.


    He pulled up the assignment screen.


    Archer


    Basic play-style focuses on attack from a distance. Techniques are focused on increasing their versatility.


    Multipliers


    Power - physical - piercing - 2x


    Dex - accuracy - ranged - 2x


    Dex - dodge - 1.5x


    Max HP - 0.8x


    Defense - physical - 0.8x


    Chi while running - 0.8x


    Chi while walking - 0.8x


    Skills


    10 AP - Standing Shot - basic ranged attack


    10 AP - Arrow Stab - basic melee attack


    50 AP - Stealth - can go into stealth; good at hiding, not great at moving quickly while in hiding


    100 AP - Piercing Shot - completely ignore armor, but takes 2x as long to draw


    150 AP - Running Shot - can shoot while running, but accuracy decreased significantly


    200 AP - Long Shot - more accurate at range, but takes 2x as long to draw and costs 2x more chi


    250 AP - Hidden Shot - can stay in stealth while shooting


    Note: elemental arrows can be combined with any shot for 1.5x the chi


    500 AP - Fire Arrow - burn effect


    500 AP - Ice Arrow - chill effect


    500 AP - Lightning Arrow - spark effect


    700 AP - Spread Shot - Shoot three arrows at once which spread out as they fly. Does more damage at close range if more hit, and more likely to hit at medium range.


    No skills greater than 900 AP were shown, since they wouldn¡¯t be purchasable anyways. Still, there were a variety of playstyles available.


    For the next match he¡¯d have two viable strategies ¡ª either pile on so much damage so fast that the priest couldn¡¯t heal fast enough, or sneak around the warrior and isolate the priest. The second was more likely to work.


    Select Stealth


    Select Hidden Shot


    He¡¯d used 300 AP and had 600 left. The question now was whether to invest in an elemental shot or to just buy up everything else. Priests and warriors didn¡¯t have any elemental resistances or weaknesses by default, but the plan would be much more likely to work if he could slow the warrior. On the other hand, having Piercing Shot, Long Shot, and Running Shot would increase the Archer¡¯s versatility considerably. Long Shot especially would be nice from the high hill ¡ª in a pure plains scenario with one hill, that would have been the clear winner.


    Still, he chose Ice.


    Select Ice Arrow


    Select Standing Shot


    Select Arrow Stab


    ¡ª Finalize?


    Yes.


    He flipped to the Rogue¡¯s skill selection screen.


    Rogue


    Basic playstyle is focused on disappearing, setting traps, and striking from the shadows.


    Multipliers


    Dex - accuracy - melee - 2x


    Dex - dodge - 2x


    Dex - counter - 1.5x


    Movement - stealth - 3x


    Skills


    10 AP - attack


    10 AP - stealth


    50 AP - surprise attack - 3x damage if attacking from stealth. Removes stealth.


    Note: all traps take 3 seconds to create and are difficult to detect, unless otherwise stated. AOE effects will set off explosion and ice traps, but not regular attacks.


    100 AP - sticky trap - Cause movement to stop for 5 seconds for anyone stuck in trap. Great for setting up backstabs or creating choke points.


    150 AP - backstab - 2x damage if attacking from the back, even if not in stealth.


    200 AP - explosion trap - Causes fire damage (large) when triggered.


    250 AP - shadow flash - AOE effect around rogue. slow enemy movement and actions by 50% for 3 seconds. Great for getting to where you can enter stealth.


    400 AP - ice trap - Causes ice damage (medium) when triggered, and freezes the target completely for 3 seconds. Chilled for 5 seconds afterwards. 5 seconds to create.


    700 AP - disappear - disappear for 10 seconds. Can run while in this state, but can¡¯t attack. Can still be hit by AOE effects. Takes 30% of chi to initiate and cannot exit early.


    His Rogue¡¯s job in this match would be to sneak up on the Priest and do as much damage as possible in a very short amount of time. This made selecting the first set of skills easy.


    Select Attack


    Select Stealth


    Select Surprise Attack


    Select Backstab


    Select Shadow Flash


    That used up 470 AP. He had 430 left. Should he buy the ice trap or the explosion trap and sticky trap?


    Select Sticky Trap


    Select Explosion Trap


    They were both quicker to create than the ice trap, and they could create more damage or a longer trapped effect, although not both at the same time.


    ¡ªFinalize?


    Yes.


    His characters appeared on the map, near the bottom. Convenient ¡ª climbing the hill with his archer and setting traps with the rogue would be his first priority, and he could get a good start before the warrior made his way across the field.


    He had some time while Bernard selected his AP.


    Reality Mode.


    On the other screen, he could see that Todd had selected Barbarian (no surprise) and Summoner, while Mike had selected Paladin and Mage. Jake had no illusions about who would win, and about how hard fighting a Paladin and Mage would be with his current setup ¡ª a choice that was likely deliberate ¡ª but that was for the final match.


    He looked around the room and saw the girl staring intently at the screen with his own stats. Her hand was in the burlap bag again, clutching some item even more tightly than before. It wasn¡¯t mace, then. After all, he was laying back in a chair, completely unthreatening. Then what could it be? Her face was hopeful.


    A sound from the game drew him back.


    ¡ª Match starting in 3¡­ 2¡­ 1¡­.

 Chapter 3: Priest and Warrior

    The chill air of the morning dawn felt uncannily real to Jake. Grass scraped his legs as he walked, damp and ticklish yet not unpleasant. His body was lithe and long, able to carry him a great distance with smooth strides, far better than in his everyday life. He hadn¡¯t even considered how much faster travel was in the game until he was put directly into the character¡¯s body like this.


    Yet he couldn¡¯t get distracted. Distraction was what Bernard wanted for him.


    If he stopped to enjoy the breeze, he would die.


    He¡¯d started off in the Archer¡¯s body, so he needed to set that one headed to the mountain first. From there he could survey the territory, keep an eye on the enemy, and command a large swath of land while his Rogue laid traps and prepared to send the enemy to their death.


    With the Archer set in the right direction, he switched to the Rogue¡¯s body. It was tense and powerful, set to a hair-trigger, built to crouch in the shadows and leap at enemies. It was amazing how different they were, and how advanced the simulation was, that he could feel so different while controlling the various characters. Without even looking at his HUD he would know exactly which character he was inhabiting.


    He sent Rogue to the base of the mountain and began to set his first trap. His fingers knew exactly what to do, mixing wire and chi to create a Sticky Trap that would lay near-invisibly on the ground and grab the first person who wandered into it ¡ª including himself, if he was stupid enough to forget where it was. It took exactly three seconds to create, and then he moved on to the next one.


    The goal was cover this ground in traps, to make it impossible for Bernard to pass safely ¡ª at least, not without using up one of the Warrior¡¯s special moves. After that move was used up, he could isolate the priest on the other side and destroy him before the Warrior could get back.


    He set a pattern for the Rogue to follow, then switched to the Archer.


    As he climbed he could feel the Chi slipping out of him faster, an unfamiliar sensation. It was like becoming exhausted or out of breath, but since he knew it was just a number in the computer it felt abstract and unreal. Still, when his Chi ran out, he had to stop and catch his breath.


    He missed his Geomancer. The Geomancer could¡¯ve floated the Archer up on a piece of rock for far less Chi. Given enough time, the Geomancer could then make the hill nearly unclimbable fro the opponent. And given even more time, he could¡¯ve reshaped the land so the Archer could survey the entirety of it with his Long Shot.


    That was the point of Mike¡¯s trickery: to remove his advantage from the Geomancer, and to negate his superior skill at switching between perspectives.


    He switched back to the Rogue and started laying another trap, then switched to Archer and saw the approaching Priest and Warrior duo.


    Jake activated stealth for both of his characters. For the Archer, this meant he could only use Hidden Shot and could move very slowly. For the Rogue, it meant he couldn¡¯t run, but he could walk quickly, set traps, and attack from the shadows. The wall of traps was halfway done.


    Then they stopped approaching. They sat right outside the Archer¡¯s accurate range and started dancing, taunting.


    So Bernard wasn¡¯t as stupid as he looked.


    That was fine. Jake was in stealth, and he could set traps anywhere on the field. He slowly approached them with his Rogue, laying Sticky Traps as he went. His Archer came out of stealth ¡ª it was hard for him to climb while hidden ¡ª and slowly came down the slope, getting to the edge of the traps near the bottom of the hill.


    This also gave him time to look at their stats and see which skills they¡¯d chosen.


    Warrior


    Melee Attack


    Taunt - demand attention. Can interrupt attacks and cause increased aggression towards the warrior and away from other targets. Effect lasts for 3 seconds, and is on a 10-second cooldown. Diminishing returns.


    Shout - encourage others nearby, including self, increasing their melee damage


    Hamstring - A cut that slows the enemy¡¯s movement speed by 50% for 3 seconds. 5-second cooldown.


    Determined - Reduce incoming damage by 50% and become immune to movement-impairing status effects (broadly defined) for 10 seconds. 120-second recharge.


    Rush - From up to 8 yards away, can close the distance at 3x normal speed. 60-second cooldown.


    Frenzy - For a large chunk of Chi, strike twice as fast for ten seconds. Thirty-second cooldown.


    Priest


    Heal - Heals a nearby teammate


    Whack - Hits an enemy with their staff


    Holy Fire - Casts Holy damage on one enemy


    Dispel - Removes a status effect on an ally. Some status effects are more difficult to remove.


    Awe - Damage-less AOE on nearby targets. They¡¯ll be unable to bring themselves to attack the priest for up to 10 seconds (unless attacked by the priest). They can still attack other targets. 60-second cooldown.


    Holy Shield - Protect allies with a shield that absorbs damage. Shield lasts up to 30 seconds, and once shielded, cannot shield the same ally for 30 seconds.


    That was roughly the build he would¡¯ve chosen for this match as well. The Priest could protect himself for a time, the Warrior could close distance, and as long as the Priest was alive the Warrior was practically invincible. The only downside was that the Priest would have to stay close to the Warrior in order to heal him, but given Jake¡¯s choices, keeping close to the Warrior was a good idea.


    He would have to draw the Warrior into a web of traps, get him to use up his movement specials in an attempt to kill the Rogue, and then rush the Priest.


    The trick, though, would be to get the enemies to move! They hadn¡¯t budged an inch since arriving just outside of range, even when the Archer had dropped out of stealth.


    That did work to his advantage for now, as he had plenty of time to lay Sticky Traps, but it was suspicious.


    He got closer and closer, laying them back and forth in seemingly random patterns across the field.


    Closer¡­


    Until the Warrior used Shout.


    His Rogue was right at the edge of the move¡¯s effective range, and his attention was pulled from the trap he was setting¡­ making it explode in his face, pull him out of stealth, and stick him to the ground for 5 seconds.


    Fuck.


    He maneuvered around the traps with his Archer and sent off an Ice Shot. The Warrior triggered Determined before it landed, negating the slowing effect.


    For ten seconds, the Warrior would be completely unstoppable.


    Then, when he got into range, the Warrior used Rush, tripling the speed at which he approached the helpless Rogue.


    And triggered Frenzy, doubling the rate of his attack.


    Fuck.


    He knew, intellectually, that by the time this barrage ended his Rogue would be almost dead.


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    Then he felt the first blow.


    Searing pain ripped through him where the Warrior¡¯s blade sliced. That was only 15% of his health?


    Another blow, and another, horrifyingly fast due to Frenzy.


    At least, two seconds into the barrage, he could move again. He backpedaled away then turned, sprinting as fast as he could, draining his Chi. A fourth blow landed, knocking him down to 40% of his total health. Three more hits like that and he was dead¡­ and he hadn¡¯t gotten off a single blow yet.


    At least the Warrior¡¯s Chi was almost down. That would give him an advantage ¡ª if the Warrior gave chase, then he¡¯d run out his Chi and not be able to strike the finishing blows.


    The Warrior did give chase, though at a walk instead of a run. A nice, Chi-preserving pace. He was backing up a wounded Rogue against a mountain, after all¡­ how hard could it be?


    This was a disaster. He couldn¡¯t heal effectively, and it would take several minutes of rest to restore the lost HP. That was all if he was able to find enough distance that he could stealth again. The Warrior would regain his Chi before that.


    He could, at least, put his Archer to use. He sent out another Ice Shot, and this one took effect. The Warrior started moving slower, and each step drained Chi as if he¡¯d been running. The damage was only 5% of the Warrior¡¯s total health, and was quickly healed by the Priest, but he hadn¡¯t been doing it for the damage. It let his Rogue gain precious distance.


    He sent out another Ice Shot as soon as the first one wore off.


    Jake preferred being in the Archer¡¯s body now, as it wasn¡¯t wracked with pain, but he forced himself back into the Rogue. How close was he? He could sense his effective range for stealth, and he was almost there. The Warrior followed¡­ and got caught in a Sticky Trap.


    Finally, some luck!


    The Rogue took a couple steps more and dropped back into stealth. His Archer did the same. They moved to a different position than where they¡¯d become invisible and waited.


    The Warrior started walking in the Archer¡¯s direction.


    Jake moved the Archer, and the Warrior adjusted.


    That was weird. Did Bernard know where he was?


    Reality Mode.


    He got a tiny block of the outside world piped into his headset. The TV screens were blacked out, as they should be. Surely Bernard¡¯s father wouldn¡¯t reprogram these to not black out the screen for his son. The man didn¡¯t seem that technically sophisticated.


    Then he noticed motion.


    Eddy.


    He was looking at Jake¡¯s TV and moving his hands, making signs.


    Eddy was telling Bernard where he was.


    They were cheating.


    But with Bernard¡¯s father sponsoring the event, would he be able to convince anyone that the boy¡¯s increasingly-inevitable win was a sham? Surely someone would notice!


    But as the Warrior got ever closer to the Archer, he realized that no one was going to step up.


    He would have to take the loss and try again in three years, stuck in this purgatory of a life.


    Unless¡­ it was a wild strategy, and it probably wouldn¡¯t work, but he had to try.


    He broke stealth with his Archer, launched an Ice shot, and started running towards the opposite end of the map.


    It had to look like panic.


    When he was in the Archer¡¯s body, it felt like panic.


    The Warrior gave chase, slowly catching up. The Archer would shoot an Ice Shot and the Warrior would slow for a bit, but the time spent shooting the arrow actually made it a net loss.


    That was fine.


    He would be at the other end of the field by the time the Warrior caught up to him.


    Meanwhile, he moved his rogue through the traps, towards the Priest. A more skilled player would have moved the Priest with the Warrior, but Bernard was only as good as his tricks.


    Eddy was desperately motioning, looking obvious enough that even some of the bystanders were noticing, but Bernard was set on his prey.


    The second Jake¡¯s Archer reached the edge of the field, he used Surprise Attack with his Rogue on the Priest. The fool didn¡¯t even have a Holy Shield up. Half of Priest¡¯s health was gone in the first attack, and then another third was gone in a backstab. The cut of blade into flesh was shocking, but he didn¡¯t have time to dwell on such things right now. He performed a third, regular, attack and the Priest was dead.


    But so was his Archer.


    Jake transferred back to the Archer¡¯s body just in time to feel the horrifying pain of death.


    He transferred back to the Rogue as quickly as he could.


    Now it was a Rogue against a Warrior¡­ and the Rogue had, effectively, no stealth. It wasn¡¯t nearly as lopsided as before, but it was still a bad situation.


    Jake hurriedly started laying explosive traps. Now that there was no easy healing, their damage might actually do some good. A good peppering of the field might turn this into a winnable fight ¡ª it seemed that Eddy wasn¡¯t as good at pantomiming where the traps were as he was at pointing which direction to go.


    But then again, his opponents only had two characters to watch now instead of four. Would their communication get better?


    As the Warrior approached, it appeared that was the case. He deftly dodged the newly laid traps, carefully following Eddy¡¯s finger motions. He still hit some of the older Sticky Traps, the ones the Rogue had laid before Eddy¡¯d started paying attention, but those wouldn¡¯t be enough to save him.


    He¡¯d tried his best, and he¡¯d still lost.


    His mistake was in thinking that Fantasy Tactics Online was fair.


    Nothing in life was fair.


    He saw commotion over in the Reality Mode, saw that the other match had ended.


    Todd had lost, as expected. He was gracious about it. He shook his head, re-orienting himself to reality, shook Mike¡¯s hand. Then he saw the screens playing the match, looked shocked.


    Saw Eddy¡¯s hands.


    His face twisted into a snarl.


    He rushed over to Eddy, and¡­ stood in front of him.


    Completely blocking Bernard¡¯s view.


    In the game, Jake hurriedly distanced himself and dropped into stealth.


    Eddy tried to move to get back to where Bernard could see his hands, but Todd moved with him.


    Jake¡¯s Rogue snuck towards the Warrior, who panicked and ran into a Sticky Trap.


    One Surprise Attack and Backstab later, the Warrior was down to sixty-five percent health. Jake triggered Shadow Flash, ran away, and dropped back into Stealth.


    The Warrior wandered over an Explosive Trap.


    Another Surprise Attack, Backstab, and Shadow Flash combo. Another drop back into obscurity. A better player could have interrupted it with a Rush, or pre-empted the Shadow Flash by triggering Determined, but Bernard was not a better player.


    Another Surprise Attack and Backstab later, Bernard was dead.


    Victory.

 Chapter 4: Boldly Going

    Relief flooded over Jake.


    He¡¯d won.


    It had been unfair, yet he¡¯d still won.


    He started laughing even before he ripped off the headset.


    Then stood up, wobbly at first, to the cheers of the crowd. Todd ran over and squeezed him, picking him up and shaking him like a rag doll. ¡°You did so great!¡± he yelled. ¡°You lasted for so long, even with all that bullshit, and then you won!¡±


    Jake¡¯s feet landed back on the ground and he took a second to catch his breath. ¡°How¡¯d you figure out that they were cheating so fast?¡±


    ¡°Because I looked over and the game was close. There¡¯s no way Bernard could¡¯ve done that without help.¡±


    Jake laughed and dropped his hands to his knees. Was he winded from the fight, disoriented from getting out of VR, or still catching his breath from the over-enthusiastic hug he¡¯d just endured? He decided he didn¡¯t care. He dropped to the carpet and lay flat on his back and stared at the fluorescents in the ceiling, his body feeling light and woozy. He laughed some more.


    The GameShop employees started his announcements. ¡°As you can see, the winners of the first half of round one are Jacob Wagner and Michael Flannigan. They will be competing in round two. But first, we¡¯ll need to complete round one!¡±


    He continued on, announcing the names.


    None of them were a threat. Mike was the only one Jake worried about, and that was only because Mike had been able to set the rules.


    But he couldn¡¯t worry about that. No way to tell what shenanigans Mike would come up with, no way to prepare for them ahead of time, so he needed something to do.


    The girl.


    She¡¯d been staring at his screen intently. Now that he thought back on it, had she been gasping when he¡¯d been in danger?


    He decided to take a chance.


    He got up off the floor and clapped Todd on the shoulder. ¡°Wish me luck.¡±


    His friend looked confused at first, then a big grin broke out across his face. ¡°You¡¯re gonna do it? Oh man, look at you! I¡¯m so proud!¡±


    Jake marched up to the girl, laughed nervously on his way there, and hoped he didn¡¯t look like too much of a weirdo.


    Was everyone staring at him?


    Was it because he¡¯d won?


    Was everyone going to see him fail?


    The girl looked at him curiously as he approached.


    Neither of them spoke for a good ten seconds.


    ¡°So, um, uh¡­¡± Jake scrambled for words. Any words. ¡°Where are you from?¡±


    No, not those words! This town was super white, and she was clearly not, and he¡¯d heard that could be offensive.


    ¡°What I mean is¡­ you¡¯re not from around here, are you?¡±


    No! That was even worse! That was definitely offensive!


    ¡°I mean¡­ I haven¡¯t seen you before. Are you new here?¡±


    She smiled nervously. ¡°Is that the completion of your question?¡±


    Jake nodded.


    ¡°I¡¯m visiting,¡± she said. ¡°That should answer the last two sections of your question. The first section of your question, where I am from¡­ it¡¯s difficult to explain.¡±


    Okay. So she was just as weird as he was. Possibly more so.


    And she wasn¡¯t running away or curling up her nose at him.


    This could go somewhere.


    Plus, she was even more beautiful up close than she was at a distance.


    ¡°So¡­ are you playing in the tournament?¡±


    She turned red, something that Jake didn¡¯t know brown people could do. ¡°Oh goodness no. Asking me to be a tactician is like asking you to be a soldier. It goes against our natures.¡±


    His nature? Sure, he wasn¡¯t brawny like Todd, but he could still shoot a gun if he trained for that kind of thing. ¡°I¡¯d be a great soldier,¡± he said defiantly.


    Her smile drooped. ¡°I see. Then the fact that your character selections were men, it was¡­ no accident?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡±


    ¡°Do you like both men and women? In the¡­ intimate manner?¡±


    ¡°No!¡±


    She looked down. ¡°Well, I suppose we cannot change our natures. And after you led so well in battle, and spoke to me so nicely, and¡­¡± she looked back up at him and put on a brave face. ¡°It¡¯s okay. You are not the only competent tactician in this room, even if you are the best. If you¡¯ll excuse me, I must go try to find a suitable replacement.¡±


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    ¡°Wait¡­ is this because I said I could be a soldier? What do you have against soldiers?¡±


    ¡°Nothing!¡± she snapped. He could feel all the eyes in the room turn towards him. Thankfully, her next words were quieter. ¡°I have nothing against men who want to be soldiers, though they are ill-fitted for such a strenuous job. If they want another man inside them on the battlefield, that is their concern. I am merely disappointed, for your sodomy may lead to my destruction.¡±


    ¡°Wait, what?¡± She turned and walked away. He yelled after her, perhaps a bit louder than he should have: ¡°What¡¯s a sodomy?¡±


    He blew it.


    The girl was probably some hippy who hated soldiers. But then why would she be here, at GameShop, looking for a tactician? Nothing about her made sense.


    And why was she cosplaying with a medieval gown and a burlap bag?


    He turned and found Todd facing him, a look of amazed, giddy disbelief across his face. ¡°Duuuude! What a¡­ wow!¡± He laughed. ¡°I feel bad for you, don¡¯t get me wrong, but wow! That conversation! You started off so strong, then you blew it so hard she called you gay!¡±


    ¡°Is that what that word means? Why didn¡¯t she just say gay?¡±


    ¡°You know middle eastern chicks. They¡¯re all¡­ religious and stuff. She thinks you¡¯re going to hell for banging dudes.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t bang dudes.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t bang anyone.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not the point.¡±


    ¡°Right, the point is you dodged a bullet.¡± Todd draped his arm over Jake¡¯s shoulder in what was probably meant to be a comforting gesture. ¡°Religious chicks, man¡­ next thing you know, you¡¯d be storing a prayer mat behind the slurpee machines. Plus she has some dog collar thing in that big bag she¡¯s carrying. She¡¯s a weirdo, I¡¯m telling you.¡±


    ¡°I have to go tell her that I¡¯m not gay.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, because that will totally work¡­¡±


    She was already across the room, talking with Mike. He flashed his eyebrows when he saw Jake looking, as if to say see what I have that you don¡¯t.


    It was true. Mike had always been more popular, a smoother talker. He¡¯d know what sodomy was, and how it differed from just regular gay.


    He couldn¡¯t interrupt. He wasn¡¯t feeling that cocky. Maybe he would¡¯ve right after the match, but after the recent embarrassment he couldn¡¯t bring himself to do it.


    But he did hear snippets of conversation. She was asking him why his team was all male, just like she¡¯d asked Jake. Was she going to go around asking everyone that? Tournament mode was all male. That¡¯s just how it was.


    Mike seemed to be explaining that to her. Damn him and his ability to communicate like a normal human being.


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying that someone who chooses male soldiers doesn¡¯t necessarily enjoy intercourse with men?¡±


    ¡°Yeah girl,¡± he said, laying his hand on her waist and leaning in. ¡°I¡¯m straight as an arrow.¡±


    ¡°That means you enjoy intercourse with women?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re one strange chick.¡±


    ¡°That means you enjoy intercourse with women?¡± she repeated.


    ¡°Uh¡­ yeah.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± She turned around and marched directly towards Jake.


    ¡°H-hi again,¡± he said weakly.


    She looked straight into his eyes. ¡°Answer me honestly. Do you enjoy intercourse with women?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± He bobbed his head up and down in a series of quick, short nods.


    ¡°Then why were you so roundabout before? You nearly¡ª¡±


    Mike walked up behind her and rested a hand on her shoulder, which she flung off with practiced ease. He blinked in surprise.


    Todd stepped in between them, pushing Mike out of the way while patting the polo-clad boy on the head like a child. ¡°Nuh-uh. That¡¯s enough. You¡¯ve had plenty and it¡¯s time for you to share.¡±


    The girl stared up at Jake with pleading eyes. ¡°You have to rescue us. Please.¡±


    ¡°Rescue? What?¡±


    ¡°Take us somewhere that we can become intimate.¡±


    His eyes bulged.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, do you not have that word either? Take me someplace in which we can perform coitus.¡±


    His jaw dropped. Surely this kind of thing didn¡¯t happen in real life.


    She blushed and looked down, embarrassed. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I keep on using words you don¡¯t have in this world. Please, take me to a place where we can fuck.¡±

 Chapter 5: Shaking

    Jacob Wagner, certified virgin, was going to have sex.


    He was going to have sex with the most beautiful woman he¡¯d ever seen.


    She was nice, she was forward, she appreciated him for his skills, and she was utterly batshit insane.


    She kept on saying that he would ¡°save us¡±.


    Was she schizophrenic? Would she remember in the morning how enthusiastic she¡¯d been about it? He could swear there was a CSI episode about this. He had witnesses who would testify to her willingness, although it didn¡¯t help that the main witness in favor was his best friend, and Mike might lie against him just for the hell of it.


    But as she looked at him longingly, desperately, he knew he couldn¡¯t say no.


    Could they go to his car? If they did it there, Mike and his cronies would pound on the windows. Todd couldn¡¯t block all three of them without hurting anyone. And if he drove to another parking lot, they¡¯d just follow.


    On the other hand, Todd could easily block a bathroom door and keep them from pounding on it. He tapped Todd on the shoulder. ¡°I need you to cover for me. Thirty minutes.¡±


    Todd grinned and nodded. ¡°You got it. No disturbances. Oh, and the women¡¯s restroom has a couch about her size, and there¡¯s no other women here.¡±


    Jake didn¡¯t really have words at the moment. Instead he gave Todd a thumbs up and dragged the girl towards the restroom.


    ¡°Yes, I know,¡± said Todd as he followed. ¡°I am truly a great friend. If anyone asks, I¡¯ll say she¡¯s having lady issues.¡±


    They entered and Jake was surprised at how nice the place was. There was a carpeted area with a couch, a stack of reading materials, and a lamp for mood lighting. Was this why women were always taking so long in the restroom?


    But that wasn¡¯t the nicest thing in here.


    He had a girl.


    He sat on the couch and pulled her to him. This was how you were supposed to start, right? He only had an hour or so until he needed to be ready for his match, so he had to do it right the first time. The thought made him tense up.


    She sat on his lap, gracefully lowering herself so she straddled his legs, and kissed him. Her lips were soft, and they trembled as she pulled away. He was intoxicated by the taste of her tongue ¡ª he pulled her back and pressed her head towards his so their lips met again. This feeling¡­ it was euphoria, like opening a new FTO patch, like winning five matches in a row. No, it was better.


    His heart beat rapidly and his dick hardened even though it was trapped between his legs and hers. The pressure only made it get harder, as if it was trying to push itself up through brute force. He didn¡¯t mind it at all.


    He realized that she didn¡¯t have pants, and his jeans were now pressed directly onto her underclothes.


    Her breasts pressed against his chest, and he grabbed one with his hand and squeezed.


    She moaned and pressed herself up against him harder, her crotch pushing against his belly as she clung to him, wrapped herself around him with both arms and legs. She was breathing hard as well, and as they kissed she pressed her tongue into his mouth.


    He shook uncontrollably, his muscles quivering.


    She got off of him and knelt on the couch. One hand pressed him back while the other unzipped his pants. She grabbed his dick, pulling it out through his boxers and beginning to stroke it. He flinched when she first touched it, then accepted it as she leaned down to lick the shaft, lubricating it so her hand could run freely up and down.


    It began to twitch. He was almost there.


    ¡°Stop doing that. If you keep going I¡¯ll¡ª¡±


    ¡°Make me stop.¡± She kept on stroking, slowly, while she reached into her burlap bag with the other hand and pulled out a coil of rope. ¡°A tactician like you has learned knots, I¡¯m sure.¡±


    She wanted him to tie her up? ¡°I, uh¡­¡± He¡¯d learned some knots in the Boy Scouts, but it had been so long.


    She squeezed his dick threateningly. One more stroke and he¡¯d come before they even had sex.


    He grabbed the rope with one hand and pushed her back onto the couch with the other. This really was feeling more and more like a CSI episode, but he couldn¡¯t stop now. ¡°Remember, you were the one who asked for this.¡±


    She nodded solemnly. ¡°Yes, I want you to tie me up. That is the way that I best form a Connection.¡±


    Why did it sound like she¡¯d capitalized the word ¡®connection¡¯?


    ¡°Roll onto your stomach,¡± he said.


    ¡°Yes sir,¡± she said meekly. She pulled off her gown, then turned to comply.


    He nearly came just watching her. She had no bra or underpants underneath; she was completely naked. He hadn¡¯t even noticed before that she¡¯d been wearing moccasins and not regular tennis shoes and socks. What kind of culture did she come from, anyways?


    ¡°Do with me what you will,¡± she said. ¡°I am becoming chill without my gown, so please warm me up quickly.¡±


    ¡°I thought you wanted me to tie you up.¡±


    She lay on the couch on her stomach and crossed her wrists at the small of her back, as if asking him to tie them together. ¡°Yes, sir. Please tie me up.¡±


    ¡°And then?¡±


    ¡°Whatever you want to do with me.¡±


    He did a square lashing, wrapping her wrists at right angles to each other as if they were two logs.


    ¡°Tighter?¡¯ she asked hopefully.


    He ran the loose end between her arms, pulling the ropes taut. She hummed with pleasure.


    Now what? Whatever he wanted? She was completely naked in front of him, laying on the couch. He stroked her back, all the way from her shoulder to her ass. She shivered under his caress.


    ¡°Thank you, sir. Thank you. I can feel our Connection growing.¡±


    He could feel something else growing. Ever since she¡¯d freed it from his jeans, it had stuck up straight and unwielding, and now he could swear it was getting thicker.


    She grabbed it.


    ¡°Hey! I thought this was supposed to make you not do that!¡±


    She smirked up at him dreamily. ¡°I guess you better tie me up tighter.¡±


    ¡°Tighter? But your wrists are tied at tight as possible.¡±


    ¡°I can still run away.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think you will.¡±


    ¡°But I don¡¯t want to be able to get away. I want complete restriction¡­ I want to struggle against the ropes, unable to move, and know that you have complete power over me.¡±


    He jaw dropped and he began to drool in anticipation. And then he got to work.


    He tied her legs with a square lashing as well, making her knees splay out wide. He did the extra tightening rope through the middle before she asked this time, and she hummed happily as he did so.


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    And now¡­ anything he wanted. He pushed her on her side, pulled her long flowing hair out of her eyes and kissed her.


    He could feel that kiss again and again, forever.


    ¡°More please, Master,¡± she moaned when he pulled away. He went in again, this time letting their tongues meet. It was electric.


    He melted, letting the feeling carry him away into a deep, relaxed space that he¡¯d never felt before. He regained his senses ¡ª minutes later? seconds? ¡ª And gasped for breath.


    She laughed. ¡°I feel the same.¡±


    This was dangerous. He could be in here forever.


    How long had it been? How long was it until his next match?


    ¡°Please, come back to me,¡± she said.


    He blinked. She was perceptive.


    He moved a hand to her breast, squeezing it and then tweaking a nipple. She flinched and scooted back on the couch.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± he said.


    ¡°No, I want you to do that.¡±


    ¡°Then why¡¯d you flinch?¡±


    ¡°I told you, I don¡¯t want to be able to move. At all. It won¡¯t work if I can move, if I¡¯m not fully Connected to you.¡±


    He didn¡¯t think sex was supposed to be this complicated, but he wasn¡¯t complaining. Every moment of the build-up heightened his pleasure.


    There were more pieces of rope on the floor, and he used those to tie her bound arms and legs closer to each other behind her back, pulling her shoulders back and her legs closer to her head.


    ¡°Yeeeees,¡± she groaned. ¡°Oh yes, thank you. Tighter.¡±


    Her arched back and heaving chest made her exposed breasts almost impossible to look away from, and as he pulled tighter her back arched so much she started panting. ¡°Is that too tight?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s perfect.¡±


    He tied off the knot, leaving her lying contorted on the couch. Strangely, she was even more beautiful in her helplessness. Her desperate, lustful eyes, and the fact that she wanted him to take control of her, were even more of a turn-on than her perfect figure.


    He pinched her nipple and she he could see the effect ripple through her whole body. She tried to move but failed, instead letting the motion spread like a wave. He tweaked her nipple again, watched her ripple with joy. It was like a happiness button.


    It sent waves of pleasure down his spine just watching it.


    He leaned down and kissed her again, his tongue finding hers almost immediately. They were a live wire, two circuits that were dangerous to connect. He didn¡¯t know if he¡¯d ever be able to remove his mouth from hers.


    He kept kissing her and moved his left hand to touch her pussy. It was bold, but it seemed like the right thing to do. She convulsed against it, trying to press against his gentle touch, while her tongue went into overdrive plunging the depths of his mouth.


    He grabbed her hair with his right hand by the roots, pulling it to hold her head still. By instinct he also grasped with his left hand, with two fingers plunged into her pussy. It was soaking wet.


    He started to pull the fingers out, but she groaned in displeasure as he did so, then in appreciation when he pushed them back in, even farther this time. He squezed down on the outside with his thumb, then rubbed his two fingers along the inside wall. She quivered, made a choking sound.


    ¡°Oh yes!¡± she screamed. ¡°Oh god, yes!¡±


    She thrashed as hard as she could. Her body barely moved an inch, but he was so connected with the feel of her muscles, with the look on her face, that he could tell she was in completely agony.


    He pulled back.


    ¡°Keep going!¡± she yelped. ¡°Harder!¡±


    He put three fingers in there this time, pressed down with his thumb, and pulled her hair with the other hand. With his mouth he bit down on her nipple.


    Her whole body shook.


    ¡°That¡¯s enough,¡± she gasped. ¡°That¡¯s enough.¡±


    He pulled away and she was still shivering. Her fingers were curled up into little balls and she spasmed involuntarily.


    Holy shit.


    He went for the ropes.


    ¡°No, don¡¯t untie me yet,¡± she said between gasps.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    Finally she caught her breath ¡°I think you¡¯re the one.¡±


    ¡°The¡­ what?¡± Religious chicks. Todd knew.


    ¡°Only two more things are required to complete the ritual.¡±


    This was even more confusing. ¡°The ritual?¡±


    ¡°I will tell you the first step.¡±


    She whispered it to him; he¡¯d heard of weirder kinks, but not many.


    He pulled out a padded leather-wrapped collar; the metal core was perfectly round, except where it hinged at one side and clasped at the other. Six metal rings were worked into the leather, sticking out where anyone could grab. He wrapped it around her neck, then touched it and whispered: ¡°I bind you to myself.¡±


    A light glowed from the center ring of the collar, then the clasp at the back fused shut and the rings disappeared.


    What in the world?


    She gasped in joy. ¡°Oh Master. Master. Our Connection Rating¡­ it¡¯s 71.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to do it. We¡¯re going to save everyone!¡±


    This was getting too weird now.


    But he did have a tied up girl on the bathroom couch with a collar that locked and glowed by speaking magic words, so what did he know?


    ¡°Now, the second part of the ritual,¡± she said. ¡°We only need a little bit more Connection and it will work. I¡¯m sorry to give instructions to my Master, but we must concentrate.¡±


    As he looked into her eyes, he knew he wouldn¡¯t say no to any of her requests, no matter how strange or bizarre. She whispered instructions, and he nodded.


    He grabbed the ball gag from her bag, pulled it tight across her mouth, so tight that the straps made indentations in her face, and latched it across the back of her neck. He watched the number she¡¯d told him about¡­ it was up from 71 to 73. He reached to her nipple again, watched her quiver. He licked her lips from around the ball gag and her tongue struggled desperately to find its way past the gag to his. She moaned in frustration, shaking at her bonds.


    75.


    ¡°I bring us to another world,¡± he said as solemnly as he could.


    The earth shook.


    Drool dripped from her mouth, tears sprang from her eyes.


    She started glowing.


    Two figures appeared in his vision, a blonde woman and a woman with grey skin and¡­ cat ears?


    ¡°I¡¯m assuming he¡¯s the one?¡± asked the blonde.


    She nodded vigorously, desperately.


    The earth stopped shaking, the girl stopped glowing, and they were in a grassy meadow under a purple sky.

 Chapter 6: Under a Purple Sky

    Jake¡¯s body still buzzed from the sex.


    Or had he even had sex? His dick had barely touched her, but it sure felt like he¡¯d done something.


    Besides teleport himself and the girl to another dimension, of course, and raised some weird number to 75.


    The blonde girl knelt down and started untying the girl he¡¯d had sex with, while the cat person ¡ª she really did have cat ears and grey skin ¡ª looked his naked body up and down judgementally. ¡°He doesn¡¯t look like much.¡±


    The girl he¡¯d tied up grunted past the gag while the blonde girl struggled to release the rope binding her wrists and feet together.


    ¡°Ayla said he¡¯s the one,¡± said the blonde woman, ¡°and her judgement is good.¡±


    ¡°Ayla said that all the people there would look like her.¡±


    Jake pointed to the girl on the ground. ¡°She¡¯s Ayla?¡±


    The cat-girl buried her hands in her face. ¡°Fucking hell. She brought an idiot.¡±


    ¡°Well, he can certainly tie a knot. Maybe that¡¯s why she chose him.¡±


    Jake knelt down and fiddled with the knot. It had gotten tighter from her struggling.


    So instead of untying that one directly, he loosened the square lashing that bound her arms. As that unraveled, she was able to move them more freely and create space, eventually slipping out of the loop that connected her hands to her feet.


    ¡°Clever too,¡± said the blonde girl. ¡°I¡¯m Emily, by the way, and that¡¯s Clawdia.¡±


    ¡°Jake.¡± He extended his hand towards her and they shook. Her skin was lily-white and creamy smooth, and her lightly curling blonde hair fell across a strong, bold face. Her handshake was firm.


    She was almost as beautiful as Ayla, and yet completely different.


    Astounding.


    Ayla undid her own gag, then tackled Jake to the ground and kissed him deeply. Clawdia sighed and Emily stayed silent.


    Eventually Ayla pulled back and giggled. ¡°You wonderful, wonderful man. They said I wouldn¡¯t be able to find anyone I could connect with well enough to get back, that it would take weeks or maybe months to develop that rapport even if I found someone compatible, but you¡­ you must have the most wonderful heart, to be able to connect like that.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ thanks?¡±


    ¡°Great,¡± said the cat-girl, ¡°we¡¯ve got an idiot with a heart. You know there are plenty of men like that here. You didn¡¯t have to cross dimensions for that.¡±


    Cross dimensions? That would explain the purple sky and the real-life cat-girl, but it opened up a whole new set of questions. Or was this some elaborate trick? Either way, he needed to get back to the tournament before he lost his shot and had to wait another three years.


    ¡°He¡¯s also the most skilled tactician in the kingdom,¡± said Ayla. ¡°He faced off against an enemy with significant advantages and won¡­ and he did it with a Rogue job sphere. I would have spent months raising our Connection Rating if that¡¯s what was necessary.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Emily put on a thoughtful expression. ¡°Not that there are many other choices, especially since you two have already bonded, but I do think I¡¯ll accept him as Master.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re too easy,¡± spat Clawdia. ¡°You escape one method of enslavement only to work and build yourself another.¡±


    Master? Enslavement?


    Ayla rubbed her head on his chest and hummed a joyful tune. That gesture stopped most of his questions¡­ he could lay here all day with her. He hugged her closer to him, felt the comforting plump of her breasts against his chest as he brought their faces closer together to kiss.


    Emily gestured towards them. ¡°You¡¯re telling me that doesn¡¯t look better than being part of Xerxes¡¯s army? And it looks as if she¡¯s going to be keeping him busy enough, so it¡¯s not like he¡¯ll be making big demands on you physically.¡±


    ¡°Freedom or death,¡± insisted Clawdia. She tensed her hand ¡ª or was it her paw? ¡ª revealing sharp claws.


    Emily shrugged. ¡°Well, I personally hope you get freedom¡­ but I¡¯m afraid it will mean death.¡±


    The cat-girl¡¯s pointy ears twitched and she dropped into a crouch. ¡°Someone¡¯s coming. They¡¯re wearing armor. Get to cover.¡±


    Ayla lept up, accidentally kneeing Jake in the stomach, then falling over herself. Her feet were still tied. Clawdia sighed and used her claws to slice through the rope, then handed her an oversized shawl. Ayla slipped it over her head, letting the thickly knitted cloth drape over her shoulders and hang down to her knees.


    Jake got up and, now that Ayla¡¯s warmth wasn¡¯t overpowering all other thoughts, he was suddenly aware of the seriousness of the situation. He might not just miss the tournament semi-finals¡­ he might have been drafted to fight in some sort of war! Did they really think that a gamer like him would be able to strategize in a real-life war?


    He was standing completely naked in a foreign world, and they were trusting their lives to him!


    Or, at least, Emily and Ayla were.


    ¡°Come on, idiot meat,¡± said Clawdia. ¡°The others will be disappointed if you die.¡±


    They were all running out of the open grassy meadow and into a thick stand of trees.


    He followed.


    Clawdia pointed, then proceeded through a series of hand gestures. The other two apparently knew what it meant, so they flattened themselves against the nearest trees.


    ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± asked Jake.


    ¡°The trail is over there,¡± Emily whispered as she pointed. ¡°Clawdia told us that there are two of them, male guards. Heavily armored, with a war hammer and a sword, so that limits the likely job spheres they¡¯re holding. Five hundred feet.¡±


    Job spheres? Just like in FTO?


    Surely that must be a coincidence.


    ¡°Hurry,¡± she said. ¡°Perform the ritual so that we can fight.¡±


    ¡°You can fight without a male telling you what to do,¡± said Clawdia.


    ¡°Yes, but we¡¯re better together.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ Aren¡¯t there there guards coming?" asked Jake. "I don¡¯t have time to tie you up, and then if you moan too loudly¡­¡±


    ¡°Just the collar part,¡± said Emily. She¡¯d fished one out from somewhere and was holding it out to him. ¡°The sex will come later.¡±


    He slipped the collar around her neck and spoke the words: ¡°I bind you to myself.¡±


    The collar snapped shut and glowed blue.


    ¡°Thank you, Master,¡± she whispered.


    He had another person calling him Master now. It was more matter of fact than how Ayla said it, less an unstoppable attraction and more of a title, but still¡­ in the space of an hour, he¡¯d gone from virgin loser to having two beautiful women voluntarily give him complete power over themselves.


    This had to be a dream. He¡¯d wake up and find that he¡¯d overslept the tournament, that he was back serving slurpees and waiting for the machines to automate him out of existence.


    Yet this all felt so real. And if this was a dream, the cat-girl would be into him as well, he¡¯d have had sex with all three of them by now, and he wouldn¡¯t still be naked and hiding from guards.


    Or was this a VR simulation?


    Reality Mode.


    Nothing happened. If he was in VR, then they¡¯d hacked the system to remove the meta controls. If that was the case, then there was no way he was getting out until someone found him, and if Todd didn¡¯t find him then they¡¯d let him out after the tournament. Mike was dirty, but not a murderer.


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    Then again, the way he¡¯d gotten here was by having sex on the couch while Todd guarded the door, and while he¡¯d heard of memory erasure tech, it left a muddled confusion rather than a sharp false memory. So the most likely explanation really was that he¡¯d teleported to a different dimension with a beautiful nymphomaniac and been asked to save the world.


    ¡°Concentrate, and be quiet,¡± whispered Clawdia. ¡°They¡¯re approaching the range of human hearing.¡±


    Jake flattened himself against a tree and listened.


    ¡°You sure they went this way?¡± asked the first guard. He had a whiny, high-pitched voice.


    ¡°Who the hell knows,¡± said the other gruffly. ¡°But they can¡¯t have gone far. It¡¯s been what, fifteen hours since we had to start looking?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve been working for fifteen hooouuuuurs¡­ You¡¯d think that we were the slaves here. Besides, they could be anywhere. I heard a rumor that they took a teleportation stone.¡±


    ¡°They took the type that doesn¡¯t work, so joke¡¯s on them. They were probably relying on it for their getaway plan, too.¡±


    ¡°But we still haven¡¯t found them. No one has. All this effort, and for what? Three untrained girls? There are better uses of our resources, that¡¯s what I say. The war in the west, for one. We start another battle there and we could capture three more nekos faster than this stupid slave hunt.¡±


    Clawdia flexed her furred hand, silently bringing the claws in and out.


    ¡°Easy¡­¡± whispered Emily.


    Clawdia reached into her bag and smiled. As she did so a subtle layer of light came over her, like shadows from a shallow wave or cracks in a parched earth, and she took on an air of ferocity.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t,¡± whispered Ayla. ¡°The systems in his world are slightly different. He hasn¡¯t had time to¡­¡±


    ¡°What are the odds they¡¯re still free?¡± asked one of the guards. ¡°Likely they got captured by some enterprising Master wanting to expand his own slave force. It¡¯s not like you can really tell any of them apart.¡±


    ¡°The blonde should be easy to spot. The neko too, although I wouldn¡¯t want to have a neko slave. Disgusting little¡ª¡±


    Clawdia sprinted towards the guards, shockingly quiet for how quickly she ran. They only noticed her when she was nearly on top of them. She pounced on the whiny one, knocking him over and pinning him to the ground. The armor did well to protect him, but then she swiped at his helmet and knocked it off. The blow did damage, knocking almost ten percent off his health bar.


    His health bar?


    This world had fucking health bars?


    Ayla and Emily both reached into the bag, then they also had the strange lighting effect play out across their skin. Emily became tenser, twitchier, while Ayla became more frail and ethereal, subtly pulsing with energy.


    ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± asked Jake.


    ¡°I thought you said he was skilled,¡± said Emily. ¡°Did I just bind myself to a Master that doesn¡¯t know combat?¡±


    ¡°Things work different in his world,¡± said Ayla. ¡°Jake, watch us this time, so you may command us efficiently next time.¡±


    He was very aware how naked he was, and how useless he was in a fight.


    As if reading his thoughts, Ayla smiled gently and put her hand in his. ¡°The Connection Multiplier is a gift. Without it, we would surely lose this upcoming battle. Now I must fight.¡±


    Clawdia slashed the guard¡¯s face while he struggled, and his health dropped to seventy-five percent. The other guard slammed his hammer into Clawdia¡¯s side, which knocked her off the pinned guard and sent her flying into a tree. Both hits did damage, bringing her down to sixty percent health.


    Ayla walked towards the enemy with fire building at her fingertips.


    Emily had disappeared.


    ¡°They¡¯ve got a mage!¡± yelled the guard right before the fireball left Ayla¡¯s hands. It hit the man on the ground, who¡¯d had barely pulled himself back to a sitting position before getting blasted in the face.


    He clutched at his head and rolled over onto his stomach, screaming. He was down to forty-three percent health.


    Ayla was already preparing a second blast.


    The guard who was standing stepped to the side then rushed Ayla. Her eyes got wide.


    In FTO, you couldn¡¯t switch magic targets once you¡¯d set a spell in motion. Was that true here? It looked that way, as her hands stayed pointed at the man on the ground while her head tracked the guard with the hammer.


    Then a knife appeared in that guard¡¯s back, held by Emily.


    Sixty-eight percent health.


    He grunted. No theatrics from this one.


    A flash of light enveloped Emily and the guard¡¯s running slowed.


    Had she just done Suprise Attack + Shadow Flash?


    Was she playing a Rogue?


    The guard turned and swung his hammer at Emily, knocking her back ten feet.


    Meanwhile, the fire blast left Ayla¡¯s fingertips and headed towards the man on the ground.


    It hit him in the rear, doing less damage than the face shot but still knocking over twenty percent off of his health.


    She immediately redirected her focus towards the hammer-wielding guard that ran towards her as ice formed on her fingers.


    Shadow Flash wore off on that guard and his running went back up to full speed. He got two seconds of that, running at top speed and closing two thirds of the distance before the ice bolt got him.


    He was going to reach Ayla, and he still had thirty percent of his health.


    Jake had to do something.


    But what could he do?


    He ran towards them. He¡¯d figure something out on the way.


    Ayla, meanwhile, sprinted away from from the approaching guard. Her Chi ¡ª he could see her Chi bar! ¡ª drained as she did so.


    She turned to do another ice bolt. She could walk while doing it, but only slowly, or she¡¯d lose her concentration.


    He knew this, because that was how Mages worked in FTO, and Ayla was clearly playing a Mage.


    He also knew that Mages were soft, squishy, with little defense or health.


    And she was about to get beaten with a hammer.


    The guard ran towards her.


    The hammer swung down and knocked her to the ground.


    He didn¡¯t knock her back, to where she¡¯d be safe.


    He¡¯d knocked her to the ground.


    That asshole.


    She was down to forty-eight percent health.


    The guard laughed as he pulled back his hammer for the killing blow. ¡°Try to freeze me again, bitch.¡±


    Jake sprinted and caught the man in a bear tackle.


    Which did nothing.


    The guard elbowed Jake in the face, which knocked him to the ground.


    ¡°You¡¯re their Master? Don¡¯t make me laugh. Maybe I¡¯ll hammer you first and break their spirit.¡±


    The guard swung his weapon back again, cackling¡­


    And got hit by a fireblast at the exact same time that Emily stabbed him in the back.


    Zero health.


    The guard collapsed, crumpling to the ground.


    Right on top of Jake.


    The helmet slammed into his head and he passed out.

 Chapter 7: Bro?

    Todd knocked on the bathroom stall even more insistently.


    He wasn¡¯t one to cock-block, but they sure were taking their sweet time in there, and the next round of the tournament was about to start.


    The screaming and moaning had stopped ten minutes ago, so they had to be snuggling now.


    ¡°Bro? I¡¯m coming in. Get your clothes on.¡±


    No answer.


    He opened the door, saw the couch. The mood light was on. The throw pillows had been thrown, as they were meant to be, their clothes were scattered about, and the cushions were wet with the girl¡¯s pussy drippings.


    Yet they were nowhere to be seen.


    ¡°Jake, what are you guys doing?¡±


    He hoped his friend still had both kidneys. Losing one his first time might put the poor guy off sex forever.


    Searching like this wasn¡¯t doing anything. He went back to the doorway and flipped on the overhead lights.


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    He checked every stall.


    He checked the air ducts. If movies taught him anything, it was that you can go anywhere in an air duct¡­ but the openings were all too small. She would¡¯ve had to take a lot more than a kidney if Jake was going to fit through there.


    He started tapping the floors, looking for secret passageways.


    That¡¯s what he was doing when the GameShop employee walked in.


    ¡°Your friend gonna play or not? And holy shit, did they do it on the couch?¡±


    ¡°Help me look for hidden passageways.¡±


    ¡°For what?¡±


    ¡°I knew that girl was too good to be true. She kidnapped my friend, and I¡¯m going to find him.¡±


    The GameShop employee got out his phone, started dialing.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    ¡°My manager said to call if¡ª hey, boss, uh¡­ you¡¯re not gonna believe this, but¡­. Okay, maybe you will believe it, but¡­ yeah. It happened.¡±

 Chapter 8: Those Who Are Ruled

    Jake woke up in a shaded grove with a stream gurgling nearby.


    It was peaceful, except for the fact that the women were arguing.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got to get in the cave,¡± said Ayla. ¡°They¡¯ll be less likely to see us if we¡¯re in there.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll also have nowhere to run,¡± said Clawdia, ¡°and having to drag your boy here left quite a trail.¡±


    ¡°We carried Master Jake,¡± insisted Ayla, ¡°and we barely made a trail.¡±


    ¡°Maybe to humans. A neko would pick it up in a second.¡±


    ¡°Our pursuers are human,¡± said Emily. ¡°I¡¯m more worried about the guards¡¯ bodies. Once they¡¯re found, Xerxes¡¯s men will know that something dangerous is nearby. This place will be crawling with guards and soldiers, most of them better trained than the two we took out, so our survival will depend on not getting spotted.¡±


    Jake lifted his head, was pleasantly surprised by the lack of a headache, although he was still a little weak from getting knocked out. He had pants now, a pair of baggy woolen trousers, but he still didn¡¯t have a shirt.


    The air felt good on his bare chest now that he wasn¡¯t worried about death or indecency. And¡­ were those muscles on his chest? Not as big as Todd''s, but there was a distinct bulge in his pecs.


    ¡°Oh look,¡± said Clawdia, ¡°Mr. One-Punch Knockout is up.¡±


    Emily and Ayla both turned to look at him, happiness spreading across their faces.


    ¡°That was impressive,¡± said Emily. ¡°Most Masters wouldn¡¯t enter the battle themselves.¡±


    ¡°It was also stupid,¡± said Clawdia. ¡°If you¡¯d have died, these two would¡¯ve bitched about it for weeks¡­ and we¡¯d lose their precious Connection Multipliers.¡±


    Ayla said nothing, and instead straddled his chest, pinning him to the ground, and leaned down to kiss him lustily. The second her tongue entered his mouth, all his worries melted away. It didn¡¯t matter that he¡¯d almost died. The fact that he was now a wanted man in a brutal fantasy world also didn¡¯t matter. Not as long as he got to experience this woman¡¯s passion.


    She¡¯d changed into a more form-fitting outfit, instead of the loose shawl, but she still wasn¡¯t wearing any panties. He could feel the moistness of her pussy as it rubbed against his stomach.


    ¡°You saved me,¡± she breathed into his ear, the air from her mouth tickling him.


    But he hadn¡¯t done anything!


    ¡°I know you think you didn¡¯t do anything, but you put your life on the line.¡± She cupped his face with her hand and kissed him on the forehead, then on the lips again, and then on the neck. ¡°You delayed that guard long enough that we could kill him, and you did it as a level 1 male without a job sphere.¡±


    A level 1 male without a job sphere? He understood what most of that meant in FTO, but what were the chances that they meant the exact same thing here?


    ¡°Our world and that of the game you¡¯ve mastered are pretty close,¡± said Ayla.


    How did she know to answer the question he was thinking? Was she reading his thoughts?


    Ayla winked.


    What was that supposed to mean?


    ¡°It means yes.¡±


    Holy fuck.


    ¡°I hope so. Soon.¡±


    Emily rolled her eyes. ¡°Stop showing off how strong your connection is. We get it. Start talking with words.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll get your turn,¡± said Ayla. ¡°He¡¯s here, whenever you decide to take advantage of him.¡±


    ¡°You three are disgusting,¡± said Clawdia.


    ¡°Master Jake doesn¡¯t think so,¡± said Ayla. He already had a huge erection from Ayla¡¯s mere presence, but her rubbing herself all over him, and the promise that he¡¯d get to fuck both her and Emily soon, made him unbearably hard. She patted his dick through his pants, and smiled down at it. ¡°I want to meet you again soon, little Master.¡±


    Still, all the women in the world wouldn¡¯t do him any good if he didn¡¯t understand what was going on and kept getting knocked out.


    ¡°We should explain how being a Master works,¡± said Ayla.


    Damn, that ability was convenient but also terrifying. Could she always read his thoughts?


    ¡°Only if our connection is super high, and if we¡¯re incredibly close. Once we put physical distance between us, only your purposeful thoughts directed towards me will come through. And if you enter my body during battle, we can communicate back and forth.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re doing it again,¡± complained Emily.


    Wow.


    Good thing that when he was touching Ayla, he was too busy lusting after her glorious body to think of any embarrassing secrets he might have.


    Ayla leaned down and whispered in his ear again: ¡°I have ways of making you think.¡±


    His eyes widened in shock and she laughed with playful delight.


    ¡°We¡¯re all going to die if you don¡¯t cut the crap,¡± said Clawdia. ¡°If anyone comes through here and sees us, we¡¯re going to be incredibly vulnerable, and your supposed Master doesn¡¯t even know the extent of his own abilities yet. Maybe it would help if you stopped stealth-fucking him and focused on our survival.¡±


    ¡°Awwww.¡± Ayla groaned and rubbed her crotch against his stomach one last time, spreading pussy juice where it touched, then proceeded to get to her knees right above his head¡ª giving him a view of her pussy that made his mouth water ¡ª and finally stand up. ¡°Emily, do you want to start? I can¡¯t think straight for some reason.¡±


    ¡°¡®For some reason.¡¯ Right.¡± Emily sighed. ¡°I can explain it, but you¡¯ll need to help him relate it to his world, since he¡¯s been there.¡±


    Ayla nodded.


    Clawdia was staring off into the forest, scanning for threats, but her ears were still perked up and listening.


    Jake picked himself up off the ground and prepared to, hopefully, finally understand what was going on here.


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    ¡°About one in seven women and one in three men ¨Bhave access to their Chi,¡± said Emily. ¡°Children of Chi users are significantly more likely to have access, but there¡¯s a lot of randomness there, and you don¡¯t know for sure until your eighteenth birthday. When you reach your eighteenth birthday, you Awaken and gain access to your Chi¡­ and your stats.


    ¡°So, everyone has a set of base stats. Those include health points, chi points, chi recharge rate, strength, dexterity, and a bunch of others. Those stats grow when you level up, so you become stronger and stronger¡­ but the way they grow is determined by your race, your gender, and individual variation. Most of the time, individual variation is stronger than any race or gender effect, with some exceptions. Nekos like Clawdia are, on average, more dexterous than humans. Females of all species are better at regenerating Chi and a little bit better at earning Ability Points, which in the long rung makes us better and more versatile soldiers than males.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why they hunt us down,¡± said Clawdia. ¡°They want to enslave us and make us fight for them.¡±


    ¡°Wait,¡± said Jake, ¡°you¡¯re saying that the wars are fought entirely by women?¡±


    ¡°Dick-for-brains had a thought. Hurrah. They do send cannon fodder men into the field sometimes, but yes.¡±


    Why did Clawdia have to be like that?


    ¡°It¡¯s not you,¡± said Ayla. ¡°She¡¯s mostly angry because of culture shock. She¡¯s been away from her homeland only a short while.¡±


    ¡°Wait, you can still hear my thoughts from over there? I thought you said¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m two feet away. We don¡¯t have to be touching. Our Connection is that strong.¡±


    ¡°Speaking of Connection,¡± said Emily, ¡°that is what I¡¯m going to cover next. Each Master and awakened woman that wears his collar has a Connection Rating. This is a percentage that goes from zero to a hundred, based on how strong your emotional ties and sexual attraction are. Hatred, indifference, or disgust will put you at zero. Mouth-watering lust or head-over-heels love will put you much higher. Only by maximizing physical attraction, emotional bonding, and trust can you hope to reach a hundred percent.¡±


    Ayla put her arm around him and whispered in his ear, giving him chills: ¡°I think we¡¯re close to a hundred percent.¡±


    ¡°Stop that!¡± yelped Emily.


    Ayla pulled back, giggling. ¡°Get your explanation done and you can taste him. The sooner you¡¯re done, the sooner I can have him again.¡±


    Emily glared at her. ¡°So, as I was saying, Connection Rating feeds directly into the Connection Multiplier and Connection Effects. Having a Connection at all, even if it¡¯s at zero, is enough for the Master to give commands to his awakened soldier.¡±


    ¡°And not just on the battlefield,¡± Ayla whispered seductively, stroking his thigh. ¡°What would you like me to do, Master?¡±


    ¡°How about leave him alone?¡± said Emily.


    It was true that he needed to hear this. Even more than he longed for Ayla¡¯s touch, he needed to understand how this world worked. ¡°I¡¯m listening,¡± he said.


    Ayla backed off, merely holding his hand now, and Emily started back in on her explanation. ¡°It¡¯s true that a large component of the Connection Rating is physical attraction. That¡¯s why most ¡ª though not all ¡ª Masters are male. The Connection Rating feeds into the Connection Multiplier. It¡¯s one point five just for having a connection at all, just by putting on the collar, and then four if the Connection Rating is at one hundred percent. That number¡­ it multiplies most of your core stats.¡±


    A number, from 1.5 to 4, that multiplied almost every single stat. That was ridiculously overpowered. Any army that went without it was doomed to lose, unless they had some crazy advantage elsewhere to make up for it.


    It started to make sense now¡­ ¡°So that¡¯s why you were willing to put on the collar after just meeting me.¡±


    ¡°Correct. I chose you because Ayla said you commanded Rogues well, and because you were not obviously unkind, and because if I didn¡¯t then I was far more likely to die¡­ and if you were truly evil, Clawdia would kill you and free me.¡±


    Clawdia turned and bared her fangs at him in a grin.


    Ayla moved herself between them. Was she protecting him from Clawdia?


    ¡°I do not regret the decision,¡± said Emily. ¡°Though your knowledge of this world is troublingly limited, and you¡¯ve done nothing that would indicate you have the intelligence Ayla claims, you have shown bravery in protecting her, and I do not think you will rape me. That is better than most of the cold-hearted men who gain enough influence to become Masters.¡±


    At the mention of rape his dick shrunk and his fists hardened. ¡°Are all men in this world the type that would¡­¡±


    ¡°Of course not. But one in seven women are awakened, in comparison to one in three men¡­ thus there are more than twice as many awakened men as awakened women. Add in the fact that a single Master can collect dozens of awakened soldiers and you¡¯ll see that less than five percent of awakened men ever own a single one. The rest are Guards.¡±


    ¡°You get it now?¡± asked Clawdia. ¡°The Guards might be okay, who knows, but think about the type of person who wants two dozen sex slaves. Then take all those people and let the nastiest ones win.¡±


    He thought of Mike, but realized that Mike was small fry in the wider scheme of things.


    ¡°I was caressed briefly by the man you think of,¡± said Ayla. ¡°His was a chill touch, but I would prefer him over most of the Masters here.¡±


    He knew Mike wouldn¡¯t be the worst, but to think that he was better than most of the Masters in this world?


    What could the worst possibly be like?

 Chapter 9: Xerxes

    One Day Ago


    Hundreds of male guards, thirteen awakened slaves, and one traitorous half-brother had died this morning, yet Xerxes the Seventh only mourned one of them.


    Lexia had never been the prettiest of his slaves ¡ª that honor belonged to Roxanne ¡ª yet she had been pure in a way he didn¡¯t understand. In a way that, now, he would never understand.


    He didn¡¯t want to understand anymore.


    All he wanted was revenge.


    How much revenge could he wring out of this woman in front of him?


    She was stripped naked, tied up so she could barely move, tormented by the mere passage of time.


    The wooden horse pressed roughly into her vagina each time she twitched a single muscle the wrong way, causing a moan that had long since had the pleasure sucked out of it.


    ¡°When you were my father¡¯s bitch, you used to love this thing. What¡¯s different now, I wonder?¡±


    He asked, but he didn¡¯t expect her to reply. She was ball-gagged, the one his father had loved to use on her, and he knew the answer anyways. The longer she spent on there the more painful it got. She¡¯d loved the anticipation, the teasing, the reassurance that at the end his father would rescue her before the pain got too bad¡­


    But his father was dead now, and she¡¯d backed his half-brother¡¯s bid for the throne. The half-brother was her child, and Xerxes wasn¡¯t, so it made sense, but that didn¡¯t lessen his rage.


    He¡¯d taken care to tie her up just like his father had. The wooden horse was a large triangular instrument whose bottom was raised a foot and a half off the ground. It had a slightly rounded edge where her vagina sat, where the pressure grew and grew and grew the longer she was on there. Then her legs were tied to themselves, ankle to thigh, so she had no contact with the ground. Her arms were bound behind her at the wrists and elbows, then yanked up to the ceiling so her torso was forced down and forward, almost touching the wooden edge but never actually reaching it, never able to give her tortured pussy any relief. She could only move by slivers of an inch, shifting the pain from one overly sensitive lobe to another, then her clit, then shifting back long before any of them had time to recover.


    Slobber dribbled past the gag, falling onto the sloped wood and sliding down to the floor. Xerxes caught a drop of it and wiped it on the woman¡¯s face. ¡°Disgusting.¡±


    She moaned something incomprehensible.


    ¡°What was that?¡± he asked? ¡°You¡¯re sorry? Well it¡¯s too late now. You tried to kill me. You tried to kill me, and yet I survived. Now, I know you¡¯ve been here for over an hour, but I had some affairs of state to tend to. I still have those, you know. Your son¡­ well, he doesn¡¯t.¡±


    She shook her arms in protest, a futile gesture which impressed no one. It only upset the delicate balance she¡¯d achieved and set off garbled screams of pain as new parts of her pussy were crushed under her weight. He¡¯d considered tying stones to her legs, to speed the torture, but his father had never done that, and changing a single thing except the time spent mounted on the torture device would defeat the purpose.


    He wanted to take any pleasurable moments she might have ever experienced and turn them into abject misery. She was a pain slut, the most masochistic in his father¡¯s extensive collection of slaves, so it was easy to simply extend her old games until they became unbearable.


    And it was working. She was protesting, she was screaming, and he was rock hard at the sight of her anguish.


    He almost, for a moment, forgotten the pain of losing Lexia. The memory of watching her die made his dick go limp, but it redoubled his desire to make this woman pay.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be taking his slaves. You might call yourselves soldiers, or awakened, or empowered, or whatever the current fad is. You might try to to give yourselves dignity. But I know what it is. And deep down, you know it too.¡±


    She was silent.


    ¡°Wear the collar long enough, and you feel a connection with even the worst of Masters.¡± He lied, but she had no way of knowing that. She¡¯d only ever worn the collar for a man she loved. ¡°What does that tell you about yourself? About your position?¡±


    He pulled out a collar. It had the power to control an awakened, to multiply their power, and to even provide a psychic connection if the affection grew strong enough. The stronger the bond of love, the more effective it was.


    Yet even with no love, even with hatred, it would make her obey his direct commands. He should have put it on her the moment his father had died. Then Lexia would still be alive.


    Better late than never.


    It was poor recompense, but at least this would be a continual torment to the woman who¡¯d killed his love, to be forced to serve the man she¡¯d tried to overthrow, the man who¡¯d killed her son.


    When she saw the collar she screamed through the gag and thrashed pitifully away from Xerxes, ignoring the horrendous pain her actions must have caused her, yet moving barely an inch through all her struggle.


    It clicked shut around her neck and he spoke the words: ¡°I bind you to myself.¡±


    Blue light shone out from the collar¡¯s center-line and he could feel her psychic energy. Distant, embroiled with hatred, yet she was there.


    He reached behind her head and undid the gag. ¡°Speak freely, slave.¡±


    She gasped for breath and cursed him. ¡°You will bring this kingdom to ruin,¡± she hissed.


    ¡°And you¡¯ll help.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a cold, heartless man.¡±


    ¡°I had a heart,¡± he said. He pulled a cane from where it hung on the wall and swung it at her legs. She squealed, and through the psychic link he could feel the terror and pain that overwhelmed her. The impact was already causing bruising on her leg, but the real pain would come from the flinch, the momentary loss of balance that would redouble all the other agonies of the wooden horse. He didn¡¯t care whether his father had performed this added torment or not ¡ª he wanted her to hurt for daring to pretend he had never loved. He slammed the cane against her leg again, and then her back. He put his mouth next to her ear and breathed on it menacingly before whispering: ¡°I had a heart, and you killed her.¡±


    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    He backed up and surveyed the woman he tortured. She cried openly now, sobs coming freely now that the gag was removed. Or because he¡¯d just doubled her pain. Women were impossible to understand.


    A cough from the hallway interrupted his thoughts. Next to Lexia, Roxanne was the slave he¡¯d built the strongest connection with, and he could tell that she had a message for him. ¡°Report.¡±


    She stepped into the room, averting her eyes from the greusome scene. A surprising number of women were into pain, at least a little bit, but Roxanne was not one of them; she could barely stand a light spanking. ¡°Master, we have received word that three newly awakened women disappeared during the fight this morning.¡±


    ¡°Disappeared?¡±


    ¡°They were part of the new training cohort, since they just turned eighteen and discovered their power.¡±


    ¡°Whose slaves were they?¡±


    ¡°None, sir. That was the problem. They¡¯d awakened only recently, and hadn¡¯t been assigned yet.¡±


    He cursed. Such inefficiencies were going to be the death of him. The tortured laughter from behind him only confirmed how dire the situation was.


    ¡°Silence!¡± he Commanded. She was compelled to obey. He turned back to Roxanne. ¡°Do we know what they looked like?¡±


    ¡°It was a neko, a Devonion, a northerner. The northerner was sent to us by our allies as tribute, the neko was captured in a border skirmish, and the Devonian was from a distant village near the eastern border.¡±


    ¡°So they will have no local connections.¡±


    ¡°Correct, sir.¡±


    ¡°Then they should be easy to capture. Why have you bothered me with such a trivial thing?¡±


    ¡°Well, sir, the neko¡­ she has claws, and she mauled one of the caretakers. That itself is a minor thing, I know, but it says that she¡¯s dangerous. And it isn¡¯t just the awakened that have disappeared¡­ we are still cataloguing the job spheres, sorting through the ones that had been embezzled for use in the coup attempt, but it appears that¡­¡± She looked off to the side nervously.


    ¡°Did the runaways steal them?¡±


    Roxanne glanced at the woman impaled on the wooden horse and her face turned ashen. She was afraid of being punished, even though he hadn¡¯t laid hands on her for years.


    ¡°Tell me,¡± he Commanded.


    ¡°Yes,¡± she said, collapsing into tears. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but we think they stole some.¡±


    Xerxes put his arms around her gently, pulling her into his chest. ¡°It¡¯s okay, it¡¯s okay. This is bad for the kingdom, but it¡¯s not your fault.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, it¡¯s just that today has been so¡­¡± she sobbed, and for a while they said nothing. Her tears subsided, and then it was just her, wrapped in his arms. Like things should be. Or at least as good as things could be, with Lexia gone.


    ¡°I thought I was going to lose you,¡± she whispered. ¡°I don¡¯t know what I would have done.¡±


    He pulled her chin up and kissed her on the lips, a soft gesture that set her to crying again.


    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry, I know I need to be strong, now that I¡¯m your right hand woman. I¡ª¡±


    ¡°You fought well today. You defended me. You destroyed the traitors¡­ and now this report, it just means that there are a couple more traitors we need to destroy. We¡¯ve done it before, and we¡¯ll do it again. It¡¯ll be easier this time.¡±


    She nodded, and this time she raised her own chin and kissed him back.


    He tried not to think of Lexia. Roxanne knew that girl was special, but there was no reason to rub it in her face, and her kiss was exhilarating like a spring wind.


    When they released they both breathed hard.


    There would be time for this later. For now, he needed to respond.


    ¡°I want you to take a message to our search teams. I want them out there, looking for these runaways. Alive, if possible, and in slave collars. With a Master assigned for safekeeping. Do you understand?¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±


    ¡°Good. Deliver that message and leave me with two guards, then report back to your chambers, where we¡ª¡± he grabbed the ring on her collar and pulled her close, kissing her briefly before continuing, ¡°¡ªmay pursue our pleasure without this unsightly traitor interrupting.¡±


    She laughed giddily. ¡°Yes, sir.¡±


    Xerxes waited until she¡¯d left before going back to the traitorous wench on the wooden horse. She had been dutifully silent the entire time, without so much as a moan or a whimper, compelled by his command.


    He revoked the command and basked in her agonized howl.


    ¡°You¡¯re going to have three neighbors here soon,¡± he said triumphantly. ¡°They¡¯re all going to be wearing my collar, just like you, and suffering at my command as an example.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re never going to¡ª¡±


    He slapped her, pushing her just enough to the side that her labia was crushed under her weight, and setting off another desperate whine as she struggled to find a position that was even a tiny bit less agonizing than where he¡¯d knocked her.


    He put the gag back on, forcing it into her mouth before she could recover, fastening it tight. He whispered in her ear a soft threat, one barely audible above her moans: ¡°You are under my dominion now. And I will break you.¡±

 Chapter 10: Systems of the World

    ¡°Does it matter what the most evil person alive is doing?¡¯ asked Ayla. She could read his every thought, especially the ones he would be terrified to speak aloud. It was something he thought he would hate, but the woman was so caring, so sensitive to his needs, that he found himself liking it.


    He was understood.


    ¡°It¡¯s not your responsibility to stop all the evils of the world,¡± she insisted. ¡°It would be impossible if you tried ¡ª it would only get all four of us killed, especially at our current level. You must find us a sanctuary where we can live happily together.¡±


    Living happily¡­ yes, that would be nice. But first¡­ ¡°I need to tell my friend where I am.¡±


    Clawdia laughed. ¡°Good luck with that. The teleportation stone has discharged, so we¡¯re not sending anyone between these dimensions until we get some serious loot.¡±


    ¡°How much?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s take over the Devonian Empire, and then we might get a couple round trips per year.¡±


    Oh. So, basically, he wasn¡¯t going back.


    ¡°Taking over the world would get us killed,¡± said Ayla. ¡°It¡¯s our duty to look after each other, not to save everyone.¡±


    ¡°Know what else is going to get us killed?¡± asked Clawdia sarcastically. ¡°Yammering about morals when you could be showing him how to direct his poor helpless little sex slaves in battle.¡±


    ¡°You brought it up,¡± said Emily.


    ¡°You three have kept it going.¡±


    ¡°I think you¡¯re just scared because he has a conscience. It¡¯s making you lose resolve to be weak and independent.¡±


    ¡°She has a point about time,¡± said Ayla. ¡°In the last battle we were able to take down the enemy because they were simple Guards, and there were only two of them. In the next battle we may need the advantages of a Master¡¯s coordination and Master Jake¡¯s superior tactical skill, especially if the enemies are more spread out.¡±


    ¡°I agree,¡± said Emily. ¡°Jake, come into my body.¡±


    ¡°Uhhh¡­.¡± He looked around at the other two for a hint at what was happening. ¡°I¡¯m not refusing, but didn¡¯t you just say we needed to focus on teaching me to fight?¡±


    ¡°She doesn¡¯t mean intercourse,¡± said Ayla. ¡°It¡¯s like in the game, when you switched characters.¡±


    In the game he had to focus on the character and think about going to their perspective. He thought about it for Emily, and¡­


    Whoa.


    He was staring at himself from Emily¡¯s eyes. His eyes were closed as he sat cross-legged, absolutely still. He looked and saw Ayla.


    ** When you¡¯re inside my body like this, we can communicate directly, even if our connection isn¡¯t high enough to do other types of telepathic connection. Try to communicate back to me. I¡¯ll tell you when you get it.


    How was he supposed to do that?


    Like this?


    Like this?


    ** Yes, like that. Now, move my arm.


    He raised his arm ¡ª her arm! ¡ª and saw it move upwards in front of him.


    ** When you¡¯re in here, you can either take direct control of my body, or you can let me have direct control while you give instructions. With the second option you can simply sit in my mind and watch or talk. With the first, if you have a high enough connection, you have the option of actually switching consciousnesses so the slave you switch with can keep your body safe.


    This is the way I direct the battle, then.


    ** Yes. As you gain more awakened women under your control, the tactical advantage of this ability will grow.


    Gain more women?


    ** If your skill is anything like Ayla claims, then you will build an army quickly. I will make your heart my own before I become just one among dozens.


    Dozens? He was already overwhelmed being the Master to just two beautiful women, and he hadn¡¯t even become intimate with one of them yet! He could see maybe adding a couple more down the line, but dozens?


    Didn¡¯t Clawdia say that men with dozens of women were evil?


    ** The men who currently possess than many women are, yet you do not appear evil. Let¡¯s talk about job spheres. Exit my body so that Ayla may assist in translation, since she has seen both your world and ours.


    He concentrated on his own body and his eyes snapped open.


    What a weird experience.


    ¡°You¡¯re back!¡± said Ayla excitedly.


    She¡¯d been looking at Emily, not him¡­ how did she know?


    ¡°I can hear your thoughts again. I missed them while you were gone.¡±


    ¡°I showed him how to control our bodies, and the rules behind that,¡± said Emily. ¡°Next we¡¯re going to tackle stats and job spheres.


    ¡°There are up to four different stat screens for any given person, although three of them are only available for those you are Connected with. Go ahead and try to look at Clawdia¡¯s stats.¡±


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    Jake concentrated on the cat-girl and then he saw a small screen in the corner of his vision.


    Clawdia


    Race: Neko


    Height: 5¡¯11¡±


    Level: 6


    Current Job: None


    Top Jobs: Barbarian


    Stronger stats: Movement efficiency, Stealth, Dexterity - Counter, Power - Physical, Power - Physical - Slash


    Weaker stats: Power - Elemental, Power - Special, Defense - Special


    ¡°I see it,¡± said Jake.


    ¡°That¡¯s what you¡¯ll see for most enemies,¡± explained Emily. ¡°Their job, their level, and what stats they have that are naturally higher or lower than the average human woman.¡±


    ¡°Of course, since I¡¯m a neko, it¡¯ll show me how you differ from the average neko woman,¡± said Clawdia. ¡°To me, all you humans look like you¡¯re slow, noisy, and weak, but great at magic.¡±


    The format was new, and had a lot less information than he was used to, but the categories all looked right. It was interesting that Power - Physical and Power - Physical - Slash were both marked; it must be that Clawdia¡¯s physical power was greater than a human woman, and her slash was even stronger than her crushing, piercing, or impact damage.


    ¡°Do we know how much stronger or weaker each of those stats are?¡±


    ¡°No such luck,¡± said Emily.


    ¡°But you will when you look at our stats!¡± said Ayla brightly. ¡°They¡¯re just like you remember from your world.¡±


    He concentrated on Ayla¡¯s stats and saw them:


    Ayla


    Race: Human


    Height: 5¡¯6¡±


    Weight: 128lbs


    Level: 2


    EXP to next level: 5


    Connection Rating: 79


    Connection Multiplier: 3.48


    Current Job: None


    Top Jobs: Mage, Priest


    Base stat changes:


    -- Physical x0.9


    -- Elemental: x1.1


    -- Special: x1.1


    -- Dodge: x0.9


    Special Equipment: None


    ¡°I see it,¡± said Jake. ¡°But it doesn¡¯t have all the detail that I was expecting.¡±


    ¡°There are three of these that you can see on those you¡¯re Connected to. Think about seeing a little bit more detail for the stats¡­


    He did so, and was rewarded with another screen


    Ayla


    Race: Human


    Height: 5¡¯6¡±


    Weight: 128lbs


    Level: 2


    EXP to next level: 5


    Connection Rating: 79


    Connection Multiplier: 3.48


    Current Job: None


    Top Jobs: Mage, Priest


    Special Equipment: None


    Base Stats


    Power


    -- Physical: 7.2


    -- Elemental: 8.8


    -- Special: 8.8


    Defense


    -- Physical: 4.5


    -- Elemental: 5.5


    -- Special: 5.5


    Resist: 0%


    Max HP: 55


    Dexterity


    -- Accuracy: 6


    -- Counter: 6


    -- Dodge: 5.4


    Max CP: 100


    CP Regeneration: 5/sec


    Movement efficiency: x1


    ¡°I see it. And what happens if I ask for more detail one more time?¡±


    ¡°Try it.¡±


    He did so and got every piece of information he could ever want. He got all the slots for special equipment, even though all her clothes were non-magical. He got a second stats screen where it took into account the Connection Multiplier.


    He got the sub-sub-components of each stats as well.


    Each Dex subcomponent had a melee, ranged, casting, and AOE sub-sub-component.


    The Physical subcomponent, in both Defense and Power, had slashing, crushing, piercing, and impact sub-sub-components.


    Elemental had all the elements.


    Special held everything else, all the rare types of attacks and effects.


    ¡°It¡¯s kind of overwhelming.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but don¡¯t worry. In the screen you saw with less detail, it¡¯ll show you if a sub-sub-component differs from the sub-component above it.¡±


    That made sense¡­ it was exactly how FTO¡¯s information screens worked.


    It was kind of uncanny how close they were.


    The only question he had was ¡ª was this a wild sex dream based on the game he loved, or was the game he loved based on this world?


    ¡°You¡¯re right, it is strange, isn¡¯t it?¡± said Ayla.


    ¡°Stop reading his thoughts,¡± said Emily. ¡°It¡¯s annoying.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re just jealous.¡±


    ¡°I am not.¡± Emily frowned, then pointed to Jake. ¡°You, come with me to the cave. We¡¯re going to¡­¡±


    Ayla giggled, Clawdia sighed, and Emily¡¯s cheeks turned bright red.


    Was Emily talking about sex?


    ¡°Of course she is,¡± said Ayla. ¡°You¡¯re irresistable.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to go prepare for battle,¡± insisted Emily as she glared at the other two girls. ¡°Privately. In the dark.¡±

 Chapter 11: Mastery

    ¡°I smell something on the wind,¡± said Clawdia suspiciously. ¡°Teach him about job spheres instead.¡±


    ¡°Let them be,¡± said Ayla. ¡°You just don¡¯t want them bonding, so you can feel good about staying unconnected.¡±


    ¡°No, I¡ª¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll be fast,¡± said Emily.


    ¡°Hey!¡± objected Jake. He didn¡¯t know much about sex, but he knew that being fast wasn¡¯t a particular virtue for men.


    Emily grabbed his hand and dragged him into the cave. She stripped off her pants as soon as they were hidden from the view of the other two women. She was apparently more shy about her body than Ayla, although Jake couldn¡¯t see why. Her toned muscles and ample curves were perfectly proportioned, her skin was smooth, and her face was severe yet somehow still pleasant to behold. When she undid her tight hair bun, her creamy blonde hair flowed mesmerizingly over her shoulders. He couldn¡¯t decide where to stare; even with her shirt still on, there were a abundance of beauty. His mouth hung open and his dick came to attention, bulging against his pants.


    ¡°Good,¡± she said with satisfaction as she looked at his trousers. ¡°You are now properly motivated to increase our connection.¡±


    Right, increasing the connection. Did she actually like him, or was she just wanting to raise her stats? Was he about to fuck a disinterested min-maxer to statistical glory?


    Did he care?


    She wanted it to happen, he wanted it to happen, and looking too closely at the motivations could ruin the fun.


    ¡°Well, are you going to start?¡± she asked impatiently.


    ¡°L-let me go get the ropes.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s Ayla¡¯s thing. Being tied up only does a little bit for me, and unless we¡¯re going to go for hours it¡¯s not worth the effort.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± So this would be a more standard sexual experience. That was good too. He unzipped his pants and began pulling them down.


    ¡°You can stick that thing in me if you like,¡± she said. ¡°I want you to enjoy this too. But for me, the most important thing is having pain mixed into the pleasure.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ what?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the fastest way for me.¡± She put her hands against the cave wall and stuck her bare ass towards him. ¡°Do you want to increase our connection or not?¡±


    Oh. She wanted him to spank her.


    His dick jumped at that. He¡¯d never thought of doing that to a woman before. Well, he¡¯d thought of it, but he¡¯d never expected anyone to agree to it, much less insist on it. He bit his lip, smiled, and struck her ass with his open palm.


    She grunted with pleasure. ¡°Thank you, Master,¡± she breathed.


    Was that a smile on her face?


    It was strange¡­ they¡¯d touched for only a split second, yet he was able to turn her insistently business-like expression into one of near-happiness.


    That was almost as good as sex itself.


    Almost.


    ¡°Again,¡± she said.


    He obliged. When his hand connected, she gave a slight jump and began to breath more heavily. Their Connection Rating had risen to 13.


    ¡°Harder.¡±


    He wound up, pulling his arm back. He wasn¡¯t sure this was a good idea ¡ª he hadn¡¯t really held back on the previous two strikes ¡ª but she was literally asking for it. He brought his hand down hard, and the harsh sound when it hit surprised even him.


    She yelped and tears sprang to her eyes. ¡°Okay, maybe not that hard yet. Not before you¡¯ve given me pleasure.¡±


    The Connection Rating didn¡¯t lie: they were at 17 now. She¡¯d enjoyed that.


    But he went for what she was asking for anyways. Her ass was pushed back so much that her pussy was exposed, and at just the pefect height. He moved closer, so they were touching, so he could smell her intoxicating scent, like pinewood and roses. He jammed his dick into¡­ solid flesh.


    She grunted in displeasure.


    He pushed it around, searching, and found something. But it didn¡¯t seem to fit. Was he too big for her? Was¡ª


    ¡°Wrong hole,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m not into that.¡±


    He pulled back, flustered.


    And made the mistake of checking their Connection Rating: it had dropped two points, to 15.


    ¡°Come here,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯ll help you find it.¡±


    He could feel his dick shrinking, get smaller, trying to hide from embarrasment, but he had a job to do. He¡ª ¡°Ow!¡±


    She had reached back to grab him, and pulled a bit too hard.


    He slapped her hand away, then spanked her in return, once, twice, three, four, five times in rapid succession. She yelped at the first one, then moaned anew for each of the others. Her chest heaved, her breasts falling up and down with exertion.


    ¡°Oh fuck,¡± she groaned.


    Oh no. Had he gone too far?


    No. Their Connection Rating was at 24, the fastest it had ever risen, and it was because he¡¯d taken control and given her what she wanted without her having to ask.


    His dick hardened again and he felt a rush of excitement. He could do this.


    He purposefully pressed his dick against the flesh of her leg, let it harden even further. He leaned towards her, draping his chest on her back, reaching around to grab her breasts, squeeze her still-heaving tits and twist her erect nipples. She began to whimper, and the harder he twisted her nipples the louder, more desperate, and more insistent that whimper became.


    ¡°Don¡¯t grab me without my permission,¡± he whispered into her ear.


    ¡°Yes, Master,¡± she said quietly.


    Their Connection Rating was at 33.


    He reached down to find her pussy, confident now, and spread it open for his dick.


    It was a sensation he was utterly unprepared for, and he became light-headed from the pleasure.


    A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.¡°Keep going,¡± Emily said.


    Right. He pushed it farther in, as far as he could, until the tip hit something firm. He pulled back again, slowly, savoring every new sensation as the lips of her pussy hugged his shaft, as if they were begging him not to leave.


    He obliged, shoving his member back in. Emily pounded the cave wall with a fist and pushed back with her ass, making his dick jam into the firm surface at the far side of her vagina. Couldn¡¯t have that. He grabbed her arms and pulled them behind her back, holding them there as he pushed her into the cave wall, chest and face smooshed against the hard stone.


    Every step brought new pleasure.


    When she was stationary, unable to interfere, he resumed, going in and out, amazed at how good it could feel, but even more amazed at the sounds that Emily was making. This stoic, serious woman was panting, grunting, shuddering with pleasure.


    ¡°Spank me again, Master,¡± she said between gasps. ¡°Spank me as hard as you can.¡±


    He pulled out, still holding her arms against her back with his left hand, then slammed his free palm against her ass so hard that it echoed.


    She let out a strangled whine. ¡°Keep going.¡±


    He spanked her again, and again, as hard as he could, ten times in rapid succession, and each time her she trembled more desperately and mewled more pitifully. He stopped simply to look on in amazement as her body quaked, wracked by convulsions, and she let out an incoherent wail. He let go of her arms and she dropped to the ground and curled up, rocking back and forth.


    Had he broken her?


    Eventually she let go of her legs and relaxed, and he breathed a sigh of relief.


    He checked her Connection Rating.


    49.


    It wasn¡¯t as high as the 79 he shared with Ayla, but he was disturbed at how quickly it had risen while she was in agony. Then again, she had said that she liked pain, and why would she lie about something like that?


    He knelt down to where she lay with her eyes closed and kissed her.


    Or tried to.


    She turned her cheek to him. ¡°We should get back outside. Our Connection is sufficiently raised, and I need to teach you about job spheres.¡±


    Right.


    While she¡¯d been screaming in pleasure from his touch he¡¯d forgotten about what she¡¯d really come here for: stats. He¡¯d gotten so into it that he¡¯d imagined the Connection Rating was the same thing as love.


    He felt a little bit dirty, and very much used.


    Then again, he was going to be using her as an instrument in battle, and his rock-hard dick reminded him that there were a lot worse ways their relationship could have gone.


    She was already putting on her pants. ¡°Come on, hurry up,¡± she said insistently. The serious woman was back, seemingly unfazed by the wild ecstatic woman that had briefly shown up.


    Their Connection Rating was already back down to 45, and as he watched the number it went down to 44. ¡°Why¡¯s the Connection Rating dropping?¡±


    ¡°It always does that,¡± she said. ¡°Don¡¯t look so hurt. It¡¯ll stabilize, and then it¡¯ll go up a little bit the next time we have sex. We did very well for a first encounter. Excellent work.¡±


    Work.


    Once again, he reminded himself, things could be a lot worse.


    He put on his pants and they exited the cave. He had to squint in the bright light while his eyes adjusted, but soon he could see the other two women. Ayla was meditating, her shoulders bouncing as if to a tune only she could hear, while Clawdia squinted at the woods around them.


    ¡°Hey Clawdia, still smell something?¡± asked Emily.


    The cat-girl grimaced. ¡°The stench of your sex has obliterated everything.¡±


    ¡°Told you it was jealousy,¡± said Ayla. She pranced up to Jake and grabbed him, pulling him in close and kissing him deeply. Relief flooded him, relief from the tension of his strange intimate yet impersonal encounter with Emily. He hadn¡¯t even realized the tension had reached his muscles until he relaxed.


    Holding Ayla felt like coming home.


    He pulled back for a moment, staring into her eyes. They glimmered with joy.


    ¡°I missed you,¡± she said.


    ¡°It was only a few minutes.¡±


    She ignored that and instead kissed him again with renewed passion.


    He shuddered involuntarily with pleasure.


    ¡°I like being able to see into your mind,¡± she said. ¡°I can know exactly what turns you on, even before your body reacts.¡±


    Right, she could read his mind when they were close. Could she see what he¡¯d done with Emily? What had happened with Emily was pleasurable, and tactically sound, but it had all the emotional weight of a mini-game. If Ayla saw the intensity with which he¡¯d played that minigame, what would she think? Would that cheapen what¡ª


    ¡°You think too much,¡± she whispered, stroking his chest ¡°Your world is strange about things like that. Here, women are used to sharing, and the strength of connection we have is rare. Most Masters never experience it.¡±


    A connection that was rare. Maybe Ayla was happy because Emily¡¯s stand-offish behavior meant she wasn¡¯t a threat.


    Ayla stopped stroking for a half second, before continuing on and giggling nervously. ¡°Of course not.¡±


    Was that a lie? He hadn¡¯t even considered that Ayla could lie. She seemed so perfect, so innocent. And she was, even with the lie. Had she known Emily would be like that? Was that why she¡¯d gone ahead and pushed him into¡ª


    ¡°Please don¡¯t,¡± she begged. ¡°Let¡¯s speak of¡ª¡±


    Clawdia cut in. ¡°Grab job spheres!¡±


    ¡°Stop being jealous!¡± yelled Ayla. ¡°We can train later!¡±


    ¡°This isn¡¯t training!¡± she yelled back. ¡°Grab your job spheres or die!¡±

 Chapter 12: Scorpidogs

    It took Jake a moment to process what Clawdia was saying.


    Danger.


    Beasts.


    Three scorpidogs appeared at the edge of the woods, growling and circling. Their segmented tails flexing and unflexing in anticipation, curling into tight spirals and then lengthening to their full length of four and a half feet.


    Why did it have to be scorpidogs?


    He checked and saw that they were level 5. He¡¯d always thought it had been bad game design to have such a deadly creature present at the low levels. This only fed his theory that FTO was somehow based on this world ¡ª the real world fucked with people by doing stuff like this all the time.


    Ayla rolled away from him, somersaulting towards the burlap sack she¡¯d laid a couple feet away. A bit dramatic for covering that distance, but he¡¯d seen much weirder in the past day. She reached in and she flashed briefly with that strange lighting effect. ¡°Command us!¡± she yelled.


    Clawdia reached into her own bag and also flashed with a similar effect. ¡°I¡¯ll command myself, thank you very much.¡±


    Emily also reached into her bag and flashed a strange color. ¡°You¡¯re gonna wish you¡¯d fucked him. Scorpidogs are no joke.¡±


    Jake agreed ¡ª even one scorpidogs could take down a lower-leveled party easily. This group was low-level, had no magical equipment, and were facing three scorpidogs.


    ¡°But we have the Connection Multiplier,¡± said Ayla. ¡°I¡¯m as strong as a level 10 with no multiplier.¡±


    That was comforting. But strength alone wouldn¡¯t be enough.


    Scorpidog poison was infamously difficult to cure, and even though Ayla had used a Priest Job Sphere, he doubted she¡¯d earned AP to learn Cleanse.


    They would have to do this perfectly.


    ¡°Don¡¯t get stung,¡± he said.


    ¡°That¡¯s up to you,¡± said Ayla. ¡°Command us.¡±


    He pulled up the stats briefly, focusing only on the important parts.


    Ayla


    Level: 2


    EXP to next level: 5


    Connection Multiplier: 3.48


    Current Job: Mage


    Top Jobs: Mage, Priest


    Special Equipment: None


    Base stat changes:


    -- Physical 0.9x


    -- Elemental: 1.1x


    -- Special: 1.1x


    -- Dodge: 0.9x


    Job stat changes:


    -- Defense - physical - 0.8x


    -- Defense - elemental - 1.5x


    -- Power - physical - 0.8x


    -- Power - elemental - 2x


    -- Chi generation - 1.5x


    -- Max CP - 1.5x


    -- Max HP - 0.5x


    Job skills


    -- Fireball


    -- Whack


    -- Ice Bolt


    -- Blizzard


    Emily


    Level: 3


    EXP to next level: 73


    Connection Multiplier: 2.53


    Current Job: Rogue


    Special Equipment: None


    Base stat changes:


    -- Accuracy: 1.1x


    -- Chi regen while running: 1.1x


    -- Power - Elemental: 0.5x


    Job stat changes


    -- Dex - accuracy - melee - 2x


    -- Dex - dodge - 2x


    -- Dex - counter - 1.5x


    -- Movement - stealth - 3x


    Job skills


    -- attack


    -- stealth


    -- surprise attack


    -- shadow flash


    Clawdia


    Level: 5


    Current Job: Barbarian


    Stronger base stats: Movement efficiency, Stealth, Dexterity - Counter, Power - Physical, Power - Physical - Slash


    Weaker base stats: Power - Elemental, Power - Special, Defense - Special


    A strategy began to form, a planning instinct formed by years of practice in FTO.


    Ayla would be a great source of damage, and could slow the enemies, but he¡¯d have to protect her carefully; her health was cut in half because she was playing as a mage, her defense was lowered for the same reason, and it was difficult to cast spells while being attacked.


    Emily could also provide some damage-dealing, but she¡¯d have to be up close to do anything, and being up close put her within range of the stingers. The move that he really had to watch out for, that did the long-lasting poison, was well telegraphed, but the scorpidogs had a quick movement-impairing move as well. To keep her safe, he¡¯d have to have Emily pop out of stealth, do some quick damage with Surprise Attack, and then drop back into the shadows.


    The wild card was Clawdia, and there was no time to ask what her skills were. In the seconds he¡¯d taken to look up their stats and come up with a plan, the scorpidogs were already on the move.


    He took control of Ayla, cast Blizzard on the center Scorpidog. Sheets of ice rained down on the closely packed trio of animals, slowing their movements and damaging them. Blizzard would channel for the next few seconds, so he jumped to Emily and gave her instructions: drop into stealth, then Surprise Attack the dog that I firebolt, then Shadow Flash and run the second it looks like they¡¯re going to start attacking you.


    ** Got it.


    He jumped back to his own body, yelled at Clawdia: ¡°Wait until Blizzard is done to attack.¡±


    ¡°No shit. I¡¯ll also refrain from slicing my own wrists.¡±


    Could she go one minute without being an asshole? But the fact that he didn¡¯t know how to use her strategically bothered him even more. ¡°What are your skills?¡±


    ¡°What are yours?¡±


    He couldn¡¯t let himself get pulled into this bullshit. Blizzard was almost done, and it wasn¡¯t like Clawdia would listen to him if he told her what skill to use anyways. He¡¯d have to guess what she had based on what he knew of the Barbarian class, although it looked like she had some cat-specific variations on those moves.


    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    He jumped back to Ayla¡¯s body just as Blizzard was finishing and tossed a fire bolt to signal which scorpidog Emily was to attack. They couldn¡¯t just Blizzard the dogs to death for two reasons. First, because the damage per chi used was horrendous when applied to only three unit. Second, because even with the movement effects, the scorpidogs would reach Ayla before she was able to finish them off.


    However, the initial Blizzard gave Emily enough time to get into position. The fireball hit and then a second later that scorpidog got a knife in the tail as Emily popped from stealth and used Backstab.


    Blizzard had taken 8% from all the scorpidogs, then the fireball did 25% damage and the backstab did 34%.


    The targeted one was at 33% health. One more fireball, which was already charging, would do 25% damage, and the next regular-strength stab from Emily would do 8%.


    This would work.


    Emily¡¯s stab hit first, followed by the fireball.


    Their first scorpidog died.


    A bright light enveloped Ayla, and Jake heard a ding.


    That meant she¡¯d hit level three, and all her stats would be a little bit higher.


    However, he¡¯d used up his stealth and surprise attack with Emily, and the two scorpidogs that were still alive had 92% health and no more movement effects.


    He could fix the second part of that.


    He jumped into Emily¡¯s body and triggered Shadow Flash, then ran her away from the remaining two dogs.


    ** What are you doing?


    Slowing them down.


    ** I could have gotten in another hit before I had to run.


    Really? She was going to complain about him protecting her? She might be right, of course, since the wolves were at half speed from the Shadow Flash, and were heading towards Ayla, but this way she would be able to drop back into the shadows and get another Surprise Attack.


    There was, however, one big problem: Ayla wouldn¡¯t be able to kill even one of the remaining scorpidogs before they reached her, and she wouldn¡¯t be able to outrun them if they sprinted.


    Jake went back to his own body, watching, waiting to jump in and micromanage if need be.


    Clawdia had apparently decided to make her move: she dashed towards the dogs and tackled one of them, pinning it to the ground and slashing at its face.


    Ayla let loose an Ice Bolt. It would only do 80% of the damage of a fireball, but the slowing effect would be very helpful. Good choice. And one that would allow Emily to eventually catch up to the scorpidog while in stealth and backstab it.


    He jumped into Ayla¡¯s body.


    Good choice with the Ice Bolts.


    ** Thank you, Master.


    He could almost feel her nuzzling him, even though their connection at the moment was purely mental.


    After this battle was over, he could get a proper nuzzle from her in real life.


    The plan was set: as long as Clawdia could handle that other scorpidog on her own, then Emily and Ayla together should be able to finish this one. And it looked like Clawdia would win; she had the scorpidog pinned, with one foot on its tail, while she raked its stomach. Her tackle-and-pin move ¡ª some neko variant on a barbarian skill? ¡ª really was overpowered in a one-on-one fight.


    The scorpidog coming for Ayla was getting close, but Emily should be getting close as well. When she did her Surprise Attack, it would ¡ª


    Emily broke from stealth and started sprinting toward the scorpidog.


    No! That was a move that the AI would never do!


    Why would she do that?! She could¡¯ve reached the scorpidog just in the nick of time to save Ayla, but now she¡¯d lost the 3x bonus ¡ª and safety ¡ª that came from attacking from stealth.


    It was too late. Emily was too close to the scorpidog to drop back into the shadows. She ran toward it, slashed at its body.


    It turned.


    It struck with a paralytic agent.


    No.


    No.


    It charged up, pulling its tail far back.


    Emily tried to move, but couldn¡¯t.


    He foolishly jumped to her body, as if he could make anything happen that she couldn¡¯t do herself.


    When the tail struck he felt the full force of it, felt the impact of the tail in her stomach, felt the cells turn necrotic.


    He didn¡¯t have the emotional strength to give any commands.


    He¡¯d failed.


    But Ayla kept casting, and once the paralytic agent wore off, Emily struck at the scorpidog with a fury.


    It died.


    He jumped to his own body, saw that Clawdia was just finishing up with her own scorpidog.


    They had won.


    But Emily had been poisoned.


    ¡°Does anyone know Cleanse?¡± he asked, panicked. It was unlikely, as the skill cost several thousand AP to learn in FTO, but he had to check for any solution.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± said Ayla. ¡°We have a Priest job sphere, so we can heal her until she recovers from the poison.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have scorpidogs on your edge of the Empire, do you?¡± asked Emily. ¡°Look at the status effect.¡±


    She looked and gasped. ¡°It goes on forever?¡±


    ¡°Until we can reach a healer. Not even dispel will work on it¡­ we need the Cleanse spell, or a fresh-made antidote. Where¡¯s the nearest city?¡± The poison ticked and Emily cringed as 7% of her health disappeared. ¡°It¡¯s going to be like that every thirty seconds until we can find an antidote. Where¡¯s the nearest city large enough to have an apothecary?¡±


    Clawdia cursed. ¡°If we go to a city, they¡¯ll recognize us.¡±


    ¡°If we go to a city, they might recognize us. If we don¡¯t, I¡¯ll definitely die.¡±


    ¡°We risk it,¡± said Jake. ¡°Let¡¯s move.¡±

 Chapter 13: Vigil

    Jake sat by the fire, trying to fight the slow drift of sleep.


    He¡¯d agreed to take his shift as Priest, despite having lower chi regeneration than the women, and despite having lower healing capabilities in general due to not having a Connection Multiplier.


    To sleep through the night, undisturbed, while Emily suffered because of his mistake¡­ that would be cruel. If he ever got to the point where he could sleep undisturbed while his women suffered, that was the day he wouldn¡¯t deserve to be their Master.


    Even Ayla would have to see that. She could look past a lot, in her irrational affection for him, but she wouldn¡¯t be able to see past him being that uncaring.


    Emily shuddered, the signal that she¡¯d taken another hit of damage.


    Always 10 HP damage, always 30 seconds apart. Worse, her max HP dropped as her Connection Multiplier slowly sank. At her current max HP, 149, it would take fifteen of those ¡ª seven and a half minutes ¡ª and she would be dead.


    If he drifted off for seven and a half minutes, she would be dead.


    Why¡¯d she have to go and be so stupid? Why¡¯d she have to break stealth early?


    He knew the answer: she¡¯d thought she wouldn¡¯t get to Ayla in time if she stayed in stealth. She thought that staying in stealth would get the other girl killed.


    She¡¯d been wrong. He¡¯d had it perfectly planned, but he didn¡¯t want to intrude on her freedom again¡­


    Look where that had gotten them.


    Clawdia had cursed him, spent an hour insulting his tactical skills despite Ayla¡¯s protestations, until Emily had told her the real reason. That she¡¯d gotten hurt because he hadn¡¯t interefered, had let her be too free. The cat-girl had barely said a word since. Her only words had been to volunteer for first shift, and to insist at the beginning of his shift that he wake her if he ran out of Chi or started to drift off.


    He cast Heal again, perhaps a little too soon. If he didn¡¯t space it out correctly, he might run out of Chi before his shift was over. His regeneration was slower than that of a woman ¡ª it was a problem in battle, but even more of a problem with such a dragged-out ordeal.


    At least he was getting AP from this. He only got EXP from defeating enemies, but using a job¡¯s move even outside of combat got him AP to use towards buying new moves, and improved the effectiveness of the skill itself by a small amount.


    He stared into the fire, counting the seconds, letting¡­


    A pained grunt made his eyes burst open, heart racing.


    How long had he drifted off for?


    He cast Heal in a panic, bringing Emily¡¯s health back to 78%.


    If she died here, if he let the poison take her, then he didn¡¯t deserve to be leading any of these girls. Even Ayla would be able to see that.


    ¡°Thank you, Master,¡± Emily whispered weakly. ¡°I was just about to wake you.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re up again?¡±


    ¡°The body has defenses. Dying while asleep is something old people do.¡±


    Poor girl had just barely been able to sleep already, then he had to go and rob her of what little chance she had by drifting off. He wouldn¡¯t let it happen again. ¡°I¡¯m glad,¡± he said. ¡°Try to sleep again. I¡¯ll take care of you.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Master.¡± She rolled over and her breathing settled into a steady rhythm, interrupted only by the twice-a-minute shudders from the poison.


    The fire crackled, and he fed it another gigantic stick that they¡¯d collected before dark.


    Time passed. Hours? Minutes? It was hard to tell.


    He pinched himself when he was afraid he¡¯d fall asleep. He would stay awake until the end of his shift, no matter what.


    His eyes popped open, panicked, cast Heal.


    She was at full health. He hadn¡¯t almost let her die again.


    Ayla stirred, yawned. ¡°You have a good heart.¡±


    How long had she been awake, listening to his thoughts?


    ¡°You think very loudly.¡± She sat up and crawled over to kiss him. He felt guilty for feeling such pleasure while one of his women suffered. ¡°Give me the Priest job sphere. You¡¯re even more tired now than when you drifted off the first time.¡±


    ¡°You were awake for that?¡±


    She said nothing, only stroked his arm until his heart rate slowed.


    Someone as weak as him didn¡¯t deserve her.


    ¡°You¡¯re already starting to get tougher,¡± she whispered. ¡°Physically, mentally, sexually¡­ when we¡¯re done, even Clawdia will be able to see what you¡¯re worth. And when we¡¯re safe, you¡¯re going to tie me up and caress me until I can¡¯t stand it. Now cast Heal again, give me the job sphere, and go to sleep.¡±


    He let go of the job assignment, and the sphere materialized in his hand. He handed it to her, the flashing lights thing happened, and the sphere disappeared again.


    Jake let himself sleep.


    They followed the river, letting it guide them away from Devos, the capital of the Devonian Empire. Towns were built on water, and if they followed this stream far enough they were sure to hit something¡­ or end up at a mountain peak from which they could survey the landscape.


    There would definitely be a high-level Priest or an apothecary skilled enough to make antidote at Devos, but even Emily insisted that they not go back there; it was where they¡¯d been brought, where they were going to be trained for Xerxes¡¯ forces ¡ª likely for use at the border, or perhaps to put down a rebellious dominion within the kingdom, or maybe just given to one of Xerxes¡¯s loyal underlings as a reward.


    ¡°It would be even worse if we went back,¡± said Clawdia. ¡°The last runaways were tortured in the public square, kept in stocks and whipped by day, then by night given for use to the nobleman who won that day¡¯s auction. They were force-fed every evening, and the babies they had from the rapes were killed and eaten in front of them. They went mad years before they died.¡±


    Everything about that horrified Jake. He had to make sure they weren¡¯t caught. And if they were caught, he needed to make sure they all died fighting instead of getting captured alive.


    Clawdia saw Jake¡¯s face, seemed satisfied. ¡°You see why the neko fight him?¡±


    ¡°This was a previous Xerxes,¡± said Emily weakly, ¡°the father to the current one. Also, it didn¡¯t actually happen.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s common knowledge among the Neko.¡±


    ¡°They were kept in stocks for a week and whipped, then sold off again. The rest is Ashmere slander.¡±


    Ayla read his thoughts, whispered in his ear that Ashmere was the home nation of the neko.


    ¡°You would think that,¡± Clawdia grumbled. ¡°I suppose a nation that¡¯s subjugated to the Devonian Empire would try to shield its citizens from their crimes.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ selling someone into slavery is still a crime,¡± said Jake.


    They ignored him.


    ¡°We¡¯re in an alliance,¡± said Emily, sticking her lip out in defiance. The effect was ruined when she cringed in pain as the poison hit her again.


    ¡°Yes, an alliance where half your awakened women are sent down to Devos, and the other half are given to Devonian masters who live openly in your supposedly free kingdom.¡± Clawdia rolled her eyes.


    ¡°It¡¯s much less than half,¡± said Emily.


    ¡°So they only steal less than half of your most precious resource. Wow, what a great partner. But does any of it go in the reverse? Even your unawakened women marry the Devonians, while your men must obtain permits if they wish to intermarry. Some alliance you¡¯ve got there. Whoever controls the women, that¡¯s who¡¯s really in charge. That¡¯s why Ashmere is the only free country, where each woman rules herself.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why Ashmere is losing territory,¡± said Ayla. ¡°How can you coordinate on the battlefield? And even with your racial bonuses, you are weaker than a women of the same level who is well-connected to her Master.¡±


    ¡°Between enslavement and death, I choose death.¡±


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    ¡°There are middle ways,¡± said Emily. ¡°I hear that in the east, the fathers choose who becomes their daughter¡¯s Master. And in the south, the women themselves choose.¡±


    ¡°This is why they are both losing territory,¡± said Ayla. ¡°Letting the people choose for themselves will never work as well, in battle, as letting the government assign ownership.¡±


    ¡°Says the person who chose our Master,¡± bit Emily. ¡°Not that it was a bad selection, but you¡¯re not one to talk about individual choice bringing a world to ruin.¡±


    ¡°I have exceptional taste,¡± said Ayla haughtily. ¡°Besides, their world ¡ª at least the simulation shop I came in through ¡ª is almost entirely male, and I got to choose the best.¡±


    ¡°That is, uh, not quite true,¡± said Jake. ¡°There are actually more women in our world than men.¡±


    ¡°Yet I still got the best. You trained well for combat and were able to beat an unfair alliance while being surprised with unusual conditions.¡±


    That last part he would not deny.


    ¡°What are things like in your world?¡± asked Emily. ¡°How do women get placed with their Masters?¡±


    ¡°In my world,¡± said Jake, ¡°the women choose¡­ but sometimes they wait until they¡¯re thirty. Sometimes they don¡¯t ever get married.¡±


    ¡°Married?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s like choosing a Master, except you don¡¯t have to do anything he says, and you can leave anytime.¡±


    Ayla looked suspicious. ¡°How do you build a good team if she can leave at any time?¡±


    ¡°People don¡¯t leave that often. It¡¯s still painful.¡±


    ¡°Ah, in order to leave, she must endure a trial of agony?¡± asked Emily.


    ¡°Well, both people get sad.¡±


    ¡°And then what?¡± asked Emily. ¡°Whippings? Mutilation?¡±


    How could he explain the concept of marrying for love? "Nothing happens," he said.


    "No consequences at all?"


    ¡°Well... they have to sign a lot of paperwork. And she takes half his stuff.¡±


    Emily looked aghast. ¡°What about the other women he married? They must share half his wealth, while the traitor gets the other half all to herself?¡±


    ¡°That sounds like robbery, not Mastery,¡± said Ayla.


    ¡°And this country is not overrun by its enemies?¡± asked Clawdia in disbelief.


    ¡°Not yet." Jake didn''t know what to make of Emily''s question, but he could at least provide a factual answer to the cat-girl.


    "How long do they have?"


    "Actually... it¡¯s the most powerful country on earth.¡±


    ¡°You think we can open that portal again?¡± asked Clawdia. ¡°I¡¯m going through this time, and I¡¯m not coming back.¡±


    ¡°Sorry, but there are no cat-girls on earth,¡± said Jake.


    ¡°Yes there are!¡± said Ayla. ¡°I saw pictures in that world-simulation shop where we met.¡±


    ¡°Those aren¡¯t real,¡± said Jake. ¡°They¡¯re women who put on fake cat ears, sometimes fake cat tails, and many men find that sexy.¡±


    ¡°Then I will be in high demand. I will marry a hundred times and amass a fortune, yet never obey a man even once.¡±


    ¡°We''ll need to amass a fortune in this world if we want to charge the stone,¡± said Ayla. ¡°And before that, we need to save Emily.¡±


    Clawdia frowned, sighed. ¡°I shall accompany you to the safe haven, and then I shall make my escape to your world, where all the women are happy.¡±


    ¡°Uh, actually¡­¡± Jake stopped himself. Better not to say anything. That women in America could be unhappy would be unthinkable to the cat-girl, given all that they suffered here. How could she understand free, powerful women turning to pills and suicide?


    Clawdia put up a finger, stopping the conversation. ¡°I smell civilization. A town is near.¡±


    She reached into her bag and drew out a collar.


    Jake¡¯s eyes widened. After all her talk of freedom, she was just going to put on a collar?


    She glared at him. ¡°This is for camouflage, so don¡¯t you dare try to lock this on me. If it looks like you¡¯re trying, I¡¯ll kill you just the same as the last man who collared me. And even if you do get it on, the rules are a bit different for Nekos¡­ the hold is just a touch looser. You¡¯ll think you¡¯re in control, and then one day you¡¯ll die in your sleep.¡±


    Jake put his hands up in surrender. ¡°You got it.¡±


    While he might enjoy the power that Ayla and Emily had given him, the ability to Command them, to even take possession of their body ¡ª both literally in battle, and metaphorically while having sex ¡ª he would never put a woman into this arrangement against her will.


    And he would never even dream of what Xerxes did, except perhaps in a nightmare.


    He realized that, no matter what Ayla said, his journey would not stop once they reached a safe haven.


    This kingdom was terrible, and he hadn¡¯t trained in strategy his whole life just so he could retire to a farm while millions suffered.


    Ayla touched the small of his back. ¡°I understand,¡± she said sadly, ¡°but we must reach the safe haven first. We must heal Emily, then train, and recruit, so that you can become the most powerful in the land¡­ if you still wish to do that, once we are safe and you can do whatever you like with me.¡±


    She whispered the last part in his ear while laciviously groping her own breast.


    Clawdia coughed. ¡°Stop fucking around. Are we ready? Act like a Master and stop discussing anything treasonous.¡±


    They walked in silence as the landscape turned from woods to fields, and then the city walls appeared on the horizon.


    The city was protected on three sides by mud-brick walls, and on the fourth by the river.


    It was amazing that such a small town had fortifications like that, especially one so close to Devos.


    ¡°Bandits roamed these lands before Xerxes the Third unified the Devonians,¡± explained Ayla in a whisper. ¡°They won¡¯t be that well guarded now that they¡¯re in the middle of an empire.¡±


    There were two distant figures standing at the gate. ¡°That looks well guarded to me,¡± said Jake.


    ¡°It¡¯s standard for a city.¡±


    ¡°Still¡­ there¡¯s two of them, and they have your descriptions, don¡¯t they?¡±


    ¡°Roughly,¡± said Ayla. ¡°I¡¯ll be able to fit in, but Emily and Clawdia stand out around here, especially as part of a private dominion.¡±


    ¡°Then you and Clawdia wait here. I¡¯ll go in with Emily alone. They¡¯ll be looking for a trio of women, not a man and a woman.¡±


    ¡°And let you get Emily killed from negligence?¡± asked Clawdia disdainfully. ¡°I¡¯m going with you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not staying out here alone,¡± said Ayla. ¡°I¡¯m not high enough level to safely face the monsters around here alone, so I¡¯d have no excuse if I was found and questioned.¡±


    They knew this world better than he did, and he definitely didn¡¯t want to leave Ayla alone and unguarded. The only other option would be to send one of them in with Emily. Clawdia and Emily alone would be very noticeable, but Ayla and Emily might work¡­


    ¡°Let¡¯s just all go together,¡± said Ayla. ¡°Two low-level awakened women without their master is unusual, especially if we¡¯ve clearly been fighting or travelling through dangerous areas instead of running errands. There are some men who cannot stand to negligence towards an awakened woman ¡ª that is what it will look like, if a scorpidog victim¡¯s only escort is a level 3 who has barely trained in Priest ¡ª and will make a scene.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t free them, of course not,¡± muttered Clawdia. She wasn¡¯t facing him, but he sensed an eye roll.


    Jake sighed. If there was one thing they couldn¡¯t afford right now, it was making a scene. ¡°Fine. We all go.¡±


    They gates were getting closer anyways, and at this point the guards might notice if some of their party turned around and walked away.


    The guards were in light chain armor, cheap but sturdy, and armed with swords. Level 4 and level 9.


    The level 4 squinted as they approached.


    ¡°Well, well, well. A neko, a northerner, and a Master who is too young to have earned them.¡± His suspicious frown turned into a wide grin and Jake¡¯s heart sank. ¡°Hey boss, that remind you of anything?¡±

 Chapter 14: Out of the Woods

    Jake tensed.


    Were they discovered?


    Of course, his tensing would do no good. He needed to command them. He would¡ª


    Emily grabbed his arm, clinging to him. This was unusual. ¡°Master,¡± she breathed, loud enough for the guards to hear but quiet enough that they might think it wasn¡¯t meant for them. ¡°Surely they don¡¯t mistake us for those cowardly runaways I heard about. Please don¡¯t punish me for being so bold, but I told you that traveling while those criminal were loose would be a mistake.¡±


    He lept into Emily¡¯s body so he could communicate with her silently.


    What the hell are you doing?


    ** Getting us in, idiot. Now reprimand me, as harshly as you can, and don¡¯t worry about any physical pain you might inflict.


    Oh. Of course.


    He hopped back to his own body and pretended that his anger was growing. He shoved her away roughly, the slapped her across the face. It only did 1 HP damage, but the sound was shockingly loud. ¡°Never speak to me like that, woman. You don¡¯t get a pass just because you¡¯re dying.¡±


    The level 9 Guard laughed. ¡°Still think they¡¯re the runaways?¡±


    ¡°The reward is up to three hundred gold pieces, and they¡¯re going to publicize the search to civilians eventually. You don¡¯t want to risk that.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ve all got collars.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re owned by a northerner!¡± The level 4 guard pointed to Jake, as if that proved they were criminals. ¡°A northerner!¡±


    ¡°There are exceptions. If this man owns this many slaves at such a low level, he is clearly the son of an important ally. Perhaps you¡¯d like to hold him up for days while you fetch an updated list of approved northerner slaveholders? While his slave dies from scorpidog poison? I wonder what the consequences of that would be?¡±


    The level 4 guard grimaced, pouted. ¡°I wonder what the consequences of three hundred gold pieces would be.¡±


    ¡°None, if you¡¯re in jail for political crimes.¡±


    This level 9 guard was awesome.


    They got waved through, and the level 9 pointed them to the apothecary.


    There they found a wide array of salves and medicines. The herbalist recognized Emily¡¯s condition immediately and whipped up a fresh batch of scorpidog antidote. Emily drank it in the shop, and her status effect disappeared. She laughed in relief as it lifted.


    ¡°That¡¯s fourty-five copper, out of our total of one seventy,¡± said Clawdia. ¡°We should be sparing in how we spend the rest of it.¡±


    The shopkeeper eyed them suspiciously.


    Jake jumped into Emily¡¯s body. She seemed to have the best overall idea of how these interactions were supposed to go.


    Why¡¯s he looking at us funny? Do you think he has our descriptions? Or is it because Clawdia is acting like she¡¯s in charge?


    ** The guard said they hadn¡¯t told civilians yet, so it¡¯s not that. For Clawdia, some slaves are assigned the purse. It is uncommon, but not rare. The most suspicious part is that she¡¯s a Neko. Act like she¡¯s a well-behaved servant, treat her politely but dismissively, and the shopkeeper will assume you asked her for this advice.


    He jumped back to his own body. He¡¯d have to cover for the seconds that he''d spent communicating with Emily.


    ¡°Repeat the situation, please,¡± he said high-handedly. ¡°I was immersed in important thoughts.¡±


    Clawdia grimaced, then suppressed her displeasure. She knew the game, however badly she played it. ¡°If it pleases my Master, I would like to report that we have one hundred and twenty five copper left. We have yet to visit the grocery, which we need, and the armory, which you have indicated is where you would like to spend most of your day¡¯s coin.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± He patted Clawdia¡¯s head, then scratched her behind the ears. Her eyes got big and indignant, but she said nothing. ¡°You are a most cherished pet.¡±


    Clawdia held a fake smile until they exited the shop, and then turned on Jake. ¡°I am going to kill you.¡±


    ¡°People have to believe I own you, and scratching behind the ears is what we do to pet cats in our world.¡±


    ¡°That is a very intimate gesture.¡±


    ¡°Fine, fine. I won¡¯t do it again.¡±


    He sighed in relief once they rejoined the bustle of the street. Emily was healed, and they were out of the wilderness. Their descriptions hadn¡¯t made it past the guards, and as long as they weren¡¯t isolated from the crowd, like at the gates, they probably wouldn¡¯t be recognized.


    He could finally take a moment to appreciate the city. The town didn¡¯t have much tech, but it was solidly built. The mud-brick houses had clean lines, and the large town square, though crowded with merchants hawking their wares and farmers trying to sell of produce, had a vibrant quality to it.


    Or perhaps the city wasn¡¯t that great, objectively¡­ he was just relieved to have Emily safe. He¡¯d never cared for someone in trouble like that before, never watched over them as their life slipped away, saving them anew every few minutes.


    Sometime during the day¡¯s walk, their Connection Rating had stabilized at 27.


    They stopped at several farmer¡¯s stalls and grabbed food. It was mostly stuff that could stay at the bottom of their bags, but they bought some fruit and fresh meat that they gobbled up as quick as they could. They hadn¡¯t thought about it much while running for their lives and tending to Emily, but they¡¯d needed food badly. Not badly enough to get a status effect, though¡­ that was nice, that the rules here were lenient about that sort of thing. Back home he would have been completely useless after a day without eating, although he¡¯d heard of people (crazy people) that went three days with little problem. He must be a crazy person now.


    That was fine, if being crazy got him laid like this.


    They tore into the food. Clawdia preferred meat, Emily favored bread that was slathered in butter, while Ayla would eat anything she laid her hands on. Within five minutes Ayla¡¯s face was completely covered with sauce, and the second Jake noticed she turned red and started hurriedly wiping it away.


    It was cute.


    The second he thought that her wiping slowed, and she went to nuzzle him.


    Not that cute! Wipe the face first!


    She laughed and wiped her mouth, then kissed him briefly before going back to her food ¡ª slightly more carefully now.


    ¡°I will get that Connection Rating,¡± said Emily. She¡¯d waited to speak until she had chewed and swallowed her bread properly. ¡°I want to know what you two are laughing at.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s probably idiotic,¡± said Clawdia, mouth full of meat. ¡°You¡¯re jealous of the stupidest things.¡±


    They finished eating and Clawdia updated them on the money situation. ¡°We¡¯ve got food for five days and ninety-five copper left. I recommend we start going towards the armorer. They¡¯re a more permanent shop, so they won¡¯t be in this courtyard.¡±


    ¡°No enchanted food?¡± asked Ayla in disappointment. Some food gave special stat bonuses for a few hours after eating it, and it was supposed to taste especially good.


    ¡°Getting magical equipment is a priority. Permanent gains are preferable to short-term boosts.¡±


    ¡°I agree,¡± said Jake. ¡°Let¡¯s get some equipment, and if we have money left over then we can buy some enchanted food.¡±


    Stolen novel; please report.


    Everyone seemed happy with that arrangement, so they set off.


    Clawdia prowled down the street, Ayla skipped merrily, and Emily walked, dignified, with a straight back. How had they decided to run away together? They were so different.


    Ayla grabbed his arm and kissed his cheek. ¡°They chose me because I¡¯m such a good judge of character.¡±


    Emily glared at them.


    ¡°He wanted to know why we escaped together.¡±


    ¡°We were put in the same training cell block,¡± said Emily. ¡°Eight of us total. After Clawdia slipped her collar, she tried to free everyone, but the other five were too scared to come along.¡±


    Was it weird that Ayla had just casually lied like that?


    She laughed nervously and stroked his cheek while grabbing his crotch. ¡°It¡¯s just for fun. In all the important matters I am one hundred percent yours.¡±


    ¡°You two are irredeemable,¡± complained Clawdia. ¡°You¡¯re going to fuck in the streets, we¡¯ll get arrested for indecency, and then we¡¯ll all get tortured to death all because you couldn¡¯t wait until we got to the inn.¡±


    The inn! Of course. ¡°Yes, let¡¯s wait,¡± said Jake.


    While walking, he snuck a peak at their accumulated AP.


    He had 170 AP in Priest, and that could buy either Dispel or Group Heal and Holy Fire, a move that did Special-Holy damage.


    He was the one with the Priest job sphere activated right now, but Ayla and Clawdia had both taken turns healing Emily. Clawdia¡¯s AP stats were hidden from him, but Ayla had even more available for Priest; she¡¯d accumulated some before their latest ordeal ¡ª or maybe it was because of females¡¯ ability to earn AP faster ¡ª so she had 268. She could buy the spells available to Jake, but she could also buy Renew, a heal-over-time spell, or Awe, a spell that made it near-impossible for those within range to attack her for ten seconds.


    Ayla also had 151 AP in Mage, so she could buy Electric Blast or Arcane blast. Electric Blast was a lightning-element spell that did high damage and could jump to any enemies that were near the target; in tightly grouped enemies it was a highly effective attack, but it would also jump to any allies that were near the target, and if interrupted it would explode in the caster¡¯s face. Arcane Blast was a channeled multi-shot spell that sent five consecutive blasts at the opponent, interrupting whatever they were trying to do ¡ª a tactic that was especially effective against other spell-casters.


    Emily had 110 AP in Rogue. It made sense that her available AP was lower than Ayla¡¯s, because she¡¯d already bought the 300-AP Shadow Flash. Of the unbought moves available, she could only get Sticky Trap.


    Which should he buy? On the one hand, he could always buy them during battle, when he needed a specific new move for the situation. Saving them up for that flexibility could be valuable. On the other hand, practicing a move made it stronger and more accurate, especially for the first dozen uses or so.


    He decided to wait until they were in a situation where they could practice; that could be the inn for some of the Priest spells, or maybe even Sticky Trap for Emily, but the Mage spells would have to wait until the woods. Maybe he¡¯d consult the girls and see what threats they expected to face.


    They reached the armory and they spread out to ooh and aaah at the equipment available.


    He didn¡¯t know what was good, so he decided to sit back and jump between Ayla and Emily and see what they were looking at.


    Ayla went straight to a staff whose tip glowed red, and he jumped into her head to see what she was seeing.


    Blaze Staff


    Attack Power: 5


    Stat changes:


    -- Power-Element +2


    -- Power-Element-Fire +10


    Effect: Use Power-Elemental-Fire to for melee attacks instead of Power-Physical-Impact


    Price: 1.57 gold


    Wow. That was a good staff.


    The power was only okay, but the Effect was amazing. For an average Mage it would multiply their melee attack by 2.5 before taking into account the increases in Power-Element-Fire. For Ayla, because of her base stat change, it would multiply it by 3. If they matched it with even more equipment that increased Power-Element-Fire it would be even more powerful.


    Not to mention the fact that it would immediately make her fireball more powerful. Depending on whether the Connection Multiplier and Class Multiplier worked on equipment bonuses, it could be anything from a 17% to a 150% increase in her fireball¡¯s power.


    ** Oh hey, are you in here?


    What? How did you know?


    ** You stopped thinking for too long. So¡­ you see this staff? Can I have it?


    We have 95 copper left. Is that more than 1.57 gold?


    ** Maaaaybe not.


    That¡¯s what I thought. We¡¯ll save up.


    He jumped to Emily¡¯s head. She was looking at some bracers with vicious spikes sticking out from them. The tips of the spikes looked covered in constantly-smoking oil.


    Slick Revenge


    Stat changes:


    -- Dex-Dodge-Melee +10


    -- Dex-Dodge-Melee x1.5


    Effect: Dodges have a chance (base: 50%) to trigger a Power-Special-Shadow attack that will slow the attacker.


    Price: 2.81 gold


    This one was amazing. In a close-quarters situation, which was where Rogues excelled, this would both massively reduce damage taken and increase damage given and slow the attack rate.


    Unfortunately, the price.


    Sorry, too expensive.


    ** A woman can dream. And hey, you know¡­ I am a Rogue. Kind of shocking there¡¯s no theft prevention on these things.


    I bet there is. If the shop had stuff like this just sitting around, you could bet it had some sort of protection that would summon Guards¡­ especially on stuff meant to be worn by the make-theft-easy job. Probably an AOE stealth-cancelling device or something. Don¡¯t risk it.


    He couldn¡¯t see into Clawdia¡¯s head, so he switched to his own body and walked over to her. He was distracted by Ayla: ¡°How about this?¡± she asked. ¡°Can I have this?¡±


    It was some sort of glowing ball.


    ¡°No single-use items,¡± said Clawdia.


    ¡°But it explodes and paralyzes them!¡±


    A magical grenade? Cool, but Clawdia was right. ¡°Put it back,¡± said Jake. ¡°Maybe we can do that sort of thing once we have a bunch of money.¡±


    Finally he got to Clawdia and saw what she was trying on.


    It was some sort of leather vest with runes inscribed upon it.


    Ancient Vest (counterfeit)


    Stat changes:


    -- Defense 1.1x


    -- Defense-Physical +10


    Effect: None


    Price: 55 copper


    ¡°Glad to see someone¡¯s being sensible,¡± he said.


    Clawdia looked at him, surprised at the praise. Then she narrowed her eyes, and started tracking something behind him.


    It was a Guard, holding a sheet of paper. ¡°Three hundred gold,¡± he said to the shopkeeper. ¡°If at least one of them¡¯s alive, that is. One hundred if they¡¯re all dead.¡±


    The shop-keeper pointed to them, and the Guard ¡ª level 13 ¡ª laughed and pulled his weapon. ¡°That was easy.¡±


    ¡°I changed my mind,¡± said Jake. ¡°We can afford anything you can carry.¡±

 Chapter 15: And Into the Fire

    It took Jake a second to figure out his plan.


    In that time Clawdia grabbed a nearby axe and charged the Guard. The Guard charged back, and when they met the cat-girl was slammed to the ground. Level 5 with shitty armor versus a decked-out level 13¡­ there was really no other way it was going to end, unless she¡¯d had a crazy Connection Multiplier and gotten lucky. Just the impact knocked away 37% of her health.


    The one thing that surprised Jake was that the human Guard had that move as well. Apparently there were going to be some little differences between this and FTO.


    Jake jumped to Ayla and made her toss the grenade right behind the Guard. He jumped back to his own body and sprinted away from where the grenade was about to explode.


    ¡°My items!¡± yelled the shopkeeper in distress.


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t have pointed!¡± Jake yelled back.


    The grenade exploded, stunning the Guard and the shopkeeper. It would have gotten Clawdia, but she was completely covered by the Guard, so he absorbed all the shock.


    She kicked but wasn¡¯t able to budge his massive frame on her own.


    Jake popped into Emily¡¯s mind long enough to buy the Sticky Trap skill and tell her to start mining the door, then told Ayla to run outside and start preparing to throw spells. Then he ran over to help push the Guard off of Clawdia.


    When they freed her, they had seven seconds left of the paralyzation. That was a surprisingly long effect.


    ¡°How expensive was that grenade?¡± he yelled at Ayla.


    ¡°Only fifty silver!¡±


    Holy fuck. Fifty silver for a one-time use item?


    Better take advantage of it.


    Clawdia and Jake sprinted to the door, where Ayla and Emily waited. Emily was crouched and ready to start making Sticky Traps, while Ayla held the new staff she''d stolen and prepared to start casting. Once they cleared the door, Emily began laying traps.


    Each Sticky Trap took 3 seconds to make and would hold the guard for 5 seconds. The downside was the trap¡¯s range; they would have to be a certain distance away by the time the Guard reached the door, and at that point he could easily run around any new traps they laid.


    ¡°Ayla, start in on the ice bolts if you¡¯ve got an angle past Emily.¡± The ice bolts weren¡¯t as powerful as fire, especially with her new staff, but this was all about slowing the Guard down so Emily could lay more traps.


    Emily was crouched, so by getting close Ayla could get a good shot. She shot one ice bolt and hit; it did 3% damage.


    A level 5 scorpidog he was not. Even with her newly-enhanced fire, Ayla wouldn''t be able to do damage fast enough. Even with the dodge afforded by the spiked bracers she''d stolen, Emily wouldn''t last long in a melee battle. Worse, if he got close enough, he could charge and pin whoever he felt like killing.


    ¡°We can¡¯t fight him,¡± said Jake. ¡°Especially not if there will be others coming to help. On my signal, we bolt.¡±


    The Guard got up and Ayla sent another ice bolt. He lumbered towards them at half speed.


    Jake calculated the man¡¯s speed and the range of one of these traps. Better to play it safe and have a little bit less of a head start than to get stuck in the string of traps with him. ¡°Let¡¯s go! Towards the gate!¡±


    They ran.


    ¡°Way to tell him our destination,¡± said Clawdia.


    ¡°Well, where else are we gonna go? And it¡¯s the first place they¡¯d think to guard anyways.¡±


    The man triggered the first of the traps, sticking himself firmly in place. Emily had laid two of them, giving them ten seconds until the Guard could give chase.


    How far away could they get in that time?


    ¡°Jogging pace. As fast as you can go without draining chi. Ayla, you didn¡¯t happen to grab any more grenades, did you?¡±


    She held up two more. One was labeled Ice and the other labeled Miasma.


    If FTO rules held ¡ª and there weren¡¯t any surprises ¡ª he knew exactly what they were going to do.


    ¡°Remind me to kiss you when we get a break.¡±


    Townspeople got out of their way as they ran. Word hadn¡¯t spread among the common people that Jake¡¯s women were wanted, so they must¡¯ve assumed he was on important Master business.


    The obstacles he knew were in their way: a level 4 guard and a level 9 guard. He wished he would¡¯ve checked their job spheres while they passed, but their equipment said they were some sort of melee class.


    ¡°Clawdia, you¡¯re going to charge and pin the level 9 guard on my signal.¡±


    ¡°Am I now?¡±


    ¡°Yes. You¡¯re the only one with a great dash, and if you do it too early you¡¯ll mess up the plan. You won¡¯t have to hold him long.¡±


    ¡°Fine. You better not fuck this up.¡±


    ¡°Ayla, give me the ice grenade.¡± Unlike skills like fireball, these things weren¡¯t effected by the elemental Power of the thrower.


    After he got the grenade, he did a quick DPS check. Even with the extra power in fire Arcane Blast would be a higher DPS, but it used a lot of Chi. Not worth possibly running out of CP if there were surprises¡­ they¡¯d stick with fire and ice for now.


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    As they came within sight of the gate, he jumped to Emily.


    Go stealth and start approaching them. I¡¯ll tell you when to strike. Don¡¯t do a killing blow on the level 9 unless I tell you to.


    Might as well reward the guy for letting them in earlier.


    ** Understood.


    He jumped to Ayla and started casting a fireball at the level 4 the second they got in range. Then he lobbed the ice grenade.


    The ice hit, doing only a little damage but encasing both of them in frozen blocks. Fifteen seconds on the level 4, twelve seconds on the level 9.


    This might work even without Clawdia¡¯s charge.


    The fireball hit, knocking off 55% of the level 4¡¯s health.


    Oh yeah.


    ¡°Another!¡± he yelled. ¡°Everyone else, keep rushing the gate!¡±


    After this one hit, then the level 4 would be dead, Clawdia would pin the level 9 for a few seconds, and then once they were out of the gate he¡¯d throw the Miasma grenade to trap everyone else in town for fifteen seconds.


    From there it would be a simple matter of running faster than the trackers. A breeze, as long as their pursuers didn¡¯t have both horses and hunting dogs, or the fantasy equivalent. FTO had mounts, but no hunting dog mechanic¡­ was that because it didn¡¯t exist in this world, or because the translation wasn¡¯t faithful?


    He forced himself back to the battle, just in case something needed his attention.


    The fireball hit, killing the level 4.


    Then Ayla screamed.


    He jumped to her perspective, panicked. Her health was at 81%.


    He tried to make her run, but her feet wouldn¡¯t move.


    Status Effect: Convicted. Held in place by the power of conscience for 3 seconds, then movement slowed by 30% for 30 seconds.


    There was a Paladin somewhere. Within twenty yards, and probably closing the distance fast.


    He scanned the horizon, saw a woman with silver hair in cheap plate armor approaching them. He charged up a frostbolt while checking her stats.


    Level: 6


    Current Job: Paladin


    Stronger stats: Power-Special-Holy, Dex-Accuracy, Defense-Special-Darkness, Defense-Physical


    Weaker stats: Power-Elemental, Power-Special-Darkness


    Level 6 Paladin. High defense and healing abilities¡­ he could defeat her easily, but it would take too long. The level 13 Guard would catch up by then, and the somewhat friendly level 9 Guard might not be able to hold off interfering for too much longer.


    Ayla needed to get out of there.


    He switched to his own body, used his AP on Dispel, and cast it on her to clear up the movement effect.


    She shot off the frostbolt, slowing the Paladin, and he switched back into her head.


    Run to the gate, now!


    ** Yes, Master.


    Where was Emily?


    Stealthed, somewhere.


    He jumped into her head. She was halfway to the gate. Less than ten seconds had passed since the battle had started, and moving in stealth was slow even for a Rogue.


    Clawdia was still waiting for his command, but looking increasingly antsy. She was going to want to free the Paladin. That would spell disaster for their escape attempt and get them all killed.


    Just a few more seconds, when Ayla was closer to the gate, and they¡¯d be ready. He started casting Heal on her.


    The Paladin¡¯s Master appeared from behind a building wielding a bow. ¡°Come on, bitch!¡± he yelled. ¡°I didn¡¯t buy you just so you could keep failing! Catch them and you eat well. Lose them, and¡­¡±


    The girl¡¯s face took on an anguished, panicked expression. This was one of the bad Masters he¡¯d heard about.


    Jake looked at Clawdia. ¡°Don¡¯t do it!¡± he yelled.


    She was already sprinting towards the Master, wielding the axe that she¡¯d taken from the shop.


    The enemy¡¯s eyes got wide and he shot wildly towards her. It hit, taking 12% of her health. She kept running.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t right! You¡¯re not supposed to go for the Masters!¡± The enemy Master motioned to Jake as if expecting sympathy. ¡°This is a war crime!¡±


    Clawdia tackled him, pinning him to the ground and slamming her axe into his jaw. He screamed and flailed uselessly.


    The silver-haired Paladin kept healing the Master, her face a mix of hope and horror, but there was only so much she could do¡­ at her level, if she¡¯d bought Convict and Long Light of Justice, then her only healing spell would likely be Grace of the Heavens, an unstackable Heal over Time spell.


    The enemy Master died.


    So they didn¡¯t have to worry about the Paladin anymore¡­ but the level 9 Guard was breaking free of his ice, and the level 13 Guard was barreling down the street towards them.


    There was no way they¡¯d be able to defeat both of them. The level 9, yes, although it would make him sad to kill a man that had helped them. The level 13, maybe, if there was no interference. But both, together¡­ they were as good as dead.

 Chapter 16: Buried

    A level 9 Guard blocked their way, and a level 13 Guard sprinted towards them from the street.


    Taking on them both would be suicide¡­ but there was still one way out.


    Jake switched to Ayla and had her pull out the Miasma grenade, run towards where the level 13 Guard was coming from, then chuck it right in front of him.


    It burst, turning the street where it landed ¡ª and ten yards around in any direction ¡ª into a swampy, toxic sludge. Movement decreased to 20%, and a slow DOT took effect.


    They had 15 seconds.


    He ran over to the Paladin, who was still in shock. She backed away from him as he approached, tripping, then continuing to scramble while on the ground.


    ¡°I¡¯ll free you after this battle, if you want,¡± he said. He didn¡¯t want to force his way, but he needed her if any of them were to get out of this alive, so he pounced on her and touched the collar. The clasp had loosened, since her Master had died. ¡°I bind you to myself.¡±


    He jumped to her head, used Blessing to raise everyone¡¯s stats by 10%, then jumped back to himself.


    ¡°Everyone, to the gate as fast as you can!¡± he yelled.


    Emily broke stealth and joined the stampede.


    The level 9 stood there, sword in hand.


    Would the new girl have Convict ready again yet? He jumped to her head and found that switching Masters had not reset the usual 30-second cool-down. They¡¯d have to get past the level 9 without tricks. They couldn¡¯t even use Ayla¡¯s ice bolt because it took her almost as long to cast as the slow-down effect lasted.


    So they rushed him and hoped for the best.


    He stood there stoically, in their path, sword raised. ¡°I¡¯ll kill you evil chaos people!¡± he yelled while they ran around him. He swung wildly, not even getting close. His second swing took the Paladin girl right in the thickest part of her armor. ¡°How dare you defy Xerxes!¡±


    Jake realized, belatedly, that the Guard was letting them through in the only way that wouldn¡¯t get him punished.


    They got past the gate, into the woods, and ran for their lives. When the level 13 Guard showed himself, the new girl cast Convict on him, which gave them enough distance to lose sight of the man.


    Still, it was over half an hour until they felt comfortable enough to sit down and rest, and that was only because Ayla threw herself down on a patch of grass and refused to move. ¡°If he shows up, we kill him¡­ but I¡¯m tired.¡±


    Her Chi bar was full; actual exhaustion must be tracked differently.


    He could command her to keep going, but he didn¡¯t want to force her to do anything unless it was absolutely necessary. From a pure power-level perspective, it might lower their Connection Rating if he stopped respecting her wishes, but he also just didn¡¯t want to be a jerk.


    Clawdia sighed and crouched on the grass, while Emily found a rock to sit on. The new girl curled up by a tree and stared off into space. That probably wasn¡¯t good.


    ¡°Master, come lay with me,¡± said Ayla. ¡°We didn¡¯t get to relax at the inn as we were promised.¡±


    ¡°Oh, so this is why we stopped,¡± complained Clawdia. ¡°We¡¯re all going to die because you¡¯re horny.¡±


    ¡°In a moment,¡± said Jake. He needed to take care of the new girl first. He walked over to her, put out his hand. ¡°I¡¯m Jake. Thank you for helping us escape. I can free you now if you like.¡±


    She backed up and pressed herself against the tree, clutching her legs tight as if trying to make herself disappear.


    Apparently she wasn¡¯t going to talk, so he checked her stats himself.


    Phoebe


    Race: Human


    Height: 5¡¯8¡±


    Weight: 141lbs


    Level: 6


    EXP to next level: 48


    Connection Rating: 0


    Connection Multiplier: 1.5


    Current Job: Paladin


    Top Jobs: Paladin


    Base stat changes:


    -- Elemental x0.9


    -- Dex-Counter: x0.9


    -- Power-Special-Holy: x1.2


    Special Equipment: None


    Paladin Skills


    Holy Strike


    Grace of the Heavens


    Blessings


    Long Light of Justice


    Convict


    Connection Rating of zero. Considering he¡¯d just killed her old master and kidnapped her, that made sense. She¡¯d just spent almost an hour running by his command, going long past when she would have stopped on her own. The courtesy that he¡¯d extended Ayla hadn¡¯t reached her¡­ perhaps the Connection Rating reflected his own feelings as much as it did the girl¡¯s.


    ¡°Hey, how do I free her?¡± he asked. ¡°Do I touch the collar and say something?¡±


    Emily clucked her tongue. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t do that if I were you. Having a Paladin on our team will be valuable.¡±


    ¡°Uh, but that would be enslaving her against her will.¡±


    ¡°So? If you uncollar her, she¡¯ll get captured again within a week. Even if she turns herself in, and thus is not treated as a runaway, her chances of getting a Master as kind as you are slim to none. By releasing her, you condemn her to a life of misery and pain. And the bad kind of pain, not the kind that I¡¯m into.¡±


    ¡°She has to make the decision,¡± said Jake. ¡°I give you three choices. First choice, you can be my slave. I won¡¯t force myself on you sexually, but I will command you in battle. Second, I can free you and you go your own way.¡±


    She clenched her fists when he said that and buried her face in her knees.


    ¡°Third choice, you can travel with us as a free woman, like Clawdia.¡±


    Her head shot up and her eyes got big as she stared at the cat-girl.


    ¡°Oh, right,¡± said Clawdia. She grabbed the un-activated collar on her neck and removed it.


    ¡°This is a mistake,¡± said Emily. ¡°You not taking control when you needed to is what got me poisoned, and letting Clawdia stay free is what got us into our first battle together ¡ª the one where you got knocked out ¡ª and what prolonged our most recent battle. Every single mistake so far has been because you allow too much freedom. Keep her as a slave. Stay away from her sexually until she is prepared, that is restraint that I can respect, but her abilities are too valuable to not keep her with us.¡±


    Ayla¡¯s arms wrapped around him. She pulled herself tight, her breasts pressing against his back and her warm breath tickling his ear. ¡°I¡¯ll accept whatever my Master decides¡­ but I¡¯d feel safer if she was around.¡±


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Chills went down his spine, both from her touch and the level of trust she displayed. Her life was in his hands, and she placed it there willingly, without caveats or limits. His dick responded, shooting straight up and creating a distinct bulge in his pants. Who knew that trust could be such a turn-on?


    Ayla disentangled herself and sat beside him.


    Phoebe stared at his bulge, then flicked her eyes to Ayla, and then to Clawdia, who was lounging collar-less in the grass.


    ¡°I will stay with you,¡± she whispered. Her voice was barely audible. ¡°I will be your slave, if it¡ª if it please my Master. I cannot survive on my own without you. If¡­ if I request to be freed in the future, may I¡­¡±


    She cringed as she said it, as if preparing to be hit.


    He put his hand on her shoulder gently. She flinched, panicked, then slowly forced her breathing to come back to normal.


    ¡°Look at me,¡± he said.


    Her eyes did anything but, going from Clawdia to Emily to Ayla to his feet.


    ¡°Look me in the eyes, so you know I¡¯m speaking the truth.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t a command, so she continued to circle his face, coming closer, closer. She glanced at him briefly before staring at the treetops.


    Finally she could stand to look at him.


    She trembled as she did so.


    He stared straight into her eyes and spoke as gently as he could. ¡°The second you request to be freed, I will release you.¡±


    She burst into tears.


    What? Why tears? What had he said?


    He¡¯d tried to be nice and then this happened?


    ¡°No, silly,¡± whispered Ayla. ¡°This is good. This is probably the first time since leaving her family that a man with power has spoken kindly to her.¡±


    He jumped into Ayla¡¯s head to speak silently.


    Then why is she crying? Shouldn¡¯t she be happy?


    ** She is happy. These are tears of relief.


    Women are weird.


    ** You don¡¯t need to understand us, Master. Just keep doing what you¡¯re doing and I will serve you for as long as you live. Now put your hand back on her shoulder, and if she hugs you, hug her back.


    He did so, and as if in response the girl sprung up and threw her arms around him and buried her face in his shoulder. He hugged her back, shocked, as her hot tears flowed onto his shoulder.


    Phoebe¡¯s Connection Rating was at 24. Just from saying right words and letting her cry on him. How many times had he spanked Emily to get hers that high?


    She continued to sob with great, gasping breaths.


    He patted her back, whispering ¡°there, there,¡± in her ear.


    Soon she quieted and there was peace.


    ¡°Well,¡± said Clawdia, ¡°that was awkward.¡±


    ¡°Hush,¡± said Ayla.


    ¡°A strategic necessity,¡± insisted Emily.


    Phoebe lifted her face. It was splotched from crying. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I¡¯m a mess,¡± she said. ¡°Please don¡¯t hate me. I¡¯ll serve you however you want.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± said Jake as gently as he could. ¡°We need to move for now. We seem to have lost that Guard, but we need to get somewhere safe. Somewhere we can train without being attacked by people or monsters too far above our level.¡±


    ¡°We should take sanctuary among my people,¡± said Clawdia. ¡°It is a mere ten days travel by foot. Then you can all be freed and happy.¡±


    ¡°Would they accept humans living among them?¡± asked Emily. ¡°Especially a male human?¡±


    Clawdia looked away briefly, then straight at Emily. ¡°You would be safe there. Jake would be cast out. It is fine.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not going there, then,¡± said Ayla. ¡°What about the east? They are fighting against Xerxes already, so they would welcome us. Besides, my village is near the border.¡±


    ¡°The east would be strategically preferable,¡± said Emily. ¡°If Jake can get over his hesitance about commanding his forces like a proper Master, he has the potential to be a top general. We could recruit more women by allying with other houses, then destroy Xerxes in that manner.¡±


    Recruiting more women? He¡¯d trained commanding three for the last year. Sure, he¡¯d had eight soldiers under his command when playing online with Todd and the others, but that had been almost too much ¡ª most of them he set to play things out according to their customized AI patterns.


    But commanding eight real women? And keeping up with the sexual demands of all of them?


    ¡°Stop overwhelming him,¡± said Ayla. ¡°Getting safe is the most important part. If he decides to spread himself too thin after that, that is his decision.¡±


    Spread himself too thin. She didn¡¯t want him to do it, but she wouldn¡¯t contradict him. She was clever, and kind, and one hundred percent behind him.


    His dick stiffened.


    How had that made him hard?


    Forget women, he didn¡¯t even understand himself sometimes.


    Ayla giggled.


    ¡°They¡¯ll search for us,¡± said Phoebe. She¡¯d finally composed herself and was able to speak solemnly. ¡°You are the three runaways. Xerxes wants you¡­ he¡¯ll send word to the major cities, and things will spread from there.¡±


    ¡°Can we run ahead of it?¡± asked Jake.


    ¡°No,¡± said Clawdia. ¡°He has a Master with women in each major city in his kingdom. Important messages can pass almost instantaneously through their connection. Then in many of the major cities, there is another Master who has women in the minor outlying cities. That¡¯s how a town as small as the one we just escaped had already heard of our status.¡±


    ¡°Then we¡¯ll be chased everywhere we go.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s one thing we can do,¡± said Phoebe. ¡°One way we can disappear.¡±


    Before she even finished her sentence, Jake knew what she was talking about. Of course this world would have them ¡ª FTO was different in many ways, had removed some mechanics, but aside from tournament mode there didn¡¯t seem to be any huge systems the game developers had added. ¡°Dungeons.¡±


    Phoebe smiled. ¡°There¡¯s one nearby. We¡¯re slightly under-leveled, but Ayla says you¡¯re a master tactician.¡±


    Traveling to a dungeon under-leveled was practically a death sentence¡­ but what choice did they have?


    ¡°Show us the way.¡±

 Chapter 17: Dive

    ¡°Are you sure people won¡¯t chase us down there?¡±


    Jake was excited about the dungeon, but as the adrenaline from their chase wore off, nervousness overtook him. Going into a dungeon under-leveled was a bad idea, and even more so if you were likely to be attacked at any time by unfriendly humans.


    ¡°They will,¡± said Emily. That wasn¡¯t reassuring at all, but then again, she never made any effort at making him comfortable. ¡°However, up here, everyone will be attacking us, and more Guards can be called quickly. Down there, the monsters are neutral, and the Dungeon Masters will provide saferooms where we will be hidden. Even if we are discovered, it will take time for reinforcements to arrive.¡±


    ¡°Except every single diver down there will want the reward for himself,¡± said Clawdia. ¡°Soon it will be the entire dungeon against us.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying we should make a different plan?¡± asked Jake.


    ¡°No, this is our best choice. We should go down as quickly as we can, to get past the crowds, and then hole up in a dungeon suite during the day when most people are traversing the dungeon.¡±


    ¡°We can make it, Master,¡± said Ayla encouragingly. ¡°With your leadership we are strong, and we¡¯ll only get stronger while fighting. The dungeon is our best chance to level up without being hurt too badly, and when we¡¯re at the dungeon suites we can raise our Connection Rating.¡±


    ¡°Phoebe, what level did you say this dungeon was?¡±


    ¡°The monsters at the first floor are level 5, but they go up to level 25 at the lower levels.¡±


    They¡¯d just had to run from a single level 13 enemy, and in dungeons enemies often clumped together¡­ not to mention that there would be bosses on the lower floors. Some of them guarded treasures, others guarded the entrances to the floor below, while others roamed the floor, catching unsuspecting adventurers off guard.


    Dungeons were meant to be the hardest part of the game, and here they were using them as an escape.


    If this were a videogame, most people would throw down their controller and go complain online about the broken difficulty curve.


    Hell, that was kind of what Jake had done with his real life. He¡¯d thrown down his controller, done the bare minimum to keep from being homeless, and retreated into FTO where everything was fair.


    Except now he was in FTO, or a real-life version of it, and it wasn¡¯t fair.


    Then again, he had four beautiful women around him, two of which he could have wild sex with whenever he wanted, so screw fair. He¡¯d take an unfair world with these companions over a dull, bland equality.


    Assuming they didn¡¯t die, of course.


    They could very easily die.


    He wanted to talk to Todd, let him know all these crazy things that were happening. Get his advice. Besides, he wanted to tell his friend why he¡¯d been gone for so long. He didn¡¯t give a shit about a two week¡¯s notice at the gas station, but he felt bad about leaving Todd hanging outside the bathroom door. Alas, that would all have to wait until they scrounged up enough money to charge the teleportation stone again¡­ surely it wouldn¡¯t actually require taking over an empire.


    They finally reached the dungeon. He had Emily use Stealth and sneak inside, and when she found that it was only the Dungeon Master in the lobby, they all joined her and she unstealthed.


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°Greetings, travelers,¡± he said. He looked like a human mixed with a naked mole rat. His skin was pale, a near-translucent pink, and had strange folds like he¡¯d recently lost a large amount of fat. His teeth were misshapen, his body was thin and frail, and he wore an oversized black robe as if to hide all of that.


    FTO lore said they grew to thousands of years old and had access to powerful but inexplicable magics that only worked underground.


    Jake tried to look at the Dungeon Master as if the thing was a normal person.


    It was hard.


    Especially when he saw the Dungeon Master¡¯s eyes flick to a poster on the wall.


    It had their faces on it.


    He jumped to Emily¡¯s head.


    I thought you said it was clear.


    ** The Dungeon Masters are as neutral as they can afford to be. They won¡¯t turn us in. They won¡¯t even mention our presence.


    They put up the poster.


    ** I said they were as neutral as they can afford to be, not that they were neutral.


    He jumped back to his own head.


    ¡°Are you ready to converse?¡± asked the Dungeon Master.


    What?


    ¡°He can tell when you head-jump,¡± whispered Ayla.


    Ah. Inexplicable magics.


    ¡°No, and he can¡¯t tell by the absence of thought like I can. He notices that you¡¯re silent and your eyes have a vacant look.¡±


    That made sense.


    ¡°I¡¯m ready to converse,¡± said Jake.


    ¡°Excellent. The entrance fee for this dungeon is fifty copper. You may buy anonymous rooms in the floors below, and you may trade with our merchants. I would like to remind you than any attacks on players will result in harsh penalties ¡ª all your gold and items will be confiscated by us upon exiting the dungeons. There are only two exceptions. The first is if you are attacked first. You may retaliate against that Master and their allies. The second is if you are wanted by the kingdom in which the dungeon resides. If these exceptions are not met, a player-killer tag will be applied, showing others that you are fair game and marking you for punishment from the Dungeon Masters.¡±


    The Dungeon Master¡¯s eyes flicked to the Wanted poster again, and Jake nodded. ¡°Understood. Clawdia, the entrance fee?¡±


    She brought out the money purse ¡ª why was he letting the only one he couldn¡¯t control have their money purse, again? ¡ª and paid fifty coppers. ¡°We have fourty-five left,¡± she reported.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said the Dungeon Master. His eyes rested briefly flicked on Clawdia¡¯s neck, which was bare and uncollared, before returning to business.


    Everyone noticed.


    ¡°Cover that up,¡± whispered Emily. She handed Clawdia a collar.


    Clawdia scowled, but put it on while shooting a don¡¯t-even-come-close stare at Jake. He shrugged.


    The dungeon master coughed, then handed Jake a map, which covered down to floor 5 in detail¡­ then had the label ¡®6 - 20¡¯ followed by a big question mark and a couple of blank pages. ¡°The Dungeon is yours. Stay as you long as you like.¡±


    They started to head towards the entrance, but the Dungeon Master stopped them. ¡°One more thing,¡± he said. ¡°That poster was placed a few hours ago, so only a few adventurers have seen it. That will not stay true for long. Dive as deep as you dare.¡±

 Chapter 18: Federal Bureau of Interdimensionality

    Todd had never been chained to a desk before, especially not in such a fancy building. Who knew that the FBI had an office in Eagleton? The entrance to the underground bunker was in the abandoned mall. It actually had two entrances: Brooks Brothers, for the agents in their crisp suits, and Hot Topic for everyone else. Now that the mall was empty, everyone used whichever entrance they pleased.


    It was weird how much they told him. Were they going to kill him? That was the only explanation. That, or they expected him to forget everything. It would suck to die, but it wasn¡¯t like he could escape, so he went along with it.


    ¡°Tell us what happened at the GameShop,¡± said Agent F. ¡°Every detail. Every move. Every sound. Every smell.¡±


    Todd nodded solemnly. If it helped them find Jake, he¡¯d give them whatever information they needed. ¡°So there was this girl, real hottie. Middle eastern or something. Skin like a Mexican, but her face was different, you know? Big breasts. Cute rounded face. Long wavy hair almost to her waist. And her eyes¡­ if she¡¯d been looking at me the way she was looking at him, I would¡¯ve gone for her. And I¡¯ve got a girlfriend!¡±


    His eyes got wide as he said that.


    Agent K pointed at the can of Diet Coke they¡¯d given him, and now he saw in tiny print, right below the word ¡®Coke¡¯, were the words ¡®special truth serum edition¡¯.


    Dammit.


    Agent F cracked a slight knowing smile, the first emotional expression Todd had seen from the man. ¡°Continue.¡±


    Todd gulped. ¡°What I mean is, she was hot. God, I think I¡¯m getting hard just thinking about her. And Jake was a virgin, so how was he supposed to resist? Don¡¯t tell my girlfriend I said I¡¯d bang the daylights out of this other girl if she wanted it. Dammit.¡±


    Agent F¡¯s face had gone back to restful attentiveness, showing no reaction to Todd¡¯s distress. Instead he nodded as if this was the most natural thing in the world. ¡°Now, this girl, did she have any¡­ tentacles? Eye stalks? Strange skin? Mouths where they shouldn¡¯t be?¡±


    Jake didn¡¯t know how to process what the Agent was saying, but he was sure of one thing. ¡°You¡¯re going to kill me afterwards, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    Agent K laughed. ¡°Of course not!¡± Then he turned to Agent F, seemingly a bit worried. ¡°We¡¯re not going to kill him, right?¡±


    ¡°Tell me,¡± said Agent F, ¡°were there any unusual smells?¡±


    ¡°You mean besides Mike and his gang? Eh? Eh?¡± Todd glanced from Agent K to Agent F, looking for even the slightest hint of a laugh. ¡°Tough crowd.¡±


    The interrogation continued for another half hour, with the agents trying to pull out any distinguishing characteristics, any strange accents, any unusual word choices that the girl might have made, or strange accessories like a collar.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    Eventually they seemed satisfied.


    ¡°Your analysis?¡± asked Agent F.


    ¡°Dimension 5LB7. Clearly Devonian, although it¡¯s unusual that it was a woman and that they abducted a man this time. Very risky.¡±


    ¡°Very good. And suggested course of action?¡±


    ¡°None. We don¡¯t have the resources to rip open a portal, at least not without attracting attention, and the target is low-value.¡±


    ¡°Hey!¡± objected Todd. ¡°Jake is not low-value!¡±


    Agent F raised his eyebrows, then turned back to Agent K. ¡°Your analysis is correct. Now let¡¯s dispose of the witness.¡±


    ¡°Wait!¡± said Todd. ¡°I thought you said¡ª¡±


    ¡°Look over here.¡± Agent F pulled out a flattened black rod. The end of it erupted with a bright white light, like a camera flash.


    It dazed him a little.


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t get so drunk,¡± said Agent K calmly. ¡°We had to lock you up because you were drunk, but you¡¯re free to go now.¡±


    ¡°But I¡¯m not¡ª¡± he stopped himself. Something wasn¡¯t right. Something had changed. Why were they obviously lying to him?


    ¡°He remembers,¡± sighed Agent F. ¡°I told you we never should¡¯ve legalized weed.¡±


    They expected him to have forgotten everything.


    Holy shit. The FBI had a division that focused on weird occurrences, and they¡¯d explicitly modeled it after Men In Black.


    ¡°It¡¯s not the weed, you just don¡¯t know how to work the tech,¡± said Agent K. He pulled out his own flattened black rod. ¡°Look over here.¡±


    It flashed, and Todd blinked.


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t get so drunk,¡± said Agent K calmly. ¡°We had to lock you up because you were drunk, but you¡¯re free to go now.¡±


    ¡°Uhh¡­¡± Todd faked confusion, but the dazed effect was real. He found that he could lie again. ¡°Wow, I must¡¯ve blacked out early.¡±


    ¡°Yes, your friends at the GameShop were very worried¡­ although many of them blacked out as well. So much drinking while gaming¡­ very dangerous.¡±


    ¡°I better go check on the tournament. Hopefully they held my spot.¡±


    Agent F shooed him away. ¡°Go on.¡±


    He walked away, waiting just past the doorway a moment to see what they would say.


    ¡°I could swear mine was working just yesterday,¡± complained Agent F.


    ¡°Did you try turning it off and turning it back on again?¡±


    ¡°Asshole.¡±


    Okay, nothing interesting.


    He walked up the steps, unaccompanied, and eventually made it out of the maze of corridors. He could tell he was going the right way because the fancy hallways became less fancy, until they were solid unadorned concrete. He tried to take the Brooks Brothers exit, but accidentally went out through the abandoned Hot Topic instead.


    He knew what he needed to do. He had no idea how he was going to do it, but he knew what he needed to do.


    He was going to rally the FTO guild, find this alternate dimension, and go find his friend.

 Confession

Brothers,


    I know not what spirit possessed me in that first week of writing, but it has left me. I wrote in 7 days almost all of what you¡¯ve seen¡­ while in the last 4 weeks I have written almost nothing, merely edited and published.