Chapter 31

‘Natasha! I do not want to get my nipples PIERCED!’

That was what Ed told me that she heard screamed, while walking down the hall from my bedroom. She had been on her way to join me in the kitchen, to help me with breakfast.

Koz’s playfulness continued to expand. Kate seemed to be the prime target of her amusements.

“They seem to be getting along.” My smirk gave me away. Ed smacked me on her way to the fridge.

The two joined us shortly after. Koz followed her bedmate in a buoyant mood. Kate was hunched over in a white one-piece, one-shoulder bathing suit. Why she was dressed in a bathing suit first thing in the morning, I had no clue, but I suspected Koz’s mischievousness at work.

Oh, it wasn’t a bathing suit. It was a thin body suit. The kind women wear under jackets to look sexy. It worked. Kate looked sexy.

I flipped the pancakes and checked the bacon. “I like that swimsuit, Kate. Give me a kiss.”

Fuming, not at me, but at her bedmate from last night, I received a kiss and got a closer look at my concubine in that outfit. The individual bumps surrounding the nubs were clear as day. Blushing, she scurried to her chair and milk. Her nutritionists demanded that she had a sixteen-ounce glass of whole milk with breakfast every day.

The thong back of the body suit screamed more of Natasha’s choices behind the scene. Koz grabbed me, kissed me with a huge smile, and stole my half-full Coke.

“Anyone have plans today?”

“I have homework,” Kate bemoaned.

“I need more practice with my new title buff ups.”

“I can help”

“I guess I’ll work on a neglected project. I received a text from both groups. No issues from either. I also have to check on my website. Cait told me I had a lot of messages to deal with.”

We split up. Later, when I needed to stretch and a break from Level 1s asking me for a power Leveling session, yet I noticed Kate sitting at the table in shorts and that same bodysuit. She had two text books at her side and was writing something.

“I still love your new haircut.”

A quick smile for me, and back to work she went. Talk about diving in with both feet.

In less than twenty-four hours, my inbox was flooded with requests. 317 actually. I grazed though them. Most were shit-canned. (Actually, I sent those to Caitlin for later form-letter replies.)

The eighteen that I did choose to give a second glance to, I marked for later. Tonight was another get together night with the team.

On seeing Kate’s new hairdo, Nat’s scream of joy and astonishment burst all of our eardrums. Jude was just as stunned, just at a lower volume, which we were all thankful for.

Jude’s hug-tackle knocked Kate over. “You look so pretty.” That fairly well summed up everyone’s thoughts. The official reason for our meeting was delayed as Kate was ‘forced’ to give a full and detailed rendition of Saturday’s activities, ending at dancing. Nothing further was mentioned past entering the Dance hall/Bar.

Jude and Natalie looked at their boyfriends with accusations of negligence. The guys blamed me, I blamed Koz and Ed. Powerless against Ed, they could only plan on an outing for their respective better halves, with calls to Koz for later help.

Settling down, we found a seat in Beau’s living room and recounted our exploits. After the trading session, Ed stood and revealed her new title.

... and I thought they were afraid of her before...

Poor Beau.

Heather’s incredulous look was not at her, but at me. I knew what she was thinking. That box also came with a title upgrade. We both imagined the merge between the two.

Cait and her accomplishments took a step closer. She turned Level 4 on Saturday.

I held up my hand for silence and said ‘fuck it’ to my plans.

“Miss Caitlin?”

“Yes, Mr. Jason?”

“Are you going to stick around and keep exploring for a while with us?”

“Donald and I are staying.”

Grins abounded. Even DB couldn’t help himself.

“I have an early wedding gift for both of you.” She blushed and smiled. A smile that lit up the room. DB himself was taken aback at the mention of marriage, but smiled too.

Good natured teasing flowed easily.

Standing up, I handed Cait, our Dark Mage, her new Skill; ‘Curse Blender’: Intermediate Skill: Requirements: Level 5, Dark Magic. Knowledge of: 3x Level 2 Curses. Knowledge of: 2x Level 3 curse. Mana 30. Description: sacrifice one higher Level curse to increase and improve a lower Level one. Must be of the same tier.

DB also received the Dark Magic resistance gem which boosted one piece of armor.

She didn’t even notice. Caitlin just stared at the book with a tear running down her cheek. DB glanced over his intended’s shoulder but didn’t understand what the Skill did, he could only read the book’s title. I could only read it since I received my new Class. I wasn’t able to at first.

“Jason, you have been feeding me all of those curses, just for this. Haven’t you?”

“I may have,” I tried to plead innocence.

“You are beautiful, for a skinny white boy.” Glancing lovingly at her boyfriend, “He is almost as good of a person as you are.”

“Jason Blakely. Hero. We accept a place at your side. Thank you for saving me. Thank you for healing my scar. Thank you for giving me a job. Thank you for giving me hope.” She began crying, but kept speaking, “Thank you for introducing my Donald to me. Thank you for giving me a chance. Thank you for nurturing me. Thank you for everything you have done for Donald and I. And thank you for being you.”

The book disappeared from her hands and she sat, not in her place by DB’s side, as usual. But in his lap, which she had not done before in company. DB, for his part, didn’t understand what brought that on, but was pleased that his girlfriend was so pleased.

“Thanks, man.” DB’s speech was much simpler but just as heartfelt.

“He gave me a Skill that lets me evolve my curses.” Caitlin summed up the Skill pretty well, I thought.

She was the only one of our small group that had an evolving Skill. Even if it ate others, it was still huge. Our team understood that very well. Besides me and maybe Kate and Edna, she had the most potential of all of us, right then.

Even DB understood that, after she described her new Skill.

The room was quiet while Mar went to fetch drinks for everyone. He offered a well-deserved toast for Cait and DB.

“Jase, are you sure you don’t have anything else you are hiding?” Nat pleaded.

“No, and if I had something for you, I would have already given it to you when you turned Level 5.”

“Keep me in mind please.”

The rest agreed with that sentiment, everyone besides DB. He felt like he won the lottery, Caitlin was all he needed and wanted. Seeing his love cry from happiness made his year.

We goofed off for a while, discussed our dungeoneering plans for the next two weeks, then broke up for the night.

...

Heather took a minute of my time. She was more worried about DB grabbing Cait and taking off, than Cait calling it quits once she tasted the power and fun of curses.

“That was one of the reasons I held on to it so long. I worry about it too.”

“I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Come in sometime after lunch.”

I promised.

...

“Holy shit,” Natasha stated, once we entered my truck, “Jason, I cannot keep that one a secret.”

“Wait until after we make our deal.” After I opened the Gold chest, most of our secrets would get exposed anyway.

“I can do that. Just keep Caitlin and that information on a leash.”

“She knows.”

My truck was full of women. Koz got dropped off at her apartment and then I headed home. Ed planned on leaving straight from the parking lot. The Trio were coming inside, mostly to interrogate Kate further about her hair and her odd clothing choices.

...

The Trio spent the night together in Kate’s room. Caitlin stayed overnight at DB’s, something she rarely did. Yet I believed that tonight was more significant than the other nights.

I’d have to see how it played out, and hope.

After an exciting weekend, I chilled Monday morning. My bed creaked dangerously when I rolled over and stood. No cracking yet. But it would not be long. My mattress was already ruined. I had to hope that Koz was correct and my weight issues would be resolved when I broke 15. If 16 wasn’t the magic number, furniture would cost me a fortune or I would resign myself to sleep on the floor.

Three hundred more applications waited in my inbox. I sent Cait a note.

...

“Heather, can you get a bag of fresh blood from a blood bank?”

“Probably not. But I’ll look into it anyway.”

“Thought so. I’ll donate the first liter.”

“That ability will eventually cause problems.”

“Hopefully, controlled ones. It was too good to let it sit and do nothing.”

“What did you want to talk about?” Heather asked while reclining behind her desk.

“I think I need to get inside a Goblin Gate soon.”

“Why soon?”

“It’s just a feeling. I need to bring Ed too. And no, I don’t know why.”

“Aren’t you a barrel of information. Anything else?” Heather jotted down a note on her tablet.

“Koz and I will probably disappear for a few days. Maybe up to a week.”

She stared me down. Not that it accomplished anything. Ever since I received my Will Power upgrade to 2, my mind was steady as a rock.

“I have received over six hundred applications so far. Cait will handle most. The promising ones she will send to me, I will pass those on to you to look up their Portal History.” I added once Heather relaxed.

“Have your secretary do that. It’s what she is there for.”

What was originally scheduled to be a two-hour meeting turned into a thirty-minute one. The LA tourney reared its ugly interdepartmental face again and I was booted out.

Getting the blood-donating needle and piping was easy for Francis. UE even had a transfusion kit or three in storage.

Tuesday evening, Kate, Ed, and I were the only ones there. Kate showed us how to set up the transfusion to the blood bag. The problem was breaking through my epidermis with a needle.