Chapter 15

I enjoyed the water for another hour or so before getting out and heading to our room. Theresa and Dilbar were still prepping the food for dinner, but the delicious smells in the air told me that it would be ready soon. Entivala and Ilthvana were in deep discussion near the hearth and as I passed, Enti gave me an apologetic smile as I passed by. When I got near to the bedroom, I saw light coming from Katie’s room. I glanced in to see her hard at work and I smiled, wondering if she would be joining us tonight. I entered our room to get dressed in fresh clothes and found Amenthia sitting on the edge of the bed with a dejected look on her face.

“I have really made a mess of things, haven’t I?” Amenthia muttered as she noticed me in the room. “I am sorry that things have gotten like this. I didn’t mean for things to get so out of control, I swear.”

I sat down beside her, “This kind of thing happens when you push things too hard when they aren’t ready. Things moved far too fast for various parties, and you wouldn’t listen when I said to back off. Cassandra still hasn’t dealt with what happened between her and Darius yet. I could see that, and normally you would too, but you have gotten into this intense mindset.”

“I am sorry,” she repeated as she fought back tears. “I know things have been a bit different lately, but I just wanted to give you what I felt you deserve. You are the best, most amazing person I know.”

I gave her a confused look, “What have I done to deserve a harem of women? I do my best to keep up with the three of you as it is. I also have Freyja and soon I think we will be in some kind of relationship with Aphrodite as well. How do you expect me to be able to handle more women than I am already?”

Amenthia blushed a little and said, “Um, because the stats do change some things in the real world as well. Didn’t you notice that your body has filled out and your strength has increased? That you can keep up with the three of us without issue and then do even more in the dream scape? You do realize that though we are dreaming it still works like in the real world and thus you are averaging six to seven times when we visit Freyja?”

I looked at her in utter bewilderment and thought about what she had said. I mean I didn’t feel that much different. She could see my confusion and got up to stand in front of me.

“Pick me up,” She demanded as she spread her arms wide. “Grab me from under my arms, as if I was a child, not in a bear hug and see if you can lift me.”

I gave her a skeptical look, to which she responded with a look of do what I said you idiot. Shaking my head, I got up and placed my hands firmly under her arms and took a deep breath. I then amazed myself as I lifted her into the air, with far more ease than I expected. She looked down from her elevated position with a smug ‘I told you so’ look on her face. I carefully lowered her back down to the ground and she gave a small squeal before wrapping my arms around me in a tight hug.

“now, just think of all the new positions we can try now that you know that we can do that,” she whispered into my ear huskily.

I pulled back and she continued her smug look, but I could see she could tell that it wasn’t the time still for that.

“You won’t become a strong muscle-bound hulk,” Amenthia explained, as she sat back down on the bed. “It is more along the lines as if you were going to the gym for a long time. Your body is becoming enriched by the world and thus your stat increases help with stamina, endurance, strength, and speed. Offensive spells and magic can be used in the real world, but rarely in the towns due to the mana shrouds that blanket the area to keep the beasts of the world away from towns, villages, and cities.”

I nodded in understanding, “That makes sense, but will I look like over over-bulked bodybuilder?”

Amenthia laughed and replied, “Not unless you want to. The changes to a person’s physique due to the levels gained as an adventurer are controlled by the subconscious side of yourself. If you wanted to be bulky you would, instead you are keeping a muscular but lean form that ensures you maintain your agility.”

I quickly glanced at Amenthia’s body and wondered if the same was said about her magnificent form.

She raised an eyebrow, “I see you wonder if that also means that my body and the bodies of others would be changed. Given how vain women could be, you would see everyone with massive tits and hourglass figures all over the place.”

I cocked my head, “I have yet to see an unattractive woman yet, so I don’t see how your argument is valid.”

“Well that is true,” Amenthia said with a laugh. “In that case, you’re right. Each person’s personal image of themselves, and the need to be attractive to the opposite or same sex is still there. Thankfully, it isn’t crazy as your planet got with their crazy need to modify their bodies.”

“So then you can’t make your tits even bigger?” I asked, causing her to laugh a bit. “So then my cock won’t get any bigger?”

I swear I saw her eyes glaze over, and a small amount of drool appeared at the corner of her mouth.

“Not that I know of,” She stammered as she came out of her daydream. “Though I will say it still kinda has.”

“Wait, what?” I exclaimed, not sure that I heard her right. “What do you mean that it ‘kinda’ has?”

Amenthia broke eye contact and replied, “Umm, well we think that it has to do with the connection that you have with Freyja. It seems both longer and thicker than it was before. I mean it was already pretty fucking nice, hitting all the right spots. Now it feels like I am being stuffed completely full and really stretched out. It is a whole other level, and I am not complaining, but holy fuck.”

I sighed, and rubbed my temples, “Great, just another thing to talk to Freyja about when we see her next.”

“You didn’t notice how it has been bigger, even when it is flaccid?” Amenthia asked with a smirk.

“I just figured that happened when you’re using it all the time like we are,” I replied with a shrug. “Kinda like a muscle.”

Amenthia looked at my crotch, biting her lip, “It is one hell of a fucking muscle, that’s for sure.”

I laughed and said, “Anyways, we need to tone things down for a while and focus on things like the quest and getting to the sixth floor.”

Amenthia nodded and I pulled her into a hug to make sure she knew there were no hard feelings. As we broke our hug, there was a knock at the door and Theresa let us know that dinner was ready. It was a delicious affair, having a mix of foods from Eden and Earth, though they were as close as Theresa could make them with the foods and spices available here. There was a mild tension in the air, but we all still tried to focus on the food and friends. Cassandra was a bit withdrawn at the start, probably due to the embarrassment of her actions, but I made sure to engage her a lot to make sure she knew I wasn’t mad at her.

The tension eased and dinner ended on a higher note. We then finished our night by going over our plans for the morning. The hope was to at least get near the area where our targets were, but if we could finish tomorrow, that would be amazing. The ladies felt like having a soak and tried to get me to join them, but I had already had one and told them to have fun. Once they were in the bath, I left to go talk to Tyr. As I neared the door to knock, he bade me to enter, and I found him in front of his hearth.

“What can I do for you this evening, young Pathios,” Tyr asked, glancing over at me from his chair.

“I want to speak with Darius,” I replied, watching his face change slightly to see intrigue on his face.

He looked at me intensely for a few moments, “I had expected this to come at some point, but it was a bit sooner than I thought. You’re rather predictable in that case.”

Tyr closed his eyes and then stood and placed his hand on my shoulder, in an instant I found myself in a dimly lit room. The only light source was coming from a desk on one side of the room and there was a person sitting there.

“Hello Pathios,” Darius said neutrally. “It has been a while, what is so important that you have arrived in my room unannounced.”

“First, if you knew it was me, it wasn’t unannounced,” I replied neutrally. “Second, you have been a bit of a dick lately. So, I am here to talk and get some answers.”

He turned to look at me with rage in his eyes, “You want answers? Who the fuck do you think you are to want answers from me?”

He got up and closed the distance quickly, but I didn’t flinch as he went to throw a punch, but I easily caught his fist and held it at bay.

“You are the reason I am here,” he growled. “I would have been better off if you had never come to our pact house!”

“Are you done with the pity party?” I replied coldly. “If you hadn’t met me, you would have never met Cassandra, Silvia would have continued to be a terror to everyone and there is no telling how many more people would have died. After all, Trethraz would still be killing people as would the Arachni Queen. The elven kingdom Entivala was from would be forcing people into marriages, and Kali’s group may have still gotten to Silvia through her greed and feelings of superiority! I feel the loss of Grishta every day, though I didn’t know her as long as you did! I regret that you were injured as you were, which is why I am the one who talked to Freyja about starting all of this! I want you to be able to come back and continue adventuring, or at least lead a normal life if you don’t want to come back. The part I can’t stand is how casually you tossed away Cassandra! It makes me think you are no better than Silvia!”

“Don’t you ever compare me to that psychopath!” Darius screamed. “I am nothing like her! I wouldn’t hurt anyone like she did!”

I got in his face and asked, “Then how could you discard Cassandra so easily? Do you know the damage your actions have caused her? She isn’t herself and is acting out in ways she never has before!”

“It is better this way,” Darius replied dejectedly. “There is no telling if or when they will come up with something that works. She should be able to live her life and not be tied to me like that!”

“You’re a fucking moron,” I spat. “She fucking loved you and didn’t care that you had lost an arm! If I hadn’t suggested something that would have given you an arm back, she still would have stood by you!”

He sighed and rubbed his temples, “I know and that is what makes this hurt so much, but I need to do this alone!”

I shook my head, “Is that why you have refused her help with development of the limbs? Even if she may be the best at helping this plan succeed?”

“I can’t have her see me like this!” Darius replied. “I struggle so much some days. It wasn’t just the loss of my arm, Silvia did something to me. She got into my head, literally and broke something in me.”

“What do you mean she broke something,” I asked, confused by what could have been so bad to make him act like this.

“She told me that if she failed in her mission she would still win,” he explained coldly. “She tainted every memory and feeling I have for Cassandra. This makes it impossible to even speak to her, let alone be in the same room as her. When I visited to make sure she understood it was over, I was nearly violently ill.”

“Have you told anyone about this?” I asked, shocked at the revelation. “Freyja or Eir could help. If not, they could also know someone that could help!”

Darius gave a weak smile, “I already did Pathios, and they can’t help. Whatever she did to mess with my mind, it also tainted my soul. If they try to remove what she did, they would have to rend my soul, which would kill me or render me a husk of a person. They have never seen magic like that before, so they have no idea how she did it.”

“Why didn’t you just tell Cassandra that?” I asked. “She would have understood that if you explained things to her.”

He shook his head, “She would have just become more determined. You know how she is when an obstacle is put in front of her, she will not stop regardless of the risk or adversity. She wouldn’t accept that there was no way to get past it.”