Chapter 9

The group made their way back to Berg’s Keep.

“Let’s celebrate our good fortune!” Strider96 said. Everyone except for Ariel enthusiastically supported the plan. Ariel remained quiet. She wanted to stop by the Roasted Pig and talk to the Browns before making her decision.

“You did great, Ariel! Didn’t you have a good time?” Brynna said.

“It’s not that,” Ariel said. “I just want to talk to some friends at a tavern.”

Everyone was staring at her. “What?”

“We’re looking for a tavern. You want to go to a tavern. We can come join you,” Brynna said.

Oh, that was not what she wanted at all. She didn’t really know these people. But there wasn’t really a way to get out of it. “I’m headed to the Roasted Pig. It’s a little seedy and higher level than we are, but I like it.”

“Is the beer good?”

“Yeah, and the food.”

“Lead on.”

So, Ariel found herself leading the adventurers to the Pig. As they entered and noticed it was an adult area, Uri winked at Ariel. “Someone’s not as pure as they let on.”

“I never said anything about pure. I just hadn’t done that.”

He grinned.

They found a table. Before they could order, Fyrefang3 and his girlfriend entered and came up. “I’m Fyrefang3; this is my companion Lathandré. May we join?”

Before Ariel could respond, Strider nodded and moved to make space on the bench.

“Haven’t seen y’all around here,” Fyrefang3 said.

“Never been. Went to the contested mines with Ariel here. We think she’s all innocent and then she brings us to a place like this.”

“Ariel innocent!” Fyrefang3 was bent over laughing. “Ya should’ve seen her here three nights ago.” He then proceeded to tell how Hulda had her spread open at one of the center tables.

“I’d pay gold to see that,” Uri said. Theo nodded.

“I know man! Silly privacy rules; you can’t really record other people doing stuff like that.”

“You can,” Ariel said. Her voice was soft, hardly audible. But Uri managed to hear.

“No, you need permission of people in sexual situations to record where you can see more than a blur.”

“No, I mean see it.” Ariel was blushing scarlet and talking into the table. “It’s on my channel.”

“What’s she saying?” Fyrefang3 asked.

“I think she’s saying she posted it.” Hands moved rapidly through the air as the men and Gabrielle looked at their interfaces.

It was at this point that Hulda came to take orders. “Ah, Ariel, some friends?”

“We came back from the contested mines.”

“Ah, I can smell. Did ya get what ya needed?”

“Uh huh. Now I need to decide.”

“Find me or ma if ya need to talk.” Hulda shifted her attention and took orders for the table.

When she left, Fyrefang3 spoke. “Ah, here it is. I’ll send the link.”

“Show me, honey,” asked Lathandré.

“Sure, sweetie.” There was silence around the table as everyone besides Strider96, Brynna and Ariel experienced Ariel’s recording. Ariel squirmed in her seat. This was all proving more intimate than she possibly could have imagined. She imagined anonymous people on the net watching her channel, not people sitting at the same table. Of course, she could have just not opened her mouth.

“Wait! That barmaid was the one who was between her legs?”

“Yes,” Fyrefang3 said. “Goodwench Brown’s foxy, isn’t she?”

Uri whistled.

When she returned with their drinks, Uri patted Hulda’s ass and asked if she were available. After a whispered conversation, she put down the drinks and crawled into his lap. Her hands were all over him.

That was too much for Ariel. “I’m gonna go catch up with someone,” she said.

“Thanks for bringing us here. This is great!” Theo said.

“And for recording that. You are something else,” Fyrefang3 added.

Ariel hurried away and found Goody Brown at the bar.

“Hi lass,” Goody Brown said. “Did ya find your gold?”

“Yes.”

“Aye! Hulda’ll be eager to learn the tale.”

“She’s crawling all over one of the adventurers I went with. I just got too uncomfortable.”

“The one you fucked? I can see how an immortal’d not be used to that.”

Ariel’s eyebrows shot up. “No, but how can you tell I fucked someone?”

“I can smell him on ya.” Oh, right Hulda had said something about being able to do that. Ariel guessed her mother had the same skill.

“That’s her job, you know,” Goody Brown said.

“I know. It’s just he was looking at her like a piece of meat he was drooling over. And then she’s all in his lap and enjoying it.”

“Hulda’ll take care of herself. He respects her like the sassy wench she is, he’ll be right happy.

“All he sees is a hunk of meat, and he’ll be having none.”

Ariel laughed. Hulda’s mother had gotten her daughter’s intonation just right on that last. She guessed it was fair enough: Hulda could take care of herself. She might be a bit jealous, thinking Uri didn’t see how amazing Hulda was. Perhaps she was envious too. She wouldn’t mind a bit of Hulda’s time.

“So,” asked Goody Brown, “Is that gonna be your job too, hanging all over guys who want to get off on your beautiful body?” Ariel felt a thrill run through her.

“I’d get to say no if I don’t feel they are treating me right?”

“Aye, ya would. But not too many nays or it won’t work.”

That made sense. “And you still think it’s okay for an immortal to try?”

“Aye. Hulda screwed my head on right about that. Whoring’s about doing your best, you an your clients. Do good at that and who is some guild master to say nay?”

“Then yeah, I hope that’s gonna be my job.” Ariel paused thinking about all her worries. “Although I’m not sure I’m cut out for it.”

“Mayhap, but ya learn by trying. Anything on your mind now?”

“I feel dirty after what you smelled on me. Not like Hulda where I was dirty and it turned me on. But now, especially seeing Hulda crawling all over the guy, I want to get clean. I thought it would be fun to try having sex, and it was, but not like what Hulda and I did.”

Goody Brown laughed. “That’s all that has you tangled? Go take a bath.” She smiled. “Sometimes there’s a connection an it’s special like. Other times? Aye, it’s a job—mighty good job for some of us—but still a dirty job. No harm in ya cleaning up after a day of whoring any more than me cleaning after a day of sweaty cooking.”

Ariel was smiling. “I feel silly now. Can I draw a bath?” She handed across 25 copper. Goody Brown handed her a key.

After her bath, Ariel took a moment to look at her interface. Her recording was popular. Fyrefang3’s “Go girl!” and Uri’s “Hot!” were not alone. Several immortals left comments. Most talked about how hot the scene was. A few talked about how brave or crazy she was for posting.

Some were just nasty, talking about what a slut she was or similar. The game had already marked most of these as junk. She had looked just to see how bad it was; she wouldn’t need to look in the future.

She spent the longest time on a few proposals. “That’s hot; I’d totally sleep with you,” and “next time if you need help with that😉” She had been tempted to junk all the proposals. She did junk the one that said “I’ll make you my bitch.” But the others? If they were made by clients, wouldn’t she do them? And so, with a thrill of the taboo, she wrote and said she’d see what happened if they ever found each other in game.

While she was feeling brave and naughty, she went ahead and posted the scene of her masturbating in Hulda’s room.

Ariel stood before the membership desk at the Whores Guild. The same well-appointed gentleman stood behind the desk. Ariel smiled up at Jonathan. “Sir, I’m here to join the guild.”

“Normally we cut off taking applications a couple of days before a training class starts. But given your unique constraints, I will process your payment immediately.” Ariel approved payment in the interface.

“Let me get the guild master to review your application.” Ariel considered asking if it had to be her, but decided expressing disapproval of her guild master would not make things move along faster. Jonathan rang his bell.

This time, the runner was a young girl. Like the boy from the other day, she was just into adulthood. “Ask if Master Kessler might attend to review an application,” Jonathan said.

“Aye, master.”

Minutes later, Ariel heard the approaching steps of Master Kessler.

“You again, Madam Ariel.” Master Kessler turned to Jonathan. “Unfortunately, we have closed off payments for today’s training session.”

“Oh, I made an exception and processed her payment out of cycle, considering her circumstances.” Master Kessler glared at Jonathan.

“Well, Ariel, you’re still ineligible for the Whore class.”

“Why?”

Notification

In order to be a whore, you must lock the following settings as enabled under Sexual Realism:

• Hormones and lust

• Messy

• Pregnancy and menstruation

• Arousal and lubrication

Changing any of these settings will remove the class, skills, experience and levels gained. Under some circumstances, enabling the settings may be sufficient to regain the class and experience.

Well, fuck. That was kind of a lot. “Do all Whores end up going around pregnant half the time?”

Master Kessler sniffed. “What a silly question. Have you not researched a class you applied to train in?”

“Madam, contraceptive magic is a basic skill once you gain Whorecraft. Acting as a midwife or casting contraceptive and prenatal magic on others would be quite impossible without being attuned to your own body,” Jonathan said.

“Midwife?”

“Of course, madam. Most ephemerals turn to a Whore when they need a professional in that area.”

“Um, okay.” How deep was she going to go? The game designers weren’t kidding when they said this class was not designed for players. Helping AIs in the game with their pregnancy was never something she would have imagined as a quest. Oh fuck, or helping NPCs who didn’t want to be pregnant (or even worse weren’t sure) with all that. That was really intense emotional stuff to help people through.

Her stomach twisted. Or what if the game designers did intend Whore as a class all along? What if this was just their way of roping her in to something so emotionally intense?

Well, she hadn’t failed yet. She accepted the settings lock. Master Kessler’s eyes raised briefly.

“Jonathan, show her to the training room. They will start shortly.”

“Yes, Master Kessler.” Jonathan rang the bell and instructed the same young woman to show Ariel to the training room.

Classrooms were the same everywhere. The chairs were hand-crafted rather than machine made. There was no media equipment. But there was a classroom ambiance that transcended time and genre. This was definitely a classroom full of nervous students not sure what to expect.

The chairs were arranged in a circle. There were none free. The runner grabbed one from another room and placed it for Ariel. The students set in awkward silence.

There were seven students, including Ariel: five women and two men sat around the circle. To Ariel’s right sat a woman in a gorgeous flowing gown. Her smooth hands were crossed in her lap. A silver coronet contained her hair, guiding it as it began its journey down her back.

Ariel’s examination of the other students was interrupted by the arrival of a man and woman. The man stood about Ariel’s height, dressed in a kilt and blouse made of fine cloth. His face did not quite smile. Ariel would not describe it as hard except in comparison to the bubbling countenance of his companion. She seemed as if she might fall into joyous laughter at the slightest provocation. She stood a few centimeters shorter than Hulda. Her dress was casual, but the cloth was fine, like the man’s. Their clothes were several cuts above anything Ariel had seen Hulda wear; they were much closer to something Master Greataxe might own.

“I am Bruce Craggs, master whore of the Berg’s Keep Guild,” the man said.

“And I’m Florence Eslinger, an artisan whore. We’re all going to be intimate enough to be on much more than a first-name basis. But if you want to use titles, it’s Master Craggs or Master Whore Craggs. I’m Artisan Eslinger. Obviously, I’ve earned Goodwench Eslinger, but with the clients I keep, that’s not a title I use.”

“You’re here because you want to be Whores,” Master Craggs said. “Florence and I are here to see if you’re cut out for that and to shape you if you are. You always can say no, but being a whore is about saying yes whenever you can and giving as much of yourself as there is to give.

“You can say no to anything asked of you. If you need a bit more time or you need help getting into the right space, we can work with that.”

Florence continued where Bruce left off: “Here in this room, we’re going to get to know each other very well. If there’s someone in this room that you cannot work with both as a client and as their whore, then you will need to drop out and find another training section. If you find any of the activities we’re asking of you are things you can’t do, then Whore is the wrong profession. If you find you’re not able to find a training section where you’re comfortable, that’s also a good sign Whore is not your profession.”

“The biggest reason people don’t cut it as a whore,” Bruce said, “is if they are not bisexual. The guild expects our members to be comfortable with all genders and as many races as possible.”

That wasn’t going to be a problem for Ariel. She was shocked though. The guild didn’t pull its punches in terms of high demands on its members.

“The other big challenge,” Bruce continued, “is balancing intimacy and vulnerability against your own needs.”

Florence said, “We like to start out with a team building exercise. It helps us get to know each other and practice being vulnerable. We’ll go around the circle. Introduce yourself. Tell us why you want to be a whore. Then tell us the thing you’re most afraid of; the reason you’re not sure you’re cut out to be a whore.” She looked around the circle. “Everyone here has something they are worried about. Your first test is to see if you are brave enough to share it.”

Florence looked around the circle. “We can start with our first immortal.”

Ariel could have seen that coming. She introduced herself and talked about how she had admired Hulda. “I wanted to be like that,” she said. “I want to be brave and sexy. I want to be able to flaunt myself and demand respect. I want to make people’s dreams come true. I want to be dirty, to enjoy it, and not to be afraid.

“I’m an immortal. I’m afraid I’m just playing at being a Whore. The more I learn, the more I realize how much is involved. It’s not just having sex, and it is nothing like prostitution in the immortal world. I’m afraid I cannot cut it. I’m afraid I’ll somehow hurt or damage the rest of the Whores.”