Chapter 12

After our brief discussion, we decided that we would head out and then start making our way towards the dragon, since we had more than enough food and supplies to last us the trip. When we arrived at the gates a few minutes later, we stopped to check the map, deciding what path we would take. I expanded the map to show our entire floor, looking at where the village was in relation to the stairwell we were supposed to go to. The dragon was located a day’s travel northeast of the village near an exit that had been rarely used due to the presence of an unbeatable dragon. If we took a more indirect route to ensure we fought as many mobs as possible, we would need two or even possibly three days to get to our target. The meals we had eaten had helped to raise our vitality stat, but we both were sitting at level one and every little bit of health would be needed. I was hoping to help raise that a bit beforehand, as the boost could prove useful before the fight.

With our plan in motion, we readied our weapons and set out along our plotted route. For the first few hours we ran into the occasional mob here and there. Given how our stats had raised and how our teamwork had improved, they were no match for us. As we headed north to the less traveled areas of the floor, the enemies became much denser. The region had been left well enough alone, so mobs were able to propagate undisturbed. We rose to the challenge and though we took damage, we were happy with our results.

I was starting to get used to the weight and movement of the new armour and weapons, but it also made me yearn to have my original equipment once again. That yearning only made me more determined in my task and I worked even harder to defeat the enemies we came across. We made it to the first safe zone that was along our projected path a few hours after evening meal would be served. We were both tired from all of the fighting we had done and decided to make camp for the night. We had hoped to arrive a little earlier, possibly staying out for a little while longer, but the last few hours had been tedious and exhausting. We had ended up fighting multiple packs of Dire Wolves and Dire Bears. Both groups were stronger, faster and more cunning than their counterparts and gave us a challenge that was almost too much at times. However, these fights had yielded them some rewards, too.

We currently had seventeen small, dim orbs, twenty small, bright orbs, twelve medium, dim orbs, thirteen medium, bright orbs, eight dim, large orbs and fifteen large, bright orbs. Based on my math, given the returns we had seen on certain orbs, that meant that we were already looking at over ten thousand gold. We also had gathered an assortment of drops that would be useful to Brot’k as well as give decent rewards. Amenthia squealed in delight at my estimate and I was rewarded with a soul searing kiss from my partner. When the kiss was finished and we separated, both of us were breathing hard, and her face was flush. I wanted nothing more than a repeat of the night before, but we did not have the appropriate camping equipment and that would need to be rectified once this trial was done.

“My dear, as much as I want to feel you like that again, we don’t exactly have the luxury of privacy out here. I promise that as soon as this task is done, we will make sure we do, and not spare any expense in the case.”

She smiled that devilish smile of hers, gave me yet another toe-curling kiss, and agreed to my terms. We set out building our camp and got a fire going before sitting down for our meal for the night. It was a simple affair, some cured meats, accompanied by some fruits and veggies. I was surprised that they would make storable foods taste much as they would be in real life. I always appreciated things like that in some of the games that I have played, as they increased the immersion. Given that this was more of an everyday and far more visceral experience for those who live here, they would not get the nuanced nature of things like this. Amenthia gave me a quizzical look when she found me chuckling out of nowhere, and I figured I had better explain it.

“You are wondering why I am laughing,” I said, responding to her look. “Where I come from things like this place, or world, only exist in a person’s imagination. There is a form of visual interactive media called video games. Some of them try to help create an immersive atmosphere by integrating things like cured meats and such. In my world, in a less advanced era, you had to cure meats, or they would spoil. It was the only way to make them last or to have for camps such as these. So I find it amusing that they made sure to take things to this level. They could have made it so that full meals, on plates, with utensils, were stored in our bags. Instead, they ensured that, despite our near unlimited storage space, they considered things such as this.”

“Part of my training involved being told about video games,” she replied, a note of pride in her voice, “And something called Dungeons and Dragons. So, I am familiar with what you are referring to, though to us this is just an everyday occurrence. However, it would be a bit more convenient for the prepared meals idea, as it would cut the time spent in a camp during the day.”

We both laughed at that and sat and enjoyed our meal - and not just because it would help our vitality stat. The food and the company made it all the more enjoyable, and I soon felt the fatigue of the day beginning to weigh on me. Amenthia pulled out our bed rolls, making sure to place them side by side and beckoned me to join her. We removed our armour, though keeping our weapons nearby, and laid down to rest for the night. I enjoyed the sensation of falling asleep in the arms of my companion, regardless of the clothing between us, as the worries of tomorrow faded with the coming sleep.

I awoke to the feel of a full, yet clothed breast in my hand and a very firm bum pressed into my morning erection. My loins cried out in protest as I pulled away from my sleeping companion and she murmured an unintelligible utterance in protest, as well. I moved away from the camp, making sure to bring my sword, to relieve myself for the morning. Once my bladder was empty, I made my way to the camp to find Amenthia gone, no doubt to do the same somewhere private. I opened up my map and saw she was not that far away from camp.

I closed my map and started getting some food out for breakfast. It wouldn’t raise our health or stat, but we still needed the sustenance to get us through the day, as our bodies still functioned like a normal person’s would. Amenthia returned as I was getting the last of our breakfast ready and wrapped her arms around me from behind. We enjoyed the closeness for a moment before she broke the hug and collected the plate, I had prepared for her.

“I think we did rather well yesterday, but we will need to be a bit more cautious today. The mobs we fought near the end were much stronger than the ones we had fought before and this is no doubt due to the lack of adventurers taking this route to get to the next floor.”

Amenthia nodded and replied, “Agreed, but let’s not forget the benefits of fighting creatures that are that much stronger than us. The drops will, of course, be better, as they will be naturally stronger than the regular mobs that we have encountered. It will also mean greater increases for our different stats, so we just need to keep an eye on our health. If it means we take a bit more time to rest in safe areas to ensure we don’t risk triggering our extraction stones, then I am all for it. Besides it will mean more time alone with you, which I know wouldn’t be a terrible thing.”

We finished our meal quickly and cleaned up our camp, before setting off once again along our planned route. We would be heading east for a few hours, before turning to head north and crossing the river to the next safe zone. Then we would head west from there for an hour or two before making our way north again to hit our final safe zone of the day. If you tracked our movement on the map, it would no doubt have looked like a snake with a highly exaggerated slither. Confident in our plan and route we moved on from the safe area, our weapons ready for anything that we could stumble upon.

It took us three hours to make it to our first waypoint, but that had been expected given the route we had chosen, and as we had assumed, there had been an abundance of mobs in our path. We had gotten a decent amount of drops from them as well, getting six small, dim orbs, eight small, bright orbs, eleven medium, dim orbs, five medium, bright orbs, thirteen large, dim orbs and nine large, bright orbs. We had also gotten more hide drops, though two of them were a much rarer quality, as well as an assortment of junk and decent trade-in drops, and some food items which were new to me. We encountered three Dire Bears when we attempted to cross the river, but made quick work of them, which gave orbs, a high-quality hide, and some fish.

The fish would be most helpful, as I had an idea of how to cook it in the safe zone tonight, as long as it lasted that long. I mentioned my worries to Amenthia, but she assured me that it wouldn’t begin to show decay until tomorrow. We stopped for lunch at the safe zone just north of the river, having a quick lunch to focus on replenishing our health before we made our way west. It was an hour before mid-day when we broke camp, and as long as there wasn’t a heavy abundance of mobs, I figured we would be able to reach the safe zone before sunset. My estimate ended up proving wrong, as not only was there an abundance of mobs, but we started seeing drakes – sort of young dragon. The enchantments we had made to our armour and weapons proved quite effective against their fiery attacks and I felt they would provide some much-needed experience against dragonkin.

The height of the creatures varied between five to seven feet tall, with various colors and patterns on their scales. These fledgling dragonkin were young and had not gone through what Amenthia explained as their next evolution. Every creature was capable of enhancing and changing into new forms after enough battle experience had been accrued. Since the creatures on this floor battled one another as well as adventurers, it was a fairly common occurrence. More so in areas that did not have heavy adventurer travel, as they were regularly culled.

Wolves could become Dire Wolves, bears Dire Bears, some, like drakes, having more options for their next stage than others.

Sometimes environment would cause a change in the evolution, Grand northern bear being a next step for a Dire Bear that had moved to a new colder climate. In the case of drakes, they could become dragons, with limbs and wings, or a wyrm where the front limbs became their wings. At least with drakes we wouldn’t need to worry about them flying up and gaining an aerial advantage, but they could still breathe fire.

By the time we reached the safe area I had lost half of my health and Amenthia a third, but we were planning to rest here for the night. We set up camp, and once the fire was going, I prepared the fish to cook. I had camped as a child with my father, and he had shown me how to cook a fish without a pan, and how to remove the inedible parts. Once I had the fish cleaned and skewered, I placed them next to the fire to cook. Amenthia sat next to me and leaned her head on my shoulder as we watched the fire.

“Amenthia, what are we now?” I asked cautiously. “I just want to make sure that we are on the same page on this, because the last thing I want to do, is do something wrong because I made an assumption about us that was incorrect.”

She turned to look at me, a neutral expression on her face that made me worry as to what her response would be. My worry was switched to confusion, as she soon began bursting out in laughter at the expression on my face and pulled me in for another of her mind-blowing kisses. Once my mind was short circuited enough from her attention, she ended the kiss with a smile, and I was even more confused than before.

“I was wondering the same thing, though I was too scared to ask the question. I know it makes me sound like a silly girl, but if I didn’t ask the question, I wouldn’t have to worry about rejection. I will have you any way I can, Pathios, but if I had a choice, I would want us to be companions. Not just in adventuring, but in all aspects of each other’s lives moving forward. I believe you referred to it as dating on your world, and you would call me your girlfriend.”

Hearing that was music to my ears and I kissed her soundly, causing her to laugh as we toppled over.

“Well I am more than happy to call you my girlfriend, my love. I don’t know what I did to deserve such a woman as you and can only hope to be worthy of your love.”

“Of that, I have little doubt,” she replied with a dreamy, far off look in her eyes. “For now though, we need to get some rest; we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow. I have a feeling that we will be coming across more drakes on our way to our target.”

I pulled the fish from the fire and we sat down to enjoy our meal before we rested for the night. We still had two thirds of the way to complete before we reached the dragon, and there were two safe zones along that route. I figured that, if we made it to the second zone by tomorrow night, we would be in a perfect position to face the dragon as fresh as possible. We set up our bed rolls and once again I got the pleasure of sleeping with a beautiful woman in my arms. We were too tired to even think of sex and soon I felt myself drifting into slumber.

I couldn’t recall how the dream had begun, which was typical, but I found myself inside the longboat where I had met with Freyja in only a short time ago. I could not understand why I had returned here, and I began to fear that I might have died in my sleep. I made my way from where I was standing, to where a cloaked figure stood before the hearth that lit and heated the room. Even when I reached the hearth, I couldn’t see under the hood to discern who it was standing before me.

“Welcome, Pathios Daxion. First, let me reassure you that you have not died, you are sleeping. This is a waystation, of sorts, that can be visited by both the living and the dead. Second, you have been making quite a stir in your short time on our world. It has drawn my interest and of those who have been trying to subvert the rules built by the Council. They believe that without direct conflict between houses and between the members within a house, there cannot be growth. You have subverted that, and as such, you will see their wrath embodied in the confrontations to come.”

She drew back her hood to reveal the face of the Oracle that had been present when I had been initiated by the Council.

“You have done well to bring their attention to the matter, but they have been locked in debate ever since. Two wish to directly intervene and ensure all the houses are following the decreed rules, while two believe that they should not be directly involved. Odin is surprisingly the one that has yet to decide which action he will proceed with. When he asked me what I saw, I looked to see the answer to his question. I told him that I couldn’t see the right answer at this time; all I knew was that you had a part to play in the next stage of the conflict. What happens, and the result, will decide what stance they take on the matter.”

“Are you kidding me, right now?” I asked, my anger evident in my voice. “The last time this happened, I was forced to kill a man. The punishment for that almost left me permanently crippled and if the Council had not decided to have mercy on me, I could have still been in bed trying to heal. Now you are saying I would have to do this again, and once again feel the wrath of Tyr and the hatred of other adventurers who think me a risk!”

“You have every right to feel that way, Pathios. However, you will not be at risk for this. As we speak, Tyr is before the Council being told of my vision and of your part to play in it.

Should you be forced to take the life of a player, even one from your Pact house, you will not be punished. However, the chance that it would be someone from Tyr’s house isn’t a possibility, as the loyalty of those in the house is fierce. We believe it is one from a Pact house tied to a god or goddess of war, deceit or even trickery. However, there are five Pantheons, and each has at least one god or goddess that is tied to those types. Norse alone have multiple gods and goddesses who are tied to war, and I have a suspicion that even those gods and goddesses of death may be part of this. Each of them has lost out in this new world, as their traits are not exactly welcomed by the Council. They either had to become a Pact house or fade into the oblivion of nothingness that befalls all gods when they no longer have those who worship them.”

“Why is it when things start going so well for me, I get thrown a curve ball that could strike me out and makes me lose everything I have gained?”

“While there is a large risk,” she replied with a warm smile, “there is also an inherent gain. Trust in your partner and your god to see you through this threat. The Council believes, not only that you will be triumphant, but that you will, through your actions, bring about new change. I have faith that you can do this, Pathios. All you need to do is have that same faith in yourself.”

I nodded, reluctantly, as I mulled over what she had said. Since she hadn’t told me when to expect this threat, I would have to be careful and watch out for Amenthia. Our new relationship would no doubt put her in the crosshairs, and I would be damned to lose her now.

“It is time for you to wake, Pathios, but fear not; you will remember our conversation. I do wish I was able to reveal more, but Oracles are not allowed to do anything to influence the outcome of a vision.”

I felt fatigue begin to spread across my body as my legs started to become too weak to hold me up. I dropped to the ground, bracing myself up with my hands as the room began to spin. The last thing I remember was my head hitting the ground and hoping that the threat she had warned me of was still a long way from coming to pass.

I slowly came out of the depths of my slumber, but the memories of what the Oracle had said were in the forefront of my mind. As I became more aware of my surroundings, I noticed that Amenthia was no longer curled up next to me. I also became aware of a warm, wet sensation, stimulating my morning erection. I moved the blanket to find Amenthia attending to it with her mouth, her eyes closed in what seemed to be a look of either concentration or pleasure. I was surprised, as I did not think that she would have the daring to do something like this out in the open. The safe zones were not exactly shielded from the area around it, so anyone walking by would easily be able to see what she was doing. I watched in silence as she worshiped my dick with her mouth and tongue, but I was unable to contain a groan escaping my lips, when she slid my entire length down her tight, wet throat.

Her eyes opened and they had a glazed look to them, as her eyes locked with mine. She began to double her efforts, attacking my cock and balls with an intensity that she had not shown before. I found myself feeling intense sensations from her attentive treatment of my goods, as she had her left hand on the base of my shaft, along my pelvis, spread with me between her thumb and forefinger. This kept my glans out of my foreskin and readily available for her various attacks, while her other hand was gently massaging my testicles. They were starting to become painful and had a funny feeling that she had been doing this to my penis for quite some time, making sure I didn’t finish until I had woken up.

I remember hearing that the practice was referred to as ‘edging’, though I couldn’t remember where I learned it from. For women, it increased the intensity of their orgasm, though it was a pleasurable torture to get there. For men, it would cause pain in their testicles - what we called ‘blue balls’ back on earth, but the amount that would be ejaculated is far larger than normal. I watched, mesmerized, as she would alternate between various methods and while it looked almost pornographic, there was more to what I was seeing. There was a raw sensuality, as well as a deep, raw hunger that those videos always failed to capture. She ran her tongue from base to glans, along one side, then the other, as slow as her hunger would allow.