Chapter 154
The Answer
(Mallory)
There are times when you realize that your best friend might just be the death of you. Today was no different, as Cass had somehow managed to trick her into first being furious at the idea that she might have to be violated by some old ghost spirit. To relieved that it was Cass who had somehow managed to trick the system into generating an automatic peace treaty between her guild and the local and overpowered denizens of the reincarnated Deolar capital.
Honestly, Mallory wondered how such an event was even possible, then she remembered this was Cass who seemingly thrived to cause as much chaos as possible.
She was so furious with the whole betrothal questline that she almost didn’t believe her girlfriend, Gwen, when she told her that the King before her was in fact Cass.
As she approached, she was ready to dismiss the notion, and declare war then and there between the two factions. Until she saw the uniform the King was still wearing, the same black robes that Cass had worn not seconds ago. That and the fact that Cass was nowhere to be seen finally proved Gwen’s point that this was in fact her mother.
But again, how? More importantly why?
While she had been coming up the steps to the capital building, she had already made her decision. As part of her acceptance, she could add in certain conditions to be met by the king to prove he was worthy of her.
Originally Mallory had wanted to choose a duel to the death, but then after realizing that it was Cass that she would have to kill, she stopped herself. Unfortunately, the option had already been chosen, which was when Mallory realized, rather than fighting to the death, she could challenge Cass to a battle of Skills. Knowing that the girl had all of her main skills to the 175 mark, and a few over 200, Mallory knew she had to go with skills that Cass didn’t always practice.
That was when Mallory saw her old skill for Dancing, which was one of the hardest skills to learn and master as you clearly needed a partner to do it properly.
Which was why Mallory had chosen to make Cass prove herself by a dance the way of proving herself worthy. This was a cheap and simple way of avoiding having to fight Cass to the death, even in her King avatar, and gave Mallory a chance to win the competition, which could be another way to either annul the marriage, or decrease the power of the spirits that the Midnight Hunters Guild would have to face in the future.
Unfortunately, the great system was willing to put the foot down hard in this endeavor by offering a quest that almost implied war would be inevitable if she lost.
Major Territory Quest (Updated): A Permanent Treaty: A Proper Response: You have been given a response to your proposed peace treaty through marriage with the local inhabitants of Deolar. You have issued a challenge to the king to prove himself worthy enough to marry you. You have challenged King De’Arcaneri to the sacred dance of Footloose, only if he succeeds will he be considered worthy of marrying you. However, you too must also prove yourself worthy of marrying the King, as such you too will be scored by the same standard that the King will be. You must score as high, or higher than the king to be considered the winner of the dance competition. Rewards: Experience, variable (based on overall performance).
Warning: Losing the competition will result in the loss of face with your faction and can possibly result in a war with the indigenous peoples of Deolar.
Minimum Score needed to avoid war: 65 / 100.
Seeing the quest, Mallory instinctively knew that Cass herself likely had a similar quest on her end. Meaning that if she got below a score of 65, the Deolar faction would have been so embarrassed by their King’s poor performance and by being outdone by a marriage partner, that they would have to declare war to maintain face.
Mallory of course was not opposed to war if this was the case, as it would mean that the entire Deolar faction would be reduced morally, when fighting the Midnight Hunters.
In her mind, she thought this was perfect, no beyond perfect, as it would help absolve the marriage and get the members of her guild easy experience.
There was of course just one major problem to this whole scenario, one that became apparent almost immediately upon their starting of the competition.
Namely, her best friend, and the sole instigator for this entire situation was a highly competitive jerk. Well, no, she wasn’t a jerk, which made things so much worse. Despite her trash talking and trying to disrupt the focus of her best friend, Cass was unwavering in her determination.
With all her skills, it was apparent that she wasn’t as naturally fast, powerful, or able to endure things like Mallory was. However, none of that mattered when Cass could use multiple skills in conjunction with each other. What use was there in having over fifteen hundred Dexterity, if Cass could meet and exceed that thanks to bonuses from multiple skills being used all at once.
The girl was a monster. Worse, she played the role of a man, setting off even more skill and Attribute bonuses that only furthered her sex appeal and grace. She was winning both the physical battle of their bodies moving, but also the aesthetic battle of which one looked better.
To make matters worse, Cass was doing so well that a third of the way through she quit. Well she didn’t quit, logically, Mallory knew that Cass had met her threshold for her performance rating and was content to just coast. Normally this would be the time when a skilled opponent could pull ahead, but by that point Mallory herself barely had thirty-three points, just over half the points needed to not cause a war because she was too embarrassed as the representative of her guild who had initiated this challenge.
From there, she worked, paced, and did everything she could to gain points. She transferred the rose to Cass, but that somehow only added to her flair for the dramatic. Cass let her take the lead, but her responses were so quick that her taking the lead almost meant nothing.
When she moved, her body moved quickly, her body held the form, but Mallory would easily agree that she had no grace in her movements, at least not like Cass had. What was worse, Mallory could almost see the moment Cass unlocked the Dancing Skill, and likely a much more powerful version of the same skill, as her moves went from smooth to scintillating in a matter of seconds.
From there it was all downhill.
There was no catching up, as it was clear that Cass had long ago maxed out her performance bar. As the one being challenged, the rate of success likely was lower, but Mallory herself was feeling the burn and pain of barely reaching the sixty-five-point threshold needed for her performance meter.
Long spin.
Panting.
Mallory found herself at the end of a long, graceful spin away, one that was mirrored by Cass somehow effortlessly spinning in perfect unison away from her. Realizing that she was nearing the end of her stamina, Mallory put everything into one last shot, that was when she charged forward.
In her mind she had already made the cut, now, all she could do was sabotage Cass. By running into her at full speed, she could knock her over and make it look like Cass was the one unprepared.
Yet, despite her best efforts, something strange happened. Mallory could almost feel time slowing around her as she charged forward. With impeccable grace and movements Cass positioned her arms into place around Mallory’s midsection.
Almost on instinct Mallory felt herself crunching up as she knew she was very ticklish around her ribs. In an instant, Mallory felt her body crash into Cass’s small frame, who despite inhabiting the body of a supposedly level one thousand monster, her body was much more delicate and frail.
Crunch.
There was the crack and crunching of bones, something that Mallory felt, more than heard. In that second, Mallory felt guilty for what she had done. This was her friend, someone who she trusted impeccably, and here she was trying to crush her from a full speed charge.
Yet, rather than dropping her, something she deserved. Or tickling her, something that she would have denied deserving in the moment, but looking back on it she would fully admit she was due for such an act. Instead, she used Telekinesis to grab her body, and hold her out in a perfect plank position.
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Then before Mallory could realize what had exactly happened, she was dropped to the ground, left to stare at her best friend.
***
(Gwen)
Hot.
It was suddenly very very hot, and Gwen realized now that she could finally breathe again.
Gwen was so hot that sweat was beginning to pool on her forehead, this was mainly due to her wearing her translucent veil created by Penelope. That goddess of a seamstress had made a uniform head piece that could allow Gwen to peer out with her third eye and take in the sights of the world, while hiding the fact that she was using said third eye.
Normally such an act was unnecessary, as Gwen almost never felt a need to use her third eye. Even when she did, she had always been in regular company, meaning they were all aware of her genetic condition, thanks to her mother. Yet, Mallory had Penelope create a head covering that allowed her to mask her use of the third eye for occasions just like this one. One where she would need to hide her viewing abilities.
This was why for the past fifteen minutes she had seen what could only be described as sheer art on display. The way the king moved with her girlfriend was nothing less than magnetic, scintillating. Gwen felt both jealous and excited all at the same time.
That is your mother dressed in drag. That is your mother dressed in drag. Yes, your girlfriend looks hot as hell, but cool yourself.
Gwen tried to think to herself, particularly as the dance began to start. There was clear chemistry between the two, and if Gwen didn’t know about her mother’s love for acting and never giving up on a role once she chose them, she would almost think there were feelings between the two.
Fortunately, Gwen noticed the look of competition filling Mallory’s face, as she fought to win the dance. The fact that there was some form of competition playing out between the two was easily apparent, as they both fought and jockeyed for position with each other.
At first, Gwen sat there trying to determine who was winning. At first her mother, playing the role of the male lead, looked like she was winning. Then her mother reached a whole other level, where she gave up fighting and just was the dance.
Mallory still fought, still did everything she could to control the pace, the speed, and the movement of the dance. All the while her mother just let her, effortlessly moving to the rhythm of her partner and the music. It was the most amazing thing she had ever seen.
For a moment she felt herself get drawn into the dance, just as everyone else around her seemingly had. Only the musicians managed to keep their composure, though most had to turn away in order to keep their focus on their music as they too were being distracted by the spectacle.
Now, it should be noted that Gwen had always known her mother had her dark secrets. Her love for dancing movies were well known and ridiculed within her household, in fact that was part of how Gwen bonded with her mother during her senior year.
After a particularly tough breakup, Gwen, who was still going as Jackie at that time, and her mother had a marathon movie night where they watched every dancing movie ever made. They even jokingly danced out a few of the songs together, well until Rob caught them and made fun of them, but only after recording the incident and posting it to the internet.
After that mom tried to reason with her, stating that it was okay, despite how much attention the video got from her friends at school. After a point, Gwen was too embarrassed to spend time with her mom, lest Rob come in and try to film them doing something together.
Remembering those moments, Gwen could only think back and realize how stupid she had been. Her mother clearly loved dancing, and spending time with her, yet she let her stupid brother ruin that.
It wasn’t until years later that she tried to do something similar with her mother. Of course, this was one of the times when Rob had moved out, so it was a little more freeing. Sadly, it wasn’t the same. By the time Gwen had gotten over her insecurities about being seen dancing with her mother, her mother already had problems with her knees. Her movements were slower, and her ability to join in was clearly hindered by the way life had clearly passed her by.
Now, witnessing her mom have her second life, Gwen couldn’t help but feel both happy, sad, and sadly excited. Not for her mother, that was gross, but seeing the look on her girlfriend’s face. Seeing the smile that came to both of their faces, it was clear that there was more there, between the two. They were friends and so much more.
Yet, despite everything, Gwen knew beyond all doubt that she had nothing to worry about from her mother.
They ended their dancing duel with what Gwen could only assume was some sort of Blitzing Attack, meant to know her mother over. However, rather than being completely bowled over by the attack, Gwen saw her mother turn the rush into the final scene from Dirty Dancing. While she didn’t notice anything odd with her sight, other than Mallory having seemingly perfect posture, the fact that even now her mother cheated with magic was apparent. Though to be honest, this mainly made Mallory look better as her form was flawless, or at least appeared to be so.
Mother even dropped Mallory off, butchering the amazing line and scene from a movie she saw no less than a dozen times.
“Nobody puts baby in the corner.” Mother, dressed as the king said.
If there had been any doubts about this male king being her mother, that line alone would have ended. Not that there weren’t enough signs already, from the knowing the lines to Footloose, to her old man tracksuit which looks great for a martial artist elf, but not so much for the royal regalia of an ancient elven king. Though, she did want to give her mother some credit, as there was clearly very little time for her to break away, purposefully change her form within Gwen’s viewing range, then teleport away again.
Gwen still had no clue how her mother had somehow come up with this weird scheme to cause a permanent peace treaty with the spectral citizens of Deolar. While Mallory was fairly certain they would have won the war, it likely would have come at a cost. Even with not one, but two people capable of Resurrection, the chance for death of fellow guild members was expected to be in the hundreds. Which might not seem like much, but out here, everyone was family. Meaning, every life mattered just that little bit more.
Even looking back, Gwen could see the confusion on her mother’s face, when Mallory noted the needing to consummate the marriage. At the time, Mallory thought that there was some form of jealousy on her mother’s part, as that was the only though that could explain her sudden confusion to the reaction.
It wasn’t until after they got here, that it all became apparent. Also, knowing her mother she likely kept quiet at first, wanting to make it some type of prank. A prank that went drastically sideways on her.
These thoughts and more were going through Gwen’s mind, as she watched the final acts of the dance play out.
“Now that you have seen my skills with your own eyes. Am I worthy?”
Then came the ending with a flourish and the offering of a flower.
Seeing this, Gwen remembered the movements of her much younger and healthier mother. A mother who would gladly dance out scenes to any dancing movie with her daughter, just because it was a way for them to connect.
Even now, Gwen realized that this was all part of her mother’s convoluted way of trying to help out, even though her plots and schemes are overly complex and often prone to failure. She still had to give her mother credit, even now she didn’t break character. Well, she did with the sappy lines that were out of place, but they were just her way of ensuring that Gwen and Mallory knew and remembered who she really was.
With the question asked, the answer that we all expected was all but assured. At least that was what Gwen expected, as refusing this would mean there would be a war between the two factions, and no one wanted that. In fact, Mallory had many sleepless nights recently as she feared that this conflict would be inevitable.
“I…” Mallory began, but there was something off. Her tone sounded broken.
No. No, no, no. Gwen thought to herself, as she realized that voice and that pitch. She also saw the way Mallory broke her gaze away from her mother who was still in the body of the handsome king, and locked gazes with her.
“Just do it already and say you do!” A loud voice cried out, shattering the moment that had been built up.
This was that one annoying heckler in the theaters who said exactly what you were thinking, but were being too polite to ruin everyone else’s experience around you.
For a moment, Gwen looked around, trying to find out who had said that, the person who yelled out to the hero to not go into the creepy room alone during a horror movie.
Only after a moment, when the echoing stopped, did Gwen look around and realize that suddenly all eyes were on her.
Oh yeah, that’s right, I was the jerk who yelled. Gwen thought to herself.
For a moment, Gwent thought she had ruined everything as everyone was staring at her Mallory and her mother both.
Just when Gwen wanted the world to open up and swallow her whole so she could hide from this moment, her mother came to the rescue.
Chuckle.
The laugh was both deep and infectious, the type that you wanted to listen to and laugh along with, just to hear them continue to laugh. That was her mother, still playing the role, while somehow simultaneously being her mother, the savior.
Her mother, the king, looked at her, winked, then still holding out the rose, dropped to one knee and made the request more official.
Whoosh.
A golden glow covered her mother, as she kneeled there. In that moment, she looked both vulnerable and extremely confident, a contrast that Gwen had a hard time reconciling within herself.
“I think I have to agree with your beautiful friend there.” The baritone voice of Rahul spoke out, and instantly Gwen felt her pulse quicken. This was all her skills and practice into creating these amazing voices coming out, but they still did things to her. Even though it was her mother, even though deep down she knew there would be something wrong with acting on her emotions. For this moment, she let her mind escape as she mentally imagined herself in Mallory’s shoes, as if she herself was being proposed to by someone who clearly loved her unconditionally.
Tears.
Gwen felt moisture in the corner of her eyes as she saw Mallory tremble slightly before giving her own tears.
It was clear that Mallory had pushed herself beyond her limits with the dancing, while her mother still looked fresh and ready to go another ten rounds. Honestly it was sickening how much energy she had, now in her second life. A life where her body was still fresh, and she could do all those amazing things that she had always dreamed about doing.
In that moment, Gwen too felt herself wanting to go forwards and dance, only to realize that her balance would be off slightly with the growing mass within her. Honestly, it still concerned her with how realistic everything was in this world, even the act of giving birth was similar to what she had experienced when giving birth to her own biological children.
That had also made it so her hormones were out of balance, which was the only reason for the tears now. Tears that were reciprocated by Mallory.
“How can I argue with that.” Mallory said, gesturing to Gwen first, then turning back to the King, she answered. “Yes. For the sake of our two factions, and the peace and stability of this region, let us be wed.”
Whoosh.
With that Gwen got the same message that everyone in her guild got.
Major Guild Quest Update: A Permanent Treaty: The leader of your Guild has decided to make the ultimate sacrifice for peace. By marrying the king of the native inhabitants of the lands that your guild has claimed, your guild has found a peaceful way of gaining full rights to the land that will avoid bloodshed and strife between your two factions. The next step is for you to attend the wedding ceremony that will be held within thirty days from today, where you can increase your standing within your guild and with the native inhabitants of your land by attending. Time remaining (30 / 30 days). Rewards: Experience, Guild Title, Variable.
That is right Gwen, just like everyone else from her guild would get experience, the Guild Title related to this feat, and more, just by attending the wedding. That was honestly incredible, so incredible that Gwen for a moment wondered how such an event was possible.
***
(Cass)
The entire thing had been exhausting. My best friend had gone from trying to kill me, justifiably so, to trying to embarrass me, also justifiably so, to then trying to crush me. Okay, I will give her that last one as well.
Then finally she said yes.
Having won the dance battle, I was rewarded with an enhanced future reward once I finally married Mallory in thirty days’ time.
Honestly, I was okay with the idea of an enhanced final reward as I was still mentally trying to decide what to do with my three current class upgrades that were all available. I also knew that any extra experience at this point would put me at the level two hundred and fifty range, making it so I would almost certainly be forced to take the upgrade that the system provided for my healing class. While I had lucked out with my last forced upgrade for my Akashic Qi Master, I had to realize that that particular upgrade path of a perk had already been established by my primary and secondary classes.
I also know that once the date of the wedding comes and goes, I will be looking at quite the hefty score of experience, as I will be able to turn in not just one but two chain quests.
That’s right, double dipping.
Getting experience for being the King of the marrying faction that has proven myself worthy to marry the leader of the invading Midnight Hunters Guild. But also, going to offer my congratulations to the guild master for her marriage, as a member of said invading guild.
This plan is almost so easy that there is seemingly no way this can go wrong, so why do I feel like I am nearing the brink of disaster?