I and Felicia walked quickly towards the tavern, I turned to Felicia who seemed giddy. ‘Lightning, real lightning.’ I sighed. Felicia mirrored me, then we shared an excited look.
In a few quiet minutes, we reached the tavern. Inside was as always, dim with tables thrown around randomly. I shrugged and sat on a table while Felicia walked to the counter.
While I was waiting for Felicia, someone slapped the table softly which made me jump a little. “Hey, Elizabeth. You seem tired.” I looked up and saw Asyx. Asyx was an adventurer with dark blue eyes and red-brown hair. She was taller than Felicia. She was a good person but a bit cowardly. We drank together from time to time. We weren’t quite friends, just acquaintances.
Asyx sat on the table. I smiled at her “Hey, Asyx. What’s happening?”
Asyx seemed sad for a second but she quickly covered it with a mask of nonchalance. “Nothing really. I didn’t leave the city. There is news about frontiers though, big news.”
I frowned. ‘Frontiers were calm for years!’ I got closer to her. “What happened?”
Asyx sighed. “Let’s talk while drinking. I don’t think I can talk about this while sober.” She said, which made me nervous. I nodded and looked towards the counter. Felicia was coming with a pitcher and three cups. ‘She must have seen Asyx.’ Felicia put them on the table and started filling the cups. Asyx turned to her and gave her a slight smile. “Hey, Felicia. What’s happening?”
Felicia sighed and sat beside me with her cup. “You won’t believe what happened. We were in the woods, looking for corpurs to kill. There-“
I cut her. “We found a man. He was lost.”
Asyx leaned closer and smiled. “A man? How does he look like?”
I smiled and said “He is tall and handsome. He has Ash gray hair and ice blue eyes.” Asyx whistled. I turned to Felicia and continued “He took a liking to Felicia here. You should see them, they are lovely.”
Felicia flushed and opened her mouth to protest but before she could do that, someone slapped the table a second time. This time they slapped hard enough to crack the table. We looked up, it was Felin. Felin was an adventurer too and was a brute through and through. He looked at us angrily and said “Who is that man? What manner of an idiot thinks he can get friendly with my Felicia?!”
I raised an eyebrow and looked at Felicia who seemed pleased, probably because Felin dissed Victor. Felicia grinned and said “Relax Felin. He just didn’t know his place, so I showed him.” She raised her fist and grinned wider. “Multiple times.”
Felin looked at Felicia and relaxed. He sat down and without giving us a single glance turned to Felicia and started smiling lecherously. Felicia completely ignored it. That didn’t stop him from saying, “Hey Felicia, you look good. I am looking forward to the day you drop your armor and wear civilian clothes like this all the time.”
I saw anger in Felicia’s eyes for a second. She then cleared her throat and said “Why? Don’t you like how I look in armor?”
Felin grinned. “Felicia, you look great in everything, but women are not made to fight.”
Felicia squeezed her fists under the table and visibly tensed. She was obviously doing her best not to attack Felin. ‘Odd. She never cared about words like this before.’
Asyx leaned towards Felin. She seemed annoyed. “What are they meant to do if not to fight?”
Felin looked at Felicia and said, “They meant to make lots and lots of babies.” He wiped his drool from the side of his mouth and turned to Asyx.
Asyx snorted and opened her mouth but before the situation can escalate I shook my head and interjected. “Anyway, Felin. Look who is here.” I gave him a friendly smile. “I am here too you know.”
Felin grinned wider and flexed his shoulders. “Yeah, sorry.”
I looked at him carefully. ‘You don’t look sorry.’ I sighed and took a sip from my cup. “So, Felin. What’s happening?”
His face changed suddenly. He seemed excited. “You won’t believe what happened. I was at the Forest of Lona, doing a gathering mission.” Felicia and I shared a look. “Then I heard the voices of men. I hid behind a tree just in case and saw a group of men take two women.”
Asyx leaned forward. “Did you see them, the women?”
Felin shook his head. “From the place I was looking I couldn’t see their face. I just saw that one of them was wearing leather armor.” He turned to Felicia. “Just like yours actually.”
Felicia nodded, her face looking calm but had a slight edge to it. It was easy to guess the reason. She then asked. “What happened then?”
“After they took the women, I followed them at a distance and saw the bandits taking them to the ruined fort. After a while, a group of them took off, going towards the City of Lona.”
I nodded. “What did you do? Did you save them?”
He shook his head. “I started tailing bandits.” He grinned. “You know how many cities guards pay for good information about them.”
I turned to Felicia who seemed thoughtful. I shook my head and said “What happened then? Did they get caught?”
Felin nodded excitedly. “I followed them to the city and when they were inside, I made my way to the guard captain. It took a while but when she met me, I told her about the bandits. She didn’t pay me directly though, made me wait for them to get caught. Damn woman.”
Felicia took a deep breath. “What about the women in the fort? When will the guards going to save them?”
At the mention of the fort Felin’s face fell. He seemed embarrassed. We waited for a while then he said “I forgot to tell the guards about them. I remembered when I got back. It’s not a big thing, I mean, the women are as good as dead since they got caught. There is no saving them.”
I looked at Felicia, who seemed ready to pounce at Felin at any moment. I held her hand and gestured her to calm down.
I turned back to the table and saw Asyx with a raised brow. I smiled awkwardly “Felicia has a soft spot for female adventurers.” Both Asyx and Felin nodded understandingly and started drinking. My eyes went to Felin’s cup for a second but before I could think of why Felicia started talking.
“How much reward did you get?”
Felin grinned wide at Felicia. “20 Gold! How is that?!”
Felicia turned to me and gave me a winning grin since we looted at least 5 Platinum which worth 250 Gold.
We drank the rest of our cups in silence. After the second cup, I cleared my throat and looked Asyx. She noticed my look and looked back. “You told me you have news about frontiers. Can you share them now?”
Felin interjected. “What happened? Do other frontiers have an enemy shortage?” He finished chuckling.
Asyx shook her head. “The fourth frontier has fallen.”
Silence fell to our table and other tables close to us. People turned to our table and started listening. I nodded at Asyx who took a deep breath then continued. “It happened two weeks ago. Their farm village noticed something was wrong when no merchant came to do business for some time. They didn’t take any chances and contacted the army and they sent scouts.” She sighed and took a sip from her drink. “The scouts found no one. And not a clue regarding what happened to the people.” When she finished people started to loudly discuss the news. Some seemed sad, some angry, and some excited.
Asyx was sad. I held her hand. She looked and smiled at me gratefully. When she calmed down I whispered. “You had a cousin there. I am sorry.”
She took a deep breath and shook her head. “It’s okay. There was enough time for me to come to terms with it. He wasn’t even that handsome.” I frowned. ‘Of course. Asyx isn’t someone to care about the fact they were related.’
I shook my head. While stroking Asyx hand I asked, “So, what is the army planning to do?”
Asyx took a deep breath. “They already manned the fort. Now they are trying to find out what happened.”
I nodded while thinking about the implications of what happened. Felicia held my hand worriedly. I just shrugged. That made her relax, albeit a little. I just started drinking like the others.
After a few cups, Felin turned to Felicia and with a booming voice said “Hey Felicia. With the money I earned, I bought my own place. It’s at the right-wing. Do you want me to show you?”
I looked at Felicia to see what she would do. She filled her cup and drank it all. Then held my hand and said “Eli, let’s go. We might not find our home standing if we go there too late.”
Asyx chuckled. “Why? The handsome?”
I nodded and chuckled a little. “He is a scholar you see, very curious and very reckless.” Asyx’s eyes shined at the end. I ignored it and turned to Felicia. “You are right, let’s go.”
We stood up to leave but before we can do that, Asyx stopped us. “Can I come with you? I don’t want to be alone tonight.”
I was about to reject and say we don’t accept guests but Felicia talked before I could do that. “Why?”
Asyx looked at Felicia. “My home feels lonely you know. And I can teach your guest the fun part of the… city?”
I sighed and was about to reject but Felicia stopped me again. “Of course. I am sure he would love to make your acquaintance.” I looked at Felicia and raised a brow. She just grinned and shrugged. Asyx turned to me. Not knowing what else to do, I nodded.
Asyx beamed. “Then lead the way.”
Before we can walk a step Felin stopped us this time. ‘What now?!’ Felin got closer to Felicia and said “What about me? My place is lonely too you know.”
Felicia smiled at him sweetly and said “Sorry, we don’t accept male guests.”
Felin looked at her, he seemed annoyed. “But you accepted that man.”
This time I answered. “That man is not a guest. He is one of us. As such, he is exempted from the rule.”
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Felin shook his head. For a second I thought he was going to make trouble but he backed off and said “Well then. See you later.” ‘He is too calm about this.’
I turned to Felicia who just shrugged without care and said “Yeah Felin. Take care.”
After finally getting out of the tavern we headed towards the mansion. After a few minutes, Asyx started fidgeting. I looked at her. “Asyx, what is it?”
She looked at me a little bit embarrassingly and said “The man you talked about. What can you tell me about him?”
I had things to say but I didn’t even bother since I knew Felicia wouldn’t let me talk.
Felicia chuckled. We both looked at her. She gave Asyx a once-over and said “There are many things about him but we don’t have time for all. The most important thing you need to know is that you should be careful about him.”
Asyx raised an eyebrow. “I know how to fight.”
Felicia shook her head. “He is not dangerous like that, you know. The danger he possesses is something different.”
Asyx nodded. She now seemed excited. “Eli said he is handsome.”
Felicia nodded knowingly. “He is very handsome but what makes him dangerous is… He has this hunger towards women you know? Like nothing can sate it.” Felicia gave Asyx another once over. “Though I am sure when he sees your figure he will think otherwise.”
Asyx was now beaming. I sighed. ‘I don’t know why but she is obviously trying to throw Asyx on Victor.’ I shook my head but I didn’t say anything. Since it wasn’t my place to refuse Asyx.
After that, we walked in silence. When we reached to mansion doors Victor came to meet us. He first looked at me and Felicia, then his eyes fell on Asyx and gave her the look he does. Asyx smiled seductively at him but before she can say anything we heard a booming voice.
“So, this is your home!”
We turned to see Felin walking towards us. Though I noticed he was wearing his metal gloves. ‘Trouble.’ I moved to intercept him but Victor acted first. He reached with his hand and said “Welcome friend! It’s good to see another man around here!” He then started chuckling oddly.
Felin looked at him and frowned. He reached forward but instead of taking Victor’s hand, he held his hand on Victor’s neck, strangling him softly. He looked at him and said, “No man can get friendly with my Felicia!” Victor coughed and tried to say something but Felin didn’t listen.
I saw someone get past me and stop before Felin. It was Felicia. She looked at the towering man and yelled. “Let him go or I swear I will beat you to the ground!”
Felin looked at her and his frown got deeper. “You would protect him against me! You will learn. But before-“ Then suddenly he started flying towards the wall. He hit the wall with a sickening crack and slid towards the ground.
After making sure he won’t be standing up, I looked at Victor. He was trying to breathe which he seemed mildly successful at. Felicia was beside him telling him he is going to be okay. When my head caught up with the event I started thinking. ‘How?’ I looked at Victor, the only suspect, and saw a small amount of lightning dancing between his two hands. ‘How did he used lightning like that?’ I left the question for later and started walking towards him. Before I reached him, he stood up straight and said “Damn. Brad was friendlier than him and he was an enemy.”
“Who was Brad?”
Victor scratched the back of his neck. “You know, the guy with no pants.”
Felicia cocked her head then she oohed and turned back to me. She smiled at me and said “He is fine. He just lost his breath a little.”
I smiled at her and made sure she was right. I saw Victor looking somewhere and followed his gaze. He pointed with his chin at Felin and said “What are we going to do about him?”
Before I could answer, Felicia said “On it.” And walked towards Felin. She lifted his body and threw him outside, above the wall. She came back smiling. “Done!” She then moved like she just remembered something and turned to Asyx who was watching the event silently. “We took along a friend with us.” She pointed to Asyx. “She came here to see you. Her name is Asyx.” She looked at Asyx who was smiling at Victor and Victor, who was frowning. Felicia lost her smile for a second but still continued. “I will leave you two up to it.” And started dragging Victor towards Asyx.
Asyx took a step towards Victor and said “Hey Victor. I heard a lot about you. All,” She got even closer and checked him out. She then continued “…good. But I heard you have a little problem and I am sure I can fix that.” I was taken aback by her forwardness. I turned to Felicia, her face was flushed and seemingly embarrassed. I turned to Victor. He wasn’t frowning anymore but his brow was raised. Asyx coughed and said “I am a bit tired. Let’s get to your room, so I can get some rest and in the meantime, you can sate your… curiosity.” Asyx put her hand on Victor’s hand. I expected Victor to smile or do something for some time, since, this should make him happy right? He looked terrified. He jumped back, then after a second, started running towards the backyard, screaming at the top of his lungs all along.
Asyx froze in place. I turned to Felicia, who started moving towards Asyx and went after Victor. I looked for him for some time and found him behind a tree, hugging his knees and chanting something. I got closer to him. “Hey, Victor.” He looked at me. “Why did you run away?”
He gulped loudly and said “She was dangerous. She wasn’t a real woman.”
I frowned. “Victor, I knew her for a long time. I didn’t see her body but I am sure she is a woman.”
He shook his head and whispered. “No. She was a monster. She would suck all desire from me in a heartbeat. I won’t let her, no.”
I frowned, the problem dawned on me after a second. “Victor, why did you think she was a demon?”
He looked at me dubiously. “She just came to me and wanted to do it you know? We didn’t even talk before! She even knew how to turn me on! She was a demon, I know it!”
I got closer to him. “Victor, this fort is enchanted to prevent demons from getting in.”
He looked at me, seemingly shocked. “Then, I just… Did I reject a beautiful woman just now?” I nodded. He sighed and looked at me. He gave me the same look he gave me on our way back here. A look that made me feel like I was naked. I took a step back reflexively and started watching him.
Victor stood up and said, “It’s time we kiss.” I shook my head and thought of saying I wasn’t drunk enough but I didn’t. He came closer and held me, close. He came closer and closer, just when our lips about to touch he stopped. He took his hands away from me and asked. “Do you know how to kiss?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know.”
He took out his tongue and said “It’s easy. You know what is wrestling right?” I nodded. Wrestling is a famous sport in my hometown. Some even take the wrestler class. He came closer and said, “Think of it as tongue wrestling, rest will come to you, okay?” I nodded. “Good.” He then held me again then we kissed.
***
I don’t know how long we kissed but when we finally stopped, I was out of breath. At first, it seemed disgusting but after a while, I got used to it, then it started to feel like a game. Victor tried to push his tongue in my mouth, while I tried to stop him by using my own tongue. With his pitiful Attributes, he didn’t have any chance of course but it was still fun. I looked at Victor, who seemed equally out of breath, and said “Did you like it?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I was expecting something more special you know? It seemed more like a game which I lost horribly.” He then turned around and started grumbling about how Attributes are not fair and how he hates to lose. I just chuckled at him and headed towards the front yard to see how Asyx and Felicia were doing. When I reached there Felicia was walking in the yard, alone.
Felicia came closer and said, “Did you talk to him?” I nodded. “Did you ask-“ She stopped and looked behind me? She then passed by me and held Victor’s collar. Felicia looked at him for a second and started yelling “Couldn’t you have just said no! Why did you have to do something like that? Did you think it was fun?!”
I quickly went between them and held Felicia. When she looked at me I said “He thought she was a demon.”
Felicia froze. She looked at Victor above my shoulder then said “Why?”
I sighed. “Because she was being too direct about her intentions. When she came out of the blue and said those things, he thought she was a desire demon.”
Felicia looked at Victor than me and started laughing. She stopped before him and while laughing said “Haha! Victor, you had a chance to do it with a beautiful woman but you ran away crying instead! How does it feel?! If it feels bad, don’t worry. You can hug me… After tomorrow! Haha!”
I looked at silent Victor and expected him to look bad but he didn’t seem to be affected. He seemed more like he was trying to contain his laughter. After a few seconds, he failed and started laughing full force. Felicia seemed dumbfounded by his action and took a step back. She looked at Victor and asked “What the hell is wrong with you? Did you go insane?”
Victor shook his head and gave Felicia the same look he gave me a few minutes ago. He looked at her eyes and yelled. “This is fate, I know it! I hereby declare that God of Humanity as my witness, you will be my first!” Then he continued laughing.
Felicia for her part seemed horrified and started running towards the mansion, so I followed her, leaving Victor to his… fun.
I found Felicia sitting on her bed, hugging a pillow. She seemed shaken by what Victor said. When she saw me, she dropped the pillow and hugged me, trembling. I stroked her back whispering “Everything will be okay.”
After some time hugging, Felicia stopped trembling and said “You heard what he said.”
“Yes. But don’t worry, I am sure he did it just to unnerve you.”
Felicia broke the hug and shook her head. She sat back on her bed and said “He meant it. I saw it in his eyes. He is determined. He even invoked God of Humanity.” She frowned. “What does it mean anyway?”
I shrugged. “I doubt it means anything. You can’t really invoke a God without their name after all. He probably just wanted to say something rousing and ended up with something stupid.”
Felicia nodded. “He is stupid and dangerous.”
I smiled at her. “You don’t think Victor would force you to do something you don’t want right?”
Felicia snorted. “He can’t force me to do anything. I am afraid he will make me fall for him.”
I sat beside her and started petting her hair. “You can’t force something like that. But if you fall for him naturally, then nothing can be done about it.”
Felicia looked at me sadly. “I can’t believe you can say that after all, we have been through. You would leave me to him just like that?”
I shrugged. “If you fall for him, then all I need to do is to join you.”
Felicia went red. “J-Join us? Like the three of us?” I nodded. She put her hands on her flushed cheeks and started breathing deeply. After a while, she shook her head. “No, I won’t fall for him. He can stay single all his life if he wants.” She leaned on the door and yelled, “I won’t accept him!”
I chuckled at her and said, “Are you better now?” She nodded. “Good. What happened to Asyx?”
Felicia sighed. “After you went after Victor I dropped her to her home. On the way, she kept talking about how much she loves Victor, crying all the while.”
I frowned. “But they didn’t even-“
Felicia interjected. “They didn’t even talk, right? I told as much to her. She just said ‘We are fated.’ ‘He is very handsome.’ ‘He is tall, then his thing must be tall too.’” Felicia flushed again. “I can’t believe I repeated that.” She sighed. “When Asyx hears what Victor said to me, she will be devastated.”
I smiled at her and said “Maybe. Or she will want to join you too.”
Felicia punched me playfully. “If it’s like this, then I say you will be my first.” She said without looking at my face.
I cupped Felicia’s face and looked into her eyes. I smiled playfully and said, “If you are so determined, I can do nothing but accept your feelings.” Felicia looked at me and started trembling. “Why are you still dressed? Take off your clothes.”
Felicia scrambled to take off her clothes but before she can take her clothes completely, we heard a voice from the door. “Whoa, Felicia, you are already undressing for me?” I looked towards the voice to see Victor leaning on the door. “I didn’t think it would be this easy.”
I looked at Felicia, then Victor. There was something, the feeling that if I do what I intend to do, something bad might happen. Having my blessing for a long time, I quickly understood what I needed to do. I stood up and walked towards the door. Behind me, Felicia asked. “Where are you going?”
I chuckled. “I will prepare for dinner.” I heard Felicia whimper behind me but I didn’t stop. While passing through I winked at Victor and continued towards the kitchen. I was about to reach there when I heard Felicia screaming at him. ‘I did the right thing.’ I sighed and started thinking about what to prepare for dinner.
***
I made a simple stew for dinner. I put the pot on the table and called for the two. First one to arrive was Felicia. She seemed somewhat calm. Then Victor came with a giant hand impression on his face. I noticed that Felicia’s face took a satisfied smile. I shook my head and said “So, Victor. Let’s talk about what you did.” He slumped to the chair. I chuckled and quickly said “Not about Asyx. About how you sent Felin flying.”
Victor sighed. “What do you want to know?”
I sat down and looked at his face. He seemed to be thinking of something. “Was that lightning?” He nodded.
Felicia gasped. “How?” Victor smirked. Felicia snorted. “Never mind.”
I cleared my throat and said, “We made a deal.”
Victor nodded. “And I will teach you how to throw lightning. But the technique I used on him was different.”
Felicia smirked. “We never said what we wanted to learn was throwing lightning.”
Victor sighed. “You saw me throwing lightning and wanted to know how I was doing that. Isn’t that true?”
Felicia opened her mouth but I stopped her. “It’s true. So what do you want, to teach us everything you know about lightning?”
Victor looked at Felicia predatorily and smirked. Felicia waved a knife at him angrily then he just said, “I will teach you two everything I know about lightning but in exchange, I want to be able to hug you whenever I want.”
Felicia slapped the table and stood up. “No!”
I looked at Felicia and sighed. “Victor.” He turned to me. “I will let you hug me whenever you want if you stop playing this game. It’s starting to get dull. Do we have a deal?”
Victor sighed and dipped his head. “Okay, I will teach you everything I know about lightning. But if you want to learn about other things, you have to tell me about your status-“ He stopped and swiped his hand. He then coughed awkwardly and continued. “You will tell me which God you are connected to and your Blessings, your Class and Skills.” He pointed to Felicia. “You included.” Felicia looked away. He then turned back to me and continued. “If you do that I will never want something else for knowledge as long as we are in the same team. You can have as much time as you want to think about this.” After that, he started eating his dinner.
‘Victor. It’s just like you to leave me with a choice like this. I wonder what I did to become the leader.’ I sighed and the rest of the dinner went in silence.