Urvi laid down nine packages in a row, rubbing her hands together and grinning like a greedy businesswoman. It was kind of Durin to provide us with options. All in exchange for rations and sets of items we weren’t interested in anyway.
We made it back to the center before daylight faded, wanting to make sure to try out the armor sets before dusk.
“Which do I begin with?” Urvi wondered out loud.
“Start from left,” I said as I sat back leaning against the tree.
She looked at the leftmost package and said, “Left, huh?”
One by one, she picked up each and tried them out like we were in a shopping mall. The first one had a similar design to her previous except the heavy breastplate armor was swapped out with an essentially metal bra. She looked at it disappointedly before popping out the journal and looking at the inventory. “Hope the stats are at least good.” They weren’t.
With the magical inventory, we were finally able to see the stats of each armor and weapon we had.
Armor two, three, four, and five turned out to be a no seller as well. At least to Urvi. I, meanwhile, was feasting with my eyes. All the armors up until now showed off, no, accentuated Urvi’s curves. However, none would match the sixth armor she tried.
“Oh, my fucking lord!” She exclaimed looking at it. It was a two-piece armor. The top was essentially a fantasy version of a push-up bra, in a beautiful black color and golden lining. The skirt consisted of two long black loincloths, one in front and another at the back, held together by black underwear. All of them had a golden lining. “I look fucking sexy.”
I watched her in complete awe, unaware that my mouth was even open.
“You might want to close your mouth before a fly goes in,” Urvi said.
I shook my head and said, “You look fucking amazing! But that is essentially bikini armor.”
“I know and so what? I want to look hot when I am fighting too.”
I couldn’t stop myself from smiling like an idiot.
She checked the journal for stats. “I am down on defense, but my speed is 21! And my special attack is up to 18! I am keeping this!”
Level
Health
Attack
Defense
Speed
Special Attack
Special Defense
6
77
19
13
21
18
12
I gave her a thumbs-up as a sign of approval. She proceeded to tie her hair into a classic Indian-style braid. Suddenly, I realized I was looking at what I always wanted to see. A sexy-ass desi milf. Okay, I think I achieved my life’s goal. Now I can rest in peace.
Durin had just three options for me. I asked for one with a cape, but unfortunately, he didn’t have any. In the end, I compromised for a set with high speed. I quickly tried on all three, all of which looked the same to me. But Urvi saw things differently.
“Hmm… The red and black of the first one looks pretty fucking cool. But third one’s slim design makes you look like one of those people who kill while hiding,” she said.
“You mean an assassin?”
“I don’t remember the name.”
Fair enough. It was the hood that gave off an assassin vibe. It was all black with very little padding. “But what about the second one?”
“Hate it. He said it had good speed, but it makes you look like you have a pot belly,” she said.
Hmm… I checked the stats and found the first one boosted my defense as well, the second one boosted my attack, while the last one was pure speed. “I think I will go with the first one. I am liking the boost in defense as well.”
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Putting it on, I checked my stats again.
Level
Health
Attack
Defense
Speed
Special Attack
Special Defense
6
82
17
15
19
20
16
“Looking sexy!” She winked while giving me a thumbs-up. “But I wanted to ask you. What about all those potions? We have so many, maybe we could have traded it for some more items?”
“We will be needing those. Within the training grounds, we have no need for them. But once we get out, I am sure we will be burning through them.”
We were hoarding quite a collection of them. The potions came in a rainbow of colors.
The green bottles helped recover health.
The red bottles gave a tiny and temporary attack boost.
The blue bottles boosted defense.
The purple bottles helped gain speed.
The silver bottles cured any poison.
Finally, a small health kit to staunch bleeding.
“Hmm… Okay. Sounds reasonable,” Urvi replied.
***
With the shopping out of the way, we got down to practicing some magic. But before we could start casting spells, we needed to learn to control the flow of mana.
The well of mana needs to rise and overflow, for the body to become charged with magical potential. The rising of this well takes energy and to keep the flow, it takes more energy.
So, the first step was to try and keep the overflow of magic constant. We practiced this by meditating. By meditating, we were replenishing our mana reserves. This also gave us ample time to practice keeping the mana flowing.
Urvi grunted hard as she broke her trance. “This is exhausting!” She fell back onto the grass. “Why is this exhausting?”
I slowly opened my eyes and saw that it was already dusk. “Urvi, we have been meditating for hours.”
Urvi snapped back up. “Oh yeah! But seriously. How are we supposed to keep this up during battle? I am certain I will break my concentration.”
I clasped my hands and relaxed, ‘this is where the hard part comes in. It seems like magic has a barrier to entry.”
“Do I really need magic? I am great with the sword and axe,” she asked.
“At least learn to use standard spells. I am certain other players would have mastered it. We will get annihilated if we face off against them,” I argued.
She sighed. “When you put it that way. You want to continue?”
“Let us,” I replied.
I could hear the chirping of birds when I realized how much time had passed. My eyes snapped open and were greeted by bright sunshine. Urvi sat before me, in the same meditating posture. Her face looked calm but expressionless. Either she was sleeping or really meditating.
“Urvi?” I called softly.
Her eyes opened slowly. She exhaled softly as she seemed to return to reality. “Wow. It is morning already?” she asked calmly. Her peaceful demeanor frightened me.
“It is.”
“So, this is the power of meditation.” She lifted her hands and looked at them. “I feel so refreshed now.”
Once our brain learnt to control the flow of mana, it automates the process within our subconscious. It felt like our bodies were circulating with mana very much like our blood.
“Incredible, isn’t it?” I asked.
Decimation was powerful but also cost a lot of mana. We began by trying to control the flow of mana and used the power of decimation as a gauge. When the body is charged with magic, controlling the output proved to be far more difficult than we imagined.
A purple-colored circular ball formed on the tip of her finger before shooting into the trees ahead of her. It was bigger than what we were planning to do. She relaxed from the stance and looked at her arm. “Fuck. I couldn’t contain the mana one bit.”
Even I struggled with this. We had been wasting a lot of mana since morning in an attempt to learn to control.
“Karna,” Urvi said. “I think the magic in my body is gone too.”
“What? How?” I exclaimed. I figured we had mastered it.
“My mana is less than half. Perhaps that is why?” She said. “And... I am really exhausted. I am going to take a quick nap.”
It had been less than two hours since we woke up. Only twenty minutes since we started practicing.
“I think maintaining this state of magic is taking a toll on our body and mind,” I replied.
However, Urvi was lying on the ground, eyes shut, and seemingly deep asleep. This is going to take some time.
***
“If it is going to consume energy to keep it in flowing, is it really worth it keeping it that way? Especially when we are not even using it,” Urvi asked.
She had a point. It made sense for a mage or someone who uses magic to keep it flowing constantly. But otherwise, it is simply a drain on resources.
We decided to see what was west of the center and for quite a while, it seemed like more of the same. That is until we heard something that instantly brightened our mood.
“Is that... is that water?” Urvi asked.
The sound of crashing water penetrated the thicket before us, tempting us to come and take a look at it. We pushed forward and as we cut and slashed our way through, we found ourselves standing before a small pond with a ten-foot-tall waterfall on the other side.
“Fuck yeah!” Urvi exclaimed as she stripped down to nothing in seconds before jumping into the pond headfirst.
The pond was pretty large, about half the size of a football field. You could see the flora and fauna of the pond through the crystal-clear water. This also meant we could see that there was no danger hidden in the water as well.
I took off my boots and sat on the bank, dipping my legs into the water. Urvi, meanwhile, enjoyed herself in the water, splashing and thrashing about as she swam.
“What the fuck are doing there?” She asked as she reached me.
“Me? Just chilling.”
“Take off your clothes and come join me.”
I was hesitant to get wet. It looked like too much trouble.
She held her breasts up, pushing them just above the surface of the water. Her cheeks turned rosy red as she glanced at me seductively. “They are asking for your company.”
I swallowed hard, trying to pretend like I was still hesitating. But in reality, I had already made up my mind. Quickly stripping down till there was nothing, I leapt into the cool water, sending a splash of water Urvi’s way.
I rose back to the surface, wiping excess water off my face, only to find Urvi nowhere in sight. I can’t deny I panicked for a moment before something grabbed me by my leg and dragged me underwater.
Soft palms grabbed me by the hips before her breasts gently pressed against my chest. My eyes met hers, accompanied by my dreamy smile. I wrapped my arms around her before swimming back to the surface.
We burst through the surface, gasping for air. Then, things slowed down as we looked into each other’s eyes passionately. She let out a naughty giggle before moving in, squeezing her breasts between us as our lips met. Suddenly the whole world was quiet, even if it was for just that moment.