The warmth of the large camp fire warmed Clements bones as his soaked robes slowly dried next to it. Marty couldn’t stop his gaze from straying to Clement’s chest and admiring the full breasts cupped beneath a strong bra. Clement hadn’t noticed Marty was ogling him but Emma had and her sigh vocalised it.
“So why isn’t James here?” Emma questioned. Her heavy armour had protected her from the worst of the rain so had kept her clothes on but she was still damp in many places. The three of them were slumped in the entranceway of a dungeon recovering their stamina after rushing here to escape one of Carria’s harsh rainstorms.
“He is back in town trying to flog some crap to the locals, not really sure what he is planning.” Whatever it was it was more important than the promise he had made to his friends about advancing the main quest together. They had planned on continuing the quest which involved busting into this monster invested dungeon and stealing some old sealing stone. James however had declined the invitation saying he had something important to do in town. He wasn’t that useful anyway so Marty, Emma and Clement had gone without him. They had all done this quest plenty of times before anyway and knew the dungeon like their own house.
“Oh god not you too,” Emma suddenly remarked looking at Clement who was smiling about something.
“Huh?” He didn’t understand what had provoked that comment.
“You’re smiling just like the screwball next me who has been doing all day.” Clement looked across to Marty.
“Something good happened.” Marty thought it best to be vague. “Anyway where have you been? I mean I know you’ve been in the game world but why weren’t you at school?”
“I was sick.” That wasn’t a lie. Clement didn’t have the strongest immune system and had caught a bad cold. His parents were letting him stay off school to recover but he was using that opportunity to adventure in Carria instead.
“Being in this world won’t help your real body recover,” Marty pointed out. He didn’t know that for sure, but his theory was that their real bodies didn’t exist while inside the game. If so then Clement could spent days in here and his real body wouldn’t progress at all in its recovery.
There was unfortunately no spell to simply make Clement’s clothes dry so they had to wait for the fire to dry them. Eventually Marty grew tired of waiting and jumped to his feet to edge the group forward.
“Let’s get going, I have another quest I need to do after this.” And so a warrior, a mage and an archer walked into the dungeon together. It was because of this that Clement had been smiling as he had noticed how cliché it was. They pushed into the first chamber and were met with the horrific stench of mould and decay.
“I’m having second thoughts.” Emma tapped a rotten wooden beam filled with wood worm. The dungeons inhabitants were the least of her worries right now as the entire place looked like it was on the brink of collapse.
“Dungeons are well made, the decay is just cosmetic.” Marty had gotten used to making shit up after his night with Marisa. He stepped through the door and the other two hesitantly followed.
“Get out!” A ghastly voice yelled as a thin figure wearing twisted iron armour came running at them. Marty quickly drew an arrow and fired scoring a direct hit to the man’s temple. The man’s body turned to dust and his metal armour went rolling across the ground.
“Oh sweet.” Marty picked up an iron shoulder guard and put it on.
“You’ve gotten pretty good with the bow. Speaking of which, I noticed that isn’t the same bow you started with.” Emma had noticed that at the campfire.
“Oh this? It was a gift from Marisa.”
“Marisa the archery guide? I don’t remember her giving out spare bows to players.”
“What can I say? She’s really fond of me.” The grinning smile from before returned.
“Oh… oh I see.” Emma’s own smile turned sinister. “You did ‘it’ with her didn’t you?” She nudged.
“N-no,” Marty denied with a flustered voice.
“Holy hell you actually did have sex with her!” Emma had just been teasing but Marty’s response made the truth as clear as day.
“Alright I did. No like there is anything wrong with that!”
“Nope,” Emma said behind a laugh. She took the lead and led the group deeper in the dungeon. Any and every opportunity she got she was going to use the information she had just learned to annoy Marty. Another ghastly figure appeared and ran at them but met he met his end at the tip of Emma’s sword. His armour clattered to the ground and she helped herself to the higher level of protection it provided as she had yet to replace her own starting equipment.
An hour later the trio of adventurers smashed open the massive door that led to the dungeon’s deepest room. They had cut their way through countless enemies but now it was time for the all-important boss fight. In front of them they could see the large chest that contained the sealing stone they were after. Attempting to open it however would summon a powerful monster which had to be defeated to break the unseen magic lock on the chest.
“I’ll touch the chest, you two move into good positions,” Emma instructed. She would use her heavy armour to distract the monster while her allies attacked from a distance with magic and arrows. Clement and Marty moved into opposite corners of the room and got ready as Emma neared the chest. Upon placing her hand on it the magical lock appeared and behind her a swirling grey portal opened up. From the portal spawn a huge hunched figure with a single broken wing and a stump there the other had used to be.
“Trespasser!” It howled before attacking with its long clawed hands. As Emma blocked the attack an arrow impacted with the twisted man’s back followed by a blast of icy magic.
“All will die!” The monster hissed turning its attention towards Clement. It moved fast, faster than the heavily armoured Emma. Clement unleashed a huge blast of icy magic but the monster persisted and its claws slashed at him smashing his staff and tearing apart his clothing to the sound of Clement’s cry.
A second arrow was let loose and this time struck the monster in the neck. A sword was thrust into the monsters back a moment later but it was still determined to kill the group’s mage and slashed at Clement again.
“Help!” Clement cried out but Emma and Marty were already doing everything they could. The monster’s claws ripped deep into Clement’s chest and he painfully choked moments before succumbing to death. He vanished moments later with his clothes and belongings falling to the ground.
“Clement!” Emma cried out as pulled her sword out of the monsters back. She thrust forward again and scored another good hit but the monster spun around quickly pulling the sword from her hand. Another arrow caught the monster in the neck but it was now focused on Emma. A claw was thrust at her but she blocked it with her shield then used her strength to stagger the enemy. The monster was large but it was also thin and easy to knock off balance. Another arrow hit it in the side of the head causing it to turn its attention towards Marty. Emma seized the opportunity and pulled the sword from the creature’s back. With a powerful swing she cut deeply into the back of its leg to slow it down. She didn’t stop there and with a clean swing cut deep into the other leg before jumping back at its claws slashed at her. Yet another arrow struck the monster in the neck and it roared loudly then charged at Marty but fell over due to its injured legs. Moments later Emma’s sword came thrusting down straight into the nape of the neck killing it.
“Man that was a hard fight,” Marty declared.
“All you did was stand in the corner. Not to take away from your accuracy. You’re pretty good.” Marty collected Clement’s stuff as Emma opened the now unlocked chest.
“Well I guess we have to get back to the cabin to give Clement his stuff.” Marty wasn’t pleased with the setback but it couldn’t be helped.
“Can you do it? I have to get back to the guild.” That came as a surprise. Emma had intentionally not picked up Clement’s stuff as she knew Marty would be the one bringing it back to him.
“Hey I also have things I want to do,” Marty protested.
“Yeah yeah, you can go visit your lover later. Clement is waiting.” Emma didn’t give Marty a chance to defend himself. He wasn’t happy the burden she had shifted onto him but someone had to do. He felt a weight on his shoulder’s as he was worried about Clement. He packed up Clement’s stuff into his bag and began the journey back to their cabin while Emma return to the city.
Before returning to the guild Emma decided to stop off at the general store to sell off some of the loot from the dungeon. She walked up to the door and spotted a sign outside.
“Jumbo sale, price cuts across the store.” The words were painted in bright black letters across a white background. It was the first time she had seen something so obnoxious since coming here. She walked into the shop to find numerous people browsing the neatly arranged shelves and at the counter was a familiar pink haired cat-girl.
“Normally I’d charge 50 copper but for you, 40.” James was behind the counter dealing with customers while the store owner walked around the shop offering assistance. He was following James new business plan and while making signs, buying new shelves and getting fancy clothes had cost him a small sum the increase in sales would soon earn that money back.
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
“Welcome ma’am, do you need anything specific or would you like some time to look around?” Emma was greeted by the shopkeeper shortly after arriving.
“I’m here to sell some stuff…” She was still stunned by how much James had changed the way the store was run. When she first came here it had been a glum atmosphere with the shop keeper sitting on a chair behind the counter looking fed up but now it felt welcoming.
“Ah certainly, my accomplice handles that.” The shopkeeper beckoned towards James. He moved to help someone else so Emma approached James and set her bag on the table.
“You’re busy,” she commented as the shop keeper handled the other customers.
“The people of this world have no idea what hit them,” James replied with a confident smile. “So what you selling?” Emma emptied all the stuff she had collected from the dungeon earlier.
“Hmm… most of what I see if junk but…” James picked up a sword from among the pile. “This might be worth something.” He was lying. The sword wasn’t worth that much but at the same time the other stuff was worth more than what he was pretending it was. His plan was to overpay for the sword while underpaying for everything else.
“Really? Didn’t look that special to me.”
“It’s a beginner’s dungeon so the other stuff isn’t worth that much but this sword is basically a rare drop. Well not really but its higher quality than the rest of this stuff. I mean look how worn the straps are on this chest plate. I could probably give you 200-250 copper coins for all of this.” That was half of what he would have considered a fair price but you don’t get rich being fair.
“300,” Emma countered.
“Uh… hold on.” James walked over to the shopkeeper and had a quick word with him. He had already told the shopkeeper about this sales technique so just explained the situation to him and he whispered something in response. James then walked back over to Emma.
“The big guy says 260.”
“275.” James looked over to the shopkeeper who nodded.
“Alright 275 it is.” Emma gave a small cry of victory unaware of what was really going on. James was here to make money and when it came to money he didn’t care if someone was a friend or total stranger, he would still get as much out of them as possible. The important thing was ensuring whoever it was walked away happy as that would mean repeat business. As Emma neared the door a large shadow appeared blocking the entrance. She backed away as three heavily armoured figures followed by a mage walked inside. Each of the warriors had a large weapon slung over their back in addition to a small sack that was brimming with loot. It was a reminder to Emma that she and her friends weren’t the only adventurers in this world.
“This place looks different,” one of the men snorted, the stench of his body odour overwhelming Emma. This guy was clearly unaware that this city had several bathhouses.
“Yeah… it doesn’t smell like old man anymore,” an armoured woman added. Emma hadn’t realised one of them was a woman because of the heavy armour hiding everything feminine about her. They looked up at the signs above the counters and spotted there was now a separate counter for buying and selling. All of them made their way over to the James at the selling counter and began fishing through their bags and dumping handfuls of trinkets on the counter.
“I take it you are all adventurers.” That was a given from their outfits.
“Obviously. Now little girl pay us.” James glanced at the treasure on the table. He wasn’t even sure what half of it was or the demand for it but some of it looked like it was made from solid gold. It would have been smarter to take it to a gold smith instead of a general store but that was their loss and his gain. It took him a while to sort through it all and workout what kind of profit he could make.
“Hurry up we don’t have all day.”
“How about 20 silver pieces?” As per standard RPG rules 100 bronze pieces equalled 1 silver.
“What?!? That little?” The lead warrior was shocked by how little he was being offered.
“Step aside Brute,” the woman pushed her comrade out of the way.
“This stuff is worth way more than that and you know it.”
“It probably is but I need to evaluate it properly to give you a better price. If you come back later I’ll be able to give you a proper offer.” The group huddled together and began speaking with each other quietly. From what James could make it they didn’t want to wait around for their payment but also didn’t want to go without getting a good price. Time was also an issue for James as the appearance of this group was discouraging other customers. The shopkeeper gave James a look asking if he needed help but he shook his head. He could handle this alone.
“We’ll return first thing tomorrow. We are from Iron Point so don’t think of screwing with us.” The group finally gave their response and left James alone with all their treasure.
“Iron Point huh?” That was the largest guild in the city and well known for having very rowdy members. James almost laughed at the fact they had left without counting it as he could easily just take a few pieces of himself. He quickly began to sort it into different categories to make sorting it simpler as well as recording what they had left him.
* * *
Marty groaned as he marched through the forest carrying Clement’s bag. This detour would take up most of the time he had left today. Suddenly a group of goblins came scrambling through the bushes towards him.
“Fuck.” Marty dropped Clement’s bag and drew his sword ready to fight but to his surprise the goblins weren’t. They ran across the path and kept on running into the trees on the other side showing clear fear toward something behind them. Marty jumped into the bushes as well and scanned the trees in the direction of where the goblins had come from. He couldn’t see what it was that had sent them running.
“Odd.” He was close to the cabin so he began moving as fast as he could and was soon out of the forest. He could soon see the cabin but could also strangely hear loud barking coming from inside. He drew his sword as he neared and peered through the window. Immediately a glowing blue wolf jumped up and snapped at him.
“Fuck me,” Marty spat jumping back. Where had this beast come from and where was Clement?
“Dismiss!” Clement’s voice banished the wolf and with it gone Marty was able to enter the cabin to find Clement once again wrapped in a bedsheet.
“We should store some spare clothes here,” Marty suggested as he entered checking for more animals. “What was with that wolf just now?”
“It’s a familiar. I summoned it to protect me while I waited for you to return.” Clement hated being alone so it made sense he would summon something to accompany him when they were absent. He must have learned how to summon familiars while the others were at school or in bed.
“Here’s your stuff.” Marty tossed Clement his bag and as Clement reached out to catch it the sheet fell away from him exposing his naked chest. Marty couldn’t help but stare at the beautiful elven skin and heavy breasts. He was disappointed when Clement pulled what was left of his top over to cover them.
“Isn’t it difficult to move with those jugs? Most girls develop them over time but you just suddenly gained the extra weight.” Marty’s words made Clement aware he was a naked woman in front of a teenage boy. He quickly tried to put on his clothes but the monster they had fought had torn a huge hole in Clement’s chest so his clothes didn’t do much to cover him and his bra was now useless.
“They’re different… but I’ll get used to them. Underwear in this world is really well made.” It had always puzzled Marty how some fantasy RPGs had underwear that was rivalled that of the modern world. He couldn’t think of an appropriate follow up so changed the subject.
“That wolf thing, why didn’t you summon it in the dungeon?”
“I can’t control it. It won’t attack me because I’m its master but it is aggressive towards everything else.” In other words it was useless unless Clement was alone. “But I’ll learn. I just need to keep on practicing and studying then I’ll be a great mage.” Marty decided that the time was right to talk about how much Clement had been staying here.
“Clement, I’m getting a bit concerned about how much time you spend in here. This world is cool and gives us a proper adventure, but if you keep on skipping school you’re going to cause yourself, and other people, problems in the long term.”
“I’m sick.”
“And you’ll stay sick if you don’t let your body recover.” Clement had been returning to the real world only to see his parents. At night and while they were at work he was in Carria. A cold would normally only take a few days to recover from but with the amount of time Clement was spending here it would take him weeks to recover at this rate.
“You’d do the same.” Clement’s response left Marty without a response. If he was sick he too would probably spend a lot of time on Carria free from his illness.
“Just pace yourself and give your body time to actually recover.” That was all Marty could say on the matter. He couldn’t stop Clement from entering this world so had to hope his words got through to him.