Chapter 36.2 - Titan

[Human Dialect] “Again.” said Trey as Vertz landed on his backside and in the snow from the strike to his torso. Estela and Amaia winced, while Jason, Elise, Borthome and Atharost all laughed hardily. Vertz had insisted on sparring throughout the day with few breaks inbetween. He’d paid Trey 5 copper for the first week’s training and was now on day 3, having permission from his father to continue having lessons that their family would pay for on a weekly basis.

It wasn’t a lot. 5 copper was the equivalent of 5 U.S. dollars in this world, but Trey knew the villagers here were poor. Even poorer than usual, thanks to the cultist attack and tax from the guild who’d saved Vork.

They had a freshly killed deer cooking over the campfire and makeshift plates were strewn about their clearing. The sky had continually been dreary for the past two days and snow had fallen on and off during that entire time.

[Human Dialect] “Vertz, are you sure you’re ok to continue? I’m worried your parents will become angry with me if you get hurt!” Estela called out worriedly. Carrots were passed to her by Elise who was already chomping away.

“I’m fine! I can barely feel it!” yelled Vertz as he charged Trey to tackle him.

Trey stepped into the charge with one hand striking Vertz’ shoulder and the other to Vertz’ inside elbow - effectively stopping the charge and blocking the right hook. Simultaneously Trey grabbed on and threw a knee into Vertz’ stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Before the shorter man could react, Trey reached under his arm to come around and position himself for a choke hold. When Vertz looked like he could struggle no further, he released the hold and the teenager took a knee to recover.

[English Dialect] “Try replicating the sequence of moves I showed you earlier,” stated Trey as he walked to the other side of where Vertz stood. Jason did a quick translation with Vertz nodding his understanding. This time Trey was the one who attacked, but Vertz failed to block and was knocked back in the tackle.

Borthome choked on a carrot with a loud guffaw, thinking it hilarious to watch his neighbor’s son get pummeled like this. Meanwhile, Vertz just looked embarrassed.

[Human Dialect] “Don’t worry about it man. You’ll get it down. Let’s take a break for now and start up in a little while.” Jason repeated for Trey as Trey helped Vertz to his feet.

Trey then went over to sit next to Amaia who had not taken her eyes off of him for quite some time, ignoring the shady looks cast his way by Rivia while she sat on a log and studied scripture from Alkir’s First Writ. He couldn’t tell if Rivia disapproved because she hated Trey and didn’t want to see him happy, or if Rivia was worried about competing with the other girl.

[Human Dialect] “Shut up Borthome, you old hog.” said Vertz defensively. Borthome only laughed at the younger man harder.

“You did well for your first couple days!” said Estela, hugging the young man with a motherly smile as he sat. She’d known him and his family a long time now and was overly babying him to his chagrin. “Don’t let my ancient husband get to you.”

“ANCIENT?!” declared Borthome loudly. “I’m still in my prime, woman!”

Jason sat looking at the bag of ingredients he’d collected in the forest for his potion making, and he’d been working at it all day. The stump he’d been using as a seat was positioned next to another larger stump cut higher that they all used as a table, with the woodpile nearby being a source for other seats that Elise’s family used around the fire.

13 potions already lay along the wood in front of Jason, and every couple minutes he would take time to clear away the falling snow so that he didn’t have build-up . He’d traded various animal hides that he’d collected while hunting and herbs he’d found for vials earlier, and Elandry had given some extra vials out of his own generosity. Jason had also acquired a mortar and pestle - which he used to mash up two brown roots and the abdomen of a rather fat brown beetle. After crushing it all up, he followed with adding cow’s milk and dried leaves collected from a certain bush. He poured the concoction into a vial, put a cork in the top and shook it vigorously until a milky brown substance swirled evenly around on the inside.

[English Dialect] “Looks like my dinner from last night after I shit it out.” stated Trey, straight faced. “You’re not actually gonna drink that are you?”

“That’s what it’s for. It’s supposed to make your body feel weightless, makes you run faster. Apparently.” replied Jason eyeing the strange liquid. “But… I think I failed at it again. I haven’t been able to get it right yet. The others have turned out well though - This red potion on the table is a minor healing potion. The blue one is a minor mana potion. The green is a minor stamina potion.”

“Have you actually tried any of them to see if they work?” inquired Trey doubtfully. “They look awfully suspicious to me.”

“Bro, I’m going to be a master alchemist. Leave my artistry alone douchebag.”

“Very well, alchemist Jason, I’ll try not to question your grand designs any further. My most deep and humble apologies, kind sir.”

“You are forgiven peasant.”

“Why would you call me a pheasant?”

“I called you a peasant, not a pheasant.”

“Is it because you’re fat and want pheasant?”

“I am not fat, stop objectifying me with your male gaze Trey.”

“You are too fat. I have seen 6 fat people in this village and you are 4 of them.”

“Lies.”

“One day I’m going to write a book about how dogs are better pets than women.”

“I’m not really sure where that came from, but do tell me how it goes.”

“I surely will, dear Jason.”

Pause.

“Hey Jason, what’s the name of this place again?”

“The town? Vork.”

“Not the town you buffoon, I’m talking about the country.”

“I believe Elise told me it was the Kingdom of Yosemar.”

“Thank you, pheasant.”

“Surely.”

“Well tis time for I, Trey, the greatest there ever twas, to go on and learn this game’s ‘Human’ speak. Toodles.” And with that, Trey pulled Amaia to her feet by the hands and led her away into the forest to point at various things as he went, questioning her as to what they were called. He was slowly learning the language bit by bit, and had been proud of himself for the progress he’d made.

He could actually understand pieces of sentences laced together, though Amaia often playfully laughed at his efforts. He hoped that she didn’t have any serious plans about the two of them whenever he flirted back with her, feeling a little guilty when he did reciprocate. She was definitely sexy though. Jason had done well himself with Amaia’s sister, Elise. At the very least he would have to learn the language fully and get to know Amaia better.

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Only time would tell how things went in that aspect.

The two of them continued their trek through the forest and he quickly learned the words for “mushroom, squirrel, bird, animal, sky, leaf, plant, tree, bush, deer, and snow.” The last word was learned as a small snowflake hit Trey square in the forehead. He looked up and held out his hand before a couple more snowflakes touched down on his skin, melting away into droplets of water due to the heat of his body.

He smiled, and his posture relaxed. It had been a relatively short time that he’d stayed in Oblivion, but the experience had taken a serious toll on his mental health. It had been dry, bleak, and barren… but here it was completely the opposite. Life flourished here, and just being able to stand in that one moment gave him great joy. The sound-absorbing white fluff all around them gave Trey peace of mind, tranquility even. But it was still very, very cold.

Amaia stood next to him, staring at him with a gleam in her eye, and slowly leaned against a tree while wrapping the fur coat around her more tightly.

Trey breathed in the cool forest air in a state of complete contentment, letting out a long satisfied exhale. [Human Dialect] “Let’s go back, Amaia. It’s getting cold, I want to warm up.”

Amaia looked surprised after his lengthy sentence, then nodded once in acknowledgment. “Ok. Let’s go.”

She briefly reached her hand out to touch Trey’s, but withdrew before he noticed the action. She needed to become braver, she thought. But now was not the time. She was sure she’d have more time to spend with this strange man in the future, and there was no reason to rush things. She smiled at the thought, elated at finally having someone in the village that she wanted to romantically pursue, and began to skip forward - motioning for Trey to follow.

***

The blizzard pounded hard against the cabin, the wind howled so fiercely that Elise couldn’t even talk to Jason without screaming at the top of her lungs. Shutters on the windows rippled and repeatedly slammed against their bindings, and the temperature was quickly dropping. It was the fiercest storm she’d ever experienced before, and it honestly scared her. Usually snowfalls here were mild… this was unlike anything she’d ever even heard of. She’d thrown a canvas over the front entrance where snow was billowing in through the cracks of the door, but it was still getting in as the raging weather continued, and her hands were shaking even with thick gloves on.

[Ancient Demon Dialect] “Do they wish me to light a fire for them? The smoke can pass easily enough if I place it by a window… and I am able to generate heat from my own body.” Atharost asked Napoleon while watching in amusement as the humans did their best to keep the inside of the cabin warm. “You speak their language, imp. Ask them if they’d want help… if something catches fire I am usually able to absorb it back into my body as long as the quantity is small or it is my own mana.”

[Ancient Demon Dialect] “Yes yes I will say say and see if they want help.” Napoleon nodded to the large ifrit and scampered over to Borthome, passing along the message and motioning for Atharost to maintain a very small fire near the front of the room. Quickly coming over to sit next to Atharost, a majority of the family huddled in together with blankets and jackets. Then they were pleasantly bathed with an orange glow when Atharost’s body began to cinder with little flickers of light appearing then disappearing all along the demon, and giving off good amounts of needed heat.

Elise shuddered and pulled in closer to Jason, looking up at her blonde savior and grinning from ear to ear.

A few feet away the front door swung open, letting in a cold burst of air. She saw Amaia and Trey finally make it inside and gave a wave - just as the canvas was thrown open. Then it drifted to a shut position again as the door closed.

[English Dialect] “Whew! That got bad real fast!” Trey exclaimed, shaking the snow from his turquoise battle-robes and helping Amaia clean herself off as well.

Elise’s little sister didn’t take much time in drawing Trey away though. Closing the wooden door to Trey’s room behind them as well, they quickly disappeared from sight. Amaia was certainly having a good time, and Elise was curious as to how far she’d pushed her luck with Jason’s new friend.

According to Jason, Trey had been recognized by the All Spirit as an infernal summoner. Elise had guessed as much because of the multiple demons he had with him, but even then still found it hard to believe. Summoners of any type were rare, and Trey didn’t seem to fit the bill for what Infernal Summoners usually acted like. From what she’d heard, they were almost all entirely evil and hated by society for it. The stigma was a prominent one. They were a lot like warlocks, practicing in the black magics but also able to summon many, many creatures to their bidding instead of the standard 1 that warlocks got. She knew that summoners usually suffered in terms of their offensive abilities too, unlike warlocks which excelled in killing things themselves. Summoners usually stayed guarded in the back while their minions did work in the front lines, but Trey didn’t seem to match that bill either and she’d seen him effectively engage in close combat when the cultists had attacked.

Was he being wise or foolish for doing so? Elise didn’t know enough about fighting, magic, or the summoner classes to tell. Her father was a ‘Hunter’ class that he’d taken up as a boy, Elise herself was also a ‘Hunter’ class, and her mother had the class of ‘Clothesmaker,’ so those were the only ones she had any real knowledge about.

She looked at Jason’s handsome features while he cradled her against the storm. She beamed, and hugged the man even more tightly. Were they a couple now? Elise assumed yes, though she wasn’t sure as she hadn’t actually talked to him about it yet. She would definitely like to be, and hoped he felt the same way. She would have to confront him about it later, and if he needed persuading… that could definitely be arranged. She became very aroused at the thought and giggled. She was definitely the alpha in this situation, and had taken the lead in most scenarios. She didn’t mind and even kind of liked it that way. Jason didn’t seem to be a pushover, but he was very respectful of her personal space and maybe even a little TOO considerate. She wanted to make a move on him now, but had promised herself that she would try to wait a while until any intercourse happened. She wanted him to value her, and had heard stories of other girls giving up their virginity only to have the man take off to find another woman after having it.

Her heart suddenly pounded. Jason wouldn’t do that to her would he? He was so different from anyone else she had ever met. She again glanced at him, and he caught her in the act to smile almost reassuringly down at her. Their eyes locked for a long period of time, staring into each other before another brazen gust of the storm ripped open their front door and the canvas again.

“Shit!”

Jason hurried over to secure the door with a slam and got absolutely bombarded by snow as he did so. He flung off what he could and shook his head like a dog, brushing off his clothes in the process. He made his way back to sit over next to Elise on the dirt floor beside the living heat lamp Trey had acquired, and then motioned to her that he wanted to lay down. Instead, she pulled him up to lead him into her parent’s room. If Amaia was having her own bit of fun, why shouldn’t she? Elise was unable to thoroughly communicate due to the roaring blizzard and knew her parents would be kept next to the ifrit for as long as possible. They wouldn’t bother her, and shutting the door behind them she motioned for him to get under the blankets of her parent’s bed.

Jason hesitated a bit after realizing what she wanted and where it was, but after some prodding and tickling he eventually gave in and laid down. She soon curled up next to him after they took off their shoes, letting him hug her to his chest.

Jason’s own body heat comforted the woman next to him further, and she gracefully placed a hand on his abdomen to run it up his shirt and onto his chest. She scooted closer, and as he watched - she licked a drop of water that had accumulated there on his neck after a snowflake had melted. She went from licking to sucking. It felt good, and soon she had left a marker claiming him in the way of a large, circular, red spot.

She smirked. Jason flipped her onto her back with a gentle push of her shoulder, and climbed on top of her. His breathing rate had increased and he caressed her thighs, trailing up her side and to her left breast. Elise blushed brightly, almost matching the color of her hair, but didn’t make a move to stop him... and he gave her a look as if to ask her if it was ok. She merely smiled again and drew him down into another passionate kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist.

The door of the room flew open again and Elise let the kiss end as she looked over to where they’d just shut it. To her surprise, it had actually been opened up by none other than her younger brother Nommen. The child seemed hesitant to interrupt the lovers, but shook it off and tried yelling something over the storm. Elise and Jason glanced at one another, not really understanding what he was trying to say because the wind had picked up so violently just then but eventually got up to follow him when Nommen motioned for them to come with him.

They ran out the door and into the main room where the rest of the family were staring out the windows, utterly speechless. Even Trey and Amaia were there, as were all three of Trey’s minions. Atharost had his mouth hung open in shock. So Jason pushed to the front to see why in the hell they were all gaping in disbelief and letting in this absurdly cold wind just to look outside.

Jason tried to yell over the wind berating them, but it was so loud that no one could hear. Then as Trey pointed out the window and into the sky, Jason followed their gazes to finally find what they were all looking at. His mouth dropped in absolute shock, and he took a single step back.

There, high up in the sky and intermixed with the clouds was a creature that dwarfed anything Jason had thought possible. It looked alien, being many miles in length and width but he couldn’t see the entire body due the clouds obstructing it. Pieces of its long gray tail bobbed in and out of the clouds far behind its main body. It looked like a living, breathing space ship and could have dwarfed a small city. Writhing blue and white mana rippled across its body in currents that produced torrents of snow, further obscuring parts of the creature. Flippers by the dozens each the size of a castle were out to either side of the creature... But its head… that Jason could see clearly. It loomed over the land with the jaws of a turtle and three enormous eyes on either side. It was gray just like the rest of its huge body, and as they watched - it uttered out a moan that caused the very land beneath them to tremble. But not a moment after it had caused the earth to quake, in a flash of blue and white light, it had disappeared.

Later that day, according to Borthome’s family, Trey and Jason had just gotten their first look at a Titan.