| Year 2700 |

| 4 miles from Wyrm Mines |

| Zanzibar Forests |

| Troth City |

Drake had been in a foul mood since he had woken up. The copious liquor knocked back during the previous night of fanfare had disappeared during his sleep.

It was precisely because of his passive skill of Level 7 poison resistance that even a barrel of wine burnt through him in a matter of hours.

The consequence was that his kind behavior did not last. Sobriety and the Ace never mixed well.

Drake had kicked one of the recruits in the gut during breakfast on finding a piece of eggshell in his omelet.

Earlier, he had slapped Skylar across the face when she had requested to stay in bed a while longer.

Those sorts of violent acts were not uncommon to him. The above were only mild examples of his brutality.

Drake Ace was not a pleasant person, but he did not tolerate weakness and lethargy. He was the leader of an elite enforcer squad, and no temptation worked on him when it was time to punch in for work.

Alice was the meticulous one among the Trinity girls. She was always careful not to make blunders that angered their leader. The beauty-with-brains did her chores on time, took care of communications with Providence headquarters, and also handled the inventory list, among other things.

Skylar, on the other hand, was clumsy and carefree. She forgot her tasks and responsibilities frequently. When she completed them, they were full of errors.

The Ace lost his temper at Skylar habitually. She was on the receiving end of persistent corporal punishment.

'Perhaps she likes it?' Alice thought bitterly. 'And Drake enjoys giving it to her? A fetish? Should I let him abuse me to make him love me more?'

Alice was making her way back to camp, a towel wrapped around herself with only underwear beneath.

The Fellowship squad had camped overnight a few miles away from the Wyrm Mines, their destination. They were supposed to meet up with Eve and a group of independent contractors for their latest mission.

There was a stream nearby, perhaps a rivulet of the Mio river. It had served them as a source of water for drinking, cleaning, cooking, and bathing.

'Why is he like this? Hot and cold.'

Drake was passionate and heroic during adventures, especially after vanquishing a powerful monster.

However, two more things tamed him.

Booze. And Eve Trinity.

Both Alice and Skylar hated that woman.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"She is eerily good-looking, that slut!" the toweled-draped girl said aloud to the forest. "Maybe she's a witch!"

No matter how much the girls worked out or used beauty potions in the game, they had not yet caught up to Eve in looks.

'Or perhaps Drake likes the bitch because she is as strong as him?'

Eve had recently breached Level 50 with the Ace. She was formidable as a fighter and of a special race, like Drake. Alice and Skylar would love to strip down the slut and check which parts of her were hybrid and which others were cyborg.

'Does he like powerful women, then?' the girl wondered. 'Lovers he cannot overpower?'

Drake was a monster in bed. It was always a threesome, with him ravishing Alice and Skylar. If his limbs were on one, his torso was on the other. He had the fierce capacity to satisfy both of them at the same time. In fact, he exhausted them to the bone, and then some more.

Eve had never let Drake touch her, even though the Trinity girls were supposed to bond physically with their Ace. Several years later, perhaps, they would bear the first generation of experimental progeny.

Drake, however, had never tested Eve's patience. He kept his hands off her.

'She's forbidden fruit for him.'

Maybe the Ace's fondness for Eve was a combination of all the above reasons?

Alice reached the squad's campsite. It was a circular camp with five canvas tents erected for the team of eight players.

The recruits hung around a large log and stumps, which served as a breakfast table and chairs. Nadja, Chad, and Omar were the guys in the group, while Rin and Shay were the girls.

Alice was about to enter their tent when her towel got stuck on a stake. It peeled away and completely slipped off her. Her body, clad only in flimsy underwear, was there for everyone to see.

The girls gave a collective gasp.

Alice was strangely unfazed by the wardrobe malfunction.

She had a very attractive body with a voluptuous bust and wide hips flanking a narrow waist.

Any reasonable, straight male would not miss the occasion to take a peek at her in that state.

However, Nadja, Chad, and Omar looked away immediately.

Drake was in the vicinity. The boys had no intention of shortening their lives. The Ace would skin them alive if they eyed his girls with the slightest hint of desire.

Drake walked towards Alice, picked up her towel, handing it to her.

Slap!

He grinned mischievously and smacked her panty-clad tight ass with his right hand. Alice giggled and scurried into her tent to change into fighting gear.

The Trinity girls and the Ace were four permanent members of the FELLOWSHIP enforcer squad. The regular team was sent on standard missions. However, more often than not, temporary players were attached. They could be trainees, recruits, or independent contractors from the civilian pool of Trinity players, depending on the nature of the mission.

Drake was the leader in all cases, and the unit functioned according to his wisdom and whim.

The first hours of the morning had been scheduled to be a training period for the newbies.

Drake, Skylar, and Alice stood before the recruits, sizing them up as if they had met the first time. The boys and girls paled nervously under their leader's gaze. The previous evening’s performance had been dismal.

Skylar had cleverly let Drake have a bottle of dark rum after breakfast. It would gentle his otherwise impulsive behavior. The Ace had a terrible reputation of getting recruits killed during training, sometimes with his own hands.

"What do we have here?" Drake boomed at his students and chuckled.

'The rum has hit the spot,' Skylar figured. She winked at her Trinity sister.

"It's time to train, kids!" he declared.