Chapter 8: Pretty Boy’s Dilemma

Monster and the stone hallways; those were the two things that occupied Chris and his group for the last four days. In the second floor they encountered an Ent of a higher variation: One that carried a trident that matched the height of a grownup male, spitting fireballs while letting out some cute little noises. After its defeat, the cretin dropped its trident for Luana to use.

After that, mapping the third floor was no easy task. The stone walls were charged with electric magic and a single mishap would send them charred to the clinic. But the group persevered, mowing their way through a large meatloaf who acted like a centipede.

It was then that Chris questioned the labyrinth’s difficulty in his head. He found the first floor leagues harder than the other two, added to the fact that he had Arthur and Lucretia then. He knew something was amiss, as a mere few days wasn’t enough to provide them improvement. Sure they have better teamwork and understanding, but not so much that they could communicate with their eyes.

The fourth floor proved its worth as a joke. A man-sized eraser wearing a freshmen blazer cluttered the hallways, brandishing a sharpened pencil as if it were a spear. Perhaps there was a meaning behind the designs, but he couldn’t get around it no matter how much he pondered. Thus Chris concentrated on one thing: burning them down.

* * *

-  School Clinic  -

Arthur woke to find himself lying on the clinic’s bed. His head in a daze he tried to recall what happened. It seemed like whatever sedative the doctor gave him worked wonders. Feeling lightheaded with a mixture of relief, he tried to move his arm, starting from his fingers to hand. When the sensations returned he clutched onto the sheeting to pull himself up but stopped when he heard an audible moaning on his right. Angling his head, he saw Lucretia fast asleep while hugging a pillow.

Arthur eased back and listened to her breathing for a few minutes before it all came running back in his mind: His first day in a labyrinth had been a disaster. On top of endangering her life, it was her who saved him. Again. It had always been like that. Even back when they were still in Shanoa, Lucretia had always put up for him. He thought to escape her grasp and come back as a better man, thus he enrolled at Rosetta, but she followed him even here. And the same thing occurred, as if he was trapped in an endless cycle.

“Brother, you’re awake.” Lucretia’s voice resounded as he lost himself gazing at the ceiling.

“I am,” he answered back without looking. As he took a deep breath, he felt the bed shifting to accommodate a person’s weight. Lucretia straddled on top of him, dove forward as if to tease.

A seductive smile widened her pinkish lips. “What are you thinking?”

Arthur brushed the golden hair that fell on his cheeks. “Nothing.”

Reaching up he slid his thumb across her slim nasal bridge, pressed one corner of her lips.

Lucretia reacted in a feminine giggle. “You lie. Brother has been awake for a while now yet you say nothing. Why is that?”

“I do not want to wake you up.”

“Brother could wake me up anytime.” She leaned down on his chest while supporting her head with one hand. Trailing down while drawing random circles, her index finger stopped beneath his groin.

“Lucretia! This is a clinic! A-A place for the sick to rest!” he complained, but made no attempt to stop her advance.  

“Tis fine.” She pointed to the privacy panel. “Ms. Sage has left a while ago. It’s just us here.”

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Gazing into her crystal clear green eyes, he was at the edge of losing his rationality.

“But…” Before he could finish, Lucretia dove in and snatched his lips with her own. He felt a stirring below the belt, and it seemed as though the temperature around the room had shot up.

Arthur dropped into the pit of his desires.

* * *

It was mid-afternoon; the sun was flaring on the sky. After selling their loots from the fourth floor, they all decided to visit Arthur. Him and Lucretia not showing up in schedule meant that he was still lying in bed. Suffering injuries was one thing, but it might be due to his mana lines disrupted that lengthened the course of his stay, Chris thought.

On the way to the door of the clinic, Raven stopped. His ears twitching in his silence.

“You guys. How old are you?” he asked in a serious tone.

“Huh? Are you stupid? Why would we tell you our age?” Luana barked at him, arms crossed.

“I stand with Luana. That is confidential information, and not for the boys to know,” Chris interjected with a smile.

“It’s fine isn’t it? It’s not like we’ll lose anything,” said Tess.

“Just answer me dammit!” The lynx growled, blushing red hot.

“I’m eighteen. And Lulu’s two months older. In fact her birthday is on—” Luana stuffed a sticky substance in Tess’ mouth.

“Noisy Tess!” grumbled Luana, dragging Tess with her to the other side of the building.

Chris stood quietly and watched the scene unfold, as he knew what got the Nymph agitated. Starting at the age of eighteen, every time their month of birth approaches, Nymphs undergo a change in behavior. The books he read about it didn’t explain the cause, but Nymphs usually hunger for Essence whether it be from the same gender or not. It was one of the reasons why Nymphs were fabled as seductresses — described as an alluring race from myths and legends. And looking at Luana, Chris saw the potential. A very dangerous potential.

In the end, the two never returned. Whatever happened behind the scenes, Chris could only imagine — the horror!

Raven said, “Good. This is an event for the guys anyways.”

“What’s got you so interested?” Chris scanned the vicinity and found no one but them. The clinic was isolated from the rest of the buildings and a sound barrier was placed on the rooms to lessen the noise coming from the injured patients. It was understandable, yet he still thought of it as weird.

“You’ll see.” Raven turned and placed his ears on the door. Then he gestured for Chris to come along.

Chris allowed the boy inside him to take over. He placed his ear beside his partner in crime and listened. Grunting, panting, begging, moaning — it was a mixture of everything.

Chris gasped at what he heard. It was ‘that’.

“Should we take a peek?” asked Raven with bated breath, his feline ears dancing left and right.

“Nah, we shouldn’t intrude.” Chris shifted a turn and pressed his back against the door, as treasured memories from knight school prevailed in his mind.

She was a stuck-up girl. The perfect student. A chance of fate allowed him to know her, and they taught each other many things. Those secret meeting of theirs eventually turned into something. Like a secret only the two of them could understand. She graduated two years ahead of him, and since then had gone a different way. Their paths had crossed slightly, in professional terms, but that was all. And it would only remain that way.