There was nothing bloody conjuring up in my head. I had no nightmares and it felt like I have utter control of my dreams at that very moment. Well, it felt more like I was inside of my own head. I can slightly feel every ounce of my body and I can think even if I was in this dream. Hell, I was surprise that I can do this even if I was asleep. I doubt that this was normal though- something was wrong.

The fact that I did not have a nightmare and having this strange lucid dream only confirms the eeriness and weirdness coming soon. Everything around me was in a dark grey color with fog surrounded the entire area. Looking around the area, I feel the fog moving around ever so slowly. I know I had utter control of myself, but I was confused to why I was trapped in my own head. 

A voice decides to answer my own question.

“You are here because we need to talk.” Turning around, I eye at feminine hooded figure sitting in a chair. The voice seems to be twisted, a dark deep demonic tone mixed in with the subtle and bored tone of a grown female, “To talk about the fact that you hold me now.”

“Who are you?” I ask, trying to get a better view of this mysterious figure. I have never seen this person before, and their presence disturbed me. Every ounce of my body wanted to attack this strange being for some odd reason. Even my thoughts were being twisted into blinding rage and utter hatred, wanting to attack and shred this individual. Grasping my head, the figure laughs at my struggle. Obviously, this person can sense my troubled state. 

Hell, I bet that this being IS the reason why I feel like this.

“You can feel it right? That rage and hatred you hold deep in you? It is something you have deep in you. This is the monster, the power which you can unleash if you want to save those you cherish the most.” Piecing everything together, this entity was not being friendly at all. 

I can say this thing is a devil, a succubus, a wraith, something that wants me to use anger and hatred for the wrong reasons. Well, to be honest, it wasn’t wrong. I have all the reasons to be anger and strike out on my enemies considering me as weak and foolish. Bringing up these thoughts, I can feel my body growing hotter, the pain and the rage slowly consuming every ounce of my body. It felt like a fire slowly burning me. 

Fighting this, I ask again, “Who are you?”

“Little foolish, pathetic, ignorant girl. I am the weapon your friends died for. I am the Demonic Souleater known as Anathema. Understand that I am lecturing you right now, little girl. You are being played by everyone you meet. All of those strong warriors are using you to whatever ends they see fit. As for your friends, they are dying. Your beloved ones are dying, and there is nothing you can do to stop it. This is why you should accept me, and your monster.” 

Unbearable pain surge through my body as I can feel the figure appearing before me, forcing me to stand up from my lowered position, staring at me right in the eyes. 

Of course, this figure had no human features whatsoever. It was nothing- a sea of shadows underneath their hooded robe. I eye at where their face should be, grinding my teeth as I refuse such silly thoughts. 

Me, using hatred and angry to gain revenge?! 

Despite this burning pain erupting throughout my body, I force my hands to punch the figure. It disappears before my fist touched the being, the strange entity levitates above me. This being was looking down on me.  

“And you resist? For what reasons do you fight? With me and my powers, you can win against the fools that look down on you. You can even rival against that Death Knight.”

“And what will you do with my body? Aren’t you trying to use me too?” I ask, knowing that this weapon might be trying to gain something out of this.

A slight chuckle escape the being’s nonexistent mouth. 

At that point, I know that this weapon had no ulterior motives to use me like all the others. Maybe use me to satisfy its own needs, but it was not something like killing me or controlling my body utterly. It was a very simple desire that this being wants from me. Placing a guess on the one that came into my head, the being just spreads its arms out, answering my question. 

The chuckle it gave hinted how ridiculous my question was.

“I want death. I want to feel your genuine and pure hatred, your aggressiveness, and every ounce of anger you hid in that little frame of yours. Why would I want to control a body? That is not the same like having you do it on your own accord. Besides, as a unique Souleater, I cannot go against my master. If you do not submit to me willingly, then I cannot control you or give you my powers.” 

Raising an eyebrow I was going to ask something. In response, the being answered my question, “That pain you are feeling is caused by you- not me. I only picked you up; I can feel the tension you already gain by the ‘farce’ you place. You are upset at the death of your knights, but you are upset at yourself for being so weak. Well maybe the pain is also from me just talking to you, the burning pain you feel is your rage being manifested alive as we talk. If you cannot control your anger and rage or feelings of sadness, then this pain won’t leave you. If you cannot control this pain, I will be able to have you unleash my full powers right now.” 

Listening to this, I quickly shove most of the thoughts away. 

Was hard to do for a good five minutes, the pain burning up everytime I thought about them. It got to the point that I was on all four, panting and wheezing violently as I struggle to control such pain. This pain felt like swords pierced into my body casually. It was not quick. It was agonizing, the invisible blades slowly savoring their way into my body. 

“Say… how come you are unique? What makes a Souleater unique? Why do you have a name in particular, Anathema?” The figure just rolls around in mid air like nothing, shaking its head.

“You are utterly foolish. I question you a lot more than needed little girl. I am unique because of my requirements. Instead of using a skill or mastery, or some other trifling safe requirement mechanism, I demand deaths of your friends or masters. Technically you need to have three of these masters or friends die. Of course you won’t know if you are trying to unlock me, but I will know. Me talking to you will give you a huge hint. 

Hearing this, I already knew that Gallant died, but my mind still rejected this. The fact that I denied and feel like this being was lying only let loose the rage and misery that were held in minutes ago. The pain burst throughout my body, my mind feels like its being torn apart. Malicious rage, utter desires to kill the Death Knight filled my head. Grasping it, I try to silence this. The figure was still talking, but my ears could only hear the sound of a tidal wave, ravaging violently against something. 

What snapped me out of it was a punch in my gut. I cough a bit, regaining control over me. 

The figure decided to take action. This surprised me, yet it only gives proof that the weapon has no desires to actually take over, for now.

“You owe me for that one.” The being said, “You turning right now wouldn’t be a good idea.” 

Grasping my chest, the punch felt like a steel gauntlet ramming past my bone. I did not think about Gallant anymore, the actually physical pain delivered to me distracted me to direct more questions. I need information, once again.

“Turn?”

“You turn into a manifestation of your hatred and anger to fulfill whatever you set your mind to. For example, if I let you turn right there and then, you would snap out of your dream state, wake up, and hunt down the Death Knight till she is actually dead. To answer your inquiries from earlier, I am unique due to the fact I have been used by many masters before you, and I evolved due to the many deaths that feed me. My name is Anathema because I am the power that can use your hatred, anger, and sorrow. I can direct it into power and at the hated object you want dead. This is a perk I gain after I evolved from a regular Souleater.” 

Taking this new information, I was slightly amazed at how Souleaters can become living beings. With such knowledge, it was no wonder why Gallant was pushing for his own death to give me such a weapon. Once again, I can feel the slight burn from bringing him up, but it was quickly silenced before it went out of hands. I find it a tad sad to halt such thoughts now, but I have to deal with this growing pain.  

No, not just pain. I have to control my emotions.

I know, for sure, that this is just the beginning. There is no way to protect everything and there is no way for me to stop certain death. Those around me will die eventually. Of course, I might try everything in my power to stop this, but I will have to accept it if things go for the worse. Even if I am in denial, death is something that everyone will have to face. What the figure said next offended me. My emotions getting the best of me and feeling that burning flame engulf my body.

“Despite the feelings of being overwhelmed and having your father figures die in front of you, I think you haven’t experienced the worst sort of feeling that can literally allow me to persuade you.” 

Eyeing at the figure, I said, “Even though I thank you for helping me, I am not letting you sway me easily with hatred or anger. Not with you around! I do not even know what your powers can do, and you might betray me.”

“Getting bit cocky bitch,” the figure said, growling and staring right at me, “But that’s good. The better the front, the more I’ll savor and relish your fall. Know that you are ignorant and weak. You have no knowledge and no powers in this world. You are a small insect upon this giant ass spiderweb filled with lies and deceit. Despite your childish self, I will be looking forward to see how you prove me wrong. When the time comes for you to use my powers, I will not hesitate to let you use them. I advise you, for now, not to pull me out of the ring unless you get into the required state. Ta-ta little girl.”      

Exiting that dream, I can feel my eyelids pop open. 

I slept rather well, no nightmares other than that conversation I had with the Souleater. 

Should call it Anathema I guess. 

Sighing slightly, I start to piece together what I need to do. 

There is no doubt about it, I have to get stronger. I know that Len wants me for some reason, and Valarie is messing with me. I must control my rage. 

No, that is not the only thing I have to control. 

There are more things than just emotions, I have to change the way I think, the things I do, and I have to become better in everything! This world is vicious and fierce, there is no way for me to survive if I cannot adapt, if I cannot learn by myself and walk down the road I must carve myself, I shall die stupidly. 

Those who have already died for me will be place in shame. Use everything to my advantage. 

Shaking my head slightly, I refuse to allow such silly notions of hatred or anger to give me power. I haven’t used them now, and I won’t rely on them. 

Something strange started to burst in my body. A sense of joy? Maybe fruitation of something new and exciting? 

I just chuckle lightly to myself. This feeling was certainly something I have never felt before. This could be the steps of me becoming a true adventurer- away from that secluded life. Right now, I am by myself.

Well, I have Esta and Lurie with me. 

Planning to get up from my bed, I felt a slight tug forcing me back down against the mattress. 

Something was weighing down on my arms. 

Glancing at my right and left, I wish I was dreaming. Both my arms were preoccupied with two naked girls. 

Due to my puzzled state, my hands cupped around both their breasts and squeeze them. In my defense, my hands were curious to what was keeping them down. Something happened last night, my face slowly turning bright red. 

Esta was sleeping soundly on my right, her pleasant sleeping baby-faced expression with her arms, and breasts, leeching on my arm. On the other hand, Lurie has a different sort of cuteness to her. Not like a child’s, but more of a refined and, well in my view, calm expression of loving something. Most of the time, she has a dull and serious expression. 

Eyeing at myself, I decide to see if I was naked. Well, I should have figured this out due to my naked top. I mean, moving my bed sheets off my upperbody, the naked cold air and my pink nipples should have been a clear hint that I was stripped of all my clothes.

Was this why Anathema said, “This wouldn’t be a good time for you to turn?” Trying to slide my arms away from their grasps, I can feel how sensitive my body is right now. Every time I move my legs against each other, it tingles, sending a very awkward sensation. My body feels slightly wet as well. Shaking nervously, I try to recall what transpired in my mind. 

I am sure, 80% sure, I had sex. No, this was more of rape. 

Why? 

Because I can barely remember what happened! I did not start anything! Recalling last night, I know I just fell asleep. Fidgeting a bunch more, I start to bite the lower part of my lip, quivering and questioning myself over and over, am I really innocent?! Did I use some sort of magic on them? 

Maybe it too cold and they all wanted to sleep with me- Fucking bullshit! 

There is no way that this was just a naked group hug without any sort of interaction! Hell, my body is SUPER sensitive right now. As I slide my left arm from Lurie, I grasp my head, trying to control the rising temperature and the thoughts stacking on each other. Why did this happen?!

Was it the curse? Eyeing at their necks, I can see small bite marks on them. 

Was this due to my curse Valarie placed on me? 

Thinking about it a bit more, I can start to calm down a bit. If this was the curse’s doing, I am technically innocent, yet I am still puzzled at how this escalated. Doesn’t the curse force me into some monster that kills and suck blood violently? This was a tad peaceful and different from what I image. This could also explain why I did not think up of all those bad nightmares again. 

Right, my deadline to transform was very soon. The question that pops in my head now is why are these two girls naked? If I was to suck their blood, it shouldn’t have lead to nudity. Maybe it did because they did not want blood stains on their outfits, but still, why are they in my bed?

Yep. It’s settled. I lost my virginity, and was fucked by two girls. It could also explain why both of them are smiling while they hug my arm- Damn it Esta, let go of my damn arm! Extracting my own arm from Esta was taking minutes of slow tugs and pulls. When I have my hands slide against her collarbone, she lets out a cute giggle. 

My mind starts to conjure up all the things we could have done. This made me want to bang my head against the wall though. How can I lose my virginity and not remember anything!? I feel like this was all Anthema’s fault, but I doubt that our conversation was long. I’ll ask these two what happened later. 

Sighing softly, I slowly crawled out of bed, heading to the restroom. When I start to wash myself, my body was super sensitive when I start to clean my…

After I wash myself, it was time for me to get busy. There are several things I want done. Leaving the room quietly with a regular brown gown and some brown flats, I eye at the rank thirteen Skullclaw orc. 

How long was this warrior waiting? 

Tossing that question aside, the orc bows to me. Wearing that heavy gray armor, I sort of question how he didn’t fall down to the first floor. Remember what I told them, I wanted to change their objectives again. 

“We need to talk.” I said, leading the way as the warrior followed.

“I figured. It seems it was wise of me to confront you before I told the others to go off and do our original tasks you assigned us.” Walking down the steps and exiting out of the tavern, I eye at the other nineteen armored orcs. They were all talking among themselves. When they saw me though, they quickly turn and kneel to me. The thirteen rank orc positioned himself between his kind and me. Eyeing at me, he asks, “What are your plans?”

“Have you checked the area for any of Titus’ soldiers?” One of the orcs spoke up, “There are none in the area. We patrolled last night and checked around the area. None of them are around.”

“Alright,” I eye at them, “I will want at least seven ten rank orcs to stay here, two twelve, and you, thirteen rank orc. The others will be split into two groups. Each will have four of the rank ten orcs lead by one rank twelve orc leader. The first group, I want you guys to find those bodies that Golem killed yesterday- Len’s advanced soldiers. I want you to hide the bodies, if they are still there, and take their equipment. If they do not have a storage ring on them, immediately come back and deliver me the armor. It’s a very unique armor I want to inspect. After that, I want you to go back into Zezrious and purchase some books- tame creatures or kill other goblin clans to gain the money. The books I want you to get…” 

I quickly wrote them on a piece of paper, “Are listed here.” As I handed them the list. They bow and left immediately. Turning to the other group, I said, “I want you guys to mine and gather crafting materials for outfits…”I stop myself. What level was my crafting again? Checking quickly, I was somewhat surprised.

Skill Gained In: [Level 29 --> Level 34]

“Level 34 materials,” scratching my head at how it increased, “Also, if you can make methods of gaining money, do that as well. Don’t kill any innocent people though- thieving and robbery is a no.” The other team nods, leaving my sight to do the task I gave them. 

Eyeing at the others, I said, “Me and you will need to talk leader. You two twelve rank warrior keep an eye on Lurie and Esta, just guard the door. If you hear anything strange, just check up on them.” They nod at this. 

Compared to us three, these orcs are in cursed armor. They do not need any sleep, so they can watch over us at nighttime. “The rest of you orcs, I want you to gain information about possible jobs in the area, hear about any sort of news or trouble, and learn about the profit, trades, and merchandise people want in nearby towns or cities, other than Zezrious.” 

The seven warriors nod at this, already leaving the area, or heading back into the tavern. As the two twelve rank warriors re-entered the tavern, I turn to the thirteen rank orc.

“What weapon was Len making?”The orc was a tad puzzled at my question. I need to know what invention Len made. It seems like his creation will become more absurd and numerous depending on the time I enter the Pillars of Gluttony. Information will be a key role against fighting and figuring out what Len is up to. I still have his ring, and I’ll pretend to be on his good side. 

For now, I will not use it to communicate with him. This item will be handy later when I make my return. The reason why I want to get that strange bizarre purple armor from Len’s special troopers is because of the Anti-Field. Recalling the scene with those three girls who pursued me in the forest, the armor nullified the effects of the Pressure Realm. Hell, I did not see how Len easily defend his city. King Len shall be a foe I cannot take down easily, if things come to it. He wants me, but for what? I need to plan ahead and beat him.

“The weapon was some sort of vehicle,” the orc explained, trying to figure out how to exactly explain the thing he saw, “From what King Len explained, it is machinery where someone enters it and pilots it. I have no clue what that means. The ores we gathered were really tough to mine, but due to our orcs’ mining level, it was easy to gather. He wanted an abundance of it though.” 

Thinking about it, I have very little knowledge of the ores that go beyond the basic armor I usually see on people. Hell, the armor I am wearing, I barely know the material used to make it. Guessing it is a unique ore, this armor is like my Black Knight’s cursed armor. The usually ore to mine would be steel, bronze, silver, gold, coal, copper, steel, metal, and iron. Now I know the unique ores would be mithril, orichalcum, and adamantium. These unique ores are very tough and hard to mine.

“What ore did he tell you to mine?” The leader was still trying to figure out how to word it. He was very silent as he scratches his iron head, grunting, and grumbling. “It was some new ore I cannot describe. The mining requirement was high though. It demanded rank eight or nine warriors who are experts in mining it. The ore was not adamantium, I can assure you. It was a different color and something unseen before. That place was a secret mine of so many different ores. To be honest, it made me want to mine that place for a long while.” 

This was quite… troubling. A mine that has unidentified ores? Was that possible? King Len has many surprises up his sleeve. There is no way that my orc would lie about this. I have to take this seriously. If Len had this many resources up his sleeve, I worry what he plans to do in the future. 

Also, if he really wanted to mass produce his weapons, or the vehicles he just made, he might be making and talking with the Skullclaw clan. He used my orcs to finalize the prototypes. It wouldn’t be a surprise if there was an alliance between him and the orcs to produce more of those vehicles.

There was no use to worry about it right now though. I am still weak, and I have no fame. I do not have enough information or sources to go up against him either. I do not have an army or strong allies to rely on. Technically, we’re on good terms, so King Len won’t suspect anything from me. Unless he knows that I cannot be trusted. Well, I am far away from him, so his focus will be on rebuilding and doing other tedious tasks. Hell, if I remember correctly, they will go to war against Emperor Titus soon. I mean, Prince Arnos just died, so Titus will have to blame someone. Knowing him, the Emperor will point to Len and accuses him for letting his armies die.

“Well that is all I guess.” Knowing my next area to head to, I doubt that I will need to know anymore about Len. 

Our next destination is to the Pillars of Gluttony- far west of our location right now. 

“Oh right, tell the other orcs when they come back that we’ll be moving out tomorrow around this time.” The leader nods at me, heading back into the tavern. Rubbing my head, I start to question various things. 

How did my crafting gained levels? Scratching my head a bit more, the secret feature when I usually hit a new rank came in. It was my [Queen Witch of Darkness] perk. Alright, this only confirms the fact I had sex with the two. 

But wait, I only gained +5 in crafting. If I had sex with both, isn’t it supposed to be +10? Something was odd. I need to see which skills leveled up.

Skills Gained in: [Level 20 Unarmed] --> [Level 25 Unarmed]

[Level 20 Rearm] --> [Level 25 Rearm]

[Level 20 Bite] --> [Level 25 Bite]

[Level 20 Slash] --> [Level 25 Slash]

[Level 20 Cooking] --> [Level 25 Cooking]

[Level 21 Axes] --> [Level 26 Axes]

[Level 21 Traps] --> [Level 26 Traps]

[Level 23 Rune Making] --> [Level 28 Rune Making]

[Level 23 Gun Smith] --> [Level 28 Gun Smith]

[Level 23 Daggers] --> [Level 28 Daggers]

[Level 24 Spears] --> [Level 29 Spears]

[Level 24 Bondage] --> [Level 29 Bondage]

[Level 24 Beast Taming] --> [Level 29 Beast Taming]

[Level 24 Bartering] --> [Level 29 Bartering]

[Level 24 Disarming Traps] --> [Level 29 Disarming Traps]

[Level 25 Sewing] --> [Level 30 Sewing]

[Level 25 Shields] --> [Level 30 Shields]

[Level 27 Enslavement] --> [Level 32 Enslavement]

[Level 28 Kidnapping] --> [Level 33 Kidnapping]

[Level 28 Mining] --> [Level 33 Mining]

[Level 28 Enchant] --> [Level 33 Enchant]

[Level 28 Pickaxes] --> [Level 33 Pickaxes]

[Level 29 Beast Training] --> [Level 34 Beast Training]

[Level 29 Inspect] --> [Level 34 Inspect]

Technically, the perk is supposed to give +5 to those I had sex unless one of the two did not gain the dark powers. Will it be alright for me to ask those two if they felt any changes? Speaking of changes, the biggest concern I have is this principle I gained, or developed. Principle of Chaos and Harmony was the name of whatever I made when I fused dark and light together to attack Lurie. 

Strange though, isn’t the combination a simple sort of thing most hybrid mages do? I would like to test this out, but I am trying to understand the concept and theories. If I can look at the basic books that talk about such laws and notions for light and dark, I can grasp a better understanding to this. Despite the outcome of fusing the attacks together, the biggest downfall out of it all was the giant toll it took on my body.

It felt like I was going to die after I used that move. My entire body was sapped of mana and I puked out blood. 

In my training with magic, that was the first time I puked out blood ever. This only hints that whatever I did was something above, or out of the ordinary. I know I should research and figure out the basic understanding to wielding light on its own, and dark, but my curiosity is getting the best of me, as always. 

Taking the initiative, I decided to head deeper into the woods, away from the tavern. Depending on what I do, I might want to avoid any sort of fatal destruction and casualties. Entering an open plain, I decide to stand there and think about two spells to use and try to fuse them together. Motioning my hands in a horizontal movement, two arrows appear in front of me. 

On my left, a Dark Arrow floats there as the Light Arrow is on my right. Examining both arrows, they are literally shaped as an arrow, but the color was definitely different. The question coming to my mind now was how to fuse these two together. 

Taking the obvious route, I decide to slowly move them towards one another. By doing this, I can see both of their colors fusing into a strange glowing and dimming dark white color. Watching, the shape of the arrow was slowly being formed into a new one through the fusing. As I continue this, I can feel a hot intensity engulfing my hands.

A burning sensation that was really odd to feel! I stop fusing the arrows together, having a sudden explosion erupting from this all. Summoning out an energy and mana shield, I can feel myself fly across the ground. Bouncing off of the dirt ground, I quickly rolled in the air to land on my feet. A huge explosion also erupted where I once stood, the very ground showing a crater. 

That was a bit troubling. Not only did it explode, a burning sensation was in my hands. How come it burned my hand? Magic doesn’t do that to the user on purpose. There must have been something that happened before I fused. Thinking long and hard, I recall my fight I had when I first engaged Lurie. Lying on the grassy ground, I pull out every exact thing I did when we were fighting. The last clash we had, we buffed ourselves up.

“So… I have to buff myself that much with dark and light to even fuse. Huh, strange concept. I am gonna assume that this only lessens the recoil of combing both skills at once?” Allowing myself to be coated in dark energy and light energy, I activated Devil’s Embrace and Holy Grace. Drawing out both arrows from before, I slowly combine them as I can feel a ton of my magic leaving my body. It was a bit entrancing and tiring. 

The mana in my body was being absorbed into this new fusion arrow. As I slowly fuse both dark and light arrows together into one, I eye at the dark resonating white arrow before me. It seems a tad odd. The weight seems the same. The arrow glows and resonate a purple white aura flowing around the very shape. 

What happens if I use it like an attack? Eyeing at where I once stood earlier, I decide to toss the arrow over there.

I quickly retreated from my spot, jumping a ton of feet away once I realized how dangerous the damn blast was! 

The arrow, upon impact, slowly struck into the ground. Once it sinks itself into the ground, a huge blast of dark and light erupts from the area and creates a tremendous shock wave of energy decimating all within its radius. That one arrow took a ton of my energy and it can create this much damage?! The blast was devastating as well. 

This was quite a discovery, hoping to use this later on if the time comes for it. Curious, does the speed affect the fused attack? Testing this out, I quickly summon out a light and dark arrow, and slam them into one. There was no sudden sap of my energy, confusing me. Tossing it quickly to the area I previously targeted, I only watch the arrow just sink deeper into the ground at a faster rate. There was no explosion and I felt utterly fine. 

Why is that? Scratching my head, I start to theorize stuff that I might be making up. Like I stated before, if I knew a bit more about dark and light energy, I might be able to understand how or why this is happening.

Right, I gained so many skills, perks, and abilities after that siege on Zezrious, I should test them out here and there. At present, I am a rank three warrior and mage with a ton of high level skills in my arsenal. Not only that, I have a ton of perks and abilities that can also combat that of a six-winged angel or even higher. Although even if I have all these things, I do not think I can combat against Charlotte without my own Souleater. Despite me having that special one, I do want to have two blades. 

Hell, I do not know if Anthema is a single-handed blade. Knowing this for sure, I will not use it. 

Huh, that’s another good question. 

Will my level of a certain weapon affect the Souleater? Anthema stated that all of the Souleater have a requirement of level and some sort. Most likely, I will be able to tell if I get my hands on a Souleater. Guessing I can bind it to me? 

Well, whatever the case, I will have to continue my training and start to gather a lot more Intel. Especially this law and principle concepts, I will have to master this. To be honest, I gained so many new skills, I want to test them all right now on something, but I need to stay low.

Last time I wanted to test stuff out, I almost got killed by Charlotte. Not knowing whats around here, I will have to avoid bumping into strong enemies. Most likely, once I get to rank six, I can use these skills on the creatures in the Pillars of Gluttony. Pondering on this thought, am I really accepting Lurie as a companion? 

It is strange for an angel to just chase after me. It could be the perks making her do this, but is she following me for knowledge and other sorts? Esta is following me out of loyalties, but do I really need those two to follow me to such dangers? Ugh, I can feel my body feeling strange. No, it was more of a realization. 

Those two shouldn’t follow me. 

Not to where I plan to go. Only danger will befall them, and I really don’t want them to encounter such things. They might be killed by me. Sighing to myself, I just eye towards the direction of the tavern. I have to talk to those two. I have to cut my ties and let them go. It’s for the best.

Walking back to the tavern, I can see both of them calmly talking to each other. Strange to see them being cooperative compared to last night. If they ask me how it was, I am going to have to lie, or be honest about it. I feel like those two will feel insulted for me to be asleep when we did it. Ugh, this is going to be awkward as hell. Grasping my head, I couldn’t help but shake my head and sigh loudly. 

This will be a troubling conversation. 

Not only will I tell them about the fact I do not remember the time we fucked, I will try to get them to do something else then follow me. I will have to give Esta some money and push the angel to find some other master. Out of the two, Lurie really shouldn’t be bothered by me pushing her away. As I approach the, both of them said my name. It was awkward to hear them say it in unison.

“Aisha!”

“Hello Esta and Lurie.” I said, chuckling lightly. This was a bit harder than I thought. Acting a tad nervous and sweating a bit, I hope those two would not bring up our intercourse. I cannot recall anything, forcing my head to remember anything! Just something! 

Sadly, everything is at a blank. 

Esta was staring at me with a very gleeful expression. Her facial expression was too cute for me to stare at although Lurie was giving off a slight smile that made her look attractive- not saying that she isn’t, but it emphasized a bright side that I wouldn’t have suspected in an angel. Hell, I do not recall any details about angels, but they are supposed to be devoid of emotions. They are to be dedicated on training and ranking up.

“How was your sleep master?” Esta says, closing her big eyes to give off another cute expression.

“I-It was fine.” I responded, avoiding any eye contact with the two. Lurie, having a better perception on things, noticed my fidgeting self.

“Is something troubling you?” she asks, raising an eyebrow.

“N-No… Nothing.” I quickly burst out, waving my hands in front of me. “Although on a serious note I will have to talk about something important to you two.” Shifting gears like this could be better. I did not want to delay myself on the topic of sex. Both of them got out of their happy mood, eyeing at me with concern. 

“Are you sure you two want to follow me? Knowing what just happened yesterday, I will be traveling down a very dangerous road to become stronger. The Pillars of Gluttony is the next destination. When I enter there, I bet I won’t be leaving that place until I become stronger than before and acquire a Souleater. There are also numerous and probably fierce some and vicious creatures of all types. I cannot be sure that I can protect you with the powers I have now. If you have anything else you want to do, I advise you guys just stop following me.” 

Their somewhat changed expression went from happy, attentive, to dismay.

“Master Aisha… you know that I plan to follow you no matter what! This life of mine was saved by you- I do not even have anywhere else to go!” Esta exclaims, her frown stabbing daggers into my pained heart. For unknown reasons, despite our time together, seeing Esta in such a foul expression sours me and pains me tremendously. Why was that? Shoving down these emotions, I continue on, “I know this is painful for me to say it, but I really do not want to see you in any pain because of me.”

“Hearing this is already beginning me great pain though! Are you trying to push me away?” Esta’s voice starts to shake, her body trembling. Not eyeing at Lurie at all, I continued on with my reason. This next one sort of hammered down on Esta hard.

“You might die! I do not even know if I can save you!” I was not angry at all, but it came out in an exclamation. Listening in the peaceful atmosphere, I felt like the birds nearby flew away, disrupting that peace. The very calm nature of the atmosphere was slowly becoming louder, every ounce of life running about nearby. My exclamation also sounded as if it echoed in the air. 

Along with the echo of someone being slapped- oh wait. It was me. Turning my face, I eye at Lurie. She has a fierce expression that terrifies me.

“Are you that dumb!?” she asks, “Do you not know how much love this girl has given you, and you want her to leave you!? And you’re pushing her away after all the things you said?!” My eyes drift back to Esta, already covering her face with her hands, unleashing many cries from her lips. Without saying anymore, Lurie takes Esta back into the tavern. 

Coming out of the door was the orc leader, watching the two girls leave my sight. Turning to me, I just stood there utterly puzzled, but I feel like I did something wrong. Was it my fault to show high concerns for their lives? Frustrated a bit, I rub my cheek where Lurie slapped me. 

This was a familiar pain. 

Back then, my father would constantly slap me if I was disobedient with his commands. Like how I was angry at him for tossing my friend out, he slapped me. My mother never slapped me, but my dad did. When I wanted to do things a princess shouldn’t be doing, he silenced me with a slap. I avoided any sort of confrontation with my father when I hit a certain age. The stinging feeling only brought me slight discomfort. What pained me was seeing Esta in a wretched state, but slightly confuse. What else could I have said? Was there an easier way of saying this all?

“You’re way too innocent and dumb sometimes master. You have to be a bit more conscious of your followers’ feelings.” I turn to the orc leader.

“I guess I am ignorant to a lot of things.” I admit, “But what else could I have said? I needed to get those two off me before they venture into any danger.”

“And you haven’t told us to stop following you? Why is that?” the orc responds with another a question.

“Because you guys I don’t exactly care for.” Those words just left my mouth automatically. Planning to retake them back, the leader stops me. 

“Exactly. We already know we’re expendable. We are technically your prisoners, or servants. Those two, however, are not toys. They are not expendable to you. You cannot care for everyone like certain individuals. For example, you can care for your armies, but do you love them like your family? Can you treat your armies like your family? Every individual has a different response to how they treat others. It is not like you offended me because you don’t care for us. We already know that you don’t. We don’t care as long as we get our fun out of this all.”

“I sort of knew this. I am just confused to why they’re mad? I don’t want them to die because of me. I know if we bumped into someone strong like that Death Knight, I won't be able to save them. Let alone protect them.”

“Are you that concerned of others? Are you not afraid of what might happen to you if you die alone?” the orc leader eyes at me, “Understand that dying alone can be a worse fate compared to not dying alone. Maybe dying alone is better sometimes, maybe dying for someone is better. When it comes to companions, know that it isn’t easy to separate from one another. Once someone goes beyond the friend zone, I doubt you can cut them off that easily.”

“What do you mean?” slightly puzzled by this orc’s last statement.

“That elf has already fallen in love with ya. It is very obvious. Even though we don’t know her, that elf hasn’t stopped talking about ya most of the time. She talks about you in high regards, and never, ever, wants to separate from you. I mean, hell, a girl wouldn’t tackle you to the ground in a middle of an evacuation. Of course she was worried, but she did a random out of the ordinary sort of gesture when she saw you.”

“If she loves me, isn’t it better for her not to go on dangerous adventures with me?” I asked.

“You are such a virgin.” The orc commits. I blush slightly, hoping that this orc wasn’t referring to me losing my virginity last night, “Without you, she’ll be a wreck. She won’t stop thinking about you, and she won’t be able to live without you. This is why it will be hard to even cut such ties. And that response is why she's crying.”

“But then she might die if she continues to come with me.” I repeated, trying to figure out whats the point of tagging along with me to danger. Watching her die troubles me and pains me enormously.

“Then she’ll be happy to die for you or die with you. She will be agonizing, regretting, and worry about you if you were to separate. IF she even allows that. Aisha, as a warrior who fought with countless of warriors, it is better to know when to run, when to submit, and when to fight to the death. In your case, since you are a lot stronger than us Skullclaw orcs, you will have to use everything in your power to protect those you love. Maybe you might die in the process, but it is worth defending your lover. She wants to tag along with you, and if things do go wrong, will you shove aside your own securities to save her?” 

Realizing my mistake, I felt a bit sour and start to loathe myself. How can I be so blind? I am being quite selfish in too many regards. I haven’t thought about Esta’s feelings at all, and what’s worse, what I exclaim was a hint to what might happen. No, the guilt in me right now knows that I might have run away or not protects Esta when danger does befall us. Obviously, Esta and Lurie do not know this, but I know that if we fought someone like the Death Knight, I would have ran away leaving those two behind. Fear. 

“You’re still innocent to a lot of things,” the orc leader sighs under his heavy helmet, “You will understand what I mean when you will fight for something. At the moment, you only know fear and maybe helplessness, but it will change depending on the scenario. At the very least, apologize for your ignorance and your stupidity.” 

Before he walks away, I said, “Thank you for the conversation.” 

While the orc leader heads deeper into the woods, I decided to go back into the tavern. I need to let Lurie and Esta calm down and myself. Sitting at a table, I just sat there and order a cup of ale. 

I shouldn’t think too much about this yet. Time is of the essence. Giving a few gold coins, I also asked the waitress, “Heard any news that has been going on recent?” The old woman shoves the gold in her apron, whispering to me, “There are some rumors about some unknown beast ravaging the land. In the next city if you keep going west, there will be a Guild order to suppress it. Other than that, there are skirmishes between light and dark forces where you can grab some loot. Well, careful, even after a fight, there are some stranglers. Other than that, those two are the major ones. The rest are minor things like how bandits, goblins, and orcs tend to attack merchants stopping here and going to the next city. If you want to get some easy transportation, just sign up to guard a random merchant group.” Thanking her, I just continue to drink my ale slowly.

Using my enhanced hearing, I tuned in to most of the conversations in the bar. Some of the Skullclaw orcs were chatting about as well, letting them do their assigned tasks and butting out of their conversations. Eavesdropping on most of these adventurers, I learned a bit more about various trades going on here and there. Zezrious tends to do all sorts of business. 

Despite the ruler being Len, one of the heroes and renowned king, it has a ton of job opportunities and trades that can be done compared to other cities. The next city that we’ll head to is Cromer. Apparently, the city focuses more on trades and exceeds well in selling crafted materials. Cromer is not part of the kingdom Len is in, meaning I can keep a low profile. All cities and slightly big towns have a Guild center for people to do work. There are also some cities with Mage Academy and a public library. Lastly, only a very few hold certain specialize classes buildings or martial art buildings.

Continuing my eavesdropping, I can conclude that several of these adventurers came from the west. They talked about how they glance at the Pillars of Gluttony entrance. It was something they never seen before in their life. Crowds of people enter past the gates just to participate. Apparently, there’s a big event coming soon. Slightly confused by this, I wanted to enter into their conversation. They quickly moved to a different topic, leaving a ton of unanswered questions. 

Shoving them aside though, I continue on with the eavesdropping. Some of the adventurers were mages, talking about their skills and what they mastered. Warriors within the tavern start to boast about their skills in their weapons. Listening to them though, I was able to understand some slight things about certain concepts. When I was a rank nine mage, I did not have any sort of ability to buff myself. Most of the adventurers were below rank ten, but their expertise in what they do increased my knowledge.

Taking the ability Devil’s Embrace and Holy Grace, those two can aid me in increasing the damage of my light and dark attacks while lowering the mana consumption used for it. Not only that, because I have the perks for dark, evil, holy, and light mage, it also lowers down the mana usage for the element. This does not increase speed, cast time, and fusing. Due to the perk, dual-wielding, I can use different types of magic easily. Well, as long as I have two different elements spells to combine. The issue that I have is my lack of  abilities that can buff me when I use anything other than evil, holy, dark and light magic. Apparently, Damnation Rite and Holy Charge are abilities where it can buff my dark and light castings and speed. That can explain how I conjure half of the spells I used against Lurie in our fight. Enough about magic though.

Learning from the warriors, I have to unlock most of the abilities by figuring out a law or principle already established. Knowing a bit off of my knights, I can try to imitate them later. To even get the chance to unlock them, I will have to find someone to teach me it, or read it off of somewhere. Then, the next order of business would be to practice it. With my Dark Inheritor perk, I can easily snatch one if I wanted to, but I can teach myself some abilities. I might toy around with shields as my main weapons, or just have a set of weapons to draw out of my ring when needed. 

My gun skills and dual wielding abilities is up there, using those will easily render any enemies or opponents below me as meat fodder. If I do plan to use different weapons, I will have to make them. I might want to hide my powerful magic attacks and my martial arts unless the situation calls for it. My magic is definitely above that of rank three mage. It will also be easy to kill lower enemies with this.

Wait. There is one skill that I do not have. Blacksmith, if that is a skill. Maybe I can befriend one and get reduce prices. Questioning this, I thought that the orcs would have this perk. Hell, I will also need to get a blacksmith shop or some furnance, hammer and anvil. Not worried about materials since my orcs are grabbing them, but I will need to figure out how to craft certain items. Guessing a book about it wouldn’t hurt as well. 

As I sit at this table, I also picked up some helpful tips on making some gold. Certain herbs or materials can be sold in Cromer due to the many skillful artisans there. They might need a demand of certain things. Listening to them closely, there are a ton of alchemists in the city along with other classes. Due to this city’s uniqueness, they emphasize their sells and profits on made goods. If I can produce good products, I can get a decent profit out of it.

The only thing that I remembered was what the waitress told me. There was an issue with these beasts, yet I haven’t heard any of these adventurers talk about this creature. Pretending that I was sipping my cup of ale, a heavy clad knight eyed at me.

“Lassie,” he started, “You ain’t drinkin squat.” Slightly surprised at his observation skills, I said to him, “And what business do you have with me?”

“None,” he says, “Although you’re interested in something else? What ya gunning for lassie?” This male was talking strange. Trying to push it off, what harm will it be if I try to see if he knows anything about the creatures that old waitress told me about. 

Asking him what was on my mind, I replied, “Do you know anything about this creature around Cromer?” 

The knight did not even need to think about it. Planning to tell me everything, he sat himself upon the seat in front of me, “Aye, the Night Menace.” 

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I raise an eyebrow. This sounded odd. Well, then again, I have no experience with strange, bizarre, and notorious creatures. I only know of the common lore stuff of basic creatures. Goblins, trolls, orcs, elves, hydras, dragons, imps, etc. etc. Now, Night Menace, I never heard of such a name. Assuming the first part of their name, they travel or wander around only at Night.

“Never heard of them,” I told him, wandering what sort of response I will get, “Sounds like some night creatures though.”

“Nah lassie,” the knight shakes his covered helmet, his body leaning forward, “These creatures are extremely fierce due to their size and armor!” With no knowledge to these things, 

I decide to just listen now, making no more remarks. 

“These creatures can travel in day or night. Their name suggests something else. These beasts are rare to find, and they’re very VERY dangerous! Their rank seems low, but they’re odd because of how misleading they are! Dark hideous beasts with eyes shining a twinkling blood lust that shapes your doom. Their roars cannot be heard, their movements agile and swift. Even if they’re large, they can come at ya like a leopard! And their attacks are those of a great sword from an abnormal being!” The description of this creature was… vague. 

Without any actually vivid imagery or details about its appearance, it will be hard to find or avoid this beast. I did not ask questions though, waiting to see if he goes more into the details I need.

“This creature has a shady red color that slowly turns to black when any shadow touches it. Their skin is armor plating like a lobsters or a crab, very dense and thick. These four-eyed beasts can see in every direction except their rear, their hearing though, is superb, knowing if someone was right behind them due to their breathing. Protruding out of its back, six fierce arms- no, spears, or some sharp bendable parts covers his blind spots. This creature is crouching forward, smelling the stench of its food nearby. It drools as hungers washes over his face, hunting for its prey, several pincers compose this watery mouth. Inside of that mouth, hundred of teeth and other ungodly monstrous things lie in there. The tail is a trident that sweeps to and fro behind its large body, bending in a very flexible manner to kill anyone around it. Its feet are bent, standing on the balls of its feet, this creature can pounce or charge immediately, or hop great distances to kill anyone who dares stray in its sight. Even their neck can stretch in an ungodly manner as well.” 

Blinking several times, I can get a good image of this creature. Well, more like, this was very vivid now, knowing what this beast looks like now. This was too exact though. The only possible explanation was simple.

Leaning in to the knight, I eye around us. “You saw the creature?” I whispered.

“Aye, but I did not fight it. It was something that just happened. You see, lassie, I am a knight of Cromer’s military. We tend to go around and visit the public facilities and tend to the people’s needs. Our king also demands that we help the people anyways. We’re not in any war, but we tend to keep order and community service duties. One day, I was assigned to watch over some prisoners to get some herbs at night since these things were rare. My men and I were stationed at a distant, watching the prisoners collect the goods. If you’re wondering why we let them go unattended without any security, it is because of the magic collars around their head. If they try to run far away from the city, their heads will explode. Now, I was up on the watchtower as my men were down below. It was suppose to be a simple job. Minutes later, I saw them screaming and running. Now, surprisingly, I know that people can scream pretty loud, or it can be heard when the atmosphere is so quiet, but I couldn’t hear their screams. I saw their mouths open, but nothing was being heard. Then, I saw the beast through the binoculars. It was something that terrified me. The sight of these creatures left a sour taste in my mouth. Sweat was beading down my body, and I couldn’t stop shaking. Absolute fear dawned on me. I should have saved them, but I know that these beasts are out of the ordinary. Even their rank did not justify their godlike nature.” 

The knight just shook his head, leaning into the back of his seat. For someone that saw something so fierce, I was wondering how he can stay so calm.

“If you saw something like that, why are you so calm? And this sounds recent as well.” I stated.

“Nah, I had to leave for a month to try and get over this.” The knight said, “I am only able to describe it so well after watching countless of adventurers die trying to fight the thing. After the first incident, I went to our library and asked several of our librarians about this being. Taking two days to find the information, they told me it was a Night Menace. These creatures are extremely rare to bump into, and they process a notorious and savage behavior. Knowing you, I bet you want to bump into the creature as well right?” I would have said yes… if I haven’t learned from all of my mistakes when I could have died.

“No. I want to avoid them.” I said, also thinking about Esta and Lurie’s safety now. There is no reason to put us in mortal danger. The man was slightly surprise, leaning up against the chair, but he chuckle it away. “My bad lassie, you seem like the bold type to go up against anything. Your black armor sort of reminded me of them. Their black color of darkness embodies death with a single motion.” Wait, why were those prisoners sent out to collect something?  

“What were you collecting at night?” I asked, slightly curious now, “And why does the Guild want these creatures suppress?” The knight was silent towards these questions. He scratches his head, eyeing behind him, “Between you and me, a bunch of these adventurers are not told this information. We, knights, guards, the people protecting the local area, are told that moving westward would be an issue. Trade and customers were killed along the way. These beasts attack anyone that goes through the woods or close to the roads at night. If you travel by day along the main roads, you should be fine.” The key word in this is should.

“Are you hinting that these beasts attack travelers in broad daylight even if it’s a group?!” I suppress my tone and volume, eyeing at the knight with a concerned look. This was a big deal on my part. If these creatures are blocking my way to the Pillars of Gluttony, there is a chance that we’ll bump into them. The knight sighs, saying, “If you avoid the forest to the west of Cromer, you should be fine. If you need to go west, I’ll suggest you to go north then west, or south then west…”

“So go around? You know how long that will take!?” Great, I can piece together the paranoia and trouble that these beasts are making. These knights have no information on where they are, and how many there are. To further justify this explanation, I asked, “Did travelers get attacked on the way west from Cromer?”

“A ton of them,” the knight answers. “Coming to and from. However, these creatures only attack those in small packs. If it was a band of merchants travelling together with some of the guards, they wouldn’t attack. However, if it is just twenty people or less, they will attack.” 

Slightly scoffing at this, this was an issue for my group. I am not gonna risk the chance of getting attack even if I have twenty orcs, Lurie, and Esta. Most likely, I will have to find the good time when most merchants head out west. Wait, if this is the case, why did this knight state ‘a ton.’  

“What do you mean by a ton of reports? If the people knew about this, shouldn’t it be avoided? The death rate of people leaving or coming there should be lower.” The knight shakes his head, “If it was only that simple. The reason why we haven’t told everyone about this is the panic that might happen. If that happens, people will leave the city and go somewhere else like Zezrious. The king has also ordered us to keep this information away from public ear.” 

Baffled by this, all I can say how stupid this is. Although, I doubt that there is another plausible solution. If you disclose the information out to the public, the king will lose his status, reputation of the city and its order, and lose money. Without any money to keep the army he has or the maintenance of his well-being and the city, it will only turn bad real fast. He will get kicked off and replaced. 

Well, the way to easily solve this- kill the beast.

If I remember correctly, Guilds tend to accept missions from all sorts of people, getting paid handsomely and well depending on who want something done. The king of Cromer must have informed the information about the Night Menace once he learned about the reports his knights gave him. Although, the Guild should be aware of how many adventurers are dying. Recalling a scene I heard when I was sleeping, Gallant was explaining to Golem about how Guilds work. Guilds tend to accept missions of all sorts as long as the deaths do not reach a certain number. Once they reach the x number of deaths of reported adventurers on the mission, they will either cancel the request, withdrawing and repaying the money given to them, or they will add a strict rank requirement to deal with it. This is strange, thinking about it.

Wait a second! He totally dodged the question about what they were collecting at night. This was a tad edgy. If he purposely threw me off like that, there was a reason to why they needed to collect stuff at night. 

My silence was going to give away my deep thinking. 

Sighing, I shook my head and said, “I’ll stop by the city most likely, do my business, and head around. At the least, I can thank you for the heads up on these events. Don’t worry; I doubt that I will share this with anyone.” The knight fell for my act. 

Chuckling lightly, he says, “That’s good lassie! I didn’t want a young girl like you to die against to those monsters. The whole reason I stopped to tell ya that! Well, I shall take my leave. Take care!” Getting up from the table, the man just exits the tavern. Smiling when he was present, it quickly changed to a look of concern. This was going to become an issue. 

Time is valuable. I do not want to take anymore extra days or weeks walking around to get to the Pillars of Gluttony.

I did nothing but listen to a bunch of conversation for the couple hours. Ordering another cup of ale, I decide to take my time sipping it. There were reports on the skirmishes of the dark and light forces here and there that might interest me if travel about. This might be useful to me since I can pick up more skills to use. Right, I still want to tame my own creature of some sort. 

Despite my ranking up, I have not used the majority of the skills I obtained. The biggest one I need to play with is the beast taming one. My urge to gain some sort of pet is sort of up there. I mean, I want to have some sort of mount, or just have a fighting companion. This was getting boring real fast, sitting by myself at the table. 

Well, I think Lurie and Esta are fine now. Debating with myself, I wonder if I should go check on them now. Ugh, I still feel like crap thinking about it. How can I be so dumb?! Why did I have to be stupid! I know how Esta feels, I know how grateful she is to me, and I should obviously know that she loves me. She has concerns for me, and she cares deeply for me.

My heart is racing, my face growing slightly red, and my eyes wanted to cry for not noticing this. 

Getting up, I decide to walk outside, letting out a scream when I walked deeper into the woods. “How can I be so stupid?!” I screamed this in a wretched voice, firing a dark arrow burst from my hand into the earth. Even though this information I gained was useful, this irritation on the events that transpired is still getting the best of me. 

I feel like a jerk. This is no way for me to treat someone who loves me. No, I a not stupid, I am a giant idiot! 

The time when I bought Esta, I asked her the same thing. She told me, right there and then, she will stay with me. She has the same sort of agony and despair I had. She is all alone, and technically, I am the only one who comforted her. Yet here I am, scared. 

Scared that she might die with me, yet she already told me she will stay by my side. My damn mind also thought up of letting her go, and literally, letting her die if danger were to befall on us. I grasp my head in frustration. Tears start to water inside my eyes, my body temperature heating up due to these thoughts. This frustration starts to make me think of many other things, feeling the grief and… anger. 

This feeling felt a bit too sweet. Closing my eyes slowly, I want to accept this strange odd warmth. It was a different feeling from the time I was with Brynhild and the one from Valarie…

“M-Master Aisha?” the voice snaps me out of whatever trance I was in. Slightly surprised to hear Esta’s voice, I quickly turn to her. She was standing there, hugging herself shyly. She was wearing her outfit Gallant gave to her, yet her hat wasn’t on top of her head. Right, the outfit she was wearing was because I selected it for her. My mind can recall what happened days ago when I choose this look for her. She always stayed by my side. The fun moment where I dressed her up, and the times that she showed huge concerns about me, all of that I loved about her. All that anger that clouded me vanished. Sorrow engulfed me utterly, my eyes leaking out some tears as I rush to Esta and hug her. I am an idiot to try and push this elf away. “I am sorry.”

“M-Master… P-Please don’t apologize!” Esta said, surprised at my actions, “I-It’s just… I know you’re going through a lot. I-I know you do not mean everything you say… I know the pain of losing someone close to you. Still, I am saddened by my family’s death, but I am cherishing the moments I have with you. With…” Esta pauses, blushing heavily into my chest. I can feel her breathe as she finishes her sentence, “W-W-With… t-the one I love.” Of course she will bury her face in my chest. It would be embarrassing to eye at her redden face. Actually…

“Don’t hide your face from me.” I said, pushing her back a bit to eye at it. Despite the tears in my eyes, I was awing and memorizing the look on Esta’s face. It was too cute for me not to love, and I feel bad for even trying to get rid of her. Her entire face wasn’t red, but her cheeks were, and the fact that her eyes were giving off a strange look as they stare up at me, memorized me to never ever let this girl go Making me fall for this girl, this next action surprised me.

Getting on her toes, she slightly pulled me in for a very warm kiss.

This kiss warms my entire body. Closing my eyes, I decide to relish and cherish this moment. 

How could I not? 

This is someone to protect. I can see why my knights would die for me. As long as I live, Esta will not die. Or if she is to die, I will die protecting her. This will be my own vow. Lasting for minutes, this kiss was something I will never forget…

Lurie’s 3rd Point of View Begin

Lurie smiles at Esta and Aisha as they made up and kiss. Esta did not hate Aisha for what she said, or how she was being forceful of trying to push her away. A lot has happened. From what Lurie was told, Aisha and Esta had gone through a lot of struggles. Struggles she has never experience. Walking further away from them, Lurie starts to feel a huge gap in her own heart.

Despite the sex they had with Aisha last night and this morning, it seems like she will never be able to feel this thing called love, or more like, experience it ever again. Angels were to be worshipped, not loved. It was a code to work your way to become the best at what you do- to rank up and master your arts. There was nothing about having your own personal life. Most of the light beings do not have a life like normal people do. Lurie can remember when she was young, her parents loved her dearly. They spoiled her, played with her, and did what most parents would do for a child of theirs. At the age of thirteen though, she was taken by Saints to go to the Light Academy. Since the country she was born in was under the light side, she was trained in their teachings and training.

The training was harsh. There were strict rules, and a bunch of lessons on discipline and obedience. They also talked about how sex was an evil deed, and how one must be calm and tranquil at all times. The teaching of the light side was preparing one to become an angel- one bound to keeping a very mature and high reputation. They are supposed to be looked up as godlike beings, not like a normal person. 

As Lurie stayed in this harsh regiment of training for years, she turned eighteen and became a Saint rank, being able to go off in the world and do her mission. The missions for all light being is to expand on one’s knowledge, training, and rank, and fight against the forces of evil. Before departing, Lurie wanted to see her parents before the long adventure. 

Returning back to her house, she was only worshiped and revered as a great deity. When she tried to get them to say something else, they only praise her. There was no love. No cries of joy to see their girl again. They only see her as a great deity that they’re proud to call their daughter, yet they did not show any love. It was more of praising and bowing, not even revealing any parental love to Lurie. Sickened by this, she just left. After that, she closed off her heart and all of her emotion…

Until yesterday.

She was supposed to lead a great turn around for her side, but bumping into Princess Aisha, something triggered that cold heart of hers. It was strange. Of course, Aisha might have something that forced her to change, but seeing her made her become aware of love at first sight maybe. 

It was odd for Lurie to have fallen in love.

A young silver hair girl dashing across a battlefield doesn’t sound charming at all. Yet Aisha made it look beautiful, despite the blood spilled in her charge. Lurie was unable to keep her eyes off of her. She was special- it was written plain as day. Unable to stay away, the angel just attacked her disregarding all accounts for the main plans. Being surprised by this rank three warrior and mage as their fight continues, Lurie only awes at how strong Aisha is. 

No, despite the odds of Lurie pushing her, she did not run. 

The fact that Aisha stood up against a mighty foe awed Lurie, and to be honest, won Lurie over due to such courage. Despite the loss, she didn’t mind giving up everything just to be in company with this former princess. Although Lurie wants more than company with Aisha, she wants to love again, or be loved. Training and learning is still in her agenda. Just that Lurie wants to try with this emotion she abandoned so long ago. But at the moment, there was no way to compete against Esta, and the angel knows that she wasn’t trusted still.

She was getting mixed feelings about the slap she delivered. It was sort of out of the blue. It was a building up rage to how Aisha treated Esta so unjustly that made Lurie slap the former princess. Since it is all cleared up now, was there any chance for this angel to be here? There was no place to return to- she was branded as KIA or a traitor. The assault on Zezrious is a one way trip. You die fighting or a deserter- a traitor to the Crusade and to the light side.

Closing her eyes and entering a state of meditation, Lurie just stood there thinking about what to do now. Well, a voice snaps her out of her quiet state, her eyes opening.

“Lurie, thank you.” Aisha’s kind gentle voice enters the angel’s ears. This was… a first time she was thanked. For anything. Blushing slightly, but keeping her back towards Aisha, Lurie says, “Do not be blinded by such despair. You are not alone, and you have others that cherish you as well.” Before Lurie walks away, Aisha said this to her.

“I will… trust you. I will not doubt your betrayal and your attempts to do anything bad with me. You have already proved yourself trustworthy, and I am sorry for ever doubting you. Know this, if you tag along with me, you will be heading to danger, and might die. Are you sure you want to stay with me still?” Lurie just sighs and turns around, showing a smug look.

“Do you think I will be dumb enough not to follow you after all I did?” Without an incantation, Lurie reveals her eight wings, but they quickly turn black. The armor Lurie dawns slowly turns black as the brunette color on Lurie’s hair turns red. “I vow that this life is your Aisha.” Lurie says, her mouth forming into a smile, walking to the silver hair girl, “You can do whatever you want with me, my princess.” 

Apparently, Lurie was not conscious about her daring and bold talk to Aisha. Amazing Aisha, Lurie decides to bow before Aisha. After a few seconds past, the fallen angel just took the chance to steal Aisha’s lips for herself. 

Kissing the silver hair girl after her bow, the angel just shoves her tongue deep into Aisha's mouth, her arms wrapped around her body. Pulling away after a few seconds pass, Lurie quickly flies into the air once she realized what she just done.

Embarrassed and dumbfounded at her own bold stupidity to do that to Aisha, she zooms across the sky to cool off. What the hell was she thinking?! That was too sudden! Her face blushed madly in crimson. She closes her eyes and slightly screamed inside. Why did she do all of that soo suddenly!?

End of Lurie’s 3rd Point of View

What the hell just happened? All I wanted to do was thank her. Esta explained to me why Lurie joined me. I decided to check up on her, thank her, and make sure she knew what was going to happen to her if she joined us. Thinking I knew Lurie, I did not expect that to happen. 

She turned into a very seducing and alluring version compared to her angelic side, her expression and her voice was more of a seducer, and the fact that she kissed me even after she only joined me for a day shocked me. The perk I gained, Witch of Darkness, has this sort of effect… 

I am scared to know how many girls will fall for me with the Queen Witch of Darkness.

Wait, there was several other perks that I gained due to this. Another effect of this Queen Witch would be the fact that anyone I had sex with gains the dark version of their light skills. Was there something about Lurie literally changing into a Fallen Angel? 

Wait, no, this was utterly normal. If I remember correctly, light side beings that kill other light side members will eventually turn dark for their treachery to their allies. Lurie had killed some of her former allies before we left the woods near Zezrious. It was bound to happen, her transformation.

But does she really love me? It must be a crush sort of thing. This might be a bit troubling due to the fact that I have more feelings for Esta than Lurie. Lurie is just a… she is not a pawn, that I can say. She is a bit valuable for that, especially with her standing rank. I guess she can be my apprentice. Wait, both her and Esta fucked me though… So does that mean Esta is fine with Lurie also loving me? Wait, wait, if that is right, then am I going to get…

Unable to even say words because of the scene that unfold, I just cover my face and silently screamed. Am I making my own harem now!? I know Esta loves me. My gut is telling me I am right. Lurie loves me as well. Why are these girls falling in love with me!? Hell, I am surprised that this is becoming more of a mess then anything else. Right… We did make a mess this morning…

Slapping my head, I only curse at the bad joke I sort of made. If one could find that funny.

Despite me eavesdropping and finalizing these relationships, I should go and get some rest. Shaking my head, I decide to go back into the tavern and enter my room. Eyeing at the rank twelve orcs, they seem like complete statures. They were breathing, of course, but they did not budge when I stood in front or between them. They are taking my orders really well with the guarding. Walking pas t them, I just tidy up and entered my bed.

Today was more of the day I start to realize what I should do, and how I am slowly changing the way I am thinking. I am becoming more aware of the situation when I talk about certain topics, using these gossips as leads to figure out what to do, and learning from conversations as well. Of course, eavesdropping is frowned upon, but use whatever resource I can to do something. One of the orcs knocks on the door before I fell asleep.

“Master Aisha,” the orc said, “The team that fetched your supplies form Zezrious is outside.” Letting out a slight grunt, I hop out of bed, sliding my feet into my flats. Heading outside the tavern, I was surprise to see the five orcs on some sort of giant wolves clad in gray armor. Eyeing at them, they look like a machine more than any living organism. The leader of this team came forward, pulling out the armor set from Len’s special purple soldiers. They place the armor on the ground with the books I specifically told them to get as well, “And the books.” Nodding my head, I decide to have my ring engulf them, planning to look at them right after our conversation.

“I forget to ask you this, but have you heard anything in Zezrious?”

“The guards let us in for free. Apparently the city is allowing our clan to get in for free.” I can only assume that Len has started to do some diplomatic talks with the Skullclaw orcs. He wants to mass produce his inventions again, and he will need better miners. “Other than that, we bumped into some of our old pals who gave us free storage rings and our armored wolf mounts. Zezrious is under city repairs, but there will be war starting up soon. The Emperor who Len serves is declaring war on Titus.” Everything was going as I said, but it was a tad early. Knowing Len, he is no man of fooling around. He will do whatever it takes to speed up the process.

“Thank you for the report.” I said to them, “Now, you five can go off and collect more information, or go earn yourself money and drink up in the tavern. We leave in the morning tomorrow.” The orcs slightly cheer at this, leashing at their mounts as they let out joyous and loud war cries. The orc leader had appeared out of the forest to hear the report, saying, “Len is a guy that doesn’t disappoint. I bet whatever he did to our armor is what you want to figure out from the purple armor you receive, right?”

“The Anti-Field he invented.” I stated, pulling out the helmet from the armor sets I was given, “The Anti-Field prevents any influence from any Realm. My Pressure Realm did not affect some knights when I was being hunted down sometime ago. With this sort of technique, or built in suppressor, I am curious to how Len did this.” The leader was a bit puzzled at how this was possible as well. “Do you remember what he did exactly? How he upgrade your armor?”

“The only thing he did was slapped some circle like pill against our armor, and said the upgrades were complete.” Eh? A circle orb device? He can make those? This was a tad confusing. Only certain individuals can create small circular pills if I recall. Despite my lack of knowledge on the outside world, I know that certain classes can toy or make high level materials people want. The orc was describing a very hard to make item. Something a genius like Brynhild had with the pill I got with Dark Inheritor. Technically, Len did not create his own perk that he can give away easily. He has past the age of a genius… Do I remember his age? Or did he ever tell me his age? 

Continuing on, Len is not a genius. Although making those pills with certain perks takes a mind of a genius to crack open. Only an Alchemist Splitter could do this. This is a unique class which can allow the person to break things down and compress it into some object that can be used for others or oneself.

Alchemist Splitter has to have extensive knowledge on certain breakdown laws, and understand a lot about a bunch of expanding knowledge on the skill, perk, or ability to compress it into a pill. Not only  that, depending on the  understanding one has with the skill, perk,  or ability they want to put in, they will have to use demanding materials to make a pill. Once again, I am amazed at how Len is up there. His rank does not befit his reputation and skills he has.

“I shall go to my room and research into this. Thank you the information as well.” Leaving the orc leader, I enter my room and laid the armor on the table. I shouldn’t worry about Len, like I said many times, but I need to see what makes this armor so good. If I can understand the Anti-Field built into it, I can make a replica, maybe, for Lurie and Esta. They have no way to withstand a powerful presence- well might make one for myself just in case. The Realms can hinder one’s escape. This Anti-Field can save our lives if that was to befall on us.

Trying to figure out how to read the armor, some words appear above the pieces of armor.

Need Level 80 Inspect

My Inspect skill was very low. Level 34- need at least 46 points to get it there. Eyeing at the armor, I just sigh. Do I need to kill someone to get it up to level 80? Wait! The Dark War Goddess perk can help me now! Recalling the description, it states that I get an affection points for each kill, and every point increases the skill by two. Checking on my affection points, a box pops up in my head.

[center[77 Affection Points[/center]

Right, might as well use twenty-three points to get it to eighty.

Using 23 Affection Points

Skill Increased in: [Level 34 Inspect] --> [Level 80 Inspect]

Remaining Affection Points 54

Inspecting the purple armor, a list appears of what materials were used.

Kospil, Uscuesten, Coal, and Anti-Field Pill [Need Level 130 Inspect to eye at materials used to make Pill]

Staring at Kospil and Uscuesten, I only assume that these are ores. I have never heard of such a name for these ores, coal being the familiar one out of the three. Making this armor requires the mix of these three ores. I will keep this in mind although I have no clue what those two ores look like. I will have to inspect any mines we stumble onto for these two.

This was a bit confusing. This armor took me a level 80 Inspect, but now I have to get a higher Inspect to look into the pill. Puzzled, why would a pill be that high? I did not have an inspect skill in the past, but I know that the ones I saw did not demand such a high level equivalent to a Demi-God. Most pills are suppose to be lower for anyone to use, why is the pill level that high?

Without any thought needed, I did the level up to Inspect.

Using 25 Affection Points

Skill increased in: [Level 80 Inspect] --> [Level 130 Inspect]

Remaining Affection Points 29

Eyeing at the armor again, I decide to ignore the rest and focus my attention on the Pill.

Anti-Field Pill: [Level 130 Demon’s Heart], [Level 130 Human Saint’s Blood], [Level 130 Fiend’s Human Blood], and [Level 130 Demi-God Human Blood]

My eyes grew wide and my body turned stiff. Eyeing at the list and re-reading it several times, I could not believe what I just read. This pill is using the blood of the ranks above a thirteen?! 

What’s worse, human blood?! Chills ran down my spine, my body shivering. After seeing this, I know one thing for certain about Len.

I cannot trust him. Whatever ounce of trust or belief of him being a good guy has left my system. This just revealed a lot about him. For pills to be created, especially in abundance and used, he will have to seek these materials out. It is simple to kill a Demi-God demon and obtain his heart. The other three requirements just made me horrified. 

Human Blood of the Demi, Saint, and Fiend. Getting this, you will have to extract a bunch out of it somewhere. Didn’t he have an army of his knights wearing this armor? How many people are there in his army? If he has over a thousand, ten thousand, or more, the supply is high. Not a lot of people will be giving, or donate, a bunch of blood for free. Unable to believe this, I just place the armor away, trying not to think of it anymore.

Which was very hard not to think about. Despite the fact I can push away the death of my knight, this shocking truth couldn't be ignored so easily.

There is no way for me to conjure up a pill like his. I stopped myself. Well, there was one way, but it will require killing enemies of said rank. Contemplating about it, I decided that if enemies of said rank have this, I will use their blood to make this pill. I will have to accept this formula. This will be useful somewhere along the journey. 

Still, to mass produce this, Len will need to have a bunch of prisoners of said rank. Hell, I bet it will be torture for them. Halting myself, I just place the armor away.  Reminding myself several times, I only wanted to know the recipe of the Anti-Field. Len is not a huge problem at this moment. The Pillars of Gluttony is…

Or more like those damn creatures that knight of Cromer mentioned about. Sighing, I just lean against the chair, eyeing at the ceiling. Why couldn’t this day a bit easier. Shoving away my complaints, I decide to take the many books the orcs gathered for me. Reading the first one, it was a crafting book. Opening the first few pages, I quickly gained a bunch of information on how to craft various leather materials. Figuring out where my level was, apparently, I can only craft most items up until silver, which was alright. If I want to, I can increase this skill with my affection points, but I won’t be fiddling with this for a bit. 

Although when I was reading the intro, it says that I could come up with my own creation depending on the material and how I craft it. Inspect is a good skill to have to help with this. Depending on the level of the material, I can toy with it depending on my craft level.

To make it easier to understand, I have a level 80 Dragon Heart- can I use this with a level 30 crafting? The answer is no. Can I use a level 80 Dragon Scale with a level 100 crafting? Yes, I can use the level 80 Dragon Heart with a level 100 crafting.

Closing the crafting book, I skim through the various weapon books. Teaching myself most of the basic concepts of the lower level weapons I have, I gained some knowledge about certain laws and concepts to use when using daggers, axes, shields, and other weapons. To unlock the abilities, I will have to test it out later on the field. Skimming through half of these books, time slowly flew by. Eyeing at the pile of books I still haven’t read, I notice the dark and light ones were there. I need to read those tomorrow. Eyeing at the sunset, I decide to finish up reading on the last book in my hands.

This book wasn’t on the list.

The title was not something that I recognize, well, the name of a particular person sort of caught my attention. I seriously wanted to avoid thinking about this guy though. How many times does this man pop out of nowhere?! And another question, how did my orcs acquire this book? Staring at the black cover, I cannot tear my eyes away from the title. In a very creepy and fancy font style, the title reads…

The Fallen Decimator Len

What is this book about? Turning to the first page, I eye at the beginning page. The very first words were, “I am already dead by the time you read this book.” That is depressing. Looking past it, I continue reading, “This book will be talking about how Len became different after he learned about Noire’s death. The various things he has done could make any person punk, or question if he was human. As one of Len’s closest elites of his special squad at the time, I watch him cruelly take prisoners and conduct experiments after experiments on several scientific developments. I decide to write this book to inform anyone who knows or work under him. He has many goals, using people for himself if needed…” Deciding I had enough of the author’s note, I decide to get to Chapter one. It starts to talk about why Len changed.

The Death of Noire

Everyone sees him as a hero during the time the demon armies invaded Zezrious. What most people do not know was how we killed the foolish selfish greedy nobles and seized most of their high powered rank knights. When Len rush to the city to save it, he divided his main army to stop the demons… Then told us, the special unit, to go and kill every single noble that was affiliated with the king. We knew he wanted us to kill the noble figures only, not their families. That changed somewhere along the lines. 

Later on, whatever happened with his meeting with the king, he ordered us to kill everyone tied to them meaning, women, children, relatives, maids, everyone. Leave no one alive. Those words echo in our communicators within our helmets. Some of us questioned the orders, but we just followed it nonetheless. We killed the families and the nobles. He wanted us to capture Demi-God rank knights along with the executions we carried out. There was no questioning Len’s order. We have been with him throughout these years when we went to the Pillars of Gluttony. The feelings he had for Noire was high. There was no need to question his lust of revenge for whatever the king has done. We will gladly kill these nobles.

After we rescued the city and having millions call Len the Bullet Savior, Len revealed to us what had happened. Why he ordered the death of everyone. He learned how the king tricked Noire to sending her own army and herself to stop the approaching demons. Losing their smartest strategist, the king lied to her just to have a large amount of armies to go off the offensive. Even then, the city was about to fall without Len’s aid. We sympathized with our ruler, but the next upcoming months, we watch him degrade himself into a madman.

Finding Noire’s body, he placed her into some mechanism to preserve her body. Strangely, the body was intact. No limbs were ripped from her torso, and her face still showing such beauty even in death. What was missing though was her heart.

The Deaths for Advances

Eyeing at the massive amount of prisoners, we question what Len was scheming. Reading Noire’s dairy, he starts to toy with various concepts and things his dead lover wrote down. Noire was an outstanding alchemist. She conjured up many things that Len uses today. We did not know that Len had taught himself to be an Alchemist Splitter though. He told us, one day, to get some of the ranked prisoners and he went through the procedure to drain them of their blood. Not just a tiny bit, all of it. Most of us were horrified at the scene, watching the prisoners slowly being extracted of all their blood in their body. The flesh and young bodies of these prisoners slowly transformed into a very skinny, lifeless deformed corpse. Half of us had to leave the room. None of us question him though. We knew better to not distract our lord from his plans. I left the room eventually. I was sickened by the sight of these prisoners being drained to death.

Once Len created enough pills for this Anti-Field, he planned to continue mass producing these pills to fulfill his own private army that can withstand itself even against Gods and Demi-Gods. Most of us were thankful for this Anti-Field, but this was just the beginning of Len’s evil doing.

He was seen with many females, but they would disappear here and there. People who knew them forget them, and this only made us question what was going on. Compared to the elites, and the mere soldiers of the army, we asked Len what happened to them. He shares most of the secrets with us due to our long ties. He only gave us a cold and heartless response. “Sacrifices. All of them were killed by me to ensure Noire’s stability in her slumber. She needs to feed off of energy.”

Even this, we did not even dare betray our lord. We questioned his sanity, but we believed that he was still sane. That there was no way for him to continue his plot for revenge since all who sided with this king is dead. There was also no way to revive the dead. The king will have to snap out of his trance eventually.

Or so we thought.

Necromancy and Inhumane Methods

Our King gave us special missions. Compared to recon, or the usually missions, he wanted us to go throughout the world and gain information. He would tell us to meet certain individuals sometimes, and hear them out. Once we acquire the information, sometimes packages, want us to give it to him right away.  Most of the information was dark magic. It hinted us how badly he wanted to revive Noire. Sometimes, we had to trade some item to give to our informant. In return, they give us information or items which we hand back to the king. We did this continuously for two years maybe.

Every time we do these exchanges, some of us now questioned our king. We were being upgraded heavily after we complete each of these missions. We were the secret dark purple elites that none of the regulars could see. Eventually, Len even gave us the permission to kill or abuse whoever saw us. This was showing how Len was changing into a madman. He never defined what this “anything” was, but our guys… literally abused the hell out of it. 

I made sure my presence was masked, but I saw what the others were doing. They would purposely get caught, and force them into doing things against their will, or killing them. Some of the women soldiers were force to have sex, and were killed. Our existence was to be kept hidden no matter what. This was evil and inhumane. Some of the fellow guys who questioned this, wanted to leave or betray the king. This notion was not going to take in full effect… just yet.

Out of my curiosity, with my close pals on our one errand mission, we decided to look at what was inside the box. Carefully unraveling it, we only eye at the contents with disgust. There were vials of various bloods within the box, showing how our king would lower himself to gain any sort of information to revive Noire. Wrapping it up again, the time to rebel was nigh with some of us. We use to see our king as a kind ruler. Now, he is wrapped up in his lust to revive Noire, disregarding his own humanity…

I decide to skim through the rest of the book, eyeing at each of the chapters and reading some sentences. This book was a combination of a diary log and information talking about how King Len developed some of his techniques and weapons. Each one had a bloody story behind it though, Len doing whatever it took to gain this power.

He stole prototype designs from a small clan that allowed him to make mounted guns, killing all of the people in a single night. He continued to sacrifice women every month or so. He slowly starts to look for women with high potential, seeing if one of them would somehow be a worthy sacrifice to revive Noire. On and on, I read these pages somewhat horrified at this realization of King Len. Slamming the book shut, I only lean against the chair and place my hand on my face. 

This was too much for me to worry about. There is no need to worry about Len, but with this, it only troubles me to get ready for once I finish my true objective. The question is, how well prepared will Len be when I come back to his area? Thinking about it, I would want to implant my own spies under him.

Despite my hatred on my family, if Len uses them as a trump card to use against me, then I will question my own humanity. Do I become a heartless person and let my brothers and sisters die? Len also have those elite soldiers no one has seen. It will be hard to go up against them, knowing very little of them except what’s in the books. They can be highly advance to the point that they’re a mini version of King Len himself. I want to keep a close eye on Len, but how can I if I don’t have a communicator of some sort.

How did Len make his communicator? Eyeing through the book, I found a page where the author wrote about the items needed to make one.

…planning out this rebellion, I wanted to give my own men a different communicator. Taking the king’s formula, we needed a [Level 30 Crafted Steel Earring], [Level 80 Devil’s Brain Blood].

Level 80 would mean the devil is a rank nine type. Without my materials, I cannot craft the steel earrings today. The only real issue is the devil brain blood. Maybe I can find some of it in Cromer. Glancing outside the window, I can see darkness slowly approach the windows. 

Sighing, I hear Esta and Lurie entering the room. Closing the book, I decide to lay it on the table, and look up at the two. They were chatting with one another, gossiping about something. The new improved look on Lurie is utterly stunning and a bit seductive, eyeing at the red hair girl now. Esta is still the cute, adorable little elf she is. Shaking my head out of these thoughts, or my gazing eyes at the two, Esta asks me, “Master Aisha, what were you doing?”

“I was reading up on some important information about various skills.” I answer, not telling them about the book of King Len. The two did not even eye at the table or read the covers of the books. They head straight to me, kissing me on the cheeks. Blushing, I eye at them, “W-what was that for!?”

“You’re always diligent.” Esta replied, “Thought you might want a reward.” Thinking about if we were going to do it tonight again, I just let out a slight chuckle saying, “Have to stay vigilant and expand on one’s knowledge.” Deciding to call it a day now, utterly dumbfounded at how time flies when I was reading, I watch Esta and Lurie change into some basic white night gowns. Closing my eyes, I can feel a slight shuffle and change in my sheets. Opening one eye, I only stare at an Esta making herself cozy. Behind me, Lurie was already in bed with me.

“What are you two doing?” I blink at their actions, hoping that they don't really think they can sleep with me after last night... Well, actually, wouldn't it be...

“AFTER ALL OF THAT, you think we could sleep away from you now?” They both said this in unison, making my body heat up. Cheeks flushing a bright red, I said, “R-Right… But do you really…”

“Yes.” Upon that answer, they huddle closer to me, squishing me between their bodies. Giving up, I just let them do what they want with me, closing my eyes again. I doubt that I could keep a straight face with these two literally close to me. This hasn’t happened to me ever since Brynhild teased me that day. Will I become accustomed to this sort of treatment?

As I drift to sleep, I swear, I can feel slight motions all over my body…