Several weeks had passed since the night of the party. Nate’s plan of leaving when the party was over had completely failed him. He killed someone and got confirmed as someone else’s mate. It was weird.

However, with the stable position of being the mate of an Elder’s daughter, Nate found some sense of security that his life had been lacking. With him and Sky officially becoming a couple, the Elders had approved of him staying in the village and had even moved them to a home of their own.

Life was good, but weird at the same time. Nate had a hard time taking it all seriously. The weeks in the village had been some of the best in Nate's life but the suddenness of everything made it seem unreal. Having never had any sort of family or intimate relationship, he didn't really know what to expect or how to behave. All he knew for sure was that he wanted to follow his own desires.

The tribe was well guarded and supplied by the tribesmen. He didn’t have to worry about a beast sneaking up on him in his sleep. He didn’t have to worry about his next meal. But the lack of stress caused Nate to feel bored with his surroundings. He was starting to feel restless.

But he had a pretty constant source of pleasure in the woman that was currently lying by his side in the nude. How long will it be before this gets boring too?

Lying in bed, Sky's hand was tracing the large scar that ran from behind his ear, down to his shoulder, and to the center of his chest.

"And where did this one come from? I couldn’t guess the right answer before. You didn't even give me a hint last time I asked," Sky said as her finger moved across the smooth and shiny scar tissue. She liked to make a game out of guessing how Nate got his scars, but mostly it seemed to be a simple way to ask him about his past.

"That's the only one that I can't remember. It happened before I was three years old. From what I was told, my parents were killed by a beast at an outpost in the wilderness. A crew from Newcomb City found me and brought me to the city,” Nate said solemnly, “I don't remember anything before living in the city."

"Newcomb City doesn't have outposts though. They only have those horrible mines in the North Mountains," Sky said as her finger stopped moving.

"I know that. Rod had mentioned it when we traveled here. Maybe I came from the mines. Maybe I came from a destroyed Outpost. Who knows the truth? I certainly don't plan to go back and ask them. I don’t ever want to go back to that place again," Nate said as his mind left that line of thought and followed the woman's hand as it moved below the sheets.

"You're right. It doesn't matter. Because you are here now. With me," Sky said teasing Nate with her fingertips.

"I can't just stay here forever, you know?" Nate said to Sky as he stroked his hand through her hair, "I am really close to hitting Level 25 and possibly my second class. If all I do is roll around in bed with you, then I'll probably end up with some weird class that can only bring you pleasure."

"Only bring me pleasure?" Sky giggled and moved on top of Nate, "I am absolutely certain this brings you pleasure too."

"Ahhh...Seriously, I need to develop some sort of plan for my second class...ahh...and I also need to head to my cave to check on things. I haven't been there in two months," Nate said as he tried to finish his thought while Sky was just starting to grind herself on him.

The conversation quickly digressed into a round of intense lovemaking. And no more was discussed.

******************

Two hours later, Nate and Sky were walking through the village market looking at wares in booths to get some items for their house.

"Come on, we can't keep putting this talk off. Rod left last week. Hell, he didn’t even tell anyone,” Nate said as Sky pulled him over to the next stall. This man was selling an assortment of beast parts that had been made into trinkets.

“I need to do the same. It is hard to grow strong while being stuck in the house," Nate said as he grabbed a few trinkets off a table and passed the man selling them a small beast core. He had a lingering need to get back into the wilderness. Being confined to one location had become painfully boring.

"Alright, I can't give you a hard time anymore. Leaving is normal. You really need to be prepared though," Sky said laughing as she watched a woman hand a few fruits to two children at one of the food stalls, "After all, I need to work for my second class also."

Nate witnessed the entire scene causing a shiver to tremor through his spine. This woman likes to taunt me every now and then. But he knew what idea she was flirting with. He had complex emotions over the topic.

Women of the Greyfor Tribe would typically wait until they gained their second class before having children. This was mainly done for two reasons. First, women who had children before their second class tended to develop classes that leaned toward providing care for people. Second, the time needed to raise a newborn child could have a serious impact on growth. Development of skills and level progression tends to fall off for most people after Level 25 anyway, so it is good for women to reach that point before building a family.

Sky must have seen a look of mental struggle on Nate's face because she burst out laughing and snuggled up next to him at the market stall.

"Calm down there," she said giggling, "I'm still not ready for kids yet. But it doesn't hurt to fantasize a little."

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Nate honestly didn't have a response. People in Grey Sector had kids pretty frequently, but they could only have some of the supervisors approved. From his time in Greyfor Village, it seemed that having children was practically required, especially for the women. The general philosophy of the clan was to improve upon the quality of people in the tribe. Men with abnormally high strength were treated as prized catches that earned women both a higher position in the tribe and greater responsibilities. The crazy thing about that approach was that it didn't really involve the man's strength directly. It involved the strength of the offspring created from the pairing. That's one of the reasons why elder’s children were forced to seek a man outside of the tribe. It was considered a sacrifice to mate with someone from another tribe. But the varying genes were needed for the tribe and the opportunity to take the strength of other tribes was possible.

The whole concept was completely foreign to Nate, but it was the normal way of life to Sky. This tribe was so different than Nate's previous normal.

Seeing people drinking water off of nearby cave walls, Nate chuckled and continued to browse the goods on the table. He hadn't particularly advanced at all in terms of strength over the last four weeks, but his knowledge had grown significantly. His day to day conversations with Sky had taught him tons of useful information about tribal culture, the different tribes in the area, and general politics in the wilds.

But along with the useful information, Nate had also learned some things that didn’t really benefit him at all. He even knew how the water systems of the cave worked. The primitive method simply collected the water seepage through the cave walls for use by the villages. His shower was a conveniently located room near a water producing crack in the cave. Once the water was used, then it discharged the waste down into the depths of the cave. Nothing fancy. Sky didn’t even know where it went in the end.

Despite the sometimes useless information, Sky had been very helpful in teaching Nate about the wilderness. She had even borrowed a tribal map to show him the different areas of the wilderness that had been mapped. She explained other tribes of the forest, the locations of outposts, and hazardous areas in the wilderness. Nate hadn't had a clue that any of these things existed out in this vast wilderness, but these Outsider groups were much more common than he thought. The map had really shown Nate just how little of the large forest he had seen, but it also increased his desire to wander around to see more of the world.

In addition to tribal matters and geography, Nate learned a fair amount about classes and skill development. Most of this was learned by asking Sky about her own class and skills. Her first class was a general [Runner] class that basically allowed her to move quickly and have increased stamina. Her big skill was an active skill that allowed her to have a boost of speed for a few seconds at the cost of some of her body’s energy. Nate had asked her how she got the class and she simply explained that she was given the chore as an errand girl when she was young. Two days after her sixteenth birthday, she got the [Runner] class during one of the errands. From the sound of it, Sky's job in the tribe was basically a message carrier amongst the Elders. Her mom had pulled some strings to get her the job, but it suited her well and kept her safe.

When Nate had shared some of his own information, she had been quite impressed. Just the mention of his [Poison Immunity] skill had lead to an intense round in the bedroom.

"Do you have a place that works weapons here?," Nate asked Sky as they continued to stroll through the market, "and I need a new spear shaft."

*****************

After a day spent shopping and picking up supplies, Nate lay in bed staring at the stone ceiling of his home. Sky lay next to him sleeping silently.

_____________________________

Name: Nathaniel Redsun

Level: 21 (Exp. 1553/2100)

Health: 130/130

Energy: 120/120

Primary Class: Calm Survivor (Level 24)

Class Skills:

Survivor’s Need (Passive) (Level 20)

Survivor’s Awareness (Passive) (Level 23)

Survivor’s Resistance (Passive) (Level 22)

Secondary Class: None

Stats:

Speed: 36 Agility: 33

Stamina: 43 Strength: 36

Intelligence: 30 Perception: 28

Wisdom: 28 Will: 30

Stat Points Available: 0

General Skills:

Silent Presence (Passive) (Level 21)

Dark Vision (Passive)(Level 20)

Pain Resistance (Passive)(Level 30)

Bleeding Resistance (Passive)(Level 27)

Infection Resistance (Passive)(Level 25)

Poison Immunity (Passive)(Level 4)

Burn Resistance (Passive)(Level 8)

Fear Resistance (Passive)(Level 17)

Archer’s Sight (Passive)(Level 29)

Duality (Passive)(Level 18)

Identify (Active)(Level 18)

Forceful Throw (Active)(Level 13)

Sleep Resistance (Passive)(Level 5)

Concussion Resistance (Passive)(Level 6)

__________________________

Regardless of his general inactivity, Nate had still seen some improvement and he was creeping closer to Level 25. Consistent with Rod's information, Sky had explained that most people in the tribe gained their second class at Level 25. Those that were exceptionally strong usually gained theirs closer to Level 30. Nate didn't consider himself exceptionally strong so he thought that he would get his second class soon. Sky believed otherwise and had told him that he should get it between Level 25 and Level 30.

Nate smiled. He had learned so much during his time at the Greyfor tribe. He had always felt his knowledge to be lacking, but now he felt less like an idiot. He had learned about classes, skills and stats. He had learned about culture and geography. But there were some questions that still lingered in his mind.

In one of their many conversations, Sky also confirmed that a human having a core like a beast was not something that was known to happen. Of course, Nate didn’t mention that his questions were about himself. He had simply worked it into a conversation about a mountain tribe that was beastlike in their appearance from having lived like bears for so long. Apparently, the Greyfor’s didn’t even consider the man-beasts to be human enough for mates. Sky had rattled off a bunch of nonsense about no one wanting to have really hairy children that Nate didn’t quite understand. 

The vastness and variety of the world always interested Nate. He looked at Sky again before rolling over in bed in an attempt to get some rest.

I need to leave this place. There is so much I haven’t seen.