In the morning, Becky scrambled to dress as Mason put on some boxers and stretched. She at least was mostly ready when Blake and Seul-ki returned from gathering firewood and pretended like nothing happened the night before. They all ate breakfast, packed up their camp, and hiked the last few miles to the great tree in a comfortable silence.

It occurred to Mason as they approached the clearing that different dungeons might recommend or even demand different numbers of players. This particular dungeon might be for one man, or it might be for twenty, and since it wasn’t the tutorial anymore it might not even tell him exactly. What had the first one actually said? He couldn’t even remember.

“Uh, Mason. I don’t see any giant trees.” Blake squinted as he looked at the clearing.

“Right.” Mason forgot he hadn’t explained. “So there’s…intelligent creatures living inside it, protecting it with magic. Unless you’ve got nature affinity, I think, you’re not really welcome. And actually it seems you need to be a druid specifically to really get their attention.”

Blake just stared, waiting for the solution.

“I guess I should go talk to them,” Mason sighed. “You can go into the clearing, if you like. It’s probably the safest solution. But if you do you’ll be trapped in thick mist and probably unable to even find each other until the creatures decide otherwise. So I’ll leave it up to you.”

“We’ll stay out here.” Blake said, then set himself down on a log. “You’re sure these creatures will let us in? Have you got anything they want?”

Mason cleared his throat as he recalled exactly what he had—which involved an afternoon of banging two hot nymphs at the same time.

“Yeah. Anyway, they want the tree cleared, so it shouldn’t take any convincing.”

“Alright.” Blake yawned and looked prepared for a nap. “Tally ho, and all that. Come and get us when you’re finished.”

Mason told Streak to stay, gave Becky a slightly guilty peck on the lips, and finally a nod to Seul-ki. Then he moved into the clearing.

* * *

“The druid has returned, sister!” the friendlier and bubblier nymph, Thea, whispered instantly on the wind.

“You are welcome here, druid,” said Calypsa, the warrior sister. “Come to us. Tell us of your travels.”

“Oh druid,” said Thea. “We have such wonderful things to show you! Come, come, the tree is waiting!”

Mason felt his Apex Predator aligning him perfectly to the magical mists. The huge tree stretched before him and above the canopy, the base as wide as a skyscraper. He reminded himself he had a dream girl waiting just behind, and another one waiting back in town—that he was here to clear a dungeon and hopefully gain his brother and the girls some actual fighting experience and some power to face the challenges ahead. But even so, the image of the nymphs naked and riding him together came uncalled, and sent a spasm straight to his dick.

He touched the tree and felt the same, now familiar power shiver through his hand like electricity. The two areas of the tree opened up.

[Nymph alcove.]

[Great Tree Corruption]

He chose the nymphs, and felt his mind almost sucked physically towards the tree until his vision blurred and blackened. He opened his eyes in the same, warm, humid cave he’d found those weeks ago.

“Mason!” Thea emerged wet and dripping from her pond, pulling her long, golden hair behind her head. She wore a different robe of leaves than the last time, this one somehow more formal, more vibrant in color, and covering her from neck to knees. Though it was skin tight and showed her every curve.

She held up her dress and raced across the space between them like an excited little girl, throwing her arms around Mason and putting her lips to his in a passionate kiss.

He fought for a moment, he really did. But she smelled like fresh baked bread and tasted like red wine, and her lips were soft and wet and delicious..

“Sister!” Calypsa chastised as she stepped from the gloom with a spear and not much else. Her thinner, lither frame was almost entirely exposed, small pert breasts revealed entirely, with only a thin silk wrap around her womanhood. “We have things to discuss with the druid. Stop infecting him with your magic.”

Thea released Mason and pouted as she stepped away, and the intoxicating smell vanished from Mason’s senses.

“I’m sorry, druid,” she mumbled. “I’m just so excited to see you.”

He smiled, liking the women, or possibly creatures, very much. They seemed almost innocent in some ways, if terribly dangerous in others. And of course they were extremely fuckable. He looked around the cave and noticed many new plants, most like hanging vines that grew up the walls.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“I hadn’t noticed those before,” he gestured to some colorful flowers hanging from the vines. “Are they new?”

“Oh yes,” Thea clapped her hands and smiled as she walked towards them. “This is just one of the creatures we gave life with your seed,” she smiled. “There are many others.”

Mason blinked, and met the girl’s practically glowing green eyes. “Wait, what? You’re telling me…I…mean, it was my magic that helped…”

“These are our offspring.” The nymph nodded, as if it were obvious. “I birthed them in the pool a few days ago. Come,” she gestured for him. “Come and meet your children.”

Mason walked forward, somewhat dazed. The notion that he had fathered plants was altogether too strange to accept, and yet he could see no reason for the strange women to lie. She took his hand and lifted it to the vines, which began to move at his touch and wrap slowly around his fingers.

“They’re very small and weak for now,” said Thea. “But they will grow to great trees and thorny defenders with care and nourishment. They will help protect us, protect our grove, and perhaps the forest, like their mighty sire.”

The nymph beamed, and Mason had no idea what to say. Thea was so pleased and happy he found he couldn’t feel any different. “I’m glad. But you certainly don’t look like you’ve given birth.”

Her body looked flawless, no different than before. She laughed and slapped at his arm like he was being silly. “I am a daughter of Gaia, druid. I am more than just this flesh and bone. I am the pool, the mist, the tree itself. We are not like your human women.”

“No,” Mason agreed, “no you are not.”

“Have you come to cleanse the holy tree?” said Calypsa, and Mason nodded.

“I’ve brought friends. Four of us in total. We’re ready as soon as you let them through the mists.”

Thea looked confused and glanced at her sister. “Of course, druid, if you wish. But you do not need our help to escort them. You need only touch them as they travel the grove, and they will see what you see.”

Mason cleared his throat, feeling a little foolish but glad for their knowledge. “Can you tell me anything useful to help us through the corrupted tree? Or help us with magic?”

“We shall do better than that, druid,” Calypsa walked towards the pool with swaying hips. “I will go with you.”

She stepped into the waters, and colored mist rose as she did. When she stepped out again her body was wrapped in green and brown plates of bark and scale. She twirled her spear and examined its edge before walking towards Mason, a fierce smile on her lips.

“If you will have me.”

* * *

Blake yawned in boredom, tapping his fingers on a rock as he looked through his player profile.

Nothing much had changed, but he was excited to show Mason what he could do in the dungeon. And Seul-ki. And also survive the experience. And get back to Nassau in one piece.

But for the moment he was forced to sit in this insect-ridden, uncomfortable forest, without any books or minds to bend or tasks to complete. He ran through the profile, then started multiplying and dividing in his head. After the approximately five minutes that entertained him he leaned forward for a new target for his attention.

“So,” he said in Rebecca’s direction. “You and my brother seem to be moving pretty quickly.”

The girl practically turned into a tomato, and Blake let out a disappointing breath as she stammered through a response. He loved to tease people, pretty much endlessly, but when someone was legitimately embarrassed and dull witted it began to feel like cruelty. He changed the subject.

“They tell me your fellow player is up and around and doing well. Phuong, was it? I haven’t had the pleasure of speaking to him yet.”

The girl smiled gratefully at the topic change, and went on at considerable length about the old man’s wisdom and kindness and prowess in battle.

Blake made a mental note to start befriending the man and working him into his inner circle. He had very few actual warriors, and between the man’s age and his connection with the new batch of civilians, it seemed important to make him an ally. As for ensuring the loyalty of Rebecca herself, well, Mason’s genitalia seemed to be doing that just fine.

“And the tutorial you came from,” Blake eventually interrupted. “Were there many other players who survived? Any notables we should try and recruit, or, you know, Masonify?”

“Masonify?” The girl frowned then sort of blanched when she understood why her lover’s name might be a verb. “No. I mean no one to…kill.” She jumped from white to red hilariously fast. “But yes, there were quite a few others. I didn’t know most of them. We spent almost all our time trying to survive the monster attacks.”

“Tell me about them,” Blake prompted, idly playing with a bit of Seul-ki’s hair at his side. The girl did her best, but when he realized she was re-living past horrors he interrupted again. “I’ve heard rumors there’s another town further along our river to the South. You hear anything like that?”

The girl’s horrific memories seemed to clear as she shook her head. “We ran as soon as we could. We’d have been lost completely in the woods without Phuong, but he helped us find the river, and then that boat, and the rest you basically know.”

He certainly did. He’d been doing his best to read the mind of every player and civilian who entered Nassau, and knew pretty much everything anyone else did. But still, it was interesting to see what they said versus what their minds revealed. Blake was beginning to learn his mental powers were extremely accurate.

When it seemed Blake might be forced to try another conversation, Mason finally emerged from the trees—and looking far more refreshed than he should have considering his night of coital pleasures.

“The prodigal son returns.” Blake stood up and clapped his hands. “Are we ready? Are we…”

His words caught in his throat as a spear-armed, brown skinned beauty stepped out of the trees at Mason’s side. She wore some kind of bark-like armor over a thin, athletic frame, and her face belonged in some European fashion magazine.

“Well hello,” he said, with a wide smile, coming forward to take her hand.

“This is Calypsa,” said Mason. “She’s one of the beings who lives in the great tree. And she’ll be helping to guide us through the dungeon.”

As Blake reached for her hand, she looked at him with such dismissal and promise of violence, he turned and coughed into his palm.

“I’m Blake,” he said instead. “Nice to meet you.”

She ignored him completely—until Mason gave her a look.

“Nice to meet you,” she said in a voice as cold as winter. Then her nostrils flared, and her expression warped to something approaching pleasure as she walked straight through the circle of ground between them all, straight up to Rebecca.

She leaned in to the country girl, who pulled slightly away in confusion. The strange newcomer literally sniffed her.

“Mmm,” she almost purred. “I can smell the druid on you. You should join us when this is finished. We will help you receive him properly, fully. We will…”

“Calypsa.” Mason’s voice snapped like a whip and the beautiful young woman flinched at the sound.

“Apologies, druid. I am yours to command.”

Rebecca had turned some shade of purple, and if Blake were a better man he’d have withheld the laugh that followed. But he wasn’t. So he didn’t.

Mason glared at him, and Blake cleared his throat to recover.

“Well, then,” he put an arm behind Seul-ki’s back. “If we’re all done introducing ourselves. I have a dungeon to clear, and a town to run. Shall we get started?”