There were three more questions. The Mayor assured one questioner that there was no reason to believe Cottages and the surrounding region would be subject to attack or some sort of retaliation. Orian backed him up on that. Someone wondered if money deposited in a bank in Cottages could be withdrawn from some other place. Ronkel told them that the Thieves Guild Bank had over 20 branches throughout the continent. They had means to communicate with each other remotely, and transactions in one branch would be honored by any of the others. It might take a day or two, however. Other banks worked similarly.
And someone asked if Sterbian hadn’t been right about the new school attracting outsiders and trouble makers. Dad surprised me by fully agreeing with the premise. He turned it, though, saying that with growth also comes opportunities. It would not only be the students of the school who could benefit. There would be more people buying all sorts of goods. There would be new highly skilled craftsmen and talented people of all types bringing expertise Cottages had never had before. All the children and teens would gain opportunities which would not have been possible. Dad was sure Cottages would be gaining its own Adventuring Guild, but he had not yet had any discussions with anyone concerning its establishment. Regarding troublemakers, the Duchy already established a permanent garrison of eight guardsmen. The town would be able to handle problems as they arise, increasing its own town guard staff when necessary. The orchard cooperative would have more customers and less produce would go to waste.
Arrjee mentioned an orchard when we first met. I should take a look.
As had become my habit, I was analyzing one person or thing about every other minute, my Boost Armor skill was active, and since it was late evening, my Dark Sight was up. As Interface had expected:
Achievement: Level 6
“Nice, thanks. Assign two free points to perception and one to vitality.”
Perception: 23
Vitality: 26
HP: 336/377
SP: 332/377
I was ready for this. No new skill at this level, and my attributes that normally gain three points per level didn’t advance. So there was no automatic gain for agility, dexterity, or vitality. Since this was an even level, my wisdom got its plus four, though.
??? “Interface, why do I suddenly have a raging erection?”
You just pushed vitality above its 25 threshold. Wisdom as well, but that does not have a physical manifestation.
“You never told me about thresholds!”
Surprise! Enjoy your new half inch.
“You could have warned me. We’re in a big crowd!”
I did not expect your uncharacteristic choice to assign free points without discussion.
…
Forrest. Will you laugh about this in a year?
… “Yes.” And I subtly smiled, assuring him I was not angry.
As will I.
I did my best to pull and hold my member inward, to point as straight up as possible. With my dexterity in its 20s, that was easier than I would have thought. Still, I heard a quick, quiet snort, and saw Arrjee holding back a smirk, staring at the tent in my loincloth. || vitality threshold. I leveled, added a free point, and apparently a half inch. embarrassed, awkward
He cleared his throat and slightly raised his eyebrows. || We’ll test that later. anticipation
The Mayor announced, “If there are no more questions, this assembly is over.” He paused for a moment to make sure. “Thank you for coming, for your attentiveness, and for your respect. Any who desire may accompany us out the back gate for the release of Sterbian’s elements back to the environment.”
I hurried to speak with Merz and Belenay Sholut. Onre and Niscus followed; I guess they wanted to connect as well. My blood flow was quickly normalizing, so the issue I had was a non-problem by the time I reached them. I’m sure people noticed, but what’s a guy to do? Fortunately no one brought it up as it brought itself down.
“Merz,” I began, “I’m going to have to delay that discussion concerning pipes. Too much unexpected stuff happened. Let’s try when I get back on Fifthday.”
He responded, “Pipes and water. I remember, but I still don’t know the actual topic.” I told him that I needed to explain it all at once, and it would take probably an hour to discuss just the outline of my idea. “Okay, I should be able to make some time on Fifthday. I look forward to hearing what you have to say.”
Onre suddenly spoke, “That reminds me, Forrest. Mista Smithson mentioned that he would be delaying some project of yours so he could work on Mom’s hand. Your thing won’t be ready Fifthday.”
I said, “Okay, Onre, that’s fine. Thank you for telling me. Merz, what you told us this evening about Cycles – I’m sorry you had to move. One other thing, though, relating to Onre. You didn’t mention him, and that was good. We have all agreed not to talk about him being from there. We don’t know if the Grease or whoever might still be interested in finding him.”
Belenay responded, “We understand. In fact, we don’t really want people from there finding out we are here either. We also had some problems with the Grease, as well as a despicable woman who really started all our recent problems.”
“Do I know of her?” asked Onre, puzzled.
She answered, “No, and believe me, you don’t want to. Imagine the most disagreeable, hateful, petty, racist Human bitch you can. Multiply that by three.”
Merz corrected her. “That is inaccurate, sweetheart. I had to work with her. Include ‘stuck-up’ and ‘busybody’. Onre, multiply by another two.”
“At least,” Niscus continued. “I’m an empath, and my mind still hasn’t cleansed itself of the memory of her utterly clueless vileness.”
Her parents simultaneously told her, “You win.” We all laughed at that.
Someone I don’t want to meet. Check.
----------------------------------------
I excused myself, saying I wanted to witness Sterbian’s final ceremony. It turned out that the only ones to follow the Mayor were the three Skolturi Wraiths, my direct family, Grandma, Rina, all five Smithsons. It was dark, so there were a couple elevated torches following us, plus my Dark Sight. Onre caught up with us just outside the gate, so ‘our’ Dark Sight. I think he was here for his Mom.
The funeral pyre was off of a path in the opposite direction of River River, which is why I never noticed it from the back side of our village. It was a large stone, heavily darkened on top by countless cremations. A large area around the stone had been cleared. I learned the bodies are typically turned to ash by either a pyromancer or an alchemical accelerant, Either result in the body becoming total ash. Grandma had brought a special compound, mixed with a sort of incense.
From somewhere (bag of carrying?!) Ronkel pulled out Sterbian’s remains and laid it on the stone. It wasn’t easy to look at; the body had boiled from within and now had started to dry out and wrinkle.
His boiling blood must have crystallized after he died.
Yes.
Grandma sprinkled his body with her compound. She said that it consisted of her alchemy, her perfumery, and her love. Dad said we should say our farewells, and gave us a moment of silence. He then started the cremation with basically a wooden match. The smoke gave off a pleasant scent, but I couldn’t not think that most of that smoke was Sterbian. No one had a problem with it, though, so I kept my solemn demeanor.
Onre and Mom, Grandma’s children, were each hugging her one arm each, from opposite sides. I remembered the Earth saying that funerals were for the living, not the dead. I hugged her from the rear, and Arrjee joined me. Carrie and Rina hugged her from the front. Dad stood among the Skolturi, and the Smithsons had formed themselves in a sort of semi-circle hug.
I hope I don’t have to experience this very often. Goodbye, Sterbian.
I heard some bird calls and mentioned it. Asiel said those were observer sparrows. “There is a legend that they bear witness to a soul’s transition to its next life. … Or,” he added, “they could just be attracted to the scent”
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
“Observer Sparrows?”
Just a description, not their formal name. If you are asking if they are actually ‘observing’ the transition, who is to say? In the infinite complexity of the galaxy, it is possible. But regardless of their presence, souls will transition.
Our air of solemnity might have vanished with the smoke. We began walking back at a slow pace. Rina and Carrie went over to talk to Kenna Smithson, who was one of Carrie’s good friends. So was Mols, but he had approached Ronkel with a business-like demeanor, and they began discussing the operation of Sterbian’s store. If he could be a man of business, I probably should, too.
I approached Mista and told him what Onre informed me about delaying the drafting table mechanism in lieu of Rhonda’s hand. He apologized, but I told him, “Do the best you can for Grandma; there is no hurry to build the mechanism.”
“It will be an interesting challenge, but I have built prosthetic hands and feet before.” She was near enough to hear, so he spoke just a little louder, “I believe Rhonda will be pleased with her new hand.” We saw her acknowledge with a smile and a nod.
Continuing, he told me, “I have some initial thoughts concerning the mechanism. The large belt could probably be made of either rubber or some sort of braided cloth. I’m not sure there is anyone in town with the skill to make either, however.”
I immediately had a thought. “Do you know the Sholuts? They just moved to Cottages, and Merz spoke at the meeting about the city of Cycles.”
His wife Kella responded, “Yes, the new Human family. We have not had the opportunity to meet them yet.”
“Belenay Sholut is a carpet maker. Her classes are Clothsmith and Carpetmaker. It would not surprise me if making such a braided belt would be something she could accomplish easily. I have seen some of her braided carpets; and that sort of workmanship might be perfect for what you need.” Mista responded that he would speak with her when the opportunity presented itself.
I walked back over to Arrjee, who was in a humorous conversation with Grandma. I whispered to them, “I am glad we all aren’t moping and sorrowful that Sterbian is gone. On Earth, there would often be three days of sorrow when a family member or good friend died.”
Grandma responded, “You have told us that Earth had no Interfaces and no aetherial knowledge. It had religions teaching all kinds of contradictory things about what comes after death. The people of Heere do have sure knowledge of the ongoing cycle of reincarnation, as Arrjee, you, and I can personally attest. Yes, Sterbian’s life is over. I will miss him, but I also know he begins anew elsewhere. It would be foolish for us to hold in sorrow for days, knowing that.”
Once through the gate, we split up, with Dad, Mom, Carrie, Onre, and Rina escorting Grandma to her cottage, the Smithsons heading directly home, and Arrjee, I, and the three wraiths heading to campus. We got there at 18:41, still over an hour to midnight. The weekend begins tomorrow morning, but I’ll spend it in the void.
Arrjee won’t be in a hurry to get to sleep. Possibilities.
Before the Wraiths left, Ronkel said, “Rint wants me to tell you ‘good night’ for her. So good night from both of us!”
“‘Rint’?” I asked
“She wanted a name, and we both agreed ‘Interface’ was taken. Since everyone already thinks of her as ‘Ronkel’s Interface’ or ‘R.I’, ‘Rint’ was the name we came up with.” Arrjee, Interface, and I wished Rint and all of them a good night.
Just after the Wraiths split off to go to their apartments, Arrjee and I met up with the young-looking cleric Harron Ronvaldt, who had been strolling. He asked me if I planned to spend any time training with Abbie this evening. I told him I had originally planned on doing so to help me reach Level 6, but that happened quicker than I expected.
“I heard about that,” Harron said with an odd smile.
“You heard that I leveled? How? You were the first person I told.”
He replied, “Well, in the first place we see it with Analyze. Probably a lot of people know. In the second place, Arrjee was the first person you told, not me.”
“But I told him with … Group Mind – Oh, Sun heard, didn’t they?”
“Yes, and that you had passed through your virility threshold.” Arrjee heavily snorted, having difficulty holding in his laughter. “They did not tell me so specifically, but it is quite likely your gang will hold a virility ceremony for you.”
Virility ceremony?
I believe you can expect an orgy as part of a general celebratory atmosphere.
“Hell no!” Maybe that is just Jacques’ Cleveland coming out, but, hell no! I’m not ready for something like that.
Your options are limited. You could, perhaps, run and hide in the woods.
“You know what?” I asked. “I think I will go visit Abbie. You guys are welcome to come along.” || confused determination, NOT hiding
Arrjee agreed. “Alright. We should wait for Onre and Kossa anyway. But after Abbie,, if they weren’t planning on having your virility ceremony, I’ll make sure it happens.” || my first one! hiding?
Et tu, Brute? || Just a stray thought. Forget it.
Thinking about it, especially tu, Brute. He did say, ‘We’ll test that later.’ I just thought the ‘we’ was he and I. What a sneaky word.
We went to Abbie’s chamber via the admin building. We greeted the guardsmen as we passed them by in the cave. Asha’s shift probably has not yet started. I still need to have him teach me Make Water, and I haven’t even talked to him about it.
Abbie was not as expected. I’m sure it was a coincidence. It had to be! – It’s just a random form Abbie took, and based on current thoughts, my mind defined that form. I’m a kid seeing shapes in clouds. But I’ll be damned if she doesn’t look like a French tickler condom encompassing her log. Interface helpfully (?) showed me a scratched-up, low res black and white image advertising such a condom. Only one part of the model was visible.
A French tickler condom around a penis is not an inaccurate description. The likeness is probably just a coincidence, however.
“So you do have porn!”
I have a scanned marketing image from a risqué but not pornographic European men’s magazine from the twentieth century. Someone had uploaded it to Usenet.
“You could have fooled me.”
Easily.
“Let’s beat on Abbie together. It will be good to let off some steam after today’s events.” Harron asked if I meant him as well. “Sure, you’re an honorary teen tonight. As a half-Skolturi, you are essentially a teen anyway.”
He may be twelve years older than me, but his body is for all practical purposes a year or two younger. Why is he smiling like that? Oh, crap. || Did I just invite Harron to my virility ceremony? doubt, surprise
We begin pounding. No one is cutting her, and I know she thinks of this as play. We couldn’t come close to seriously hurting her if we tried. I was mainly attacking with open palms and the side of my hands, still not satisfied with the callouses that had finally begun to toughen my hands up. Her clay-like surface was almost ideal for this.
Arrjee answered my spoken statement with, “The more the merrier.” || That is what I thought you meant, yes. I’m not leveled yet, so with his oath he won’t touch me. But he can keep plenty busy with you, Onre, Niscus, and Odd. And Corval if he is free for the night.
I ask || So, except for Harron’s restrictions, it’s going to be everyone with everyone?
|| Sort of. We’re all teens, right? You even declared Harron an honorary one, and he is probably the cutest and sexiest one of us all.
I might actually agree with that. Arrjee comes damn close, though, maybe even cuter.
Arrjee is objectively cuter.
“I thought you didn’t have a sex drive?”
I do not, but I do have eyes. Technically they are your eyes, but with your perception now at 23, I find them to be perfectly adequate.
“It’s Arjee’s puppy snout, isn’t it?”
Yes.
|| You’ll of course be the star of the show to begin with. As I understand it, the first phase is a sequential oral challenge. We need to determine the exact extent of your new virility level, after all. You should want to know that as well. I’ll go first; I am most qualified to verify your extra length.
Damn, I’m starting to get hard again. || Can we talk about something else? If not, my ceremony is likely to begin early.
Arrjee laughed, and Harron looked at him with curiosity. With Arrjee’s well honed sense of discretion, he revealed, “Forrest and I were discussing what he might expect tonight. He just asked to talk about something else. I think he is afraid he’ll blow his first load here and now.”
Harron glanced at my crotch for a second. I think he was using one of his damn Physician skills. “Definite signs of tumescence. His fear is not ill-placed.”
I should not have been surprised that a quick clinical description could shrivel me up so quickly.
And the embarrassment, geez. Am I ready for this?
I looked at their eyes, one set at a time, shaking my head slowly, trying to re-establish ‘Cool Forrest’. However, my eyes noticed their lips just below. Cool Forrest is not in the cavern. I began distracting myself by slugging at Abbie as hard as I could.
Forrest, your body is adjusting to its higher vitality. What you are experiencing is normal. What happens later tonight should prove beneficial in establishing a new baseline balance and help restore the control you are used to.
|| I’m sorry, was I not supposed to tell him that?
|| I had not expected you to be so totally open. It is fine, though I’m nervous and stressed, but I’m sure this evening will be a wonderful experience. Tomorrow my balls will likely be so drained I’ll barely remember our time now with Abbie. But expect full payback during your virility ceremony. humor
He replied with another smile. || Deal!
Abbie began stroking the top of my right fist with a pseudopod. I think she is telling me it is time to use Heal Other. She doesn’t need the heal of course, but I’m quite certain she really likes the accompanying ki boost. And hell, I need the training.
After observing me cease attacking her, Arrjee and Harron do as well. I wondered if Abbie feels something similar to the horniness people do from my heals.
Shouldn’t have thought that. I should not have thought that. I think my erection just got harder than it was when I first added the free point to vitality. I’m sure Arrjee and Harron notice; how could they not?
Harron assured me, “Forrest, your body is adjusting to its higher vitality. What you are experiencing is normal. What you undergo during your virility ceremony should prove beneficial in establishing a new baseline balance and help restore ongoing genital control.”
“The hell?! Is that written in a book somewhere?”
Yes. Harron quoted it word for word. I suspect he has assisted in numerous virility ceremonies.
“‘Assisted’?”
And participated, yes.
“Your version was better. Less clinical.”
Thank you.
“Thank you, Harron. As I am sure you realize this is very awkward, normal or not. Right now, I am going to use up most of my ki with Heal Other. After that would you use your Heal Aura to make sure she is 100%? Then we can go get my ceremony started and maybe tame this deadly snake.”
“Of course.” He then asked me, “Did you happen to also surpass your endurance threshold?”
“No, my endurance is 24.”
“That is a relief. We can get some sleep tonight.”