Getting stronger came with its quirks of feeling powerful but at the same time, increasing the intensity of the training made a whole difference to a body that had become rather used to even the worst of the worst in training regimens, but luckily they had finally attained the level increase they needed. Their level boost happened rather at the same time due to them having to purchase the last remaining stat percentages using their xp. The final inventory stats for the two of them were now:

Tanatswa - level 2

Strength 1% - level 2

Agility 5% -level 2

Wisdom 3% - level 1

Luck 9% - level 1

Intelligence 2% - level 2

Artistry 1% - level 2

Crafting 44% - level 1

Mithridatism 4% level 1

Influence 30% - level 1

Infamy 0% - level 1

Charisma 5% - level 1

Tamer 56% - level 1

Shami - level 2

Strength 77% - level 1

Agility 0% - level 2

Wisdom 11% - level 1

Luck 22% - level 1

Intelligence 0% - level 2

Artistry 1% - level 2

Crafting 4% - level 2

Mithridatism 10% - level 1

Influence 30% - level 1

Infamy 0% - level 1

Charisma 65% - level 1

Tamer 81% - level 1

As soon as they had seen the new stats a rush of blood flowed into their heads and for about 30 seconds they experienced a migraine. As soon as the pain ceased, they both felt relieved and then noticed their mana bar activate. On Tanatswa’s top peripheral vision, he saw the words, “Special Ability Acquired ‘Refiner’.” Tanatswa wondered what the refiner ability was and hoped that something dramatic would trigger his new found powers, but alas, nothing happened. Shami also had the same experience and on her top peripheral vision she saw the words. “Special Ability Acquired ‘Body dysmorphia’.”

They all told each other what their abilities were called and wondered why nothing had happened. Soon enough, a dialogue box appeared to both of them which stated, “Abilities can be used when one has mana, acquire mana and upgrade intelligence to improve mana preservation.” After that was done they both looked at each other and wondered how they would acquire this mana. Tanatswa immediately entered his voice command for the custom goal and said, “Acquire mana.” He was immediately met with several instructions.The options read as follows:

* Mana plants can be acquired near Hydra swamps, Oakwood forestry, rainforest regions or slithering lakes - Difficulty: Depends on level of individual.

* Mana plants can be grown but require extensive knowledge in Agricultural upkeep and preservation of plants - Difficulty: Medium,requires agricultural mindset.

* Drink from the bosom of a succubus.

Tanatswa read these descriptions all out to Shami and they immediately questioned the mention of the succubus as well as the fact that they could actually grow mana for themselves. Tanatswa assumed that they would immediately start off with something in the tank, but now they would have to find this mana and consume it to find out what they were even capable of. Their level 2 acquisition became rather anti climatic and even made Shami sigh and burst into a rage of profanities.

“Well I guess there is more fucken work to do, geez, after all that effort and we still gotta look for this thing.” she said, prancing around with a dissatisfied look.

“Well, I guess we might as well look for this mana plant thing.” he said, looking at her vent, with much stupefaction as to what her antics would even accomplish.

“Aren’t you planning on looking for other people first?” she asked, curious as to what he would prioritize.

“Well, we should multitask: We could do a joint operation of looking for this mana plant and reaching out to any other person out there we can find. I mean we might as well go the full way to find out what these special abilities are.” he said, with much excitement.

“I hope these abilities make us super, like the X-men or something. Who knows, maybe I might have way off expectations considering we leveled up but there isn’t much of a significant difference in how I feel.”

“Don’t ignore the good in all of this, there is a lot of information we gained from reaching this point.” he said, enthusiastically.

“When did you become the positive one? I was now used to you being all self loathing and all, it’s like you have become a totally different person, who are you?” she said, teasing him whilst making silly expressions on her face.

“Well if it’s any consolation you haven’t changed at all, well apart, from you know…” he said, stuttering towards the end.

“My ass?” she asked, almost grinning incredulously.

“Nope, geez, okay fine, your squats have really helped you out with your body, but that’s besides the point,” he said, trying to not make eye contact with Shami who had already gotten into a pose, “so basically, only the stats that we worked on carry over to level 2 and everything else lags behind, so basically, if you just work primarily on your 4 core stats then you don’t necessarily have to address the other slots.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to be all rounded? I mean, I am pretty sure stuff like mithridatism and the other stats are necessary. It’s pretty clear who is the most exciting one around here if you consider comparing our level of charisma. You will see what I mean.” she said, with a rather playful face.

“I really don’t need to be charismatic, not everyone has to, so you can enjoy your 65% of charisma.” he said, annoyed by her sassiness.

“Well it’s not just the charisma department, I am even wiser than you, well I think it’s more of a gender thing now that I think about it.” she said, now strutting around whilst exhibiting cute and playful expressions.

“A gender thing, what are you now on about?” he asked, slightly annoyed.

“Well it’s natural that I am wiser and way more luckier than you, I mean, most men are daring but reckless. Most of the renovations for the forest were a result of my desire for better living standards and because of me, we no longer shit like savages.” she said gleefully, gazing at him.

“I already gave you credit for building that toilet, geez.” he said, cornered by her self congratulating remarks.

“But you should have taken the initiative, aren’t guys supposed to be handy and good with tools.” she said with sass.

“You know what, you can gloat over your plummer skills, but right now we should start planning ahead for our trip to find the mana plant.” he said, slightly raising his voice to shut her out.

“Hmm, whatever. Just when I was getting my fill from teasing you, you decide to get all serious, no wonder why your charisma is at 5%.” she said, crackling a laugh.

“I think I will continue my exercising down there. You seem to like treating me like a little kid when I am clearly older than you.” he said, trying to hold back his frustration.

“Even if you were 2 years older than me back when you were alive, I don’t think age really matters for us dead people so I will accept my presumed age of maturity.” she replied, blinking her eyes. Tanatswa simply rolled his eyes and walked away. She was getting carried away with her taunting, but she was just trying to instigate a jovial witty conversation with him. Shami noticed that Tanatswa, despite having adopted some of her liveliness, prefered to be quiet or rather did not like to indulge in sarcastic chatter. She also noticed that he was becoming more obsessed with training and physical fitness. Since this world didn’t have any entertainment like music you could readily stream on soundcloud or spotify, television, video games and any kind of online distractions, there was a high chance of dealing with boredom. They were now 2½ weeks into co-existing with each other and their night time conversations had become the evening pass time, they could use to salvage their minds from boredom. Shami had lived for 21 years and Tanatswa 23 years. They had a wealth of unique experiences, but not all of it had been positive or shared with each other. Tanatswa had talked about his parents divorcing and him having a rocky financial situation growing up. He stated that he clashed with his mother’s expectations of him and what he really wanted to do in his life. Basically, she in a way felt sorry for how things had turned out for him in his past life. She wanted to make him feel happy but at the same time she wanted to come to accept her own decision of ending her own life without anymore regrets.

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When Tanatswa finished his training, he took a bath, washed his clothes and wore the spare that were made from the wolves’ fur. They were comfortable but sometimes the process of how they came to be haunted him. Shami had mastered the art of skinning animals and she would never bat an eye in the process and would separate skin from flesh with enthusiasm.

She had embraced the survival culture and adapted to their situation. He always wondered what he would do without her because as far as crafting was concerned, she way ahead of him and always left him in awe. He began to divert his thoughts from her and fixated on what the title ‘Refiner’ actually meant for him. What could it possibly mean for him? Would he shoot out ki blasts or fireballs? Eventually everything he desired to know would be revealed to him the following day.

It was Tanatswa’s turn to cook that night and Shami had left him with a few recipes he would have to consider. They had made multiple clay pots and erected a decent fireplace for cooking. Tanatswa added multiple ingredients and watched Shami who was glancing at him with a smile.

She was only just wearing her unitard and she seemed rather arousing to look at. Tanatswa began to avert his attention and looked elsewhere as usual, to feign ignorance, but this time, Shami was going to force her way into sleeping with him. “So do you intend for us to go tomorrow to that mana plant place?” she asked, with her hair looking wispy as she posed, looking all the more open for something sensual.

“Yeah, my custom goal navigation point states that it’s not too far away. It’s about like 12km away from here, the Oakwood place” he said, turning the meat and the vegetables around as they got fried, “but I think if we go with a couple of containers, we could try growing the plant here in our own personal garden.”

“Sure, that sounds like a plan,” she said, rising from her feathery couch and now approaching him, “I guess we will have to wake up early and prepare for the trip.”

“Yeah, hopefully all will be…” he said, getting distracted towards the end of his sentence when Shami came in between him and the cooking hearth. She held the hand that was holding the wooden spoon that Tanatswa was using to churn and mix the vegetables and began to guide its motion. She pushed back her buttocks right into his crotch and began to grind on him, and his cock soon began to get stimulated. He quickly asked her, “Wait what are you doing?”

“You know what I am doing Tanatswa.” she said, glancing back at him with lustful eyes. Uncertain and wondering whether or not he should carry on with what she was doing to him, he decided to step back, but she used her free hand to grab him by the ass and pushed him into her. He was surprised by this shove and their eyes met upon him getting even closer to her.

Her ass was really doing wonders and her vigorous rubbing was firing the engines down in his pants. Shami could even feel his penis rising to the occasion, She then turned and looked at him, “You know, I think that if I hadn’t made a move you were going to keep me waiting, but no more buddy. I know you want this just as much as I do.” She gave Tanatswa gleeful eyes and excited him even more, but he still wanted to cast away his final doubts by asking, “Are you sure?”

“Well if I stop mid way it will just be another awkward evening between us, so I am sure that I want you to fuck me tonight.” she said, letting out a bit of a laugh. Shami leaned in on him to kiss him and he reclined his head and kissed her back. The lip service was a bit sensual and at times sloppy. Shami even stopped mid way and this got Tanatswa worried. She then said, “I think with a little practice your kissing skills could improve, but I will help you get there.” She then got back into kissing him and she began to lead the way.

was honestly excited but at the same time terrified. He was going to get laid tonight, but at the same time this was going to be his first sexual encounter and he didn’t want to give her the impression that he was inexperienced. Thus his hands fumbled their way to grab her hips and he caressed her slightly with a soft touch. Shami noticed the area where his hands were massaging and brought them down to her butt. She really wanted him to take the liberties with her body and now he was grabbing her plump firm ass. The actual feeling was more sensational for her than for him for he felt like he was rubbing something firm but soft, but it didn’t necessarily spike his libido.

After a minute or two of kissing, they began to move away from the hearth and Shami paused a bit to look into his eyes. She smiled with lecherous eyes and he smiled back and then they continued kissing. She then moved her hand close to the seams of his pants and then slid her hand inside. Tanatswa began to feel a warm hand get a hold of his penis. She then raised her eyes wide and told him, “You are really packing a big one.” She began to massage his penis and even stroked his balls. This was just unreal to him and the fact that he was finally having sex with a woman was a dream come true. After half a minute of stroking, she took her hand out and began to lick it whilst looking at him.

This surprisingly turned him on even more and she could tell by his reaction. After that was done, she then guided him to the feathery couch and pushed him onto it. He waited in anticipation and wondered if this was the part where he would take of his pants. Shami, began to remove the top part of her unitard and slowly revealed her marvelous breasts. They were succulent and her nipples stood out. Some parts of her skin were coarse and others were even, but that didn’t matter.

As Shami undressed, Tanatswa also began to strip down. He first removed his shirt which exposed his bulging muscles and this immediately took Shami to cloud 9, as she literally became ecstatic upon seeing his well defined physique. As soon as the pants were gone, his big erect dick was out there in the open for her to see. Exposing his nether regions to a girl was a first for him and he probably thought that once all was exposed, he would immediately be okay with it, but he wasn’t. Shami gave him a really naughty look and it seems like she was excited by the prospect of riding his dick. Tanatswa feigned confidence, but he really wanted her to lead the way or else he would just panic and fuck up.

Shami made her away and sat on top of his lap. She was close and her nakedness was a visceral experience. Her breasts were in close proximity and Tanatswa could see her pussy. She kissed him again and then took the liberties of placing his penis inside of her. She then whispered to his ear, “Don’t forget to pull out my love.” The message immediately phased him when his tip crossed through the vagina and he began to feel warmth. The erogenous zones made him feel tingly and Shami began to moan. She began to move her hips up and down and he could feel great stimulation from his penis as he stroked. The pussy was wet and he was having the time of his life.

Shami rode his cock vigorously, panting and moaning and twisting and turning ever so slightly as if it felt as if she was go kart racing. Tanatswa went from just letting her ride to enjoying it so much that he began to be more assertive. He grabbed her ass and began to thrust like a machine. Shami even smiled and began to see a difference in performance. She was finally getting fucked the way she wanted and he was delivering the goods with an objective to make her cum. A lot of weird things were going on in both their minds. It was as if the experience was clouding their brains, as the pleasure got in over their heads.

Shami would tickle her clitoris to amp up the joy and Tanatswa kept on thrusting like a wild animal driven by instinct. Her breasts and his chest were one, interlocked and combined in this passionate intercourse. He huffed and smiled as he drilled her. Their cow girl like position was then shifted when Tanatswa decided to get a little creative.He grabbed her by the butt, lifted her and then reclined to do a reverse cow girl position. Shami could now see his dick fuck the shit out of her as she played with her clitoris. Tanatswa managed to keep the thrusting up for over 15 minutes and then began to feel the coming of the climax. Her insides were glorious and his penis was in vaginal heaven.

As he got closer to completion, he embraced her and she moaned at his tight squeeze. He began to put all his energy into the last thrusts of strength that made Shami wail so loud it was as if she was climaxing before he was about to reach the finish line. The wet frothing pussy and her sweat made this affair seem marinated with human fluids. Tanatswa pounded and gasped, holding her tight as she orgasmed and leaked her vaginal cum.

Shami was undergoing her own version of internal fireworks and moaned passionately as Tanatsea began to growl and huff at his abdomen’s slight decrease in energy. He could feel a load piling up inside his penis and finally delighted in a climactic release. The semen rushed through, hot and gelatinous and before he knew it, over flowed outside of the vagina. Tanatswa still had the fucking spirit in him and gave her more pleasure blows before finally admitting that she had drained him completely. This was a rather intoxicating alternative to exercise and he would surely want do more of this with her.

As Tanatswa began to lose momentum and eventually stopped thrusting all together, Shami who had been mentally disoriented soon came back to earth when she felt something liquid and gelatinous dripping down her vagina. Tanatswa’s cum flowed underneath the entry point of her vagina and began to slime her thighs and groin area. She then realised the ultimate slip up. Tanatswa was supposed to pull out before cumming inside of her, but he didn’t.

The joy and erotocism soon disappeared when she felt the hot cum with her own fingers. She immediately stood up and separated herself from Tanatswa. Tanatswa who was still digesting what had just happened was not prepared for what was to come. Shami glanced at her pussy which was still dripping with his cum and began to shout out at him, “You fucken idiot, you cummed inside me! What the fuck were you thinking. Shit, shit, shit, shit, I need to wash it out.” Tanatswa was alarmed and wondered what he had done wrong, but when she highlighted the part of him ejaculating inside of her he realised his mistake. Shami frantically began to look for a jug with water and began to pour her loins with water, dipping her fingers inside her vagina, vulva, you name it, to try and wash off his semen. Tanatswa who rose from the couch to talk to her, asked her with a concerned look, “Are you okay? Did I mess up?”

“You are asking me this now after what you just did? I told you to fucken pull out, what the fuck? I mean what the serious fuck? We had a really good time and you had to ruin it for some cum inside me moment? I don’t want to fucken get pregnant because of you being an asshole, you know what I am just over the roof right now, I told you to pull out before we started. Like fuck!” she screamed at him, now throwing vases that he had made to the ground in frustration. Her anger went from profanities to tears and it became clear to him that he had fucked up.

He tried to get close to her to comfort her, but she pushed him away. She then looked at his rather bewildered face and told him, “Like why did you do that? I told you to pull out, I told you before we started. Do you think I want to get a baby in this place? Like think about it Tanatswa, why would you ruin such a good night? Was fucking me not enough? Huh, answer me, stop fucken being quiet and pretending that you didn’t do shit because you have just made things worse for me and you. Speak damn it, don’t leave me hanging!”

“Okay I fucked up, I wasn’t thinking, I just got caught in the moment, I am, um, um sorry. Please tell me how I can fix this?” he said, petrified by her demeanour.

“You say this now after fucken cumming inside me. You aren’t being serious! “ she said, walking over to him and then grabbing him by the shoulder, “do you think you are fucken ready to raise a kid here in Goshem? Like I fucken hope I won’t get pregnant because the last thing I want in my mind is knowing that I live in this dangerous place and I have a baby coming into this world that makes no goddamn sense. Damn it Tanatswa, why did you have to ruin this night for us!”

Shami began to sob heavily and Tanatswa felt like he had victimized her. He had not thought about the consequences of him ejacualting inside her and possibly making her get pregnant. At the same time, the thought of her bringing a child to this world, his child, had not resonated until now. Was he really interested in the idea of having a child in a dangerous world that didn’t have the modern medicinal facilities as well as the civilization of his past life. How would he take care of Shami after getting her pregnant? What if the wolves were to attack or maybe the dark figure in the Ethereal Woods were to poison the mother of his unborn child or any other complex scenario were to occur. He didn’t really know what to do and shed a tear for the first time at his lack of usefulness.

He apologised to her and tried to embrace her to make her feel better, Shami misconstrued his embracing as him trying take advantage of her emotions and convince her into round two of intercourse. She the immediately told him to fucken leave. She didn’t want him to go forever, but at the moment, seeing his face was likely to give her more stress. If there had been an IUD, a condom or even the pill, she could have easily avoided this drama, but for now she wanted him to take off whilst she dealt with the possibility of Tanatswa’s semen actually impregnating her. Tanatswa left the fortress but reclined on a nearby a tree that was close to the fortress’ entrance. He had gotten laid but at the same time made a mess of things. He had no idea on how he would amend their relationship but he hoped that their new found love for each other wouldn’t dwindle away because of this.

In the thick forestry, someone had been watching the two of them argue after their intimate moment. He was a man who could easily see in the night and he spotted Tanatswa and Shami during their complicated discourse. His husky hair flowed backwards as he spied on the unsuspecting two. He had malignant plans, especially for the divided couple and wished to find out out what they had that he could loot. He smiled and then said to himself, “I wonder what I would do if I had that piece of ass all to myself.”