by Eric Vall
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Chapter 1
I couldn’t get over the giant mosaic of my face on the garden wall.
Penelope, the pale blue naiad, had uncovered the mural earlier in the day, and it had been all I could think about since.
The enormous picture of me was strange enough, but I couldn’t make sense of the fact that I was holding my IBM clicky keyboard with the custom orange keycaps. It was yet another strange reference to computers in this world, and I had no idea how to reconcile it with the primitive society.
Being called the God of Ones and Zeroes had been weird enough, but this?
What the fuck?
My three followers were now sitting around the fire, eating a trout Penelope had caught, and talking amongst themselves.
“Why does the mural look so old?” I cut in. “The tiles must be ancient.”
“Well, you are supposed to be one of the old gods,” Nicola, the beautiful human with dark hair and huge, dark eyes, reminded me. “Why wouldn’t the artwork be ancient?”
“What’s the object you’re holding in the picture?” Penelope asked.
“It’s called a keyboard… a special old school one with springs,” I replied, even though I knew the women wouldn’t have any idea what that meant. “It’s something I used to work with back when I was… well, a long time ago.”
I’d been a computer programmer and a gamer in my old life, but that was before everything had changed. I now presided as a god over three beautiful priestesses, and everything was strange, although I couldn’t complain.
There were so many things I still needed to make sense of, and this mosaic made this clearer than ever.
First, there was the fact that it even existed in the first place. Nicola had said I was one of the “old gods,” and she thought it was obvious my mural would be an ancient relic, but I wasn’t even sure who these old gods were.
I’d heard the term once previously from Elowise, but none of the women had ever mentioned it. If there were old gods, did that mean there were also new gods? And how old were these old gods supposed to be, anyway? Were we talking hundreds of years, millenia, or beyond?
And what did that mean about my age?
The presence of the keyboard on the mosaic kept sending waves of chills down my virtual spine, too. The surroundings were ancient, but the keyboard was a modern tool, at least in my memories. Granted, that particular model was super high quality and hadn’t been made for about fifteen years, but like… what the fuck?
Why was I in a mosaic? Why my particular unique keyboard.
There was no way to make sense of it. I struggled to remember using the keyboard other than in my gaming chair, and I knew I used it to write tons of code, but I was drawing a complete blank when I tried to remember anything besides video games.
It seemed like it had to be related to the whole “ones and zeroes” thing, but how? There was clearly some association between this world and computers, but trying to understand the link between my prized clicky keyboard and this fantasy land of naiads and gnomes and fairies and shit was a little bit mind-blowing.
I tried to think back on the faintly-remembered conversation about being called the God of Ones and Zeroes for the first time, presumably back in my old life. I’d heard a man’s voice saying something about, but it sounded like it was coming from eons away. Or maybe even lifetimes ago. Whoever it was I’d been talking to had clearly been very impressed by something I’d done, but now… I had no memory of what it was.
I couldn’t believe I was even suggesting this to myself, but was there a possibility I’d been abducted by aliens? Could extraterrestrial beings have put me into some sort of simulation with their advanced technology? Although I was certainly having a lot of fun with the women, it didn’t necessarily seem like this was for play.
Keeping the priestesses alive was interesting, but it kept me constantly concerned for their safety and the state of their stats, so I wasn’t sure I could call it simple fun.
I was determined to solve this mystery sooner or later, but it didn’t seem like it was going to be tonight, and I zoomed back in the women to find them giggling together.
“A… clicky… key… thing.” Penelope wrinkled her nose and giggled some more. “Very interesting, master.”
The women frequently called me things like “master” and “my lord,” and it was always totally hot, but after last night, it sounded even better. I’d finally gotten to come down and visit the priestesses for the first time in a truly physical form, and needless to say, we’d had one hell of an orgy. I’d gotten a little rough with the women, but they’d definitely liked it, and with the sex came an accompanying stats boost for the priestesses. It turned out fucking me in person gave them an even bigger bonus than when I visited them inside their dreams.
I scanned over the women’s numbers again because the sheer increase was so incredible. First, I looked at Aleia’s, whose Strength statistic was currently off the charts.
Strength: 10
Endurance: 3
Intelligence: 3
Perception: 4
Agility: 5
Special Ability: Crafting: Develops into Alchemy: Level 5
Once I’d done a little math, I realized the women’s stats were increased by at least two additional points today. They always got an extra point in one category with each level up, but the in-person sex had given them two extra points in everything. I wondered if it was as temporary as their drem-sex boosts, but I’d just have to wait and see.
Aleia’s Agility skill had increased the most, and I didn’t find this surprising given the way the fairy had performed in yesterday’s battle against three huge, disgusting trolls. The women’s stat increases were based on what they’d accomplished since the last level up, and the strawberry-blonde had outdone herself by showing off her flying skills and hitting the trolls with rocks using her sling.
In contrast, Nicola’s Strength characteristic had gone up the most.
Strength: 7
Endurance: 4
Intelligence: 3
Perception: 3
Agility: 4
Hunting/Animal Husbandry: Develops into Animal Communication: Level 5
Strength could be tied to performance in battle, and the brunette had totally destroyed some trolls the day before with arrows.
Penelope had seen a boost in Endurance, and I thought this was probably because the naiad had climbed a huge tree for the first time in order to fight more effectively.
Strength: 4
Endurance: 4
Intelligence: 5
Perception: 4
Agility: 4
Special Ability: Water Seeking/Fishing: Develops into Water Magic: Level 5
I couldn’t believe the convent was already at Level 5, since it felt like I’d just gotten here.
And then there was the matter of the Town Quest and the Reward.
Next Town Quest: Rebuild altar
Reward upon Quest Completion: Open areas on map once surrounding zone revealed
This new reward would be pretty cool. One of my special skills was God Vision, which meant everything my followers saw opened up on my mental map. The priestesses had explored two square miles of the surrounding territory so far, but there were still foggy areas. Aleia had flown over my territory to open up my God Vision further, but she hadn’t been able to see the ground in places where the trees were thick. If this new skill opened up new parts of the map, it would be a big boost.
As for the altar, the structure in the garden had gotte
n damaged in a storm a couple days prior, and I supposed it was important to get it fixed because I wasn’t sure what effect it had on my powers. Besides, someone was clearly calling the shots around here, and it didn’t seem to be me. At least, I knew I wasn’t the man deciding what tasks would determine my next boost.
But probably most interesting of all was the new alert I’d received this morning.
Special Occurrence: New Life at Convent
I had to assume the “new life” meant I’d gotten one or more of the women pregnant last night, which was pretty fucking exciting. The display wasn’t telling me which one, but I really, really hoped it was Penelope. The naiad had been talking about babies for a while, and I thought she would be devastated if Nicola or Aleia were pregnant instead of her.
“It’s been a great day,” the blue woman sighed as she brought me back into reality. “I’ve been feeling especially energetic, and particularly devout, of course.”
The blue woman was always perky, but when I looked at her, she did seem to be glowing especially brightly. Her long, golden hair glimmered in the late afternoon sun and fell down over her cerulean shoulders. Her pale blue skin was barely covered by the gauzy, white and gold “priestess robes” the women wore, her eyes were bright and shining, and her cheeks were flushed with the pretty, purplish color they turned when she was happy or excited.
“I wonder why you’re more devout today, Penelope,” Nicola snickered.
“Oh, I think you know,” the naiad responded matter-of-factly. The blue woman was rarely embarrassed. “It is difficult not to be more and more impressed with our lord each time he makes love to me.”
I couldn’t say I didn’t appreciate the compliment, but I could tell Aleia was feeling shy from the way she was staring down at the ground. The fairy had been a virgin until the night before, and the way she’d lost her virginity hadn’t exactly been typical, given that she’d had a foursome with her two best friends and a god come down to the ground. I was really curious what the strawberry-blonde was thinking, and apparently Nicola was, too.
“Are you okay, Aleia?” the brunette asked the fairy.
Aleia swallowed hard, put down the piece of fish she’d been eating, and wiped her hands on a piece of cloth.
“Yes, I’m fine,” the fairy said as she met the dark-haired human’s eyes. “Like Penelope said, I actually feel wonderful. I suppose I have you to thank for that, my lord.”
“You’re welcome,” I chuckled. “But we don’t have to revisit anything you don’t want to.”
“Aleia, everything is fine,” Penelope assured the fairy. “After I made love to Jack for the first time, I felt a little shy, but there’s nothing to feel upset about. Jack loves you.”
“It’s true, I do,” I told the strawberry-blonde. “I love all of you.”
“I love you too, Jack,” Nicola yawned. “Although, I don’t know why I’m so tired. We didn’t really do much of anything today.”
“I thought you deserved a day off after that troll battle… plus you were up pretty late,” I said to the women.
“You said you didn’t want to talk about it!” the dark-haired woman laughed. “You just want us to tell you about how much we enjoyed everything.”
“That is our role as his followers,” Penelope reminded Nicola. “And I for one--”
“Okay, so do you think we should go to bed?” Aleia’s freckled cheeks were scarlet in the firelight as she stood up and dusted herself off. “I know I could use a little rest.”
“I’m coming, too,” Nicola sighed. “I really want to lie down.”
“You go ahead,” Penelope told the fairy and the human. “I want to talk to Jack a little more. It’s such a nice night.”
The blue woman sat back on her arms and looked up at the sky in silence until the two other priestesses had disappeared, and then a big grin spread across her deep red lips.
“What’s going on, Penelope?” I asked in a flirtatious voice. “You certainly look lovely this evening.”
“Thank you, master,” the naiad giggled and twirled a piece of hair around her finger. “I wanted to ask you what we’re going to be doing tomorrow…”
“Well, I got a trowel, which is used for mortaring, so I thought you could fix the altar, and--” I cut myself off when I saw the smirk on her face. “That’s not really what you wanted to talk to me about, is it?”
“Wellllll…” the blue woman trailed off as she looked down at the ground. “I was just wondering if it was too soon for you to visit me again…”
“I think I can visit you in your dreams anytime I want,” I mused.
“But would you want to visit me?” Penelope asked, and I couldn’t believe how bashful she sounded. “I mean, me in particular?”
“Of course, I would, silly,” I laughed. “You’re amazing.”
“Okay.” The naiad grinned. “I suppose I’m going to go to sleep now, and I’ll see you in a little bit.”
“That sounds good, and Penelope…” I trailed off.
“What, master?” the naiad asked as she stood up and poked the fading coals with a stick.
“You never have to be shy around me,” I told the blue woman. “Never, ever, ever.”
“I’m just new to… well, you know,” Penelope said, and I could tell she was blushing a little. “But I suppose I’ll get used to it quickly.”
“That’s the plan,” I laughed.
Then the cerulean woman walked into the priestesses’ living quarters, laid down, and snuggled into her silk blanket.
I had to take a minute to collect my thoughts, since I was having trouble not fantasizing about Penelope, but eventually, I turned my attention to more godlike musings.
It was a little less exciting than sex, but another one of my powers was to have a new tool sent to my followers every night. The tools appeared on the altar, or, now that the altar was broken, in the grass beside it. I considered what the women needed, and a propane torch popped into my head. It would make it so much easier for the priestesses to start fires, and it might even be a bit fun, too.
I suddenly realized I hadn’t gotten a tool this morning, and it seemed likely this was because I’d forgotten to ask for something the night before. I’d gotten distracted by coming down to see the women in person, but if I needed to ask for a specific tool every single day, I figured I’d better do it before sunrise from now on to be safe.
Now that I’d picked a tool, I zoomed out on my God Vision to check over the convent. I was still having trouble not thinking exclusively about Penelope, but I was able to focus my vision as I scanned the grounds one last time.
And then I saw something moving down in the ravine.
I wasn’t sure at first if it was just the wind in the trees. There was no further motion for a couple of seconds, but I finally caught a glimpse of something huge creeping up the rocks.
Then I swore to myself when I caught sight of its gigantic, glowing eyes and its huge, feline head.
It was a cougar, probably ten feet long from nose to tail, and it was only about a hundred yards away from the women.
They needed to kill it.
I could still hear the priestesses giggling from their beds, but then Nicola’s voice called out to me.
“Jack, I feel something,” the dark-haired woman hissed as she bolted upright in bed. “There’s something here.”
“What do you mean you feel something?” I asked. “Can you tell there’s a cougar coming up from the ravine?”
“Yes, I definitely feel something strange,” the brunette replied.
“You need to wake everyone up,” I ordered.
I could see Nicola nod in the dim firelight, and then she jumped out of bed and got to her feet. I wished the flames were burning brighter so there was more visibility, but the women were going to have to make do.
“Sisters, get out of bed!” the brunette cried out. “Didn’t you hear Jack? There’s a cougar nearby.”
“What?” Aleia gasped as she bolte
d upright and got to her feet.
“You need to go kill a cougar,” I said in a grim voice.
“A cougar?” Penelope leapt up, too, and then the three women stood there for a moment as if frozen in place.
It had to be disorienting to be told they had to get up and hunt in the dark.
“It’s still fairly far away,” Nicola announced, and when I double-checked, I saw the beast was still down near the creek. “We have time.”
“How can you tell?” Penelope asked.
“I don’t know,” the brunette admitted. “I feel like my connections with animals are getting stronger and stronger. But Jack, what’s the plan?”
“There’s no way I’m letting you go out in the dark with that thing,” I informed the women as I checked the position of the cougar again. “Those bastards are fast and strong, and they can leap at you from really far away. You need to stay up here and defend yourselves. Plus, you have the advantage of being able to see in the firelight.”
Suddenly, the cougar screamed, and the horrible shriek sounded like a human woman in distress as it echoed through the ravine. All three priestesses jumped, and Penelope yelped out in fear.
“Was that it?” the naiad asked, and both Nicola and Aleia nodded.
“I know it sounds scary, but it’s nowhere near as big as that bear,” the fairy tried to reassure the blue woman. “We can easily kill it.”
“Yep,” I agreed. “I want you to stay here and guard the room, and when it gets close, you can attack it.”
Then the cougar started to move faster and faster toward their location, and Nicola’s eyes widened with alarm.
“We need to arm ourselves now,” the brunette said to the other priestesses, and the three women hurried over to their stash of weapons. The dark-haired woman grabbed her bow and her quiver, Aleia snatched up her sling and a spear, and Penelope took a spear as well.
“Okay, get into position at the door,” I instructed the priestesses. “I’ll keep telling you what to do from here on out.”
The cougar howled again, and I watched in horror as the animal suddenly broke into a run. It raced up the grassy area between the ravine and the women’s home, and it didn’t pause until it was about fifty feet away from the living quarters.
