Second Skin: Unified: A litRPG Adventure (Second Skin Book 3)

by M Damon Baker

  As soon as the blade formed in my hand, I noticed that it was different. The plain hilt was suddenly adorned with delicate inlays of gold. The embellishments continued along the blade, where a perfectly formed fuller now graced the center of the steel, traced along its entire length with exquisitely carved scrollwork.

  “That’s new,” Tási remarked as I gazed at the altered steel.

  “The Blade’s description said it would grow in power as I did,” I replied to her. “My Aura pool just increased a great deal due to the Amulet and my own leveling. I guess this is the result.”

  “How much Aura do you have?” Tási asked as she looked over the changes to the Blade.

  “Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked that,” she quickly added when she realized the nature of her inquiry.

  “No. it’s alright. I don’t mind sharing that with you,” I offered. “With the levels I just gained and the boost from the Amulet, I have 715 points in my Aura pool.”

  “You have what?” Tási sputtered.

  “Is… that a lot?” I replied, suddenly uncomfortable with her flustered response.

  “Dreya, I’m an Evoker,” she explained. “My entire focus is on casting spells. For you, magic is only a small part of your abilities. I don’t have access to precise numbers like you do, but your Aura pool is probably double the size of mine.”

  I didn’t know how to respond to Tási’s revelation. I felt that anything I might say would come out wrong, either sounding too much like a boast or pity. Fortunately, Tási saved me from myself.

  “It’s like I’m constantly being reminded just how lucky I am to be part of this with you Dreya,” she said without a hint of resentment.

  “I feel the same way about you, Tási,” I replied as I hugged her closely.

  We shared the embrace for a few precious moments before returning to our tasks. The brief exchange reinvigorated me, and I resumed practicing my sword forms with a renewed intensity.

  When I had gone through all the forms a few times, I took a break and opened up the elf King’s spell tome. There were only two charges left on the heartstone, and I needed to learn the summoning spell quickly if I wanted to continue to have Ridge’s help constructing the wall.

  I studied the spell well into the evening. While I had gained several spells via the leveling process, this was the first one I was attempting to learn on my own, and the process proved to be more difficult than I had imagined.

  I thought I would only have to read the words and the magic would be revealed to me, but that was not the case. After going over the tome several times, I still had only the most rudimentary understanding of what the magic required. Just about the only aspect I was certain of was the spell’s admonition that I must meditate upon the land in order to gain a sufficient connection with the Earth. Frustrated with my lack of progress, I returned to my tent for the night.

  I let out a sigh as I sat down and tried to follow the tome’s advice. Focusing on the world around me, I let my mind wander over the valley. Tracing the paths we had discovered over the last two days, I envisioned the confines of the valley and jolted in surprise when I felt the land beckoning back to me. I felt the Essence of the land calling out to me, and in my mind’s eye, I saw the valley itself reaching out towards me, yearning to connect its Essence with my own.

  The thought of it should have alarmed me, but I felt comforted instead. This land had been awaiting my arrival for many centuries, and I knew that our connection was not only fated, but necessary. Sensing what was required of me, I reached out in return and claimed it for my own.

  Subtle waves of energy flowed back and forth, reminiscent of how Bane had bonded himself to me. I welcomed the sensation of its gentle warmth and realized that I had just completed an important step of my journey—not only had I claimed this valley as my own, but I had bonded myself to the land as well. I didn’t understand the full implications of that bond, but treading into uncharted waters was nothing new for me anymore.

  The soft energy of the link faded, and my eyes slowly fluttered open. As they did, I saw both Tási and Bane sitting beside me in the tent, staring at me expectantly.

  “Nothing special,” I said sheepishly. “I just bonded myself to the valley.”

  Do you do these things often, Sintári?

  “Bane wants to know if I do this very often,” I told Tási, leaving it up to her to answer him while I collected my own thoughts.

  “Yes, she does Bane,” Tási replied, making no effort to hide her disapproval. “Usually without asking advice.”

  Tási’s derisive tone left no doubt as to how she felt about that last part, while Bane’s golden eyes stared at me intently as he contemplated Tási’s words.

  You are quite rash, Sintári. You must be more careful in the future, for both of our sakes.

  “I will try, Bane,” I replied to his suggestion. “But there are times when events happen too fast and choices are thrust on me. I am often forced to make decisions without counsel. I’ve come to understand that this is simply the reality of my existence.”

  Bane simply nodded his head at me, accepting my explanation without any further objections.

  “Well, now that you’re bonded with the land, I’m sure nothing bad could come of it,” Tási offered derisively.

  “It happened because I was following the instructions for the summoning spell, Tási,” I countered. “It told me I needed to gain a connection with the Earth, to meditate on the land in order to invoke the spell.”

  “That actually makes sense,” she replied. “I’m surprised you were able to learn so much in such a short time. That spell is well beyond anything you should be able to master.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked, almost offended by her comment. “I already know several spells that deal with natural magic.”

  “Yes, but summoning involves not only elemental magic, but shadow, or dark magic as well,” she explained. “To summon a creature, you must not only call upon its nature, but dominate its will as well. That’s where the shadow magic comes in.”

  “So, I need to incorporate two schools of magic into this spell for it to work?”

  “Exactly, and that is something even true masters have difficulty doing,” she explained.

  “Gee Tási, thanks for the words of encouragement,” I sighed.

  She means well, Sintári.

  I stared at Bane with a death glare, suddenly perturbed by the Rhastoren’s support for ‘Baby Ogre Girl.’ Sensing my displeasure, he made a hasty retreat out of the tent. Tási apparently read our silent exchange perfectly and though she tried to hide her smile from me, made no further comments on the matter.

  I banished the thoughts of my difficult task as I laid down to sleep and snuggled up against Tási, seeking comfort in the warmth of her body next to mine. She wriggled herself beside me in return, and we drifted off together in a comfortable silence.

  3

  We began the next day with training again. I briefly practiced with the Essence Blade before reluctantly returning to study the spell tome once more. The words seemed to make more sense to me, a phenomenon I attributed to my communion with the land, and I felt that I might be ready to attempt the spell far sooner than I had thought just the night before. After I while, I decided to take a break from my study of the tome and spent some time watching Tási destroy a few of her practice targets instead.

  “If you’ve run out of Aura, I could lend you some of mine again,” I teased her when she stopped casting and came to sit by my side.

  “Are you insane?” She replied incredulously.

  “I was only kidding,” I answered her. “But now that I think of it, it could be a really good test for me at some point.”

  Tási just bowed her head and mumbled something that sounded like ‘no’ over and over again.

  She does not seem to like this idea.

  “I can’t imagine why,” I replied innocently.

  Right then, I felt Ridge’s summons come to an end. I h
adn’t realized anything like that would happen when the magic expired, but it made sense. It would certainly be helpful for a summoner to know when their subject was no longer available. Once I informed Tási of the news, she seized on the opportunity and we rushed off to see how much he had managed to accomplish over the last day.

  When we arrived at the entrance to the canyon, the bare foundation that had only stretched across a portion of the gap had been transformed, and in its place was a low wall that spanned the entire breadth of the opening, with only a small space in the center that the gate would eventually cover. The stone wall was thick and sturdy but had a rough and unfinished look. While it would serve its purpose, it would take a great deal of labor for it to appear as anything other than rudimentary.

  “He did an incredible amount of work,” Tási marveled.

  “Yes, he did,” I agreed. “But this wall will need to be much higher before it will be able to keep anything out of here, and we’ll need to build a gate for it as well.”

  You should place your traps there for now.

  “That is an excellent idea, Bane,” I replied to his suggestion.

  Before doing so, I summoned Ridge again.

  “Ridge, you’ve done excellent work so far,” I complimented him. “But the wall won’t serve its purpose until we have a gate. Until then, I’m going to place some traps in the gap. I don’t think you’ll trigger them, but I do want to make you aware of them.”

  Ridge nodded at me, acknowledging what I had said before returning to his task. I watched as he once again drew forth blocks of stone from the ground in preparation for adding them to the wall. The elemental faded from my view as I entered the break in the wall and began to place my traps.

  The low wall wouldn’t keep out anything just yet, but I didn’t want to deplete my Aura covering the entire mouth of the canyon. I hoped that anything that did approach would attempt to enter through the wide opening Ridge had left for the gate. With that in mind, I placed several traps just outside the gap’s outer edge. I then filled the void with a single spike pit before covering its interior side with a few more traps. When I finished, I turned to Bane who had been resting on my shoulder the entire time.

  “Did you find anything interesting while you were scouting yesterday?”

  The beasts of the forest are still far away, Sintári, but they have drawn closer. It is only a matter of time before something finds us here.

  “How long?”

  I cannot say for certain, but at the rate that the elf King’s magic is waning, I would guess no more than a week.

  Ridge might be able to build the wall high enough in that time, if I could learn the spell to keep him working on the task, but we would still have no gate. Perhaps we could come up with something, or maybe have Ridge build some temporary structure, sealing us in. Either way, I needed to figure out the intricacies of the summoning spell quickly if we were to have any protection from the dangers of the wilderness outside.

  Determined to master the powerful magic, I returned to our camp and began poring over the spell book. I made some progress, but soon the words started to blur in my vision, and I had to set the tome aside. I wasn’t too discouraged, as I felt that I had a basic understanding of the spell’s requirements by then, so I chose to relax for a minute and let go of my concerns, at least for a while.

  I had the camp to myself, as Tási had returned to the immolation of her defenseless practice dummies and Bane was off scouting again. I found the rare moment of peace and solitude comforting. While I enjoyed the time I spent with my companions, I always found comfort in having at least a few moments to myself as well.

  As the day drew to a close, Bane was the first to return to camp. I stroked his scales when he came to rest on my shoulder before asking him for a small favor. His lips curled in a thin smile as he agreed and then flew off into the trees.

  Tási came back a short while later, clearly exhausted from her exertions. I poured a mug of tea and passed it to her along with a plate of food I had made ready for our dinner. She ate ravenously, savoring every morsel as if she’d been starving for days.

  “Thanks, Dreya, I needed that,” Tási sighed as she washed down the last bite with a deep sip from her cup.

  “You’re welcome,” I smiled back at her.

  We left the fire to burn itself out as we retired for the night.

  “Where’s Bane?” Tási asked when she noticed he was not with us.

  “He won’t be joining us tonight, Tási,” I replied, holding her gaze in mine.

  As I stared at her, I traced a single finger across her cheek, lacing the gentle stroke with subtle hints of desire. Tási gasped slightly as I sent the delicate tendrils of passion into her. With a subtle nudge, I guided her into the blankets and trailed my finger further down, gliding it softly across her neck while continuing to trickle my longing over her silky skin.

  Tási trembled under my touch, and I slid my other hand between the folds of her robes, undoing its clasps. I parted the bulky fabric slightly, baring just enough of her skin to let my lone finger continue wandering across her body.

  I teased her playfully, never letting the flow of desire grow too intense or allowing my touch to stray over her more intimate areas. The tiny circles and intricate patterns I traced over her soft skin were infused with warm hints of pleasure. Tási’s frustration only grew as I tormented her, and I held back just enough to keep my passions from overwhelming her.

  “So mean,” she complained breathlessly as her body quivered in delight.

  “Oh, do you want me to finish you already?” I replied mischievously.

  “Soon,” she moaned, confessing her delight at being held under my control.

  I toyed with her only a few moments longer before giving in to her desires. Then, with a slow motion, I trailed my finger across the taut muscles of her stomach, smiling as she trembled under my influence. Gradually, and with complete control, I slowly poured more passion into her, bringing Tási right to her limit, and then gently pushing her beyond.

  Tási’s back arched as her body was finally brought to its release. Her hips pulsed slowly, and soft moans escaped her lips while her knuckles turned white as her hands grasped tightly at the blankets beneath her.

  I let her climax linger, withdrawing my influence slowly as her trembling body unwound from its ecstasy. When she finally lay still, I curled up alongside her, slipping my arm beneath her robes and wrapping her in my embrace.

  “What was that?” She asked in as we lay side by side.

  “I was only following your advice, Tási,” I replied innocently.

  “I don’t recall advising you to torture me like that,” she protested weakly.

  “Are you complaining?”

  “No, not really,” she smiled.

  “I only touched you with one finger Tási. And never anywhere too sensitive. I was able to keep complete control the entire time. Not only over myself, but over you as well,” I explained.

  “Really?” She replied in astonishment. “It felt like you were everywhere, Dreya.”

  “You know what this means, right?” She added.

  “Yes. I’ve gained a tremendous amount of control, Tási.”

  “That’s true,” she replied slyly. “But as you well know, you need your control to work both ways. It means that I get to torment you next.”

  Dammit, she was right. I hadn’t considered that when I hatched my devious plan. I really needed to think these things through a little better.

  “See you tomorrow night, Dreya,” Tási taunted me as she closed her eyes for the night.

  The next morning, I woke up to find Bane fast asleep on top of me. He had apparently snuck in during the night and took up his usual perch while we were sleeping. I shrugged him off as I got up, waking the sleeping Rhastoren roughly in the process.

  “Good morning, Bane,” I whispered as I grabbed my gear.

  You could have woken me more gently, Sintári. He complained.

&
nbsp; “I seem to recall asking you to leave us alone for the night, yet here you are.”

  I only returned after you were asleep. I did not think that would disturb you.

  “Well, now that you understand, Tási has something planned for tonight, so you will need to sleep elsewhere for the entire night.”

  I will do as you ask, Sintári. He replied dejectedly.

  “Stop moping,” I said as I stroked his scales.

  I picked him up and placed him on my shoulder as I left the tent. After tending to the fire and putting up a pot of water, I studied the spell book again while I waited for it to boil. Tási soon joined me outside, pouring cups of hot tea while I continued to read over the spell.

  The magic was intricate and complex, requiring that I both summon the elemental while binding it into my service at the same time. Each time I read through the spell, I seemed to discover some new nuance that I hadn’t noticed before. The subtleties of the incantation were overwhelming, but I was beginning to feel that I had finally grasped them all.

  We resumed our training after a light meal, while Bane flew off to scout the forest outside the valley. I took a break from reading the spell tome and practiced my sword forms once again. After spending so much time with my face buried in the book, the physical exertion felt like a relief. I added a few parries and strikes, and soon worked up a sweat as my swings became more intense. My mind conjured up imaginary foes and I fought off their invented attacks, slaying each of them in turn. I fought on relentlessly, stopping only when the flashing icon of my depleted Endurance brought me out of my reverie.

  “That was some display,” Tási noted from where she had been watching me.

  “How long have you been there?” I asked her between deep breaths.

  “About ten minutes,” she replied. “But you were already a sweaty mess by then.”

  Right then I became aware that Ridge had returned to wherever he had been summoned from, and we dropped our conversation. We were both anxious to see how much progress he had made, so we hurried off to inspect the wall.