by A P Gore
“The collar...” He paused once again to gauge her reaction. “It doesn't match your attire.” He held his breath, hoping that she wouldn't just run away like last time.
She stayed, but her face fell like he’d poked some sensitive nerve. “That’s the ring of an owner.”
“An owner?” Noah’s chin lifted. “What do you mean?”
She sighed—a deep sigh of regret and misery. “I think I can tell you the truth. You have turned out to be a good friend.” She locked eyes with him, and he saw how much pain those beautiful lavender eyes held.
Noah was overwhelmed by the sheer pain that was present there. He took a seat on a large stone lying near the expansion site border. Rihala sat next to him, looking defeated. He rubbed her shoulder.
“You might not know this,” she said, “but in the empire of Zedusania, we demons have tiers of citizens. I belong to the lowest tier of demons. In fact, my whole family is owned by the high priest of the city of Madurai, capital city of the Zedusania Empire.” She paused for a moment before speaking again. “This ring is the symbol of my house, the House of Jethro.” She slipped her fingers inside the ring and rotated it around her neck.
That was a shock. Noah had thought it was some sort of demon fashion statement, but it wasn’t. “Are you a slave?” He remembered her mentioning the word buy when he first mentioned the collar, but he hadn’t paid attention to it.
“Kind of.”
“Kind of?”
“I’m free, right now. But I’m not allowed to roam outside of the walls. I do it anyway, because I want to adventure and gain some levels.” Tears rolled down her cheeks.
“I thought... But you just said you are free, right?” Noah was confused now.
“Yes, but for not long. I turning twenty-next year, and that’s when the children of the current slaves are bid upon. I want to be free. Free from all the slavery trades. Free from the men that would buy me next year. Free from the laws and troubles imposed by King M—” Her mouth twisted, and she fell to the ground, her body spasming as if she were having a seizure. Black vapor came out of the ring around her neck. Noah recognized it. It was a curse.
He dropped to his knees and checked her pulse. She stilled, and her face returned to normal after a few more seconds. Only her sobs and tears remained.
Noah pulled her in his arms. Her breasts pressed against his chest, but now he wasn’t getting any pulse of desire from it; he was there to ease her heart.
Her weeping stopped after few moments. She cleared her throat and pulled out of his embrace.
“Thanks for that. But if anyone sees me in the arms of a human, I would be killed on the spot. I'm not supposed to be here, but for…” Pain lurked in her eyes. “It was stupid of me to come here. I got carried away by stupid emotions after you asked me to be your companion. I’ve never had a friend before, nor was I ever given a rare gift by anyone.”
“Relax. I won’t do anything that would harm you.” Noah gave her the most reassuring smile he could conjure. She was quite attractive, and he would have thought about pursuing her if he wasn’t on a strict timeline. Why not? She had seductive big lavender eyes, a perfectly curvy body, and beauty that could rival any he had seen anywhere.
It had been a long time since he had thought about any woman that way. Maybe forty-two years. He hadn’t gotten his memories back yet, but he was sure his only focus had been Tia.
“Thank you, Noah. You are a man I would want to find in a demon, one day.” She smiled, an innocent smile that touched his heart.
“Can you walk? You can tell me about your society while we walk. But only if that curse won’t hurt you again.”
She looked at him with wide eyes. “How did you know it was a curse?”
“I had that feeling. I’m a Cursemancer after all.” The moment he saw her mouth twist and the black smoke appear, he knew it was a curse.
“It won’t happen unless I say something about the king. Which I won’t.” She stood, and they both started to sprint toward the goblin town. “I’ll give you a brief overview of the demon continent. We had four big empires: Empire of Sumara, which is reduced to a town now, Empire of Kastura, Empire of Zenong, and Empire of Zedusania. These all are god’s names that used to govern the empires. Every empire consists of lots of towns, and they’ve been battling over territory since the dawn of time.”
“That’s an interesting take. How do humans interact with this? I heard they are quite close to the area.”
She stopped in her tracks. “Who told you that? I don't know much about them.”
“The head demon.”
“Hmm. He might know about it. I think the fall of Sumara's empire may have something to do with it. Even the town I currently stay in belonged to the Empire of Sumara, but our king annexed it in a battle. Your town only exists because of the curse,” she paused, “Sorry, but I can’t talk much about Goddess Sumara. She is known for cursing people of other towns too.”
He cursed the goddess bitch silently. His last encounter with her had left him in pain and agony. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll ask her about it myself. I have a long chat coming with her.”
“Do you really have an audience with her? When I saw the title, I was shocked because no demon has ever seen her. I mean, no living demon.” She sighed. “Anyway, I was talking about demon culture. There are four tiers in every city. The top tier is the regency, appointed by the king to rule that town. The second tier are the nobles, which govern various job types in town, like trading, security, and so on. The third tier are high slaves, the ones who work directly under nobles. Though they have access to many important things, they are still slaves. The fourth tier is made up of us. Slaves who are born of low-level slaves. Every slave child born under tier 4 is put up for auction when he or she turns 21. If any of them are bought by a noble, they get a chance to work with nobles, and can become a high slave themselves someday. But a woman like me gets the short end of the stick. Even my mom doesn’t say anything about the fate of the likes of me.”
“That’s bad. How can they sell someone? That’s just total bullshit. Can’t you resist it?” This was a bad practice. Sure, it was a game world set in medieval-like times, but he couldn’t wrap his mind around the fact that they were selling real people.
“No one can. The only way out is to prove yourself battleworthy and get selected by some noble working in the security department. If he is impressed by my skills, he might put me in the security troops. Which is not much better than being a slave, but at least I wouldn’t be raped by nobles and their guards every night!” A tear rolled down her cheek.
The way she used the word rape… Noah’s whole body shuddered. The horror of their society was visible on her face. “Rape is quite a strong word, dear.”
“Not if you see it every other day. Leave it. We’d better get to clearing that dungeon and leveling up so I’ll get a chance to join the troops. I might even get married to a high-slave soldier and live a peaceful life thereafter.” She wiped her face.
She was composed after that emotional burst, but she’d left a mark on Noah’s heart. A mark that wouldn’t go away until he freed her.
“Don’t worry, Rihala. I promise that I’ll find a way to save you.” He spoke with determination.
“Would you buy me?” A gleam of hope rose in her eyes. But the next moment it was gone, replaced by dread. “You won’t be able to. They won’t allow a human to buy a demon, and it would cost thousands of gold for an outsider. I doubt you have that.”
“I said I’ll find a way to free you up, not buy you and make you my slave. I’d never do anything like that. Never.”
Her hand wrapped around his arm, and her tail wrapped around his waist. “I don’t care if you manage to do that or not, but even this moment in my life, when a free citizen promises me my freedom, it’s not less than actually being free. Thanks for that, Noah.” She raised on the balls of her feet and planted a kiss on his cheek.
That kiss did nothing but fuel his determination to
save the girl.
Congratulations! You have gained 10000 reputation with, Rihala. New Reputation level: Interested.
Congratulations! +1 to chance. Who thought a random human like you would score a kiss from hot demon chick?
19. Past
The taut ass in the gray pants walking next to him pulled him inside a memory.
A black crystal lay on a metal container made up of magic-resistant material. The crystal pulsed with energy so dark that it even threatened to consume the container that resisted it. But the tiny camera hooked inside the container couldn’t resist it. A tendril of darkness flicked out of the container and devoured the glass and metal of the camera. Before the display vanished, Noah grabbed the first artificial screenshot of the darkness energy inside the fourth dimension.
“Wow boss, that was amazing!” Sara, his assistant, wrapped her arms around his shoulder, pressing her large breasts against his arms, invading his personal space, and overwhelming him with the strong scent of sandalwood perfume.
He tried to slip out of her bear hug, but she pulled him closer. His hand was practically trapped between her breasts, which was uncomfortable and filled him with longing at the same time. But it was wrong. He hadn’t touched any woman’s breasts since his wife Serena died.
“Cheer up, boss.” Her eyes glimmered.
“Yes, it was amazing, Sara.” He wrapped a hand around her shoulder. It was a breakthrough in his research. They had analyzed the darkness on the camera for the first time. No one, not even the mage emperor, had done this before. He was the first one to actually capture the darkness. So, a tight hug after months of tiring work was okay. Better than okay. Her scent, her soft breasts, her warm body was better than anything else at that moment.
Noah was pulled back from that memory. Rihala was shaking him violently. Her beautiful eyes were full of worry.
“I’m all right.”
She stared at him in disbelief. She touched his cheeks and traced her hand over his neck, then rested it on his heart. Though he doubted she could feel his heartbeat through the inch-thick leather armor. But having someone care for you was a welcome thought. This kiss to his cheek that followed, however, was more sensual.
He unintentionally touched his own cheek where her lips had touched him. Rihala looked away, red blossoming on her cheeks.
He stared at the beauty, comparing her to Sara, his lab assistant. After seeing his own past, and the closeness of Sara, he wondered if he’d really lacked a woman in his past life. The primal attraction in his heart, the jerk of his cock when Sara pressed her breasts against his hand told him something else.
Damn! What am I getting myself into?
Rihala stepped away from him, her cheeks still pink. She was avoiding his gaze, blushing, and that meant she was attracted to him.
Damn! I can’t have two females in my virtual life.
Something terribly wrong had happened in his real life. The memory fragments he gained were telling him a sad story, a story he wouldn’t want to live. He shouldn’t have eased into Sara’s hug, and he should have spent more time with Tia, but the reality was different. And now, here in this virtual life, he was still doing things wrong.
Or was he?
Rihala attracted him more than anything else at that moment.
Thia loved him like her real dad, and he loved her back too. As much as he would have loved Tia.
Yet he had a goal to accomplish. He needed to win the respect of a human king so he would get a chance to meet Tia.
He had to choose a direction soon, or he would get into real trouble. Right now, he had to level up. Without levels he couldn’t do anything. He needed levels.
“Are you coming or not? My mom always says, ‘don’t stay away from friends.’” The lavender eyes blinked at him.
“Yes, let’s go.” He smiled at her and quickened his pace. Leveling up along with Rihala was better than doing it alone, and he wouldn’t want to miss the chance of the millennia.
20. Goblin Commander
The shadow of a huge nut tree hung over them, softening the sun’s rays as they illuminated Rihala’s round face. She was saying something, but Noah was stuck in her big, beautiful lavender eyes. They were speaking to his heart separately. Her cherry red lips were parting to say a word, but to him they were parting to raise sexual tension in his blood. He took a piece of food off his plate and put it in his mouth, but the taste of the chicken was thin compared to the exotic scent radiating from her body. He wanted to taste those enticing red lips of hers, and not some stupid chicken.
He was so mesmerized that he didn’t notice her grow silent. Suddenly, she moved closer to him, pressing her palm to his face and whispering.
“Incoming, six goblins.” Her voice so soft that Noah could only make out the meaning by seeing the fear on her face. “We should go back.”
But they were too late. One two-foot-tall goblin scout had snuck up on them from the branches of the nut tree. Noah spotted the goblin, an ugly golden colored one-eyed goblin, staring at them from the branches. The bastard swung sneakily from one tree branch to another like a monkey.
Noah wiped his hands on the clean brown cloth Rihala handed him. The girl was great. She had plates in her bag of holding, and some seasoning to put on meat too—something he never bothered with. He wouldn’t waste space in his bag of holding with some plates and a seasoning bottle.
There was a rustle in the surrounding bushes, and a seven goblin party stepped into view. Including the one-eyed scout, there were eight goblins total, and the bad part was a level 8 goblin commander was among them. He looked like a brute, a heavy hitter with a thick metal spear held in one hand and a wooden buckler with metal plating held in the other. He also had heavy, metal-plated armor on his body and multiple battle scars on his face. Somehow, Noah knew that goblin wasn’t going down easily.
First came the goblin scout, which Noah quickly killed and converted into a zombie. Then come a goblin warrior, who became another zombie and gave him a total of 400 experience each. Both goblins were level 6, so they were easy to kill and convert, and they didn’t even manage to hit him or Rihala, saving all the health potions Noah had bought from Mathial.
The party of goblin warriors became cautious now. They formed a half circle around Noah and Rihala.
Noah had his poison orb ready in one hand, and Rihala had nocked her new rare bow with two arrows.
When did she learn to shoot two arrows at once?
Noah restrained his zombies from attacking the opponent mindlessly. He needed them to work at his command rather than senselessly attack. They obeyed his order and stayed back.
The level 8 commander was studying them. Maybe he was inspecting them? A moment later, he waved his spear and pointed it at Noah. The warrior had one expression in his eyes: kill.
Four goblin warriors, each level six, charged at them with their spears raised high.
Easy peasy, right? Noah hit them with his dual cast poison orb. If he could finish the warriors before their commander jumped in, it would be much easier.
How wrong he was.
The damage he and Rihala did was healed instantly this time, by the sixth member of the group holding a small staff in her hand.
Noah locked his eyes on the female goblin mage. She held a wooden staff. It glowed with a red color.
“Damn! Rihala, can you target that woman first?” he asked, stepping backward.
Noah signaled his two goblin zombies to jump in. He couldn’t keep them for the commander anymore.
“I don’t think it will work like that. She must have a shield or something. My mom…”
“Please, no mom.”
Rihala gave him an annoyed look and shot a goblin coming at them.
“Do you have anything that will work on her?” Noah asked.
“Ice shot should work on the shield.” She shot another arrow at the mage. The arrow was stopped a few inches before hitting her. “I need ten seconds preparation time for that.”
Noah chanted a curse of boiling blood on the commander. It should at least give the commander some uneasiness.
He hit the nearest goblin warrior with a Curse of Fire Ball, then dual cast Poison Orb. And then his one-eyed scout zombie slashed across his target’s chest.
The warrior’s life dropped to 40 points, but the healer brought it back to 200 in a fraction of a second.
Noah glanced at his other zombie. He was fighting with three goblin warriors, but he somehow managed not to die.
Noah repeated his previous combo to kill the goblin warrior in front of him, but that left him with only 10 spirit. He wanted to convert the killed goblin to a zombie. But with his current 17.25 spirit generation speed, he needed 3 more seconds to regain the required spirit.
Damn! This is getting suicidal. He cursed as the next goblin’s slash took ten life from his pool. The remaining damage was mitigated by his battered armor.
Noah jumped back, avoiding the next attack, but he was stabbed by the spear of another goblin. His life instantly dropped by 50 points, leaving him at 440 life.
It wasn’t working. Whatever damage he or his zombies managed to do was healed back by the mage.
He shoved the frustration away. He had to protect Rihala and fight at the same time. Thankfully, the commander was standing back, enjoying the show. Good for Noah.
Noah raised another zombie and directed all three to attack one enemy. He started sparring with another goblin warrior with his dagger.
That left one goblin free to do whatever he wanted, and he was slashing his spear at the three zombies wildly. The red bar on top of his zombies’ heads was decaying rapidly.
“How much longer?” he shouted.
“Here it goes.” The whoosh sound of an arrow echoed in the surroundings as it zipped through the air toward the mage. Noah could only see a blue blur. The arrow pierced the healer’s shield, shattering it pieces, and stuck inside her neck.
