She Demon

by A P Gore

  She sized him up with a deep frown and emptied the vial in his mouth instead. The sparkle in her eyes returned when his life started rising.

  When his life reached 150, he removed her tail from his body and pulled her head down to taste her cherry red lips. They tasted like a coffee-laced chocolate from real life, delicious and exquisite. “Thanks for saving my life.” He groaned, parting his lips and sliding his tongue inside her mouth. If her lips were like coffee-laced chocolate, then her tongue was rich milk chocolate—the kind that leaves its taste in your mouth for days after you eat it. She was that tasty.

  He parted away from her after a brief kiss. They were in a dungeon, not on a beach to make out. “We’ll continue this once we get out of this shithole.” He smirked, teasing her.

  She seemed lost, the kind of lost where you have nothing left for yourself, and you give everything to someone else. She regained her composure when he touched her shoulder. She glanced at him with half closed eyelids and nodded.

  He checked his wounds. Most of them were healed up. He loved the way healing worked in the game. “How did you save me from the fireball?” He noticed a nasty patch of burned skin on his hand, which hadn’t shown any sign of healing.

  Her face twisted, and her hand reached to her shoulder, exposing the burn mark on it. Noah moved forward and checked her burn. It wasn’t much, but it pained him to see her injured.

  “I also found something on the way here.” She trudged towards a hidden latch in the wall. She pulled it out, and a room opened. “I accidentally pulled it when I ran for you.”

  “Let’s see what’s inside. But first, promise me you won’t risk your life for me again. Remember, I’m a traveler, an immortal being.”

  “How can I?” Her eyes turned watery, and she snapped her face away, swiping at tears with back of one hand. “I’ve already killed you once, and I can’t just watch you die again.”

  “But…”

  She put her index finger to his lips. “Please, no dying,” she whispered.

  “I’ll try. Let’s check out the room. I’ll go first and check if there’s a trap.”

  She tilted her head slightly, exposing her long neck.

  Noah had to hold back the urge to kiss that long, sexy neck.

  24. Well of Healing

  The door opened on a strange five-by-five room. It was illuminated by a light coming out of a small blue basin at the center of the room. A stream of foggy blue water streamed out of it and vanished inside a circular area of unknown depth covering the basin. The water was clear and crystal blue. It evoked an urge to drink until he passed out, and when he woke up back, drink more.

  Rihala stood beside him, the skin on her neck shivering a little. “What is Well of Healing?”

  A property had appeared next to the well as Noah moved closer to it. A faint scent of something divine was evident around the well. Yes, something very divine. The scent reminded him of the bitch Sumara. If only she could give him the cure for his virtual daughter, Thia would have been here with him. He missed her so much.

  “This could be an illusion.” Rihala kneeled down and smelled the water in the well. “My mom always says don’t trust anything in level restricted dungeons.”

  “Don’t you feel the thirst to dive into that beautiful water?” He wandered around the small room. Three metal chests, bronze, silver, and golden, were placed in a big gap carved in the wall opposite the entrance. Words were written on top of the chests. ‘Choose what you want to face.’

  Noah moved forward, toward the wall adjacent to the chest wall. It had a door in it, but there was no lever or lock. He tried to push it, but it didn’t budge. He had a feeling that the door opened from the other side.

  “Sweetie come here. What does this door do? Is it another secret room?”

  “No, come here. This well is something special. Shall I taste the water?” Rihala was leaning on the well, ready to drink the water.

  Noah zipped forward, pulling her back by her shoulder. “Don’t! Let me try it.” He kneeled next to her, staring at his own reflection in the water. He looked like a smoking monkey. His skin was tattered. Black patches of soot covered his neck. He felt a tug of embarrassment.

  When he looked at Rihala’s reflection, he felt further embarrassed. Even after so much adventure, she looked just out of the bath, and he looked like a joker.

  He wasn’t particular about his looks in real life. Work was his passion, and he believed in showcasing his knowledge and research rather than his face. Moreover, he’d remained busy with work in the real world. But here, he had time to look after himself—or at least look presentable, and not like the vagabond staring back at him from the clear water. He sighed. At least he was fitter than real life, with better muscles and no tummy. Still being unpresentable in front of a woman you wanted to have sex with wasn’t a good thing.

  Blood crept into his cheeks when he thought about sex. It was in the back of his mind a lot lately—a lot after meeting Rihala, anyway. Was it because she was the only woman he’d met? No, it wasn’t that. He had felt something for her, something real, and not the digitized reputation thing.

  “Before I try to suicide by drinking this water, I want to ask you something.”

  “Ask?” She blinked, puzzled.

  He placed his hand on her heart. “The feeling in there, is that because of reputation?”

  She blushed like a virgin being touched for the first time. “The feelings I have for you? No, they are not based on reputation. I don’t understand those numbers. For example, I love my mom so much, but even for her, my reputation started at Friend. Isn’t that weird? I wonder why the greater gods set it as a rule of our world.”

  “So, you think in those terms.” It made sense. An NPC having real intelligence should have some explanation for the game rules and other things.

  Is it still a game for me?

  The line was getting blurrier with each passing day.

  I need to get back to my real daughter. At any cost.

  He was pulled into the foggy gray area—his memory land. He didn’t want it to trigger now, but he couldn’t do anything about it.

  Noah—his former self—was standing in a restaurant, a fancy one. His gal, Tia, was now a little older than when he’d previously seen her. She had grown out her hair. Small black curls at the ends suited her. He suddenly remembered asking her to cut them short because they got in the way of her study sessions, but she refused, saying it was in fashion.

  He wondered what he was doing in a fancy restaurant, sitting at a table waiting for someone with his girl by his side, and well-dressed too. He never dressed like a businessman waiting for a client. He looked like a couch potato, trying to fit his tummy in that stretched white shirt and black trousers. But for whom he was waiting?

  The answer greeted him after few minutes. Sara, his research assistant, joined them at the table. She greeted Tia with a smile but got a frown in return from the little girl.

  What the heck am I doing with Sara? Is that a date?

  It was a date, and today he could look at it from all the angles. He could see his little girl’s dislike for the woman, and her constantly dropping spoons and spilling water on her white dress. His whining about Tia’s behavior. Their discussion on the next batch of Crystals of Quantum, and how they would be able to get one step closer to their goal. But he was missing a big part in the moment: his daughter’s dislike for that woman.

  “Shit! Don’t do that, Noah. Don’t do that!” Noah shouted from his dark place, but no one could hear it. Getting close with Thia in the game world had taught him one thing: little girls needed time, and he wasn’t even paying attention to his real daughter sobbing inside her mind over her father’s attitude.

  The biggest blunder happened when he kissed Sara at the end. Tia dropped a knife on her foot, and there was blood everywhere.

  Noah got pulled back into the game without finding out what happened after that. But he had an idea of the rage building up in h
is old self. The glass-man he met in the real world talked about his anger issues, and he wondered how he behaved with his daughter after that. He knew, deep inside his heart, it wasn’t a good evening for Tia. He wasn’t being the daddy Tia deserved.

  “Noah are you, all right?” Rihala was leaning on him, slapping him lightly, her eyebrows slightly raised and the corner of her lips pointed downward. He could feel her raised heartbeat even across a few inches gap.

  “Yes, sweetie. I’m okay.” He wasn’t. But having Rihala beside made him feel better. At least he was with a real woman, a woman who cared for him. He hugged her tightly. “I’m all right, don’t worry.”

  “Let’s not drink that water. Even smelling it put you in trouble. I was worried for you, Noah.” She cupped his cheeks and stared into his eyes.

  He pulled away from her. “Thanks, Rihala. Thanks for caring for me. But it wasn’t the water. It was my past sins.” He stared at the water as it reflected his past. Now he wondered how his relationship with his daughter had turned out over the next eighteen years. Going by today’s memory, he was a bit afraid of the outcome.

  “I shall drink it, then.” Rihala stood and stepped forward, tripping over Noah’s leg and smacking her head against the side of the well.

  Noah laughed aloud before rushing to assist. It was welcome comic relief after a saddening memory. “Sweetie, your mom is right. You’re clumsy.” He helped her up.

  Once she was situated, Noah collected the water in his palm and took a sip. Ecstasy shot through his core, spreading through his whole body. A sensation of divine healing, reminding him of Sumara’s healing spell, washed over him. The patch of skin that refused to heal, even by the healing potion, now healed up in an instant, and he was greeted with a nice notification of a buff.

  Congratulations! You are well hydrated by the divine well of healing. +2 to wisdom for the next five hours. +10% damage for the next thirty minutes. A single application buff can’t be granted by the same source again in the next twenty-four hours.

  “Wow, this is not an illusion. You should drink this real quick,” Noah said cheerfully.

  Rihala followed him, and her life filled itself quicker than any health potion would have done. “A buff too. That’s great!” She cheered like a ten-year-old girl.

  Noah collected some water in empty health potion viles. “Let’s use this buff for the boss room.” Noah jumped to his feet, feeling rejuvenated, and glanced at his character sheet. With the buff he was at 430 spirit and 580 health. His Poison Orb damage was increased to 69 points.

  Noah walked out of the room. He was curious about the three boxes, but they could wait for his return. The boss awaited him.

  25. The Boss

  Fiery Rat Man would have been a better name for the boss creature they encountered in the next room. Fire Breather Xamphala of the Rats was his display name. Noah laughed loudly until he faced the boss’s fire beam. It was called scorching ray. He lost one hundred life and suffered an intense burn before he realized where the heck it was coming from.

  “Shit!” Noah ran back to the safe area with his tail between his legs. So much for laughing at a stupid name. A moment later, he realized Rihala wasn’t with him. He turned back. She wasn’t in the boss room either. His heart ached.

  Where are you sweetie?

  The room was mostly empty other than some protruding stone spikes.

  He stepped out of the safe zone again, worried.

  The boss shot a scorching ray at him.

  Noah ran in a circle around the boss, looking for Rihala. He easily avoided the scorching ray’s arc with his spirit run’s speed. Though firing a poison orb while running proved useless. His eyes continued searching for the she demon, but she wasn’t anywhere.

  His heart ached as like someone had cut it in half with a butcher knife. She can’t be dead.

  Something moved overhead. He jumped into the safe zone and looked up. Rihala was glued to the ceiling with the help of her tail.

  “Thank God.” He sighed, and his shoulders relaxed. Finally, he studied the boss.

  The boss stood at the center of the room. He was a giant rat, covered in scales from neck to tail. Two bloodshot eyes stared at Noah.

  Noah glanced up again. Rihala was drawing her bow, and her magic was forming on its tip. But 2-3 seconds later, the faint blue glow at the tip died out. He could understand that it might be hard to concentrate for ten seconds while trying to balance on the ceiling.

  He stepped back out of the safe zone. The boss shot another scorching ray toward him, and he ran back inside the safe zone.

  He needed to get closer to get a crit. Otherwise, the level 10, 900 life boss wasn’t going down—especially when Rihala was somewhat useless. He used his previous tactic and ran in circle around the boss.

  The ground below his feet changed as soon as he tried to get within a five foot radius of the boss. It turned into lava patches like they had encountered in the first room. His right fur shoe burned in the fire in an instant, and then the lava burned through his flesh like it was a forest of dry wood.

  Noah tried to jump away on one foot. He still had the rat skin tied to his left foot, and that saved his life. “Shit! I hate fire.” Too bad he had lost his other fiery rat skin cover while running through fireball room.

  Noah infused his left leg with spirit and jumped farther away. He didn’t stop until he was back in the safe zone again.

  “What a piece of work!” Noah dropped on his butt, holding his right leg. The fire had burned to the bone. Suffering immense pain, Noah pulled out a vial of the well of healing water and gulped it in one go. He needed his leg working if he was going to defeat this shit.

  “Are you all right?” Rihala shouted from the ceiling. She had managed to imbue an arrow with her ice magic. The loosed arrow whistled through the air like a blue blur. It was always a pleasure to watch her arrows sailing through the air to strike a monster in its eye or heart.

  “Yup, almost good.” The effect of the vial kicked in, and he quickly gained back his life, but he didn’t get the same buff he got the last time, maybe it was because he still had the old buff and it didn’t stack.

  Rihala’s arrow hit boss in the face, dealing a crit, and a layer of frost spread over his head. A damage notification popped up. Rihala’s arrow had done a whopping 400 damage to the monster.

  The boss only had 400 life left.

  One more of Rihala’s supersonic arrows should do the trick.

  But it wasn’t to be. The boss shook its head, shaking off every small frost particle lingering on his skin, and screamed loud enough that the entire room shook.

  Noah’s heart sunk, as his life dropped by 20. He felt the tickle of something wet flowing down his neck. It was blood; his ears were bleeding. The boss was hurting him even though he was in the safe zone. He covered his ears with his hands and looked up at Rihala.

  She was holding her ears too. Only when she removed her hands from her ears did Noah dare to follow suit.

  “It’s some kind of spell,” she shouted, “like the battle cry of a barbarian. Look at his life!”

  The boss’s life was increasing slowly, but it was already up to 500.

  Noah fumed. Every damn creature in this game could gain back life easily. He hated it—especially because he couldn’t do it himself.

  No, he couldn’t let the monster continue this. Not when they were close to crushing it. The boss was busy with his spell, so he zipped across the lava-strewn ground, ignoring the pain. He aimed two simultaneous poison orbs at the boss’s face.

  A fraction of a second before Noah could strike, the boss opened his eyes. His life generation stopped. He balanced himself on one leg and thrust his claws forward.

  The fiery claws pierced Noah’s armor, stabbing him just below his heart.

  Pain as sharp as a knife shot through his abdomen and lower back. His vision blurred. His heart raced faster to pump more blood to his wounds, but he was losing blood rapidly. Faster than his heart co
uld pump.

  The claws, still inside his body, burned his flesh. The burning sensation moved toward his heart. Inch by inch.

  His life dropped below 100. Just before everything went dark, a tail wrapped around his neck and pulled him away. Rihala dragged him back to the safe zone.

  Noah was still bordering on unconsciousness. He pulled out a health potion before Rihala could do anything stupid and gulped half of it in one go. He handed the remaining half to Rihala. His life rose slowly and stopped around 250. He poured another health potion in his mouth to gain back the remaining life.

  Noah stared at the boss, who stared back at him. He thought there might be a crooked smile on that rat face. The boss’s life was back up to 700.

  “Rihala, try hitting him with your ice shot again.”

  Rihala moved forward, but as soon as she stepped out of the safe circle, the ground below her foot erupted in fire. With a cry, Rihala jumped back to safety. That one misstep cost her 50 life and a burned shoe. Thankfully, the lava didn’t burn her foot badly. She could still walk.

  No, I need something else. I can’t put her in danger.

  Coinciding with his thoughts, a pop up appeared. He had gained enough charges to use his new spell: poison multiorb.

  “We’ve got a trump card, Rihala. Is there anything you can do to pin him down for a few seconds?” Noah didn’t know how his spell worked, but a stationary enemy was an easier target.

  “I could try my soul shot, but I don’t have enough life left.” She looked down. Even with the health potion, she’d only gained 200 life, leaving her hovering just above 350 life. According to his calculations, she needed at least 300 life to cast that spell. He couldn’t let her do that. What if she used to much and died?

  Noah stared at the glowing icon of his new spell, but there was no way he could try it on the boss right away. Putting Rihala’s life in danger was not an option.

  He pulled Rihala closer, rubbing her forearm. “Forget it. Do not use that spell ever again. I repeat: don’t use it again, ever. Please.”