by Bruce Sentar
Sky, however, was wearing a light blue set that matched her hair, continually drawing Ajax’s focus. He wasn’t sure how long he was looking at her before Missy cleared her throat.
“Morning Ajax, sleep well?” Missy had a triumphant grin on her face; she had stuck true to her word and remained ‘selfish’ all night. Ajax wasn’t even able to get the dress off her. Not that he was distraught about it. But he did want the chance to return the favor. He kept looking back at her lips, remembering how soft they were and how they’d felt wrapped around him.
Realizing he’d been silent too long he blushed “Best sleep I’ve had here.” He grinned again thinking of last night.
“Missy, I think you made him a fool.” Sky joked.
Ajax wanted to change the subject. “I see you girls got new clothes.”
“Oh,” Missy jumped, straining her green top. “Yeah. You noticed!” Yes he did. He peeled his eyes away from her bouncing spheres. Emboldened by last night, he looked back and lingered on Missy’s tempting body.
Sky cleared her throat drawing his attention. “Remember me stitching your boots? I did some practice and managed to get Tailoring. The best part is Tailoring gives me a dexterity bonus as I level it. So, I made us some clothes. It’s not like the old ones added anything more than these.” Sky explained. Ajax thought some would say these added quite a bit- sex appeal that is.
“So, do I get new clothes?” Ajax teased.
“I’ll measure you tonight.” Sky smiled in challenge. “At least I assume you’d like to be back in your personal space to take off your clothes.” He couldn’t help but get excited by the prospect. “Also I want you to try to enchant our old clothes. I’ll let you have mine tonight.” Ajax’s mind raced off at the game of measuring with Sky. His pants tightened slightly. She was giving him an innocent look, but her eyes held a promise of delight.
He tried to pull his mind out of its tailspin into the gutter.
Enchanting. It would be pretty useful right? Yeah, it might even give him some combat related bonuses like Sky’s tailoring. She was right, even if she was being a tease. Enchanting was a good idea for how to improve his character.
Ajax had to agree but magic wasn’t quite as easy. Sky probably already knew how to sew in life or at least knew basically what it entailed. That gave her a starting point to make the crafting skill in the game.
Trying to enchant something would be like trying to learn sewing without ever seeing a sewing needle. “Yeah I’ll try. Just give me one of your old shirts right now. I’ll see if I can’t manage to do anything to it.” He said trying to remain serious while his bulge had other ideas.
He took one traveler's tunic from her and put it into his inventory. He’d have to experiment with her and it later.
For now, he joined the girls in some light stretching. They had found stretching was a great way to increase dexterity but much more than ten minutes stopped doing anything to increase the stat. Now it was just used in the morning and afternoon. They weren’t sure how long it took to become effective again but it didn’t feel necessary to them to min-max the small benefit and used it just as part of their daily rituals.
The trio broke camp with the rest of the merchant caravan and fell into a steady rhythm for the fourth day and the halfway point on this trip. It was still crazy for Ajax to think that only half a day had passed outside the PIU. Ajax kept up his practice with Arcane Bullet and meditating. It was halfway through the day when he saw Darcie’s servant exit her carriage.
“Hey, uh… sir.” Ajax realized he didn’t know the man’s name “Could you ask Darcie if I could get another lesson?” The man had no expression but Ajax thought he saw a subtle nod from him before he went about his duties. Ajax stood there awkwardly for a minute before he tossed a look of contempt that was a clear message for Ajax to scram.
The caravan was less than friendly to the adventurers.
The fourth day of the journey had been uneventful so far. They were breaking for lunch, having separated from the tree line, and they had entered a large plain. They could see any threat miles out and the caravan had relaxed quite a bit.
Ajax sat on a stone with Sky watching the tall grass sway to the breeze. It was amazing that this was a game. There were moments when his real-life seemed so distant. His getting fired from work seemed like a lifetime ago.
“I don’t think I’m skilled enough to fully repair them, but they shouldn’t fall apart on you tomorrow.” She gave Ajax a smile that caused him to stare blankly for a moment. She was beautiful; he couldn’t help but imagine what tonight would be like. Would their relationship evolve or was she just teasing him? He stared too long and she turned away blushing. “Ehm, if you want to take off the rest of your clothes I can repair those too.” Sky, Ajax thought he started to understand her. She was provocative until you got too close then she would vanish. Ajax couldn’t help wonder what had caused that.
He suddenly realized she was asking him to strip. The realization stunned him and loosened his jaw. She looked back from her moment of shyness to see his wide-open mouth.
Something seemed to click as her face went from blush to full-on blood red with embarrassment. “Uh, that’s not what I meant. Keep your pants on!” She held out her hands for his shirt, the red face seeming more angry than ashamed now, and Ajax nodded stupidly and obeyed. He knew better than to say anything.
“You know, handsome. You can come into my tent and take off your pants. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind fixing both our clothes.” Missy joined them, gently gliding her hands up his arms to wrap around his shoulder in a claiming manner. “I’m sure we could find something to occupy the time.” She whispered in his ear. Ajax turned to see her eyes lidded with desire. His mind went back to last night at that look, and he could practically feel her mouth wrapped around him again.
He felt his blood pumpping and rushing into his pants. One night with her, and she could just flip him on like a switch. He should almost feel ashamed, but it was the heady rush of a new relationship.
Missy and his interactions had transformed. She was now touching him constantly. There was something that tickled in the back of his mind that it was wrong- too sudden. How had he garnered such affection so quickly. However, his primitive man-brain crushed those thoughts and told him to be happy and enjoy it.
Missy, how often had every gamer dreamed of something like this? His throat too dry to make a sound he felt the hairs on the back of his next prickle. Turning he saw Sky now red with what was definitely anger. But, it wasn’t pointed at Ajax; she looked like she was about to tear Missy’s throat out. He suddenly realized what it felt like for the favorite chew toy between two dogs.
“Sluts can fix their own clothes.” She pointedly stabbed the needle through her next stitch. Ajax would have hidden if he could right now.
“Well, I better go-” Ajax tried to get up.
“Stay. Sky is right. I’m MissyQ. The slut that flirts with millions of boys online every day. I wink and shimmy my assets for millions. They love it, and you love it.” Missy licked her lips and pulled Ajax back in between the two girls.
“Well, you’ll have to tell Ajax that in person next time. Missy, you know he’s planning to go pro with Legendary Rule.” Sky had a strangely knowing smile.
He’d said something in passing. But now it was part of the discussion, and if there was someone who’d be able to help him she was right there. It was also another subject, which really was quite appealing right about now.
“Going pro? You’ll be at the BGC event in Cali next month?” Missy somehow went from seductive to cute girl next door. With a tilt of her head.
“The BGC con? I hadn’t planned on it.” That earned him a blank stare from both of them. The convention was a yearly event; it was televised and he’d watched it before. It was time for BRG to announce new games or large upcoming features. It was also a place to showcase a few tournaments for the players. He just didn’t understand what that had to do with him wanting
to go professional in LR.
“You have to. It’s an open secret. That is where the sponsors will be looking to recruit for LR teams.” Sky gave Missy a look that Ajax couldn’t decipher. “High profile players already have some invites out there, right?”
“Yeah, I got a few. LR teams are focusing on PvE recruiting. The sponsors expect to get world events and raids in LR. Not sure yet what the PvP content will be like yet. Most of the big sponsors are building guilds with multiple teams for PvE and PvP content. They are preparing for everything. Since we don’t really know what larger group content will be out there.” Missy gave a sweeping gesture at the horizon. “They are building the guilds off of many groups of five to be flexible for what comes.”
“Woah, that’s a ton of people to sponsor.” Ajax couldn’t imagine these guys sponsoring guilds of 100+ people. Then again what was that to a megacorp?
“Something is going on that they all know. In-game store you can exchange gold and real money. I heard it had some of the megacorps backing it. There’s something else though, some of the megacorps like Amazon Holdings and Waltz Corp are getting in it this time. They are being careful about it. Staying behind the sponsors and supporting, rather than direct involvement.” Missy said.
That got Ajax’s attention. After all, he needed the money. He wasn’t earning much with this caravan.
“You have to come to the convention if you want to pick up a sponsor. I’m sure she could even find it in her heart to recommend some to you.” Sky jabbed a finger at Missy. For her part, Missy looked almost scared now. Ajax had no idea why. Was she concerned about vouching for him?
“Yeah, I will be there.” Ajax was thankful this had come up. He suddenly got a huge lead on trying to get into the professional league. “Thanks, Missy!” He wrapped her a big hug. She turned stiff at the contact. Ajax hardly noticed in his excitement.
“Oh yeah, sure. I got you.” Missy’s voice was strained.
Sky finished sewing Ajax’s shirt. “Crafting has its advantages; tailoring is almost more effective than working out right now.” She said, changing the subject.
Missy perked up at that “I wonder if I could take a mining pick or a lumber jack’s ax to go improve my stats. Caster improvements…” She looked at Ajax “Probably come from enchanting or alchemy. I’m guessing you don’t happen to be a chemistry professor or a meth cook so you’d know how to do that already?”
“No, I just run a very lucrative car wash.” He got a laugh out of the girls. Who didn’t love the classics? It was a huge hit when it was reformatted for iLids a few years ago.
“We’ll find a way to help you increase your stats. I know the mage stats seem to be harder to train.” Missy had her smile back. The earlier tension in her fading with a good laugh.
“Even if I’m going to be a caster, I can still chop lumber with you. Hell, maybe I’ll blast it with magic. Casters have usually struggled in the early game, then come back strong in the late game. I’ll carry you two later.” Ajax boasted.
“You lot seem lively.” Sir Remblaar stepped into their rest spot. “You guys up for a shift at night watch?”
The three of them really could get by with less sleep. They shrugged at each other and agreed.
“Good, if you could take the north side when we camp tonight. Don’t stray further than 100 feet from the group. That way, we can hear you if something happens.”
1000xp
Y/N?>
Accepting the free experience, Ajax lead the two girls as the whole caravan started packing up and rolling again. “I bet you could find a rock to use a pick on Missy. I wonder what benefits mining would get.”
The group did just that. Ajax and Missy were wrecking stones and trees. Meanwhile Sky circled the area doing invisible hopscotch training for agility. The afternoon was peaceful as the group traveled over the rolling hills.
Ajax was thrilled. Apparently toiling at professions gave not only strength but stamina as well. He gained a few levels in mining and woodcutting. The woodcutting even bumped up his ax mastery. He kept that quiet from Missy lest she started trying to use her sword to chop trees.
They helped pack up camp when they settled. Ajax saw Borris once again taking stock of the wagons. He paid close attention to the portly man. Looking for an opportunity to take advantage of the caravan. He couldn’t help but admit, his greed was getting the better of him. Ajax found the merchant actually paying very little attention to the books of magic just checking to make sure their containers were still sealed.
There was one, in particular, that was chained shut, unlike the rest. Borris paid special attention to that one, running his hands along the chain to make sure it was still whole. What was in that crate?
He took a quick peek at the forums on his way over to the third wagon, which had become their meeting spot. He searched for Time Dissonance and found nothing. He wasn’t sure how many other players were experiencing a hyperbolic time chamber in the game.
He went to look at the profession forums and found them eerily empty. There was even a cobweb and abandoned skull graphic in the corner to emphasize the current lack of attention. The people now calling themselves The Spell Lab hadn’t made much progress. It had only really been two and a half hours since he last looked at the forums but damn it felt like it had been an entire day.
CHAPTER 20
A few hours into their trek down the road, Darcie’s servant found Ajax and offered to bring him to her. The servant still showed no outward response to Ajax when he agreed to come with him. He let Ajax into Darcie’s carriage. It was as if she hadn’t moved from her pillow mound in the last two days. She sported a lazy smile on her face- one that begged to be punched off, in Ajax’s opinion.
“Hello, Darcie.” Ajax wasn’t sure what the correct way to greet her, but he did a slight nod of his head. That seemed respectful but not submissive. The pretentiousness these merchants kept displaying on where grating his nerves. He wasn’t about to be cowed by a bunch of lazy merchants, who for the most part hadn’t even left their carriages during this trip.
She accepted his greeting and waved for him to sit on one of the many plush pillows. Her entire demeanor seemed tired, but her eyes were alive like she was anticipating this meeting. Then again, that could just be because of her constant state of boredom rather than any real anticipation. Darcie spoke first this time. “I heard you’ve made some decent coin selling the product of your group kills.” Ajax wondered if she knew exactly how full his purse was with a total of 1 gold and forty silver.
It was like she had read his mind at that moment. “One gold for a lesson. I’ll answer your questions for an hour, and then forty silver to let you pick two spells of the ones I show you after.” Ajax’s heart clenched at the prospect of going broke again. Sadly, it was his way of life since he graduated. He handed over the gold from his inventory and sat down. Damn merchants. The thought of robbing them only seemed fair now.
Acting like she had planned the whole thing, she took an hourglass out from behind her pillow mound and flipped it onto its empty side. “So, I’m guessing you have a few questions to start?”
Ajax had thought about this when he had been waiting to see her. “What are the elements of magic?”
Darcie smiled like she was remembering memories past. She stayed in that wistful state for too long in Ajax’s opinion; he was paying for this time. “There are six true elements; earth, wind, fire, water, light, and dark. All of them have offshoots that make the idea of strengths and weaknesses hard to define. For example, earth magic includes metal magic or light magic has healing magic. However, creatures of the elements like a golem, would be resistant to its own elements.”
Ajax absorbed that for a moment before a question formed “What about arcane magic? Which element does that fall under?”
“None, Arcane is raw magic. It has no element, no strength, no weakness. Except that it’s plain. The same spell cast with an element has added effe
cts, without the increased cost of the spell.” She paused for Ajax to take that in for a second “The variant of Arcane Missile that you’ve been casting would be exactly the same if it had an element. Except, let's say you cast it with the fire element, it would add a slight burn. And maybe add a chance to cause some burn damage. No mage has discovered why you can get additional benefit from casting with an element over pure arcane magic. Though not every spell can accept all elements.” She sighed and took a sip from her glass. “I’m getting too far ahead of your understanding. Did that answer your question?”
It had answered his question but left Ajax with more. He ignored her jab and continued; he was going to get his money’s worth. “Okay next, is it possible to enchant an item?”
Darcie narrowed her eyes at Ajax. “Yes… it can be done. Many of the past adventurers were quite famous and proficient at doing so. They could generally enhance an item… make it a ‘plus one’ as some of them called it. It would increase clothing or armor’s hardness and resistance to being torn. For weapons it slightly increased the sharpness. If enchanted steel and plain steel clashed, it was clear the enchanted material kept its edge far better. They enchanted the items by ‘pushing’ their magic into the item.” Darcie air quoted the word with distaste. “However, I have never understood this ability. I would note enchanting with other effects beyond just strengthening the item require mastery of a spell with similar effects.”
