Delvers LLC: Welcome to Ludus

by Blaise Corvin

  "I feel hot, especially in my center, in my chest, and I'm having trouble thinking straight. I'm still nervous about the entire concept of intimacy, but right now my body's voice is at least as loud as my fears. I could go either direction.

  "I don't want to make excuses, but I think my lack of discipline earlier today was partially because of these changes." Uluula grabbed Jason's hand that wasn't on her back and rested it on her breast. Jason numbly noticed that her nipple was rock hard.

  Uluula placed a hand on Jason's face, her expression soft but direct. "I am still not a silly girl, though. I desperately want this right now, but I have to protect myself and my heart. I will not indulge my desires unless I have some assurances."

  "Uhhh... what?" Jason couldn't believe that in this moment, this was the best response he could give. Stupid, stupid, stupid Jason. Get it together! Unfortunately, his internal frustration was not enough to snap him out of his stupor.

  Uluula continued, "I have decided, I think rather obviously, that you are worthy of courting me. This leads to marriage. I fully expect you to eventually marry me.

  "I also expect you to honor my intelligence and my wishes in finding you at least one other spouse for our household. You may not understand it, but you need to trust me that this is critical for your future as well as mine.

  "Last, if you ever break my heart, if you ever betray me, I will kill you." Uluula's eyes flashed, and she pushed Jason's hand more firmly to her chest. "Bonded or not, I will destroy you if you mistreat me."

  Jason felt a spark of anger in the back of his mind, the heat temporarily freeing him from his trance. "I would never, ever intentionally hurt you. However, I can't promise I'll never hurt you. That's not how relationships work. For the love of..." Jason stopped talking before he used an idiom she wouldn't understand. He paused for a moment before continuing to struggle through his words. "You're a different species. It's hard enough trying to understand women of my own species.

  "That said, you are like a miniature sun. Your mind is sharp and analytical; you miss nothing. You push yourself to always be the best that you can be. You're brave and uncompromising. You're beautiful, still one of the most beautiful women I've ever met in my life. I can't keep my eyes off of you even when I feel like I'm rude when I stare.

  "I literally have dreams about one day kissing you for the first time, and I'm almost thirty friggin' years old. I even find the scary-ass, violent, raze-the-world-to-the-ground part of your personality fascinating and sexy. You are like a goddess, and I can't believe you'd even be interested in me in the first place. You are a superior woman, and I am a better person for having you in my life."

  Uluula's blush grew deeper the longer Jason talked. When he was done, emotionally exhausted from trying to articulate everything he was feeling, Uluula's eyes flashed, and she growled. She put a hand behind Jason's neck and pulled him into their first real kiss. She obviously had no idea what she was doing, but Jason still went weak in the knees and almost fell into the river.

  Uluula pulled herself closer to Jason, wrapping her legs around him. "Good enough," she murmured. "Your honesty is one reason I can bring myself go through with this, why I want this."

  She looked up at him coyly, her eyes smoldering. "I never thought I would want a younger man, much less a Terran. But if you don't take me over to the bank right now and do something about this situation, I suppose we could just forget about the whole thing..."

  As he gently held her, kissed her, and moved out of the water, Jason's entire being was focused on not ruining the mood. If Henry interrupts, I will literally kill him. Luckily, they made it to the bank without any interference. After that, Jason didn't have many other coherent thoughts for a while.

  * * *

  Henry whittled a piece of wood with a blade extended from his finger and wondered why Jason had been gone for a couple hours. He considered checking on his friend, but he still remembered the Jaguar Clan bath. As funny as it would have been to piss Jason off again, Henry had to follow the bro code.

  When Henry noticed Jason had finally gotten back, his friend had a big, dopey grin on his face. Uluula was trying too hard to look like everything was normal, and they both had disheveled clothes. Did Jason just score? Finally? Henry shrugged. It was possible they could have just bathed in the river. Ultimately it was none of his business. However, if Uluula had finally given it up, he was glad. Those two had been wound up so tight for the last few weeks he was afraid they were going to start randomly stabbing people or humping furniture.

  When Henry saw Jason almost immediately go to bed, still maintaining a stupid grin, and Uluula grab Mareen to walk off for a private chat, he knew he'd been right. The situation was further confirmed when Uluula didn't pitch her own tent and crawled into Jason's instead. Henry shook his head and just hoped his friend remembered to swallow his spirit stone before sleeping.

  As he chuckled about his friend's relationship, Henry thought about how nobody ever really grew up. Being an adult was like never-ending high school, and apparently living on a different planet with other species didn't change a fucking thing. As he brewed some pseudo-tea, he wondered if he should write down his profound thoughts. He might as well--they had notepads and whatnot courtesy of Ludus or Dolos... or something.

  He always wondered how so many Earth items were sold in Mirana markets. Now he knew. In addition to loot that adventurers would be interested in, the Yanbei Cavern treasure room had also contained a large assortment of random junk stored in boxes and crates, some of which was from Earth. Among the haul of weapons, armor, coins, magic stones, a spirit stone, and a Dolos orb, they'd also found random things like baseball hats, fishing line, notebooks, plastic plates, and a number of other perplexing things.

  The Delvers had taken all of it. What they couldn't find a use for, they'd sell.

  All in all, Henry was in a great mood. That night, Bezzi-ibbi and Rark-han took the night watch as usual. The Mo'hali could see in the dark, they had great hearing, and they were uncomfortable letting anyone other than other themselves pull guard duty. Henry wasn't really happy about the arrangement since it seemed unfair, but everyone other than the person driving the Battlewagon could nap while traveling now. Nobody really had to miss out on sleep.

  As they got ready for bed, Henry noticed that Mareen was in a good mood too. Henry could only imagine it was at least partially because she was meddling in Jason's love life. That was what women did, even a practical woman like Mareen. Henry approached it fatalistically. As long as she was fucking with someone else's life, she probably wouldn't feel the temptation to start messing with his. Small victories.

  That night, he and Mareen didn't make love. They were so tired they just cuddled for a while, and she almost immediately fell asleep. Right before dozing off, in a rare moment of vulnerability, Henry smiled and got tears in his eyes while he watched Mareen sleeping. She was snoring softly, something he was trying to get used to.

  He was amazed he'd attracted someone so special. They might have been stuck on a monster-plagued world, but at least he'd been able to save his mom and meet Mareen. Ludus wasn't a total wash.

  The rest of their return journey was similar. The only monsters they saw were random things wandering around by themselves, and Henry was able to easily kill them while the Battlewagon sped along. It was uneventful enough that most of the Delvers began to nap or play games while they traveled. Bezzi-ibbi produced a set of playing cards and a musical instrument from somewhere. The kid was awfully handy to have around when they needed to kill some time.

  Henry didn't ask Jason about his spirit stone upgrade or what abilities he'd chosen for his second rank. They'd have plenty of time for that conversation when they got back to Mirana. Nobody wanted to break the relaxed mood.

  Henry thought it was strange that Keeja hadn't come back. He talked about it briefly with Jason, but his friend had no idea why she hadn't returned either. Even after all the time they'd spent with her, they didn't know much
about the enigmatic High Priestess. That suited Henry just fine. Fine ass and tight body or no, she gave him the creeps, probably because she always looked at him like he was a piece of meat. He could have sworn she licked her lips occasionally.

  Plus, the fact he had to keep remembering she was thousands of years old when she didn't look much older than Uluula was confusing as hell. She could also have probably manhandled him if she really wanted to. He wasn't even sure how powerful she truly was, and he preferred to keep it that way.

  After they got to Mirana, the Delvers tried not to draw any extra attention. They passed through the gates without a problem, but quite a few people were curious about the Battlewagon and their masks. A few other adventurers recognized them and called out asking if they'd had a good haul.

  The Delvers ignored everyone. Henry was tired and just wanted to sleep in a real bed before dealing with city life and Adventure Guild issues. The others probably felt the same way.

  He was extremely glad for the garage. Even though they were carrying a fortune in loot on the Battlewagon, the Delvers Garage gave them an easy way to secure it so they didn't have to immediately start selling everything off to the Adventuring Guild or the Jaguar Clan.

  With their haul of loot, they weren't exactly rich yet, but they wouldn't have any money problems for a long time.

  Once the Battlewagon was parked and the front door was locked, Bezzi-ibbi volunteered to guard the loot. His control as a Mo'hali hero was good enough now that he could extend his nullifying power enough to cover the battlewagon and maintain it. As usual, Rark-han was his shadow.

  Jason and Uluula said they'd be in the house in case Bezzi-ibbi needed them. Henry rolled his eyes. They were probably just going to make out. Henry would have bet they wouldn't even notice if a fucking army tried to invade the garage, but he didn't say anything. He'd already squirreled away enough magic stones in his room that if the rest of their haul was stolen, they'd have enough money to pay the bills.

  He was never, ever again going to make the same mistake again that he'd made with his old machete. The memory still weighed heavily.

  With nothing better to do in Mirana as evening fell, Henry walked with Mareen to visit her grandfather. Before they'd left for Yanbei Cavern, George had asked her to let him know she was safe as soon as she got back. Henry knew Mareen probably also wanted to brag a bit. It was her first dungeon too, after all.

  As they walked out of Mirana and through the peaceful farming communities, Henry smiled. It was turning into a nice night. The wind sighed through the crops on either side of the road, and as the alien sun set, it kicked up a riot of watercolor lights on the horizon. Henry and Mareen held hands, neither of them saying anything, just happy to be in each other's company.

  They kept walking, and Henry felt a nagging feeling in the back of his mind. He didn't want to upset the mood, so he ignored it for a while, but it kept getting stronger until he had to acknowledge it. Something was wrong.

  They were in the Georgetown settlement now. They hadn't gotten to the houses yet, but at this time of the day, before true dark, there still should have been some farmers out making use of the last light to work or visiting with friends.

  Henry couldn't see anyone.

  It took Mareen longer to catch on that something was wrong. Henry knew she'd noticed when her hand suddenly gripped his with crushing force. Neither of them spoke, but they separated hands, drew weapons, and began to trot towards the Georgetown houses. Henry felt the pit of his stomach dropping out.

  George, please be okay, George. Please...

  At the settlement, there were no lights. At this point, Henry absolutely knew something was amiss. "Wait here." He was afraid she wouldn't listen, but she nodded. Henry's dread continued to grow as he crossed the distance to the house they'd come to visit.

  He was glad he hadn't enhanced his sense of smell when he opened the door to George's home because the stench of death, blood, and offal almost hit him like a physical thing.

  George's body wasn't alone in the home. There was a dead village child in each corner, throats cut or heads caved in. They'd obviously been murdered and were placed intentionally to make the room more hellish. It was a message. The clinical portion of Henry's mind judged they'd only been dead for about a day. They'd probably been killed the previous night.

  George's body was strapped to a table. He'd been tortured. Tears ran down Henry's face as he witnessed proof of what his friend had gone through during the last moments of his life. The last light of the setting sun leaked through the windows and illuminated the hellish scene.

  Piles of fingernails, fingers, and things Henry didn't want to think about were stacked on the table next to George's naked body. The walls were splashed with blood. Bodily fluids had soaked into the wood and left deep, partially-dried puddles within the dips of the floor.

  In the waning light, Henry could see something written on the wall in blood.

  For Jeth

  Next to the simple message was a symbol that Henry recognized. When he and Jason had looted Mr. Ben and his thugs after freeing themselves from the warehouse cell in Mirana, they'd found a huge silvery coin with the same symbol. Henry had thought it was unique looking, so he'd kept it and still had it in a drawer somewhere. He hadn't sold it. It was kind of a fucked-up souvenir from almost dying.

  Next to the bloody writing, sticking into the wall, was Henry's stolen machete. He immediately recognized it.

  "No fucking way," his voice came out in a whisper. He was still in shock, his brain stuttering so badly he didn't hear Mareen's footsteps approaching.

  "Hey, Henry, I'm worried. Is everything--" Henry woke up out of his bewilderment when Mareen started screaming. He forced her out of the home, thanking God for the dim light and that he'd blocked a clear view into the house by standing in the doorway. He'd rather Mareen had nightmares about shadows than what was actually in there.

  Henry forced himself to think rationally through his grief, his anger, his guilt. He had to draw as much strength from the earth as he could in order to restrain Mareen's superhuman struggling so she wouldn't hurt herself. He held his screaming, hysterical girlfriend under the winking, uncaring stars of an alien world and felt empty inside.

  It was going to be a long, terrible night. And though Henry was screaming inside, his tears ran freely, and his heart was breaking, a larger part of himself grew cold, colder than it had ever grown before. Henry stared into the distance while he waited for Mareen to calm down or exhaust herself so they could find help.

  Someone had hurt his friend, Mareen's family. Henry was going to kill them. He was going to kill them, their friends, and everything they held dear. He was going to raze their fucking buildings to the ground, salt the earth, and piss on the ashes.

  Henry was angrier than he'd ever been in his life. As his rage grew, the ice within him grew even colder. Every time he thought of George, every time he thought of his kind, wise friend who'd helped him understand and survive Ludus, his fury grew hotter.

  Every time Mareen's sobs racked her body, every time he heard her despair, her heart breaking, his wrath reached new heights. His anger grew so great it was almost a physical thing. It combined with his magic, and he couldn't help letting some of it out. The ground began to shake; rocks within the earth were crushed to dust.

  Someone had sent a message. Henry needed to find out who it was and make sure they got his reply.

  End of Delvers LLC: Welcome To Ludus

  -Book One of Delvers LLC

  Please read on for a note by the author.

  ...And don't forget to review this novel!

  School--::--Subschool:

  Earth-:-Metal

  Air-:-Void

  Water-:-Life

  Fire-:-Matter

  Consciousness-:-Time

  Light-:-Darkness

  Force-:-Attraction

  To Readers,

  PLEASE, PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW! You are wonderful and reviews are amazing for all au
thors, but especially indie authors like me.

  This was my very first book. I really hope you enjoyed it. Writing has always been a dream of mine and about two years ago I decided to stop dreaming and act! JUST DO IT!

  -Thanks Shia

  I'm still plotting out the entirety of the Delvers series, but Ludus is a part of something huge, a universe I've been working on for 10 years and can probably explore for the rest of my life.

  For those who don't know, I am a web serial writer. This means that I post my stories online, chapter by chapter as part of an ongoing relationship with weekly readers. What I post online is a rough draft of my story. I add content and the entire story goes through a couple revisions before before I publish.

  1. My website

  If you're interested in checking out my website, the URL is http://blaise-corvin.com/. You can find news, Delvers artwork, and advanced (rough draft) chapters for what I'm working on.

  I also post the rough draft of my story on Wattpad and Royal Road Legends, writing websites that allow people to post stories to read for free. Brandon Sanderson has even posted on Wattpad.

  http://royalroadl.com/

  2. My LitRPG group

  I am the leader of a LitRPG group (LitRPG Society) on Royal Road Legends. This is the link: http://royalroadl.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?fid=8049

  3. These are my social media accounts you can connect with me at!

  Twitter - @Blaise_Corvin

  https://twitter.com/Blaise_Corvin

  Facebook - Leave me a like on facebook!

  https://www.facebook.com/BlaiseCorvinWriter/

  Webserial LitRPG Facebook Group

  https://www.facebook.com/groups/LitRPGsociety/

  LitRPG Facebook Group