Forming the Company (Alpha World Book 2)

by Daniel Schinhofen

  Waking the next morning, Alburet found Stacia in the kitchen, with meat on the stove sizzling away. “Morning, Kitten. What are you making today?” Alburet asked as he wrapped her up from behind, nuzzling her neck.

  “Steak and eggs, iffin ya do nay distract me into burnin’ the meat,” Stacia whispered to him as she ground her ass against him.

  Giving her bust a quick squeeze, he released her and stepped away. “Don’t want to ruin your cooking, Kitten,” he replied with a smirk at her disappointed sigh from being released.

  “Then go get ya shower in, so ya don’t tempt me to leave the food cookin’ to drag ya to the floor,” she mock growled at him as she looked over her shoulder at him.

  Blowing her a kiss, he went and did as she suggested, coming back out to the front room just as she set plates on the table. “See, tha’ be good timin’, though I was all for leavin’ the steak for a ready sausage.”

  “You surely live up to being a succubus, Kitten,” Alburet chuckled before taking a bite of perfect, medium rare steak.

  “Thank ya master, it be nice to be complimented,” Stacia grinned at him.

  Shaking his head, Alburet enjoyed the perfectly cooked steak, still amazed at what had transpired for him in the short time he’d been here. After they finished their meal and washed the dishes they got ready to head out for the day. The guild icon started flashing.

  Karen:

  Hey, I’m on and wanting to go kill some gnolls, anyone want to come?

  Stacia:

  Sounds good to us. Meet you at the portal guild in a bit. It sounds like rain today so you might want to grab an umbrella.

  As she put the Guildstone away a crash of thunder rumbled overhead. “Maybe today I won’t get as soaked,” Alburet chuckled as he pulled out his pink umbrella. He locked the door as Stacia opened her blue umbrella. Arm in arm, the couple walked through the rain towards the portal guild. Alburet noticed how much emptier the streets were than normal. He mentally shrugged, figuring people here didn’t like to get drenched any more than they did on Earth.

  When they got to the portal guild, Karen was already there and chatting amiably with three guys. “Sorry guys, the guild leader is here. Got to go do guild things, you know how it is,” Karen said.

  “How do we join?” The tallest one, who had a shield asked.

  “Are you part of the immersion testing group?” Alburet asked.

  “Oh, come on, they only invited like friends and family to that. Nobody outside of the select few are really getting into that,” one of the others cut in to say.

  Karen laughed, “Wrong. I got invited in and I don’t have friends or family with Mindblown. It was dependent on the survey they sent out to beta testers.”

  “I filled out that survey,” the tall one added. “I still didn’t get an invite.”

  “They only picked a few hundred from what I’ve heard,” Alburet shrugged. “They’ll pick up more people a month or two down the road, I would bet.”

  “Still, how are you going to find out who is or isn’t in?” The third guy asked.

  “I won’t be completely sure, but it will become obvious after a few days. The pods have an automatic eject if you try to go past a full day in them at the moment, so it won’t be hard to tell.” Alburet replied, holding up a hand, “Anyway, aren’t taking more people into the guild until after the test starts up, sorry.”

  The tall guy shrugged, “Well then. Maybe next month I’ll be seeing you. Good hunting to you.” The other two mumbled goodbyes then the trio of guys headed for the stairs.

  “Wasn’t expecting that,” Karen muttered. She looked at Alburet, “We good for gnolls?”

  “Should be. Gerald and Marysue should be on in a few hours, so we can pick them up to hit the camps. Until then we’ll have to prowl for singles.”

  “Here I was thinkin’ ya had given up tha’ pastime, once ya got me,” Stacia mock pouted at him with twinkling eyes full of mischief.

  “Well, a man with my stamina needs a few women to keep him satisfied,” Alburet shot back without thinking.

  Karen ran a hand across the back of his neck, “Oh really?”

  “So ya do be wantin’ a harem then, asthore?” Stacia added quickly.

  Face palming, Alburet sighed, “I yield, ladies, I yield. I spoke without thinking. Please have mercy.”

  Karen pouted, “Teasing isn’t very nice.”

  “Says the woman who teased me vigorously when we met, as I recall.”

  Stacia giggled, “Ya recall complimentin’ me on me nature this morning’, asthore?” When Alburet nodded, she continued, “I will nay object to havin’ others join us, it be part of me nature. I know ya have reservations about it though, so for now it be just us. Iffin ya want to expand later I be more than willin’, okay?”

  Karen began to smile, “If he does Stacia, let me know.”

  With a deep sigh Alburet shook his head, “We going hunting today?”

  Karen took the arm Stacia wasn’t on, “Of course. Today we are hunting Summoners…” she said with an Elmer Fudd voice.

  “Rabbit season,” Alburet muttered as he started walking them towards the stairs.

  Stacia looked a bit confused, “Why do we be huntin’ Summoners?”

  They said hello to Kim on their way past while Karen tried to explain the idea of the Looney Toons to Stacia. Stacia was still frowning when they reached the portal room. She was nodding though by the time they reached the edge of the woods. “So it be like a hand puppet show of silliness,” she finally nodded.

  “Close enough,” Alburet said to stop the conversation, as he had already summoned Tiny and two Bobs. Knowing that they would be tackling only a single gnoll at a time for now, it made sense to up the damage instead of having two succubi.

  As they started into the woods, Tiny took the lead. They soon found the first trail and settled into wait for the first patrol. They fell into the pattern they had used before, with Stacia Dazing the gnoll so they could surround it. Then Alburet would hit it with his axe full of flames, killing the spores on its back. Finally, Tiny grappled it so the others could attack with impunity. After the dead gnoll was looted they would move off to the next ambush point and repeat the process.

  About four hours after they started the guild icon flashed, letting them know Gerald and Marysue were on. They met up and went out to hunt the gnoll camps for close to five hours. By that time, Gerald and Marysue had hit eighteen. “We’re a bit under the recommended minimum for the gnoll dungeon,” Gerald commented as they were heading back to the keep. “I’m not sure we should go after the dungeon tomorrow.”

  “We can do it,” Karen said with conviction.

  “It won’t hurt for us to give it a try,” Alburet shrugged. “At worst we die horribly and then wait to try it again.”

  “Okay. So, meet up tomorrow around noon?” Gerald asked.

  The others agreed to meet up at noon before they broke up for the night. They each sold off the loot at the fort. Gerald and Marysue took a room at the inn inside the fort complex. Karen said she was off to see Marian at the Dead Man Inn. Alburet hugged Stacia to him, “So, back to our place or would you like to go to the café tonight?”

  “A date, asthore? Sounds nice,” Stacia murmured as she hugged him back.

  Using their Homestones, the couple appeared outside their home. At Stacia’s warning, they had their umbrellas open already, as it was still raining. Arm in arm they walked down to the café. When they arrived they found the place packed with people. An elf butler greeted them, “Welcome home, master and mistress. I am sorry that we are not ready for you at this time. Would you mind waiting?”

  “We’re fine with waiting,” Alburet told the elf.

  “Please take a seat right there then master, and we will be with you shortly,” the elf pointed to a small sofa just inside the door and off to one side.

  It wasn’t long before a table opened up and they were seated. A tiger striped lunari walked them to the table, his voi
ce a deep purr as he gave them their menus and took their drink order. The couple ordered crepes to go with their coffee, sampling each other’s without incident before returning home. As they made their way back to their house the rain stopped.

  “Three or four weeks before it comes again,” Stacia said as she put her umbrella away.

  Alburet frowned briefly then nodded, “The rain always comes every three or four weeks for two days?”

  “Aye, tha’ be the way the gods made the world,” Stacia replied a little puzzled. “How does it work on ya other world?”

  Alburet tried to convey the chaos that was weather on Earth as they walked. He finished shortly after they got home, “That’s the best I can do to explain it.”

  “Ya other world be truly mad, master,” Stacia mused. “No way to know what to do with ya life, the weather a chaotic mess and no gods to help ya. Truly, it be a marvel ya were able to get here.”

  Pulling her down onto his lap to snuggle, he agreed. “Yes. I can never agree enough with that line, Kitten. That’s why I hope that when we start recruiting others I can get them to understand how much better it is here. Maybe one day the bridge between our worlds can be made permanent so me and others like me can stay here all the time. In another eight days, the bridge will be down again and I will be gone for a day or more again.”

  Stacia clutched him tightly, “Ya will come back, though?”

  “Always, Kitten. I would fight the gods themselves to come back to you.” The rest of the night Alburet spent comforting and pleasuring the love of his life. He hoped to ease some of her fears that he would disappear and not come back. Eventually they fell asleep with Stacia as the little spoon with Alburet holding her from behind.

  Alburet

  Human Summoner

  Level 19

  Strength: 24 (19)

  Agility: 24 (19)

  Constitution: 30

  Intelligence: 54 (24)

  Wisdom: 69 (19)

  Charisma: 35

  Health: 1250

  Mana: 1630

  Spells:

  Demon Skin-Rank 2

  Demonic Retribution- Rank 2

  Summon Least Imp

  Fire Blast- Rank 2

  Sap Strength- Rank 2

  Demonic Haze- Rank 2

  Summon Lesser Destroyer

  Demonic Vitality- Rank 2

  Fire Burst

  Summon Lesser Succubus

  Abilities:

  Personal Spells

  Flame Weapon

  Copy

  Chapter Eighteen

  The next morning, after a bit of pinch and tickle, the couple had breakfast then got ready for the day. It was about two hours until noon, but having nothing else they needed to do before hunting they headed for the portal guild. Kim wasn’t on duty so they didn’t stop to chat at the desk, instead heading straight up to the portal. Stepping through, they greeted the two guards before entering the yard of the keep.

  They headed into the inn and took a seat with a pot of tea, sipping it while they waited for the others to show. An hour later the guild icon started flashing informing them that others had shown up.

  Fluffball:

  When and where are we meeting today?

  Stacia:

  We are doing the gnoll cave today at noon. Alburet and I are at the keep already.

  Karen:

  So, no stopping by to wake you both up then. Boo. I’ll head that way.

  Stacia:

  You would need to be here all the time to even attempt it.

  Karen:

  Right. Less than two weeks to go for that.

  Gerald:

  Everyone is early it seems. Once you all get here we can head out.

  Fluffball:

  I’m at the portal guild now, be right there.

  From Karen:

  Five minutes for me. See you then.

  Five minutes later the group was all out by the gates with Gerald as the party leader. “Okay, this is probably going to be rough,” Gerald told them. “The dungeon is for people level twenty to twenty-five. With Alburet our highest at nineteen this could be dicey. Alburet wants to give it a go regardless, so we’re going to attempt it. The test is coming up as well, so my thinking at the moment is this: For today and the next two we can run the dungeon a total of three times a day, if we can pull it off. I think we do that, then we’ll all have four days to do whatever we need to before the immersion.”

  Fluff spoke up, “What if we can’t clear it?”

  “We can grind the gnoll camps for a day or so then try again. Is that okay with everyone?” Gerald looked, around getting agreement from everyone. “Okay, let’s go. We’ll kill everything on the way.”

  The group set off. Alburet summoned Tiny, made a copy of Stacia and then summoned Bob as they went. “So, which hotties are with us today?” Bob asked as soon as he appeared. “All of them, nice. The complete set is back. Well, almost a complete set, missing a dwarf. Then again, who really cares about a dwarf when you got all the others, including two succubi?”

  Alburet shook his head, “Bob, you only care about sex, don’t you?”

  “That is a vicious lie,” Bob responded quickly. “While I care about sex a lot, and I do mean a lot, I also care about other things.”

  He knew he was being baited, but Alburet asked anyway, “What else do you care about then?”

  “Well, since you asked,” Bob snickered. “I care about breasts, legs, hips, thighs…”

  “Enough,” Alburet cut him off. “Anything besides women?”

  “Explosions and killing things,” Bob replied, sulking a bit.

  “Well then, you’re in luck. We are going after the gnoll shaman today. That means there should be plenty of killing to be done, and as a bonus you can always watch the women work.”

  Perking up a little Bob nodded, “Okay, master.”

  Gerald sighed from the front of the group, “He reminds me of a teenage guy, only interested in sex.”

  “But, I don’t think you were that way, Gerald,” Marysue added after a short pause. “You turned down a number of girls in high school as I recall.”

  Gerald’s face tinged pink before he responded, “True, true, but most teenagers are.”

  “Which means Gerald there probably had his sights set on a certain someone already, right? That’s the only way I can think of for a guy that age to not succumb to temptation.” Karen opined as they walked along.

  “Huh, I wonder who then?” Marysue mused. “I don’t recall him going after anyone. He was always helping me out and never seemed distracted.”

  Alburet blinked as he finally realized why these two didn’t have an obvious relationship. Marysue was as dense as stone. He wondered if he should hint or nudge Marysue about the obvious. As he pondered that he caught Gerald’s eyes, the man shook his head once. Alburet gave back a small nod understanding that Gerald didn’t want that. He was content enough it seemed to just be near Marysue.

  The group came to a halt when Stacia started to sing her song. Gerald looked back, then glanced where Stacia was looking. A Gnoll Wanderer had just come around a bend in the trail. The group started up the same routine they had done before to kill off the single gnolls. Once it fell dead, they looted it then started on again, coming to the first gnoll camp. Using the same tactics they had previously honed, they started to kill off everything between them and the cave.

  Close to an hour later they stopped on the edge of a clearing backed by a hill. The cave entrance was there, the white mist denoting the instance entrance. Just outside of that stood two Gnoll Champions, wearing chain for the most part but solid iron helms and breastplates. Each of them bore an image of a large plant emblazoned on the chest plate. Each also had a shield equipped with the same image, their weapons were a hammer. The Champions were level 25, which meant that they were considerably more advanced than the other gnolls they’d fought.

  “If I recall correctly,” Gerald told them in a soft voice, “these are p
aladin types. So, high defense, a little healing and holy offensive abilities. Tiny, these guys are going to hurt you rather badly with your aversion to holy magic. So, I am going to suggest that Stacia focus on the right one, while we go after the one on the left. I think they have a short area stun as well, so make sure to stay back unless you’re melee. Everyone ready?”

  Once everyone was ready Stacia began to sing, causing the gnoll on the right to slouch a little as it got dazed. Gerald charged out, using his taunt ability to get the attention of the one on the left and stopping it from glancing back at the other gnoll. Slapping the two buffs he could onto Gerald as they closed the distance, Alburet made sure his axe was ready to go. Gerald got the first hit in, but it hit the shield doing negligible damage to the mob. Everyone else circled around it as Gerald established his aggro. Once he gave the go ahead everyone attacked, except Alburet who hung back for another second.