“That sounds like a good idea,” Gerald agreed. “Marysue and I will check in with some of them too.”
“I need to see Lilith again tonight,” Fluffball informed them.
“I will be along for tha’,” Stacia added. “After dinner?”
Fluffball nodded, “Yes, after the evening meal.”
“Okay. Let’s portal, turn in quests, then break for the rest of the day.” Alburet said. “Tiny, Bob, we’re done hunting for a while anyway. I’ll call you when I head out to check on the guildies.”
“Yes, master,” Tiny rumbled and vanished.
Bob hesitated, looking uncertain and nervous, “Umm, I might have good news by then.”
“Ya will be fine, Bob,” Stacia told him, giving him a quick hug. “Go find out where they stand.”
Taking a deep breath, Bob nodded, “Here it goes.” He vanished in his usual puff of smoke. Gerald glanced at Marysue, reminded that the two of them had an interesting conversation ahead of them still.
“After dinner,” Marysue told him, having caught his look. “I promise.”
Chapter Eighteen
Turning in the quests from the Webbed Woods was enough to push them all up a level. As they left the fort, Alburet groused a bit about how slow the experience gain was. “Quests from three zones and a lot of killing netted us only a single level.”
“They wanted it to take time for people to hit max level,” Fluff replied. “Alpha World has only been out for a month, after all.”
“True,” Karen added, “but even that much was with us really pushing at it. This isn’t nearly as friendly for the more casual person. If you could only log in, say, two hours a day, it would take forever to gain even a single level.”
“Is that such a bad thing?” Marysue asked. “Part of it is mindless grinding, sure, which while not ideal isn’t horrible. It’s not nearly as bad as if you were staring at a screen or even using the old VR goggles. Here, you are living and breathing the world. It might not end up keeping twenty million players, but if it keeps even five then it will have been wildly successful for being the first of its kind.”
“Makes me wonder what they have up in the queue next,” Gerald added as he took Marysue’s arm. “We’re going to head out to the Goblin Village area.”
“I want to pop out to the Cursed Woods,” Alburet told them. “We still need to do the quests in both of those zones, but most of our recruits should be in those level ranges. We all good with meeting up after Gerald’s meeting tomorrow?”
Everyone agreed, saying their goodbyes and trading hugs before they headed off. When Stacia and Alburet appeared in front of their home, Wilbur almost bumped into them. Alburet grinned at Wilbur’s shocked expression, “Hey, Wilbur. How are you doing?”
“What in the name of Justice happened to you?” Wilbur asked after a moment.
“I was given a boon by the Dark Lord,” Alburet replied. “I’m now a half-blood Infernal. Kind of like becoming a noble, but without having to deal with so many assholes all day.”
Wilbur’s lips twitched up, “Surrounded by beings that would rather knife you in the back even while speaking civilly towards you, or being despised by people for your blood? That is maybe eerily similar.” He looked at Stacia, “You as well?”
“Aye,” Stacia replied simply.
“I see. Is Erin in?”
“She should be. Kim has been out all day. How did the signing go?”
“It went well. Would it be okay to take Erin from your employ tonight instead of tomorrow?”
Alburet glanced over to see that Stacia’s skin had the same red tinge that his own did. He blinked once before turning back to Wilbur, “Sure, as soon as she closes up for tonight. Just have her drop the key off when she gets all of her things moved after the big reveal.”
“Of course,” Wilbur nodded to them, stepping into the archway and towards the guild hall.
Alburet ushered Stacia into the house before asking, “What is going on with your skin?”
“There be nay such thin’ as a half-Succubi. All known Half-bloods have the red tinge to their skin. This be fine, I can change me skin tone easily enough.” Her skin shifted back to normal, “It nay be any difficulty, an’ it will help keep up appearances. It will also help pave the way for when ya become a Demon Lord in the future and I can show me Succubus form to them all.”
“We don’t know that I’ll find the other pieces of the set. So there’s no guarantee that I’ll be able to transition to a Demon Lord.”
“Have faith in the way of the Dark Lord, master,” Stacia told him as she leaned her body into his. “After all, he led us to each other.”
Alburet tilted her head back and kissed her softly, “I will not gainsay your faith, Kitten. But I like to think I found you all on my own, before you captured my heart.”
“Iffin I recall correctly, it was nay ya heart I captured first,” Stacia purred, her hands going to his waist. “It was this part of ya.”
Alburet tangled his hands in her hair, “Oh, yes, you are correct.” He pulled her hair and kissed her roughly, then stepped away from her. “We are going to check on our guild mates. We will continue this later.”
Stacia dropped to her knees before him, her eyes glowing as she reached for his belt. “Mayhap after a short delay, master? I need ya so badly right now.”
Alburet swallowed hard but didn’t stop her. He gathered her hair in his hands. “Okay, a short delay. But you are not going to be setting this pace, I will.”
“Yes master,” Stacia husked at him, “take me as ya will.”
They made it to the Portal guild almost half an hour later. The receptionist stared steadily at him until he was past the desk. Alburet ignored it as best he could as they went up the stairs. On the same floor with the Orc Grasslands were the Goblin Villages and the Cursed Woods. Stepping onto the last rune, they appeared before a fort with just one guard on the gate.
“More Alpha Company?” the guard asked as he took in the emblem on their armor. “Two Half-bloods? I thought Alpha Company was a two-soul only guild?”
“No, we have a few native Alpha Worlders in our ranks,” Alburet informed the guard. “Which way did my recruits go?”
“Your recruits?” the guard asked, confused.
“Yes, my recruits,” Alburet replied, “I’m the leader of Alpha Company.”
“Alburet Two-souled, the head of Alpha Company is a human who has earned the favor of the king. You are obviously not him. If you persist in this farce of trying to claim his name, I will be forced to arrest you, sir,” the guard said with heat, “Now, who are you?”
“Look at my name, then,” Alburet snapped. “Better yet, take me to your sergeant.”
“Calm, Asthore,” Stacia said, squeezing Alburet’s arm. “He is only followin’ the laws. It be illegal to claim another’s name as ya own.”
“It,” the guard spat the word, “is correct. So at least one of you has some sense.”
“It?!” Alburet snarled as he felt his blood come to a boil. “Did you just call my wife an it, soldier?” The question came out flat and cold, in spite of the rage Alburet felt. He gently removed Stacia’s arm from his and pointed behind the guard, then made a brief gesture. “I will not abide that insult.”
The guard pulled a whistle from his tunic and blew a loud note on it before he drew his sword. “You are under arrest…”
“No,” Tiny rumbled from behind the guard as Bob appeared beside Alburet.
“Who we fighting?” Bob asked as he looked around.
“Stand down, or face the wrath of the Guard!” an old dwarf with a beard to his knees bellowed as he came through the gate. “Dismiss ye minions, sir!”
Alburet was breathing hard, his eyes were locked on the offending guard. “Your man has insulted me and my wife. I am only trying to defend our honor.”
Tiny growled as he flexed his hands and Bob conjured a flame to his hand. Tiny rumbled, “He insulted Stacia?”
“St
and down, or we be forced to arrest ye. As it be I will be lodging a complaint with ye guild master. Do nay make it worse by adding assault charges.” The dwarf went right past Tiny as if the Destroyer was not even worth his notice.
“Tiny, Bob,” Alburet grunted as he pulled his eyes off the first guard and gauged the dwarf. “You are dismissed.”
“Call us back if you need us,” Bob said with feeling with Tiny nodding silent agreement as they both vanished.
“Now that they be gone,” the dwarf sighed, “we can look into what the fuck is going on out here.” The dwarf turned to the guard, “Whelan, wha’ in Justice’s name jus’ happened?”
“This person is claiming to be Alburet Two-souled, sir. I informed him that falsely claiming another’s name is a crime. He then summoned his minions and threatened to attack me.”
The dwarf squinted at Alburet, then face-palmed, “Whelan, look at his name.”
Whelan squinted at Alburet then went pale, “Err…”
The dwarf turned to Alburet, “I’m Sergeant Grayson, sir. Wha’ did me man say tha’ insulted ye wife?”
Alburet was still pissed, but managed a civil tone as he related the incident to the sergeant. “He insulted our blood and then called my wife ‘it’. At that point I summoned my minions, as I cannot let that insult pass.”
Grayson sucked in a breath through his teeth, “Whelan?”
“Sir?” Whelan was white as he snapped to attention.
“Report to the Captain. Give him the full story, and I be checking tha’ it be correctly and fully told. Ye going to be pullin’ cleanin’ duty for the next month. Dismissed.”
Whelan snapped a salute and retreated into the fort as another guard came out with a blank face. The new guard glanced at Alburet and Stacia and looked away, clearly not wanting to provoke any further issues.
“Alburet, I apologize on me men’s behalf. Ye be viewed with respect by the guard, and he thought he was trying to stop another from using ye name. Word only just came in today tha’ ye became a Half-blood. The news has nay had time to work its way down the ranks yet.”
Alburet forced his hands to unclench, “Understood. However, that doesn’t address the gross misconduct of calling my wife an ‘It’.”
Grayson turned to Stacia and bowed from the waist, “Mrs. Two-souled, on behalf of the Stormguard Guard, I apologize for any slight given to ye.”
Stacia gently touched the dwarf’s shoulder, “I accept, sir.” She turned to Alburet and touched his arm, “Let it go, me husband.”
A wave of calming energy flowed through Alburet’s veins and he let out a huff, “Okay.”
Grayson stood back upright, “Sir, I also apologize to ye. Ye have done a great deal for the guards and it be horrible tha’ any of us would act in such a way.”
Nodding, Alburet took Stacia’s arm, “It’s fine. Do you know which way my recruits went? That’s the reason I’m out here to begin with.”
“Three squads of ye guild have ventured into the trees, sir. They be going from stone to stone, purging some of the Imps.”
“Well, then, I shall go and find them. I’ll probably be back sometime in the next day or two, along with my officers, to help out more here. We’re visiting all the keeps as we level, trying to help out as much as possible. Until then, I wish you a good day.”
“To ye as well,” Sergeant Grayson replied.
As Alburet walked away with Stacia, the sergeant turned to look at the guard on the gate. “Well. I hope he doesn’t lodge a complaint with Captain Roberto at the capital. Goodness knows the Captain would be less than amused, considering all the positive things he has to say about Alburet.”
The last traces of Alburet’s anger ebbed as he and Stacia walked away from the keep. “It’s you making me calmer, isn’t it Kitten?”
“Aye, Asthore,” Stacia replied, squeezing his arm. “Ya anger nay be somethin’ ya be proud of, and ya wish to change it. Me talents let me help ya with tha’.”
Chuckling, Alburet shook his head, “Life with you is never going to be simple, but at least it will be full of love.”
“Tha’ it will, Asthore,” she giggled. “Are we huntin’ with them or just stoppin’ in to say hi?”
“Mostly the second if we can find any of them,” Alburet replied as they entered the tree line. “Well, at least the paths here are clearly defined.” He walked with her down the path, wondering if he should call Bob and Tiny back to his side or wait. He shrugged and summoned them both as they walked, using his new ability to silently cast spells. Two puffs of smoke announced the appearance of his minions. “Welcome back, guys. The guards apologized, so all is well. We’re now heading into the Cursed Woods to seek out Alpha Company groups.”
“I wanted to burn him,” Bob sniffed. “No one should insult my soon to be niece.”
Alburet blinked, “One of the Succubi is Lilith’s sister?”
“Both of them are, actually,” Bob beamed. “They both want me. It’s like I said, once you go Imp, you never go back.”
“They are both very powerful, iffin they be sisters of me Ma’,” Stacia smiled. “Ya have done well, Bob.”
“My first wife wanted me to ask if you wanted to attend the ceremony welcoming the additions to our family,” Tiny rumbled as he looked at Alburet.
“What does that entail?” Alburet asked.
“It is a gathering of all of those we care for,” Tiny began to explain, as Bob grinned with an evil chuckle. “There is food and drink for all, and the family shares pleasures as we all sate our desires. Non-family is invited to watch and give advice to those who participate.”
Alburet coughed, “Pass, though thank her for the offer, Tiny.”
“As you wish, master,” Tiny nodded.
“You could show for my wedding,” Bob snickered.
“Is it a ‘come naked and fuck the Succubi’ party?” Alburet asked with a shake of his head.
Bob jerked as if slapped, “How did you know? Tiny, did you spill the beans?”
“No,” Alburet replied first, “I just went for the easiest answer. At least we know you’ll always be you, Bob. I’ll pass again, but thanks for the offer. I already have the Succubus I want.”
Stacia sighed softly, “He passed on the orgy Mother offered, too. So stubborn.”
Shaking his head, Alburet didn’t rise to the bait, “Congrats on the pending nuptials, Bob.”
“It’s going to be so fucking awesome,” Bob bounced along to keep up. “Loralee is already talking about who else she would like to add to the family once I grow stronger.”
His unbridled enthusiasm was enough to push the incident with the guard out of Alburet’s mind. “I guess we’ll just have to get moving in that direction, then. Tiny, keep your eyes out for more Alpha Company. We’re looking for three groups. Just want to check in with them and see how they’re doing.”
“Yes, master,” Tiny rumbled as he took point on the trail.
Shortly after Tiny took the lead, two blasts of fire streaked down from the trees above the group, singeing his chest as they struck. Tiny let out a surprised bellow, looking up to find two Imps sitting in the trees to either side of the road. They were preparing to throw more fire at him. “Get down here and face me,” Tiny rumbled at them as he used his shield to block one of the attacks.
Bob tossed a Fire Blast of his own at the Imp on the right while Stacia began to sing to the one on the left. The Fire Blast from Bob hit his target and made it wobble on the branch, but it managed to keep its perch and lob its own Fire Blast at Tiny again. The one on the left sank back into a sitting position as Stacia’s song Dazed it.
“These are our woods,” The Cursed Imp on the right spat at them. “Leave our woods or face our wrath!”
Alburet frowned as he looked at the Cursed Imps. They were a sickly green, rather than the shades of red he was used to seeing in Imps. “What is wrong with them?” he asked as he summoned his own Fire Blast to his hand.
“Cursed,” Tiny rumbled
as he glared at the Imp above him. “It is a test of the Dark Lord. Those not chosen by a master must survive a year here.”
"I really didn't want to do a year here," Bob told them as he tossed off another Fire Blast. "I was so weak and feeble that I wondered if I would make it.” His tone was almost pensive, “I was sure I wouldn’t be claimed and would have to.” His Fire Blast caught the Cursed Imp in the chest.
The Cursed Imp yelled and windmilled its arms, trying to keep its balance. Alburet grinned as he tossed his Fire Blast at the Imp as it wobbled, which was enough to knock it from its perch. It screeched as it fell, which was cut off abruptly as Tiny caught it with his shield. The Imp thudded into the trunk of the tree it had been perched on with a sickening crunch.
Alpha Company (Alpha World Book 3) Page 23
