Devil's Waltz

by Dante Sakurai

  Eyes narrowed, Gabrielle called to her, “Are ya so slutty cus ya don’t get any boys in the real world?! I doubt that’s what ya really look like!” Maybe she was a fatty!

  Coming to a passing halt by a chestnut tree, she scowled. “If you must know, I was a supermodel when I was younger. This is what I looked like minus the Sun Elf hotness.”

  Grrrr. She used to be that hot for real?! That has to be a lie.

  Gabrielle poked her tongue into her cheek and steadily breathed through her nose as they dismounted and charged. Their supports didn’t bother to check for shrunken bombs; and their second-tier support classes had improved Detection Wards which could pierce through soil and foliage far better. They countered many of Witch Doctor’s skills too effectively.

  “Envious?!” Sienna mocked as she sprinted with tantalizing grace.

  “Yup! Who wouldn’t be?” Cutting the curse chain, Gabrielle simply tapped the gold idol with her free hand and swished her wand in a wide arc with her other. Every shrunken bomb exploded with geysering acid. The totem’s lukewarm magic protected her from being burned by the friendly liquid.

  One went off directly between Sienna’s legs. She shrieked in glorious, glorious pain—but just for a half-second before her body dissolved to the bone. Serves her right for putting on such a revealing glamour.

  Gabrielle dusted off her palms and walked away while the totem disintegrated to ash, whistling a merry tune. Time to bring Zaine back to the living world!

  Chapter 36

  Testosterone

  In a drastic change of winds, the dwindling Red Dragons retreated back up Greenwood Spin, every overgrown lizard seemingly coiling and rocketing away in sync.

  Rowan knew their World Boss had given a telepathic order, and he also knew very well to not chase—especially when they had high-ground and home-turf advantages up there. He gave a sweeping order to pick off any stragglers while not chasing beyond the nearest river’s turn by those two charred willows. It was sad to see the greenery blackened and sprinkled with bloodied, frozen dragon corpses, but knowing this world’s ambient magic, it’d regrow in days if not hours.

  A messy estimation tallied corpses to roughly two hundred, no Elder Brutes or even Elders, unfortunately. They’d been parked near the back of their formation out of harm’s way. Lieutenants. Their millions of health points gave it away.

  Oh! What’s that? An Elder Brute corpse?

  His eyes had obviously rebelled against him, for a beefy Edler Brute corpse was lounging right there by the lake. How lucky. Rowan happily skipped on his approach, nine Rime Blink fractals sweeping across his eyes. Dark-ice mana fluxed up his body with each jump, an enjoyable sensation as always.

  But he recoiled before the hulking beast. A nasty fecal stench made his head swim, and it had a very unsightly appearance as though some god had been drunk while designing its body. Those bulging muscles and disfigured facial features were something out of comedy horror movies. Rowan looked away and raised the thing.

  And as he had hoped, its mortar skill was harvestable. Elemental Mortar Shell: hurls a slow-moving devastating blast aligned with the minion’s mana type. Excellent. Rowan’s wand hand swished. Black tendrils shot forth and drained the raised Elder Brute of its essence.

  Elemental Mortar Shell (T9) Augmentation unlocked.

  TAs Rowan was about to go raise the rest, the chatbox madly shook for attention.

  Ambiguous Pain (Raid Chat): I’m back. They just set up a spawnstone two and a half miles off the farmlands. Still thousands of players, though some left.

  Some left—for Gabrielle’s location. And back from Ayla’s ritual, she meant. It cost one of her precious Resurrection Stones, which was actually very pricey on the markets these days. Gabrielle had taken her last Resurrection Draught, reasoned that she would likely need it. That, or she liked to feel secure. The twins could use it on Gabrielle if she were to slip up.

  Another beep from the box.

  Ambiguous Pain: Assassins coming. You’re still a T6 caster boss. I wouldn’t risk it even with your scary hood on.

  Grumbling a curse, Rowan kicked a rock down the shallow incline and about-turned along with Seth and Redwing high above. All those dragon corpses would have to wait; however, allocating the majority of his minion slots for Undead dragons probably wasn’t a good idea. An army of mid-range fighters usually didn’t last long in his gaming experience. An army composition needed to be balanced.

  Eight Rime Blinks at maximum range, eight seconds, were all it took to traverse from the outer slashed tents to the unfinished castle. Five-hundred meters.

  On the dirt, at the far end near some stone blocks, loitered a few of the children and both adults, roasting veges on skewers above a smokeless camp fire. They were all in common and rare-rarity level 120 gear, classless and glamourless. Better than nothing. Everyone starts somewhere, including NPCs. Viola and Skylar, also in generic gear, lounged on a fancy couch, playing cards, by the shield generators, which were close to reactivation. Where did they get a couch from? Rowan shook his head and didn’t bother.

  Oh, they raided the encampment.

  Ambiguous stepped out of the Dark Temple, an ear-to-ear smile squishing her face.

  “What’s with you?”

  She chuckled. “Gabby isn’t going to like this.”

  “What?” He frowned under the hood.

  “Ayla’s light class was suppressing all her dark mana. Now that she’s a DK… well…”

  “Well?”

  “The opposite.”

  “Isn’t that a good thing?”

  She laughed as Ayla followed through the temple’s entrance, and—

  Rowan’s lungs sharply took in a chilly breath. He coughed. Ayla had changed into tank gear, except it wasn’t your usual tank gear in the slightest. She was wearing a scanty bikini and sandals made of gold metal pieces that mixed with her flaming hair in such a luscious way. Not just her hair, but her slender body as well. Those breasts, perfectly sized, called out to Rowan as she approached with an awkward but sexy strut. And her waist! His mouth watered, his eyes devouring that tiny triangle covering her—

  What the flying fuck has gotten into this squirrel? Now she’s a slut?

  “Rowan, my dark lord,” she purred. Her bitchiness was a thing of the past, apparently. “You managed to deliver. I was going to put a shocking collar on you if you failed.”

  He swallowed a hot lump in his throat, his body suddenly humid, his pants tighter. His knuckles cracked. A fist clenched. “You’re supposed to be a fucking tank.” At the edge of his sight, Skylar jolted straight. His hand of cards fell onto the couch.

  Ayla’s nicely-trimmed eyebrow arched. “I am a tank. Didn’t you examine me?”

  Rowan did so to make sure.

  [Player] Ayla Frost (Death Knight): Level 203

  Faction: None

  Guild: None

  Health: 132,100

  Mana: 32,500

  Stamina: 16,440

  Buffs: None

  Through the nose, Rowan inhaled a deep breath to regain composure. Thankfully, her peachy perfume was still weak. “Why are you being a slut?! Put on some armor!”

  Her jaw sagged. “Excuse me?!” Finally, back to bitchy. Her mind wasn’t cursed or something.

  “Look at yourself! How are you going to tank in that?”

  Ambiguous held back manic laughter, and in a spat, he grabbed his wand and blasted Ayla’s exposed belly with a medium-power blast.

  She jolted backward. An automatic back-hand slapped the blast away onto a wall, the ice partially detonating against her wrist. Her reflexes were sharper than before. The ice dispersed in a flare-up of her own dark-ice mana—and her skin was unmarred. Not a single scratch.

  She’s not injured?

  “Arrh. That stings. Wasn’t expecting it.” She eyed her arm, then glared at him. “What the hell? Can’t you hear I’m trying to offer you some thanks? Asshole!”

  Rowan leaped to her with a Rime Blink, then
grabbed her left hand. She jolted again. “How are you not hur—”

  A dense force stopped his fingers a fraction of an inch from her skin. He was grasping an invisible, slippery, and extremely-malleable surface. He squeezed and pressed whatever it was up against her skin, straining his palm greatly. It was like invisible rubber armor. His other palm explored higher up her right arm and down her back. All covered. Ayla stared with bulging eyes, speechless, while his hands journeyed. Her breath hitched as he strayed dangerously close to her breasts. Every inch of her was protected.

  “Rowan!” Ambiguous gasped.

  The two teens on the couch jumped straight, equally aghast. Viola hissed, “Why are you groping her?! Isn’t Gabby your wife?!”

  Rowan ignored them. “What is this?”

  Ayla pointedly said, “My wrist? My body?”

  His eyes rolled. “I’m still quite new to Aeon. What’s this invisible rubber stuff? I haven’t read about it on the forums.”

  Ayla’s face blanked. Her eyelashes blinked cutely. She said in a rush, “Oh, it was a small patch last month that buffed glamours by a lot. There was a big petition. Players, including me, wanted to use their glamours in battle, so this smart barrier takes the place of any gear that was covering skin. It’s just as strong. And your hood-cloak protects much more skin than it should for a hat. Though it has a size limit for obvious reasons.”

  Wow. A buff indeed. But… “Smart barrier?”

  “It detects your combined intentions and will smartly block depending on the situation. Kind of like Mana Shield but smarter.”

  Another system built on AI technology. Incredible. It was far better than anything in other MMOs. “I see,” was all he could say, letting go of her rubbery wrist.

  Ambiguous exasperatedly sighed. “I’m glad that’s cleared up! You don’t know how close I was to sending Gab a PM!”

  “Same,” Ayla said, smirking. “I didn’t think you were that huge of a creep.”

  “It looked like you were about to pin her to the ground!” Viola said, a hand on her chest.

  Rowan shrugged. “Had to make sure it covered her as effectively as regular plate armor.”

  “I’m glad you’re being a good beta tester!” Ambiguous.

  “Why didn’t you check her breasts as well?! Aren’t those important?!” Viola.

  The girls kept on cracking silly remarks, Rowan letting their fun wash over his head. Girls were going to be girls, and Ayla could dress like that if she wanted at her own risk. He wasn’t going to protect her from darkie guys when she was a Death Knight. He likely wouldn’t protect her anyway after everything she had put him through. Annoying squirrel. The darkie guys could have her.

  Darkies like a certain teen. Skylar sure loved the view, breathing heavily. His gaze didn’t leave Ayla’s backside. A leak of drool brimmed over his parted lips and trailed down his pale chin. Rowan guessed the teen was the lucky one here. Was he even a teen? He didn’t look too different from Gregory—an inch or two shorter and slightly lankier. The Dark Humans’ body proportions and facial structures were different than humans, harder to discern. More aesthetic. Sharp and menacing.

  Rowan cut off their chatter with a flick of his wrist. He had to ask, “Ayla. Just tell me why you are in a bikini. You know darkies are not going to be like the light player guys.”

  She cut him a long look. She said in a matter-of-fact voice, “There’s no aggro system in this game, especially in PvP. What better attracts attention from all those young guys in battle than this?”

  That was… a decent line of reasoning. More than decent. Players like Blinte and Jonathan would be paralyzed at the sight. Yeah, she was a true darkie. “Fine. Just don’t complain if guys try to gang up on you or something.”

  She shot him a dangerous yet unreadable look.

  “What?”

  “Nothing.”

  Ambiguous had a similar distant expression plastered on her face, and Viola visibly sucked on her cheek.

  Rowan couldn’t decipher Ayla or them. Girls. Sometimes, guys were so much easier to work with. They were simpler, straight-forward beings. Mostly they were.

  Skylar said something at last, his tone dripping desire, “Hey, Ayla, I also want to check your that barrier is working.” He stepped forward, reaching for her. “I’ll do your breasts and your—”

  “Skylar.” Viola seized his arm and covered his mouth. “Careful. She can one-hit you.”

  Mana churned in Rowan’s stomach. Did he really just vulgarly hit on her in front of everyone?

  Breaking free, Skylar grinned and dashed in front of Ayla, though he wasn’t ballsy enough to act on his words. “It’s fine. She’ll be gentle as long as I am. Or would you prefer a rougher checkup?”

  Sudden tension quivered between their noses. Ayla, less than an inch shorter, stared down Skylar with neutral eyes. The electric tension buzzed louder by the heartbeat. No doubt, she was exercising maximum restraint right now. The kid was on-route for his second raising and conversion at this rate.

  Skylar didn’t stop. He took hold of Ayla’s hand. “I’ll be extra thorough. Let’s go to one of the tents if you prefer some privacy.”

  Rowan was ready to intervene on Skylar’s behalf, but Ambiguous tugged his robe sleeve backward. She was watching like a biologist observing test subjects behind a one-way glass screen. However, Viola was ready to spring into action, on the balls of her feet. The adults and children hadn’t noticed somehow, too busy with their dinner and new classes.

  The chatbox bumped up and down.

  Ambiguous Pain (To Rowan Black): Just watch.

  Rowan black: She’s not going to fuck this NPC kid after him hitting on her in front of everyone.

  Ambiguous Pain: You’ll see.

  Rowan’s brows contorted.

  Rowan Black: She’ll fuck him because she has unsuppressed dark mana now?

  Ambiguous Pain: You’ll see.

  And he did—as Ayla’s chin dipped, her eyes darkening. She brushed away Skylar’s fingers, Rowan at the ready to blink into the way any moment. She said in a low though nonthreatening voice, “I’ll make this easy for you, kid. If you can physically overpower me, then let’s just say there isn’t a thing I could do to stop you from having your way, is there?”

  What? Couldn’t she just log out? Rowan’s mouth opened, but Ambiguous tugged his sleeve again more forcefully. A thudding heartbeat echoed in his skull. It clicked: Ayla was subtly inviting Skylar for something rough. She was really going fuck the NPC!

  Two more shuddering seconds ticked away before Skylar also understood. “Nope. There wouldn’t be a thing you could do.”

  Without pause, Ayla, cheeks rosy, looked at Rowan and mumbled, “Do we have time? How much longer does Gabby need?”

  Ambiguous said, “Not sure about Gabby, but the light players seem to be waiting for something. The assassins pulled back. Maybe they’re also having a campfire party.”

  Maybe. Not in a million years. Trying to remain nonchalant about the sexual situation, Rowan scratched his head through the hood, glanced away, and flicked Gabrielle a message.

  Rowan Black (To Gabby LeMort): How much longer?

  Instant reply. She sure knew how to mentally type quickly.

  Gabby LeMort: Give us thirty minutes before I move the spawnstone. There was a delay. The twins ran into some Priests.

  Damn. “Thirty minutes.”

  Pure, unrestrained lechery broke out across Skylar’s face. His body slightly shook as he yanked Ayla away by the wrist—to presumably a tent.

  Back to the chatbox. Rowan didn’t want to think about what they were going to do.

  Rowan Black: That’s fine. Ayla wants to fuck Viola’s cousin anyway.

  Gabby LeMort: Hehehehehe ^_^ I warned her about dark mana lots of times! Now she’s hooked! But she’ll get used to it and learn some self-control.

  Rowan Black: It makes people sluttier? I don’t feel any different.

  Three and a half seconds blinked by on the dig
ital display the top-right. A paragraph pushed up into the box.

  Gabby LeMort: Yup. Though I think it’s more pronounced for girls. It’s a horrible secret. Dark mana makes you feel more dominant and powerful and confident, and in super duper simplified terms, it also happens that when those areas in the brain are stimulated, so is sexual desire. It’s kinda like testosterone… Maybe the AI intended it for various reasons. And Skylar is quite a cutie, if I recall. Hehehe.

  Ugh. Good know that she found him cute. And testosterone?

  Rowan Black: So dark mana is making Ayla more like a guy?