by Reed James
“The pleasure is mine, Lady Dëshoma,” he said as he strolled at her side, a swagger to his steps. “We shall save the two virgins from sacrifice and prevent this temple from being corrupted.”
And find the cure to Cock-Wilt Plague, thought Maria. Guilt suffused her at how she'd let herself be distracted. She wouldn't. She would be steadfast and faithful going forward. She would find the Tear of Ethileri and restore all the men in her village.
* * / *
Things grew more difficult the deeper into the temple that we ventured.
A blur of fighting. We battled through all manner of nasty monsters that had infiltrated the cave or been put in our path by the Cultist of Rūzem. With Dëshoma's healing magic, Maria and I could be even more aggressive in our attacks, pressing deep into the enemy while she hovered nearby. Her Healing Touch ability restored a good chunk of our HP, keeping us in fighting form while Kulri hung back and unleashed her Arcane Bolt spell upon the enemy.
Dëshoma was an exciting addition to the party. Though she had no sexual traits, her Adorable trait meant I kept smiling at her. She always managed to find a cute way to stand, her face bursting with emotions. Even her archaic speech stirred delight inside of me.
“Beware thine step, Lord Marcus,” or, “Allow mine healing magic to restore thy wounds and make thee battle ready again, Lord Marcus,” made my heart sing a little bit. I couldn't wait for camp.
Her other three skills—Spiritualist, Theologian, and Finesse—helped her in fighting and adventuring. Spiritualist was like Arcanist or Ax Mastery, giving her proficiency in using Divine Damage magic. The other two gave her stat bonuses.
She reached level 7 not long after the battle with the cultists and the rest of us joined her. Along the way, Maria and I both upgraded our shields to Bronze Banded Wooden Shields. They were several planks of wood, shaped into a circle and bound in bronze with a bronze cap in the center. Kulri found a higher level implement, a Gnarled Oak Staff, but it lacked her bonus to arcane damage so though it was three levels stronger, it would cause her to deal less damage.
But it did have a once per day no-cast-time ability, so it vanished into her pouch.
After a fight with a swarm of Large Brown Bats, the rest of us hit level seven. With it came new abilities. Maria and I gained Disarm, an attack that did damage and, well, disarmed the enemy. Kulri got an AoE (Area of Effect) spell called Arcane Burst. It could hit a large group of enemies but for less damage than Arcane Bolt. It proved useful in a fight against a horde of small, mushroom-like monsters rushing through a forest of real stalagmites. Dëshoma had gained Blessed Weapon, a limited enchantment to give a weapon additional divine damage.
The caves we moved through intersected with pieces of the sanctum. It was like the basement had been ripped apart by the appearance of this cave system. Kulri declared it to be, “Suspicious.” She wouldn't speculate more.
The light glowing around Dëshoma and Iris were the only sources we had as we moved through the gloom. After a few more fights, we emerged into a large room with our health relatively intact. The soaring ceilings echoed with our footsteps. We couldn't see far into the gloom.
We came across a strange circle of black mildew after a dozen steps. It spread across the ground and made a crackling sound. The surface of it seemed to ripple. I bent down, my chainmail clinking, and studied it. Little tendrils grew out from it, swelling and throbbing, staining the rock beneath inky dark.
“Eww,” said Maria. “What is that? A monster?”
“The foul ritual that we did earlier interrupt would have caused this foul growth to spread,” Dëshoma explained. “The cultists have been here and left their putrid touch upon the stone. When they make a sacrificial offering of the two virgins they have taken, then the unholy mildew shall multiply at a prodigious rate and consume everything. This will become a den of rot and filth.”
“It hasn't happened yet,” I said. “We'll stop it.”
“Yes,” Maria said.
“I have complete faith in our group, Lord Marcus,” Dëshoma said.
“They left more than the rot here,” the elf said. “Something slinks through the darkness. It oozes.”
“Where?” I asked, drawing my ax. The hairs on the back of my head raised.
“To our left,” Maria said.
“She is correct.” The elf gripped her staff. “It is approaching us.”
On the edges of our light, something large and foul oozed closer to us. The surface of it rippled. The light spilled over it, the texture like tar. It bubbled in spots as it flowed at us. More and more of it entered our vision. It rose larger and larger over our heads. Ten feet. Twelve. Fifteen feet. Its body huge.
“A Vessel of Corruption!” Dëshoma shouted. “Beware its touch!”
Mouths opened across the thing's form, a dozen of them just on the parts I could see. With a gurgling rumble, shit-green bile burst from its mouths and spewed in all directions. Over us. It landed sizzling on my skin and burned at my armor. I snarled as my Hit Points dwindled. Kulri shouted and Dëshoma shrieked. Maria howled beside me, shaking arms as it spilled across her exposed flesh.
“Fucking AoE's!” I growled. “Kulri, retreat back and cover us! We'll hold its threat.”
“It is a creature summoned by the cultists. It is their deadly servant. We must be careful, or it will smother us in its corruption.”
I nodded and growled, not liking the way the sludge sizzled on my weapon, eating at the metal. Equipment damage was a thing in this game. Only camping or special materials, which I didn't have, could restore them. I didn't want to break my weapon. I liked it.
Dazzling light burst from Maria's breastplate. It gleamed like rippling water across the oily monster's surface. She'd be a little harder to hit, which was good because tentacles thrust out of its flesh. A dozen of them rose up in the air and then hurtled down at us.
I raised my shield. The blows landed hard on it, the force driving me back a few inches. Some slime spilled over the rim, scalding my face, dealing a minuscule amount of damage to me as I weathered the assault.
Maria darted forward, shouting her Yell before delivering a Hard Strike to the monster's flesh. Her sword dug into it, leaving a gash that oozed shut. She frowned and gasped, “Did I even hurt it?”
Kulri chanted in the background as I glanced back at Dëshoma. “Is it resistant to physical attacks?”
“I do not know, Lord Marcus,” she said. “I am afraid mine studies did not delve into these esoteric subjects beyond a cursory investigation.”
“Most slimes are, Marcus!” Iris shouted, dancing around me.
“Divine Weapon us, Lady Dëshoma! Maria, hold back until we are blessed. Just go on defense.”
“Yes!” she said and ducked behind her shield. A tentacle swiped over her head, then a second crashed into her.
An arcane bolt burst with sizzling force against the slime's exterior, scalding the creature's exterior and leaving a violet scar behind. It rippled and snarled, flesh convulsing. Tentacles surged out at Maria. I growled and slammed my ax into one, cutting into it, but not severing it.
The attack drew its attention. The thing slammed tentacles at me. I took them on my shield.
“With thy divine energy, empower the weapons of mine companion. Wreath the mundane in the spiritual!” Dëshoma touched me with her bible and my ax burst with the white light of divine energy. It spilled over my face and off the creature's hide. I smiled and darted forward, shield raised to batter aside the next attack.
Another Arcane Bolt struck the creature as my Hard Strike landed and cut a deep rent into the slime. The divine energy attacked its gelatinous flesh and left a deep rent in it. Dëshoma chanted behind me as I drew back and delivered a second Hard Strike and then my last. I unleashed all my damage and drained my TP.
Kulri unleashed her magic while Maria rushed in with her divine-enchanted sword. She slashed it hard, cutting deep furrows into the slime that didn't heal but gaped open like cut jello. Th
e slime gurgled with each one and lashed out with tentacles.
A flurry of attacks slammed down on me. I blocked the first and second, but then they were past my guard. They crashed into my sides. Acidic slime spilled over my chainmail, bleeding through gaps in the armor to sizzle on my flesh beneath. Three, four, and then five attacks hit me.
“Fucking hell!” I snarled, stumbling back from the blows. My Hit Points plummeted while the monster gurgled in triumph.
“Marcus!” Maria shouted and slashed wildly, hacking at the creature.
“Watch out!” I snarled as I felt the slime's attention shift to her. “Guard up!”
A tentacle swept out and struck her legs. She gasped and fell on her back. More slammed down at her. One hit the ground right beside her, missing her thanks to her dazzling breastplate. But the next struck her square, a burst of Hit Points flooding out of her as it crit.
“Dammit!” I snarled, rushing forward.
As I did, Dëshoma's bible planted in my back. A rush of healing energy surged through me, raising my HP to half. I reached Maria and threw my shield up to take the next tentacle. The blow buckled my knees. The monster gurgled loudly.
“Thank you!” she gasped and rolled up to her feet with athletic grace, her breasts jiggling in her bikini breastplate.
Purple energy struck the creature. It gurgled in pain. All its mouths opened.
“AoE! Run!”
I pushed Maria back as the monster vomited bile in all directions. I whirled but not fast enough. The brown-green sludge surged over my legs and attacked my greaves. I stumbled, a quarter of my health vanishing. Maria raced ahead of it and reached safety, standing beside Dëshoma.
“Behind you!” Maria shouted.
I turned in time for the tentacle to strike me across the chest. I grunted and fell hard into the sizzling bile. I groaned, my equipment dissolving fast. Maria charged in and sliced a tentacle in half as it hurtled down for me.
Dëshoma stood over me and placed her bible on my head. Healing energy flooded into me. I pushed to my feet and charged back into battle. We had to kill this thing. How much Hit Points did it have?
“My pool of mana is dwindling, Marcus!” Kulri shouted before launching into another chant.
“Just keep at it!” I growled and slammed my glowing ax into the monster.
The tentacles surged at Maria and me. We blocked and took hits. We hacked and slashed while Dëshoma moved behind us, delivering Healing Touch when she could, but she was burning through her MP, too.
“Damn, damn, damn!” I shouted, hacking, slashing, cutting into the thing. Maria roared beside me, fighting with ferocity, her armor pitted and corroded, burns splashed across her skin. Pain wreathed every bit of me.
I felt alive. Despite the danger, it fed this wild exhilaration in me. This was far, far more deadly than my old life and I wouldn't give it up. Fighting evil beside three beautiful women. I would kill this monster.
“Piece of shit!” I spat. “Yeah, that's what you are! Just shat out by some hoary god! I'll wipe you off my boot like you were dog crap!”
The monster gurgled. Another vomit of bile approached. My HP was low. “Dëshoma, I need a heal!”
“I'm drained,” she shouted and rushed up, smacking her bible into the monster.
It did nothing.
“Get back!” Maria shouted.
“No! It has to be almost dead!” I slammed my ax into it as it gurgled. The blood-red metal gleamed. It struck deep, divine light spilling into the monster as it cut through its gelatinous hide.
The rents. The cut gel. All the damage across its surface hit a critical point. The entire thing let out a gurgle and then it deflated. It spilled out across the floor, spilling over our boots in a vast tide of goopy black mixed with streaks of puke-green. Steam rose around us. In its center, a black gem appeared.
“A night crystal,” Kulri said. “Valuable. It must be the focus for the summon.”
“Least we got some loot out it,” I panted, focusing on my party members. Maria was almost as low on HP as me while Kulri had taken no damage. Dëshoma was hurt in the initial vomit but still had half of her health.
We were out of TP and MP.
“Damn, I can't believe we didn't level up off that.”
“I feel on the cusp of gaining another level, Lord Marcus,” Dëshoma said.
“Pretty close myself to 8,” I panted. I looked around. “I suppose we better camp. We're not able to take on much.”
Chapter Fifteen: Camping with the Party
We made camp at the far end of the room from the Vessel of Corruption. The stench didn't reach this far. With the vast gloom, you could pretend we hadn't been burned and scalded by its vomit or stung by the caustic slime formed into tentacles.
We started a fire, the flames roasting as we set our bedrolls around it. Dëshoma volunteered for cooking. The nun looked regal as she put out another chicken for dinner. I wondered if there was only one food or if we'd unlock more as we progressed.
There was the potential for me to gain a cook for my camp if I choose that daughter for my reward.
I stripped out of my armor and sat naked and unconcerned, the firelight dancing over my muscular body. The others stayed clothed though. My cock throbbed with need. I found myself studying the women. Dëshoma knelt on the far side of the fire while Kulri settled to my left, sitting cross-legged, her boots off, her fishnet stockings clinging to her shapely thighs and calves. Maria sat across from her, to my right, her boots also doffed but her breastplate bikini and chainmail loincloth covering her.
She didn't look at me, but her cheeks were pink. Excited.
“If you wish to share coitus as we wait for supper to cook, then merely command,” Kulri spoke, her voice direct as she glanced at me. “I am your party member.”
I smiled, remembering that she was a masochist. An idea filled my mind. I bet she'd like it hard up the ass. “Get over here and suck my cock, elf.”
Her ears twitched at that word.
“Elf?” asked Maria. “That's not her name, Marcus.”
“I'll call her what I please,” I said, glancing at Maria. She was a submissive but not a masochist. She didn't crave humiliation and pain, but domination and security. “And the elf is going to suck my cock and love it. Right?”
“Yes, Marcus Aurelius,” Kulri said. I didn't even have to glance at her. I kept staring at Maria as the elf disrobed.
* * / *
Kulrigiizhai didn't understand why being addressed simply as “elf” started an itch between her thighs. She certainly hadn't felt any sexual desire when she offered to share coitus with the human warrior. She was just used to performing that function.
It wasn't as degrading as “Worm” or “Sow,” like she'd been called in the past. And yet, in some ways, it seemed more humiliating to address her as what she was. Elf. As though that alone was something disgusting. The tips of her long ears quivered as she began unlacing her purple robes.
He didn't even look at her. The itch increased. Her nether juices began flowing. It was the second time that had happened in her life. The last time was when he'd been licking at her, stirring her up. This time, he provided no stimulation. Her body remembered what he could deliver to her even as he ignored her and stared at the human female.
Kulrigiizhai slipped the robe down her slender arms, her large breasts coming into view. They were terribly rare for an elf. Dëshoma had more the figure Kulrigiizhai's species possessed. The torment her large mammaries had given her sparked dangerous desires in her.
Bloody, violent, black desires. But not for Marcus. He just called her “elf.”
“Hurry up, elf,” Marcus said. “My cock won't suck itself.”
“Marcus!” Maria gasped.
The human male just grinned, his cheeks shadowed by facial hair. Elven men lacked it. They could sometimes be mistaken for a woman. Delicate and ephemeral. Not him. He was solid. Not just his cock, but his whole muscular physique. Kulrigiizhai worked fa
ster, slipping out of her robes as she shifted with grace on her knees. Her little panties drank in her juices. She smelled her sweet musk bleeding through the cloth.
“You want to suck my cock, Maria?” Marcus asked. “If she's too slow, you can take her place.”
“I'm fine,” Maria said and cast her gaze from him to the fire.
Why do you lie? Kulrigiizhai thought. The female's desire for Marcus was painted on her emotional face.
Kulrigiizhai stood up with grace and slipped her panties off, sliding over the garter straps that held up her thigh-high stockings. She knew better than to let anything interfere in disrobing when ordered to.
“Are you okay with this, Lady Kulrigiizhai?” Dëshoma asked, her voice quiet.
“This elf is,” Kulrigiizhai said, keeping the ache out of her voice. Not only was she okay with it, but she was also eager for it.
A strange sensation for the elf. Shocking. Intriguing. Who are you, Marcus Aurelius?
She knelt down before him, her ass pointed at the fire. It warmed across her butt-cheeks and kissed the folds of her hairless pussy. Her juices spilled out faster, trickling down to her thigh-high stockings without any panties to contain them. Her ears twitched as she grabbed his cock. Thick and hard. He had filled her pussy today.
“That's it, elf,” he said. “Lick it nice and slow. Let me feel you worshiping my cock.”
“Yes, Marcus Aurelius,” she said, then paused. “Is there a different address you require of this elf?”
He smiled. “I'm not sure you're worthy of calling me anything special, elf. You're not in my harem, are you?”
A shiver ran through her. Harem... Shardhunters could forge a mystical connection with others. He looked like the type of man who hungered for a harem. A large one. Did he have any in his? Her hips wiggled.
“If you command me to join your harem, I would have to submit. You are my party leader.” She hesitated. “If you would allow me to continue my quest.”
