by David Burke
Complaining started but Liam stepped up and yelled, “Quiet!”
“We will do our best to provide food and shelter to everyone for the next 3 days. That is how long you have to get used to our new life here. After that, if you don’t go into the dungeon you don’t get anything from the council. Other people are always able to give you stuff, but that is up to their generosity.”
One girl called out at this point, “Who are you to decide this? You can’t condemn people to death.”
Liam moved to step up again, but Jasmine waved him off. “We are the council that you voted for. If enough people petition we can have another vote, but otherwise we are your leaders.” She looked on waiting for any more dissension but either everyone was in agreement or they simply weren’t willing to challenge her publicly. “This morning, Mia and Kenzie will be going around and creating lists of people who are willing to enter the dungeon. We will record your level and relevant stats and skills. Meanwhile, Huong and I will be going around and meeting with anyone who wants to be a team leader. Team leaders will…”
At that moment, despite Jay trying to grab her, Amelia stepped forward and interrupted Jasmine. “I’m sorry but Huong won’t be able to help with that because she is going to be in the dungeon training with Team Jay.” As she finished she looked from Huong to Jay.
“What? Huong is part of the council…” Jasmine started before Huong interrupted her this time.
“Is it true, Jay? Do you want me on your team?”
Jay realized then what Amelia had been doing. The girl was brilliant if only in a wicked, manipulative sense. “Yes, Huong, I would very much like you to be on our team, with me and Amelia of course.”
The slender girl frowned a bit at the last part but must have decided to not let it bring her down. “Yes, the answer is yes.”
“Wait, Jay, you haven't even interviewed to be a team leader. How do you know what the responsibilities will be or what you will have to do for the rest of us?” Jasmine protested.
“Please, let’s not do this now. I’m going back into the dungeon. I agree with you that we need to add some people to our team. For now there can only be 4 people on a team so we will only have one more spot.”
No sooner had Jay finished speaking than at least a dozen voices called out, “Take me.” Jay chalked it up to the tension of the moment but the choice of words seemed to be too much of a double entendre.
Suddenly a wave of calmness rushed over everyone. “Calm down. I will talk to Jay and help find someone appropriate for the fourth on their team, but this is a good opportunity for us to talk about the second-biggest problem that we have.”
Jasmine didn’t have to raise her voice; the simple draw of her power turned all eyes upon her. “You all know about what is in the water. In fact, I’m pretty sure that many of you have talked about it. I’m just as sure though that the effect is cumulative and building. There have already been half a dozen fights about who gets to stay in which guy's bungalow. So far we only have a couple bruises and chipped nails but eventually this could get out of hand. This is serious and I consider it to be almost equally important as the need to go into the dungeon. We need those who might have abilities that could offset this to start trying as well as those with research abilities to dig into this.”
That definitely opened a whole big can of worms as almost all of the girls around Jay started talking at once. He was hard pressed to think that girls were fighting over being with him, aphrodisiac or not; but the more he watched the conversation the more obvious it became. Fortunately, once again after allowing the pot to stir, Jasmine raised her voice again, “As we all realize, it isn’t the fault of Jay or Liam and while I don’t see either of them complaining about being sought after by beautiful women, I urge all of you to think through what you are doing. Be open about what you want and maybe working solutions can be reached until a more long-term fix can be arrived at.”
Jay could only wonder if she had just told the girls to proposition him and Liam. Oh well, there could be worse fates, probably. Still he was anxious to get the day underway and still needed to find a fourth member for their squad. “So you said there were three problems that we needed to discuss. What is the last one?”
“Thank you for asking, Jay,” Jasmine responded. God his chest puffed out and his cock got hard just from the attention she gave to him. He knew she was influencing him but in that moment he would be damned if he cared. “I was hoping that some of you who are not yet ready to go hunting in the dungeon would be willing to start building shelters for more of us to stay in. Obviously, we can’t all fit in the six bungalows.”
That got more discussion out of everyone but eventually Jasmine said, “If you are willing to work on that project then find Liam this morning. He will help organize people but only for the next couple of hours because after that he is going to be leading a dungeon team. Anyway, that is all. Everyone can go clean out the bungalows before the time limit. We don’t want to risk losing all of our things and having to buy supplies again. Then eat and either wait for Mia and Kenzie or find me or Liam depending on what you are interested in doing.”
As soon as everyone was dismissed a few girls, one after another started to come over towards where Jay was discussing things with Amelia and Huong. In nothing flat there were nearly a dozen of them all clamoring for the final spot on their team. It didn’t take long until it started to get out of hand.
A pretty, tall brunette said, “I’m sure that I can make it worth your while to take me… with you.”
Another girl snapped at her, “Oh don’t be so obvious, you whore.”
A third said, “What’s the matter with stating what you're willing to do for the spot. I hope that being on Team Jay means getting to be ON Jay.”
Jay was at a loss for words. He was torn between being the little boy staring through the window at the candy shop and being downright nervous about what would happen. Amelia and Huong seemed to work in perfect unison though to get all of the girls away. Jay could only laugh after how much they had been at each other's throats before that moment.
“Now, now. We all need to eat some breakfast and pack up our gear. You don’t want to bother Jay till he eats do you?” Huong said as she started turning away the girls.
When those who could be easily dissuaded by gentle prodding left, Amelia turned up the heat. “You all need to know that this is going to be a vote. It isn’t just Jay you have to impress and this isn’t just trying out for a spot for a day, this is trying out to become a full part of the team, but you only get on the team if Huong and I vote for you, since we can outvote Jay.”
When it was down to two girls, who seemed willing to persist through all of the pushing and yelling, Huong stepped out of her character and raised her voice. The complete shift seemed to shock both of them and they finally left as she yelled, “Don’t come back unless you are ready to tell us what you have to offer, exactly.”
Finally alone, Jay asked Huong, “So do you really want to join our team?”
She looked from Jay to Amelia and back to Jay. “Well yes, if you will have me. I mean if well, you know what I mean but she has to be okay with it too.”
Amelia snapped back, “Don’t worry I already know. Jay told me. We don’t have secrets. That is part of this. If you join us then you really join us. You can still be on the council, but you are part of this team first. This team is your family. We have to be able to trust each other with our lives. So there can’t be any doubt. No split loyalties. Can you do that, plant girl?”
Seeing the obvious intimidation on her face, Jay tried to make it a bit easier for her. “Amelia is right, that is the only way that this works. We aren’t asking you not to help everyone else, but we are asking you to put this team ahead of everyone else. We look out for what is good for us. You know me or you are getting to know me though. Have I ever done anything to hurt the people here?”
“No, actually I guess other than pissing Jasmine off a couple of ti
mes, everything you do seems to be for us. If it weren’t for you, half of the rest of us would have been dead the second night or maybe last night when we didn’t have enough credits to buy shelter. So if you will have me then you can count me in.”
“You don’t mind spying on the council then?” Amelia asked.
“We aren’t asking her to spy on them,” Jay said back.
“Well we sorta are. If she hears things that affect this group she has to be willing to bring that information to us. Are you willing to do that- this isn’t negotiable,” Amelia said.
“I won’t lie to them, but I also will keep your secrets and if there are any council decisions which will negatively affect the team I will let you know. Is that good enough?” Huong asked a hint of uncertainty in her voice.
“For now. I can tell you though that once we start fighting together, we will learn very quickly how well we work together. Amelia always has my back and I can trust her to be there when I need her.”
Amelia grinned wickedly as she said, “That’s right. I am always there taking care of Jay.”
“Does that mean that if I’m on the team that we can repeat last night?”
Simultaneously Jay said, “Hell yes” and Amelia said, “I get first dibs.”
Huong just smiled and said, “I’m all packed up, so should we talk about our abilities and figure out who we need for a final member?”
Just as she said that the two hours after sunrise mark was hit. The air all around them shimmered and within less than a second, everyone who had survived the dungeon the day before along with Jasmine all found themselves lying on the ground undergoing another awakening.
Chapter 31 - Three’s a Crowd but Four is Just Fun
This awakening went far more smoothly for Jay. He barely remembered it and there was no freaky sex dreams or weird voices speaking to him. The one thing that stuck out to him was that as soon as he woke up he felt like his body had been rearranged. Like the furniture was out of place so to speak and he didn’t quite know how to move it all. That and his head was throbbing with a sort of echo that wasn’t there.
He sat up and said, “Status.”
Warning: Multi-level awakenings while more common at lower levels remain dangerous and demonstrate that your actions have likely created sub-optimal risk to reward balance.
Congratulations, you have crossed the first threshold. Thresholds represent a greater level of transition. New options are now available to you at the store.
M1789
Level: 6 (increased from 4 as part of the consequence of awakening)
Awareness: 12
Precognition: 8 - 13%
Sensual Projection: 3 - 36%
Life Sense: 4 - 11%
Iron Will: 5 - 49%
Telepathy: 1 - 0%
Durability: 8
Hardened Body: 6 - 77%
Enhanced Strength: 4 - 81%
Kinesis: 10
Kinetic Bolt: 4 - 4%
Accelerate: 3 - 91%
Kinetic Dampening: 4 - 12%
Metabolism: 8
Regeneration: 7 - 14%
Enhanced Speed: 4 - 23%
Formation: 25
Body Modification: 4 - 0%
Psionic Construct: 1 - 0%
Temporal Manipulation: 25 - 0% LOCKED
Psi Pts: 470
Stamina: 160
So just when he thought he had the system figured out he got big jumps in almost everything. Well other than Formation. He realized he had been ignoring that category and that was a stupid decision. It was important that he learn basic survival but he also needed to not ignore a tool that might help him just because it didn’t feel natural to him.
After he dropped the status page he looked around. The sun had moved indicating that a good thirty minutes had passed. Most of the people were standing around in small clusters talking and it looked like everyone was up other than Jasmine, Amelia, and himself. Then he heard Huong say, “I’m glad you woke up.”
“How long was I out for?”
“I don’t know entirely because I passed out. I had an awakening too. Now, I’m level 2,” the Vietnamese girl answered.
“Oh, did everyone have an awakening?”
“No only those that went into the dungeon and Jasmine. Everyone has woken up but the three of you,” she answered as she waved her hand and pointed out Jasmine and Amelia. “Do you know why you were out longer than the rest of us?”
Jay said, “We will talk about that as a team in a bit, okay?”
Huong’s face became flushed. “Oh yeah. I didn’t think about that.”
Both the other girls started to wake up at that time and so saved Jay from having to explain anything else. It was just as well, because with Huong leaning over him, he found it hard to focus. Her toned body made his mind go to other places and sensations from the prior evening flashed through his mind.
After helping Amelia up, the three of them finally made it a short distance away from everyone else. They discussed the awakening and learned that Amelia had gained two levels while Jasmine had gained one. They were both shocked to see how much Jay’s status had gone up and Amelia was immediately suspicious of his new ability of Telepathy.
“So, can you read my mind now?” she asked in an accusatory tone.
“No, thankfully. I have enough trouble keeping my own thoughts straight. That isn’t what telepathy means anyway.”
“I thought that’s what it meant,” Huong said as Amelia nodded along.
“Not at all. You just haven’t read enough real sci-fi.”
Amelia almost snorted as she laughed. “As if…”
Jay cut her off. “Look, telepathy just means mind to mind communication.” He then closed his eyes and scrunched up his face as he tried to concentrate. A moment later both of the girls jumped as they heard “Boo” in their heads. “So I will take your reaction to mean you heard that.”
“Don’t do that or at least without warning me first,” Amelia said while scowling.
“Sorry, I was just trying it out. Now can you try to think something and I will try to hear it?”
Both girls responded by staring at him and getting a serious look on their faces. Jay listened. He pushed PSI into the skill and still couldn’t hear so much as crickets chirping in his head. In fact he found that the more he focused on telepathy the less he was able to hear the ambient sounds around them.
“Anything?” Huong asked.
“Not a peep,” Jay replied.
“So, you can shout in our heads but we can’t do the same to you? This isn’t fair,” Amelia said as she ground her foot, making her look like a petulant child.
“I will only do it in case of an emergency or if you know ahead of time, but think about it. This could be a good thing. Silent communication creates more options.”
“Point taken,” Amelia said.
After they got past the telepathy issue, they discussed plans for the day. Jay and Amelia went over how their training had gone the day before. They discussed which skills they all needed to work on and how they might incorporate their training together.
Then the issue of a 4th for their group came up. They reasoned that Jay was the muscle, Amelia the stealth, and Huong could heal and help control the environment. So the most important then was killing stuff faster. With that in mind all three of them went out and talked to various candidates who were willing to enter the dungeon.
Jay found that his time was mostly wasted as he got flirted with a lot. He wasn’t one to complain about flashes of cleavage or shapely legs put on display but it got a little old when he wasn’t able to have a regular conversation with the women. Eventually he gave up on finding anyone and decided that he would go to the terminal and check out the new store options that were supposed to be available now.
He found that there were more options in almost every category, more food and personal comfort items. Additional weapons ranging from long swords to shurikens were available. The most shocking change thou
gh was under housing options. Jay now found that he had the option of buying a one-bedroom home for the bargain basement price of 20,000 credits. It was almost unthinkable to him that he would be able to save up that many credits with all their needs but it was still interesting that such an option would exist. As it was now he had just barely over 4,000 credits with the purchases he had made the night before.
When he finally met back up with Amelia and Huong he found the two arguing once again.
“She would be the perfect choice. She can augment any of our abilities and improve everything about us. It isn’t her fault that you lack the imagination to see what she can do,” Huong said.
“Daphne doesn’t bring anything to the team that we don’t already have, whereas Jessie can control animals. If she can master that skill then she will be able to freeze the creatures and killing them will be nothing,” Amelia retorted.
Jay just shook his head as the two of them went back and forth about the two contenders. Worse yet, the two girls that they were talking about were forced to stand there and listen. He could see the logical points that both of them were making but ended up staring at the girls more than thinking about their abilities. Daphne was a tall redhead, clearly the most buxom of them all with curvy hips. He could just imagine what a ride she would be but that made him feel guilty for thinking like that. Not guilty enough not to check out Jessie though. Jessie had her hair cut short and it was dyed blue. He wondered what color her hair would be once the dye grew out. She had a smile that just wouldn’t stop and immediately endeared her to him.
It was then that he realized that sitting still now was not a good idea. Whatever was in the water was starting to affect him and he was not going to make a rational choice. He started to speak up but Meikiyo walked up and interrupted both Jay and the argument. “So why are you not considering me? I have the best ability and I have been practicing it.”
Both Huong and Amelia looked at her shocked before Huong said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t even consider you after the attack and then the way that you have been keeping to yourself.”
