The next round with Tanner was even better. It had none of the weird awkwardness of the first. We were more comfortable with each other, and some of the fierce need had been burned off, so we took things slower, exploring our bodies. Or more accurately, I explored Tanner's body. She was still very shy, but seemed to enjoy everything I did to her.

This was all probably what made her attitude when we left the bedroom so frustrating. I still wanted to touch her, have my arm around her, or at least hold her hand. But she wanted nothing to do with that, and she kept her distance from me as we walked down the hall, following the voices of our friends to the guard room.

My thoughts were maelstrom. I had all these feeling for her, but felt angry she wouldn't let me show them. I also felt a little weirded out that technically just had sex with a guy called Tanner. But something inside me kept screaming with a fist bump, "I had sex!" Yes, sad to say I was still a virgin back in my real life. And I did feel a bit guilty telling Tanner she was the best ever, when she was the only ever. But honestly, it was better than my wildest fantasies. Sex with her made me want to never leave Feronia. If only I could stay her with her forever.

Of course, considering my situation back in the non-virtual world, wanting to stay in Feronia was inevitable. I knew from the beginning that this magic realm where technology erased my boundaries was going to be seductive. To walk on my own two feet and to feel sensation below my waist was absolutely incredible. To have a boner again and to actually have sex. ("I had sex!") Why would I ever want to go back? Why would I want to bound up in that chair again and be they guy who everyone pitied. Sure Crystal and Matt were great friends who never let me feel left out, bringing me to bars and concerts, virtual games. But it was almost in the fact that they always made certain I was included which demonstrated how much they pitied me, their sad friend would never been the same since senior year and the car accident. 

I tried desperately hard to forget that I was almost three weeks into my stay here. Almost one full day. Almost halfway over.

We entered the guard room and only Aaron and Ellie weren't there yet. When Mack saw us, she started clapping. "Congratulations you two! Rick, how was it, breaking your little doe in?" She laughed at our embarrassment, then she went up to Tanner and spoke in a confidential tone that was undercut by her overly loud volume. "Seriously, I'm curious, how was he?"

Tanner awkwardly stammered, "I could ask you—that is, I mean ... how was your ... um ... how did you enjoy you're hand."

"Oh, burn," she said sarcastically. "But since you asked, unlike the rest of you pervs, I spent my time more productively. That pile over their is all the loot worth anything."

"Anything we can use," I asked desperate to keep things from going back to the topic of sex.

Sulin said, "All too small. The little ones might be able to use some of it. Someone should really go get them. We ought to start clearing out the next area before we need to rest again."

But before anyone could do anything, Aaron and Ellie entered. Both looked a bit dazed and sex drunk. They were holding hands and pressing against each other. It made me rather envious. They searched through the treasure, and Aaron took another throwing knife and gave Ellie a nose ring with a Life Force bonus. The rest went in our inventories.

Tanner said, "Um, before we get going, I think I should tell everyone something."

Mack sat back down and leaned forward. "Oooh! Spill it girlfriend. And don't skimp on any of the sticky details."

Flustered, Tanner continued, "I just reached level 5, and it comes with a minor evolution." There was a murmur of confusion, and she explained, "A few of my species modifiers and restrictions have advanced, and I was given a choice to change a level 1 species skill to something else. It seems that these evolutions are in place to keep things in step with our advancing abilities, since, a two point modifier is a big deal at level 1, but starts to become meaningless by level 5. So, we get this small bump at level 5, and a bigger one at level 10."

It was a little depressing that my girlfriend was level 5 and I was still at 3. (Wait. Was she my girlfriend?) But it also reminded me of my own little advancement with the unlocking of my special skill. My very embarrassing special skill. It was something the system called: Magic Wand. And gave me a magic boost when a had a boner. I couldn't imagine ever—and I mean ever—running through a battle with a hard-on. So, it was a fairly useless skill.

"Huh," Aaron said to Tanner's news. "That's kind of cool, I guess. And your horns look a little longer too."

"They do!" Her hands went to them. They were taller with a few more branches sprouting off. Her runes had also expanded. They now ran down her arms to her wrists and curled over her shoulder onto her back.

Mack said, "Oh, I thought that was just because she was so filled with jizz, her antlers were getting pushed out."

Crystal sighed. "And on that note, lets get out of here."

It was Ellie of all people who asked us, "What the hell were you two doing in there to level up?"

Tanner said curtly, "Never you mind." But I was curious too.

* * *

We rode the elevator up to the next doorway. We were fully healed and fully stocked on Mystic Energy so we felt pretty confident. Our healers and ranged attackers and stayed behind on the circular platform. The attackers positioned themselves on the edges to target the door. Aaron when out and checked it for traps and declared it clear. Crystal went to it with Mack backing her up. She opened it and boggles started pouring out as though some unseen pressure was pushing them at us. 

Five of them drove Crystal back. She fought with the one in the lead slashing her ax in wide brutal arcs. Aaron, Sulin, and Tanner fired on the other boggles. I stood there with healing spells at the ready, feeling totally useless, we weren't close enough together to cast Spirit Shield, I had a new offensive spell, Smite, but it required physical contact. So, I waited.

Crystal finally killed the first one and cast it down to the floor of the tall tower, then she got to work on the next. You could tell Mack was itching to get in on the fight, but was completely closed out by the narrowness of the bridge. The boggle Tanner had been targeting dropped as did the one Aaron and Sulin had been going for. Aaron was out of throwing knives. Ellie cast a will-o-the-wisp next to the only unharmed boggle. It leaped off the bridge to grab for it and died when it landed forty-five feet below. Unfortunately, the ball of light attracted two more boggles from the doorway, and these didn't leap to their deaths. With the ranged attacks dwindling for lack of ammo, this was going to be a slow process of Crystal hack and slashing his way back to the door.

Mack yelled to her, "Bend over."

Crystal grunted, "Fuck no. I'm not sticking my as out for you."

"Don't flatter yourself. Just get your head out of my way."

On her next slash of the ax, she lowered her shoulders and head, perhaps worried what was about to come at her. Mack took a running leap and used Crystal's back as leverage to push herself up. Her lithe body did a momentary headstand, then launched into a aerial somersault. She landed one foot on the first boggle's head and used it to propel herself over the other two. She landed on the bridge facing us and drove her sword into the nearest boggle's back. Between the two of them and Sulin's remaining arrows, they cleared they bridge.

Mack crept up to the doorway. Standing to the side of it with only one foot on the bridge, she peered in. A variety of darts, bolts and arrows flew out at her. Hanging their she screamed in pain, then called out to us. "Like the entry room on the last floor only more so. Big as gymnasium with ten boggies on the floor and seven on the gallery. They seem to be hunkered down and waiting for us to come to them. Any got any ideas on how to approach this?"

In the end, we staged a risky plan, but there weren't many other than a rush attack or abandoning the floor altogether. Ellie, Sulin, and Tanner were assigned to take out the one's on the balcony, while the rest of us would attack the main force.

Aaron said, "Sorry, Tanner, but I'm going to need you to get naked for this one."

Mack inserted, "That's Rick's line."

Tanner took it gracefully. She polished off of our last Mysticism potion to power back up, put on the ring, and disrobed. As she passed me, she leaned in giving me a hug, her breasts rubbing against my arm and back. It took all my self-control not to melt into her embrace.

She slipped into the room first and riled things up, then the rest of us charged in. I cast the shield spell once we were through, and started swinging my shillelagh at the nearest foe. 

It was a long and bitter battle. And perhaps the length was the only thing that saved as because just when I found my magic depleted at our parties wounds becoming critical, I noticed Tanner's ring had stopped working and she'd reappeared. She was running about naked casting spells, her body covered in a sheen of sweat. The runes on her arms almost glowed with each spell. She was so absorbed in the fight, all of her self-consciousness had disappeared. She looked brazen and fierce. And it was right as I was noticing the gentle curve of her butt while she posed, legs apart, one arm raised in front of her, that my new special skill kicked in. An additional well of Mystic Energy opened for me and I cast a replacement shield spell and Smote the boggle jabbing me with his spear.

When it was over, we decided to take a two hour rest. It was enough time to regenerate the Mystic Energy and heal a some of our wounds. Many of us were still hurt even after the recovery time, and we were down to just four healing potions. We gave them to our front-line fighters and those who were the most vulnerable. But several of us, including myself, were going into the fight with too low a Life Force not to be worried.

I'd leveled up, so I took a quick look at my character sheet. And used my free skill bump on Spirit Guide since it was the source of the spells I was relying on the most.

 

Aaron did their scouting and reported back that the only door led to a type of throne room. Seven boggles in all. Six level 5 High Guards all armed with pikes and the Grand Duchess, level 6. They knew we were here, and the guards were surrounding and protecting the duchess.

We deduced the royal boggle would likely be using magic, so Tanner, Aaron, and Sulin, would try and keep her busy. Crystal, Mack, and Josh would tackle the guards with Ellie providing distractions. I was to lend support and keep the healing spells flowing. Was it wrong I felt sidelined again, even though I was in no state to face anyone head on?

This time Tanner didn't even have to be asked. She became invisible and slipped out of her clothes like it was an old habit. My special skill began to activate again.

We entered. The guard boggles looked big and burly compared to many of the ones we'd faced. The Grand Duchess stood on a dais by an ornately carved chair, a jeweled tiara on her head and pale blue-gray dress that barely covered anything. It was a strange design that looked like a low-cut bra with two sheets of fabric attached, one in front and one in back. They reached mid-thigh, and the wide slits revealed her thighs and hips. It had a diamond-shaped cutout in front exposing most of her belly, and the whole thing was trimmed with delicate lace and a border of embroidered flowers.

She addressed us, stopping our attack short. So far, this was the first of these boggles to speak in an understandable language.

"You will surrender," she said. Her voice rang in my ears but it wasn't unpleasant. It was the slow drone of a bee buzz and put me in mind of a hot afternoon in the sun. "Throw down your arms and become our slaves. Do this, and I promise, we will not work you too hard in the tunnels, and if you behave, we might even let our warriors use you as whores."

This all sounded reasonable. It sure beat entering a battle we'd probably use. Things would be much better for us if we did as she said. I saw some of the others nodding in agreement. But not everyone.

Aaron screamed, "It's some kind of a spell!" Then, they launched a throwing knife at our new master. It bounced of a barrier before it reached her, but a zap of electricity swirled around and struck her, and suddenly the hold on my mind slipped and being these dog-creatures' sex-slave seemed like a truly terrible idea.

Crystal shook here head as though clearing it and yelled, "Die!" She charged into the fray with more fury than I'd ever seen before.  I almost didn't get the shield up before she launched herself into the wall of guards.

Missile attacks were of no use on the duchess, and Aaron and Sulin quickly moved off to where they could do more good. This left Tanner fighting her alone. She was powerful, but this enemy was too much for her to tackle alone. The duchess was flinging spells left and right, even with her invisibility, Tanner couldn't avoid all of them.

I used a heal spell on myself, and headed for the dais. I slammed my shillelagh into a guard getting the better of Josh as I passed. I scored a critical, and Josh pushed the advantage while I kept moving forward. I cast more healing spells as I passed the others to help them out where I could. But I kept my last ten points in reserve. 

The duchess saw me coming and directed one of her spells at me. It felt as though a boulder slammed into my chest. Two more stuck me before I reached her. I swung my staff at her head, but it had hardly any effect. A vine quickly grew up behind her and wrapped itself around her throat. Distracted, she poured some spell into the plant killing it. I took the opportunity to steal one of Tanner's moves and grabbed the duchess with both hands, casting two Smote spells simultaneously. She winced in pain, but recovered and her next spell froze me like a statue.

"Now, you die," she said, and cast her phantom stone spell at me. I was only at half health and at such close range, the blast nearly dropped me to zero. She could probably slap me and that would be the end of my Feronia journey.

But a voice hissed, "Bitch!" And all of the of duchess's fur went on end. She began to fizzle and pop, and the smell of burning hair filled the air. The sorceress dropped down dead.

Then, I could move again, and a tender and very naked body was filling my arms as she took my in a tight hug.

There were still a few guards to mop up, and I'd gained a bit of Mystic Energy back due to my *erm* Magic Wand. So, I cast a fresh shield before healing myself back from the brink of death. I used the last of my magic to heal Tanner, who was nearly as badly injured as I had been. As my magic flowed into her, her lips met mine.

When the last guard fell. A system notice went up.

We'd done it! We'd finally gotten through this hellhole of a dungeon.

"Will you two get a room," Mack said. And I noticed that as I held her in my arms, Tanner had become visible again.

For once, I actually thought Mack had a pretty good idea.