When all of the fools had gone to sleep, I stopped my fake snoring, and left the camp.

It weren't hard to find my way back. But it was dark. I got no lantern or magic or something else to make the light. So I had to stumble in the dark.

I got me across the bridge and went to the stones and went to the bad-ass statue. The metal goddess stood there with her swords and horns.

Yeah! I could see her on a concert shirt. Hot damn! It made me want to rub myself.

I'd been doing that a lot lately. The magic lady in my head said I should. Said it would be bad if I didn't. But it was okay. I liked doing it.

I almost forgot why I had come here. I needed to get this stupid restriction off of me. It made thing harder and the losers I was with were beating me and getting higher levels and I didn't like that.

I stared at the statue not sure what to do. But then I remembered the others and that stupid wood statue and how they'd put blood into the bowl and then they got all changed and acted strangely.

I had no knife and jumped up screaming, full of anger and something else like anger because I couldn't do what I wanted to. 

But then I notice the little lady with the horns had knives. I grabbed one to see if it was sharp and my hand started bleeding. I scream again because it hurts. But I'm not stupid and I let it pour into her little cup.

I wait but she don't do nothing and my hand still hurts.

Suddenly someone says, "What the fuck are you supposed to be?"

I turn around and its the little lady but only she's big now. And she isn't metal no more but human-like except she has four arms and horns. But she has no clothes and her boobies are out and it makes me laugh.

"One hundred years I've waited and you're the one that comes and offers themselves to me? Bloody hell! I think I'll go back to the Black Realm and wait another hundred years."

"No, don't do that lady. Let me worship you and give me cool powers and stuff."

She walks around me looking at me all over. On her face is a frown.

"Ugh! You're really not much to work with, but I've always bragged I like a challenge." Then she said in a low voice, "I just never expected this much of a challenge."

She continued to walk around me, then said, "Fine. You may worship me. And for you're devotion here ..." She leaned down to where I knelt and I thought she was gonna kiss me but instead she bit my neck and it hurt real bad.

Then the magic lady in my head said:

 

"No fair. You tricked me," I told the woman with all the arms who was really a demon.

"I did nothing of the sort. You asked to worship me, and I set you on the path. Every spell you cast and every death you cause will send up a prayer to me."

I laughed a little then. "I like killing."

"And oh, what a killer you will become." She said this poking the under side of my chin with a pointy fingernail. "But first, let me do something about this ..." She shook her head. "... mess you are."

"The others when they prayed got changes to their number things."

"Number things? Oh, yes, attributes. Well, I'm not a god. I can't just change those. But I can give you some gifts." She held out her hand and things appeared in it. I saw black leather and metal rings.

"First, let's do something about that little pea-sized brain of yours."

She held out a ring to my face. It was thick and rough and uneven and sort of a shiny brown color. When she brought it close to my nose, it clamped down on the hard part between the finger holes. It hurt.

But then it wasn't so hard to think anymore. In fact, I felt a lot more like my old self. My whole body shivered with disgust as it came back to me how stupid this game had made me for so long. It had made me into some laughing stock! A joke! And my so-called friends had taken advantage of it.

I looked into my inventory at what she'd given me. 

Septum-ring of Ezieri's Wisdom (Intellect +4) 

"Well, that's the best I can do in that department. At least it's a start. Now, I simply can't have such an ugly specimen representing me so ..."

She held the next pockmarked bronze ring. It looked as though it had been made for someone much larger than human and had been eaton away time and weather. She placed it to my right nipple, and it clamped on. I winced but tried to be brave. She might be a demon, but I owed her. She got me out of Dumb-Josh mode.

Nipple-ring of Ezieri's Grace (Presence +3) 

"Better," she said in that smug way of hers. "And the other one." 

She put the last ring to my left nipple.

Nipple-ring of Ezieri's Essence (Harmony +2)

"There. That should make you competent. Barely." She held up a strap of leather and pointed at my dick. "Now lastly. Lets cover that repulsive thing up."

The leather vanished from her hand, and I suddenly felt great pressure around my crotch. When I looked, I was wearing a black leather thong that had a very tight pouch. The inventory said:

Thong of Binding: Prevents orgasms. Negates lasting effects of reaching Arousal Potency Maximum.

"What the fuck is that! I think I prefer the dirty rag I was wearing," I screamed.

"Listen to me worm! If you remove any of my gifts at any time, I will take that as a challenge. And, boy, you do not want to face me in combat."

She gave me a glance of her system rating: Demoness Level 94

"Does that sound like something you want to do? I didn't think so. Now, listen to me. You are my servant. Everything you do is to please me. And everything you do will be to serve me. But don't look so glum, once you are fully corrupted. I will reward you, greatly."

"Greatly? How greatly?" I almost kicked myself, it sounded so much like a dumb-Josh question.

She laughed with something that was part girlish giggle and part evil cackle. "You're friends are all toiling like little beavers, working their way up in level, watching for every pitiful evolution. When you're corruption is complete, you'll jump far ahead of all of them. Your evolution will catapult you into a whole new category. You will be a superior being to them in every way. You like that thought, don't you? Yes. I can smell it on you along with your anger and your pettiness. Don't worry, pet, once you have ascended, you will be able to get your revenge on all of them.

I smiled. This hadn't been all positive, but it seemed everything in this game came with negatives. So, I just had to make the best of the situation. Pledging myself to Ezieri had already made me so much stronger. And if she was right, that I would soon be that much stronger, it was well worth it. Yes, revenge would be sweet.

"I will be in touch." She started to walk away, her body merging with the darkness, fading into thin air. But she stopped and turned back. "Oh, one more thing." She snapped her fingers. 

 

* * *

The others woke me up. They must have guessed where I'd gone. Well, it's too late for them to interfere now.

"What happened to you?" Cherry asked, sounding all concerned. As if there was any reason to be.

I stood up proudly, although I have to admit it was weird having so little clothes on and not being too stupid to care. "I found myself a goddess!"

Yarrow asked, "It didn't go badly?" 

"Does it look like it did?"

Mack said, "I hate to say it but he doesn't look nearly as leprous as he did. Although that thong and those piercings makes him look like someone S&M slave. Maybe we should start calling him The Gimp instead of Trogia."

"Fuck you, you mangy cat! These were presents from my ..." I almost said master but stopped myself. "My patron." 

"Oooh! Looks who has a vocabulary now."

Cherry said, "Are those rings infected or something? Your a bit swollen."

"What are you talking about? They're not infected. There's nothing wrong with me."

Yarrow had a perplexed look on her face, and I'd put money down that she was trying to look up my character sheet. But I had made sure to stop sharing it. Knowing these goody-goodies, they'd see I was corrupted and try to find someone to remove it.

But had she seen it, she would have found it much improved.

 

I told them, "My class has changed, but I can still heal and I even have some offensive skills now. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm ready to get back out there and slay some monsters."

There was no real point to sticking around so we left. I gave the statue one last reverent bow before I left.