Unfortunately, the question of how exactly we were going to go about filling our Cores was a little complicated.

Gaining a Layer required a period of torpor during which you would have to be out cold for a period of four to six hours, and what with us being out in the wild, there was no way to safely do that. Previously, Arx had been powerful enough on her own to at least escape with our unconscious bodies if something unfortunate were to occur, but now that her Core had been reset, the situation had changed dramatically. Nevertheless, despite the risk, we needed to push forward.

With that in mind, there was only one path to take. My own Core was in the First Stratum, so we were not going to be putting much of a dent in it any time soon. Jax was sitting at the ninth Layer, only needing a little push to cross the Boundary, and while it was sorely tempting to give her that little nudge, she was the only one of us with a reliable means of defending herself. That left Arx, and frankly, she needed the Layers far more than either of us.

Actually getting her the Power she needed, however, was a bit of a trial. Owing to the events of the day, Arx was feeling more than a little strung out, and though we did try to simply turn her Gain off so that she could eat her own Gems, it turned out that she was even more sensitive to being severed from me than Jax was.

“Ah, come off it, ye radge jessie,” Jax said dismissively. “It ain’t so bad as to carry on so.”

“You do it then!” Arx choked out. Her forehead was resting against my shoulder, and she was clutching me tightly, struggling to get her breathing back under control after I had hastily reestablished the connection. “’Stits… I thought you said it would take a while before this happened.”

I grimaced even as I rubbed her arm consolingly, “I don’t understand it either. The first time around was much more gradual. I can’t see why this would hit you so hard so soon.”

Arx did not reply for several seconds, appearing deep in thought. However, eventually she offered, “I think maybe… Mmm… ‘snails,” she chuckled disparagingly. “It’s strange, you know? Some things… from my past. They were so important, but now, they’re distant. Vague. Like a childhood memory, they’re just… a few images, here and there. But… before, when I was a… not this…?”

“A keltha, you mean?” I supplied.

She grimaced, “If you say so… Anyway, I felt… severed? Somehow? Like I had been cut off from something… very important. For a long time… And just now, when you cut my connection, all of that… those feelings… they surged back.” She shook her head, frustrated at her inability to put it into words, “Sorry.”

“No need,” I said quietly. Clearly, Arx’s past was a complex and—from the sound of it—painful matter. And while I wanted to pry, I felt it best to let the matter rest for now—especially if she was having memory issues. She would tell us when she could. And when she wanted to. “I’m sorry, too.”

“Why should you be sorry?” she asked, surprised. “I’m happier now than I’ve ever been. You… and Jax… you’re everything to me now. Like… like a…” she paused and smiled slightly to herself.

My mouth twisted slightly, and I decided to skip over whatever that had been, as well. “I’m sorry because the binding messes with your memories,” I explained, continuing my own thought. “Your memories are what make you what you are. They shape you. Inform your decisions, and… well, a lot of things. It isn’t right to change things like that.”

“Master,” Jax cut in, “I think ye may have hit on it. What things as we don’t remember, it be what would make it… hard-like? To see our ownselves as aught but we are. Like… I recall as ye once said I were a laoi… a-and a…” she made a face before sucking in a quick breath, “and like what that mirror showed.”

“A man, you mean?” Arx supplied, grinning. “I remember that part still. You had such a cute little…”

“Wheesht,” Jax sounded, shushing her, “Anyway, when I think back, I has a hard time as thinking of meself as aught but I be. Now-like. Ye ken? Makes some things mighty confusing to think on, I’ll admit. Like the company I kept, and the things as we did?”

“Peeing standing up?” Arx suggested, chuckling at the face Jax responded with. And then cackling uproariously once Jax actually thought about it.

I grunted, “What I don’t understand is, if you’re going to mess with a person’s memories, why not just go all the way with it? Like… just change them so that you don’t have that dissonance? Or even erase them completely?”

“Maybe it’s a compromise?” Arx suggested, struggling to get her laughter back under control. “You would have never even offered to bind me if either of those were the case, and maybe we just… need some level of adjustment in order to function? I know I could use a little more.”

“True enough,” I frowned, nodding along thoughtfully. I was still a little on the fence about this whole binding business even now. Sighing, I gently traced the backs of my knuckles along her cheek, “About that first part, anyway. You just need some time is all.”

After that, we agreed to adjust the Gain so that Arx would be taking Jax’s share for a little while. Of course, that had no effect on Jax. Even at zero percent, she was still connected. That just meant that had she eaten any of the Gems, it would have gone to the both of us instead of her. Sticking to the theme of least intensity, we decided to go with Minor Rank Ones. All together, it took thirteen of the tiny grains to fill her Core. Obviously, it would have taken fewer had I set her Gain to one-hundred percent, but even two-thirds had her writhing on the ground.

In any case, once the unnatural stillness of torpor had taken her, I volunteered for the first watch—always having been something of a night owl—and Jax happily curled up next to the fire to sleep. Pacing a little ways from the fire, so as to have a degree of night vision, I quickly cast Unclothe the Darkness and scanned our surroundings. The spell served to create little illusionary outlines of everything, rendering the world in what looked like a light-pencil drawing. It sort of reminded me of an old music video I had once seen… but with the world still intact instead of rendered on paper. It was a little difficult to parse out finer details, but it was fantastic for picking up movement.

Of that, I saw precious little, save for a few birds, insects, and a couple of small animals, so I dismissed the spell. Heaving a sigh, I stretched, and humming an old 80’s pop tune that had mysteriously landed in my brain, I sat next to a tree, crossed my hands behind my head, and settled in to wait.

*****

I had no idea how long I sat there, just listening to the night sounds. However, it was long enough to realize that standing watch is boring as fuck! And Arx had done this for days on end while we had been in the Dungeon, the poor thing. It was no wonder that we often woke up in compromising positions. With her personality, that would be just exactly the sort of thing she would get up to to relieve the tedium.

I made a face, letting my imagination carry that line of thought to all sorts of crazy ends, and wondered whether I should ask her about that sometime. However, after a moment, I shook my head. Best not to know.

Heaving a sigh, I cast my thoughts to the problem of Arx’s next skill. Something to discharge my aura… hmm… The one that Jax had served to occasionally pull a bit of Life Energy from her enemies when she attacked them, though the chance was still pretty low. I supposed that we could simply get a carbon copy of that, but would that not be a little too limiting?

Plus, and this was the main thing, we were not in the Dungeon anymore. If it only worked during combat, we would have to go hunting before she could get any relief from Windfall of the Thrall. Windfall was a simple skill of mine whose only function was to gradually increase the odds for my allies to trigger procs—an old gaming term that stood for ‘programmed random occurrence’, though few gamers knew or cared about that. Consequently, you could tell how much luck you had accumulated based off of how horny the skill made you. It was a whole thing.

So, then… a proc that is general use.

Really, it could be almost anything, as long is it fit within her Class and was available in the Foundation Layers. Of course, in games, things like this were almost always linked solely to combat, so my frame of reference was quite limited. However usually, it could be anything from some sort of stacking speed bonus, to shields randomly appearing to block attacks, to literal lightning bolts coming out of nowhere to strike down your foes.

Actually, that last one sounded pretty cool. Must remember to ask about lightning bolts…

I sighed. No, no… think more general. So, what then? Just have a coin appear in your pocket at random intervals? Or even occasionally finding valuable treasures? Both of those were interesting, but too strictly for out of combat. Perhaps… some sort of social skill? Like… reading people’s intent? But no, with her empathic ability, she should be able to do that already to some extent. Eventually. Frowning, I tried to think broader still. Some sort of… basic luck skill, then?

Slowly, my eyebrows rose. Now that I thought about it, in D&D, arguably one of the best feats in the game was Lucky. It allowed you to sort of bend fate to your own ends a few times a day. Obviously, the systems were different, so it would not translate exactly. However, if we could manage something close, that would be huge! We just had to figure out a way to word the request.

Scratching at my beard for a moment, I nodded. That was a problem for the morning, but at least we now had somewhere to start.

Glancing upward for perhaps the hundredth time, I checked the position of the moon, one of the things that let me know that I was, for certain, elsewhere. It was slightly too big—and green—to be the one that I knew. In fact, now that I was looking at it, I was pretty sure that I could make out some blue up there. It was not exactly Earth-like, of course. But, maybe it was a living world all its own? In any case, it was high enough now that I decided my shift was nearing its end, and standing, I shook the tingles from my legs. Casting one last survey of the area and finding nothing, I returned to the fire.

Arx was lying exactly as I had left her, and thinking it over for a moment, I briefly considered getting a bit of revenge on her before shaking my head. No need to be childish.

Then my eyes fell on the sheathed dagger sitting next to her, and I pursed my lips speculatively. Staring at it for a moment before casting a furtive glance over at Jax’s sleeping form, I nodded.

I really did need to practice that spell, and besides, having some idea as to the function of your magical items was crucial. Now that we were out of the Dungeon, Jax could not object to my casting it. Especially, if she did not know about it.

Snatching up the weapon, I paced a little ways from the fire—so as not to disturb her rest, of course—and settled with my legs akimbo. It took me a few minutes to get it running, as unfamiliar spells always did, but that was much less of a concern for out-of-combat types. Once I had finally managed to stumble my way through the incantation, however, I felt the telltale pull on my endurance and quickly held the knife in front of me, upturned.

Taking a few deep breaths to settle my mind, I began fishing about for that little something extra that the spell should be feeding me. The effects of it would be extremely subtle, I knew. Supposedly, knowledge of an item’s creator should provide some benefit, and while I had an idea as to who that might be, that was not very helpful. It was not as if I knew Her personally, but maybe if I did this enough times, I would get a sense of how She liked to enchant Her items.

Let’s see here… There’s that hunger again… whatever that means. Jax’s arm guards were the only other item I had attempted this with, and they had the exact same feeling attached to them, so there had to be some kind of connection. Maybe they use some of the same Words? Or work similarly? Hmm…

Okay, what else… The rest of it was much harder to put a name to. The blade had a very strong sense of… identity, maybe? It was like I could actually feel its shape in my mind. But it was… wrong now. Curiously, I unsheathed it to look it over in the fire light. Arx had put it through some heavy use during the battle earlier, and there were a few nicks and scratches along its edge. It would need sharpening, I realized.

And that was it. The blade… wanted to be sharp—if you could say that an inanimate object wanted anything. But it needed something first.

Hmm… That was all I was getting from the spell, so I quickly dropped it to have a little think.

But then I paused expectantly, remembering what had happened the last time. That horrific pressure… actually, it somewhat reminded me of what it was like being in the presence of Ahnbe, and that made a lot of sense. They were both Goddesses, after all. However, this time, I was mercifully left in peace… though I did feel… something. Or rather the lack.

It was as if the world had suddenly gone still. Waiting.

Nervously, I stood, casting Unclothe the Darkness and scanning the sparse woods. But there was nothing there. Not a bird. No rodents. Even the leaves had stopped rustling.

For a long while, I waited, my knuckles white around the hilt of the naked blade, my mind racing and only the gentle crackling of the nearby fire to settle it. Taking a deep breath, I began running my thumb along the flat of the knife, fidgeting away the silence. However, my palms had gone sweaty, and I winced as the edge found my flesh.

Quickly sucking my thumb into my mouth to soothe the pain, I stared at the drop of blood rapidly congealing on the heel of the dagger. And then I had a curious thought.

What if… Casting another quick look about and still seeing nothing, I turned my attention back to my project.

What if Life Energy was… Well, if I thought of it as something like… mana… But, no, Arx had used some sort of wacky combination of hedonistic resources. Although… in a sense, that was just Life painted with a bit of color, so maybe… Life was a more basic form of all of that? And most of my spells used it in some way, either immediately or in the form of endurance, which ultimately ended up draining my reserves just to replenish.

And the dagger hungered for something. Maybe that something was Life Energy?

It was as good a guess as any, but how was I supposed to test it? Obviously, my blood had not done anything, though that would have been just the sort of stereotypical nonsense for a blade to need. Stories were full of swords that drank the blood of their enemies and for good reason. It was cool!

Momentarily distracted by the throbbing coming from my thumb, I cast a quick little heal to seal it closed, barely even noticing the Life drain from the spell, it was so minor.

Hmm… Now there’s a thought. Technically speaking, my healing spell only required a target, but it did not specify whether said target needed to be alive. I mean, obviously, you would assume, but… Well, clearly, the spell had not been designed for this, but maybe the dagger’s enchantment could… somehow… latch onto the Life Energy carried in the spell? And the intent would carry?

I slowly blinked at my line of logic. What was this? A Star Trek episode? Aye, Captain! I just have to synchronize the transporter’s annular confinement beam to the warp core frequency!

Chuckling to myself, I wondered how the lilim would react if they knew just how much of a geek I was.

Whatever. I’ll just try it and see what happens. Either it’ll work or it won’t.

Quickly running through the incantation once more, I tried targeting the dagger, intentionally holding back so as to provoke only a minimal response. However surprisingly, even before I had registered the usual flow of Life, the enchantment awakened. Apparently, the amount required was so small that it barely even registered to me, which was a welcome change. Knowing my luck, I half expected the thing to suck me dry.

The enchantment manifested as a heavy line of blue light, slowly flowing down the spine, as if liquid, and then seemingly spilling over down the taper to the edge in a cascade. Altogether, it took perhaps half a minute to complete, and when it was done, the knife was pristine—polished and wickedly sharp, as if brand new.

“Well, that’s neat as a bag of chips,” I murmured softly, suitably impressed.

“~Well done, boy~”

Startled, I swiveled around, staring off into the trees. The feminine voice had been like a faint echo, only just tickling my ears. Even so, it was clearly discernible.

“~Impressive… if unorthodox~”

Then, before I could think of how to react, the world seemed to come alive again, and all of the little sounds that I had been missing—crickets chirping, leaves rustling, and countless others—they all rushed back in. Whatever that had been, it was gone. Now, I just needed to convince my heart to stop thundering in my chest.

It… She? Had been watching me. Nervously, I swallowed before straitening my spine.

“Rude,” I grumbled into the now quite empty night air. Mostly to steady my nerves. “At least you should come introduce yourself.”

Abruptly, I heard a muffled little giggle from behind me, and with a terrified yelp, I jerked around and tumbled onto my backside.

“That’s away, girly…” Jax’s voice sounded faintly. “He likes… eh…”

Rolling my eyes skyward, I scrubbed my hands over my face, sighing in relief. I was just glad that no one had seen that. Hesitantly, I glanced over my shoulder. Probably, no one had seen that…

Grumbling, I rolled onto my feet again and made my way back to the fire. I did not know what was worse, the fact that I kept being harassed by otherworldly, magical women or that I was beginning to get used to it. Silently replacing Arx’s now restored knife, I glanced back over at Jax, curiously.

She was fast asleep still, but from the smile on her face, it appeared she was having herself quite the nice little dream.

Padding softly over to her, I squatted down to shake her awake for her shift, but I paused when I noticed a hint of fire-light glistening from between her legs. Her flower was wide open and faintly pulsing in time with her sleeping heartbeat. Staring, I swallowed as a trail of her femininity escaped from her, marking a line down her shapely backside to drip into the evidently quite damp soil that had accumulated there.

Shifting slightly, a shiver ran through her body, and she breathed, “Mast… yah…”

Mercy preserve me… Quite the nice little dream, alright.

Her rich perfume hit me then, and unbidden, the memory of her flavor came to mind. Had I hallucinated that? Been so gone within the depths of Lust as to imagine that… deep and complex character? There was no way she could taste like that. Right?

Within moments, my manhood reawakened, and I winced as the soreness of the day’s activities asserted itself. But as I stretched to my full length, the pain dissolved, rather like a muscle that needed to warm up. I hesitated, torn between my desire to again sample that nectar, giving life to whatever fantasy she seemed to be having, or waking her first.

However, that decision was soon made for me.

“Summoned like a story,” she murmured sleepily, and I looked up to find her eyes cracked open, staring dreamily up at me. “Am I so fair now as to make ye swell even as I lay asleep?”

I smirked at her, “Well… it’s pretty easy to get a rise out of a guy when you’re calling out his name and soaking your bedsheets.”

“Then so shall I endeavor forever more,” she whispered before rolling onto her back, her legs spread invitingly. Stretching her arms forward, she reached for me, “Take me, me dream come to life.”

My smirk slowly transformed into a pleased grin, and I knelt, inhaling deeply at the yawning gap between her legs. Even now, it was quivering, almost begging to be touched. My eyes drifted closed for a moment as I luxuriated in her scent.

“Hmm… I don’t know how you do it, Jax,” I murmured, “but it seems like every day you find new ways to make me love you.”

“Ah~!”

At my words, her back arched briefly before she managed to again look down at me, her whole body now alive with her need, “Master, please! Do nay tease me.”

“Oh?” I sounded in a deep rumble, not moving an inch. “Why not? You think I don’t notice all of the things you do all day? The little caresses along your body to snag my attention? The feather light touches on my arms? The decided lack of eye contact?”

The sensation of my breath upon her and my nearness was driving her wild, but even through her wanton panting, she still managed to answer, “Ma-hah-ster… everything you do teases me. Every look on yer face. Every move ye make. The way the light shines through yer hair. Every waking moment, I want ye more. Even when I close me eyes to sleep, there ye be. And now, here ye be with yer knob up…” Pausing for a moment just to breathe, she cried, “Master, please! Touch me!”

“As you wish, Jax,” I whispered quietly. I smiled then. It was the smile of a man who has found purpose in life. To be needed. To be wanted. It was good. “As you wish.”

I could not say for how long we made love. But it was the slow, content sort of love-making of a couple that has just begun to become comfortable with one another. Secure in the knowledge that whatever happens, we would be there for each other. And when we were done, I lay there spent, lightly stroking her hair.

Neither of us spoke. We only listened to the sounds of the slow, even breathing that lazily drifted off into the night air. And though, as my eyes settled closed, I did think of the future, never once did I think of the past. Of what I had left behind. Of the people that I had known. Of my family.

For whatever reason, none of that seemed to matter anymore.

*****

I was a little boy again. It was night time, and I was staring at the patterns in my ceiling. The strange little animals and men that I saw there kept coming to life, chasing each other and doing battle. I found the whole thing massively entertaining, and I was grinning from ear to ear.

But it was a guilty sort of play. I was supposed to be asleep so that my parents could have guests over. I could hear them even now, and that was part of why I was having trouble. For whatever reason, there was a huge argument going on. What it was about, I had no idea, but I was supposed to stay in bed.

However, my childish curiosity could not be contained by rules.

Slowly, I lifted my blankets, inching my feet to the edge of the bed.

“Donum!” the piggy bank next to my desk lamp breathed fearfully, “What are you doing?”

Quickly, I brought a stubby finger to my lips, shushing the naughty thing. “Hush, Piggy. You want to get me in trouble?” I was terrified enough of being caught, and now I was being betrayed by my own furniture?

As my feet met the floor, Piggy firmed his lip, “You will get in trouble if you don’t get back in bed!”

“I’ll be quiet,” I assured him. “Now are you coming or not?”

The little glass pig nervously rattled its change for a few moments, indecisively. “Fine. But you’d better carry me. If I walk, I’ll just give you away.”

I nodded. That made sense. How was a piggy bank supposed to be stealthy?

Gently, I lifted Piggy off of the shelf and firmly tucked him under an arm. Turning, I quickly scouted the path to the door. I just needed to wade the river, make it over the mound of sharp, deadly rocks, and sneak past Bartholo-meow, my stuffed cat-dragon. He would not be so easy to convince as Piggy. The tattle-tale…

Some time later, I arrived at the door, soaking wet and only having suffered the single cut in my palm. Unfortunately… well, Piggy had not made it.

“Poor Piggy…” I sniffed. “I’ll always remember you.”

Silently, I clenched my boyish fists, vowing revenge. How else was I supposed to get my thirty-two dollars and fourteen cents back? But that was a quest for another night…

Now, I just needed to figure out what all the fuss was about. So, with exceeding care, I placed my ear next to the handle and listened.

“…is ridiculous!” someone was saying. “I have a debt that is still unsettled. How else am I supposed to claim it? And besides, I haven’t had a problem. Why should we listen to a mere fragment, anyway?”

“Listen or don’t,” someone else explained patiently. “Either way, I will let no one else in.”

“Balls, you won’t!” another growled. “I want in there! Now!”

“Why should that be so important to you, all of a sudden?” yet another voice asked calmly.

“Never you mind!” the other growled back. “My business is my own.”

“What possible business could you have?” the calm one asked, suspicious now.

“Is that really so important?” a softer voice interceded nervously, “It’s been so long, and I feel… Shouldn’t I at least…”

“No, no, no!” the patient one interrupted. “I am telling you that…”

“T’ain’t fair!”

I started awake at the shouted words, and disoriented, I took in my surroundings. The early morning light was just beginning to skip across the dewy brush, casting long shadows that seemed almost to mourn their inevitable demise as the sun once more took its place in the sky. Shivering slightly, I quickly noted that the fire had given up, its final gasps even now escaping into the gentle breeze.

“Of course, it’s fair!” someone else shouted indignantly. “It was a quest reward!”

“Quest nothing! They’s almost as big as me own!” the other protested, doggedly. “And yer only just in the second Layer!”

Sighing, I scrubbed the final bit of sleep from my eyes before kicking my legs out to sit up. Taking a moment to stretch, I eventually found the two combatants facing off to one side and well away. Not quite far enough to muffle their shouting, though. Obviously, my lilim had found some new complaint to latch on to. I just needed to find out whether I would need to intercede.

Casting my eyes to the sky, I shook my head and yawned, delaying whatever this conversation was going to be. And for a moment, I seriously considered laying back down and ignoring it altogether. Ugh… from one argument to the next. What a way to start the morning… I wonder if I can buy a spell to summon a pot of coffee?

“I don’t see what that has to do with anything,” Arx argued. “I never grew before. No matter how many Layers I got.”

“I be telling ye then,” Jax said, punctuating her words by jabbing her knuckles into her palm, “Ye did grow. Even from yesterday, ye did.”

“Really?” Arx replied, self-consciously and with a bit of a hopeful tremor. Looking down at her chest, she hefted her bosoms. “Do you think he’ll like them?”

“Don’t be daft. That’s natural-like,” Jax waved dismissively before shaking her head. “But that ain’t the point! Ye near as like to have caught up to me, and yer only in the second to me nine! How be that like to fair?”

“Mmm… I do have a six in Charisma now. Do you think that could be it?”

“Bloody hirplin cow…” Jax growled. “That ain’t fair, neither! Ye should’ve had to start from the one, like me!”

“Well now…” Arx grinned mischievously, “Maybe there’s something to be said for starting with a bit of quality?”

I nodded decisively.

Yep. Staying out of that one.