Tanner woke up feeling the too familiar feeling of those odd semi-plastic sheets that hospitals always used. His mind was oddly fuzzy and his whole body felt like he’d been broken to pieces then stitched back together by someone with more enthusiasm than skill. He didn’t recognize the room. This wasn’t the base's medical facilities. Was he in a bunker somewhere?

 

His mind was full of cobwebs and it took him a moment to piece everything back together. The wall… the dire-cutter, and his mad attack and fall. He was honestly amazed he was alive. By the feel of his body it must have been close. 

 

Without anything pressing to do and with a body that felt like 20 miles of bad road Tanner just lay in his bed and let himself relax. The room he was in looked oddly like a control room instead of some sort instead of a medical bay. The walls were bare concrete like most buildings on base. One side of the room had a large window but it was pitch black outside and Tanner couldn’t see anything. A lone swivel chair sat in front of a large bank of monitors and interfaces that sat below the window. Obviously so someone could look outside and do...something. The only door was a steel one that led off to somewhere. 

 

No he wasn't in a medical room. He was on a cot somewhere that someone had thrown some medical sheets onto. Likely because medical was full. He couldn’t be the only soldier that had fallen into the river. Hell, it probably happened all the time. The thoughts of the battle brought his mind back to Grace. He hoped she’d managed to live. She’d been hurt badly and who knows what had happened to her after that.

 

Tanner's thoughts were dark and worried when someone finally opened the door. She was average height and wearing a lab-coat over her uniform. She had her blonde hair up in a bun and a distracted look on her face. She was cute, if not beautiful, with a pug nose and thin lips. The bun, the lab-coat, and the distracted look kind of worked for her. It made her look like one of those absentminded sexy scientists from an anime, or maybe he was just horny and projecting it on her, both were possible. Tanner had found out that sex was sort of a self-escalating need. Before he’d started having sex he hadn’t really missed not having it. Now that he was having it multiple times a week, he found himself more horny than he’d ever been.

 

“Mam? Where am I?” Tanner asked, pulling his thoughts away from sex and back to his battered body and the battle’s aftermath. The woman jerked her head towards him, as if he’d startled her then she sighed and shook her head.

 

“Ahhh, yes…. Ummmmm, didn’t know they’d stuck anyone down here. This is the bunker for Filter Station 1. They must have pulled you out of the river. This bunker was never given proper medical facilities so when they fish one of you out and patch you up they have a tendency to just stick you guys wherever we have some free space.” She said. She'd started the conversation looking at him, but as she’d continued she’d turned away from him and plopped herself down on the chair as she continued to speak. Her voice became more distracted and rambling as she continued, her attention on the various read-outs and controls.

 

“They built this place three years ago. It was the commander’s idea. It’s hard to collect mana from demon-parts after battle you see… The mana dissipates over time…. Shit, six is clogged again, and four is set way too tight….” She pressed a few buttons and made a few changes. “Oh yes… Mana dissipation.. Big problem. Most of the world’s tech now relies at least partially on mana, which you probably know. So they need all of it they can get but like you’ve probably seen as a soldier, the wastelands on the other side of the river aren't exactly a place we can just head out to pick up demon chunks after a battle.” She said as she looked at another dial and swore again before putting in a few more commands.

 

“There was a study done on it, and more than 98% of the mana the demons have is lost. That’s a huge number, especially since the army relies on selling the mana to get …….. Damn it…” She slapped a few buttons harder than was necessary…”Mana…. Oh right, the army sells mana for funds, that's how they buy all their gear, weapons, and pay the soldiers…… ANYWAY….” She said, as if up until now her speech hadn’t been a single giant tangent. “The commander had this base built, filters all the gore out of the river, then we press it all together, squeeze the juice out, separate out the demon corruption from the mana and POOF… One of the best mana reclamation plants anywhere in the world. She spent half a year's budget on this thing, but it’s paid for itself eight times over so far.” The scientist said, sounding smug.

 

Tanner rolled his eyes. He’d really just wanted to know where the hell he was. He didn’t need a dissertation on the army’s mana refinement procedures. It was fascinating, but he was more worried about Grace and the battle.

 

“So… I floated downstream and got caught on your filters.” Tanner said. 

 

“Yep, happens all the time. We’ve even got two full-time healers on staff here because it happens so much. Yesterday must have been a doozy though. We’ve got more than fifty of you here.  Probably why you got shoved into this broom closet. There are only 10 beds in medical.

 

The woman kept muttering to herself as she looked over the control panel so Tanner brought up his system window.

Better Health Though Sex Name: Tanner Spaldman Level: 6 Tier: 1 Type: Support Stats: Strength: 7 Speed: 13 Vitality: 14 Dexterity: 12 Mind: 6 System Points: 2431/5000

He was honestly a bit surprised by the number. He’d had 1800 and some before the battle. He’d killed a mess of the low-level demons but that dire-cutter must have been worth something like… He did the mental math. Something like 250 SP for the dire-cutter, actually more than that. He had to have lost some SP from the wound in his shoulder. 

 

Tanner opened his hospital gown and sure enough there was a knot of discolored black skin where he’d been wounded the day before. There was likely another on his back to match it. He sighed and pulled his gown back up before looking back to his system UI.

 

Tanner was half-way to rank seven but he was curious about what would happen when he maxed out a skill. So, shrugging he bought the third rank of size does matter. Fire played through his crotch for a moment before it was done then more windows popped up.

Size Does Matter: 3      MAX Increases the size of your penis and testicales by another 25%. Increases semen production by another 200%. Your orgasms will be even longer and more powerful and your refractory period is now effectively zero.

Skill Size Does Matter Has reached Max Level Tier 1 Capstones Unlocked….. Share the Wealth has been selected….. Aura of Eros is now unbuyable until Tier 2 Ability Store: Aura Of Eros (Capstone): The user’s Lust-Aura ability now gains the ability to affect a much wider radius. When Activated all people under its effect will have their libido increased and will find themself sexually attracted to other people with whom their personalities and sexual preferences match up. Any sexual pairings resulting from this will receive a significantly less-powerful version of the user’s core ability buffs, while the user will receive a small amount of SP from each pairing. Love is to be shared not hoarded…. Cost: NA… User cannot buy this ability    Requires: Tier 2, Lust Aura: Max, Sexual Empathy: Max Share the Wealth (Capstone):  The user’s semen now changes those it comes in contact with. When applied topically to the skin, the recipient's skin, musculature, and bone-structure, will receive minor adjustments in the vein of the user's ability Pleasing Visage. This is also highly effective for treating scars and discoloration caused by demonic corruption.  If an individual receives repeated exposure to this effect their bodies will slowly alter into a form more in line with their and their lover’s desires.  Beauty is to be shared not hoarded…. Cost: 5000 SP    Requires: Size Does Matter: Max, Pleasing Visage: Max

 

Tanner snorted in disgust. Aura of Ero’s was a WAY better ability than the one he’d gotten. Seriously, making his cum into some sort of beauty cream? That was just so… cheesy porn plot. At least Aura of Eros would have been an actual feel-good ability. Spreading love and sex around, making people happy, and then reaping SP rewards from it. That was something to be proud of. Now that was locked until tier 2 and Tanner would be cumming on women to make their skin glow and their boobs bigger. He lay back in his bed with a dramatic sigh and closed the UI. 

 

“Something wrong?” The woman asked, still hunched over the console.

 

“Not really… I just unlocked the final rank of an ability. It unlocked my capstones for Tier 1 and they were….. Not really what I was expecting.” Tanner said truthfully.

 

“Didn’t get a flaming ultra shoryuken punch?” She laughed, still not turning to face him. She had a nice laugh and Tanner see-sawed on turning on his Lust Aura. He knew he shouldn’t but this girl was kinda cute and she wouldn’t sleep with him if she wasn’t single. He was supposed to spread [Better Health Through Sex] after all.  He realized he was just looking for self-justification so he turned the ability on. If he was going to do a thing, it was best to admit it. Denial was a dangerous road to start down. There was nothing wrong with trying to seduce someone. If they were willing they were willing, if not then she’d go work out her frustrations on someone else and that would still be a positive. He’d come a long way about sexual hang-ups but he still had a ways to go.

 

“I have a support system. A flaming ultra shoryuken punch was never going to happen.” He told her, sitting up slightly so he could watch her. He was honestly a bit curious about what would happen. He usually only used Lust Aura right before sex, or during sex. He had no idea what it would do to someone from a completely cold start.

 

The answer turned out to be nothing, at least for a while. It took a solid five minutes before the still unnamed woman started to fidget on her chair. First she’d lean one way, then shift her weight the other way, crossing and uncrossing her legs. 

 

“I’m cooking in here. Thermostat must be screwed up. You feel hot back there?” She asked, turning to Tanner. 

 

“Nope… I’m alright, then again I'm in a thin hospital gown but if you wanna take off that labcoat I’m not gonna complain.”

 

“Oh, why’s that?” She asked, turning back to her console.

 

“Cause I'm an eighteen year old guy, and you're an attractive woman.” Tanner said honestly. She froze for a moment. Then laughed, although it came out a touch less sarcastic than she was probably going for.

 

“Kid, I’ve got 12 years on you at least.” She said, before starting back on whatever work she was doing. They stayed silent for a while after that but the woman was getting more and more agitated as time went on. Soon she had shucked the lab coat and by the look of it she’d like to take off more than that. Her legs were rubbing together almost constantly but Tanner was running out of mana. He’d had his aura on for at least ten minutes now, which was longer than he’d ever used it before. He had a feeling the woman was about to explode all over her seat.

 

“So what are you doing?” Tanner asked, mostly just to bring her focus onto him. She whirled on him and her face was flushed and her eyes were a little wild. He honestly felt a bit bad now. Ten minutes of constant exposure seemed a bit much. He noted it down as something NOT to do in the future.

 

“Are you alright?” He asked sincerely as he turned off his ability. He was just trying to score some strange with a scientist chick, not send her into some sexual frenzy on the first person she met after walking out of here. She stood up from her seat in a rush of motion then paused as she looked at him.

 

“I don’t… I don’t feel so well….” She said as she looked over at him. Then she noticed the bulge under his sheets. It was pretty hard to miss. Watching her rub her thighs together in obvious sexual distress had been pretty arousing but he was only at half-mast. Still with his ability maxed out his penis would be almost a foot long fully hard now. He had quite the bulge.

 

“I think I should… Step out for a while.” She said, chewing on her bottom lip. Her bun had more than a few strands loose, and sweat was beading on her forehead, and likely between her beasts. She was gorgeous like that. Then again, nearly every woman he’d met was beautiful when aroused.

 

“Maybe you should. You look feverish… Beautiful…. But feverish.” Tanner told her. She swayed towards him, with a step that seemed nearly subconscious. “Is there anything I could do to help?” He asked, sitting up more and ‘accidentally’ letting the hospital sheets slide off his hips, leaving only the gown protecting his still-growing modesty. Her eyes dropped to his lap and he made a show of adjusting himself.  “Sorry, damn thing is always in the way.” She swallowed.

 

“It’s so big.” She muttered, taking another step towards him. With how small the room was she was nearly at his bed. 

 

“It is… would you like to touch it?” Tanner asked her. “Because I’d like to touch you.” That finally did it and she leapt onto the bed straddling him, and reaching one hand down to pull up his gown. Tanner reached out and grabbed her other hand.

 

“What’s your name?” He asked, twining their fingers together as she finally got the stupid gown out of the way and his cock met the warm air of the room. It was truly impressive now, over 11 inches long and too wide to close her hand around. The skin of her hands were warm on his member and this close he could see her bright green eyes. They were flooded with lust and her face was a mask of desperate desire. He could feel her passions and wants flooding into him from her hand. He smiled.

 

Seemed the blonde scientist was a size-queen, a bit shallow but something he could work with. She practically ripped her own pants off, and didn’t bother with her shirt or panties at all. The underwear  were simple blue cotton and she simply pulled them aside before she sat on him. She was surprisingly loose around him. Still snug, and as wet and hot as a Louisiana summer but with his newly enhanced member he’d expected to hardly fit at all. She wasn’t a particularly large woman, only average height and with a fairly slim build.

 

“I’m Trisha.” She muttered as he felt the tip of himself hit her cervix. She gasped and brought a hand down to cover her lower belly.

 

“God…. I can feel you from the outside. I’m so fucking full.” She gasped. He’d expected her to back off, he knew that it was pretty easy to bruise the cervix but she didn’t seem too bothered by the pain she must be feeling. She used her other hand for leverage to lift herself up and drop on him again, even harder the second time and his cock bottomed her out with even more force.

It was honestly a bit uncomfortable for him, and he knew it had to be hurting her even more but she was beyond reason, that or she was enjoying the pain. his sexual empathy told him that was indeed the case.

 

“Fuck… Tear me apart.” She growled as he wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in for a frantic kiss as she rode him even harder. Tanner at first had been a bit reluctant, he knew she was going to be sore for days after this and he’d felt bad but her desperation and pure animal ferocity had his own lust rising up to meet hers. Soon they were fucking like wild animals as he pounded up into her as hard as he could. She got even more loud as she clawed up his back and screamed the foulest and most erotic vitriol into his ears.

 

“Fuck me HARDER!...GOD YES!....Turn my pussy into a bucket that won't ever close …Fucking… Right there!.. Drill me with that huge fucking cock until my insides fall out.” Trisha cried. Tanner would have laughed at how ridiculous she sounded if he wasn’t so turned on by it all. 

 

The air reeked of sweat and sex. The wet squish of their joining combined with Trish’s profanity and the ever-present slap of their hips. Their sex became even more frantic. It was half sex and half battle. The licks and kisses became nips, then full bites. There was something happening. That connection Tanner sometimes felt with Grace, this was similar but different. With Grace it was love and warmth and understanding underlain with mutual lust and great sex. This was… he didn’t know. Like all the layers of their humanity were being peeled away. Leaving only the most primal and animistic core. Trish threw her head back in ecstasy then her head came forward and their eyes locked. 

Mana gushed up from his core as if he was using an ability of some kind and he could feel the same thing happening to Trisha. Both their eyes widened as two masses of transparent energy formed between them. The forms took shape, with Trish’s side forming into a lioness and Tanner’s forming into an antelope of some kind. The two creatures instantly started to battle, horns and hooves, against claw and fang. The antelope took a nasty gash on one side but he ignored the wound and pressed forward slamming into the lioness and knocking her over. Then he was behind her and mounting her and for all the lioness’s struggles she didn’t seem to be trying too hard to dislodge him. The buck thrust in and the two mana conjurations dissolved, mixed, then flowed back into Tanner and Trisha. 

 

Tanner couldn’t even describe what happened next. Suddenly the two weren’t just having sex with their bodies anymore. Their minds were mixing together, thrusting and swirling. Like some mental version of a french kiss. He could feel all the half-formed lust drowned thoughts going through her mind. He could feel himself filling her just as she felt it. The pain of him slamming into the roof of her vagina turned into some bizarre masochistic pleasure that mixed in and heightened all the other pleasure she was feeling.

 

It was all too much and her whole body locked up in a monster orgasm, the tendons on her neck standing out as her body went rigid on top of him. The pure bliss of it sent Tanner over the edge as well and he could feel the pleasure of his release slamming back into her, then back to him, mixing, combining, and growing, as it bounced back and forth between them. 

 

She and Tanner both screamed as they came again, before the first orgasms had really gotten started. Trisha’s body convulsed so hard she threw herself off him and his seed flew high in the air as his member came free. It didn’t matter though. The pleasure just kept bouncing between them and they both kept coming. Tanner felt the poor cot break at some point, but the world had gone far away. Everything was Trisha, and sex, and pleasure until it was all too much and his vision went white…. Then black.

 

 

***********************************

 

Tanner woke up feeling great but oddly sticky. His eyes peeled open and he found himself lying on the floor of a strange room. A half-dressed woman covered in… He grimaced as he looked down at himself. He was covered in his own spunk and it was EVERYWHERE. In his hair, all over his body, all over the floor, all over the remains of the bed, shit there was even some stuck to the wall.

 

His memories were scattered but he did remember banging the hell out of the woman next to him. Then… he’d done something and things had gotten crazy. Still, someone was gonna have to clean all this up.

 

He reached over and shook the woman’s shoulder. “Uhhhh… Trisha. You should probably wake up.” It was impossible to tell how long they’d been out but she was supposed to be working. 

 

She snorted but didn’t wake. Tanner shook her harder and said her name again, louder this time. Finally her eyes cracked open and she groaned before pushing herself to a half-sitting position. She looked kind of adorable with her hair in a mess and covered in his seed. As she looked around at the crushed bed, her face started to redden. Tanner expected her to seem angry or embarrassed. Instead she just looked bewildered.

 

“What happened?” She said, or tried to. Her voice was cracked, likely from all the screaming and profanity, and she had to work some moisture down her throat before she tried again. “What happened?” She asked again, her voice stronger.

 

“We had sex…….. really awesome sex.”

 

 She managed to sneer, even with her hair in a mess and her eyes red with exhaustion. “I know…. I was there, but that wasn’t sex. That was like….. What did you do?”

 

“Uhhh.. I have a sex system. Although I’m not really sure what happened to be honest.” He said truthfully. He willed up his system notifications to find out.

Congratulations! You’ve Earned System Points

Encounter Rating A- Sex is a melding of mind, body, and soul with your partner. However not all melding are the same. You and your partner have reached a body compatibility of an extremely high level. This not only made for incredible sex but has also spurred your system to tap into an advanced ability before you’d normally have been able to.    Sp Earned: 1785 850(A- Base) x 2.1(Level 11 System)   Body Meld: You Gain:  2 Int(10% partner's highest stat) You Lose: 1 Vit (5% of your highest stat) She Gains: 1 Vit(10% of your highest stat) She Loses: 1 Int(5% of partner's highest stat)

 

His system didn't offer much in the way of explanation but it did tell him what had happened. They'd performed a Body Meld, apparently because they were so sexually compatible. Which, he assumed was different than being mentally or soul compatible. His explanation didn’t seem to appease her. Her bewildered expression changed to anger. 

 

“What did you do? You did something to me.”

 

“I just made you horny.” He said defensively. That also didn’t seem to help. 

 

“So you took advantage of me?” She said, looking honestly hurt now as well as even more angry.

 

“It’s not a love potion. It’s not date-rape drug. It just makes you horny. Without any sort of direction or coercion involved. It’s a support system. It just turns you on. You could have left to hit a bathroom to rub one out, or called your man if you’ve got one. You didn’t have to pick me. I was just here and willing. You just took one look at my cock and decided.” He said, getting a little annoyed himself. 

 

It had taken her all of thirty seconds to crack once he’d offered. He doubted he was the first or even the third person she’d had a random hookup with. Besides, the sex had been amazing and whatever had happened with the animals had been…. They’d connected on some deeper level. She’d been a part of him… seen inside him. She knew what kind of person he was and the fact she was practically accusing him of raping her was ridiculous. Had he manipulated her? He had. Would she have had sex with him if he hadn’t pushed her so hard? Probably not, but she had chosen. He’d seen inside her as well. She hadn’t had sex with him because she was extremely horny and she just wanted relief. She was a size-queen and saw a guy with a huge dick. Her choice hadn't gone any deeper than that.

It seemed sexual compatibility didn't actually have much to do with liking someone. It was all hormones and chemistry.

 

She glared at him and he glared right back. She blinked first and looked away as she tried to right her clothes. It was basically useless. They were covered in man juice. Covered or not it was gonna be tough to play that off. 

 

“There a bathroom around here? Preferably one with a shower?” Tanner asked. She turned back and shot him another glare but sighed.

 

“Yeah, just down the hall. We can clean off but I don’t know what the hell I’m gonna do about my clothes?” She said with a grimace of distaste as she looked down at herself. Her clothes were a mess and the cum was starting to dry. The uniform she was wearing would have to go.

 

“Well your pants missed most of it. Just shower off, put those back on. Then find another lab coat and button it closed. It’ll look odd, but it’s only for part of one shift.” Tanner said reasonably. Then he looked down at the bed. Broken and filthy. “The bed on the other hand is gonna take some work.”

 

Trisha buttoned her lab coat closed then walked out the door while Tanner got to work. He’d managed to separate the thin mattress and stained sheets from the twisted chunks of the thin  metal frame by the time Trisha got back with a new hospital gown.

 

“Put this on, I don’t wanna look at your naked ass anymore.” She said, still sounding bitter. Tanner didn't bother putting on the gown, instead finding the shower and cleaning off first. Walking to the shower took a great deal of effort, his body was in no way fully healed and instead of resting he'd had very intense sex. It was exactly the sort of thing an idiot horny teenager would do but it hadn't helped his recovery.

 

The two worked in silence to clean up the mess when he got back until Tanner finally asked. “Did we at least win the battle.” That question made Trisha roll her eyes so hard he thought she might hurt herself.

 

“If the demons were rampaging over the countryside do you think I’d be in here cleaning up spooge with you?” She snapped. Tanner felt his cheeks redden, partly in anger, partly because it had been a stupid question and he hadn’t bothered to ask before he’d fucked her either. He didn’t have much moral high ground to stand on.

 

She sighed, then continued in a less acerbic tone. “Yes and No… On one hand it was one of the worst military defeats in years. Nearly 4,000 soldiers died… On the other hand it was one of the greatest victories against the demons humanity has ever had. The base commander killed a demon lord. Aside from the tens of thousands of SP’s she would have earned and the demon core which should be worth millions, it’s the first serious blow to the demons since the Final War.”

 

The casualty figure made Tanner even more worried about Grace but the pair did manage to clean the room up in semi-companionable silence. A nurse came to check on him a few hours later. Tanner had no clue what lie the Trisha had told to her but the nurse gave him a uniform and let him rest another few hours before he was sent back to base along with a half-dozen other survivors they’d fished out of the river and healed.

 

Tanner was nervous the whole ride. He hoped desperately that Grace was alright. He loved her and if she was alive he was going to tell her that.

 

Snow was falling as the ground transport dropped off Tanner. The sky was a dreary iron gray and the weather seemed to match the base's atmosphere. The constantly bustling energy seemed to have all been drained away leaving the soldiers plodding weary from one building to another. Their heads down and their faces hidden, even the guns were quiet, making the base even more silent and strange.

 

Tanner only had a moment to get his bearings before he was pulled into a large chest by a pair of massive arms. 

 

“I was so worried.” His dad rumbled from above him. “Thank God you’re alright.” Tanner felt himself tremble before he hugged his dad back with all his strength. He thought he’d processed the danger and had moved past it but apparently he’d just buried it and now it was all bubbling up as tears started to fall down his face. He buried his head into his fathers chest and shook.

 

“It’s alright son… you’re alright.” His dad said soothingly as Tanner cried. “Common, lets get inside. It’s freezing out here.” Tanner nodded and stepped out of the hug. Only then seeing his dad’s crutch and his right leg in a rough cast.

 

“You broke your leg?” Tanner asked, surprised.

 

“Coulda been worse.” His dad replied grimly. “Half the base are walking wounded. Anyone with a non-critical injury just has to live with it for now. I got off lighter than a lot of others.” Tanner nodded and they made their way through the deepening snow until they made it to his dad's room. His dad lived in a room similar to the one Tanner had. It was small, but much bigger than a normal soldier's accommodations. 

 

Tanner slid onto a chair and started wiping his eyes on his shirt. His face was wet but he tried to get control of himself. He was alive and his dad was alive. That was as good as anyone could hope for. Now he just had to find out about the others.

 

“Go back to your room and get a fresh uniform. Then find your sergeant and report in. You don’t wanna be marked down as AWOL. I’m guessing he’ll send you right back to bed but you at least need to let him know you're alive.”

 

Tanner nodded and took a deep breath before standing back up and heading for the door. His father was right. He had duties. Once he was free he’d try to find Grace.

 

It turned out his training sergeant was dead. Which meant Tanner had to spend almost two hours walking around in the snow before he found an officer in his chain of command to report to. He was then sent back to his room. Instead tanner headed for the hospital. With the doctors and nurses working past exhaustion and thousands of injured to see, Tanner knew it was the last place they wanted him wandering around. Luckily, those that had already been treated had been moved to various buildings and after a few hours of searching room by room he finally found Grace. She’d been tucked into a make-shift med-bay with two more people who’d been healed enough not to die but not enough to get them out of bed.

 

“Grace….” He whispered as he stood in the doorway. Her short hair was a mess and she looked like hell but she was alive. Her own eyes opened in surprise then tears started to fall as Tanner rushed forward and pulled her into a hug. She hugged him back hard and his ribs creaked under the pressure.

 

“I thought you died….. I thought you’d died doing something stupid and heroic like a moron.” She growled at him. Then her strength seemed to fail her and she slumped back on the bed, her arms releasing him as they went limp.

 

“Are you alright?” He asked. Then cursed himself for asking such a dumb question. Of course she wasn’t alright, she was hospitalized and couldn’t even get up.

 

She rolled her eyes at him and he grinned sheepishly.

 

“No… I’ve got corruption everywhere. All over my left side, and down to the knee. Then all the way up to my armpit. I lost a kidney, and a good chunk of my intestines. I’m honestly amazed I’m alive at all, it’s gonna take months of healing. They’ll probably just send me home once I can get out of this bed and make the local hospital fix it.” She said it matter-of-factly but Tanner could see how much pain she was in, not just physically but mentally. Who knew if she’d ever be healed all the way? Yes, healing systems were powerful but they weren’t all equal and to fix the damage she had she’d need something approaching regeneration.

 

Tanner grabbed her hand and twinned their fingers together. He looked into her blue eyes and opened his mouth, but she reached up a trembling hand and placed it over his lips.

 

“I don’t do relationships. So don’t go making any grand declarations.” That made Tanner freeze. It stung more than he was expecting. Grace was stubborn and it was obvious to everyone but her that they were already in a relationship. So instead of getting mad or acting hurt he just bent forward and placed a soft kiss on her lips. He made it as gentle and sweet as he could as he tried to will all of his feelings into her. Then he turned around and left. She might not want him falling in love but it was way too late as far as he was concerned.

 

Tanner spent the rest of the day laying in bed and trying to recuperate. He felt OK but his body was still a mess and he was more worn out after walking around than he’d expected. He quickly fell into a light sleep and didn’t wake up until his dad knocked on his door hours later and drug him to the Cafeteria. He found Sandra and Ms. Aster waiting for them and the four sat down to a rather subdued dinner.

 

A knot eased in his chest as he saw that Sandra was alright. They might be having a few problems but she was his friend and he’d miss her terribly if she died. Tanner sat down and looked at the mother daughter pair. They both looked terrible but Nurse aster looked like a zombie. Dark circles and heavy bags hung under her eyes and she seemed to only be partially awake. Tanner had no doubt she’d been working nearly non-stop since the battle and had pushed her power way further than was healthy. He was surprised she’d managed to sneak away long enough for some food.

 

Sandra on the other hand looked wan and pale. Her normally caramel skin had a sickly jaundiced look to it and she wore a large bandage over one arm. Seeing her hurt twisted something in him but it was overshadowed by the relief he felt. 

 

“I’m glad you're ok.” He told her as he set his plate down at the table. “You look like hell though…” He told her with a smile to try and add a bit of humor to the serious atmosphere. She snorted, although Tanner thought it was mostly a sympathy laugh. He’d take it though.

 

“Did you really almost die?” She asked softly, her dark eyes serious. Tanner nodded and pulled down the collar of his shirt, making the knott of dark twisted skin visible. Sandra sucked her teeth and Nurse Aster swore.

 

“You’re damn lucky boy…” She said with only a hint of her normal fire. "Corruption that close to your heart is always dangerous. It’s damn tricky to get it stopped in time.” Tanner knew how lucky he was. He’d never really expected to survive. He’d just wanted to save Grace, which he supposed he had. The thought buoyed him.

 

“Even better news. I heard they are sending you home after New Years.” Tanner’s dad said, sounding relieved. We can all go home, everyone made it.” He repeated, as if he didn’t believe it. “We all made it.” He reached out his scarred hands and grabbed one of Rashelle’s hands as well as one of Tanner’s.

 

Tanner didn’t know how to feel. On one hand he definitely wanted to go home. He was worn out, physically, mentally, and a sort of soul deep weariness that he hadn’t noticed until he’d made it back to the base and realized he wasn’t going to have to fight again anytime soon. On the other hand, he’d enjoyed his time in the army. He enjoyed spending time with Grace and Marcella. If he left would he even see them again?

 

He told himself he would. He’d just make sure he got both their numbers and would contact them. He already had Grace’s number and was more than willing to track her down if needed. His back straightened up and he took a deep breath. Yes, if life wasn’t going the way you wanted then it was up to you to change it.

 

The dinner was nice, if somber and Tanner was glad when it was done. He gave Ms. Aster a hug as his dad dragged her back to his room to get some sleep and Sandra drifted off. Tanner was more than happy to go back to bed. He was still hurt and he needed to report tomorrow.

***************************

 

Jergen walked into the commander's office and barely managed a salute before collapsing into one of the chairs across from the commander's desk. The commander sat in her normal chair but lacked her normal stoic appearance. Her skin looked sallow and the air around her warped and swirled, flickering with phantom images as if her very appearance was only an illusion. 

 

Jergen did manage to muster a smile at that. The commander must truly be exhausted if her mana was leaking out of her control. Then again, he doubted she’d slept at all since the battle and that was nearly four days ago.

 

He himself had only managed a few hours since then. The wall was in ruins, the base was full of wounded, they lacked the healers to help, and they had multiple demons on this side of the wall they’d had to track down and eliminate. All of that to do with a massive man power shortage because of all the deaths and wounded. Still it wasn’t all bad news.

 

Jergen carefully sat the metal cube he was holding on the table. The thing made his skin crawl, even through all the runed lead insulating it. He swore he could still feel the corruption radiating off it. It seemed the commander could feel it because her eyes snapped up from the lists she was pouring over to glare at the box with red-rimmed eyes as soon as he sat it on her desk.

 

“You found it already?” She asked, sounding both exhausted and surprised.

 

“Was hard not to. The damn thing radiates so much mana and corruption you can feel it from a half-mile away. I had Hanover whip up this box for it, but I swear and I still feel the damn thing, even if he swears up and down nothing is getting through the box.” Jergen told her.

 

“The core of a demon lord.” She sighed and rubbed her palms into her tired eyes. “I’ve already gotten calls from General Ishia, NAUEA, and some Assistant Undersecretary of the Conclave, all of them demanding I hand it over to them.”

 

“And who are you giving it to?” Jergen asked.

 

“Technically NAUEA gets it, if we go by the book. Problem is whoever I give it to, everyone else is going to be pissed. There’s always been some wheeling and dealing when it comes to selling mana and cores. Everyone plays the game and NAUEA never cares as long as the lines get held and they get their slice of the pie. 

 

“This is just WAY too valuable though. There’s no way to even estimate a price for it. I doubt anyone really knows what to do with the damn thing even if they had it.”

 

“You didn’t answer the question.” Jergen pointed out.

 

“I’m giving it to whoever can get the most healers out here. We’ve got thousands of wounded and nearly all of those have serious corruption. Unless I want to send half the soldiers here home crippled we need more.” The commander said sourly.

 

“NAUEA won't like that.”

 

“NAUEA doesn’t like anything. Just because the South border had more population centers the SAUEA has always been the more prestigious post. NAUEA has had a chip on its shoulders for years, anyone who makes it to NAUEA command is always a bitter asshole.” She sighed, then ran a hand through her lank brown hair.

 

“I’d really rather give it to them but we don’t have a choice. We’ve got too many wounded and it’ll take months for them to send us enough reinforcements to make up the numbers we lost. This has been a damn disaster.” 

 

“War is always a disaster.” Jergen said. Then gave her a wan smile.

 

“Look on the bright side… It’s Christmas.”

 

End of Arc 1

 

 

AN: I've only written one ARC for this story. I do have a single chapter written in Arc 2, but I have no idea how I want the arc to develop or have any realistic timeline for it to happen. So this will likely be the last post on this story for a long time, maybe ever.

 

I'm currently working on 3 other projects.

The 'hidden magical world' novel and a System Apocalypse novel I'm not sure I'll post on this site, but I might if I get them moved further along.

 

The third was more of a spur-of-the-moment project I started, planning it to be another system-based smut novel, but a short week-end project I'd likely stick on a dedicated smut site. However, as sometimes happens when I start writing, the story took on a life of it's own. Three weeks later I'm at 84 google-docs pages and 40k words and still going strong.

The new story will be called Physical Magic and I am planning on posting it on this site, although I likely need to do some re-writing first. So if you like my work, look out for it sometime over the next month or two.

And lastly.... Thank you all for your support.

Dutchman signing off