They were unable to get back to Syber before dark, unfortunately. They hadn't even made it back to the main road yet, and the route they were taking hadn't even ended up on any of the smaller trails they'd used to get there. Maple trusted Thera and the others had a good sense of direction.

Thera had them all stop as the sun was setting.

"Alright. Here is as good as anywhere, I guess."

The area was just wilderness, to Maple, slightly sparser of trees and with enough space to group their tents together. They'd been walking through that wilderness, and it was annoying.

She had to be careful not to snag her bags on anything. Her skin felt grimy from sweat and dirt. At one point, she'd walked through a bunch of spider webs and had to drop one of the bags to wipe at her face and then be paranoid about something crawling on her.

Maple groaned and set her stuff down. Her new body did get tired. She felt icky down there, and the slightest bit chafed from the rag. She wasn't having much fun anymore.

She'd gradually recharged her unprocessed prana back to full, so she was still horny. Ridiculously so. Her first thought as she sat down for a break before setting their tent up, was that she should go masturbate again.

At least that would reset it. She realized that wasn't very different from before, but now it also refined her sexual energy into power.

[Enhanced Pleasure] and [Enhanced Libido] both upped her production of prana. She'd experimented, and they did produce more than they cost to use. That almost seemed like an infinite energy glitch, but part of the increase was just from her mental state. She felt a little...naughty having those spells active.

She also figured out how to use them with mana instead of prana, so she was powering them with that now. Mana would slowly regenerate on its own, and Sylla said there were meditations she could do that made it faster.

How the spells worked was still unclear. The system made her body cast them automatically, and it happened a little fast.

It would take repetitive study and watching it happen before she could even cast them without system assistance. From there, she could try to figure out the constituent parts, and maybe start making her own custom spells with them.

She wanted a break from the constant state of arousal, but out here was the safest place to experiment. She decided to push it to its limit while she could, and see if she could develop a resistance to it. Thera's willpower Skill sure would be handy.

Because once they were back, she wouldn't even be able to masturbate freely. Let alone have sex, as she felt an overwhelming urge to do instead. She had a roommate.

Like exercise, it probably wouldn't get much easier or less painful. She'd just become...stronger.

That thought plagued her while she watched where the others set up their tents. She wanted to set her own up a little away so that she could proposition Sylla, and hopefully, Thera too. It might be the last night that she could, because again, she had a roommate.

Footsteps followed by a man's voice interrupted that.

"Hullo, hullo? Who goes there? You're on my land."

A white-haired old man stepped out of the bushes and squinted at them. He was human and held a leash in one hand, with a lazy-looking dog on the other end. In that same hand was a hatchet that looked a little dull. He held it as a just-in-case protector. His clothes were well-worn. Not dirty, just frayed—old.

Maple turned and cancelled the spells on herself. Azure Bond warily stopped what they were doing. He didn't look too dangerous, overall. Thera greeted him with a loud and friendly voice.

"Hello there! We're adventurers, just passing through. We were going to camp here, but we didn't realize anyone was here. We'll move off."

The old man stroked his white facial hair. It was a wild mess of a beard, like he'd just not groomed it at all in years. Actually, it looked like he was trying to straighten it out, and then the hair on his head.

"Ah. No need, if you're friendly enough. Nomnom's not bitin' at ya, is she—is she, she's a good girl, isn't she. So I suppose that's true 'nuff. What news bring ye?"

The old man pet the dog's head affectionately and gave her side a good pat before turning back to them. Maple wanted to pet the doggo. She looked a little old, but aw, what a cute doggo. She answered with the intent of following up by asking to pet her.

"News?"

"Aye, news. Used to be, passing folk would at least share the news to an old [Hermit] like myself. Don't get a lotta 'em these days. Last one was, what, one...two winters ago? My memory's going bad. Eyes, too. And my back—bah. Everything."

"Oh. Um, I don't really know any news..."

Maple looked to Thera for assistance. She just wanted to pet the dog. She lifted Emma's bottle up and pointed it out to her. She poked a lil head out and smiled. Maple pet Emma's head with a finger. For now.

"Well, uh, what kind of news do you want? We're returning to Syber after a few day trip. Price of milk is going up. There was a little event leading to SuQ Dairy shutting down. They're building more sewers. Don't think anything too substantial is happening."

"Ah, right. Milk, huh? Got me own, not to worry. It's better from my animals, forgive my lingering sensibilities. Well, you're adventurers, are ya? Friendly lot? How many are ya?"

He looked around and stroked his face in thought. He seemed to have trouble really seeing them, and was more inclined to look slightly to the side of anyone. Thera nodded, looking a little puzzled.

"Uh, six. One's Em. She's the soap slime in that bottle. We can move off, don't worry. If you could direct us to where your property ends, Mister..?"

He stared in Maple's direction, again to the side of her, presumably he was looking at Emma. She made the part of her poking out into a hand and waved.

"Hornsworth, but call me Barry. Really, there's no need if you want to camp where ya are. Me shack's right through that thicket there. Gots me an outhouse, a well, me animals. Even a shower, but it's outside so not too good in winter, is it. Just me out here. If you stay for dinner, help me butcher one of me pigs—it's getting hard on me; my back, and the killing of 'em—I can use my Skill. [Ain't Much, But I'll Share]. Multiply a dinner up for all of us. Got my garden, too."

Do you want to?

Thera asked Maple in their mind, and Maple replied immediately.

I want to pet his dog.

Thera looked to the rest of her team and got nods and grunts of approval.

"Sure, that'd be great, Barry. And one of us can help you with the pig. Hm, Alas? We just need to set up our tents before it's dark."

Maple had seen her kill lots of things, she almost joked.

"Of course, sun's falling fast. After that, you'll do it quickly? I don't want her to suffer. She's an old, chonky gal now. Lived a nice long life, but better to get the meat while she's still healthy."

"Yes, won't even feel it."

Alas reassured him with a compassionate expression. She did seem to take care with the things she hunted; always an instant death, and never wasting anything. Not that she'd likely use her bow for this. Maple wanted to pet the dog.

"Can I pet your dog? Her name's Nomnom?"

"Oh, sure. She's friendlier than she is useful."

Maple jumped up and pet the cute doggo. She held Emma's bottle up next to her too, so she could pet. Maple got two good head scritches in, and then Nomnom stood up, sniffed her, and moved behind Barry.

Maple was devastated and mortified. Her doggo petting had been rejected.

"Ah, she's a bit of a hermit herself, ain't she. Give her some food later, she might warm up to ya."

Barry patted Nomnom again and Maple nodded glumly.

"Okay, I'll leave you to it. Right through them thicket's me shack. Come by when you're done. I'll go get a nice dinner started. Outhouse is round there too, if you need it. Watch for spiders 'afore ya sit. Big fucker nearly got me the last time. Can't hardly see 'em no more."

Barry shook his head. With those wise words, he left the way he came. The others went back to setting up their tents, and Maple got hers started. Emma seemed content to sit in her bottle while Maple did all the work.

Thera stood and watched the others once her own tent was done. She turned to Maple.

"So I guess you're a dog person?"

"They're cute. I can't believe you all didn't want to pet her."

Alas took in a breath and opened her mouth to say something. Maple glared at her, daring her to make some kind of crass joke. She had spells now, and could make her regret it.

Alas said nothing.

---

Wholesome dog petting aside, Maple was still horny. And she didn't want to remain that way over dinner. It was nearly dark when they finished setting up camp and found Barry's shack. A small rectangular home made of wood. It looked, uh, rustic. Minimal.

Maple had a whole lot of other words she could use for it, but they were eating outside. There simply wasn't space inside for them. He did have a garden, and animals, and he got Alas to the pig they were butchering first of all.

Once that was going, he returned to the rest of them and tried to act welcoming. He seemed decent enough, but just a little unused to people.

"Right, got some potatoes and beans cooking. Can't offer much, but make yourselves at home. If anyone wants a shower, there is one out back. I can heat some water. I know how rough days of travel and camping can be. I have water if you're thirsty. I'll open up a bottle of wine for dinner, don't got many of those, but in the meantime I can offer you me own brew. The current one's berries, if I remember right."

"Um, I'd take a shower."

No one else seemed eager to take that offer, but Maple felt icky. And she felt a little selfish for it, making him heat water and all, but he had offered.

"Sure thing, missy. You'll get a whole 15 liters you can use."

He went inside to boil some water, and the others settled in around the wooden picnic table in his yard. Alas was butchering the pig she'd murdered on request, and Sylla provided several floating light spells for them.

The smell of burning wood soon filled the air from the stove in Barry's shack. A round metal chimney poked out of the roof. He came back with a large glass jug of a murky liquid.

"Hermit hooch if anyone wants any. It is berry. Doesn't taste too bad, really. Oh, need glasses too, don't I?"

He went back inside. Maple had set Emma down on the table, and a tendril of her poked out now and started reaching into the jug. Maple poked her gently.

"Wait for a cup, silly."

Emma wrapped the tendril of herself around Maple's hand and squeezed. Grr, how dare you stop me, was how Maple interpreted it. She laughed and squeezed back.

Barry came back with glasses and set them all out on the wood table. He poured some into a glass for himself and drank it with a refreshed ahh.

"Help yourselves if you want any. It's basically free. Berries n' what not. Not great, I'm no [Brewer], but...it'll do. Your water's probably done. Then I'll get the meat cooking."

He went back in. Sylla poured herself a drink, and then a glass for Emma. She offered the pitcher to anyone else and Dort took it. Sylla sipped cautiously from her glass.

"Ah. It's pretty good, actually. A little sweet."