More Giants, and Sharing a Tent

 

Damien and the rest of the party had a meeting the next day to go over their next plans.

“We made a good amount from the giants, and they also gave us good XP, so I think we should do those again,” Betty started with (she was the one who had wanted the meeting).

Damien nodded. “But what if they don't have Mountain Giant requests?”

“I think we should go anyway, and beat them up!” Bluey said.

Before Damien could respond, Betty nodded, “I agree. At this point, Bronze-Rank requests are too easy for us. We need to get myself and Damien to Iron-Rank so we can start picking up tougher requests.”

Damien sighed, “Why do you wanna do tougher requests?”

"Well, mainly so we can make more. And once we have a bit saved up, we can buy better gear. We'll probably need to upgrade once we're Iron-Rank, too,” Betty explained.

Kara nodded, “I don't mind going on Iron-Rank requests with you all, but I'd like some better armor first...”

As they were about to leave, Damien had a realization, “Wait, what happened with Feya?”

Betty averted her gaze, “Um...she seemed to have fun with us yesterday, and said she was going to soothe herself with shopping and food instead of sex...”

Damien facepalmed. “So she basically needs some vice...”

Bluey seemed confused, “What's wrong with shopping and eating?”

“Nothing, in moderation...”

Betty nodded, “I'll check in with her when we're back.”

Luckily, when they went to the guild, there was one Mountain Giant request, this time for five. Since they planned on spending multiple days out on the mountain slope, they packed a decent amount of supplies before heading out.

 

They then took the familiar route to the mountains again, staying at the same inn, until they were once again chasing down the giant.

“I see two that way, Master,” Poppy said as she flew back down.

Since their plan was already well-refined, everyone immediately sprang into action. One of the giants ate a Fire Ball to the face, while the other received an array of daggers flying into its chin. Poppy used Sparkle on both of them as everyone kept attacking, until both had fallen over. Once they were on the ground, Bluey made short work of them.

They continued this multiple times, until they had defeated five giants in the first day.

As they were making camp, Betty grabbed Damien. “We did it!”

Damien was confused, “What did we-”

“I finally got to level 12! I'll be Iron-Rank now!” she said, giving him a kiss.

Damien smiled and hugged her.

“I've been so caught up with you, and the Goddess, and everything, but it's nice to feel like I'm making some progress as an Adventurer, too.”

Kara gave a mischievous grin. “I also got to level 10 today. I just didn't want to say anything since we were focused on the giants...”

Bluey gave a fist pump, “Master, I also leveled!”

Damien pulled up the screen.

“It's been so long, I forgot what it's like...”

 

Bluey leveled up

Slime – Level 16

STR – 227

VIT – 204

MAG – 76

DEX – 176

 

STR +52

VIT +8

All Abilities +6

Lightning Attunement

Lightning Bolt

Squishy Membrane

Bouncy

Shockwave

 

New Ability Available

 

All Abilities +8

 

...That's it?

Bluey also seemed disappointed. “Is my strength too high? Why is that my only option.”

Damien shrugged, “Maybe. It's not like that's bad.”

Bluey sighed, “You're right...” then selected the ability.

 

They cooked some soup together, then slurped it down quickly after the long day of walking and fighting.

After eating two bowls in record time, Bluey let out a large sigh of satisfaction. “Huwahhhh, I'm going to bed early.”

Aurora nodded, following her in, “I'm pretty tired, too.”

The others continued eating, staring into the fire in quiet as they sipped on some tea Betty had made.

After she finished her first cup, Betty leaned over and kissed Damien, “I'm gonna turn in too,” she said, scooping up the sleeping Poppy from Damien's head, before heading into the tent as well.

He and Kara sat there sipping their tea, before Kara started blushing a bit, “Err...”

Damien wasn't sure what he had done. “Sorry, I don't-”

Kara shook her head, “It's not your fault. I was just hoping one of the others would sleep with me again. It gets cold in the tent by myself.”

Damien gulped on the tea he was drinking. Since coming back from the island, usually one of the other girls would sleep with Kara in her tent. Their tent was very cramped with four people, and secretly Damien felt better having someone with Kara in case something like the snake attack happened again.

Kara was still blushing, staring at the fire. “Um...it's crowded in there with four of you, right? Five with Poppy.”

“Poppy doesn't take up that much room, but yeah...” Damien said. “I can wake up Betty and see if she wants to-”

Kara looked at him. “Um...you can sleep with-...sleep in my tent, if you want.”

Damien shook his head, “That's okay.”

Kara stood up, grabbing his sleeve. “It's fine, come on.”

Damien decided it was best not to argue, and let her drag him into her tent. It was relatively spacious inside, and two sleeping bags were already laid out (presumably for Betty or one of the other girls to sleep in). He waited until Kara got into one, then turned slightly away. He dragged the other slightly away from her, and slid into it.

They laid there for a few minutes, when he heard Kara asked, “Um...are you still awake?”

“Yeah,” was all Damien replied.

“Is it okay if I ask you something?”

Damien wasn't sure how he felt about the situation. It's not like the other girls will be upset if Kara wants to sleep with me, but I feel like I've already got so many girls... Despite this, he said, “Sure.”

“What does love feel like?”

Damien blinked (not that she could see it in the near-dark, only the barest amount of moonlight coming through the mesh in the top of the tent). “Um...” I wasn't expecting that.

“Betty, your summons, and Carleen... I see them with you, but I don't really get it.”

“Well...I guess it depends on the person. I think for some people, it's about someone you enjoy being around. Or maybe relying on, too.”

“That makes sense...” Kara said. He could see she had turned to lay upright, staring at the moon with him.

Damien continued, “For others...I think its about having a connection with someone.”

“Like s-sex?” Kara asked, sounding nervous. If you could hear someone blushing, Damien could in this instance.

“Yes...though it doesn't always have to be that. You can just be...good friends,” Damien replied, struggling to figure out how to explain it.

“Can't you have sex with friends though?” Kara asked.

Damien sigh, “Yeah, I guess you can.”

After a few moments, Kara responded, “Sorry...I just was thinking lately, and...thanks for explaining.”

Damien wasn't sure how to respond, so just replied, “Of course.”

After a bit, Kara said, “We better get some sleep,” and shuffled in her bag a bit.

“Agreed,” Damien replied, pulling up his sleeping bag.

After a few minutes, he was about to fall asleep, when he heard Kara ask again, “Damien?”

“What?” Damien replied, trying not to sound annoyed (not because he minded talking with Kara, but just because he was almost asleep).

“Um...is it okay if I scoot next to you? I'm kind of cold.”

“Oh, yeah, that's fine,” Damien replied, half-asleep.

He heard some shuffling, before feeling someone laying next to him. He couldn't really feel anything distinct between the two bags, but he knew Kara was lying up against him.

“Thanks,” he heard whispered, now right behind him.

Damien tried not to think about Kara laying up against him, and really was too exhausted to anyway, and quickly fell asleep.

 

In the morning, Damien awoke to the sound of...giggling.

What... He lifted his head up, and blinked his eyes at the sunlight shining in.

“Hehe, Master couldn't keep his hands off Kara, either?” he heard Bluey say.

Damien turned his head, and saw Kara grabbing his sleeping bag, still asleep. He took a few moments to respond, then said, “Isn't it the other way around.”

Betty poked her head in, “I can guess what happened...sorry, I should have realized last night.”

Kara woke up from all the commotion. After seeing what she was grabbing, she blushed a bit, then hid in her bag. “Sorry...”

Aurora stuck her head in, “Master, is Kara moving in with us?”

 

After explaining the course of events from the previous night (though Damien left out their conversation) they all understood, and went out eating breakfast and cleaning up.

The rest of the day was spent hunting giants again. Damien was worried Kara might act differently after their discussion, but she seemed like her normal self, throwing daggers and slashing with wild abandon.

 

The day went by rather quickly, finishing off another four giants. Also, Damien finally got to level 11.

“Nice, Master!” Bluey said, as he told everyone. The others were preparing dinner, so he took the time to do the level up.

 

Damien leveled up

Summoner – Level 11

STR – 65

VIT – 69

MAG – 142

DEX – 68

 

Stat Share

Heal (summon)

Summon Boost

Summon XP Trade Boost

Message

Summon Start-Up Boost

Copy Ability

Summon Tether

 

New Ability Available

 

Summon Sacrifice – Can sacrifice one of your summons to permanently add 10% of the sacrificed summons stats to another summon, or to summoner. (Cannot sacrifice a Tether'd summon.)

Summon slot used by sacrifice becomes available a week after using this ability.

 

Damien read through this ability twice, blinking in disbelief. Wha-what!? This is awful! I don't want to sacrifice someone! He shivered a bit. I'm already terrified of losing them, I'm not gonna purposely do something to them. Can I just reject this ability? It's my only option, so...

He looked at the box, and there was a small 'X' in the top right corner. Was that there before? He clicked on it, and the ability went away, and the level up screen disappeared. I guess I just don't get another option then...well, that's fine. That's pretty gross.

'I know, but it's a really popular option among Summoners...' he heard said in his head.

Goddess!? Did you give me that option?

'No, that's a normal one in the system. I can only make so many changes, else I'd-...well, don't mind that. You're just one level away from my surprise ability I've been cooking up for you! It's all done, you just need to get to level 12!'

The Goddess sounded extremely excited. Yeah, I'm looking forward to it, you've been hyping it up for a while, he chuckled.

'I mean it! You better use it!' she said with a slight 'hpmf'.

I know, I'm not lying.

'Good, good! Now, I need to go, but I'll check in again soon. Keep working on that level!'

Thanks Goddess. He heard a little giggle, then the presence of the Goddess went away.

“Um, Master...are you okay?” he heard as Aurora stuck her head in front of his face.

Damien blushed, “Sorry.”

“It's okay. I was a bit worried, I called three times asking what your new ability was, but you seemed like you were lost in thought, and not answering.”

Damien shook his head. “I, uh, didn't get an ability. That's why I was confused.”

Betty, who was spooning stew out, raised an eyebrow. “You didn't get any option? I've never even heard of that.”

Damien nodded. “Yes. Well, I guess technically I did, but it was a really bad ability, so I chose to not get it.”

Bluey nodded, “That makes sense. We're already so strong anyway, we wouldn't need anything negative.”

Aurora nodded, although Betty and Kara were suspicious.

After that, Betty went into the tent with Kara so Damien with with the others. Everyone was so tired from the day, though, they were all conked out in a couple minutes.

 

The next day, they hunted Giants again. However, they only found two by the time it was dusk.

“Um...where are they all?” Bluey asked, a bit disappointed.

Poppy shook her head, “I don't see any.”

Aurora also shook her head, “I don't smell any either, just faded scents.”

Betty tapped her cheek, “I wonder if we killed all the ones that have spawned recently.”

Damien sighed, “That makes grinding XP hard...”

Betty shook her head, “We still got a lot on this trip already, though.”

Kara nodded, “That's true, I reached level 9 and then some already.”

After deciding the trip had been an overall success, they decided to start heading back for Ancona to hand in the one request they had.

 

As they were walking towards their normal inn, Damien mused on this thing at level 12 the Goddess kept hyping up.

I wonder what it is? A stat boost for my summons? Maybe a special summon? She makes it seem like it'll be a big game changer...