Demonic Magician

As much as I yearned for the sweet release of another good sleep in a soft bed, I couldn’t help but sit in an enamored fascination with the elf. Standing on the floor in her nightgown, a scowl of concentration on her face and a pair of oranges in her hands - it was as bizarre as it was cute. She’d picked up juggling relatively quickly. Two oranges, not a problem once she got the movements correct. Three was slightly more effort, but her natural dexterity helped the process along.

The soft thud of the fruit of the floor was accompanied by a murmured curse, and she kneeled down to retrieve it. She stood back up and pushed her radiant blonde hair from her face. “Well, I think that’s enough extra-curricular activities for tonight.”

I smiled. Odd to hear someone use that phrase without intending it as an entendre. “Come to bed, then. Let me hold and protect you.”

“Ah.” She gave me a soft smile and tilted her head. “You certainly know the way to my heart, trickster.”

“Not that you need protecting, of course,” I added as she moved to the bed and got under the covers. “But I will anyway.”

The lantern was dimmed as she shuffled up to me so that I could put my arm around her. “We all need protecting,” she said. “Just as we all need to protect you.”

Just because I had been kidnapped by a demi-god, had my arm explode off, and nearly killed myself trying to save myself from a potentially fatal strike from a harpy, it didn’t mean that I… actually; I forgot where I was going with that train of thought.

“You ever get the feeling that things are getting weirder? More dire?”

Ren sighed in comfort and held onto my arm. “Of course. Knowing that the final act against the necromancer is coming up, the stakes have to be higher. Keeps the show more entertaining. The audience stays… engaged.”

Her voice trailed off as sleep took her. It had been a long day for all of us, and she would have been worried after I had put myself out of action with my own carelessness. Why I had to constantly gamble with my own well-being, I wasn’t sure. It wasn’t even that I thought myself invincible or beyond fate. I had just grown confident in my ability to rise above the odds.

While her comment on how the show was progressing sounded like a little pandering on my behalf, perhaps there was some truth to it. Not that there was a greater narrative pushing things into neat arcs that could be resolved. But… the harder we pushed against our greater foe, the greater they’d have to push back.

With that in mind, I was cautious about tomorrow. Or today, depending on how late it was. Killing System-created Monsters to grind out another level sounded simple in prospect, but we had large targets on our backs. Larger targets. In a way, we had accepted that as a fact when we took Tanya in. Or at least when I had made that decision for us.

Being leader was a lot harder a job than I envisioned, even if not explicitly taking up that position. I felt that I had done my due diligence in speaking with Tanya today, and ensuring Wolf stayed safe. Ren and I had traded thoughts on everything so far. Perhaps Quinn was due a wellness check. We were taking a risk in splitting the Party between two houses, but the weaver had mentioned she had alarm idols or something earlier in the day. Sleep was important.

I checked through my Stats, only really putting my tired eyes over the three figures that made a difference to my fighting ability.

[Stats]

Intelligence - 57 (22+35)

Dexterity - 34 (22 + 10)

Luck - 24 (16 + 8)

+20% Magic Damage

+10% Cast Speed

+25% Maximum Mana

My Intelligence had taken a leap of seventeen points since I last checked at the campground. Something only days away, yet it seemed like weeks ago. Dexterity up by seven, even though I had fallen out of favor with that Stat. Luck increase from fourteen to twenty-four. A decent jump and something I would use to explain how I got away with murder. And from it.

I didn’t really think about the meta progression too deeply, as long as I was getting more powerful per level. It was clear this world wasn’t designed with PvP in mind, and I wondered why someone had enabled it at this stage. I could work on stacking solely Int, Magic Damage, and Maximum Mana - then my cards would be without equal.

As my brain tried to pick apart ways in which my gear could influence my performance, I fell into a deep sleep.

An odd dream came to me. A reflection of my fight against the Siren, but it wasn’t against her this time. Instead, a faceless being of deep crimson sat patiently at the back of the audience, twisted horns like gnarled trees curved from the sides of their head.

Clearly a demon.

Much like a cliche running-in-a-dream scenario, none of my tricks seemed to land or work. I stood there, floundering as countless eyes stared at me - although there was nobody actually present aside from the large demon. No Ren or Wolf at my side to assist, nor the others. Even Roger was absent. A panic unlike anything I’d ever felt before rocked me to my core, as my movements became even more sloppy and awkward. Melting under my own failure. If there was any metaphor or lesson to be learned from the experience, it faded away as my body rocked.

Eyes open, I blinked away the confusion.

“Max? Bad dream?”

I looked up to see the elf sitting beside me as I laid in bed. Still in her nightgown, but now long swathes of our reality were painted by bright morning light entering through the window. In contrast to the picture perfect vision in front of me, I had been sweating heavily during my sleep, and the side of my face was gummed up with drool.

“Terrible,” I managed. “Perhaps even criminal.”

“We kill people and avoid taxes, trickster.” She left the bed, flinging back the covers to obscure my vision. “Can’t be any more criminal than that.”

I groaned and pushed the sheet away from my face, sitting myself up. She had used the brief moment of being out of my line of sight to switch into her normal outfit. The disappointment on my face must have been obvious, as she rolled her eyes.

“Don’t give me that.” She stretched her back out. “If you want a show, you’ll have to make it up to me first. You’re down a few points for almost killing yourself again.”

“Then let me get a head start.” I grinned and went into the Party Chat.

[Max: Team meeting in half an hour.]

[Tanya: Understood.]

[Wolf: oooO]

I looked back up at the elf to see her with a raised eyebrow and little hope I was about to suggest something she’d be up for. Instead of the obvious, I skirted to a mislaid promise. “Time for that foot rub.”

Any disdain she held washed away to be replaced with surprise. “Oh? Are… you sure?”

Her apparent caution over the act was again an interesting oddity. I’d seen her feet before and there was nothing untoward about them. Surprisingly unblemished given the amount of walking we did, but it wasn’t really anything notable.

“I am sure.” With the flourish of covers, I exited the bed - although I completely misjudged how close the edge I actually was. As half of me slipped, I twisted and struck my soft skull on the edge of my bedside table, collapsing to the floor. Not wanting to waste an opportunity, I then popped up from my temporary abode and flourish my hands - now dressed in my own outfit.

The thin trickle of blood running from the graze across my forehead only dampened the reveal a tiny amount.

“Oh, for fuck’s… that’s another point you need to make up, dickhead.”

As the brief rush of adrenaline from my injury swirled out of the drain, I gestured for her to lay on the bed, totally ignoring her annoyance at yet another clumsy wound I had afflicted myself with. Better I did the deed than my enemy, I considered.

She relented to my offer and sat on the bed to remove her boots and socks, eventually lying down atop the covers - shuffling down a little further so that I could sit at the end of the bed. With my chair produced, I did just that. From my Inventory, the flask of oil. Wasn’t even too sure where I had picked it up, as scented oil was something a little strange to have in this kind of world. Possibly the campground?

I put a healthy amount in the palm of my hand and placed the bottle on the floor beside my chair. Not only should this earn me a point back, but seemed useful in keeping my hands busy while giving my brain a chance to think about the day ahead. She seemed tense now. Perhaps she was ticklish and afraid to reveal such weakness?

As the scent of raspberry filled the air, I took her right foot into my hands and began plying my thumbs into her sole. Almost immediately, I was on autopilot as my fingers performed practised movements, allowing my mind to wander. First port of call was to check with Tanya and see if there was any loot amongst the wreckage of the coach we had all but burned to cinders. It was nice to have someone do all the looting for me now and not have-

“Oh, oh my god.”

I paused and tilted my head to look at the elf. She had an odd look on her face, like I had been torturing her. “Are you okay? I’m not hurting you am-”

“Don’t you fucking stop,” she hissed, furrowing her brow.

Not wanting to argue, I continued massaging her foot once more. She squirmed and writhed, gripping at the pillows.

“You’ve done this before, haven’t you, asshole?”

“I, uh, had a girlfriend who used to run.” A brief relationship amounting to about three months, just after I had left school… before I let my desire to weave illusion encompass most of my waking time.

“Lucky bitch,” the elf murmured.

At this stage, I had no idea what was going on. Despite her body language and occasional groan or gasp, she didn’t seem to be enjoying it. It left me in an odd position where I couldn’t focus on my thoughts.

“Just a… little more!” She closed her eyes and bit her lip as I continued to knead into her soft sole. Her toes curled tight, and she exhaled deeply. “Fuck! Do the other one, asshole. Quick!”

I did so without question. Mostly because I wasn’t even sure what I'd ask given the chance. Hopefully, by finding the same release in her left foot, Ren would then labor me with some answers to what was going on.

“We should have been doing this shit since day one. Fuck.”

My head nodded along, despite knowing that if I had suggested such a thing, then that little underground hiding place probably would have been my grave. After she had stabbed me to death. I allowed my mind to be blank as I performed the necessary motions, applying more oil as quick as my dexterity allowed to not invoke her ire from pausing the ritual.

After another agonising five minutes, and constantly wiggling and expletives, she found the same release with the other foot. I sat back in my chair, unsure of what to even do, as the elf deflated like a balloon into the bed.

I ran my tongue around my teeth. “That was… unexpected.”

“Really?” She sighed deeply and covered her eyes with her forearm. “That’s not a normal reaction?”

“No... no.” I pocketed the oil into my Inventory and withdrew some cloth to wipe my hands. “Usually it’s relaxing or even sensual. I wasn’t really sure what it was doing for you.”

Ren sat up, her hair a tangled mess and hat long discarded. Before answering me, she wiggled her toes energetically. “It’s more like… well, it’s hard to explain.” She didn’t seem to want to extrapolate on this.

“Could you try?”

She shook her head and swung around to hop off the bed and onto the floorboards of whatever house they had dragged me into. “Holy fucks - quick, with me.”

Before I had a chance to interject, she was off. Door open, her freshly oiled feet padding out of the room and down the landing. I scooped up her footwear and hat into my Inventory before following suit, emerging into an open space just as she was going down the stairs. How she managed to keep balance throughout all this was more surprising than the sudden burst of energy.

Down into the open living room, the large form of Wolf sat with his amber eyes narrowed at me. Only getting the audio from the given massage probably gave him the wrong idea about what we were getting up to. No time to explain, as following the elf took me out of the building and into the warm daylight.

She had stopped just off of the path on a grassy area. Head up and eyes closed, the sunlight illuminating her radiant hair. As I walked over, I could see that she was clenching her toes against the ground. On her face, the widest smile I had possibly seen - on anyone, ever.

“I have sensitive feet,” she said, unprompted. “It’s a trait of my elven lineage. Helps us have a natural feel for the woodland or something. That said, it’s also looked down upon to touch other people’s feet. It’s unbecoming, apparently.”

“Like sticking your fingers up someone else’s nose.”

“…yeah.” She turned her head to me and opened her eyes. “Like cleaning out your sinuses, it was more of a relief for me than something pleasurable. But I feel anew. My untapped potential has been unlocked.”

“For humans, it’s not that much different from any other muscle massage. Like when you do my shoulders.”

She reached out and grabbed my arm to pull me closer to her. “Well, I owe you one, Max. This makes up for yesterday.”

“Anytime you need your feet unlocking, Ren, my hands are yours.”

The elf bit her lip. “It’s not something I can endure often, but… I will take you up on that.”

Her bright blue eyes bore into mine, and her face came gradually closer. Our first morning kiss was on the horizon and labored with some new—and kind of strange—connection we had made together. My hand went up to hold her cheek and-

“Morning, you two!” The voice of Quinn was an ice cube that slithered down the collar of our simmering romance.

We turned to see the fixer, followed by Tanya, who seemed to know better when to not interrupt something good happening. Relaxing into more casual positioning, I raised my hand up to wave at them before plopping Ren’s hat back onto her head.

“Want your boots back yet?” I asked from the side of my mouth.

She pouted. “The longer we can stand here on the grass, the better your reward later.”

Shame about the Lady, I guess. She had won, but at least we could eke out an existence living here right on this exact spot. Although, now I imagined the elf slowly turning into a tree. Not a fitting existence for my protégé.

“Glad to see you have recovered,” the weaver said, as the pair reached us.

“Thanks for the idol.” I gave her a nod, but my mind was still trying to think of excuses why we wouldn’t leave the area. “Either of you eaten yet?”

They shook their heads. “Honestly, it was just so nice having a soft bed and some safety.” Tanya looked back at the building they had stayed in. “Almost wanted another couple of hours.”

From behind us, the house groaned as Wolf pushed himself through. “Someone say food?”

With a grin, I raised an eyebrow to Ren. “Well, here in the lovely sun seems like the perfect place to warm up the grill!”

She mouthed a thank-you at me before she withdrew her cooking appliance and the others brought out chairs. With mine appearing as I sat, I leaned over and took off my own boots and socks.

“Want to sort out loot and debrief from last night?” Tanya raised an eyebrow as she looked between Ren’s bare feet and mine.

“Soon,” I replied, a soft smile on my face.

The grass was cool, still laden with a little dew that the sun had yet to evaporate away. Beneath it, the dirt was soft. Not quite comforting, and I clearly didn’t have the visceral connection to nature that Ren felt. As I watched the weaver remove her own boots, with Quinn shortly following her, I couldn’t help but feel contented.

I took this moment to enjoy living, for I could read between the lines of our script. We were in the eye of the storm. A slight calm before the biggest test to date.

While our harshest critics lay in wait, I was mentally sharpening my blade. Even beneath the smile and jovial attitude, the demon within me was preparing to do the worst so that our best days could survive just that little longer.

The seats were filling, and I could hear the impatient murmurs rising.

Soon, my audience. Soon.