“Faster.”
“Oh, sure. Just run down a panicked girl in the dark while carrying a full grown man on your back, Arx.” She let out a dismissive snort. “I may have some decent stats, but I’m still only in the 7th Layer, Dearest. And unless you’ve forgotten, I had to give up Runner’s High when my Core reset.”
I had to think for a moment before I could dredge up the memory, but her old build—whether good, bad, or embarrassing—had been a topic of some interest during the long hours around the campfire. That particular skill was… of the latter persuasion. The more physical pleasure she was experiencing, the faster she could run.
From what she could gather, she had picked it up during a drunken bender on a dare. She could not recall what the dare had been about, though. Or much of that night. Or the one after. All she knew—other than having woken up in the middle of a field, harnessed to a plow, and with a bit between her teeth—was that her brand new skill point had been replaced with what was, quite frankly, an atrocious skill.
Still… we had managed to make the thing work for us a couple of times. And given our current Class symmetries, I was more than tempted to encourage a repurchase. Especially now.
“Have…” I began but then immediately ran short of breath. I was wheezing like an asthmatic cripple. “Have… skill point?”
That made her laugh. “Not a bad idea, but I think we’ll come to regret it. This is going to be an endurance race, not a sprint.”
Fortunately—or unfortunately, depending on your point of view—I was saved from having to argue the point by the sound of a thwack followed immediately by a startled yelp of surprise. And not as far ahead of us as I had feared.
“Are you alright, little thing?” Arx called as we neared the sounds of Lynnria groaning in pain.
“Damned traps everywhere!” she swore hysterically. “It broke my ankle. I’m dead! I’m so dead!”
“Not yet, you’re not. Now hurry and—“
She tensed as the sounds of structural collapse turned in our direction, but they soon altered course, again running left to right before fading somewhat into the distance. I was beginning to pick out a pattern. I could not be sure yet, but the bricks sounded like they were falling in ever widening concentric circles. Like some kind of monolithic domino tower.
It probably would have even been neat to look at. Perhaps from a helicopter. Or really anywhere besides directly in its path.
Arx grunted before turning her attention back to Lynnria. “Come on. Out with the rations. My Donum needs his strength.”
“What good will that do?” Lynnria argued, close to sobbing in her hopelessness. “You can’t just instantly draw Life Energy out of a hunk of dried meat, and even if you could, it’s probably poisoned.”
Arx chuckled knowingly. “All the better.”
“W-what?”
Damn it, we don’t have time to explain all this.
I patted Arx’s shoulder weakly. “Pouch… at… her waist.”
Arx sounded her understanding, but before she could start pawing at her in the dark, Lynnria swatted her away.
“Alright, leave off. Let me.”
The sounds of her rummaging through her pouch were quickly overwhelmed by those of the collapsing ceiling, again taking the opportunity to pass us by. And slightly closer this time.
“Here,” Lynnria said as she handed us the jerky. She sounded much calmer now. Focusing on the here and now must have helped. “Now help me stand. The ankle’s already feeling better. Must have just twisted it.”
Arx did not mince words. She simply hauled Lynnria to her feet and immediately set out again. “Keep moving, girl. But stay behind me this time. If you’d hit another of those darts…” She chuckled. “Mmm… well now. Not something you’re ready for, I think.”
Lynnria started in on some sort of indignant protest, but I did not pay her any attention beyond the tug of her hand on my tunic as we led her through the dark. I had more important things on my mind.
I tapped Arx urgently on the shoulder. “Food!”
Arx sniffed at it carefully. “I’m not so sure of that. Seems more like tree bark. Can you even chew this right now?”
That was an excellent question. The answer was almost certainly no, but being weakened to such a point was something I was loath to admit. Fortunately for me, I did not have to.
“Shame?” Arx said after a moment. “I see. Let me, then.”
With that, she shoved the hunk of meat between her fangs and tore a piece of it away. However, she too failed at chewing. For entirely different reasons.
“‘Stits, that’s awful!” She shuttered after spitting the piece back into her hand. “Ugh… Dearest, you can’t! You just can’t.”
I did not care. It was a rotten, almost certainly poisoned piece of what could have been road kill. Still, I did not care. Even if I did not have a solution for most of those problems, I would have eaten it. If for no other reason than because the resource was essential to our immediate survival.
“Give,” I said simply.
She just sighed. She could feel my desperation and my resolve. Even so, the morsel she handed me was… shall we say, more intimately handled than any I had ever imagined consuming. I tried not to think about it.
Strangely, it did not taste of anything. There was no hint of the sickly sweetness or gag-inducing foulness I had expected. Nor was there much of anything else. It was just… texture.
It was not until I attempted to swallow that I slammed into a brick wall. Every fiber of my being immediately took up torches and pitchforks, ready to storm the castle. There was no reasoning my way around it, either.
It was a non-option. Hateful. The complete opposite of food.
And not just swallowing this. Swallowing at all. The very idea had suddenly filled me with loathing. It was perverse. Anathema. I felt it on a base and instinctual level. The act of willingly allowing something… foreign into my body was akin to desecration.
If it were not for the intense hunger crawling through my veins, I probably would have spat it out instantly. But our need was such that I managed to fight back the impulse through sheer force of will.
“Give,” Arx said quietly, echoing my earlier command. Despite the darkness, I looked at her. I had heard in her voice the resolve that had crumbled from mine.
She understood. And now, so did I.
I had changed, if not so outwardly as the girls. Somehow, in a very crucial sort of way, I had become something no longer completely human. The lilim had become my literal source of all Life. It was a disturbing revelation, no less so because the only mechanisms through which I could now feed had been products of our own invention.
But what else could I do? I could not force it down, and allowing myself to starve to death in some misdirected act of protest would serve no one. So—with a great deal of reluctance—I spat the now well-chewed morsel back into my palm and handed it over.
Arx received it dutifully and without fanfare, though I knew she felt nearly the same about it as I did. She simply plucked the thing from my hand with her teeth and choked it down whole.
Seleroan
Hey there, gentle reader.
Enjoying the content? Well, why not drop by my Patreon? It helps me keep this show running, and allows me to afford great things like editors, cover artists, and food!
But more importantly, there's those all-important advanced chapters, Patreon exclusive character art, and even the occasional poll to influence the direction of the story.
Come on down! We'd love to see you.
“Faster.”
“Oh, sure. Just run down a panicked girl in the dark while carrying a full grown man on your back, Arx.” She let out a dismissive snort. “I may have some decent stats, but I’m still only in the 7th Layer, Dearest. And unless you’ve forgotten, I had to give up Runner’s High when my Core reset.”
I had to think for a moment before I could dredge up the memory, but her old build—whether good, bad, or embarrassing—had been a topic of some interest during the long hours around the campfire. That particular skill was… of the latter persuasion. The more physical pleasure she was experiencing, the faster she could run.
From what she could gather, she had picked it up during a drunken bender on a dare. She could not recall what the dare had been about, though. Or much of that night. Or the one after. All she knew—other than having woken up in the middle of a field, harnessed to a plow, and with a bit between her teeth—was that her brand new skill point had been replaced with what was, quite frankly, an atrocious skill.
Still… we had managed to make the thing work for us a couple of times. And given our current Class symmetries, I was more than tempted to encourage a repurchase. Especially now.
“Have…” I began but then immediately ran short of breath. I was wheezing like an asthmatic cripple. “Have… skill point?”
That made her laugh. “Not a bad idea, but I think we’ll come to regret it. This is going to be an endurance race, not a sprint.”
Fortunately—or unfortunately, depending on your point of view—I was saved from having to argue the point by the sound of a thwack followed immediately by a startled yelp of surprise. And not as far ahead of us as I had feared.
“Are you alright, little thing?” Arx called as we neared the sounds of Lynnria groaning in pain.
“Damned traps everywhere!” she swore hysterically. “It broke my ankle. I’m dead! I’m so dead!”
“Not yet, you’re not. Now hurry and—“
She tensed as the sounds of structural collapse turned in our direction, but they soon altered course, again running left to right before fading somewhat into the distance. I was beginning to pick out a pattern. I could not be sure yet, but the bricks sounded like they were falling in ever widening concentric circles. Like some kind of monolithic domino tower.
It probably would have even been neat to look at. Perhaps from a helicopter. Or really anywhere besides directly in its path.
Arx grunted before turning her attention back to Lynnria. “Come on. Out with the rations. My Donum needs his strength.”
“What good will that do?” Lynnria argued, close to sobbing in her hopelessness. “You can’t just instantly draw Life Energy out of a hunk of dried meat, and even if you could, it’s probably poisoned.”
Arx chuckled knowingly. “All the better.”
“W-what?”
Damn it, we don’t have time to explain all this.
I patted Arx’s shoulder weakly. “Pouch… at… her waist.”
Arx sounded her understanding, but before she could start pawing at her in the dark, Lynnria swatted her away.
“Alright, leave off. Let me.”
The sounds of her rummaging through her pouch were quickly overwhelmed by those of the collapsing ceiling, again taking the opportunity to pass us by. And slightly closer this time.
“Here,” Lynnria said as she handed us the jerky. She sounded much calmer now. Focusing on the here and now must have helped. “Now help me stand. The ankle’s already feeling better. Must have just twisted it.”
Arx did not mince words. She simply hauled Lynnria to her feet and immediately set out again. “Keep moving, girl. But stay behind me this time. If you’d hit another of those darts…” She chuckled. “Mmm… well now. Not something you’re ready for, I think.”
Lynnria started in on some sort of indignant protest, but I did not pay her any attention beyond the tug of her hand on my tunic as we led her through the dark. I had more important things on my mind.
I tapped Arx urgently on the shoulder. “Food!”
Arx sniffed at it carefully. “I’m not so sure of that. Seems more like tree bark. Can you even chew this right now?”
That was an excellent question. The answer was almost certainly no, but being weakened to such a point was something I was loath to admit. Fortunately for me, I did not have to.
“Shame?” Arx said after a moment. “I see. Let me, then.”
With that, she shoved the hunk of meat between her fangs and tore a piece of it away. However, she too failed at chewing. For entirely different reasons.
“‘Stits, that’s awful!” She shuttered after spitting the piece back into her hand. “Ugh… Dearest, you can’t! You just can’t.”
I did not care. It was a rotten, almost certainly poisoned piece of what could have been road kill. Still, I did not care. Even if I did not have a solution for most of those problems, I would have eaten it. If for no other reason than because the resource was essential to our immediate survival.
“Give,” I said simply.
She just sighed. She could feel my desperation and my resolve. Even so, the morsel she handed me was… shall we say, more intimately handled than any I had ever imagined consuming. I tried not to think about it.
Strangely, it did not taste of anything. There was no hint of the sickly sweetness or gag-inducing foulness I had expected. Nor was there much of anything else. It was just… texture.
It was not until I attempted to swallow that I slammed into a brick wall. Every fiber of my being immediately took up torches and pitchforks, ready to storm the castle. There was no reasoning my way around it, either.
It was a non-option. Hateful. The complete opposite of food.
And not just swallowing this. Swallowing at all. The very idea had suddenly filled me with loathing. It was perverse. Anathema. I felt it on a base and instinctual level. The act of willingly allowing something… foreign into my body was akin to desecration.
If it were not for the intense hunger crawling through my veins, I probably would have spat it out instantly. But our need was such that I managed to fight back the impulse through sheer force of will.
“Give,” Arx said quietly, echoing my earlier command. Despite the darkness, I looked at her. I had heard in her voice the resolve that had crumbled from mine.
She understood. And now, so did I.
I had changed, if not so outwardly as the girls. Somehow, in a very crucial sort of way, I had become something no longer completely human. The lilim had become my literal source of all Life. It was a disturbing revelation, no less so because the only mechanisms through which I could now feed had been products of our own invention.
But what else could I do? I could not force it down, and allowing myself to starve to death in some misdirected act of protest would serve no one. So—with a great deal of reluctance—I spat the now well-chewed morsel back into my palm and handed it over.
Arx received it dutifully and without fanfare, though I knew she felt nearly the same about it as I did. She simply plucked the thing from my hand with her teeth and choked it down whole.
Seleroan
Hey there, gentle reader.
Enjoying the content? Well, why not drop by my Patreon? It helps me keep this show running, and allows me to afford great things like editors, cover artists, and food!
But more importantly, there's those all-important advanced chapters, Patreon exclusive character art, and even the occasional poll to influence the direction of the story.
Come on down! We'd love to see you.
