[Edited] Chapters 25-26 (Patreon)

These are the chapters in which we finally start getting to know Lynnria a little, so I wanted to spruce up a few of their earliest interactions. Back when I was writing this, I had not yet worked out all of the details to her backstory, so I wanted to provide some hints that her hesitation was more than just surface level. 

Chapter 25 - Mia Makes a Spell

“I’m not sure I’m understanding, Mia,” I replied. “How can you not remember?”

“Cram it up your cunt, smellfungus!” she yelled before taking a calming breath. “Look, it’s not that I can’t create new spells for you. I can. It’s just that I don’t remember any of the standard constructions, so I’m going to have to start over from scratch. And since I’ve been severed, I no longer have access to the Goddess’ Will.”

I paused in my frustrated pacing to stare at a nearby palm tree. It would be nice to be a tree—only having to worry about when the next rain might come… the occasional caterpillar munching on a leaf. So nice.

Sometimes talking to these goddesses—or Ex-goddess Faen… whatever—felt like being back in trigonometry class. My teacher had said that he could explain to us what sines and tangents and cosines were supposed to be, but we would not understand them anyway. So just learn the equations.

I had… then promptly forgot them once the test was done.

“Yeah, I’m not following.”

She let out an exasperated moan. “Okay, look. You understand that spells are Word constructs, yes? Like… Words put together into sentences? Coherent thoughts?”

“Yeah, I’ve more or less figured that out.”

“So when I say ‘standard constructions,’ does that not imply anything to you?”

I tilted my head to one side. “I guess… the normal way a spell would be phrased.”

“Exactly!” she exclaimed. “You see, over the years, the Lady discovered that people tend to have the same sorts of needs over and over again. And as She responded to those needs, She naturally became more skilled in addressing them. Her constructions became more efficient. More elegant. And eventually, She stopped thinking about how to address them entirely, because She didn’t need to. She had a standardized system in place.”

“Okay… that makes sense,” I replied, nodding along. “So when you—or I guess She—offered me things like… Poison Resistance [lesser], that was a standardized ability.”

She hesitated. “Yes… But that’s… well, there’s more to it than that.”

“That’s unsurprising,” I mumbled quietly. “But hold on. I never took anything like that. I always ended up with weird crap like That Only Makes Us Horny. There’s no way that was a standardized ability.”

“What’s the holdup?” Lynnria called from above. Whether through boredom or a simple desire to move her body, she was swatting at a nearby boulder with a branch she had found. “Just pick a skill. You’re taking forever!”

I snorted in derision. “It’s not as easy as you’d think. Just wait until you’re in my shoes.”

She paused her play-fighting to glance down at me in confusion. “Why would I want to wear your shoes?”

“Of course, it wasn’t normal!” Mia exclaimed, pulling my attention back.

Lynnria could not hear her, of course, but she still rolled her eyes in that uniquely teen-aged sort of way, no doubt recognizing the signs of someone having a conversation with unheard voices. As a denizen of this world, she had to be used to that, so she merely turned to resume her rock-fencing.

“You think anyone sane would ever ask for an aura that converts Status Effects into Lust? For everyone around you? Anyone with half a brain would have told you that’s a sure recipe for disaster.”

“I was in a bind at the time, okay?” I retorted, defensive. “Literally. And besides, I ask people for advice all the time.”

“People? You mean drunks and former bandits.”

“How is that my fault?” I patted my chest. “Alien. Remember? Dropped into the middle of a forest with no language skills?”

“Drop a chode up your dentures!” She went silent for a moment, then mumbled, “I don’t think that one even made sense…”

I twisted my lips to one side. “No, I’m pretty sure you just told me to eat a dick.”

“Did I? Never mind. We’ve gotten off-topic.” She took a breath. “The point is I no longer have access to those skills. But worse, I am also lacking an Absolute Will to support the spell’s Meaning.”

“And that means—wait.”

I suddenly had a flash of inspiration. I had seen this sort of language before—specifically in my spell Divine Engraved Will. The card had explained that it was meant to deduce the Will of the ‘Activator’ in a given set of engraved Words… by connecting directly to said Will… which was why the Demon Queen had been able to find me after I had used it. But that was beside the point. This talk of Wills and Meanings was sparking the fire of recognition.

“You’re saying that the Lady has been serving as some sort of… Activator for my spells.”

“In a sense, yes.” She sounded both pleased and surprised that I had gotten there on my own. “How else do you think the kinds could gain access to magic with such limited knowledge of the Words?”

I frowned. “But… that implies that with enough access a person should be able to just make up skills on the fly. At least in theory.”

“If your Will is strong enough, yes. I suppose it would imply that, wouldn’t it,”she replied aloofly.

“Uh huh… and developing such a Will would involve… what exactly?”

“A gallon of horse cum. Eight-legged. No substitutes.”

“I’ll take that as a ‘no comment.’ So, I guess what you’re trying to tell me is that your Will is… not strong enough,” I reasoned.

“No,” she replied quickly. “I still retain the ability to serve as your ‘Activator,’ as you put it. It’s simply that my Will is no longer Absolute. So there may be some… well, let’s call it ‘looseness’ to how any spell I create for you functions.”

Looseness?! This spell system already felt like it was composed of duck tape and bailing wire, so for it to get any looser sounded like a sure recipe for disaster.

“Great…”

I folded my arms before settling against the rock-face to think. I still had quite a few questions about this whole thing. Like why a spell’s functionality would be dependent on the quality of one’s Will. Or what that would even mean for a person trying to use the spell.

Plus, this standard construction thing seemed like a non-issue. Could she not just make up new stuff?

“And what does that have to do with my Dimension Door idea?”

“My tits!” she shouted then continued in a sedate tone, “Okay… let’s say you need to explain to a total and very literal-minded imbecile what it is you want to have happen. And you only have… let’s call it… twenty-four Words to explain yourself in. What does this spell of yours do?”

I narrowed my eyes suspiciously. “Twenty-four Words. That’s an awfully specific number. It’s almost like you were referring to my Manic Breadth stat. For instance.”

“Yeah… interesting coincidence, that,” she murmured, again seemingly disinterested. “You might be able to get away with a few more, but then things become… difficult.”

“Hmm… okay.”

Slowly, I slid down until I was resting on my heels. It was funny in a way. For all the hoops I had to jump through to get Mia to answer even the most basic of questions, she certainly was not shy about hinting toward their answers. It was almost like she wanted me to know, but without her having to explain.

I guess it’s like she said. Be happy with what you get.

Although, that thought reminded me of a few things that had been left unaddressed.

“You know, it occurs to me—what with this sudden update to my forgotten attributes and all—that my Manic stats should now be in the Intermediate stages.” I paused, hoping that she might jump in, but when it was clear she had no intentions of doing so, I added, “I seem to recall something about a bonus popping up right about now.”

She let out a long-suffering groan. “Look, can we please stick to the topic? I’ve only got the one pair of hands. I’ll get to that later.”

“Uh huh… and what about that book thing?” I prodded, unperturbed. “You scurried off, presumably to look into it—“

“Donum! F-fucking… bug tits! Bug tits on a griddle!”

“Alright, fine! Dimension Door.” I sucked in a breath to think. “Let’s see… Basically, it creates a magical doorway in front of you—like a glowing portal sort of situation, I guess—that allows you to step through it to anywhere you can think of.”

“The Words do not read your mind, Donum, ”Mia replied quickly. “‘Anywhere you can think of’ is not a valid instruction.”

“Oh.” I blinked a few times. “I suppose that makes sense. But… Isn’t this magic? Why should mind-reading be off the table?”

“Donum, can you please—eat a cunt-rag—at least try to watch your phrasing?” she replied, sighing. “I don’t like swearing at you.”

I shrugged. “Doesn’t bother me. Besides, it’s not like you can help it. I’ve just been thinking of it as a tic.”

“A tic?” she repeated.

It was then I realized I had unconsciously used the word in English. Laoi-na had no equivalent.

However, before I could explain, she began murmuring as though reciting something. “An uncontrolled and habitual spasmodic contraction of the muscles, most often in the face. Two. An idiosyncratic and habitual feature of a person’s behavior.” She paused. “Curious that you would have a need for a word like that, of all things. It must be very commonplace. Is that a Status Effect your people contend with?”

That had sounded an awful lot like she had been reading off from a dictionary, but once I thought about it, I realized that should not be all that surprising. Possession of a Word provided a bare-bones translation of that Word in every conceivable language—a situation I was intimately familiar with… which also helped explain where her misconception had come from.

The translation most notably did not provide any sort of relatable context. My own internal dictionary included the Word, Labia, and let me tell you, that does not translate well unilaterally. I had no clue how it was supposed to be similar to a geslapin-tooxle, nor why it should be important to include a chart detailing its statistical impact spread-pattern.

Regardless, Bline was the goddess in charge of distributing spells and abilities around here, so she would have to have access to a majority of the Words in order to even function. I doubted that would have changed with this off-shoot She had implanted in my head, and for that exact same reason.

I took a breath.

“It’s not so much a Status—well… now that you mention it, yeah. I guess so.” I mean, that was one way of describing a mental disorder. “Except there isn’t any way of dispelling it. Not that I know of.”

“Hmm… how curious. But we’re getting off-topic again.”

I nodded. “Right. Sorry. Where were we?”

“Mind-reading, fart-splatter.”

The juxtaposition of those two concepts combined with her deadpan delivery forced a laugh from me before I could stop myself. Unexpectedly, she let out a soft chuckle, as well.

“Sorry. Um… so if I can’t use a place I’m thinking of, just replace it with a targeted location. Like… the spot I’m looking at.”

“So literally anywhere within your field of vision? That good enough?” she asked. “Because that usually includes quite a lot of sky.”

“Well, I don’t know, then!” I exclaimed. “How would you normally set up a target?”

“Take a shit on it!” She took a quick breath. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you. I don’t know the standard constructions. They’re more than just a basic set of abilities. They’re short hands for commonly needed descriptions. It’s like a language within a language.”

“You mean… some kind of spell slang?”

There was a rapid clapping noise in my ear, like she was excited. “Yes! Exactly like that, twat-earred dumpling!”

I managed to ignore the insult that time… mostly because she had actually answered a question, for once. Maybe because I guessed correctly? “And you’ve forgotten it. I think I’m finally starting to understand the problem.”

I could well remember a time when my Manic Breadth stat had been a measly 4, and yet I had still managed to buy fairly complex spells with little to no push-back from the Lady. From what Mia was describing, this ‘slang’ must have been doing some serious lifting for that to be possible.

We currently had a fairly respectable 24 to play with. Yet Mia was complaining about it if it were an insurmountable restriction? That could only mean she was being forced to detail each and every facet of a spell’s function for the thing to even work. Who or what was being targeted? Where is that target relative to the caster? What does the spell even do? How long does it last? Where is the Energy coming from to fuel the spell? The list went on.

And here I thought getting the Lady to cooperate was tough. This was about the last thing I needed.

On the other hand, I was learning a bit more about the nuts and bolts of magic. And as a wizard in training—or so I liked to think of myself—I would gladly take the setback in exchange for the knowledge. Or I would if I had a nice and comfy tower to study in.

Meh… wizard’s tower… beach on a desert island… whatever. I would just think of it as learning on the job.

“Well, forget Dimension Door then,” I said eventually. “It’s a fourth-level spell anyway.”

“What? Spells have complexities, not levels, Donum,” Mia replied, mystified. “Wherever did you get that idea?”

“Never mind. What about—“

“Are you seriously still not finished?” Lynnria interrupted again.

“Shut your plague-hole, twerp!” Mia yelled.

Silently.

*****

We eventually managed to cobble together a simple levitation spell. I mean, it was nowhere near as cool as stepping through a hole I had torn in reality as a means of locomotion… but it was still pretty neat.

And since it could only affect an individual, the targeting issue was much simplified. It would work on myself by default, but if I were to point at someone, it would affect them instead.

And that worked more by taking advantage of a specific quirk coming from my Class than by any clever Word-play on our part. The individual in question would have to be willing to accept my influence or already be affected by it before I could target them. No matter how we might try to phrase it, the spell would not take hold otherwise.

For some reason, my spells differentiated allies from non-allies via this influence. And I could not target non-allies.

Which was weird. But consistent and therefore useful.

Anyway, the spell contained a total of four parts: what the effects were, how the potential targets could be selected, how the target could direct their movement while levitating, and how much acceleration the spell would allow for. The specific Wording of it, however, was not something I had any say in.

As Mia put it, “You may not know the Unknown.”

Not that her saying so stopped me from being curious. I mean, that was already quite a lot of instructions to cram into a twenty-four Word-limit spell, and I had a feeling we were probably pushing it. In fact, I was pretty sure this spell would mark the return of ye-olde-400-pound gorilla—my personal analogy for what it felt like to hold a slightly-too-large spell for any length of time.

However, for the specifics, we had decided that the effect would best be controlled via the target’s head movements. Rocketeer-style. Whichever way they were looking, that is the way they would go.

As for the acceleration factor, we had settled on one cubit per second per second, which I was pretty sure would put me in the ballpark of naught to sixty—or about a hundred kilometers per hour if you prefer—in sixty seconds. That may sound slow, and in a car that would be absolutely abysmal. But it seemed pretty decent for a simple levitation spell.

And it had to be phrased in terms of acceleration. Mia had explained that if we had just set a speed, whomever was targeted by the spell would have experienced an instantaneous moment of infinite acceleration. Which would have turned my spell into a fantastic way of turning someone into toothpaste, and given my targeting limitations… well. You get the idea.

However, the main reason for the terrible acceleration rate was because of one other little problem. We simply did not have the Word count to include a speed limit within the spell’s parameters. Which meant the spell would continue to accelerate… well, let’s call them ‘the victim,’ until I ended it.

Eh… it should be fine.

Right about then, Mia popped back into my field of view to hold up the official spell-card, which translated the spell’s effects into layman’s terms for my benefit. From her excited grin, she seemed awfully pleased with herself.

I quirked an eyebrow. For all the time and effort that had gone into constructing the thing, the final card certainly seemed simplistic. However.

“Mia’s Levitation.”

Her grin quickly turned to a pout. “What? It’s my first spell.”

“Fine,” I allowed, struggling to comport my features. I never could turn down a girl when she was making that face at me. “At least you didn’t put in another of those sexual innuendos.”

Her expression turned thoughtful for a moment, then she turned her head to one side and shot me a coy look. “I suppose I still could… if you wanted me to.”

My brow rose even higher. That had sounded an awful lot like flirting. But why would she do that? As far as I knew, her former self, Bline, had chosen to permanently sever a portion of Herself away rather than to continue relations with me. Much less harbor indecent thoughts.

“Mia… you wouldn’t happen to be affected by my aura, would you?”

She scoffed.

“No, I can assure you, I am quite immune to your little—fuck me! I want your dick in my pussy! Fuck me so har—!” She slapped a hand over her mouth and stared at me in shocked horror. It was hard to see, what with the transparency-factor, but she looked like she was slowly turning red.

I opened my mouth. Then closed it. Then opened it again.

“Um…”

She giggled uncomfortably. “That… was a big one… huh?”

I stared at her for a moment longer before finally nodding. Just another tic. Nothing to think too hard about. Of course, it naturally occurred to me that there might have been some portion of my aura affecting her despite her claims to the contrary, that perhaps that slight yet constant push against her psyche was the ultimate source of her outburst. But that was a mistake people often made when dealing with people with Tourette syndrome… assuming that was what Mia even had. From what I understood, it was often what they very much did not want to say that slipped from their mouths. Not the other way around. You had to live with the constant threat of blabbing every intrusive thought that ever popped into your head. She can’t help it.

“I think… I’ll accept that skill.”

“Right.” There were another few seconds of silence, then she stiffly turned to one side and stepped out of view.

Well, that wasn’t awkward as all hell. I really did need to start watching how I phrased things. It could not be pleasant to have an easily triggered nerve like that, but since she had begun answering my questions to at least some extent, I had figured it was worth it to weather her swearing.

And it was cute. Sometimes.

But that was beside the point. By forcing her to verbally spasm, I was inadvertently causing her a sort of mental duress.

Abruptly, I heard her voice again, but it sounded a little different. Muffled and distant.

“Okay… I think this is right. Just stand here… and recite the Words into the <kzzt>… Nothing to it.”

I frowned. Had that been static?

A fey wind picked up, gently pressing my clothes against my body but leaving all the vegetation around me completely still. Then I heard Mia’s voice again. But she was Speaking.

I knew Words when I heard them. They always had a bizarrely alien yet resonant and meaningful tone to them—important in and of their own existence. They tickled my ears and slowly seeped into my being, slipping between the cracks of my subconscious.

I had been right, though. This spell, more than any of my others, was going to be long.

And I was about to comment on it when I heard something quite unexpected. Though it was still muffled, I clearly heard the sound of a woman crying out in ecstasy.

“Uh… Mia?”

“Yes! Oh, f-fuck…! It’s never… mmm~”

I cleared my throat then began to loudly hum to myself. I had no idea what had happened nor what could have been causing it, but in that moment, I wanted nothing more than to give her the privacy she so desperately needed. There was no helping it, though. I was something of a captive audience to her complete and apparently shameless loss of control.

Maybe this is just another of her tics. Or maybe giving me spells is just… really pleasant.

I mean it was possible.

A few seconds later, I heard a bit of a popping sound, like someone had just tapped a microphone.

“Uh… sorry. Sorry about that, Donum,” she said weakly. “I’ve had a… bit of a technical issue here.”

Okay… sure. Let’s go with that.

“Anything I should be concerned about?”

“No, no! Just—l-lick my… li-lick my… lick my clit!” She coughed violently. “Nothing at all the matter. The spell should be ready to go.”

“Right.”

For a moment, I stood there, indecisive, but if Mia was not going to acknowledge the incident, I certainly was not going to.

“Okay, Lynnria,” I called. “Give me a few seconds to cast this spell, and I’ll be right up.”

“Finally,” her voice floated down to me from somewhere above. She had wandered off in the interim to do who-knew-what, but a few seconds later, I saw her head poke over the edge again. “You know, I used to hang out with soldiers and mercs at the pub sometimes. They usually have their skills all planned out for years ahead of time.”

“Yeah… that would probably be smart,” I admitted. “But I’ve got something of a unique situation I’ve been dealing with. To tell you the truth, I’ve been kind of winging it.”

She frowned then shook her head in confusion. “You mean like a bird?”

“N-no… it’s—“ I blinked. I actually had no idea what that expression was referring to. “Well, it means to improvise.”

She shot me a considering look before nodding. “I… guess I can see that.” Then a teasing sort of smile spread over her lips, and she made a limp flapping motion with her hands. “Why don’t you wing yourself up here then, Mr. Mage.”

I tisked. Kids these days… no respect.

“Yeah… yeah… give me a second.”

Naturally, ‘a second’ turned into several hundred. And if you need to ask why, just imagine a totally normal paragraph—this one for instance—slap it into an instant translator, set it to Polish, and then try to say it out loud. Perfectly. No fumbles allowed. Otherwise, you have to start over from the beginning. If you can do that on the first try, you are either from Poland or already quite familiar with the language.

I was not. None of the eleven Words I knew appeared within this spell. Not even Lift. I had argued for it, too. However, I was informed that the Word would likely induce a constant propulsion upward unless counteracted by further specifics. Or put another way: it was not in the budget.

So I had dropped it.

However, once I finally… finally got the spell running, I was immediately hit by several sensations all at once. The first two were expected, though that lessened neither their impact nor the bizarreness of their juxtaposition. The huge mass of a spell slightly-too-large settled in my gut while a second and far less familiar feeling of weightlessness overcame the rest of my body. And that was mostly fine, save the fact that I was now starting to drift at a sedate but increasing pace toward the side of the cliff.

What had really thrown me though, was the snap of electricity that had just fired through my brain. And very faintly, I could hear Mia screaming in rapture. I could not tell you how I knew.

But I could feel it.

A moment later, my hands met the rock face, and I stopped. I was mildly surprised by that. I had been afraid that the acceleration factor would make solid objects more of an obstacle, but it really was not such a big deal. After all, gravity is expressed as an acceleration. However, because mine was set so low, I felt like a feather slowly settling back to Earth. But I was looking at the cliff right then, so… sideways?

“Uh…” The sound came out as more of a grunt, and I rolled my shoulders to settle the metaphysical weight on them. “I’m hoping everything’s okay in there.”

“Yes~! It’s… it’s… just hurry! Ah~”

Trying to ignore her moans, I focused on simply getting up this cliff. Uncertain, I shot a quick glance upward, but the second I did, my center of gravity immediately shifted. I panicked for a moment and grabbed onto the rocks for purchase, but once I was looking at them again, my weight shifted back.

Just like it was supposed to.

“Jeez… this is seriously disorienting.”

“Donum! Ahhh~!”

“Right, sorry!”

Hastily, I began climbing. It was strange to think about, but as long as I kept looking straight… down? It was a lot like trying to hand-walk. But on the moon. If I exerted even the slightest bit of pressure, I would lift off the rock face and then gently float back. It was… kind of exhilarating, actually.

Or it would have been if did not sound like my next-door neighbor was getting plowed into oblivion.

Once I crested the lip of the cliff, I finally came face to face with Lynnria—who had the biggest grin plastered over her face I had ever seen. She was practically quivering with excitement.

“That looks so fun!” she enthused. “Can I try it? Please?”

I struggled not to smirk, but it was a losing battle. “Maybe when you’re older.”

“Older?! But I’m nineteen!” she complained while I struggled not to tumble out of control up and over the side. “I’m just as much an adult as you!”

“Maybe,” I allowed before adjusting my focus toward the ‘new’ ground and finally coming to rest. With some relief, I let the spell go, and gravity reasserted itself. The weight of it felt massive in comparison to what I had just been experiencing, despite it being what I had always known before. “But my spells can have a bit of a side effect. And… well, hold on.”

I turned away, and very quietly whispered, “Mia? You okay in there?”

“I want your cum on my teeeeh~”

I blinked. I had expected the tic, but she had sort of trailed off at the end there. I guess she passed out?

“Who is Mia?” Lynnria asked.

“Uh…” I winced. “It’s… complicated.”

She crossed her arms across her chest. The move prompted me to give her a quick once over. It was not something I consciously did. Nineteen or not, I had no real desire to appraise her looks. It was more of an instinctual response.

Besides her thick, purple braid, she had a thin, triangular face with wide-set eyes and thin lips. Actually, thin was the word best used for all of her. But if I were to be generous, I would call her sporty.

“I told you,” she returned, annoyed. “I may not have a Class yet, but I’m an adult. Don’t treat me like some child. Tell me!”

“Okay, fine,” I said before sucking in a deep breath. “She’s my personal iteration of the Lady-made-Faen who has recently developed a form of Tourette syndrome, memory issues, and who knows what else. And I think by casting that spell, I may have just orgasmed her into unconsciousness. Somehow.”

There was a beat of silence.

“Huh. Okay, yeah.” She cleared her throat awkwardly. “I think… ‘complicated’ sums that up pretty well.”

I waited, but she did not seem to have anything else to say. “What? You understood all that? No questions?”

“Uh… well… no,” she admitted slowly. “Not… not much of it really. But uh…” She shifted her weight to her other hip and turned her head. “Is that… is that why you said not until you’re older? Your spells… uh… well, you mentioned side-effects. Do they always do that to people?”

“What? Oh…” That was what she had focused on? “No. Or well, some of them. Yes. Just uh…” Mmmnah. No need to bring up the Hammer. “One or two. Maybe this one now… I’ll need to do some testing.”

She instantly flushed scarlet, though she might have leaned forward. Just a tad.

Oh man… I had forgotten. I had a 14 in Charisma now, and here I was talking about this? Maybe I do need my lilim to guard me. I’m liable to cut a swath through the countryside at this rate, leaving lust-addled townsfolk strewn about in my wake.

With some exaggeration, I cleared my throat and walked around her. “I don’t suppose you’ve got some food around here? I haven’t eaten in days.”

“Uhm, yes!” she exclaimed before hurrying to catch up with me—though perhaps a bit closer than I was comfortable with. “There’s fruit growing all over the place.”

“Just fruit, huh?” I asked. “That seems like a very… high-fiber diet.”

“I don’t know what that means,” she replied. “You have to be careful if you eat too much of it, though. It’s liable to give you the squirt—“

“I think you’ve got the gist of it,” I interrupted quickly. Chebs… does no one on this planet have even a shred of decorum? Maybe it’s a medieval thing…

She chuckled. “Anyway, we were worried at first—what with there being thirty of us and all—that the food would run out, but it seems to grow back the next day like nothing happened. So there’s plenty to go around.”

I narrowed my eyes suspiciously. Thirty kids trapped on an island with unlimited food. In the Dungeon?

“And all from Raialie? No adults at all?” If there was one around here, you would have thought one of the children I had already met would have thought to summon them.

Lynnria started to nod, but then she corrected me, “No one with a Class.”

“Of course.”

Honestly, I had no right to refute her claim. If she wished to be treated as an adult, then I should give her the chance to prove it. But it was a struggle not to roll my eyes.

The thing about adulthood is, it is not a matter of age. It has to do with emotional maturity and experience. An adult is someone who knows what to do, when to do it, and how to comport themselves in a difficult situation. You do not just wake up one day as a grownup. It is a process of quite literally ‘growing’ into it.

In fact, I knew quite a lot of ‘adults’ who were in no way close to being one. Myself included, sometimes. Okay… more than sometimes.

But I could not say any of that to Lynnria without coming off as a pompous ass. Instead, I spent a moment taking in my new surroundings.

The gently rolling hills leading to the center of the island held hundreds of palm trees all over the place, except each was growing its own and totally unique sort of fruit. It almost looked like an exotic orchard, except there was neither rhyme nor reason to the layout. It was as if someone had simply come out to this island, scattered a bunch of random seeds everywhere, and called it good.

Curious, I knelt beside one of the fallen fruits—a large melon-like specimen which smelled of apricots—and went to pick it up. However, the moment I touched it, the entire thing immediately dissolved into sand.

In my shock, I almost missed it, but as the wind blew the sand away, words seemed to appear as though traced by hand in the remains.

‘Those able must earn their rewards…’

I glanced up at Lynnria. Her eyes were wide. She had seen it, too.

“Maybe you had best show me that crystal you mentioned,” I suggested.

-----------

Chapter 26 - It's Complicated, Lynnria

“What language is that?” Lynnria asked after I finished translating it for her benefit.

“I’m not sure,” I admitted honestly.

Her face crumpled up in confusion. “How can you know a language, yet not know its name?”

That was easy. It was one of those tongues Arx had shared with me on binding her… though in a really archaic dialect. But explaining it properly was a rabbit hole I was not inclined to dive into.

“It’s complicated.”

She let out a sour grunt before turning back to the dilapidated installation.

Unlike most of the crystals I had seen in the Dungeon, this one looked extremely old. It was nicked and chipped in several spots, and the edges of it had been smoothed and rounded as though worn away by the elements.

Stranger still, it had been sitting as though completely dead in an old ruin right in the middle of the island. Most of the crystals I had encountered thus far had an almost eager blue glow to them, as though they were signaling you to investigate. Not this one. It did not respond at all when Lynnria had tapped at it and only just flickered to life after I had finally delivered a solid slap to its side out of frustration.

“Why call you Wayfarer, though?” she asked after a moment. “I’ve never heard anyone called that before.”

I shrugged. “Well, from the funky spelling this thing uses, I’d have to assume it’s what people used to call Questers. Languages have a habit of changing over time, you know.”

“Really?” She seemed surprised. “How do you know that?”

I took a breath, but she quickly interrupted.

“And don’t say it’s complicated!”

I had to chuckle. This girl was a real spitfire. “Fine. To put it simply, every generation, children and young people, like you—“

“Not a child,” she growled, but I continued unperturbed.

“—make up new words or find clever ways of expressing old ones. Sometimes they even invent whole new pronunciations of things just for fun. Some of those stick. Some don’t. But the end result is that the language drifts along, pushed and prodded over the years by the people who speak it. And eventually, it becomes unrecognizable. Even a wholly new language.”

She looked at me thoughtfully for a moment. “Does that mean that all languages were once the same language?”

I pursed my lips. That was difficult to answer. I only had a passing familiarity with the topic even back on Earth, but my suspicion was that human beings had already begun to disperse by the time language had started to develop. So it was unclear whether all languages had a common ancestor.

Here, though? With all the different races, it was entirely possible that each of them had started with their own separate proto-language that had then begun drifting with both time and interaction with one another.

Or not? I could have been completely talking out of my own ass.

“I suppose it’s possible,” I said eventually. “You’d have to ask someone who studies linguistics.”

“What’s ‘at mean?” Gezer asked in his slow and oddly deep-for-his-size voice. When I glanced at him, he jerked his hand down guiltily. He had a bit of a scab next to his horn that he had been picking at, and from his demeanor, I had to assume someone had been regularly admonishing him for it.

He and several of the others—though I did not see Mik among them—had caught sight of us along the way and, being children, they could not help but be curious both about me and what we were doing. To my chagrin, they had been peppering me with questions almost constantly ever since—giving me one hell of a crash course on exactly the kind of thing Bline had been complaining of.

No wonder She cursed Herself.

Of course, their questions were not all about me. They also had quite a few about their situation, the fate of their parents and siblings, and a great many other things I had no answer for. I only counted myself fortunate in that they had already been there a few days, so most of their tears had dried.

On first seeing them, I had quickly realized that, like Lynnria, a large portion of their number had been a part of the same game-ball match—the very one I had been spectating with Arx. Most of them still had on their blue and red bandannas, too.

My question though, was whether these were the only children to have survived or merely ones that had been in the same approximate location. I could only hope it was the latter.

In any case, going from the crystal’s message, I was assuming this was some sort of ‘daycare’ island. Plenty of food and nothing particularly dangerous? It was a sound theory. Although why the Dungeon would gather them all here instead of putting through the same rigors as everyone else was an unknown.

I mean… why bother with the whole ‘lord of the flies’ scenario? Could it not simply let them loose? Could they even get loose? And why I should be led here was most curious.

But I was quite used to having far more questions than answers, and at the very least, I could answer the one Gezer had posed. “Linguistics is the study of language,” I explained simply.

“Den why not jus’ call it ‘at?” he persisted.

I could only shrug. “That I don’t know… but a linguist could probably tell you.”

A few giggles drifted out of the semi-circle of children.

“Still, this doesn’t tell us much more than what we’ve already figured out,” Lynnria said, bringing us back to the topic. “Didn’t you say you were here to find something?”

I bobbed my head uncertainly. “I’m not actually sure. I found a riddle back in the… well, I don’t really know if I could call it the main area. But anyway, it said there were two paths. One led to my uh… well, my mate—”

“You have a mate?” Lynnria asked. I was not positive, but she almost looked crestfallen at the news. Which was good! Anything I could do to curb her apparent interest was for the best.

“Two of them, actually,” I admitted. “They usually assist me in the Dungeon, but they’ve been kidnapped some—“

“Aww!” she gushed, interrupting me again. “You all Quest together? That’s so sweet!”

For some reason, she had perked up visibly at that. The rest of the children noticed too and began oohing and elbowing one another. Lynnria blushed furiously and, fists clenched, she turned to stare them down… which was easy enough for her. She was only a little shorter than me, so she must have seemed huge to this bunch.

I cleared my throat. Loudly. “Anyway… the first path led to some kind of darkened maze, so I figured I’d check out this other way first. The riddle said it was to help me see, after all. Then it dumped me into the sea.”

The kids laughed uproariously at that. I grinned a bit myself. It was a stupid joke, but even they can be funny when they happen to somebody else. And hindsight helps with that sort of thing.

“Still, in my experience the Dungeon doesn’t tend to do entirely pointless things. So I’m sure there’s more to this than what’s on the surface.”

“Maybe ya gots ta swim a bit, eh?” Gezer suggested. “If it ain’t on da surface, I mean.”

“Oh, I like swimming,” one of the younger girls chimed in. I did not know her name.

“Me too,” I returned with a smile. “But there’s an awful lot of ocean… and it isn’t exactly a blue lagoon out there. I can tell you that first hand… So, let’s see if this crystal has more it can teach us before we start deep-sea diving.”

As I turned to kneel in front of the crystal, I heard one of the others whispering softly behind me. “What are you doing, Lynnria? You can’t take him as your mate.”

“Hush, you!” she whispered back fiercely. “Nobody said anything about that. And besides… I can do what I want.”

“But he’s not even a laoi! Would he—?”

“I said hush!”

I hesitated for half a second. Interspecies relations or no, I really did need to nip this in the bud, but I could not bring myself to say anything with all these kids around. I would have to wait for the right time.

“Ha! Take you as her mate, is it?” Mia chimed in, and I jerked before I could stop myself. I had not known she was awake yet. “I swear… these laoi women.”

Quiet!

I focused the thought at her as forcefully as I could but still received no indication as to whether she had heard me. Either she was playing it coy, or she was not paying me any attention.

“I’ll bet she would open for you with nothing but a caress to her cheek. Quivering like a leaf and dripping for you.” She chuckled darkly. “She’d make a fine lilim, too. She’s already quite strong.”

What the fuck? Careful to keep my face composed, I whispered trough my clenched teeth, “She’s a child!”

“What are you waiting for?” Lynnria asked, and my back stiffened before I could stop myself.

“Oh, uh… just trying to frame the proper question is all,” I replied evasively.

“Technically, yes,” Mia continued dismissively. “But she’ll be granted a Class within the month, unless I miss my guess.”

“That doesn’t have anything to do with it!” I whispered, perhaps a tad too loud—judging from the looks I was getting.

“Of course it—oh!” I could practically hear her grinning. “Really, Donum. A nineteen-year-old laoi girl? I guarantee you she does not lack for experience.”

My eyes goggled. “That’s not—!” I stopped. I was not having this argument.

“That’s not what?” Lynnria asked.

I glanced at her and almost jumped. She had drifted quite close while I was mumbling. “Nothing. Just thinking out loud.”

Her eyes—purple like her hair—roved my face for a few seconds, and she unconsciously licked her lips. Then she must have realized just how close she was to me and she straightened, her cheeks pink. “Are you talking to this… Mia of yours again? She’s… she’s awake now? I take it?”

I did not reply save to nod, though her questions were making Mia swear rather violently somewhere in the distance. Apparently, any sort of query posed in my general vicinity would set her off. To my chagrin. But at least Mia had done me the courtesy of stepping away from the microphone first… or however this thing in my brain worked.

Which was fine. It was distracting having two conversations at once.

“W-well… I’m sure she’d tell you the same as me. I mean what is there to think about?” she reasoned. “Just ask the crystal how to find your mates. You said they were taken, right? Imprisoned somewhere?”

I nodded again with some relief, happy to finally return to a comfortable and safe line of conversation. “That… sounds reasonable. I’ll try it.”

True to form, its answer was… ambiguous.

I combed my fingers through my beard. On the surface, all this was saying was ‘Dungeon hard. Get help.’ And setting aside how exactly I was supposed to accomplish that, I could not but wonder whether there was more to it.

Strange that it would spell it ‘weigh’ instead of ‘way.’ Especially with that riddle from earlier. Was that on purpose? Hiding a clue in plain sight? Or just another strange quirk in how this thing spelled words.

At that moment, I could not be sure, but it was something to keep in mind. However, the children had begun clamoring for me to read the message for them, so I obliged.

“That doesn’t help at all!” Lynnria exclaimed once I had finished. “Is this the kind of garbage you have to put up with as a Quester?”

I grunted out a sigh by way of answer. It was a sound packed with long and continuous suffering. Then I reached out and tapped the crystal again. “Okay… so how do I find a guide?”

It replied immediately.

My face fell.

“Pick… oon?” Gezer said after I repeated it for them.

“I’m pretty sure it means ‘one,’” I clarified.

“You mean… one of us?” I had not seen who had spoken, but it had sounded like one of the younger boys.

Slowly, I climbed to my feet once more and turned. Most of them were starting to back away from me fearfully, though there were a few who were trying to put on a brave face. Including Lynnria, I noticed.

In fact, she was sporting quite the expectant little grin.

Fuck me…

*****

“Pleeeeeease!”

“No. No, no, no. I said no a hundred times, and I meant it!” I proclaimed as I strode back toward the beach.

Most of the children had dispersed after I had walked away, more than willing to fade into the background since one of their number was such an eager volunteer. Though, there were a few who were still trailing after us, presumably out of simple curiosity.

Or just to watch Lynnria making a complete spectacle out of herself.

“But the crystal said you needed to take one of us!” she argued.

“No, it very clearly said perhaps,” I countered before lengthening my stride. “That implies I can do it without. And I intend to. I am not about to endanger some untried kid. You’re not even a Mono!”

That was my excuse, but in reality, I was much more concerned with what would happen were she to continue following me. I knew what my aura could do to a person given enough time.

“So what?” she exclaimed before heading me off, and I was forced to walk around her. “I’ll have you know, I’ve been training for combat for years now. The Fleet Foxes have already agreed to take me on. Once I get my Class, anyway. So, I can fight! I can take a hit. I know all sorts of weapons. And I’m the fastest runner in all of Raialie.”

“And? Look no offense, Lynnria, but there is a reason you were put on this island instead of the tutorial. And I’m pretty sure that whole ‘once I get my Class’ bit is a pretty big part of it. I will not be held responsible for what might happen were I to take you with me when even the Dungeon would prefer you sit it out.”

“I don’t need a tutorial!” she shouted before running out ahead of me again. “I told you, I’ve been training. I know all about the Dungeon. Besides, it’s not your responsibility. It’s mine! I’m the one making the choice.”

I sighed and stopped to address her fully. “Yes, it is. Taking responsibility for those that cannot is part of what being an adult means.”

She clenched her fists and marched right up to me. “How many times do I have to say it? I am an adult. You don’t get to make decisions about what I can or will do. And just because you have a pretty face, don’t think—“ Her sentence abruptly turned to a mortified squeal as she realized what she had just admitted to.

I just closed my eyes and ran my hands over my scalp. Fine. If that’s the way she wants to play it…

“Okay, then. Since you’re an adult, let me ask you a question.”

I took half a step toward her and drew myself up to my full height in an effort to look imposing. It must have worked, because she retreated slightly before stiffening.

“Have you been having… inappropriate thoughts lately? More so than normal? Say… over the last hour?”

Her eyes widened and she glanced toward the ground. “That’s… none of your business.”

“Maybe.” I took another step closer. This time, she practically jumped back. “But it is definitely yours. You see, I have more than just a pretty face…” I cringed in saying that, but I knew what my Charisma was. And I had seen how people reacted to me. “I told you before that my spells have a tendency to induce… pleasurable responses from people.”

She nodded. She remembered.

“But I failed to mention one other thing. I have a passive skill—an aura—which is meant to gradually increase a person’s luck until they cannot help but succeed.”

She blinked a few times and glanced up at me. “I… I don’t understand. That sounds incredible!”

I bobbed my head in acknowledgment. “Yes, but you see, I can’t turn it off. And the side-effect builds with it.”

“So then… what? What’s the side-effect?” She had asked the question but, from the way her cheeks were burning, she likely had a pretty good idea of the answer.

Still, it needed to be said. I would not be accused of misleading her. “It will make you wanton. And given enough time… you’ll hardly be able to think of anything else.”

She took several steps back. “What? Who would take a skill… What are you? Some sort of… of Despoiler?”

I shook my head before gesturing above me. “Clearly not. And I would prefer not to become one. That’s why I only travel with my… mates.”

She sucked in a breath and stared at me for several seconds. “You’re saying that if I come with you, I’ll have to… become one of them?”

I did not answer immediately. But I could not deny the eventuality. So unwilling, I admitted, “If you travel with me for long, then yes. Most likely. It is possible to resist, but… you would not have the benefit of my abilities. And the more I use them on you… well.”

She fell silent, staring at the ground. For several seconds, I merely watched her, but when she did not say anything more, I nodded and directed my steps back to the beach.

This was for the best. I was well aware that there were plenty of guys who would not have hesitated in claiming an apparently eager and technically ‘legal’ young woman, but it was that very youth that repelled me. I might have only been seven years her elder, but I had been through too much—seen too much—to foster that sort of burden on someone so young.

She deserved to find her own path. And I knew that if she followed me, her life would almost certainly be changed forever. In a very real sense.

“Would you help me find my grandfather?”

I paused before glancing back. Lynnria had shrunken in on herself, far less confident than before, but she had apparently not yet given up.

“Your grandfather?”

She nodded. “If I were to… to come with you, I mean. Would you help me look for him?”

I sighed. It seemed the threat of an uncontrollable sex drive around a guy she was already attracted to was not the deterrent I had hoped it was. “He’s in the Dungeon, I take it?”

Another nod. “He came to watch my game, so he’d have to be. He… he’s my only family. And he doesn’t have much time left. We were…” She swallowed and fidgeted with her hands before marshaling on. “We were going to… to have a little party. Afterward, you know?”

I looked off into the distance and slowly closed my eyes. What would the Dungeon even do with an old man like that? Stick him in some assisted living complex like it had done for the children? Or put him through the same trials as the adults. Damn it. “You realize there’s no guarantee we’d ever run into him. It’s almost certain he’s in a completely different area.”

She only shrugged. “I have to try. And you’re my only chance at seeing him again… before…”

I took a slow breath then turned to address her fully. It did help my conscience somewhat that she had an ulterior motive. Still… “And the rest? How will you handle the side-effects?”

She twitched slightly. Whatever she was thinking right then, she had an extremely complex expression on her face. Especially for how young she was. But all she said was, “We’re different kinds, you and I. So even if I take you as mate, no children will come of it.”

I snorted. I had suspected as much, but even so, “I can assure you, that’s about the last thing I’m worried about. What about the children here? With you gone, who’d look after them?”

“There are a couple of others who could do it,” she assured me quickly, more confident now that she had broken through my resistance. “Pulean is seventeen and looks after his younger sister all the time. And Giffy is very responsible for her age.”

I sighed in defeat, well aware that I was likely dooming this girl. Whether by the machinations of the Dungeon or simply being in my general vicinity, her path in life was about to take a dramatic turn. “Fine. Follow if you wish. But never say I didn’t warn you.”

A gigantic grin plastered itself over her face, but then she clicked her heels together and saluted me smartly. “Yes, sir!”

Then she had to scurry to catch up, as I had already begun walking again.

*****

Once we arrived back at the cliff, I wasted no time in casting my latest spell and floated my way back to the sand below. Now that I knew what to expect, it was really quite simple. I just kept my eyes focused on where I wanted to go and, at least over short distances, the acceleration was gentle enough to allow me to land without mishap.

Curiously, while I had still felt the connection to Mia spark back to life for the duration, I had not heard any wails of pleasure this time. Must not be near the microphone. What does she even doin there?

Now that I thought about it, it was a really strange concept to have some alternate dimension within my own mind… and having an uninvited guest rummaging around in there. Who knew what she could get up to?

I shook my head. I could drive myself nuts speculating during my down time. For now, there was more than enough on my plate just worrying about my most recent tag-a-long.

Turning, I glanced back up at Lynnria. “Can you climb down?”

She started to nod then hesitated. “Yes, but… well, every time I’ve tried, this wind picks up and pushes me back over the lip.”

Hmm… some sort of magical safety net?

“Try again.” If there was some sort of contrivance for forming parties on this world, I was unaware of it, but it would not hurt to check. It could have been a hidden mechanic. “Now that you’re with me, things might be different.”

She pulled a face before gesturing vaguely at the ground. “Can’t you just magic me down?”

I nodded before a cocky little smirk found its way to my lips. “I could, yes. But as I said, there are consequences to my magic. We should avoid using it on you as much as we can. And I may have forgotten to mention it before, but my mates can be quite… protective of me. They won’t like it if you start getting frisky without their approval.”

“No one is going to be getting frisky with anyone just yet, oh mighty Quester!” she yelled. “And besides, if they’re so protective, why’d they let themselves get kidnapped in the first place? Shouldn’t they be here? Protecting you?”

I just shrugged. “Couldn’t help it. They were dead at the time.”

She blanched. “I’m sorry. What?”

“It’s complicated.”

“Damn you!”

I had to chuckle a little. It was almost funny now that I was trying to look at it through someone else’s eyes, but my life was such a mess. How would I even start to explain it all?

“Short version? I cast a spell on them that makes them… sort of immortal. If they die, they come back to life the next day.”

Her eyes widened in disbelief. “You can do that?”

I nodded.

“What… what Layer are you, anyway?” she breathed. “How can you possibly be so powerful?”

I waved a self-deprecating hand through the air. “I’m not so great as all that. Sure, I have a few tricks up my sleeve, but it comes with a lot of drawbacks.”

“Tricks up your…?” She shook her head. “Never mind. Can you cast that spell on me, too?”

“No. I can only maintain the two at a time right now. And only on my mates.” I hesitated briefly before adding, “There’s more to it, but… like I said…”

“It’s complicated,” she finished for me. “Ugh… I’m starting to hate that word.”

I just spread my hands. “Hey, you’re the one who insisted she was an adult. Best get used to complications. Now, climb down, and we’ll get going.”

“Alright already. Hold on,” she groaned before turning backwards and swinging her legs over the edge.

The way she moved, it was clear she was every bit as practiced as she claimed, and I had no doubt she would be able to make short work of the climb. Though, to be safe, I began mentally rehearsing my levitation spell anyway. I probably would not be able to get it out before disaster struck, but I intended to try.

However, my worries were for nothing. Before her head even crossed over the lip, a huge blast of air hurled her up and over, and she somersaulted end-over-end before landing in a heap. Curiously, I did not feel even a breeze from where I was standing.

“Are you alright?” I called, somewhat concerned. That landing had not looked all that controlled.

A moment later, her head poked back over the side. “Yes. And I told you so.”

Waving a dismissive hand, I said, “Yeah, yeah…” Guess that’s a no on the party mechanic. “There must be some sort of domain line set up around the edge of the cliff.”

“Domain line?” She frowned. “But I’m not some monster. How could it affect me?”

“Couldn’t tell you. But I’ve heard there are different types. And given what I know about magic, it’s not impossible to imagine.” While I talked, I began pacing. “I’m betting there’s an Engraving around here somewhere that’s responsible for controlling how the domain works. If that’s the case, then I think all we’d have to do would be to replace the Word that’s limiting your ability to cross freely. It’d be something like… Child? Or Classless? But that assumes we’d even be able to find the thing… or make sense of the Words. But if there is something like that at work, even my spell wouldn’t help you cross.” I grimaced a bit as I wound down. “I guess we can give it a shot, anyway. If you want.”

“What choice do we have?” she called back. “It’s not like I can summon a Class out of thin air!”

“Much as I would…love for you to cast that spell again, mon petit sorcier,” Mia said suddenly. “I believe you are correct. She will need a Class before she is allowed out.”

I sighed. Then I frowned. “Was that French?”

“Suck my dick!” Mia yelled. I would take that as a yes.

“What did you say?” Lynnria called.

“He said your mother bleaches her asshole!”

If I had been trying to drink something just then, I probably would have done a spit take. Instead, I managed to keep it to a pained wheeze. “Just thinking out loud.” Then I turned away to whisper, “Good grief, Mia! Don’t stand next to the—” I bit off the rest to take a calming breath. She can’t help it… she can’t help it… “Okay, if that’s out… well, we’re going to need some sort of solution.”

She let out a deep-throated chuckle. “Lucky for you, you happen to know someone who might be able to help with that…”

“I might, huh…” I replied, expecting the worst. “And it’ll cost me something, I’m assuming.”

“Cost you something? Why, whatever do you mean?” She chuckled again, almost with a sinister edge. “No, no. If there is any price to be paid, it will be our little disciple that pays it. It is she that wishes to… circumvent the rules, after all.”

I raised my eyebrows slightly, not liking the sound of that. But… If I were to frame this correctly, there was a good chance I could use it to finally dissuade the girl from following me. Provided the cost was high enough, of course. “I don’t suppose you’d be willing to divulge what this price might be?”

“No, that’s—shove my tit in your mouth!” A slap sounded in my ear. However, before I could ask, Mia continued as though nothing had happened. “That’s not something I have much control over. Believe it or not, these sorts of things have a great deal more to do with the recipient than anything you or I might get out of the arrangement.”

“Hmm… some sort of monkey’s paw scenario, then?” Then I quickly waved the question away, trying to forestall her swearing. “Never mind. Hold on.”

I turned back to look up the cliff side. “Lynnria… Mia says that she might—“

“Shove a fart up your pussy! Shoot! I’m sorry. I tried to hold it.”

“—hnn… might be able to help get you a Class a little early.”

“Really?” She squatted down eagerly. “How does that work? Do I get to pick one? Can I be a Weaponsmaster like my grandfather? Or something fast like a Duelist? Although, an Elemental Knight might be fun, too. Could I do that?” I slowly drew my lips back over my teeth. I could already hear Mia start to mumble uncontrollably under her breath. “Oh, something with a shield, maybe?! I met a Shieldmaiden at the pub, once. She was so cool! Ooh! Can I be a—“

I frantically began waving my hands in the air. “Okay, stop stop stop! I need to—“

“—shitting tit-slapper—“

“—need to—“

“—spunking whale-trough of a—“

“—n-need to tr-try and ask—“

“—amputated cock dictator—“

“—ask Mia to—“

“—weaponized roach fucking—“

Finally giving it up, I sighed and held a finger up for Lynnria to wait.

This one was going to take a while.