About four hours after they started the guild icon flashed, letting them know Gerald and Marysue were on. They met up and went out to hunt the gnoll camps for close to five hours. By that time, Gerald and Marysue had hit eighteen. “We’re a bit under the recommended minimum for the gnoll dungeon,” Gerald commented as they were heading back to the keep. “I’m not sure we should go after the dungeon tomorrow.”
“We can do it,” Karen said with conviction.
“It won’t hurt for us to give it a try,” Alburet shrugged. “At worst we die horribly and then wait to try it again.”
“Okay. So, meet up tomorrow around noon?” Gerald asked.
The others agreed to meet up at noon before they broke up for the night. They each sold off the loot at the fort. Gerald and Marysue took a room at the inn inside the fort complex. Karen said she was off to see Marian at the Dead Man Inn. Alburet hugged Stacia to him, “So, back to our place or would you like to go to the café tonight?”
“A date, asthore? Sounds nice,” Stacia murmured as she hugged him back.
Using their Homestones, the couple appeared outside their home. At Stacia’s warning, they had their umbrellas open already, as it was still raining. Arm in arm they walked down to the café. When they arrived they found the place packed with people. An elf butler greeted them, “Welcome home, master and mistress. I am sorry that we are not ready for you at this time. Would you mind waiting?”
“We’re fine with waiting,” Alburet told the elf.
“Please take a seat right there then master, and we will be with you shortly,” the elf pointed to a small sofa just inside the door and off to one side.
It wasn’t long before a table opened up and they were seated. A tiger striped lunari walked them to the table, his voice a deep purr as he gave them their menus and took their drink order. The couple ordered crepes to go with their coffee, sampling each other’s without incident before returning home. As they made their way back to their house the rain stopped.
“Three or four weeks before it comes again,” Stacia said as she put her umbrella away.
Alburet frowned briefly then nodded, “The rain always comes every three or four weeks for two days?”
“Aye, tha’ be the way the gods made the world,” Stacia replied a little puzzled. “How does it work on ya other world?”
Alburet tried to convey the chaos that was weather on Earth as they walked. He finished shortly after they got home, “That’s the best I can do to explain it.”
“Ya other world be truly mad, master,” Stacia mused. “No way to know what to do with ya life, the weather a chaotic mess and no gods to help ya. Truly, it be a marvel ya were able to get here.”
Pulling her down onto his lap to snuggle, he agreed. “Yes. I can never agree enough with that line, Kitten. That’s why I hope that when we start recruiting others I can get them to understand how much better it is here. Maybe one day the bridge between our worlds can be made permanent so me and others like me can stay here all the time. In another eight days, the bridge will be down again and I will be gone for a day or more again.”
Stacia clutched him tightly, “Ya will come back, though?”
“Always, Kitten. I would fight the gods themselves to come back to you.” The rest of the night Alburet spent comforting and pleasuring the love of his life. He hoped to ease some of her fears that he would disappear and not come back. Eventually they fell asleep with Stacia as the little spoon with Alburet holding her from behind.
Alburet
Human Summoner
Level 19
Strength: 24 (19)
Agility: 24 (19)
Constitution: 30
Intelligence: 54 (24)
Wisdom: 69 (19)
Charisma: 35
Health: 1250
Mana: 1630
Spells:
Demon Skin-Rank 2
Demonic Retribution- Rank 2
Summon Least Imp
Fire Blast- Rank 2
Sap Strength- Rank 2
Demonic Haze- Rank 2
Summon Lesser Destroyer
Demonic Vitality- Rank 2
Fire Burst
Summon Lesser Succubus
Abilities:
Personal Spells
Flame Weapon
Copy
Chapter Eighteen
The next morning, after a bit of pinch and tickle, the couple had breakfast then got ready for the day. It was about two hours until noon, but having nothing else they needed to do before hunting they headed for the portal guild. Kim wasn’t on duty so they didn’t stop to chat at the desk, instead heading straight up to the portal. Stepping through, they greeted the two guards before entering the yard of the keep.
They headed into the inn and took a seat with a pot of tea, sipping it while they waited for the others to show. An hour later the guild icon started flashing informing them that others had shown up.
Fluffbalclass="underline"
When and where are we meeting today?
Stacia:
We are doing the gnoll cave today at noon. Alburet and I are at the keep already.
Karen:
So, no stopping by to wake you both up then. Boo. I’ll head that way.
Stacia:
You would need to be here all the time to even attempt it.
Karen:
Right. Less than two weeks to go for that.
Gerald:
Everyone is early it seems. Once you all get here we can head out.
Fluffbalclass="underline"
I’m at the portal guild now, be right there.
From Karen:
Five minutes for me. See you then.
Five minutes later the group was all out by the gates with Gerald as the party leader. “Okay, this is probably going to be rough,” Gerald told them. “The dungeon is for people level twenty to twenty-five. With Alburet our highest at nineteen this could be dicey. Alburet wants to give it a go regardless, so we’re going to attempt it. The test is coming up as well, so my thinking at the moment is this: For today and the next two we can run the dungeon a total of three times a day, if we can pull it off. I think we do that, then we’ll all have four days to do whatever we need to before the immersion.”
Fluff spoke up, “What if we can’t clear it?”
“We can grind the gnoll camps for a day or so then try again. Is that okay with everyone?” Gerald looked, around getting agreement from everyone. “Okay, let’s go. We’ll kill everything on the way.”
The group set off. Alburet summoned Tiny, made a copy of Stacia and then summoned Bob as they went. “So, which hotties are with us today?” Bob asked as soon as he appeared. “All of them, nice. The complete set is back. Well, almost a complete set, missing a dwarf. Then again, who really cares about a dwarf when you got all the others, including two succubi?”
Alburet shook his head, “Bob, you only care about sex, don’t you?”
“That is a vicious lie,” Bob responded quickly. “While I care about sex a lot, and I do mean a lot, I also care about other things.”