Selene wasn't that reliable in a pinch.
She wasn't bad though, maybe a bit absent minded at times, was all.
It didn't really fit her serious persona, but that was natural.
Appearances often belie a person's true self.
"Let's rest, Selene, come here."
Beckoning her over, she sat down next to me as I opened an arm and brought her in.
The two of them could sleep while I watched over them.
There was no reason for her to worry over the past.
People aren't perfect, and it seems, even AIs aren't perfect either.
Chapter 56: Rattanorv
(Saturday, August 7th Game Day / Sunday, March 14th Real Day)
Letting out a yawn while stretching my jaw, I cracked my eyes open in order to take in the scenery before me. Selene was occupying the space between my left arm and my chest and was fast asleep, while Katherine had taken up residence on the right side, with her head resting on my shoulder, and my head, on top of hers. With my back against a tree, the three of us had napped rather peacefully during this mid-summer day.
Thoughts of rodent mutations were still on my mind, but I enjoyed the moment that was at hand, first and foremost. I was starting to wonder if I had chosen wrongly, having picked Selene over Katherine, as the latter had been steadily growing on me.
Well, even Selene told me to reciprocate some of Katherine's advances, less she lose all her womanly self-confidence. Knowing her past, I sort of understood it… but these were NPCs. They were realistic, far too realistic really, with their advanced Artificial Intelligences. Yet even with such evidence staring me in the face, I was hard-pressed to believe that she would be scarred if I turned her down.
That seemed rather, improbable, to say the least.
I wasn't looking for a harem anyways, or a three-way, triangle-anything.
Eh, it was a complicated matter… one that I didn't want to deal with.
The area we had ended up in was awfully beautiful, despite the perilous journey that preceded it. At the base of the eastern mountain range that separated my territory from an undisclosed neutral region, and with the elven territory a ways off on the other side, we were quite a distance from Dragon's Breach. It was at least fifty miles by the end of it, and I was a bit mystified that Kate and Selene had ventured this far out into the forest on some whim.
An odd thing, really.
Meh, who was I to question what two women did on their spare time.
Glancing around at the scenery, the trees were much larger here, and considerably greener as they were near a large source of water. At the base of the mountain were multiple creeks spreading out like a web, as the melting snow and ice trickled down the mountain and filtered out through the forest.
Dragon's Breach sat at the end of all these creeks, streams, and rivers and was quite lively in its own right, but the source was a bit different.
Lush grass and green foliage throughout, this isolated area had been largely undisturbed. Humans didn’t travel this far out, only animals and beasts. This area was truly a secluded one, far more so than my village.
That was something we could all enjoy.
Listening to the soft sounds of rushing water all around, the creeks weren’t such fast movers to be loud. If one walked hurriedly, they would miss out on the soothing, ambient music of nature itself. A gentle mountain breeze, kept one cool under the shade of a tree, while the sounds of nature relaxed one's mind. The lack of outside influence, allowed one to let go of his or her inhibitions as well.
And at that moment, I almost kissed Katherine.
She had woken up and turned her eyes up towards mine, with lips slightly apart, while breathing lightly on my neck. Those tri-colored eyes of hers, with an inner deep green ring blended with an outer light blue ring, split across by a soft dark gray that spread out with a light splatter… they were captivating.
A mixture of colors that a description couldn't do justice, green and blue from a distance, yet with the intermixed grays up close… a spectacular arrangement of color.
When Katherine wanted to be seductive… well, no one held a candle to her.
Even with Selene asleep under my left arm, I wanted Katherine.
That was wrong.
Quickly kissing Kate on the forehead to dispel my thoughts, I then hugged her tightly and turned to stare at the sun directly above. It was partially blocked by the canopy of the trees, but it gave me something else to look at.
Kate buried her head into my chest, possibly blushing or potentially harboring her own desires. I didn't know which it was nor did I dare to check. She was far too tempting, and that was a risky proposition.
I needed to get up, before the situation devolved any further.
Nudging Selene awake was my first step. I then slowly stood up as the girls got back to their feet and gathered their belongings, none the wiser to my internal plight.
"Ah, now that we're rested," I started to explain, while not risking making eye contact with either female. "Shall we give that dungeon a go? Revenge for their sneak attack last night, and to instill a little fear into those mutated things?"
Nothing quite like a dungeon grind to distract one's inner thoughts.
"No?" I asked, while looking at the girls that were standing idly by.
They seemed bothered by the previous night's events, and stayed silent.
"Alright, we're going in," I declared with some conviction. "You two stay behind me, as long as I'm in front and we're fighting in narrow rooms, you two will be safe."
"Do you mean to fight, those things?" asked Katherine with a slight frown.
"They're weak, I'll show you," I stated, hoping to convince them with little effort.
Selene had yet to say anything, which was unusual for her as she often interrupted to throw out some witty or sarcastic line of some sort. Her silence, was uncharacteristic of her. She must be afraid of failing again… I, could understand that.
As someone who fails far too often, I understood where she was coming from.
Because of that, I also knew that the best remedy was to move forward.
"I trust you Sir Sigurd but… it was, dangerous, last time," Kate uttered hesitantly.
"They caught us by surprise with no visibility, it won't be difficult this time."
No longer wanting to discuss the same topic over and over, I grabbed Kate's arm and wrapped my other arm around Selene's waist as I dragged them both with me. Selene was in a poor mood, but we would fix that with some confidence-boosting action in this Open Dungeon.
Stepping through the cave entrance, there was no portal here that separated the two worlds like the Static Dungeon where the Outcast Goblins were located. That was an "instanced" dungeon, something that never changed and was always there, simply requiring a reset related to a timer. These Open Dungeons, were free and randomly populated by the creatures that existed within the game.
After clearing an Open Dungeon, there was no telling what would show up next.
It very well could repopulate with the exact same creatures, but that wasn't a guarantee. Also, as far as the information from the Alpha and Beta phases of the game went, it could take a few days for an Open Dungeon to fill up compared to the one-hour hard reset after all players had left a Static Dungeon.
The first thing I noticed when stepping into the cave, was the smell.
It didn't smell like puke and urine… though, it still smelled like urine.
Rat piss, is what it reminded me of.
"Eh, wonderful," I muttered, as I flared my nostrils and blew out a puff of air somewhat noisily. "You girls brought your scarfs right? I suggest wearing them now."
They must have been marking their territory, with how odorous it was.
The cave system was quite different thankfully, as it appeared to have small cracks and open spots in the ceiling that allowed sunlight to directly shine through. It wasn't much really, and it didn't have the same ambiance as a bunch of scattered torches, but it was nice in its own little way.