Chapter 008: Aftermath

Jesus Christ.

What just… no. There is no time to think about it. It might be surreal, but let’s act like it really happened.

I turned towards the slave. Now looking like she couldn't decide whether she should feel happiness about Radakar's death or shock due to Robinson’s speech. I touched her collar.

"I declare myself your owner."

New Property!

Lena Simeon (Slave) (Level 1, Slave, Blood Elf)

Yes, looks like the mechanics for ownership changes work like they used to in World's Requiem. Any free citizen could take an ownerless slave. Worked the same for those that escaped. Made catching them easy.

"Simea, do you have spare clothing?" She woke from the stupor and shook her head.

"I sold everything I had to buy this suit." Shit.

"You will have to endure this for a while. I promise to buy you whatever clothes you choose." My words woke Lena from her trance as well.

"But..."

"Don't worry, I do not plan to use you in any way, we will take this collar off of you as soon as possible." Might be troublesome since the key was probably in Radakar's equipment. "We should leave this place, immediately. Simea, you with us?" She nodded. " Alright, let's go."

We ignored the stares and left the guild before people there decide what to do with us. Players weren't a problem - they were too shocked to try anything - but if the locals came to think we killed Radakar with some hex... it might get troublesome.

Lena tried to cover herself as we entered the street. Thankfully it wasn't too crowded, since her attempts were unsuccessful. Dammit, too bad we sold all the cultist robes. We had to find Leria, she might have spare clothes on her. We promised to meet each other by the gate between the slums and the citizen district, so I led the other two that way.

"I can’t believe it happened." Simea suddenly spoke. I turned my head towards her. She looked beyond me, her gaze fixed on something I couldn't see. "You know, getting imprisoned in a game. I wanted to play this game just a bit… and now it looks like I will spend a lot of time like that."

"That's bullshit. DFI shouldn't be able to do it. Imprison like a hundred million people in a game? Impossible." I answered. Trying to sound like I believed what I said.

"Why did he do that, then?" She immediately replied. "If he wasn't true about being able to somehow prevent the world from freeing us, then it is all just a most epic case of suicide in human history." I had no idea how to reply that, so I turned my attention towards Lena.

"What's your story?" She looked up at me, still looking like a PTSD victim. "How did you end as a slave?"

"I... I don't know!" She almost shouted. "A friend of mine convinced me to play Gates of Eternity, I never even played an RPG before, so I choose random start. I woke up as a slave waiting to be sold. That bastard bought me and... " She almost started crying again. "I can't use skills or spells when I'm not a slave, and they are weakened when I don't act submissively enough to my owner. This is terrible."

... fuck, I changed my mind. I didn't pick the worst start possible.

"Jesus, that's beyond tough." The idea about freeing her just went downhill. Not being able to use spells or skills? Everything stronger than Screecher would kill her. Damn. I'll think about it when we get to Tyrant's Hold.

Suddenly I saw a person wearing a familiar robe. We made Vaera wear it because it covered him completely. Last thing we wanted was him getting kidnapped and sold. He was waiting with Leria and a human I didn't know (a cook?) beside the gate. I ran forward waving my hands.

"Oh, there you are. Wait, how did you get a slave?" Leria saw me coming and spoke first. "Not like I'm against it, you are much too sexually repressed recently, and this isn't healthy, but..." I finally caught my breath after running. I need to improve my stamina.

"We need to leave. Now. We will talk on the road. Give her your spare clothes." I didn’t have to specify whom I spoke about. Leria also wasn’t one to ask unnecessary questions.

She took out her spare clothing - even in armour she had to wear something beneath it so we left her two sets of cultist robes. Lena grabbed it and quickly dressed up. Her relief knew no bounds.

I looked and appraised our new cook. Seemed surprisingly cheerful though he grew cautious after my 'WE NEED TO LEAVE. NOW' speech. Not surprising.

We marched back through slums. I decided that it was time to offer Vaera and Leria some explanation.

"An adventurer died." Short version for now. "While arguing with us. In the middle of the room full of people, but in magical circumstances. " At least that's how locals would explain it in their heads. "I helped myself to his slave and vacated the premises. Proper investigation will prove I wasn't the one who killed him, but I prefer to avoid getting lynched or thrown into jail before that happens." Justice in Doomplaces was swift but easy to bribe and blind.

"I see." Leria answered. Vaera was... surprisingly silent since his trauma. " Will you introduce us?" Ah, right.

"Leria, Vaera - that's Simea Rymarz, our new rogue. And Lena Simeon, a slave I liberated because I knew her owner and he was a bastard of biblical proportions whose early demise made the world a little better. Simea, Lena - that's Leria Khan, my sister and warrior, and Vaera whose surname I keep forgetting that is a genuine mountain elf dragonbride-on-the-run."

"... and that's Rytar Veloksis, our new cook." Leria spoke. I nodded to the slave. "To avoid triggering your recently discovered moral qualms, I took a debt slave that would be sent to the mines, so he is genuinely happy to be a kitchen slave." Oh, that explains a lot. Though I guess my roleplay as Avhar Khan wasn't perfect... too bad I will throw it out soon enough.

***

Sight of Tyrant's Hold awoke feelings I didn't know existed. Turns out I thought of it as home. That I saw how terrible the surrounding lands were was helpful.

We were planning to spend a night in Ambryxis. Rushing back home left us all drained. We decided to sleep before having an important talk the next day.

***

Tomorrow everyone gathered in the altar room. We brought chairs since we expected a long talk.

I wasn't too good with being in front of a crowd. Especially when I had to speak to them. Even when 'the crowd' was five people.

"Yesterday, the world changed." I began. It was true, at least considering the fact that we were still not rescued from the Infinity. "So I guess it's time for some answers and confessions."

I told Leria and Vaera the truth. More or less. I kept to Robinson's version. I told them that the real Avhir Khan met an unfortunate demise, and that I was in fact an imposter. An otherworldly being that now inhabited this body and couldn't return home. I also told them that both Simea and Lena were the same, as well as the guy that died in Ambryxis.

"That's... something I expected." Leria said after a short moment of silence. Triggering my SAY WHAT reaction. "Not the details, but you acted too differently from your old self. I suspected you of being possessed by something." Oh.

"Well, technically it's a truth. Once again sorry for this, but it's not something I did on my own will." I... felt almost surreal apologizing to the computer program, but... I needed their help. And they were so life-like I felt genuine guilt. "In fact, if I could, I would vacate this body immediately and return to where I come from."

"I as well." Said Simea. Lena only nodded. Just as Vaera she had her own trauma to overcome.

“I guess I’ll remain your shield.” Leria spoke after a short pause. “You confessed the truth willingly, and I have nowhere else to go.”

I looked at Vaera. He sighed.

"You saved my life, so I owe you. Besides, being a part of this group lets me avoid the attention of other Dragonbrides. That you are an otherworldly mental invader doesn't change it." And that I could endorse. If all people had the same approach to it...

"Wonderful. So the dire threat of everything collapsing around me was avoided." I chuckled. "Well, I guess we resume the normal operations. Thankfully, I have a lot of knowledge I shouldn't have that should let us get stronger fast. That's something we should focus on. Simea and Lena, come to my office. One by one preferably. We need to talk about a few things.”

***

Simea came first. Still wearing her… revealing clothing. Sigh. I guess I have to get used to it. It was almost tame by Doomplace standards and Lust Magic was influenced by what you wore, so...

“Sit there.” I pointed at the chair on the other side of the desk. She did so, sending me a “WHAT IS IT” face. “My supernatural knowledge I mentioned earlier includes many subjects, almost all of them connected to DFI and their lore. I hope to debrief you a little about your character.” I chuckled seeing her confused look.

“You see,” I said after a short pause. “I might not have 130 IQ, but I’m not stupid.” In fact I was above her in that department but I wouldn’t divulge this. It's nice to have some secrets. "I know a lot about people. And I know a lot about you."

"I'm sorry?" She seemed rather defensive. Oh well.

"Let me guess. I already know you are a sheltered kid that decided to prove her parents she is an adult by going on a sex rampage in Infinity." ... which wasn't something I associated with adulthood, but... well. Being intelligent doesn’t mean you have social skills and common sense. "However, from what I saw about you, I concluded you don't even know how to do that. You are literally so innocent that saying you want to have sex a lot to Administrator when he asked you for a reason to play was your limit. You are trying to act like you know what you are doing, but in fact you don't know. He threw you at Doomplace and made you a Night Elf... and it overwhelmed you to the point where you don't even know how to start your glorious fuck-me campaign. Am I wrong?"

I saw on her face she almost said no. Almost. But she thought about it for a moment... and after a long moment of painful internal argument she sighed loudly.

"Yes. I guess you are right." She scratched her head and looked down on the desk. I felt like I was a teacher scolding his student. "I expected... I don't know. High charisma and great looks? I thought I read enough about the subject to somehow continue it further, but Ambryxis... I found too much of what I searched for and now I don't know what to do."

Yeah. I figured so much. She didn't think that through, but I couldn't really blame her. Her parents sheltered her too much.

"I'm thinking I don't know who got more screwed over in character making. You or Lena." She looked at me with disbelief. "Listen, let me ask you straight. How many times have you had sex since you began playing?"

She almost went red. Jesus, a night elf ashamed to answer a question about sex. This would be tough.

"I... didn't have sex even once." She finally answered, almost stuttering.

"How many times have you masturbated yesterday?" Now she was too shocked to answer. "Let me guess. Three times? Four times?"

She finally answered.

"F...four." This time she stuttered visibly.

"You know it will only get worse?" She looked at me questioningly. "Listen, how much do you know about night elves and elves?"

"Next to nothing. I know that there are around two dozen elven subspecies around. That's pretty much everything." That's what you get for not reading lore stuff. Sigh. Amateurs.

"Elves in DFI canon are always a race of servants created by an ancient empire that experimented with genetics. Whose overlords went dormant after gaining lots of slaves to cater for all their needs. Some subspecies are widespread and were made to form a majority of population in a certain area. For example forest elves in heavily forested areas, mountain elves in mountains and so on. But there were also other subspecies, more dedicated in their genetic modifications." Now time for the bomb. "Night elves were made to serve as prostitutes." She made a WHAT face. "More successful ones ended up as living rewards for notable elven commanders, less successful were turned into breeders to ensure there were enough night elves to do their jobs throughout their creator's empire. But they almost went extinct when their creators died out and the period of civil strife began since they had nothing to say in terms of fighting skills."

"That's... I see." This wasn't the bombest bomb around, my poor Simea. We are only getting there and it will hurt.

"The survivors were finally picked from the dirt by Deviation. Local goddess of lust and sexual perversions. She... recreated them into what could be perfect priests and priestesses for her." And now time for the bomb. "Listen. You said you wanted to have sex in the game. And Administrator gave you exactly that. You are a member of a species that is biologically dependent on having lots of sex."

"Wait, do you mean that..." She tried to interject, but I continued.

"Listen. The only way for you to be sexually sated is to participate in an orgy with at least thirty participants all of whom focus their attention on you. And even then you will still feel like you could have a quick fuck for dessert. Get used to being horny since you will be horny all the time. Instead, you should focus on staying sane." She seemed too overwhelmed to even try to speak. "Masturbation is only prolonging the inevitable because your dependancy isn't only biological but also mental. You HAVE TO have sex. Lots of it. And regularly. Right now you have to masturbate at least four times a day because of what your libido demands. It will only get worse. Within a week top you will no longer be able to think about anything other than being fucked. You will keep masturbating almost permanently, all day long. And within three weeks you will be permanently broken mentally and you are going to forever remain a sex-crazed beast in humanoid form.“

I… wasn’t sure how the DFI made the last part. Yesterday I would have said they wouldn't be stupid enough to pull this, instead giving simple debuffs when one didn't fuck often enough. Now? Now I wasn't sure about anything when DFI was involved.

"Five days." I said finally. "You have five days to get somebody to fuck you. If you fail, come and tell me. We will think of an alternative." The easiest way was to order Rytar to fuck her. He was a slave, so he had to obey such orders. You didn't have to be a designated sex slave to get used like that, it was just a part of being an object in a shape of man. Though I began to believe that he would actually enjoy being used that way…

If she however fails to do it - and fails to find relief in any other way - I will have to resolve to the most obvious way of treating her… disorder. Namely - being the one to have sex with her. Which had… certain unfortunate side effects I wished to avoid. It was truly a last resort.

"You are dismissed. Good luck." When that ... problem is fixed, I will have several suggestions about her character progression, but it would wait. No reason doing it now. "Tell Lena to come."

She left. Still trying to fully comprehend what she heard. Yeah, it was tough. I felt pity for her. She was screwed over by Administrator much more than me. I sincerely hoped we would get released from the game soon. I also hoped her parents would get less indirectly abusive and she’d just get a husband in the real world.

Lena came soon after she left.

She seemed much calmer, now that she wore something (which also wasn't revealing at the slightest) and after she caught some sleep. She still underwent a major trauma and it would be a moment before we would see how she coped with it.

I directed her to the seat. And started the 'meeting' with the standard I HAVE GREAT KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE GAME I WISH TO SHARE.

She nodded. Looking almost enthusiastic to learn. I repeated the info about the origins of the elves to then proceed to her own subspecies.

"Blood elves were made to be parts of personal entourages of magicians of this ancient empire." I said. Well, at least there wasn't a bomb waiting for her. "Notable natural talent for black magic, decent combat skills. Bodyguards and magical helpers, without sexual content. Their owners were too different from them to see their elven servants in that light. However, to ensure their loyalty they were installed with a natural drive to complete submissiveness towards their owner. They automatically align themselves mentally with powerful dark magicians, though which one triggers it is random. They almost died out after their creator's empire fell, since many of them died in the fall and many others ended up being bodyguards and concubines of various elven warlords, dying in their wars. Some remained, hiding where no potential owner can find them and literally brainwash them by being near them."... which was a reason they weren't a playable species in World's Requiem.

She nodded, signing she understands.

"You were probably sold cheaply because they decided you were a defective product. Not 'aligned' to any of the potential owners they showed you and without martial or magical skills to speak off. About the mechanics you mentioned, there was something similar in one of DFI's earlier games when the protagonist was enslaved for a short while. I believe I know how to fix your problems at least partially."

"... how?" Yes, finally she spoke. She was rather silent all this time.

"The point is to find a way for you to be submissive enough to allow you to use your skills and improve your character without the submissiveness being too debilitating." I entered the Property part of my Status and found her. Then I clicked on her name. A long list of potential slave designations were listed there, almost all of them marked as unavailable because of her lack of... training. Many names were rather disturbing.

I switched her from general Slave into a Bedwarmer. I could see her getting suddenly tense after seeing the notification. Yeah, I guess I can't blame her.

"Don't worry, I don't plan to use you in any way without your acceptance. The point is, a Bedwarmer's 'duties' are the easiest to fulfill. You have to just sleep in the same room as your owner, not even in the same bed as he might not wish your attention. Or be busy with another slave." I said with clear disgust in my tone. "This, waking me up in the morning, cleaning the room from time to time and talking like a proper slave - you know, calling me master and so on - should do the trick. Letting you level up or just do whatever you wish for the rest of the day. Taking the collar off is impossible for now since it would literally impair you and make you an easy snack for every person in this world."

I must have cleared her doubts. She nodded.

"I think it's a good idea... master." I could feel she forced herself to add the last part. "Can I go now?” Not exactly as the game expected her to behave, but… sigh. Hearing a pretty girl refer to you as master was nice though, even with her background.

“Of course, Lena.” Time to take a walk throughout the place.

***

"So, the boss himself." Rytar seemed surprisingly average. Average height, a bit of muscle but also a bit of fat... he seemed almost too normal. No wonder they wanted to send him to the mines.

He was busy inspecting his new place of work and the storeroom beside it.

"Yep. The boss himself. It kinda happened." I wasn't one of those people that were having a hard-on having authority. Trying to act almighty was stupid.

"Kinda happened, huh." He smirked. "Well, whatever suits you. As long as I don't get to spend the rest of my life as a slave miner, I'm all happy and cheerful." Suddenly he froze. "Unless... you don't plan to… use me, right?" I took a second to connect the dots.

"Wh... no, no. I'm heterosexual." To be honest, I still wasn't sure if I could refer to myself that way. After all heterosexual meant being attracted to people of other gender... and there were at least two additional ones. Being attracted to Vaera would be 100% gay... ok, 75% because of how feminine he was. Leria? No idea what to think about this. Despite the 'blood' relation, since it was at least 50% incest. Maybe it was better to say I’m into women?

Sigh. Why did DFI complicate things so much?!

"And thank gods for that." Kytar chuckled. "Then I'm fine with the job."

... I decided to not enlighten him about Vaera's gender. Or Leria's. I'm not trying to push him into that line, but I will not ruin his mood. Besides, I don't know what is our dragonbride sexual orientation and Leria seemed to be into females, so...

"So, the thing is... I have two things to talk about." Rytar scratched his head. "Have a while?" I nodded. "Well, the first thing is that this kitchen needs renovations and the storeroom, while I love the anti-aging enchantment, requires some... well... content."

"I thought there were a lot of things in there?" At least considering from the number of crates.

"Yeah, well, no. Most of the crates are empty." He shook his head seeing my reaction. "My theory is that somebody got rich by creative accounting. There is a register but things don't add up.

"Wonderful." Well, the sect was responsible for countless atrocities over the years. That somebody in it was also a swindler shouldn't surprise me. "How long will the stores last?"

"Few weeks." He shrugged. "Most of it is dried meat though. I might be a cook but I'm not a miracle maker and I can't make something out of nothing. So I suggest resupplying whenever it will be possible."

"I guess we will have to earn money and buy more supplies before we all die of hunger. Or resort to cannibalism to avoid eating dried meat. And the second thing?"

"Well, there are three collapsed tunnels in here. If you buy me a pickaxe, I can try to clear cave-ins. Maybe find something worth money, or just expand the place."

"If you like being a miner so much, we can still sell you to the mines, you know?" I said while grinning, to make sure he knows I'm not saying it for real.

"Well," he chuckled "I used to be a miner so I have experience in this."

"Hmph. I'm not sure if that's the best idea. This might be an uppermost layer of some dreadful dungeon. We don't know what's in there." I sighed. "But eventually we will have to expand. I'll think about it."

***

I returned to my quarters. I had to retreat for some time alone. To think.

The situation was rather horrible.

There was still no sign of people from the outside trying to free us. Which was... unnatural, to say the least. Just how long does it take to realize we are trapped? Rather than fighting it, we should just accept that Demiurge Forge somehow ensured we cannot be freed from the outside.

Was there some other way to free ourselves? Robinson took a suspicious amount of time to persuade us otherwise. But... he wasn't known for being a liar. I didn't know what to do.

I raised the glass of wine and took a sip. Not too good, I guess the cult didn't have a good taste in them.

Leria, murderous Beyond-worshipper, the warrior. Vaera, the runaway dragon-lover, a buffer. Simea, edgy teenager cursed with insatiable libido, the rogue. Plus Lena and Rytar, our 'slaves'. Not the most balanced team, but it had a potential.

We had a secure hideout which would be a great boon. There was a town nearby, however abhorrent it was, which would also be useful. Also, my knowledge of DFI's games lore was another trump card.

We had to grow stronger. Gain influence. Preferably also some insight into lands beyond the Dragonspine Mountains. Learn more of the changes DFI made in the lore since the last game. Avoid bad ends (they were always horrible in Doomplaces), since being an immortal otherworlder means nothing when you are a broken slave of someone. Preferably also avoid getting to feel too comfortable and becoming a Fallen.

Sigh. For now, let's drink.