Mature Content Warning: Innuendo and such.

Author's Notes: We are fast approaching the end of this volume. A Lot was said and done in this chapter. One more to go, plus the epilogue.

Chapter 11: F-Fairygasm?!

Moonlight streamed down through the branches of the old growth forest and casting shadows upon the land. In a small clearing the wind began to stir. It was a subtle shift in the balance of the world. Soon, a legendary hunter once again stalked the land. Woe, be unto those who became an obstacle in the path to the chosen prey!

“Alright, now to find Scott.” said Rhea as she appeared in the moonlight clearing. She looked around expectantly and then sighed. Right, why would he be waiting for her at her log-in spot when he did not even know she could log out yet?

She set out for their campsite at a determined trot. There was little time and she wanted to spend it with her comrade.

However, once she arrived on site she frowned. The tent was gone. “Did he move the campsite?”

Rhea did a quick mental calculation and determined that it had only been a few days since she had left. She knew that he had been in the mine recently because she had authorized an offline prayer request for aid, and even sent him her favorite low-end set of boomerangs.

The elf maiden’s eyes widened. She pounded her right fist into her left hand then nodded. “I bet he went to sell off loot in town and get repairs.”

“I’ll send him a party chat. Maybe he’s in range?” She pulled up her party menu and noted that Scott was still her leader. That tidbit of information was obvious, but it made her smile anyway.

However, something surprising caught her eye. Her momentary elation at figuring out his location faded. “He’s asleep and he’s level thirteen?”

She could not send him a party chat at this distance since he was unconscious. Further, what had happened in that mine? She knew that he had been facing a lot of monsters, but there should not have been that many.

She bit her lower lip then chewed on it for a moment. What could have happened?

“I’m wasting time. It will take hours to get to Meaden.” Rhea called up her map screen then chose to world travel to

Meaden. Her top running speed was a little higher than Scott’s. She would get to town in only around eight hours, just in time for dawn to grace the world with its presence.

***

Soft innocent eyes widened in surprise and wonder. “Wow, Scott. It’s so big...”

“Really? Looks normal to me.” said the sorcerer.

Ero shook her head back and forth. “I’ve never even heard of one being that big before!”

Scott laughed at the fairy living inside his mind. She had a flair for exaggeration. Though, it was possible that there were none bigger in this world.

“How do they make buildings that tall? You said that there was no magic where you are from?” asked Ero.

“It takes a long time and they use materials designed for strength and flexibility. I’m not sure what else they do, but they build a floor at a time.” said Scott.

“You have a lot of fun memories. All I have are memories of Mike and my cave.” said Ero.

“We’ll make some fun memories Ero.” Scott felt bad for the tiny little thing. She had been locked away for her own safety and had not even been far from her cave before that. She knew almost nothing of this world. In many ways they were in a similar position.

“That will be so great! Best friends traveling the world kicking butt and eating pie!” exclaimed the girl happily.

Scott barked out a sudden laugh at the image that popped into his head. She sure was an excitable girl. Her innocence and previous situation made it easy for him to trust her. He had also started to receive flashes of insight, images of her past.

The bonding process went both ways. Soon they would both know everything about each other. It was quite intimate in a way. Ero occasionally said or did things that seemed perverse, but he knew that she was an incredibly innocent creature at heart.

They laughed and relived moments of their past so that they could both see more of each other’s history with greater ease. Surface thoughts were easier to view.

After they finished chatting about the past they turned to discussions of the future. Scott checked Ero’s status screen to see what he had to work with.

Name: EroClass: Lesser Guardian SpiritRace: Sacred FairyAge: 112Level: 1EXP: 0Next: 1000Greater Power: Storm of EmotionHealth: 3[3]Mana: 99[99]Attack: 1[1]Defense: 1[21]Strength: 1[1]Agility: 20[20]Accuracy: 10[10]Intellect: 200[200]Luck: 40[40]

“Seriously? What the hell is with your stats?” Scott stared at her status menu in confusion and wonder. At level one her luck was higher than his currently, and her intellect was more than double what he had developed! Hell, she nearly had as much mana.

Ero giggled softly then spoke in a shy tone. “Is it bad?”

“No, not at all. We do need to increase your physical stats a little. though. Would there be any problems later if I gave you some of my experience?” asked Scott.

“I’d love that. Gimme, gimme. Fill my body and soul with your passionate experiences!”

“Ero... Calm down.” Scott fought down the rising heat that had begun to form in his cheeks.

“Oh Fue.” She said before giggling once more.

“The only issue that I see is that you may have problems with level modifiers later since I don’t have many ability points to increase them at the moment.”

“Ah, I don’t get stat modifiers like that. When I gain a level my stats will increase, but you can’t change the modifiers. If I reach a high enough level, I’ll class up and my modifiers will increase naturally.” said Ero.

“I see. Interesting.” Scott called up his own status menu. He needed to work out how much experience he could afford to spend on the girl.

Name: Scott the UnbreakableClass: SorcererRace: HumanAge: 18Level: 13EXP: 55,609Next: 611Ability Points: 6Health: 189[189]Mana: 173[173]Attack: 88[404]Defense: 107[419]Strength: 79[79]Agility: 78[78]Accuracy: 58[58]Intellect: 91[91]Luck: 37[37]

“I won’t be able to increase any of your abilities with ability points today. I’m sorry, Ero. Still, I can help you gain a few levels.” said Scott.

“That would be lovely. I could hug you.”

“Not the face.” Scott smirked when he heard her start to giggle inside his mind.

He decided to experiment with expending one thousand experience points to increase her level once. After he started to submit his choice, he received a message stating that he could not expend more experience than was required to maintain his current level.

“That’s good. I can’t accidentally lose a level.” said Scott. That also limited him in regards to how much experience he could give to Ero. So, it seemed fair.

A bright light flared around his head and a loud fanfare echoed through the room. A message screen appeared.

>>

Ero has increased her level by one!

Health + 3

Mana +12

Attack + 0

Defense + 0

Strength + 1

Agility + 5

Accuracy + 2

Intellect + 8

Luck + 4

>>

“Hey, not bad! It’s strange that it showed me your new stat upgrades, though. I usually have to check my status menu to see mine.” said Scott.

“I can feel it! I can feel the power!” exclaimed Ero with great excitement.

Scott laughed at her then checked her new status. She now needed two thousand experience points to increase her level. “I wonder if it is one thousand points multiplied by your level.”

“Hmm, I am not sure. I know how my stats grow but I don’t really know much else. I have not really been able to learn that much about what I can do as a guardian spirit.”

Scott decided to expend five thousand more experience points to see if his theory was correct. The light and fanfare returned immediately after he submitted his choices.

>>

Ero has gained two levels at the same time!

Health + 5

Mana +21

Attack + 3

Defense + 2

Strength + 3

Agility + 13

Accuracy + 5

Intellect + 19

Luck + 9

>>

“Yes, yes! More Scott! I want more!” exclaimed Ero in a disturbingly excited voice.

“Geeze, calm down before you have a Fairygasm or something Ero.”

“Too late! Uhm, what’s a Fairygasm?” asked Ero.

“Just... excitement about becoming a stronger fairy.” said Scott.

“Yes! I want it! Give me the best Fairygasm ever!”

Scott smirked. That was definitely not something he would want her saying out loud. “Fine, one more time.”

“Yeah!” shouted Ero happily.

Scott expended another four thousand experience points. That brought the total amount expended to ten thousand.

>>

Ero has increased her level!

Health + 2

Mana + 9

Attack + 1

Defense + 1

Strength + 2

Agility + 4

Accuracy + 1

Intellect + 11

Luck + 3

>>

“Oh yes! Oh that was amazing.” Ero cried out ecstatically inside his mind. Scott was not sure to make of the effect that raising her level had on the fairy. Was she exaggerating or did she really feel that good whenever she gained a level?

“Right, well... I can’t do it again for now. I need more experience first.” said Scott.

“That’s OK. We’ll do it again later when you’re ready.” said Ero. She spoke in a sleepy, dream-like tone that made Scott wonder what she was doing.

“Uh, alright... Let’s see your stats now.” said Scott. He needed to change the subject.

Name: EroClass: Lesser Guardian SpiritRace: Sacred FairyAge: 112Level: 5EXP: 10000Next: 5000Greater Power: Storm of EmotionHealth: 13[13]Mana: 141[141]Attack: 5[12]Defense: 4[46]Strength: 7[7]Agility: 42[42]Accuracy: 18[18]Intellect: 238[238]Luck: 56[56]

“Wow, I am much stronger now that I have your experience inside Me.” said Ero.

“Yeah...” said Scott. What was with the innuendo?

“We should try to get you some sort of equipment.” said the sorcerer.

Ero sighed softly, luxuriously. “Mmm... You can do anything you want, Scott.”

Scott’s face took on a subtle shade of red. This fairy, what was she thinking? He called out to her in his mind but he only received a sleepy sounding murmur in response. He tried again and her next response was a gently snoring sound. “The hell, she fell asleep?”

He started to consider what they needed to do for the day. A little shopping would be good. He needed to get supplies, and possibly find something that Ero could use. He was not sure how that would work out, but it would be worth a try.

His musings were cut short by a sudden knock on the door. “Who?”

Scott stood up from the bed and walked over to the door. He had no reason to suspect trouble, so he opened the door. He was greatly surprised by what he saw on the other side. “Rhea!”

The elf gazed upon him with great excitement. It had taken all night, but she had finally arrived! “Scott! Hi!”

“I thought you weren’t going to be back for several more days.”

“Yeah, I have to leave again soon but I managed to get a lengthy break so I ran back here in the hopes of finding you.” she said, a smile upon her lips.

“Will that cause trouble for your... elf stuff?”

She shook her head. “No, and if it does I really don’t care.”

“Rhea...” said Scott. She had said that in quite a decisive, almost bitter, tone.

“Scott. I... We... We need to talk.” she said. Rhea tried her best to look him in the eyes but she ended up only gazing at his chest.

“Sure, come in and sit down.” he said.

Scott reached out his hand and she gently took it. He shut the door behind them after she entered and they walked over to the bed and sat down. “What’s going on, Rhea?”

She took a deep breath. “I’m not sure where to start.”

He placed his hand on her shoulder and she looked down at her hands. She smiled in a soft, tender manner.

Rhea lifted the hand that Scott was still holding and then placed her free hand on the back of his. “I... I need to tell you everything about me. You may be angry with me afterward.”

“OK” said Scott. He was not sure what else to say at the moment. She was ac ting strange.

“Scott... I, well... My name is not really Rhea Ardente.” said the elf.

He squeezed her shoulder. That was an interesting bit of information, but he was not going to have a fit for being told a fake name. It did make him wonder what she was going to say, however.

She took in a deep breath then slowly released it before looking up at him. “My real name is... Origin. I am the reason you are here in this world in the first place.”

“Ah, so that was it.” said Scott.

She blinked then leaned in and stared at him hard. “That was it? I just revealed to you that I am a goddess who brought you to this world, and that I have been lying to you. All you say to that is that was it?”

“Well, I honestly did not think you would turn out to be a goddess. It does explain a few things. I had originally thought that you were like me, except that you could return to your home world or whatever.”

Rhea blinked slowly. “Seriously? You aren’t surprised?”

“No, I am surprised. I’m just not jumping around like a moron.” Scott laughed a little. Rhea joined in with a soft laugh of her own.

“So, you already had sort of an idea what was going on?” asked the goddess turned elf.

“An idea, yes. I had a lot of those. I do have questions, though...” said Scott.

“Please ask.” replied Rhea.

“Well, for starters... What do you mean by goddess?” asked Scott.

Rhea smiled. “That will take some time to explain in detail. On a basic level, you can say that my true race is an immortal being made of pure will. Long ago we discovered, or were created by, mortal beings. We still don’t know the truth in regards to our actual origins.”

“So, you are saying that you are actually a goddess. A real one? You’re a fire and brimstone, raise the dead but wreck a continent, sort of person?”

Rhea nodded then squeezed his hand gently. “I can do all of those things, though we mostly focus on a concept or emotion that we strongly resonate with instead of trying to be everything.”

Scott was not sure how to react to that. Was she telling the truth? She had already admitted that she had lied to him, but it actually made a strange sort of sense. If she actually was Origin then meeting him in the waterfall area was something she had chosen to do. “Why not tell me all of this sooner?”

The elf maiden shook her head. “I’m technically not supposed to tell you this now. There are rules against speaking about this sort of thing while we are logged in to the world.”

“Logged in? You make this place sound like a giant role playing game. I know it feels like it, but...”

“That’s because it actually is a massively multiplayer role playing world. It’s a real world, just as real as the one you came from. Yet, it is upgraded to have stats and levels and all of that.”

If she had told him that a few weeks ago, he might not have believed it. However, after having lived here for a short time it made about as much sense as anything. “That helps a bit. I wondered about how real this place really was. So, we aren’t just a computer simulation or something?”

“No, no. It’s nothing so mundane. Think of it like what Earth would be like if one day game mechanics were layered on top of the standard reality. Nothing else would change, but you could now gain levels and throw fireballs.”

“That does help a little. Why does this world exist like this, though? Why bring me here?” asked Scott.

Rhea squeezed his hand once more then shook her head. “That’s part of the long explanation. Do you want to hear it?”

“Yes.” said Scott without hesitation. What else did he have to do that was more important than finding out why he was actually here in the first place?

“Well, where do I start?” asked Rhea rhetorically. She took a moment to consider her options.

Scott sat there patiently, wondering at what she would say. He felt surprisingly calm at the moment. How much had this world changed him? He had just learned that this world was created to be a live-action roleplaying game and he was sitting next to a literal goddess. Shouldn’t he be freaking out at the moment? Yet, if anything he felt a strange mixture of excitement and numbness. He was conflicted but intrigued.

“The gods, my people, we love humans and their popular culture. Your world, other versions of your world throughout existence, we enjoy what you create and try to emulate it in order to experience your fantasies and humanity.”

“You... love humans?”

“Yes! We’re your number one fans. Some of us enjoy what your kind create so much that we modeled an entire city and lifestyle based on your popular fictional narratives.”

Scott blinked twice then nodded. That seemed odd, but plausible. Given his current situation it even made sense. That is, it made sense if anything in his current existence could be said to make sense.

“So, well... This world exists because we made it to exist this way. Specifically, my family did. We are what you might call, a family owned corporate gaming company.”

Scott absorbed that information then could not help but laugh. Things were starting to make sense, more and more. If he allowed himself to believe what she was saying, it all made a freakish sort of sense!

Rhea laughed a little as well, but her laugh was one filled with nervousness and anxiety. “Yeah, I suppose we might seem odd to you.”

“No, not at all. You are from a race of beings with incredible power over reality, a race who loves games so much that you make them for real. I can tell you, there are probably billions of people back on Earth who would love to be able to do that. Hell, I would have loved that job.”

“Would you! Would you really love a job like that?” Rhea gripped his hand tightly and looked at him hopefully, her eyes filled with a wild and intoxicating excitement.

“Of course I would. Who wouldn’t? Create worlds, play in them? Meet interesting people and loot their corpses... sounds great.”

Rhea lunged forward and wrapped her arms around him. “Oh, Scott. I am so happy.”

Scott sat there, his cheeks burning, while the goddess in elf form pressed tightly against him. He suspected that he was missing something, but at least she seemed happy.

She pulled back after a while and wiped tears from her eyes. Despite the fact that she had started to cry, she bore a warm and excited expression. “I had always hoped that you would, even if I was never sure that we would meet again.”

“Again? You’ve mentioned things now and then that make me think that we have met before, but...”

Rhea’s lips quirked into a smile that seemed to be half smirk, and half amusement. “I’m not surprised. You would not recognize me as I am now. We did meet once before, on your world.”

“Did we?” asked Scott. He did not remember anything like that.

“Yes, do you recall several years ago by your idea of time... You met a little girl, a chubby pre-teen with glasses and blue highlights in her hair?”

“I...” began Scott. He could almost feel like he knew what she was talking about, but he could not quite see the memory that she was referencing.

“You were wearing your cute little army uniform. The little chubby girl was lost and scared. A man who smelled like he had not bathed in months accosted her on the street, but you appeared and helped her.”

“Wait, wait... In Phenix City, Alabama. I didn’t have a car at the time, so I had to catch a ride with someone. I didn’t have a chance to change clothes into my civvies after final formation...”

“Yes! Do you remember the little fat girl?”

“She wasn’t fat.”

Rhea poked him. “She was supposed to be chubby. I made that avatar to be like that because I wanted to feel like a kid who sat around playing games and never exercised.”

“Fine, she was as fat as a cow. I thought that if I patted her head she might moo once or twice.” said Scott.

Rhea unleashed a perky smile. “Thanks for noticing!”

“She seemed like a nice kid.”

“Yes, I was. I had wanted to visit Earth, and finally received authorization to visit one of them. I chose that form and entered your world through our system so that I could leave easily and not unduly influence life there.”

“System?”

“Yes, all of our games use it in one way or another. Basically, I made a game avatar suitable for Earth. That meant that I had no powers or anything that a normal chubby twelve year old girl would have.”

Scott nodded. It was a crazy story, but everything was a crazy story of late. “So, I helped you out when you were on Earth in the form of a child...”

Rhea nodded at him them looked down at his hands. “You were so strong and confident. The smelly guy cursed and called you names, but you just stood there staring at him until he left. It was like he was so far beneath you that it was pointless to fight him and he knew it...”

“Yeah, I remember. I took you somewhere with people, a store down the road I think.”

“Yes! The arcade. You were concerned for me and wanted to make sure that I got off the street.”

“Arcade? There were a few machines there but it was more like a convenience store.”

Rhea leaned against him. “You bought me ice cream while we waited for my older sister to come pick me up.”

Mention of ice cream made Scott snort. He’d had enough ice cream shenanigans recently. Sharde briefly entered his mind. She had been strangely insistent that he buy her ice cream.

“You let me play a game and I was OK at it, but you decided to show me a better way to do it. I was fascinated by how skillfully you fought your opponents.”

Scott rubbed the back of his head. “Yeah, I prefer roleplaying games really. Fighting games and the old school side-scrolling beat ‘em ups are fun too.”

“That game was called Fatal Fury, right?”

“Yeah, Fatal Fury two. It’s an old game, but I like old games.”

“I know. You really liked that game.” said Rhea. She leaned her head on his shoulder and smiled softly.

The sorcerer leaned the side of his head against the top of hers. “Yeah, mostly because of Terry Bogard and Mai Shiranui.”

“So, you like buff fighters who use interesting and agile movements while slinging powerful energy attacks? Who would have guessed?” asked Rhea with a smirk.

Scott laughed a little. “Don’t forget the underdressed large breasted ninja girl. Mai Shiranui was my secret girlfriend for a few years when I was younger.”

A rattling sound caught their attention and they turned toward the origin of the sound to see that the front door was slightly ajar. Scott walked over to shut and lock it. “I could have sworn that I locked this.”

“Yes, so could I.” said Rhea. She frowned cutely and stared at the door. Something about that did not feel right.

“Well, whatever. You were telling me about things?” said Scott.

“Right! Well, anyway... you offered to show me how to beat my opponents. When I was better at it, you challenged me to be player two... D-do you remember?” Rhea’s face turned bright red and she began to fidget.

“Yeah, I think so.” said Scott. He remembered playing with that little girl.

Rhea gave him a warm hug then sighed softly. “I’m so glad that you remembered that.”

Scott patted her gently on the head. Rhea’s nostrils flared slightly due to the gentleness that he showed to her.

“Anyway, there was something wrong with the system. I could not log out on my own, so I had to wait till my sister managed to find me. You were so kind, so nice to me. After I returned home, I thought about you a lot.”

“Really?” asked Scott. He was surprised by that. He barely remembered what she was talking about and it was only a few years ago. He had decided to help out a lost little girl during his time off.

“Yes, I guess you could say that I developed a crush on you. I think of it as something more profound, but that is what it amounts to, I suppose. I spent many nights looking at still images of you or replaying our meeting in my mind.”

“Why? I mean, I understand that you were happy that I helped you. Still, what was it that made you fixate on me?” he asked.

Rhea shook her head. “I don’t really know. A lot of things, I guess? In my true form I am at the age where I should be thinking of marriage and making certain that the company flourishes. The problem is that most of the men that I know are just... not interesting. If anything, they piss me off.”

“Marriage, huh?” asked Scott.

“Yep, if I don’t find a proper husband soon it could be problematic. The council, rather the executives and heavy investors in our company demand stability. We own majority control, but they have enough pull to demand other things.”

“I see; business politics at their finest. So, you never found anyone to marry?”

She shook her head then looked down at her hands again. “No one who has shown interest has made me feel like they actually care about me. It’s only what I can do for them.”

“I see.” Scott placed his hand on the back of her neck and began to rub her gently.

Rhea murmured softly and closed her eyes. “You do, don’t you?”

“Hmm?” asked Scott.

She tilted her head toward him, but kept her eyes closed. “Outside of my immediate family you are the only man who has ever shown the least bit of actual concern for me. That is probably why I became somewhat obsessive over you. I must marry soon or my family might be greatly damaged. I kept hoping to find someone who made me feel as though they cared for me as a person, but such a man never arose.”

Scott slid his hand down then around her waist. He pulled her closer to him and kissed her on the cheek. “I get it now. I wish that you could have told me this sooner.”

Rhea leaned into him then slid an arm around him as well. “Me too.”

They sat there for a while, no words were spoken. There was only the passing of quiet and comforting minutes.

The elf maiden sighed loudly. “This is so nice. I was worried about how this would go.”

Scott squeezed her hip then nuzzled her cheek softly. “Why is that?”

“Well, I have been roleplaying as Rhea. I thought you might have been upset with me for not telling you the truth at the beginning.”

“I’ll admit. I am a little saddened that the velvet madness isn’t really a thing... Still, you had your reasons and I am not a teenage boy despite my appearance. I know people have issues and have to work through them in their own time.”

Rhea snuggled closer to him then casually said, “I was not actually lying about the velvet madness. Elves do go through that...”

“I don’t think I could imagine you as a love crazed sex fiend, Rhea.” said Scott with a laugh.

She placed a hand to her lips and giggled before saying, “Keep being so sweet to me and you won’t have to just imagine it.”

“Rhea...” said Scott, shocked a little at her boldness.

“What? Did I stutter? Did I ever once deny being interested in you?” asked Rhea in a decidedly authoritative tone.

“What did I do to deserve having such a beautiful gamer goddess in my life?”

She kissed him on the chin and then on the nose. “All the right things.”

Scott’s face heated at the sincere answer that she gave. Damn his teenage hormones. “Rhea, I-”

“Rhea!” exclaimed a new voice. Scott’s eyes widened. He was surprised at the sudden appearance of Ero.

“Wha-!” exclaimed the elf as a tiny naked woman appeared suddenly and only a short distance from her face.

“Hi! I can’t believe that I finally get to meet you. How are you? Are you good? Do you like me?” asked Ero in her rapid-fire manner.

“Ero, calm down a little.” said Scott.

“Oh, but I finally get to meet Rhea!” exclaimed Ero.

Rhea gaped at the fairy for a moment then pulled away from Scott and squinted at him. “Why is this Fairy calling out my name...?”

“Uh...” said Scott.

“I’m calling your name because I have wanted to meet you so bad!” Ero lunged forward and plastered herself against Rhea’s face in a full body face hug.

“Ah!” cried out Rhea as she was suddenly assaulted by the overly enthusiastic little thing. She flailed her arms around wildly and fell over on the bed.

“Ero! Stop that. You know you shouldn’t face hug.” said Scott.

“Oh no. Mama Rhea, daddy scolded me.” said Ero cutely before fluttering her wings.

“M-mama Rhea?” asked the elf girl, a difficult thing to do when you had a face full of happy little fairy.

“Yeah! Would you prefer big sister?” asked the fairy before she released her adorable death grip on Rhea.

“I would prefer an explanation...”

“Oh, that’s easy! I would have loved to have spoken to you sooner but you weren’t here when I was awake. After Scott gave me four fairygasms in a row I was super sleepy.”

“F-fairygasms?” Rhea’s mouth dropped open and her eyes widened. She froze in place, but her left eyelid twitched spastically.

“Yeah, it was amazing and made me feel so warm inside. I felt like I could do anything after he was done.”

Rhea’s face slowly turned toward Scott. He winced at her then shook his head. This was going to take quite some time to explain.