John regretted telling that joke because of the awkward situation it had created. But even then, it was only a light regret, and he felt a bit closer to Gwen when everything was said and done. Gwen had been so earnest in her question that he didn’t have it in his heart to refuse her. And besides, they were both adults and were even dating, which was the most comfortable explanation John could come up with on short notice. It might not be the most comfortable thing, but it wasn’t like they were doing anything wrong, and it might show them where they had compatibility. And as much as John wanted to justify it just through Gwen’s education about sexuality on Earth, a part of him also had to admit that he was curious about learning what she might be interested in.

John had agreed to show Gwen some videos after she had continued to show interest after explaining exactly what was featured in most pornography. She had even teased him a bit when trying to get him to show her some of the videos, suggesting that Gwen was a bit less prudish than John expected someone of her background to be. He had shown her a little bit of the tamer stuff, not wanting to warp her sensibilities of ordinary sexual encounters. John explained that while people used porn for various reasons, it should not be used as a realistic depiction of sex. Gwen seemed to understand when John said that, but he was a little bit worried about the copious amount of notes she had taken during the process. Especially since whenever he had tried to sneak a peek at what she was writing, she had been quick to turn her notebook away from his prying eyes. After a little while, Gwen had sent John off, saying that they should both get ready for their upcoming date.

Gwen thought she had been able to hide her embarrassment from John pretty well, mostly by pretending she was back in one of her “Wifely Etiquette” classes, learning about how to please future husbands. It had always irked her that there had also not been another class on how to receive pleasure as a woman, and she heard no tell from her male counterparts that they had received “Husbandly Etiquette” classes. Gwen had been surprised to see John squirm in discomfort a little bit as they watched the videos, though he had continued to explain his perspective about what was happening in the videos. Gwen thought John had handled the situation pretty maturely, and even gentlemanly in contrast to the generally explicit nature of the videos he had shown her. Gwen felt that some of the other men she had been on dates with would have seen viewing such materials as an invitation to make advances, whereas John had treated her with respect throughout the process. John had even shown her videos that he said were more tailored to female tastes if it was something Gwen was interested in watching herself in the future, the thought behind it being both kind and a little weird to Gwen. As she processed John’s meaning, she found it more sweet than offputting, showing John accepted that she might have sexual interests of her own. John considering and welcoming her interests, rather than disregarding her feelings and pretending his suitor was only some kind of chaste prize to be claimed, was a lovely surprise.

One of the things Gwen had found most interesting was that many of the videos that John had shown her had featured women being the ones to make advances on the men. Even more surprising was the videos like this that had featured older women pursuing younger men, whom John had said were referred to as Milfs or Cougar. Relationships like that only happened among the most powerful females in her culture, rather than being semi-common like it seemed in Johns’. Even all of the romantic and erotic focused books she had read back in her world had always featured a man pursuing a woman. The number of videos that featured women seducing men that John had shown her led her to believe that he may have an unconscious attraction to those kinds of women, something that Gwen planned on exploiting soon. Even if her plans were only to exploit those predilections to tease John for now, not necessarily to go as far as the people in those videos, which she wasn’t ready for quite yet. Maybe she could ask Jake for a suggestion or two while they were on the shopping trip, though she would have to be careful, or that could get real awkward, real quick.

John was slightly worried about what Gwen was planning on doing for their date, seeing the mischievous look she had had on her face when she had mentioned it to him. The fact that Gwen was shortly going on a shopping trip with Jake was doing nothing to alleviate his worries about what Gwen had planned for their date later, especially since Jake would offer suggestions if he heard anything about it. As Gwen and Jake were getting ready to leave, Jake also seemed to have helped Gwen style herself for their shopping trip with a Denim Jacket to go over her dress and some black skate shoes and ankle socks for her usually bare feet. John thought the look suited her, and he had created a shopping list for the two using his new internet connection to see what was available at Canadian Tire. John had ended up with a mishmash of different things, though he made sure to prioritize getting a kid and adult-sized fishing rod so he could make Lenny an appropriately sized quality fishing rod. John also had added a fly and ice fishing rod to the list, just to have a wider variety for later.

Besides the fishing rod, John had suggested that they get a couple of hooks and flies of various types, though he recommended only getting a couple of each shape and size. John also indicated that they also only get different colour patterns for the different sizes, hoping that he would be able to swap the designs for the different sizes to gain a wider variety from his creations. John guessed that he would be able to edit the hooks himself to get new patterns, so John didn’t want to use too much money on acquiring hooks. After all, there was probably some kind of daily limit on what could be spent on his debit card, and he didn’t want any extra attention being brought to his bank account.

John had suggested they pick up some power tools, hand saws, and tools related to metalworking along with the fishing equipment. He had some useful tools for working on smaller electronic equipment already but figured he should prepare for getting some of the Crafting related subskills. Hopefully, besides helping his Crafting work, getting these tools might help reduce the cost of some of these subskills. Besides these items, John had suggested that they pick up some weight and sports training-related equipment for adding to the training room, along with actual sports equipment for the future Arena. Seeing that absorbing the other sports equipment had also given John armour Blueprints, he hoped that getting a wider variety would allow the Blueprints to combine the best aspects of different equipment. Then, John could create a better overall armour or at least more armour types.

For things that were less necessary but would still be nice to have, John suggested that they consider picking up some games, like Ping Pong paddles, balls, and nets, along with a dartboard and darts set, or any other similar games. John also suggested that they might pick up a couple of toys, which he felt Lenny would appreciate. John had almost considered making the Ping Pong set a priority, as he had seen a set online that had two paddles, a couple of balls, and a net. When John saw that it didn’t come with a table, John had figured that he could make his own, so he had looked up the proper dimensions for a table online. Being curious about the actual rules, he had also looked them up after that. As John finished reading the rules, he had received a notification that he had completed Research and Ping Pong was now available as a potential Arena Game if he got the right equipment for it. John was also notified that if he Researched other Ping Pong rule sets, those would also be available for use, and more in-depth competitions could be held. Thus his desire to get the Ping Pong set, both to have everything necessary to set them up in the Arena, and that by gaining at least one full Arena Game, he might reduce the cost of the Arena Research.

Gaining these rules for the Arena Games made the System Enhanced Internet Connection Research even more appealing. It would be so much easier to spend an R.P. or two to gain new sets of rules for the Arena than it would be to read through the different rulesets for complicated sports like Hockey, Basketball, and Football. On the other hand, gaining those sports through hard work would be pretty satisfying as an accomplishment. John would also have to look up some less complicated sports and competitions, adding a wider variety to the Arena quickly. Things like Cornhole and Minigolf came to mind, and as he thought about it more, John figured he could do some pretty fun stuff with mini-golf once he unlocked Enchantments and more kinds of magic. Wanting to prepare for future projects, and seeing as Lenny was currently asleep while Jake and Gwen were out shopping, John began reabsorbing everything in the Dojo room while keeping the sign and placing another sign below it reading Arena & Sports. Along with the signs, John put another Checkpoint pedestal, allowing another portal to appear. This portal was currently only tuned to the extradimensional Training Room he was presently building and filling up with the equipment that had previously been in the Dungeon.

As John finished replacing everything that had been in the previous Training Room in the new Training Room, he noticed Jake and Gwen arriving back in his Domain with a shopping cart full of items. It looked relatively heavy, given the amount of effort Jake and Gwen were going through, pushing it towards his Dungeon entrance. John began absorbing some of the smaller but still heavy items in the cart to help them out, hoping not to shift the cart’s balance too much, as he didn’t want it to tip over. Jake and Gwen realized what John was doing and made some rearrangements in the cart to help keep it from tipping over since that would just slow down everybody’s progress. John removing a decent chunk of weight at least made it a decent amount easier for Jake and Gwen to push the cart, and it made its way into the Dungeon much quicker.

As Jake and Gwen made their way down the ramp in the stairwell, they also began dropping some smaller items out of the cart. As they got into the First Room of the Dungeon, they finished unloading the cart, and John absorbed it according to the plan they had made earlier. He then remade the cart, Jake expressing a bit of happiness that they could bring an empty cart to the store next time and not return it after moving the heavy full cart. Jake then began bringing it back to the store, while Gwen went back into John’s Soul Space so that she could get ready for their date. John finished absorbing the rest of the items that had been in the cart and was surprised to see that he had gained a new subskill under Creation, for Dungeon Puzzles. John brought up its description to see what he had obtained.

Dungeon Puzzles

Dungeon Puzzles have been unlocked by absorbing multiple different kinds of objects that can be used for Dungeon Puzzles. Dungeon Puzzles can be used for various purposes in the Dungeon, such as not allowing further passage until the puzzle or challenge has been solved, opening secret areas and paths, or gaining loot by doing well in a challenge.

Looking into what he currently had available for Dungeon Puzzles gave John a bit of a malicious smile. Apparently, besides the jigsaw he had available to slow down Adventurers, he could also force them to play Jenga, with punishments and rewards depending on how well they did.