Nathan cracked open an eye and watched as Keith used yet another card, which fascinated the catkin. It took everything he had not to snap at Keith to stop wasting them. Most of the cards were reusable, but they still had limited uses.

He understood what was going on, though. They had a new teammate, one where such a thing didn't exist as the enchanted cards didn't exist, and she was fascinated by them.

Suppressing a sigh, he closed his eye again, then returned to talking with Icthvar, who had woken up.

"So?" He asked. "Would you be able to help us guide a gate there?"

"No," the phoenix answered somewhat lethargically. "Though Torzin might. I can bring him to that world, then he would be able to help you guide the gate there."

"Alright," Nathan responded, then cracked open an eye again as the catgirl made an impressed sound. Keith was demonstrating the Chill Drink card on a bottle of water. "I want to smack him so hard."

"And probably have sex with her," Ichtvar said. "I can tell you're hard, Nathan, and you know Samantha won't care."

Nathan knew that, and he knew that if Katie had an issue with him sleeping with women other than the two of them, then she probably wouldn't last. Samantha knew about Nathan's less-restricted side when it came to sex, and had told Nathan that as long as those he was in an actual relationship with were the priority, she wouldn't mind.

If he did have sex with the catgirl and Samantha did have issues, she'd probably reluctantly be fine with it because it was a catgirl. Then probably ask how it was and if she could join in if they ever found a catgirl together.

"Do you think Keith would have sex with her?" Nathan asked.

"Keith is gay," Ichtvar said. "I highly doubt he would even be able to get hard, much less have sex with her."

"Not even as an experiment?" Nathan wondered.

"Probably not," Ichtvar said. "Why-oh. No, Nathan. Don't do that."

"What?" Nathan asked.

"You were thinking about a three-way."

A three-way hadn't even crossed Nathan's mind as he preferred one-on-one, but he decided to tease Ichtvar a little bit.

"Me in front, Keith from behind," Nathan said. "Hm. Maybe we could stick her tail in him, and use that to help him stay up?"

"Don't. Just… don't."

"Maybe some other time," Nathan said, then let out a short, piercing whistle. The other two players jumped and turned to face him, and he spoke in English. "Ichtvar's woken up, though he still needs rest. He also says that nearly all demigods can speak every language."

"Yes," Evala smiled and spoke in English, startling Keith. "My mother was a goddess of healing. Healing is universal, and a healer must be able to communicate with her patients. As such, I possess the gift of tongues."

"Did we wake you up?" Keith seemed embarrassed to Nathan.

"I said I was going to rest, not to sleep," Nathan said. "Evala, are beastkin mate-for-life kind of people?"

"No," she answered, her tail flicking to the side. "If the attraction is there, there is no issue with it. Why?"

"Just curious if it would be inappropriate to ask if we can have sex," Nathan answered. "You are very attractive, and a catgirl, and you never know when a Dungeon might kill you. I also have a lot of pent up sexual urges that I need releasing, and wouldn't mind it with you if you were interested."

Evala thought it over for a few moments, then nodded and approached Nathan. Keith decided to busy himself with cooking and quickly turned away.

As soon as Evala was kneeling in front of Nathan, she leaned forward and pressed her lips against his, feeling his tool with her hand. Nathan pushed his tongue into her mouth as his hands found her breasts, massaging them for a few minutes before moving his left hand to her back, gently running the tips of his fingers down her spine and to her tail, eliciting a soft moan of pleasure from the catkin.

He admired the feel of the soft fur of her tail as it moved under his hand, which he then moved to her ass as he squeezed her boob, pinching her nipple between two fingers and causing her to moan again.

Nathan gently bit at her lip, and she ran her tongue over his lips, before pulling back and lowering herself, quickly taking his tool into her mouth as he placed one hand on her head and the other on her back. Evala expertly worked him, alternating between suction and tonguing, deep-throating and gently taking him down or simply licking around the head or up and down the shaft. Her left hand either held his member or massaged his balls, while her right would move from his thighs to his stomach to his chest, returning the favor of his treatment to her breasts.

Nathan reveled in the feeling of her expert treatment, moaning as her touch, kiss, and licks. When he felt himself drawing close, he pulled her off of him and flipped her onto her back, then sat between her legs and bent forward, feeling for her spot and pushing two fingers in as he massaged her right breast, biting onto her left nipple while careful not to let his tool touch her, to keep things as long as possible.

Alternating between either massaging or biting her breasts and kissing her, Nathan worked her, drawing out moans as he stimulated her insides. Several times, he slowed down, doing nothing more than kiss her, to delay her further. With his awakened senses, just feeling her against him, hearing her moans, pulled him ever closer, and he knew that she was likely feeling the same thing.

When he knew she was ready, Nathan pushed himself into her, the two demigods moaning together at the tightness and filling, and Nathan began to aggressively kiss her as he thrust back and forth, changing his angle every few thrusts until he found the one she appreciated most. Her hands ran across his sides and back, and he felt her tail between her legs, smacking against his.

When they finally climaxed, Nathan pulled out, only to pull her up and turn her over, so that she was on her hands and knees. He entered here again, playing with her tail as he rubbed her back and thrust back and forth once more, moaning with her until he orgasmed once more. Only then did he pull out of her and collapse beside her, the catkin laying beside him. Nathan played with her tail for a few minutes, before looking at her.

Time to bring up the thing he'd been talking to Ichtvar about, which the phoenix had slightly misunderstood.

"Do you only produce milk after giving birth?" He asked, and she gave him a confused look. "Gods – the female ones, anyway – produce milk at all times. Nectar, really."

"Oh," she said, then nodded. "As a demigod, I can, too, though only in limited amounts each day. It was something I was warned of, years ago. Anyone not a child of a god who drinks it will have their magics imbued with holy power for two or three days."

"There are shades here," Nathan said, noticing Keith stiffening as the enchanter plated the pasta he had finished cooking. "And Keith doesn't have any holy power. I'm not a magician, so learning how to use holy power is a long way off for me, but we enchanted some bullets with my blood to add it to them."

"Bullets?" She asked. "And if your gay friend would have no issue with drinking my milk, then I would be willing to let him, since he is cute. But only if he had sex with me. I won't let anyone who doesn't sleep with me drink of my breasts."

"I only nibbled," Nathan said. "Can I have a taste?"

"Only if I can drink your seed once you've recovered it a bit," she responded, and Nathan quickly took one of her nipples into her mouth, biting down gently and sucking on it as he worked it with his tongue. "Oooh!"

It didn't take long for him to taste the sweetness of a demigoddess's milk on his tongue, and all too soon, she tasted no more.

"There wasn't much," he complained, then looked at Keith. "Do you want to be able to fight the shades, too? Or just rely on her and Splashy?"

Keith wrestled with his answer, because he both did and didn't want to do it. He wanted to because it would mean he would be able to fight the shades himself, but he didn't because, well, the thought of something like that with her grossed him out. Disgusted him, even.

Nathan whispered in Evala's ear, and she smiled and nodded. The warrior looked at Keith.

"Just go over there and let her take charge," Nathan began dressing, then walked over and sat by the small fire. "She's got a tail, you know."

Keith shot him an annoyed look, but gave in and walked over to Evala. Nathan began eating, occasionally glancing over to see how things were. The catkin was sitting on top of Keith, whose back was against one of the cliffs, and while he looked uncomfortable, he was moaning just as much. Nathan had asked if she ever stuck her tail in someone before, and it looked like she had taken the hint and moved it into the enchanter's ass, stimulating him to give him pleasure, too.

When they finished, Keith took a bath in the lake as Evala joined Nathan for food, dressing at his suggestion.

"I think he nearly puked," she told Nathan.

"Possibly," he responded. "I don't think he ever wants to do that again, based on how hard he's scrubbing himself with that soap. You won't make him do that every time, will you?"

"No," she smiled at him. "That was enough. It almost felt like I was raping him, and I feel sorry for that. I don't think your friend will be happy with us."

Nathan agreed, and for the first time, he realized he felt bad about something. He'd only suggested it to Keith, but it was possible the enchanter had felt forced to. He needed to find a way to make it up to the enchanter, or it was possible their alliance could fade because of that.

"I only suggested it," Nathan pushed those thoughts back, deciding to worry about it later. It was a new feeling to him, and he wasn't sure how to handle it. "He gave in to do what needed to be done to allow him to be able to combat the shades. That's one of the respectable things about Keith – he will do what needs to be done. Now, instead of one being who can fight the shades, we have three, plus my guns."

"Guns?" She asked.

Nathan pulled out a gun and explained the basics behind it, and that he and Keith were trying to invent a version that formed the bullets entirely out of magic. After a few questions about the issues they were facing, Nathan asked if she were an enchanter, too.

"No," she answered. "But my brother was. After he died, I took his journal and have kept it on me. He specialized in making magical weapons, and it was part of why he was so good at taking on Dungeons by himself. He was Level 487, I believe."

Nathan was impressed by that Level, and briefly wondered what hers was. The way she said her brother's, he doubted she was as high, but she was likely still higher than him and Keith.

Hearing about her brother's journal made him suspicious of something, and he wanted to see it. To check if he was right.

"You have it?" Nathan asked. "Can I see it?"

"Sure," she pulled it from her Item Box and handed it to him.

The journal was thick, with several loose papers in it, and Nathan began reading through it. He wouldn't have it when they left, so he needed to memorize anything he could, though he would trust Keith to do most of that.

As he studied he, Keith returned from his bath, his skin scrubbed raw, and joined them in eating. He was quieter and more withdrawn than normal, though Nathan didn't notice. The catkin watched Keith as he began washing the dishes once they finished eating.

"I apologize," she said, washing her tail in the lake. "If I upset you. By the time I realized I should probably stop, you and I were nearly to our orgasms, and-"

"It's fine," he interrupted her. "Whatever needs to be done. The more who can fight shades, the better. Just… promise you won't ever do something like that again. Forcing someone to have sex just to give them something they need to be able to fight monsters in the game is wrong. Maybe it's acceptable where you live, but we aren't like that. It's wrong."

Evala felt bad, and knew he was upset, but wasn't sure how to fix the situation. Their cultures were different and she didn't know him well enough to know what to do or say to make amends.

"Keith!" Nathan hollered, and the enchanter looked at him. "The Overseers – they picked her for more than just healing me!"

Keith frowned, confused about what that could be until he saw the gun Nathan was examining. The mage hurriedly packed up the dishes and returned to Nathan.

"What?" He asked.

"This journal," Nathan looked at Keith. "This is proof the Overseers want us to develop weapons more powerful than what they can do with the System."

"How?" Keith asked.

"Because it solves that problem we're stuck on," Nathan answered. "One of the weapons her brother wielded? A sword whose blade was made out of pure magic. It was generated by pushing mana into the hilt. And he didn't have to constantly put mana into it – according to these notes, as soon as the blade was made, it would remain active for a set amount of time, and he could 'recharge' that by putting more mana into it."

Which they could break down into the more basic enchantments and runes to create the bullets. Forgetting where they were and what had happened, Nathan and Keith pulled out enchanting supplies and gun parts, immediately drawing up the new enchantments.

Evala watched the pair of them, reminded of her brother whenever he would fall into his research into something. Several times, she even had to quite literally put food in front of his face because he would forget something so basic as eating.

Several hours passed before Nathan held up the gun they were working on and aimed it at the former nest of the sirens, pulling the trigger. A bullet of pure-white magic shot out of it almost faster than their system-enhanced speed could track and impacted into the back of the cave, blasting a crater through it.

Nathan and Keith stared at the gun in shock, then burst out laughing.

"I guess that's what happens when a demigod uses it!" Keith said. "We definitely need to put a limitation on how powerful the bullets can be."

"Adjustable," Nathan said, firing off several more shots, all into the hole. "We'll also need to reinforce the gun, maybe change what it's made out of in addition to buffing its protective enchantments. The gun's wearing apart already."

Keith looked at the gun, which was cracked and partially melted in several places along the barrel.

"Yeah," he said. "Definitely on that front. Let's make up another one, and try to put a limiter on how powerful it is. We don't need to blow up our allies by them being too close."

"We make two, maybe three more of these," Nathan said. "Then we'll have to wait until we leave. We can focus on elemental bullets once we leave here and resupply for another day. Let's make two more, I want to have one as backup at all times, in case of emergency, and another for anything that's far too powerful, but not emergency-level."

"Got it," Keith said, and the two of them returned to work.

When they finished, Nathan stretched, then unbuttoned his shirt and revealed his smooth, unmarked torso.

"If you're recovered enough to hide your marks," he said. "You're recovered enough to exit me."

Keith snorted, then frowned as he looked around as Nathan responded to something his familiar said.

"Because the last two times before this last one where I fell asleep while heavily exhausted or after near-death while you were in me with this recovery thing, I had freaky dreams! And this past time, I was dreaming I was you, beneath Yellowstone, preening! For six weeks! Now get out!"

Reluctantly, the phoenix left Nathan, appraising the catgirl as Keith tried not to laugh at Nathan's most recent dream.

"Hello," Ichtvar greeted the catgirl as Keith continued looking around. "Nathan said you're from the world whose Festival of Life I bestow my presence upon."

"He said you only do that because you want chocolate."

"Both sides benefit, do they not?" The phoenix asked.

"Where's Breezy?" Keith asked, finishing his assessment of the surroundings. "He never returned."

"He's up there," Nathan pointed towards the darkness in the general direction of the top of a cliff. "Breezy, come on down."

The wind elemental flew down to them, eight talisman fragments carried in it. Carefully, Nathan pulled them out one at a time, moving them into two piles based on which ones gave him notifications or not.

"These five," he touched the pile of five. "Are the second talisman's. These three," he touched the other pile. "Are the ones for this island. I'm not going to bother asking how Breezy found eight talisman fragments, but he did. I'm going to get some sleep, because I did nearly die. Twice. And can use it. You two can deal with merging them together or not."

Nathan grabbed his backpack and used it as a pillow, sleeping on his back. Ichtvar landed on his chest and sighed.

"I don't suppose either of you have chocolate before I go back to sleeping?" He asked.

"Here," Keith pulled some out of a card and handed it to the phoenix, who devoured it before laying on Nathan and falling asleep. "Let's get to work putting these together, Evala. One of us at a time, though – they take a lot of mana, and I want to be prepared in case something comes our way."

Evala nodded, then picked up the five pieces and began pouring her mana into it, realizing how serious Keith had been about the cost only once she was nearly empty. When the pieces finally began to mend, she stopped and began to rest, Keith working on the other only once her mana bar had refilled most of the way.

"Are you able to use your psychic power to see other places?" Evala asked Keith, hoping she could try to make amends. It was clear they had vastly different cultures, and she had done something taboo to theirs. Asking about his powers, she felt, was one way to start to figure out what to do to make it up to him. "Or does yours come in another way?"

"I can read minds," Keith answered. "Project thoughts, basic fortunes – the starter of nearly every psychic, so that was a given – see other places, and in some cases, see the future."

"Are you able to see out of the game?"

"With a lot of exertion and effort," Keith nodded. "After we leave here, we're going into an extended Survival Challenge to try to create a scrying orb that makes it easier – and for non-psychics to use."

"You have big ambitions," she told him.

"It's all Nathan," Keith explained. "I'm in it for the research and excitement of discovering new things. He just wants to be able to see his baby while in the game from here into reality, rather than simply through images he'd have of him."

"He's a father?" She asked.

"Going to be," Keith snorted. "He's not exactly the kind of guy I'd have expected to be the fatherly type, but he seems to get along with his younger cousin well and is ecstatic for his son. He actually cares about the son more than his girlfriend… in a frightening level of difference."

"Children are precious," she nodded. "What about you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do you want children?"

"No," Keith answered. "I don't think I could ever be a parent. You should get some sleep, I'll keep first watch."

Evala hesitated, but moved to the side and curled up, allowing herself to fall asleep, and Keith began fiddling with more enchanting stuff. Were either of the other two awake, they would have noticed his sour mood and frustrated expression.

Several hours into his watch, Keith sensed movement and turned, finding Nathan behind him, offering to him a bottle of peach-flavored lube and…

"Is that the replica of your dick that you had made for Samantha?"

"No," Nathan answered. "This is an unenchanted one. You can have it."

Keith began to ask why Nathan was randomly giving him a dildo, but the question died on his lips as he realized the answer. Nathan was trying to apologize to him and make it up to him. The guilt was clear on the warrior's face.

"Nathan," Keith sighed. "Thanks, but… it's not you I'm upset with. I expect stuff like that from you, because of how oblivious you are and how bad your social abilities are at times. Well, maybe I'm a little upset at you, but… it was obvious what your thought process was. You were thinking about 'what needs to be done' and 'what will work for us the best'."

"I made you upset," Nathan offered up the lube and dildo again. "I did something wrong. You can have it."

"Thanks," Keith accepted the peace offering, then sighed again as he looked at the items. "I hate myself for giving in and doing it, Nathan. I didn't like it, and it took everything I had not to puke. Really, the tail was probably the only thing that kept me feeling good, and…"

He shivered, as if something disgusting or disturbing were there.

"So no catboys?"

"What?" Keith asked, then laughed. "Nathan, that's not what was bothering me. If it were a catboy, then I'd probably be fine."

"Okay," Nathan nodded. "Ichtvar's going to take Master Torzin to her world, so that when we finish making a permanent gate, we can open one there."

"Where is Ichtvar?"

"I stuck him in my backpack," Nathan sat down beside him, then frowned. "Are we good?"

Keith turned the bottle of lube and the dildo over in his hands as he thought about Nathan's question. The warrior was serious about trying to make amends with Keith, who admitted that he didn't really blame him.

Sure, his methods were unconventional, and definitely something only someone with Nathan's way of thinking would try with him, but the effort was there. Nathan probably told himself it was so that he didn't lose Keith's partnership for enchanting, but Keith knew better.

Despite what he said, Nathan saw him as a friend.

"Yeah," Keith looked at the label of the lube again. "We're good, Nathan. Sorry if my gloominess is bothering you. As I said, I don't… I don't really blame you. It's on me. I chose to do it. I do have a serious question for you, though."

"What?" Nathan asked.

"Why do you happen to have my favorite lube flavor?"

"Oh," Nathan's gloomy expression lightened up a little. "Samantha gave me a case of it, said to give it to you. I was going to do it once we were in the Survival Challenges, but figured you might want some lube to use that now. I'm not sure why she didn't give it to you directly. Or why she picked flavored lube. Maybe she thought that you could suck yourself, too, and did after jacking it for a bit?"

"Too?" Keith asked. "Wait, you can suck yourself?"

"Apparently."

"Apparently?"

"Samantha asked me to try the last night we weren't in the game," Nathan nodded. "She seemed to like it. I didn't."

He frowned.

"I'm not sure why she would have liked it, it's not like she got anything out of it."

"Some girls get off to things like that," Keith snorted.

"They do?"

"Yes," Keith told him. "They do. Trust me. Samantha's got plenty of gay porn and self-sucking porn in her browser histo-"

"Why did you hack her computer?"

"I've hacked, like, most of our school's," Keith snorted and turned his gaze back to the lube and dildo. "Too many people clicked on the link in the spam email I sent."

"What email?" Nathan asked.

"I sent out an email awhile back," Keith shrugged. "Designed to be ignored by spam filters most emails have. It had a link in it, and went to everyone at school with an email address. If they clicked on it, I was able to check out their whole computer. I did it, like, every semester."

He sensed something dangerous and looked up. The expression on Nathan's face was terrifying.

"I deleted all of my files on Samantha as soon as you two started dating and I got the chance after we left the Tutorial," Keith said. "Though she did have good taste in the twinks she looked at."

"What do you have from me?" Nathan growled.

"Considering that you were one of maybe twenty classmates who never actually clicked on the links?" Keith asked. "You actually passed the test. Your parents failed, though. I was kind of disappointed when I got into your computers after your parents'. You have a boring computer life. The only things you ever did was schoolwork, research for schoolwork, and looking up pictures of puppies, with the occasional look at stuffed animals. In the last four years, you never looked at porn. Ever. What teen doesn't?"

"Me," Nathan growled.

"I don't have any files on you anymore," Keith said. "I promise. Just like with Samantha's, I've deleted them. By the way, I'm pretty sure your parents would have let you get a dog."

Nathan stared at Keith for several seconds, then his annoyed expression turned curious.

"Are we okay?" He returned to the topic of why he had approached the enchanter originally.

"Yes," Keith nodded. "I've forgiven you, Nathan. I promise, I'm not going to be upset with you."

"Good," Nathan let out a massive sigh of relief.

"Good?" Keith asked. "Why do you seem so relieved that I've forgiven you."

"Because if that didn't work," Nathan said. "I was going to have to offer Plan B. I didn't want to do that."