I'm so comfortable upon waking, it takes me awhile to realize something is off. Namely, that there is a warmth against me that should be, and a body to go with it. Someone is spooning me form behind, someone who has a pretty noticeable boner pressing against my ass, though not into it. They also have an arm on my side, their hand touching my stomach, their legs entangled with mine, their tail draped across our legs.

Their tail?

I know I wasn't drunk when I went to bed, but that does not feel like a tail I'd remember. It's definitely not soft or fluffy. I'm also pretty sure I'd have remembered going to bed with someone.

They're sleeping softly beside me, and I'm contemplating pulling out the knives my family gifted me for my birthday when I remember that while I had gone to bed alone, there was someone else in my apartment with me, sleeping on the couch. Someone with reptilian features.

Drake is in my bed. Spooning me. I know I went to bed alone last night. Why is he in my bed? Why is he spooning me? I mean, I'm not complaining about waking up to being spooned by a hot guy who seems like a decent person, just confused.

Deciding to enjoy this, despite my confusion, I shift back a little so that I'm pressed against him, feeling his chest and stomach against my back. His hand slides down my stomach, and I take it into mine as I feel his breath against my neck. It doesn't feel like he did anything to me, so I'm going to just sit here and bask in his warmth.

Even if there's a certain uncomfortable aspect to it. Namely, the fact that his boner is causing me to have one, and that's after not getting off at all yesterday despite having gotten aroused quite a few times due to Drake. So I'm uncomfortable while I'm comfortable. It's a confusing experience.

Him being hard doesn't mean anything, though. He's probably having sweet dreams about whatever dragon he fancies back home.

Almost an hour passes like this, with me enjoying the feel of another person against me, even with the added dragon's tail, and Drake sleeping peacefully. Then, his tail shifts a little, a strange feeling against my legs, and a moment after that, Drake stirs, his breathing deepening just a little, a slight shift from his sleeping breath.

"I'm not complaining or anything," I murmur. "But Drake? Why did you get in my bed? Especially knowing that I'm into other guys, which meant that I potentially found you attractive?"

"Judging by your breathing, heart, and scent," he tells me. "You did find my appearance arousing. The pitch of your voice was also different when you saw me naked versus when you saw me clothed, which I am assuming had to do with it as well."

Okay, so he can apparently tell when someone is aroused. That's… good to know?

"That doesn't answer my question."

"Was this a problem?" He sounds slightly worried, and his tail pulls off of our legs as he moves back, pulling his hand out of mine.

"No," I answer. "I'm just curious, Drake. Normally, someone is invited into bed first. But waking up with you here didn't upset me, even if it might upset others."

"Oh," he seems to relax as I turn over and look at him.

There's a slight look of worry on his face, and I'm guessing it was worse a moment ago. We're close enough that our dicks are touching, and now I need to take care of it even more. Crap. Should I move back? Or will it make that worry increase?

"I actually enjoyed waking up like that," I tell him. "Mostly because it was you. Most other people, I definitely would have been angry. I'm still curious why you decided to get in my bed, though."

"Hm," he thinks for several moments. "It was an impulse. It appears this body finds you attractive. In my full form, I would have preferred to eat people, not sleep in the same bed as them. It is strange."

So the form determines the attraction, huh? Wait, that form of his finds me attractive? I doubt he had a sexuality change upon changing forms.

"Are you gay?" I ask.

"Yes," he answers, and I can hear the slight touch of pain to his voice, notice it in his expression and eyes.

"They didn't like that back home?" I ask.

"They did not," he answers. "I was considered an outcast."

They sent an outcast to save this world? Wouldn't that earn him some form of esteem for when he returned? Or do they see it as something beneath them, and sent him here because of something in their culture that says outcasts do stuff like this?

"Well," I tell him. "At least on this world, people who save the world are held in high esteem, regardless of who they like."

"Yeah," he gives me a sad smile.

There's something he's not telling me, but there's something pretty important at the moment.

"I have to go to the bathroom," I tell him. "I'll be back out in a couple of minutes."

I turn back over, climb off my bed, and hurry into my bathroom. There, I jack off to deal with one issue, then relieve my bladder, then flush, wash my hands, dry them, then exit the bathroom. Drake is sitting on the couch, still hard, face red.

"Is something wrong?" I ask.

"No," he answers hastily, averting his gaze.

Strange.

"Okay," I say. "I'm going to make breakfast, then we can head over to the tavern, Cassidy will probably be waiting for you."

I pull on my apron and get to work making breakfast. Today, I whip up some slices of bacon and some eggs, and serve it with ice-cold ale, pulling off my apron and sitting on the couch as well, since the table's in front of it and I'm not going to sit on the floor.

Admittedly, both of us being naked and sitting this close kind of makes me horny again, but I push that down so I can eat breakfast. It's not until I'm washing the dishes that I realize why Drake's face was red when I came out of the bathroom.

He has good hearing. That means he heard me jacking off. To make it worse, he hasn't gotten off at all, but I know he needs to.

"Why don't you go to the bathroom?" I suggest to Drake as I start getting dressed. "You might not get another chance until lunch."

"Okay," he stands and walks to the door leading to the stairs.

He opens it and stares for a few moments, then shakes his head and steps back into the room, closing the door and looking around. Spotting the door to my bathroom, he walks over to it and enters it, leaving me confused.

He saw me use the bathroom earlier, why did he think the door to the stairs, which we both went through to enter the apartment, was the way to get into the bathroom?

I finish dressing, then Drake finishes in the bathroom and dresses. It's only now that I realize I forgot to give Drake the sword I bought for him, so I pull it out of my Inventory and hand it to him. Drake spends a minute trying to figure out how to equip it.

"Here," I show him. "Fix it onto your belt like this, since you're right-handed, then adjust it to make sure you can grab it naturally. That means that when you reach over, you don't have to move your hand extra to grab the hilt, your hand moves straight to it. Once you've got it in that position, check to make sure the sword will clear."

"Clear?" He asks.

"Yeah," I reach down and draw my knife an inch out. "Draw it about an inch or two. If it slides without issue, then it 'clears' the sheath. Check to make sure it clears just means to make sure it'll slide easily."

"Okay," he says, then adjusts the sword until its ready, then checks to see if it will clear, which it does.

Ready for the day, we leave the apartment and head over to the tavern. Daniel is behind the bar, and Cassidy is sitting at it, popping grapes in her mouth.

"Good morning!" Daniel greets us.

"Good morning," I greet him, then dip my head to Cassidy as she looks at us, popping another grape into her mouth. "Morning, Cassidy. I brought Drake, as promised."

"Thanks," she stands, picking up the bowl of grapes. "Come on out back. You, too, Nate."

"Sure," I say. "I could use a little extra practice, since I'll be doing some more difficult Dungeons in the future, and some Ruins."

While I'll most likely avoid many of the fights when I do runs, it doesn't hurt to get a little extra combat practice in. The sort of practice where my life isn't potentially in danger, that is.

We lead Drake through the back of the tavern and into its yard, which has stone walls twelve feet in height. Most buildings around here are only a single floor in height, and made of wood, wattle, and daub, not stone. Because of that, the back yard of the tavern has pretty good privacy, unless someone's on the roof.

In addition to a table set up back here, the well a couple of yards from the back of the tavern, the two stone smokers, the brick oven, and a large grill, there are also a few wooden training dummies, all of which show signs of use. Cuts and gouges, burns and splinters. They get replaced every couple of years, but we let traveling adventurers use them, in addition to using them ourselves.

Lesser training dummies would be replaced far more often, but Daniel imports these from an area that makes special ones. The wood is treated in such a way that they become much more durable, allowing them to last many more blows.

I'm not sure how much money Daniel has, but he's got to be pretty wealthy. The lower-quality ones from this manufacturer cost over ten thousand vanri, and he buys higher-quality ones, the same type which are used for by the royal adventurer's barracks. That's where any adventurers who have sworn loyalty to the crown live while in the royal capital, and many of them are at least as powerful as Cassidy or Granny, with some even as powerful as Daniel.

As Cassidy teaches Drake the basics using wooden training swords, I approach one of the targets and draw my knife, examining it, before sheathing it again and removing the sheath from my belt. I send my weapon into my Inventory, then pull out the pair of knives my family gifted me for my birthday and equip them.

Then, I draw them and begin striking at the target. While I typically only use one knife, I have trained with two a few times, because it can be more effective depending on what's going on. Being ambidextrous helps with that, too.

I alternate between striking with one knife and striking with two, and as I start to work up a sweat, I pull off my tunic and drop it on the table, then return to training. As I strike, I move between targets, aiming at the damaged sections, where it's weaker. Normally, I do this with wooden training knives, but I want to get a feel for my new knives and Daniel did mention he's ordering new dummies soon.

So as I train, I chip away where they're weakened from previous attacks, deepen the gouges and cuts they already have.

Daniel comes out and begins cooking lunch after a few hours, some sort of meat that he's cooking in one of the smokers. The other one's in use for actually smoking something more than a day. He also sets something to baking in the oven, though I don't pay too much attention, so I'm not sure what he put in there.

I'm too busy focusing on my own training, especially now that Drake's removed his tunic, letting me see his muscular torso again. If I look at him too long while he's like that, I know I'm going to think about how we woke up too much, and that will interrupt my training.

So I focus on striking the targets, moving nimbly and striking swiftly. I don't fight in a style that requires strength, but agility, in the style of the Rogue.

By the time lunch is ready, I'm soaked with sweat and am breathing hard, but I feel as if I've been using these knives forever. It was a good refresher for fighting with just one knife, with my right hand; with just one knife, with my left hand; and with two knives, one in each hand.

I sit at the table and check my knives. Despite me using them for four hours, they barely have any marks on them. I still care for them after as Cassidy shows Drake how to care for his sword, though since he used a wooden training sword, there's no damage on his actual sword. It's mostly so he knows how to care for it after a fight.

Once we finish that, we put our weapons away, then dig into lunch. It consists of hot, smoked ranrikai with a thick gravy, rolls, a hearty salad, and cold beer. It's delicious and filling, and perfect for eating after four hours of training.

After lunch, Daniel takes the dishes inside, and we let our food settle before Cassidy tells Drake that he's training this afternoon as well.

"Why?" He asks. "I have already trained, and the Oracle stated I am already the equivalent of someone with at least-"

"Because," I interrupt before he can mention how ridiculously strong he is already and will be after some Dungeon runs. She's already noticed he's stronger and faster than a beginner, I'm sure, but she doesn't need to know just how much stronger and faster. "You've barely begun to touch on the basics. We can do Dungeon runs tomorrow afternoon, but I think Cassidy and Daniel will want to train you at least in the mornings for a week, to make sure you're getting down the fundamentals and basics. Even with how strong and fast you are because of what you are, Drake, I could probably still best you in a fight. There's more to it than just swinging a sword or punching and kicking, which is about all you can do."

"He's right," Cassidy tells him. "This afternoon, Daniel will train you in martial arts while I cover the tavern. Right now, you're essentially a strong baby wanting to fight. By the time we're done with you, you'll be a novice warrior with some extra strength and speed."

There's the confirmation that she's noticed he's a bit stronger and faster. I suppose it's only natural, with her probably being close or at him in those respects. Daniel will probably exceed him by a little bit.

"Hey, Cassidy," I say. "I've always wondered, but why aren't there many more powerful adventurers out there than there are? I mean, I can get most of the way through Tier I just by doing the local Dungeons."

"First," she says. "The Class Ascension Trial requires 100 CP per Tier of the Class you're undergoing the trial for. Second, taking on additional Classes requires 100 CP times the number of Classes you'll have to undergo the Class Trial. Third, it takes 100 CP for an Ascension Skill Trial per number of Ascension Skills you'll have after completing it, and Ascension Skills can be extremely useful, so most people go for those."

"So anything past Tier I requires a bunch of CP?" I ask.

"Yes," she nods. "That's why most adventurers who stop here do the local Dungeons while they're here. Most of them need the CP not just for Levels, but to advance Tiers, take on new Classes, or acquire an Ascension Skill. After a time, all that's available are the more difficult Dungeons, the ones with a higher death risk."

"Ah," I say. "That makes sense now."

That also appears to be one of the things they neglected to inform me about in regards to the System. I'm so glad I asked about this before leaving, or I'd have probably ended up blindsided by this when it was time to do one of those things. But it does explain why most adventurers aren't Tier III or Tier IV, and the ones who are only reached that for their primary Class, since no Class is allowed to go above it in Level.

"Anyway," I stand and stretch, then pull my tunic back on. "I'm going to go see if there's any work for me to do. I'll hold off on Dungeons until you're going with me, Drake, so we can get the most out of them, but I still want to save up as much money as I can for the journey I'll be going on."