Closing the chest and putting it back into my bag I looked at the others. I felt tired and a little saddened, this was not the gaming experience that I had expected. “I think we will stop here and have a little rest if it is alright Sebastian?” Looking over at the dapper little demon I saw him nod. Turning to look at Luzzie, I said “I thought I saw you stocking up on sandwiches and other goodies for the trip. Dop you have something yummy in there?”

With a large smile, Luzzie opened his bag and spread out a cloth, then began to unload an incredible assortment of bread with meats and condiments, along with cheeses and pickles and two bottles of wine. He began to assemble the food into sandwiches and then placing them on plates he passed them around.

“These are Branston pickles with a sharp cheddar, add some meat if you like to top it off. I will pour some wine in a moment. There are also pickled eggs and some to finish I have some freshly made white pot pudding, so please enjoy and eat there is lots to go around.” Luzzie was clearly in his environment prepping the meal and serving us, he had a contented smile on his face as he encouraged Sebastion to try some wine “it is an older Rojas but it works with the sharp cheddar.” I heard him explain.

It was all delicious, with Ama leaning against me and the others all sprawled out on little blankets they had produced from their bags the setting had a picnic feel. For the first time, I watched on in amazement as the others all ate almost as much as I. Their metabolism must be very high I thought and indeed I could feel a heat radiating from Ama to me. I whispered into her ear, “Ama, you are one hot girl.”

Turning to look at me she smiled and said: “wait for bedtime, then you will really see some fire.” I nodded at her and gave her arm a squeeze. This meal was just what I needed to pick me up, some good food and friends. Looking at the party I said,“I think I will have a nap here, before the last challenge, so if you want to nap then join me, if not just stay at this level so we can leave without backtracking.” I had noticed that Ama’s sisters had once again paired up with Raik and Gluzzie and that they were all finishing off their wine and settling down. Turning I looked at Sebastian sitting off by himself looking sad.

Calling out to him I said, “Sebastian, wait till we get to Topland, there are many people there and I am sure you will find a friend.” Looking at me he smiled and asked: “Really, there are those of my interest there?” I replied with a laugh, “Yes, more than you would think, some people are experimenting, others just feel that is who they are now and are free to live out their lifestyle. You won’t be lonely long.

I laid my head down onto Ama’s lap and closed my eyes, which of course were no longer there. Still once the eyelids closed I drifted off to sleep with Ama gently humming a melody. Once I awoke, I slowly stood up and moved off from the group. They were all asleep, at least, they looked like they were, I did not know enough about demonic physiology to know if they rested, slept or hibernated for that matter.

Once past the resting group, I began to stretch and then started doing some Katas, I started to allow my mind to empty. This enabled me to allow the muscle memory to come back and take over, and soon I was flowing through the forms, with balance and power. After an hour of this, I eased off slowly coming to rest and then assuming the Lotus position I let me mind wonder. After half an hour I began to think about my interface and why I was not leveling up.

Opening the interface, I highlighted myself and opened the skills and abilities tab. At the top was my name and under was my level, it read Level Ten, but there was a flashing red Error next to it. Clicking on the Error brought up a subwindow that stated please contact a Game Master for immediate assistance. The contact button was grayed out and not operative. I stared at the screen and thought about how the system worked, playing Ingame allowed for players to choose their own paths to level.

They could find unique spells and be granted abilities upon the completion of quests and dungeons. The game allowed for missions to be given to players who had joined the Kings guards or the City guards, who were sometimes called the Watch. The Guild houses also had scripted quests for the members to follow as they leveled, which would earn them more chances at finding rare spells or gaining rare abilities.

It was a unique system, one that the donators had circumvented, by somehow having the latest patch changed to allow for individuals to form guilds outside of the scripted framework. As I thought about the donators I could feel my rage simmering deep inside of me like a hot fire. The Jackass and his buddies would pay. I contained the anger and then thought about everything I had to do. Clearly I would not be gaining levels at least not as the rest of the players did. Still my Dragon abilities helped to make up for the lack of levels, and the fact that I could not use Dragon magic.

I also had all the spells that were now a part of my body, with the ability to read them I might be able to gain some unique runic powers. Also, I had the quest reward at the end of the dungeon, if it came from a list of spells I would choose the best, but I was really hoping that it would be a unique spell. My Judo also had shown that it was a valuable tool Ingame.

Everyone expected to be attacked or to have to fight using what we had received or earned Ingame. By bringing a skill set into the world I had an advantage over most of the gamers and that could be useful.

All of these things meant that while I was not leveling, I knew I was still growing in strength and would not be left behind. In fact, the only problem was that some quests might have a level cap, without hitting the level you would not be able to receive the quests. Still did I need to level to do quests, Gods know I have enough challenges already.

Protecting Gaiatoci, saving the children, dealing with the Kradula, cleansing the abandoned area, and taking down the Gods. Not to mention dealing with Reona and being a dad to Twink, along with my plans for my sleeping friends. Plus at this point, I did not want to even think about the Tome of Science. Not yet anyway.

Having ordered my thoughts and plotted my actions I made my way over to the sleeping crew and clapped. “Hey, guys time to get this show on the road.” They all opened their eyes and stood up, it was all one graceful movement. Demons, more than a little different in some fundamental ways than humans, not one of them scratched or broke the wind. I felt I was very fortunate to have them with me.

“So we are at the last Temptation, anyone know what to expect?” I asked. “I do not want to blow this one, and not receive the reward for finishing this. I have been challenged and have had to have a close look at myself in here but it has all been worth it. I have developed relationships, had some great food and received some incredible items. So if you have a heads up for me let me know now because I want to keep winning in here.” They all nodded and then were silent as Raik stepped forward.

Raik looked up at me and then said, “this last one is about Sorrow, feeling sad and letting it overcome you to the point of depression. You will be unable to do anything, overcome by memories and negative thoughts that lead in an ever downward spire until you hit that rock bottom. Most people will actually end themselves at that point, only to respawn in their home location, having failed to overcome all of the Trials. Some of them will come back and then start with me again to try to succeed in all six Trials.”

“Wow, you seem to know a lot about this last Temptation, where did you learn all this,” I asked as I was curious. Raik seemed somehow a little different as he spoke about the Trial. Hanging his head Raik conveyed a sense of embarrassment. He actually started to fidget from foot to foot, and then finally he began to speak.

“It is my sister, my twin sister, we were both brought here at the same time. Because of the nature of being twins the last trial of Sorrow, which is nothing more than something that leads to suicidal depression is joined to anger. You know that depression is thought to be nothing more than repressed anger. Hidden deep withing a person with no outlet it festers until it seeps forth as depression.”

“How do you know all this?” I asked Raik. “I mean this is something that I have heard about, it is something people will sometimes study where I come from.” Suddenly Sebastian spoke up, “We demons are well acquainted with other realms. Do you think all that art I was using to tempt you just was something I made up? No, the higher level demons and dragons have often traveled to the other realms. We have learned of cultures that no longer exist, and peoples that have faded till only we remember.”

I nodded it made sense, but it was too much for just a game. There were too many things happening at too many levels. I would take some time to think about it when I got back to Topland, but first, I needed to say something. “I hear you and apologize if I was coming off like some ethnocentric asshole. I was just really surprised by what you said. I had not thought things through and was jumping to conclusions. So sorry once again. I hate it when I act stupid like this, I appreciate you guys keeping me grounded.”

They all looked at each other and then smiled, with Ama grabbing my hand and stating, “the only jumping you should be doing is jumping me. Now let's get this done with, I am looking forward to meeting Raiks sister I bet she is a real sweety.”