AN: Welcome back to a world of sugary enchantment.

Chapter 10: The Little Death

The ancient growth of the forest began to thin and shrink to the size of a woodland that Scott was more familiar with as the trio walked along the path they'd taken. As they journeyed forth to the nearby village, Scott learned several key facts about his new home. The most important thing he learned came about after he asked a question that bothered him since the end of the battle.

"If you were trying to kill her, why are you both so friendly toward each other right now?" asked Scott after a moment.

Pink blinked owlishly then gave Scott a confused look. Blondie glanced at him, her face flush with embarrassment or possibly something else.

"Ah, wait, right... You're not from around here," said Pink after coming to a conclusion. She tasted her next words on her tongue for a moment before saying, "Damn, you must be from pretty far away."

Blondie was the one who answered his query, although reluctantly, "When two warriors say that they are going to kill each other they don't usually mean that they actually plan to end the life of another."

"Seriously? What else could it mean?" asked Scott, confused. The redness of Blondie's face became even brighter.

"It's called killing, because of an old joke about the little death," said Pink.

"The little death?" asked Scott.

Pink suddenly reached over and squeezed one of Blondie's breasts. The blond warrior gasped in surprise then moaned briefly. Not long after, she collected herself enough to snatch her breast away while making a clicking noise with her tongue. Blondie said, "No!"

"Yeah, it's an old recently outlawed custom. To the victor goes the booty," said Pink.

"No, to the victor goes the spoils," said Blondie.

"I'd certainly spoil that booty," said Pink, a cheeky grin on her face.

"Animal!" cried Blondie, before turning her head to the side. She made a loud noise of feminine disgust and refused to look at the other girl for a time.

"I think I get your meaning..." said Scott, "But tell me plainly what you mean by killing in this wo— land."

"When you strip your opponent naked, you're supposed to just let them go now. However, the old tradition allowed you to claim their hot naked body as a war prize right there on the spot," said Pink. She winked at Scott then continued, "If you bring your opponent to orgasm you can acquire more experience. If you keep doing it, you can drain every last drop of their experience pool and even cause them to start losing levels."

"Though, the last thing is a lot more serious. It's called murder instead," said Blondie.

"Really? We just called it rape where I'm from," said Scott with a snort.

"Most places do," said Pink cheerfully. "Sexy, sexy, rape."

"How can you be so cheerful about it?" asked Scott. No one should be that cheerful about such a topic.

"Why wouldn't I be?" asked Pink. "Every warrior followed the old custom. It's expected that when you lose a battle, the winner will do terrible erotic things to your body."

"Not every warrior..." said Blondie with a snort.

"Oh please. If super stud over here hadn't arrived, you'd be begging for more by now," said Pink.

Blondie tilted her nose upward slightly, but chose not to reply. That fact was not lost on Scott.

Was it actually expected for the winner of a fight to claim the loser as a sex trophy? It was bizarre if it was openly accepted. Though, it did explain some of the oddness that happened during the fight with those five girls. If they'd planned to kill him for real, why would it matter if he was a little fat? There were a lot of weird things that were said during the battle that made more sense in hindsight.

"It's illegal now, though, right?"

"Yeah, sadly. The current legislature is a bunch of control freaks who don't want people to grow stronger too quickly because it will be harder to control them," said Pink.

"Well, they said it was for the sake of good public order," said Blondie.

"Pfft," said Pink. She shook her head slowly. "Violent crime's up by like a lot now. The scumbags know people aren't likely to murder the hell out of their bandit pussies because of the law. So, the most they could lose is a few bits of experience, and maybe go to jail for a while if they can't pay the fines."

"Well, that is true," said Blondie.

"Yeah, this sucks. After the tournament, I'll probably head to another country. This place is getting lame," said Pink.

Scott could not help but feel a strange sense of unease. He'd come to a world where ritualized non-consensual sex after a battle was actually good for the morale of society. What sort of crazy divinity would dream up a world where hardcore sex battles kept the crime rate down? It was ridiculous. It was asinine! It was time to shake that deity's hand possibly, but Scott refused to admit that last sentiment even to himself.

In a world where people were expected to attack each other as a sign of dominance, violent crime was a lesser offense. Theft and similar things were also handled via the return of the stolen items and a fine. Nothing short of the death of the victim was considered a high crime. Though, from what he learned there were always anti-brutality laws. A winner could not do things like cut off fingers or poke out eyes, but a little hard sex was expected.

Some of his memories included ancient grudges that started because a winner refused to molest the loser of an honor duel. Refusal of the Fallen was a serious insult up until only thirty years ago. It was akin to telling someone they were worthless and not worthy of being touched.

His memories also warned him that many traditional warriors still held to those virtues. If they lost a battle, they expected to be claimed as a prize for the night. Disregard for such an occasion would be seen as a stain on their honor as a warrior.

The information implanted in his head began to come out at that moment. Bits and pieces of world lore made themselves known. The old custom that the ladies of the forest spoke of invoked the Right of the Victor. As the world was designed to be something of a perverted role-playing game, the system rewarded perversity.

It was never fine to claim victory rights over non-warriors, but in a battle between two fighters it was win everything, or lose everything. There was also something of a time-limit regarding how long a loser would keep losing experience to the winner while the after battle sex occurred. Though, the victor could claim sex rights over the loser until dawn of the next morning. However, after dawn, it would be considered a high-crime to continue holding someone captive without their consent. The current law simply made it so that it was a high-crime to actually claim the booty, so to speak.

The journey continued. More information of interest was discovered. As things turned out, the women knew each other and were rivals from the same village. The two beautiful warriors led him to Central Pass, a village just off the main highway that ran through the kingdom of Evanye. On the way they each shared their story.

Pink, whose real name was suspiciously Japanese despite the somewhat European style setting he'd envisioned, was born Mitsuki Atsuno. She chose to become an assassin as her first step in becoming a professional shadow warrior.

Blondie, whose real name was Amelie Karras, was currently a free knight in search of quests and renown so that she could achieve her dream of becoming a princess knight. A class of warrior devoted to refinement in style and in swordplay, the princess knight was the epitome of elegance and beauty. At least, that was the way in which Amelie explained her goals.

Both intended to participate in a tournament to be held in the capital next month. They happened to run across each other in Central Pass, and the rest Scott already knew.

Scott saw no reason to hide anything that had happened to him other than the fact that he was brought here by a goddess. Mention of slaying the heart serpent made Pink act more cheerfully. She told him that it was quite strong for the area, and any man who could defeat one single-handedly was fine in her book. He took that to heart since it took three shotgun blasts to the head to kill it. That certainly sounded tough when compared to his vague memories.

Upon arrival at the village of Central Pass, the girls took him to the local inn and parted company after giving him a bit of coin in compensation. They went upstairs to discuss a few things on their own. Scott rented a room for two silver and headed off to sleep the sleep of a man who'd seen the bizarre. The cost of the room and board was twice normal due to the fact that this was the last major village on the road to the capital, and there was a tournament about to start.

His room was a simple affair. It offered a feather bed, a night stand, a small closet, and enough room to move around a little. For two silver he would be able to keep the room for three days, plus meals.

Scott locked his door, drank a little water, and hopped into bed without preamble. He needed a bath, but what he needed most was a few uninterrupted hours of rest. He did not feel safe here, but he did feel much safer here than he did in the forest.

It did not take long for the dream crystal to return. Once again he was given options to upgrade his status. He received over six hundred fifty experience for defeating Mitsuki, which put him well over the amount needed to reach the next level.

Scott went through the process of choosing stats to upgrade. In the end, he opted to push sword mastery, charisma, and resilience, this time. Only sword mastery increased its modifier, by way of attribute points. Everything else went up by a minimum of one modifier point simply by gaining a level, however. The ten point boost to all stats paid off in that regard.

He chose the improved charisma feat once more, and was delighted to see that instead of twenty percent, he gained a twenty-five percent boost. The third level of the feat was now unlocked for purchase next time.

[Status]

Name: Scott Traveler

Race: Human [Legendary]

Sex: Male

Class: None [Hero]

Level: 2

EXP: 262[0/2000]

Ability Points: 0

Hit Points: 150/150 [300/300]

Spirit: 3/3

Stamina: 3/3

Arousal: 14/100

--

[Strength: 55][+3]

[Resilience: 70][+3]

[Vitality: 55][+3]

[Dexterity: 55][+3]

[Concentration: 55][+3]

[Charisma: 120][+5]

FEATS AND SKILLS

[Ero Mastery: 55][+3]

[Sword Mastery: 105][+5]

[Improved Charisma II]

Defeating opponents well beyond his true power paid off, it seemed. His shotgun's brutal retorts were enough to rapidly advance his level. In that much, he was thankful. It would be a sad day when he lost his boomstick. He would be left to survive on his own strength at that time.

Just as before, once he felt strongly that he was done upgrading his status, the dream faded away. He did not awaken immediately this time, instead several hours passed before a knock at the door roused him.

"Who could that be?" he asked groggily, as he eyes opened once more. "Better not be maid service," he muttered with a tired sigh.