A breather

To commemorate the ritual’s completion, the elder invited me to sit with him on a moss-covered log near the edge of the central basin. **** for some rest, I eagerly agreed. My two guides casually joined us and stretched out on the grass. The elder began to share ancient, soft-spoken wisdom about the wild spirits, and I felt a strong, courtly obligation to listen attentively; after all, a bond now existed between us since he had personally ‘blessed’ me... though it soon began to bore me.

{if game:bear_blessing = 100}Underneath my heavy exhaustion, however, a profound, heavy warmth began to bloom deep within my chest and core. The pure, unadulterated essence of the grove wasn't just sitting inside me—it was actively fusing with my baseline vitality, making my skin prickle with an intense, predatory aura that felt entirely foreign yet undeniably magnificent. I had become a flawless vessel for the wild spirits, a perfect conduit permanently marked by the ancient power of Ursoc himself.{endif}

However, the conversation took a somehow disconcerting turn when he warned me about the blessing’s effects.

“Ursoc’s power is a ravenous flame, human,” the elder rumbled, gesturing casually. Because he remained completely bare, the movement drew my eyes right back to his heavy, resting length. “To maintain its strength, your body will require an immense amount of rich food. More importantly, the blessing must be fed through direct, physical engagement with other males to circulate the energy.”

I blinked, my naive, princely sensibilities short-circuiting. To him, exchanging intimate friction with other men was as basic and mechanical as a blacksmith tempering steel; to me, that was something... novel.

I spent another hour conversing with them, doing my absolute best to navigate the casual, fluid conversation while trying to ignore the proximity of so many bare, muscular bodies and members swaying in the wind, before finally excusing myself to find my clothes and rejoin the rest of my group.