Harsh lessons

John soaked himself in a different pool about an hour later, staring into nothingness as he felt a strange, empty feeling in his groin. Whenever Cynthia came, Nissa would have recharged, and when Nissa came, Cynthia was ready to go once again. They kept going back and forth like that for quite some time, until eventually John’s balls gave up. Even with his enhanced regeneration, they emptied him out. Cyn had ridden his hard cock to one more orgasm before he had to put his foot down and say ’No more.’ John had gotten out of the pool and hidden away in a different one while his girlfriend and her best friend were taking their time to relax in the water that seemed to be 1 part cum to every 3 parts water. One of the hunters had shown him where he could get soap, and that is how he wound up here, in a cold pool with the last bits of soap drifting away from him.

After a few more minutes of soaking, he decided it might be time to start his day. John got up from the pool, giving a polite greeting to the others still inside of it. He then set his eyes on the exit, using his newly acquired Cleanse skill to see how it worked. When a prompt asked if he wanted to destroy or collect the material, he saw that the collect option was grayed out, and hovering his finger over the option told him that he could not put uncontained liquids or gasses inside his inventory, so he picked ‘destroy’. While he walked towards the camp, he equipped his boxers it was funny how he only got a few looks from people, the hunters seemingly used to people walking around in next to nothing. He did hear a whistle from nearby and blushed as he quickly made his way in the direction of the temple. In his desire to get clean earlier, he had forgotten to take his clothes with him; those were still there.

All around him tents opened, people that had slept in finally starting their day. The scent of food being prepared hung heavily over the campground. John’s stomach growled as he smelled bacon and eggs, seeing a few small campfires with big pans propped up over them. Hunters in pajamas, some with their cloak covering their backs, others sitting around the campfires in just their lingerie, were talking amongst themselves, smiling and waving at John as he walked by. John had to decline breakfast three times from three different people. The camp seemed vibrant, people walking towards the cave he had just left with towels around their neck, other hunters walking through the maze of tents to wake up their friends or to grab some things scattered in between the living spaces. A pair of hunters, covered in dust and dirt, walked in through the entrance of the camp. The thick black lines under their eyes showed that they had gone on a night hunt, and the two of them staggered slightly towards their tents. As John cleared the tents, he felt like he was part of something, something living, something bigger than himself. The people were kind to him, and even if all of them were going about their own things, they were here for the same purpose he was: to do something together.

At the temple he saw Miranda and Dra kneeling down in front of the statue. As John gathered his gear, the leader of the camp seemed to notice him; Dra, on the other hand, completely ignored him. “Ah, John, you are up and about. I didn’t see you on the field bed, so I hoped you would be able to move again. How are you feeling?”

“I’m feeling surprisingly well. I have a few things to reflect on from yesterday, about killing, about how royally I fucked up and, well, everything actually. But, all in all, I am alive. Thank you for that, by the way. And for stopping the wolves, I take it that was you, after all?”

“Glad to hear you are doing okay. We watched you hunting from the moment you lost Jack. John, you were reckless, stupid. Come find me in a bit, okay? We will go over hunting techniques together, and I will ask Arnold to take you hunting with him tomorrow; it’s normal for a first hunt to not go as planned, but you need a plan nonetheless!”

John recoiled slightly from the chastising he got, but he nodded, she was right. And no matter how much he disliked getting scolded, she knew hunting better than he might ever do, so it was wise to listen to her.

“And you are right, I stopped the wolves when they came for you. You completed your hunt, I could interfere. It may not seem like it, but I am the highest ranking priestess of Artemis in this camp, it comes with the leader’s role. I can call upon Artemis’ aid when needed, call it faith magic, for lack of a better word. I give faith, in return I get her assistance every so often.”
John nodded to this, appreciating that she explained it. “Well, it looked cool as fuck, and thanks again, for saving me.”

“Oh, shush, I couldn't let Cynthia be single again after a week, right? Oh, which reminds me. The items that remained from the nightmare are in a chest at the pet area; Arnold took them along with the nightmare foal. It was quite upset that its mother died, but then again, who wouldn’t be? If you can tame it, who knows, it might be useful.”

As John re-equipped his gear one by one, the gear began to appear like a wave of leather and cloth, seemingly materializing out of nowhere as he dragged them back into his equipment slots. When his entire body was covered once more, he noticed a rather large, horn shaped tear on his chest gear, near his shoulder. But before his eyes, the hole started to close, while the rest of his armor started to look slightly shabbier than before. A quick inspection with Observe told him that the durability had gone down, but the armor still seemed to be whole, just a little thinner at the spot that he had been pierced..

“Thank you for the information, Miranda. I will be back with you within an hour probably; I’m going to go see Jack and Toph now, and after that, I will come here for the lessons; we both know I really need them,” he said as he shuddered; three near **** experiences were two too many, at least.

Miranda patted his hand, then returned to her prayers. The statue shone with a small golden light as Miranda started to chant in what he thought was Ancient Greek. The winds rustled around the statue, lifting up her hair slightly.

Dra, next to Miranda, then joined her in the prayer. The wind whipped up around them, dust whirling as the two of them got lifted up from the ground. Their chanting mixed together, one disembodied voice, two hunters. The statue’s eyes shone splendid gold, the fire in the brazier flaring up high. And then their expressions went blank, the wind died down, and a golden light connected their heads to the head of the statue.

John found it to be a rather incredible sight, but he had things to do aside from gawking at his, maybe, one day mother in law and the strict hunting dragon. With most of the action over, he turned away.

With a new, depressing outlook on his hunting skills, John set off to the small petting zoo like, fenced off area where the pets tended to stay. John saw the familiar sight of Arnold with a bird on his shoulder; only this time there was also a small gorgon clinging to his other arm, hanging from it while the snakes dangled the egg just above the ground.

“Mimi, I can’t look at your egg like that, get down.”

“No.”

“Mimi, get, down.”

“No!”

This time the snakes brought the egg up to Arnold’s face, only for it to unroll, let out a small peep and lick Arnold’s face. A leopard curled around a very large egg on the side mewed playfully at the pet master.

Jonassn walked out from a small shed and looked at Jack. “Jack, come over here. That egg isn’t yours.” When he spotted John, he waved him over. “John, thank Artemis, you are here. Mimi and your pets have been causing a wok.”

“Jonassn, do you mean havok?”

“Yes, am sorry. Havok! Stop them!”

John sighed as he nodded. “Sorry, I’ll stop this right now. Dismiss pet!”

And just like that, the leopard and the fake egg licking Arnold’s face disappeared. On John’s back, the tattoo of a leopard chasing his tail around a pangolin had changed: the leopard had doubled in size and had his claws extended while the pangolin’s eyes were now actually open.

John felt some discourse in his tattoo but held his pets back. “You can get out when you promise to stop causing mischief.”

When John sensed a begrudging agreement, he cast Summon Pet which let out a pangolin that clung to John’s shoulder, peeping happily, and a large snow leopard that immediately pounced on John once more, licking his face as he went tumbling to the ground.

Both of them looked at their master with beady eyes, nuzzling into his cheeks as he ran his hands over their heads. “I fucked up, guys, I am so sorry. Next time I will do better. I promise.”

With two of the three troublemakers out of the way, Arnold managed to put Mimi down and get a good look at the egg. After a few seconds, he noticed John and waved him over.