Watch, followed by more Watch.

Authors note: I just want to take a moment to thank all my readers. It means so much to me to see all the comments, views, and likes, it makes all the time I spend writing and planning worth it.

I would also like to take the opportunity to do a shout out for a fellow author. If you guys and gals enjoy fantasy as much as I do, I urge you to check out JZ01’s story: The World of Fucknowswhat. Its great story with really interesting worldbuilding and a loveable cast of characters. I’m rather partial to a certain feisty kitty myself, but there is something there for just about everyone.

That’s it from me for now, I hope you enjoy the new chapter!

Happy reading,

H.B

As the final notification closes, I am shocked speechless. I stare into the campfire as my bedraggled mind attempts to come to terms with the information that has just been dumped on me. Second threshold in not one, but two stats? A boatload of experience, two new skills, one of which granted me a Talent, and a Perk which was apparently paid for by the divine? It was… a lot.

Still, I can’t just sit here staring at the campfire for the rest of my watch (well, technically I can, but I want to be productive). Instead, I focus on what needs attention now, leaving what could be reviewed later for later. First, I open my inventory and have a brief look over the new items. Rolling my eyes at the novelty umbrella, which turned out to be a fully functional (albeit fiddly) umbrella made from the usual umbrella-esque materials, but scaled down to the size of a paper drinks umbrella, I stowed it and the rest of the crap in one of my bags.

On a whim, I draw the tome of Rain Shield out of my inventory and briefly examine the thin book. This spell tome is bound in a pale blue leather, but further examination of the proffered System prompt merely shows that I could absorb the spell if I chose, not what the damn thing did. ‘The name gives me a pretty good idea at what the spell does, but not knowing the exact details until the tome is absorbed is rather annoying. Hell, not being able to identify items is really annoying! That goblin’s staff and rings are just chilling in our inventories, and we have no way of knowing if we can use them without getting cursed or something!’

Signing as I realised that I’d managed to immediately get off track with things that couldn’t be sorted now, I return the book to my inventory. My eyes briefly flicker to the three promise rings, which, interestingly enough, don’t seem to stack in a single inventory slot, before I look away, frustrated. ‘They’re supposedly enchanted, but I’m fucked if I know with what. Speaking of which…’

I bring up the notification offering the last two rings and give it another read, a small frown on my face which only deepens as I absorb the message. ‘If there’s an angle here, I sure as hell can’t see it? If what Lisa says is true, and both her and Mum… do want to join whatever the fuck this is… then what’s stopping me handing the rings out when everything is certain? If Lisa and Mum needed the rings for some reason I might see it, but I’m the only one who knows anything about them?’

This seemed like a hasty deal, one with more downside than upside. Following my gut, I select no, and watch as the notification minimises. I wait a moment, expecting a follow up of some kind, but… nothing? Shrugging, I chalk it up to ‘System weirdness’, then move on to the last thing I needed to look at, the Charisma Ability choices.

This wasn’t particularly hard choice for me. One option came with a hell of a lot of strings (illegal in most civilised settlements, really?!?), whereas the other was something I had literally asked the system administrators for, at least indirectly. I could think of so many potential uses for a ‘my words are irrefutably truth so suck a fat one’ power that it'd be silly of me not to choose it. There was always an option for a re-roll, but honestly? I was pretty happy as things stood. A smile on my face, I select Words of Truth. ‘Now, all I need to do is remember I’ve got the damned power. I totally forgot about my Rallying Cry during the fight with those goblins.’

The rest of the watch is relatively uneventful. I keep an eye out for our harpy friend, but can't seem to spot her in the darkness. 'Maybe she's stopped following us?' Eventually I hear a tent zipper and turn in time to see Emily emerging from our tent, fully clad in her leathers. I gracefully spring to my feet, and practically glide over to her (‘Gods, this is weird!’) then grin sheepishly as Em looks at me, eyebrow raised. “Our, errrrr… adventures earlier netted me a bunch of shit. I’m past the second threshold in both Charisma and Agility now.”

She pouts prettily, then says, “I got a few points in both, more than enough to get me past the first, but I’m nowhere near the second!” I shrug sympathetically. Then a thought occurs. “Tell me, Sis, you told me you keep getting rewarded for doing clever stuff. What exactly are your Wisdom and Intelligence at right now?” rather than answer, she pokes her tongue out at me.

Chuckling, I choose to drop the subject. Once we were out of this damned forest, we could get some proper training in and spend some time boosting Attributes to cover any weaknesses we have (my flagging Strength and Constitution for example). I also understood that we were far from deadly warriors, despite one or two successful combat encounters. ‘Well, one of those is an easy fix. We just need to find someone to teach us. As for the Attributes… can we even train them? Lift something heavy to gain Strength etc, etc?’

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You had a wise thought; we did wonder where the smell of toast was coming from.

• +1 Wisdom.

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I roll my eyes at the System's sass. Em gives me a funny look, so I fill her in on my thoughts about training, ending my explanation with, “And the system basically confirmed it by giving me a point of Wisdom for ‘being wise’.”

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You worked out an obvious hint, aren’t you a clever one?

• +1 Intelligence.

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“Aaaaaaaaand there’s a point of Intelligence for ‘working out the hint’. Looks like we’ll be grinding Attributes too.” Emily groans, causing me to chuckle. “What’s the matter, Em? Not exited to hit the gym with me and lift a bunch of heavy shit? Think of all the gaiiiiiins!” Emily rolls her eyes at me, then sarcastically asks, “So you know a lot about gyms now, do you?” I shrug. I may be many things, but gym rat is certainly not one of them.

Still, I can't let her comment go unchallenged. My pride wouldn't have it! “I’ll have you know I know plenty about gyms.” Grinning, Emily responds, “If you’re thinking about the badge you get at the end, I’m afraid you’re thinking about the wrong type of gym.” I pretend to ponder her words for a moment, before deadpanning, “I know nothing about gyms.”

I grin in satisfaction as Emily groans at my antics, then gesture in the direction of the tent. In a softer tone, I ask, “How is she?” Em shrugs, then says, “She seems fine? She’s not tossing or turning or anything like that. If I didn’t know any better, I would probably think she was just sleeping deeply.”

I nod in response, unsurprised. “I didn’t wake mum when I went through my change, and she was holding onto me pretty tightly.” Em smirks at me, humming a suggestive, “Mmmmmm Hmmmmm?” I grin, shrugging a little as I respond, “things were totally PG at that point, as PG as spooning with your mother is, anyway. The stuff with her later just sort of… happened?”

“I would totally give you shit for that, but there’s been… a lot of that going around recently.” I chuckle, before replying, “does that comment refer to your new boyfriend, or your new girlfriend, I wonder?” She blushes and looks down at her feet, then replies with a small, “both?” feeling a sudden twinge of nerves, I ask, “any regrets?” She looks back up at me, suddenly serious, and stares into my eyes as she says, “none whatsoever.”

I smile warmly at the conviction in her tone, stepping forward to wrap her in a hug. She responds with happy noises, nuzzling her head into my chest. “Good, me neither.” With that, I tilt her chin upwards for a kiss, one that she is more than happy to concede.

Eventually we separate, both clearly **** to do so. Emily takes a step past me towards the centre of camp as she says, “now, stop distracting me from my watch and go look after our girlfriend.” I turn to watch her go, grinning, then reply, “yes ma’am. Oh, and Emily?” She looks over her shoulder, eyebrow raised, then yelps as I land a soft swat on her ass.

Before she can retaliate, I scurry off towards the tent, grinning and giggling like a madman (I mean chuckling, I do not giggle!). Over my shoulder I hear an amused, “Oh? I am so getting you back for that!” Reaching the tent, I look back at her. She stands with her arms crossed, attempting to glare at me, but trying and failing to keep a smile off of her face. In response, I wink at her as I say, “I’m counting on it!” then duck into the tent.

Ash is exactly where we left her, lying on her back and looking extremely cosy in the sleeping-bag. Just as Em said, she appears to be sleeping peacefully, chest rising and falling in time with her steady breathing. Carefully clambering in beside her, I lie on my side facing her, ready to begin my vigil.

Time passes slowly, and fuck all happens. I cleared the notifications I had gained in the two hours since I’d last checked, (+500Exp for a successful watch, +1 to hugging, bringing it to 5) but other than that? I just sort of laid there. Meditating was out, as I’d no longer be watching Ash. Trying to be at least a little productive, I spend a little time faffing about in my menus, re-reading the eclectic mix of shit I’d gained over the last few days. Slowly, I whittle the time away by circling my Mana with Mana Manipulation, which was enough to boost the Skill to 9 (one away from Apprentice level! Whoop!).

The interior of the tent had lightened noticeably with the arrival of dawn before Ash stirs. With a sigh, she rolls onto her side, facing me, her eyes slowly fluttering open. Seeing me watching, she smiles languidly at me, before saying, “Morning, Adam.” I smile back, then say, “Morning, Ash, how do you feel.” She yawns, then stretches as she replies, “mmmmmm, I feel fantastic.” She leans forward then, a small frown forming on her face as her nostrils twitch. Before I can comment, the frown as turned to a satisfied smile as she says, “and you smell really fucking good.”

I raise an eyebrow at her as her eyes flick up to mine; her face turning crimson as her brain catches up with her mouth. In a small voice she asks, “did… did last night really happen?” Smiling gently at her, I nod. I breathe an internal sigh of relief as she smiles beatifically, before replying, “good. I had hoped, but…”

“It doesn’t feel real yet, right?” She shakes her head in response, a strand of her hair falling across her face. Reaching forward slowly, I tuck the strand behind her ear when she doesn’t pull away before stroking the soft skin of her cheek with my thumb. Tentatively, she reaches forward, her lower arm brushing against my chest as her upper arm copies mine, gently brushing my cheek.

She nibbles cutely on her bottom lip as we stare into each other’s eyes. I see the blossoming desire there, mixed with a growing resolve. The hand caressing my cheek trails to the back of my head before slowly drawing my face closer to hers. My eyes close as our lips meet, and for a time we are lost in the sensations of the kiss. It’s not long until the kiss deepens, and what started as a hesitant, chaste kiss quickly grows more passionate as our tongues intertwine.

I let her take the lead, only matching her actions instead of pushing for more. We had all the time in the world to pursue our new relationship, and I knew that each of us would need to take things at their own pace. Her hands roam over my body, exploring the firmness of my muscles (wait, I have muscles?!? When did that happen?!?) through my clothing.

I matched her, softly trailing my fingertips over her body, eliciting a shiver and a surprised moan when the otherwise innocuous touch elicited much more pleasure than she was expecting (thank you Heightened Touch Perk!). We pull apart slowly as we hear the stirrings of camp, stilted patches of conversation reaching us through the fabric walls of the tent.

Smiling softly, I say, “as much as I hate to break this up, I would feel bad leaving Em out on her own, at least until everything is sorted.” Ash sighs, but nods all the same. We clamber out of the sleeping bag, and I try my hardest not to notice how prominent Ash’s clearly erect nipples are against the thin fabric of her sleepwear.

Still, I’m not the only one sneaking glances, as I catch her more than once peeking at the rather obvious bulge in my boxers. ‘Tit for tent,’ I think, snorting at my own joke, before I focus on getting ready for the day.