Dreams and consequences

Julian looked out over a barren, lifeless land. Ash and poison choked the skies. Thunder crackled, and hateful red lightning flashed above. He saw the ruins of buildings. Cities. Civilizations, vast and ancient and forgotten. The dead who had once built and resided within it were gone; their bones turned to ash; their writings faded away. That was the fate of all of the dead. To slip forever from the memories of those who came after and fade from the world, entire lifetimes eroded like loose soil into the endless oceans of time.

Yet why was it that he could almost hear their voices? Taste the uniqueness of their food? Feel the love and joy and sorrow and regret they once exuded like light from a fire?

A shiver passed through him.

I don’t belong here.

The presence stood at his back, silently observing. Its red eyes were dim in the blackness of the dead world he inhabited. It looked downward at the blackened soil where life had once thrived. It put a hand on his shoulder.

Sadness and despair gripped Julian, piling upon his shoulders like a sudden weight.

So much pain.

He sank to his knees and screamed. Crimson lightning roared in response and struck the Earth. He felt something lurch inside him as the world was broken and ground down into dust.

The world flickered.

He found himself within a gigantic structure whose ceiling stretched above so far, he could see only darkness when he looked upward. There was a coldness here that hadn’t been in the crumbling world he’d left. The floor was immaculate white marble, not too unlike the material used in the construction in the buildings throughout the wealthier areas of Rona. But where even the dwellings of the richest denizens of the Empire showed signs of age and exposure to the elements, the strange building he found himself within made them all seem like primitive mud huts in comparison.

The room was lit by ornate silverish circles over a dozen feet in diameter that floated higher above the ground than he was tall, emitting cold white flame from nothingness. Aside from the circles, the room was featureless. There was no furniture. No statues dedicated to the glory of some lord. Nothing.

He sent a query to the presence to see if it had any input, but it was oddly silent. He suppressed a flash of irritation.

Seems like it only comes out when it’s convenient. Or when it wants to.

“Hello?” his voice came out as a whisper. He tried again and he could barely hear himself speak.

“My, my. What do we have here? An intruder? It has been so long so we’ve had someone trespass upon this realm.”

A pale, statuesque woman appeared in front of him. There was no sign of a portal or the telltale bending of light and space that accompanied teleportation. One moment there had been nothing but air and the next she had occupied it. The woman had platinum blonde hair that flowed past her shoulders and red eyes that radiated malice.

The presence had glowing red eyes, too.

She wore a white-gray dress that stopped just above her knees, teasing at her thick thighs and delectably soft skin. The dress itself was cut low in the front, affording Julian a view of the tops of her huge breasts.

“At the very least, our guest has good taste in women.”

Suddenly a tall, ebony-skinned man with long, silk-like dark hair stood next to her. He wore black, silky robes that seemed to absorb the light around him, creating a layer of pure nothingness that surrounded him like an aura. The man turned towards him, a dark smile upon his lips. Cold, pupilless black eyes stared into his.

His blood turned to ice. He wanted to leave. To turn to run, but his legs wouldn’t obey him.

The woman whirled around to face the man. She gave an annoyed sniff.

“Will you ever take anything seriously? A mortal boy barely into adulthood has somehow managed to breach the barrier between our realms. That shouldn’t even be possible. We must know what he wants and who aided his trip here. He could not have accomplished this without powerful sponsors.”

The man’s smirk widened.

“Yes, I’m aware of how this looks, and your concerns are valid for the most part, but where you see a potential threat, I see opportunity,” the man turned to face him. His smile became frighteningly disarming. He clapped his hands. “Now, mortal. How is it you managed to enter my realm?”

Julian wanted to answer. He needed to give the man what he wanted, but try as he might he couldn’t get his mouth to form the words.

“Strong-willed, this one. Or perhaps his patrons truly are powerful enough for us to be concerned. No matter.”

The man’s stare intensified, and Julian felt as if something were forcibly burrowing into his skull. He screamed as his mind cracked open. Emotions, thoughts, and memories spilled out of it like water from a jug. Fury filled him.

No! You have no right!

The man’s smile faded.

“It cannot be,” he said, taking a step back.

“What is it?” the woman curled an eyebrow and crossed her arms beneath her breasts, her imperious expression replaced by worry. “Should I annihilate him?”

“No!” the man answered harshly. The room shook beneath them. The dark aura surrounding the man expanded, casting thick shadows of inky nothingness across the floor. The man took a deep breath, and the shadows receded into the area just above his skin.

“I will explain later,” the man continued before turning to Julian. A multitude of emotions warred across his face. Finally, the man smiled, though this one seemed considerably less amused than the one he’d shown initially. It was the sort of smile he imagined his father showering him after he discovered his class.

The woman glared at the man, her red eyes flaring angrily.

Julian kept his focus on the man.

“Sleep well Julian, and keep Izel close. Trust no one else. I will contact you again when it is time. In the meantime, try not to let your dreams wander.”

Julian woke in a cold sweat.

Gods… literally? But that’s impossible. Mortals can’t intrude upon godly realms without being ripped apart instantly. It was a dream, nothing more. It was just a dream. Just a dream…

He said it again in his mind, trying to make himself believe it. It felt so real. He so badly wished it weren’t.

The presence was again conspicuously absent.

Typical. Always there to judge in silence or laugh at my misfortune, but never there to provide answers.

“Julian?” a feminine voice said.

“Hm?” he blinked and turned in his cot.

My cot. That’s right. After we killed Valda, my sisters wanted to take me to a mending ward despite the fact that I told them I was fine. Heh. They probably want to get me as close to perfect health as possible so they do not have to explain to Mother why my clothes were torn or why there were several new scars all over my body.

The Menders had gaped at the state of his dress. His coat and pants, already damaged from his first battle with Valda and his sons, had been practically torn to shreds in the basement fight. Injuries not fully healed even under Rila’s intense care had seen him rushed to his own room where he had been quickly stripped of his clothes and fussed over by two Menders dressed in the purple-and-white robes of the Menders of the Crescent Flame, those who had dedicated themselves to healing the sick and wounded, as well as guiding those who were dying into the next life. They were one of the few organizations in the Empire who actively recruited from the classed and classless alike, though the women who had healed him were very obviously classed. The light magic they had cast upon him still left him feeling cold, prickling sensations in his limbs and chest.

A dark-skinned hand touched his bare arm. He realized with a start that he was still naked, with only a wool blanket preserving his modesty.

“Julian. Are you awake?” the voice spoke again.

“Huh?” He turned again and saw Izel’s face. Her amber eyes were wide with concern. It was so unlike her. She usually never took anything seriously and generally acted as if life was a joke.

Keep Izel close. Trust no one else. The man in my dream mentioned Izel specifically by name and now she’s the first person I’m seeing when I wake up? That can’t be a coincidence. Unless my subconscious somehow recognized Izel’s presence and incorporated her into my dream…

The more he thought about it, the more it felt like an excuse. That he was denying reality. That, as ridiculous as it sounded, he had in fact journeyed somewhere while he slept and inadvertently revealed his life story to one of the incomprehensibly powerful entities there. That the entities could in fact be gods in the very flesh was something he was not ready to consider.

He schooled his features, trying his best to mask the fear that gripped him.

I should tell Izel what I dreamed about. I can trust her. But how do I explain something like this?

The Tenlani woman offered an uncharacteristically weak smile. In the dim candlelit room, she looked intensely beautiful. He sensed a longing in her posture and a hunger that burned at the edges of her eyes. He let his eyes rove over her voluptuous body. She wore a faded blue gown they had scavenged from one of the guest rooms at the Blue Dragon. It obviously had not been designed with Izel’s body type in mind. The thin material clung to her large breasts and her wide hips, as well as her large round rear.

Izel’s amber eyes glimmered with amusement. He must have been staring too long.

“Well, I was going to ask if you were alright, but it seems you’re well enough to appreciate a beautiful woman when you see one,” she muttered, a smug look on her face.

Julian sighed.

Well, she’s caught me, so there’s no harm in admitting it.

“I’d have to be dead not to notice your beauty, Izel,” he said in his best deadpan.

For some reason she laughed, but it was not the sardonic chuckle she used whenever she wanted to convey her condescension towards someone. No, this was something different. Something beautiful and genuine. At least he thought so.

Izel grasped his hand in hers and moved closer, sitting on the bed with her thick, toned legs hanging off the side. Behind her, a wooden chair sat against the wall. Had she been sitting watching him sleep? How long had that been? He had fully expected her to attempt to flee back into the city once he saved her.

“You’ve always been smitten with me, haven’t you? And don’t bother lying. I’ve known it since the day we met, the way you stared at me like a lost puppy when you thought I wasn’t looking. Admit it, Julian. You’ve always wanted me,” she said.

Julian saw no point in lying, not after they had already been through so much together. “It’s true. I have. And now my family knows you’re my consort thanks to your loud mouth. Whatever we are to each other, it is one step closer to being official in other people’s eyes.”

She rolled her eyes.

“Who gives a damn what they think? We’re much further along than that. You risked your life to save mine. Very few people would have done that for someone like me. And for some reason it seems like you can’t even begin to understand what that means,” she huffed, and then leveled a glare at him. “And I don’t have a loud mouth. I just say what’s on my mind. It’s not my fault other people can’t handle that.”

A smile tugged at his lips.

“You’re right. It’s clearly everyone else’s fault.”

“Exactly!” she said.

The two of them stared at each other for a few seconds before they started laughing. When they settled down, Izel began speaking again.

“Your family doesn’t approve of me. Especially that older sister of yours. Valra, I think her name was. If looks could kill, I’d be a rotting corpse right about now,” she said.

He chuckled.

“That’d be Velri, and yes, she’s not exactly shy about how she feels. Don’t worry about it. She’s hated me for most of my life and I’m still alive and kicking. Where are they, by the way? My sisters.”

Izel pursed her lips. “The Menders tried to drag Velri to a room, but she threw them off and basically **** them to heal her right in the lobby. She tried to insist that she be allowed to take you all back to the Imerdan manor, but one of the Menders managed to convince her that you and your youngest sister needed special care.”

“Rila? Did something happen to her?” Julian tried to sit up, but Izel put a hand on his shoulder, urging him to lie down.

“Nothing. Just mana exhaustion,” Izel replied neutrally, though the stern look in her eyes promised retribution if he so much as dared try to move from his cot.

I’m supposed to be the one in charge in this relationship. How did we get to the point of her bossing me around?

Still, he couldn’t help but feel something warm in his chest at the thought of Izel being worried about his safety. It was such a novel concept for anyone to show concern for his wellbeing, and that Izel, the woman he’d loved since he’d first laid eyes on her was the one expressing it was so pleasing to him that the part of him that balked at taking orders was nowhere near as insistent in its arguments as it usually was.

“She should be fine in a day or two,” Izel added. “The girl has a fire I wouldn’t have expected from her. She’ll come back from this a stronger, more capable mage.”

He nodded. Rila had been fine enough to walk to the mending ward on her own, but perhaps that had been a front. She was always one to fret over the smallest injury, yet pretend all was well when she endured much deeper pains.

“What about you? You were pretty beaten up the last time I saw you,” he said, trying to keep his voice level. It wouldn’t do to let Izel know just how worried he was about her safety. She’d never let him hear the end of it.

She waved him off.

“Oh, little old me? The Menders couldn’t wait to be done with me. As soon as they healed me, they kicked me out of my room to make way for some fat old man with stomach cramps. Can you believe that?”

He must have been frowning because she reached down to cup the side of his face.

“I’m fully healed so don’t worry about me. Some people aren’t as understanding of me being Tenlani as you are,” she said, her eyes glimmering fondly, then removed her hand to clasp his again.

“If any of them so much as looks at you funny, I’m going to want names.”

She laughed.

“Aemari fool. I told you not to worry,” she said. Her hand tightened around his.

That’s exactly when I start worrying.

“What happened to Brynn?” He changed the subject.

“Your twin?” She raised her eyebrows. “She escaped the fight with not even a scratch on her, though she’d probably have been split in half by the Amyss’ sword if I hadn’t intervened,” her face scrunched up in distaste. “Aemari mages are so weak and frail. Do none of them train with weapons or armor?”

“The hybrid classes sometimes do, but pure mages tend to just focus on magic and let the non-magic classes handle the physical combat,” he supplied disinterestedly. He’d usually be in the mood to talk class theory and tactics, but at that moment he couldn’t imagine wasting time discussing any of that now. “Oh, I just realized I never thanked you for saving my sister.”

She smiled. “There’s no need for that. But I suppose if you want to lavish me with your praise, I won’t try to stop you.”

He reached up with his free hand to touch her shoulder.

“I might not get along with my family, but if something happened to any of them in that basement, I’d have never been able to forgive myself. Not after I led them down there. So, thank you, Izel. Truly.”

She stared at him for a long moment.

“You keep praising me and you might just find yourself confined in a room with a Tenlani woman in need of… satisfaction.” She turned her head to press her plush lips into the top of his hand. Desire radiated from her amber gaze. “As far as lovers go, you were fairly adequate. For an Aemari, anyway. I definitely would not object to a repeat occurrence.”

He tried his best to keep the annoyance off his face.

“‘Fairly adequate.’ The way you were thrashing and screaming my name earlier would seem to paint a different picture.”

Izel actually blushed.

“I don’t know. Maybe I need a fresh reminder,” she rocked her hips.

“Oh?” he smirked at her. His manhood stirred. “Does my consort wish for a repeat of our encounter at the inn?”

She kissed his hand again.

“She does. Minus the Amyss of course,” she looked around the room. “You know, that door doesn’t have a lock. Your sisters could barge in on us at any moment. That might actually be funny. I bet your older sister’s head would explode if she saw us fucking.”

Julian let out a heavy sigh. “You would enjoy something like that.”

Izel laughed.

“Well, it’s not my fault that prude has no idea how to have fun. Nethrus, I thought you were one to take everything too seriously, but I realize now that, as far as your family is concerned, you’re the fun one. That still leaves much to be desired when you’re compared with anyone outside your family, but that’s okay. I’ll work on you,” she chuckled.

He glared at her, but she pretended not to notice.

She’ll only make fun of me more if I react any further. It’s probably best to let it slide.

“You ask me, Velri could use a good fucking from a man who understands what she needs. I’ve met her type before. Women like her are only angry because they’re frustrated that they can’t find a real man to satisfy them. It’s that simple," Izel remarked pointedly.

He snorted. “I doubt a lot of men could measure up to her standards.”

Not without mental manipulation anyway. Which reminds me. I think I leveled up again after the fight with Valda, so I should have four Skill Points to distribute. Status.

Julian Imerdan (lv. 7 Psion)

HP: 142/142

ST: 119/119

WP: 352/470

Skills...

<Four Skill Points Available>

Attributes…

<New Attribute Discovered>

Effects…

His eyes widened.

I gained a new… attribute? My entire life that field has been blank except Human and Magical Ancestry, the latter of which was always the only thing special about me. I haven’t gotten any notifications that I gained a new attribute until now. The question is: why now and not yesterday when I gained my class? Attributes.

Human - As a member of the human race, your body is more resilient than most other sapient races.

Magical Ancestry - Several of your ancestors possessed powerful magical abilities and talents. The barest hint of their talent resides within you, granting you easier use of magical items.

Psionic - You are capable of affecting physical and nonphysical reality through Will alone. You can learn to influence, perceive, and connect the minds of others. You can learn to manipulate and produce varying forms of psionic energy. You are resistant to mental effects and psionic damage. You can perceive all spectrums of psionic energy.

Fardreamer - While you sleep, you may randomly send your mental awareness to another place in the universe.

Psionic and Fardreamer. Wait, that’s two new Attributes, not one. Is it possible for a status screen to make a mistake?

“You alright there, Julian?” Izel asked, looking down at him in concern.

Julian shook his head.

“It’s nothing, Izel.”

Fardreamer. Apparently I can visit other places while I sleep instead of dreaming. Could that explain my visit to the doomed world with red lightning and the one inhabited by the dark man and the red-eyed woman?

Izel gave him a skeptical look.

“Julian, it’s obviously not nothing. You’ve been acting odd since you woke up. Odd for you, even. If you’re not feeling well… well, I’d like to know,” her voice became soft.

He sighed, immediately feeling guilty.

“I promise it’s not something bad, it’s just... I leveled up twice. Are you happy now?”

She’s not going to leave me alone, and I’m not sure I want her to. I’ll deal with this later when I can actually gather my wits.

Izel’s lips twisted into a satisfied grin.

“I am, as a matter of fact.”

As she leaned down towards him, his eyes were drawn to her gown’s low neck. Her expansive dark cleavage was barely concealed by the garment.

“It’s good you’ve leveled up,” she whispered approvingly. “You’ll need to be a lot stronger if you’re going to survive the dangers this world’s going to throw your way. There hasn’t been one of your kind in over a thousand years. You’re sure to draw unwanted attention when people start to realize that a Psion walks among them once again. Most of that will be negative. Your classline’s progenitor didn’t exactly endear himself well to a lot of people.”

My classline’s progenitor? Izel knows who the first Psion was?

“You know about Psions,” he said.

Izel smiled. “Of course I do. How could I not? Omreus, one of Nethrus’ most favored servants, was a Psion. The very first of his kind. He was one of Tenlan’s greatest heroes.”

Omreus. The first Psion. A hero of Tenlan? I feel like I should have heard that name before, or at least encountered it in the myriad of books I’ve read, and gods know I’ve read plenty about Izel’s homeland.

He was certain he’d never heard the name spoken before, but it was somehow familiar. He felt like he was staring at a puzzle he’d finished a hundred times before, except this time a single piece was missing, and for the life of him he could not remember what that piece looked like.

Omreus. Omreus. Omreus.

The name sounded infuriatingly familiar, yet no matter how many times he repeated the name in his mind, he could not remember where he’d encountered it before.

“Nethrus,” he uttered, latching on to that tidbit of information. He couldn’t help but feel like he was missing something important. “That’s the Tenlani patron god. The Lord of Nethruan.”

The candle on the bedside table flickered, as if blown upon by a gust of wind.

Izel nodded, approval glimmering in her eyes. “That is one of his many titles.”

Julian let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

“You said Omreus served him. What happened to him? Do you know if there are any other Psions in the world?”

Izel rubbed her thumb against his hand.

“History was never my strong suit, but I’ll try to summarize it as best I can. A thousand years ago or so, Omreus was one of Nethrus’ most favored and trusted servants as well as his greatest general. They spent a lot of time together, with Omreus being frequently invited to Nethruan, Nethrus’ godly realm. This was before the gods stopped openly using mortals as proxies, mind you,” she said. “Omreus was instrumental in the founding of Tenlan and led its people in rebellion against the old elven empire, a great war that consumed entire civilizations.”

His mind flashed back to the marble room he’d dreamed of, of the man dressed in black silk with black eyes and who exuded an aura of pure nothingness.

The idea that I essentially barged into Nethrus’ realm uninvited… that I could even exist in Nethruan without being completely destroyed… pure madness. There’s no way a simple attribute like Fardreamer would just let me waltz into a god’s realm. It’s just not possible. It can’t be.

He put the thought out of his mind, instead choosing to focus on what Izel had said.

I… I wonder if she’s talking about the Great Continental War. The conflict that tore the old Empire apart around fourteen hundred years ago. Nyros, Tenlan, and a multitude of other nations used to be ruled by a single elven empire. Some historians believe that originally, only elves were born with classes, and that was how they were able to control much of the world for so long, and that the War occurred when humans and other races the elves dominated managed to harness that power for themselves. Such historians are often considered fringe crackpots, however, and there is very little if any evidence to back up their theories.

He allowed Izel to continue without interruption.

“Defeated, the elves sued for peace. They invited Omreus to a gathering to negotiate an end to the war. Despite Nethrus’ warnings, Omreus signed an accord with the elves, and surprise surprise, that ended up being his undoing. The elves hated Omreus and feared his power to dominate the minds of others. On the eve of the peace summit, the elves and their allies betrayed him, murdering him under a hail of spellfire so strong it destroyed a city. They found his body and cut it into thousands of pieces and scattered them into an endless abyss so the Tenlani could not hope to resurrect him. In the coming decades, they hunted down and slaughtered his wives, his children, his thralls, and all the inheritors of his classline. And not a single Psion has made himself known since.”

She stared at him.

“Until you came along and discovered your class. You proved the legends wrong. A fragment of Omreus’ power lives within you,” she said, naked wonderment in her voice. “Nethrus must have chosen you to wield his power. There’s no other explanation. But why would he pick an Aemari? Why not someone from Tenlan who’d probably worship him and do whatever he asked?”

That’s a good question. When I met that man in my dream, he seemed surprised to see me. That would imply that he was just as in the dark about the revival of my classline as everyone else. So maybe Nethrus didn’t choose me at all. If that was Nethrus.

“I don’t know,” he said. “This whole conversation is just beyond anything I was expecting. Can we table it for now?”

At least until I can figure out how to tell you about this without you thinking I’ve gone completely insane.

It wasn’t every day you got to meet the patron god of your girlfriend’s homeland, after all.

Izel sighed.

“Fine, that’s probably for the best anyway,” she was silent for a long moment. Then her eyes brightened. “Maybe we could talk about something else for a bit. Let our thoughts stew in the meantime.”

Julian shrugged.

“Like what?”

Izel’s eyes twinkled with amusement.

“Sex.”

His cock stirred as he remembered the last time sex had been the topic of discussion between the two of them. They’d fucked like rabbits for hours on end. It had been the single most amazing experience of Julian’s life and it had been difficult to think of anything else since.

“Sex?”

Izel’s plush lips curved upwards. She reached a hand underneath his blanket to grab a hold of his cock. She began slowly massaging it to hardness.

“Mhm. We just had the fight of our lives, you know. I can think of no better way for us to unwind than to experience each other again the way the gods intended,” she murmured softly.

His cock hardened to full mast immediately, drawing a chuckle from Izel. The dark-skinned beauty bit her lip as she looked down at him, her amber eyes practically glowing with need.

He leaned upwards to put himself at eye level with her. She inched closer so that their faces were mere inches away from each other.

“There’s nothing else I’d rather do right now,” Julian murmured softly. He reached up to brush a lock of silky black hair behind Izel’s ear. “And no one else I’d rather be with.”

She pressed her lips against his. He responded eagerly, kissing her for all he was worth. They made out for what seemed like an eternity before Izel backed off. She hooked her fingers in the bottom of her gown, pulling it upward and above her head and tossing it carelessly across the room. Her big, ripe breasts wobbled free.

Julian grabbed them immediately, one in each hand, drawing a throaty gasp from Izel. He lowered his headtowards her right breast, sealing his lips around her nipple.

“Ooo, I had no idea you were into that sort of thing~” she giggled.

He took his lips off her nipple.

“Should I stop?”

“Don’t you dare!” she rasped, pushing herself against Julian. Her fingers came down to entwine themselves in his hair. “More!”

He tongued her nipple for a minute or so before switching to her other breast. He trailed a hand down her voluptuous body, ending up between her prodigiously thick thighs. He quickly found her sex and began rubbing the cute little nub of her clit. It was wet, slick with her juices.

“Fuck!” she rocked her hips, pressing herself into his hand while he suckled at and tongued her nipple.

Izel wasn’t one to be idle, however, and her hand soon found his cock again, her skin almost sinfully smooth. She began pumping up and down as he switched nipples again and kept rubbing her sex. Her pussy, wet with arousal, dribbled onto the bed.

He popped off her nipple and kissed her again. Izel responded passionately, pressing her tongue past his lips and entwining it with his.

This is heaven.

After some time, Izel broke the kiss. A string of saliva connected their lips for a few moments before breaking.

“I want you to take me again,” Izel croaked.

Julian’s throat went dry.

“Lie down then. I want to see you,” he commanded.

Izel nodded, smirking as she crawled past him. She wiggled her big round ass in his face before turning over, taking his place on the cot and lying her head against his pillow. Her black hair pooled around her head and face. Her nipples were still wet with his saliva. They appeared hard as diamonds.

A moment later she spread her legs, pulling them upward by her ankles. Her pussy and the rosebud of her anus spread open slightly. Her vagina glistened with arousal.

He stared at her.

“Wow,” he muttered.

Izel snorted, though the slightly red tinge to her cheeks told him she was more embarrassed that she was letting on.

“Glad to know you like what you see. Can we get to the fun part now?”

He smiled.

“So impatient,” he said, but obeyed. He crawled between her legs and moved over her so that his face was above hers. She stared up at him, her amber eyes gazing into his grays. Anyone who saw the two together would probably remark on how mismatched they were both in appearance and temperament.

Yet despite all our differences, it would seem we both consistently want the same thing.

He grabbed his cock and rubbed it against Izel’s pussy. She shuddered beneath him. He pushed, and his cock popped inside her. She was so hot and wet and tight and amazing. He let out a long moan.

Izel hissed.

“Shit, you’re so big. I ever tell you that?” she said.

“O-once or twice,” he replied, pleasure coursing through his body. Gods, he loved sex. He couldn’t believe he’d gone so long without it before he’d met Izel, but he couldn’t have imagined experiencing for the first time with anyone else.

“Don’t let it go to your head,” she smiled up at him.

“Uh-huh,” he grunted, not really listening to her as he pushed more of his length inside her. Within seconds he’d sheathed himself inside her and the head of his cock bashed against her cervix.

Izel let out a whimper.

His eyes widened with concern. “Are you alright?”

She nodded quickly.

“Fuck yes. Don’t worry about me. Be as rough as you want. I can take it.”

He chuckled, shaking his head.

“You may regret saying that,” he pulled his cock back and then slammed himself inside her, drawing a scream from her that she only barely stifled with her hand.

He began fucking her in earnest now. His hand inevitably drifted downward to play with her breasts, alternating between groping one and squeezing the other.

Her dark skin slickened with sweat and her once-immaculate black hair became messy and matted. Her amber eyes were half-lidded as she looked up at him, a lazy, sex-drunk smile twisting her lips.

Eventually, she told him she wanted to be on top, so they switched positions. She pinned him to the bed with her soft, thick thighs as she rode him. Their moans and fleshy clapping sounds filled the room.

The door to his room abruptly slammed open. Izel let out a yelp and got off him, but there was no place to hide.

Within the doorframe stood a mature, voluptuous blonde woman with piercing ocean-blue eyes. She held an ornate staff in her right hand. She leveled an angry glare at him, then at Izel. His lover had the good sense to grab the wool sheet and cover their modesty. Not that it would do much good after so much had already been seen. If anything, it only seemed to make Maela Imerdan angrier. The azure gem at the tip of her staff glowed hatefully. His ears popped as the air pressure in the room shifted.

“Mother,” Julian nearly wheezed.

“Julian,” she whispered. It was about the angriest thing he had ever heard in his life.

In the back of his mind, he could almost hear Brynn laughing at him for dismissing her warnings about their mother’s wrath.

I’m a dead man.

---

Julian Imerdan (lv. 7 Psion)

HP: 142/142

ST: 119/119

WP: 368/470

Skills...

<Four Skill Points Available>

Attributes…

Effects…

Julian's Skills

[Manipulation] Suggestion (cost: 20 WP) - The user can telepathically implant a suggestion in the mind of a target to influence an action, thought, or behavior of theirs. The target must be sapient. There is a chance that it might fail depending on the state of the target mind. The more simple and less unusual the suggestion, the easier it is to implant.

[Manipulation] Hypnosis (cost: 30 WP) - The user lulls the target into a light hypnotic trance. While hypnotized, the target will be more open to Suggestion and suggestions, and more likely to divulge information they would not otherwise. Requires the use of a pendant or other foci to draw the target’s gaze. Can be interrupted by any sudden or intense stimuli. Duration: ten minutes.

[Affliction] Mind Jab (cost: 15 WP) - The user projects a weak bolt of psionic energy that attacks the mind of an opponent, causing crippling mental pain that lasts for a few seconds. Affects any living creature with a brain.

[Affliction] Psi-Bolt (cost: 5 WP) – The user emits an unguided bolt of psionic energy that inflicts low Psi damage to a target upon impact. Deals moderate Psi damage against targets affected by Mind Jab, but clears them of the status.

[Connection] Detect Mind (cost: 2 WP/s) - The user can detect the minds of sentient organic beings within ten feet.

[Knowledge] Safe Fall (cost: free) - The user has learned a method of shifting one's body mid-air to significantly mitigate falling damage. Only usable from survivable heights.

[Innate] Focus (cost: free) - The user enters a state of emotional detachment, allowing the user to ignore pain and resist negative mental effects. Increases WP regeneration by 20% while active. Only usable during combat.

Julian’s Attributes

Human - As a member of the human species, your body is more resilient than most other sapient races.

Magical Ancestry - Several of your ancestors possessed powerful magical abilities and talents. The barest hint of their talent resides within you, granting you easier use of magical items.

Psionic - You are capable of affecting physical and nonphysical reality through Will alone. You are resistant to mental effects and psionic damage. You can perceive all spectrums of psionic energy.

Fardreamer - While you sleep, you may randomly send your mental awareness to another place in the universe.

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