"How much of this forest have we covered?" Urvi asked.
I pulled out the map and took a quick glance at it. Judging by how much we walked and the fact that we reached the northern gate, I expected to have covered at least a quarter or more of the area. So, you can imagine my surprise when I realized how much we had actually covered.
"Barely ten to fifteen percent!" I exclaimed.
"Are you fucking with me?" Urvi asked.
I glanced at her and replied with a deadpan expression, "right now? No."
She threw her fist into my shoulder tipping me off balance, before snatching the map from me. Taking a good look at the map, she said, "We can be here for days!"
I moved in close and wrapped my arms around her waist. "Fine by me. I can spend an eternity here." I kissed her on her cheek, and she reciprocated with a soft giggle.
"Yes, Romeo. I would love to spend eternity with you too." She spun around to face me before giving me a soft kiss on the lips.
The sun had set by the time we returned to the center. We set out to make a camp for the night before taking a well deserve moment of respite for the night.
***
I awoke by the time the first rays of sunlight reached the forest floor. Despite a comfy-looking nest in the great tree, Urvi and I found it far more comfortable to just sleep on the soft grass in the clearing.
Urvi continued to sleep beside me. I looked at her beautiful naked body shimmering under the morning sun before picking up the tome to get some more reading done by the time she woke up.
I learnt a little more about standard spells. Along with decimation, I needed to practice five more spells.
Fortify, a defense spell that casts a temporary shield around a subject.
Recover, a simple spell that regenerates small amounts of health.
Rupture, a status spell that causes bleeding to a subject.
Tranquil, a status spell that calms a subject.
Agitate, a status spell that can heighten the emotional state of a subject.
I looked at the mana bar and saw that it had been replenished. Turns out a good night's rest is what is needed to get to restore the mana. However, another option is also to meditate. Neither sounded efficient when in the middle of battle. So, it looks like the management of mana is key to being a good sorcerer.
The size of the mana pool increases as I level up. However, amber crystals can be used to increase the pool, though not by a substantial amount. Instead, I must focus on leveling up and mastering spell-casting. With practice and stat increase, my spells can become more powerful and take up less mana.
I heard the sound of the rustling of grass next to me when I noticed that Urvi was finally awake. She pushed herself off the ground and greeted me with a big smile. Her mood had improved a lot since we came here. Actually, both of ours did.
"Good morning baby," she said.
"Good morning darling."
"So, what is the plan for today?"
"Well. There is more of the world to see. But how about we start with some magic lessons?"
***
"Like this?" Urvi asked.
After a light breakfast, we began the day trying to get Urvi her own mana pool. I explained to her how the whole process worked and what it would feel like. But beyond that, it would be up to her to channel the magic force and create a pool.
We sat down on the floor, facing each other with our legs folded. I placed one of the few crystals we picked up yesterday in her hands. She grasped it with both her hands and held it up against her face. For a moment she looked like she was praying to it. Maybe she was. She shut her eyes and went quiet.
I too sat quietly before her, patiently waiting to see what would happen. Her body remained steady as a rock, her eyes remained shut, and the crystal remained as it was. I waited, patiently, for I believed she could do it. However, each passing second felt like an eternity. Nothing changed, her body still didn't move, her face remained calm as a cloudless night, and the crystal remained as a crystal.
Why is it taking so long for her? I managed to do it in just a few seconds. Did I really take this long? Is Urvi equipped to do this?
So many questions began eating away at my brain that I finally caved in. "Ur.." However, before I could finish, the crystal burst into streams of light and vanished into her chest.
I jumped on my feet in joy and said, "You did it."
She opened her eyes slowly and looked at her empty palm. She had a serene look on her face as she felt about her chest. "I feel weird. Like some kind of liquid is circling in my chest," she said.
"Congratulations. You can do magic now."
***
Urvi cast her first decimation spell and it was just as powerful as mine. I told her about the five other spells in our arsenal and she was just as fascinated by them as I was.
"A total of six, huh? But is that all?" She asked.
We walked through the thick forest towards the east. Along the way, we ran into a few more treants, none of whom posed any danger.
"Those are the standard spells. Anyone with a Mana pool can cast them. Beyond these spells is where we begin specializing. We need to pick a branch of magic and focus on it, master it," I explained.
"What all branches are there?" She asked.
"I don't have a clear picture. Though if I have to guess, way more than that tome can cover."
"Reall..." Suddenly, Urvi stopped dead in her tracks and looked ahead. "Do you see a man? Or is it my imagination?"
I danced through the busy forest floor to catch up to her before looking in the direction she was staring at. There was a giant tree, not-so-different from the great tree in the center. There was a human, a man, sitting underneath it, waving at us.
"Hello there!" He shouted.
Urvi immediately armed herself with the Saber.
"No!" He said shaking both his arms. "I am not an enemy!"
We approached him cautiously. He was tall and well-built. Dressed in a brown tunic and black trousers, he looked rather sharp for a forest dweller with a neatly trimmed beard and neatly combed hair.
"Who are you?" I asked. We stood about twenty paces from him.
"My name is Darin. I am a player. Just like you," he replied.
"Another one? Didn't expect to see one so fast," I said.
"Actually, I came here way before you did," he explained.
"Really? How long back?" Urvi asked.
"I don't know exactly. Perhaps two hundred years ago," he replied.
"Two hundred!" We cried out in unison.
"You mean to say we are the first ones here in two hundred years?" I asked.
"No. No. Plenty more came before you and plenty will come after you. I... well. I just never left the place," he said.
Darin turned out to be a very interesting individual, despite him looking like a buff NPC. We sat down with him and told him all that happened since we arrived, except for the nighttime shenanigans.
"Yeah. That mother is one big bastard. The problem is it clings on to you when you first meet it. Considering it is a high-level beast, you are going to struggle with it unless you are properly leveled up," Darin explained.
Sounded like a glitch. It looked like no one bothered to patch it up.
"So, Darin... where are you from?" I asked.
"I am from Centurion."
What the hell was that?
"Centurion? Where is that? I don't recall any place like that on Earth," I said.
"Oh. You guys are from Earth?" He asked.
"Wait. You are not?" Urvi said.
"No. Like I said I am from Centurion."
"Wait! They"re more like us in outer space!" Urvi exclaimed.
I looked at her dumbfounded. "We are in a fantasy land but you are struggling to accept there is life in space?"
She turned to me and said, "Yeah. That is true."
"You say you are from another world, yet you speak English?" I asked.
"Is that what you are speaking? See, to me I am hearing you speak in my own language."
Oh wow! That would solve so many problems in our own world.
"That's crazy!" Urvi exclaimed.
"You see a lot of players?" I asked.
"I do and from various worlds too. Quite fascinating to see humans coming from very different worlds."
"But Darin. You never left the training grounds, right? There is no way you came back here after leaving," Urvi asked. Though it was a possibility, Faeren was able to, something told us that was not the case with this one.
Darin sighed, looking off into the distance. "Yes. I didn't leave."
"Why?" I asked.
"Because I am afraid... of dying. Every time I walk up to the gate, I get cold feet wondering if I would just die in one hit. So, I never left."
I never quite thought of it that way. The comfort of knowing that I will just resurrect here once I die made me make decisions I would never have otherwise.
"But living here. Alone. It must have gotten to your head," Urvi asked.
"It did. At first. Faeren let me stay after when I refused to leave. Then new players started popping up. Over time, even the place also started to change. New chests, new beasts, it was a slow life, but I got used to it," Darin said. He had a somber look on his face. "Don't worry too much about me. I will be fine," he said wearing a fake smile.
"Sorry, but it is all a little too difficult for me to comprehend. I mean, what do you do to pass the time here?" Urvi asked.
"Now you are asking the right questions. You see, I was supposed to be a player, but I decided to become a merchant. I can provide you with things that are a necessity, hard to find, and even impossible to find." Durin explained.
Now we are talking about. But wait. "Impossible to find?" I asked.
"Yes. Two hundred years and like I said, a lot has changed."
I see. He must be talking about discontinued items. These would effectively be antiques.
"So, what do you need first?" He asked.
"Okay. Do you have something that we can carry stuff with?" I asked.
"Yes, please! We have so much... stuff just sitting beneath the tree," Urvi added.
"Oh! Is that so? Well, feast your eyes on this," He said. He turned away from us and towards his back. From behind him, he pulled out a small pouch and laid it in front of us.
It was small. Small enough to fit on one of our belts.
"Is that it?" I asked. Urvi and I stared at the sorry thing.
"It's an inventory. A magical inventory of course. You can dump as much stuff as you want into this, and it will carry it for you. Granted you can fit the stuff through its mouth."
"Wait. Anything?" I asked.
"Yes. Anything! When you want to retrieve it, just think of it, and put your hand into it. All its contents will appear in your journal."
"That is so cool!" Urvi exclaimed. Her eyes teeming with excitement.
"We will take it!" I said.
"Great. Is there anything more you would like?" He asked.
"Oh. I have a request," Urvi said. Her lips curled into a sly grin. "Get me the sexiest armor you have with you."
Urvi laid down nine packages in a row, rubbing her hands together and grinning like a greedy businesswoman. It was kind of Durin to provide us with options. All in exchange for rations and sets of items we weren't interested in anyway.
We made it back to the center before daylight faded, wanting to make sure to try out the armor sets before dusk.
"Which do I begin with?" Urvi wondered out loud.
"Start from left," I said as I sat back leaning against the tree.
She looked at the leftmost package and said, "Left, huh?"
One by one, she picked up each and tried them out like we were in a shopping mall. The first one had a similar design to her previous except the heavy breastplate armor was swapped out with an essentially metal bra. She looked at it disappointedly before popping out the journal and looking at the inventory. "Hope the stats are at least good." They weren't.
With the magical inventory, we were finally able to see the stats of each armor and weapon we had.
Armor two, three, four, and five turned out to be a no seller as well. At least to Urvi. I, meanwhile, was feasting with my eyes. All the armors up until now showed off, no, accentuated Urvi's curves. However, none would match the sixth armor she tried.
"Oh, my fucking lord!" She exclaimed looking at it. It was a two-piece armor. The top was essentially a fantasy version of a push-up bra, in a beautiful black color and golden lining. The skirt consisted of two long black loincloths, one in front and another at the back, held together by black underwear. All of them had a golden lining. "I look fucking sexy."
I watched her in complete awe, unaware that my mouth was even open.
"You might want to close your mouth before a fly goes in," Urvi said.
I shook my head and said, "You look fucking amazing! But that is essentially bikini armor."
"I know and so what? I want to look hot when I am fighting too."
I couldn't stop myself from smiling like an idiot.
She checked the journal for stats. "I am down on defense, but my speed is 21! And my special attack is up to 18! I am keeping this!"
Level - 6
Health - 77
Attack - 19
Defense - 13
Speed - 21
Special Attack - 18
Special Defense - 12
I gave her a thumbs-up as a sign of approval. She proceeded to tie her hair into a classic Indian-style braid. Suddenly, I realized I was looking at what I always wanted to see. A sexy-ass desi milf. Okay, I think I achieved my life's goal. Now I can rest in peace.
Durin had just three options for me. I asked for one with a cape, but unfortunately, he didn't have any. In the end, I compromised for a set with high speed. I quickly tried on all three, all of which looked the same to me. But Urvi saw things differently.
"Hmm… The red and black of the first one looks pretty fucking cool. But third one's slim design makes you look like one of those people who kill while hiding," she said.
"You mean an assassin?"
"I don't remember the name."
Fair enough. It was the hood that gave off an assassin vibe. It was all black with very little padding. "But what about the second one?"
"Hate it. He said it had good speed, but it makes you look like you have a pot belly," she said.
Hmm… I checked the stats and found the first one boosted my defense as well, the second one boosted my attack, while the last one was pure speed. "I think I will go with the first one. I am liking the boost in defense as well."
Putting it on, I checked my stats again.
Level - 6
Health - 82
Attack - 17
Defense - 15
Speed - 19
Special Attack - 20
Special Defense - 16
"Looking sexy!" She winked while giving me a thumbs-up. "But I wanted to ask you. What about all those potions? We have so many, maybe we could have traded it for some more items?"
"We will be needing those. Within the training grounds, we have no need for them. But once we get out, I am sure we will be burning through them."
We were hoarding quite a collection of them. The potions came in a rainbow of colors.
The green bottles helped recover health.
The red bottles gave a tiny and temporary attack boost.
The blue bottles boosted defense.
The purple bottles helped gain speed.
The green bottles cured any poison.
Finally, a small health kit to staunch bleeding.
"Hmm… Okay. Sounds reasonable," Urvi replied.
***
With the shopping out of the way, we got down to practicing some magic. But before we could start casting spells, we needed to learn to control the flow of mana.
The well of mana needs to rise and overflow, for the body to become charged with magical potential. The rising of this well takes energy and to keep the flow, it takes more energy.
So, the first step was to try and keep the overflow of magic constant. We practiced this by meditating. By meditating, we were replenishing our mana reserves. This also gave us ample time to practice keeping the mana flowing.
Urvi grunted hard as she broke her trance. "This is exhausting!" She fell back onto the grass. "Why is this exhausting?"
I slowly opened my eyes and saw that it was already dusk. "Urvi, we have been meditating for hours."
Urvi snapped back up. "Oh yeah! But seriously. How are we supposed to keep this up during battle? I am certain I will break my concentration."
I clasped my hands and relaxed, 'this is where the hard part comes in. It seems like magic has a barrier to entry."
"Do I really need magic? I am great with the sword and axe," she asked.
"At least learn to use standard spells. I am certain other players would have mastered it. We will get annihilated if we face off against them," I argued.
She sighed. "When you put it that way. You want to continue?"
"Let us," I replied.
I could hear the chirping of birds when I realized how much time had passed. My eyes snapped open and were greeted by bright sunshine. Urvi sat before me, in the same meditating posture. Her face looked calm but expressionless. Either she was sleeping or really meditating.
"Urvi?" I called softly.
Her eyes opened slowly. She exhaled softly as she seemed to return to reality. "Wow. It is morning already?" she asked calmly. Her peaceful demeanor frightened me.
"It is."
"So, this is the power of meditation." She lifted her hands and looked at them. "I feel so refreshed now."
Once our brain learnt to control the flow of mana, it automates the process within our subconscious. It felt like our bodies were circulating with mana very much like our blood.
"Incredible, isn't it?" I asked.
Decimation was powerful but also cost a lot of mana. We began by trying to control the flow of mana and used the power of decimation as a gauge. When the body is charged with magic, controlling the output proved to be far more difficult than we imagined.
A purple-colored circular ball formed on the tip of her finger before shooting into the trees ahead of her. It was bigger than what we were planning to do. She relaxed from the stance and looked at her arm. "Fuck. I couldn't contain the mana one bit."
Even I struggled with this. We had been wasting a lot of mana since morning in an attempt to learn to control.
"Karna," Urvi said. "I think the magic in my body is gone too."
"What? How?" I exclaimed. I figured we had mastered it.
"My mana is less than half. Perhaps that is why?" She said. "And... I am really exhausted. I am going to take a quick nap."
It had been less than two hours since we woke up. Only twenty minutes since we started practicing.
"I think maintaining this state of magic is taking a toll on our body and mind," I replied.
However, Urvi was lying on the ground, eyes shut, and seemingly deep asleep. This is going to take some time.
***
"If it is going to consume energy to keep it in flowing, is it really worth it keeping it that way? Especially when we are not even using it," Urvi asked.
She had a point. It made sense for a mage or someone who uses magic to keep it flowing constantly. But otherwise, it is simply a drain on resources.
We decided to see what was west of the center and for quite a while, it seemed like more of the same. That is until we heard something that instantly brightened our mood.
"Is that... is that water?" Urvi asked.
The sound of crashing water penetrated the thicket before us, tempting us to come and take a look at it. We pushed forward and as we cut and slashed our way through, we found ourselves standing before a small pond with a ten-foot-tall waterfall on the other side.
"Fuck yeah!" Urvi exclaimed as she stripped down to nothing in seconds before jumping into the pond headfirst.
The pond was pretty large, about half the size of a football field. You could see the flora and fauna of the pond through the crystal-clear water. This also meant we could see that there was no danger hidden in the water as well.
I took off my boots and sat on the bank, dipping my legs into the water. Urvi, meanwhile, enjoyed herself in the water, splashing and thrashing about as she swam.
"What the fuck are doing there?" She asked as she reached me.
"Me? Just chilling."
"Take off your clothes and come join me."
I was hesitant to get wet. It looked like too much trouble.
She held her breasts up, pushing them just above the surface of the water. Her cheeks turned rosy red as she glanced at me seductively. "They are asking for your company."
I swallowed hard, trying to pretend like I was still hesitating. But in reality, I had already made up my mind. Quickly stripping down till there was nothing, I leapt into the cool water, sending a splash of water Urvi's way.
I rose back to the surface, wiping excess water off my face, only to find Urvi nowhere in sight. I can't deny I panicked for a moment before something grabbed me by my leg and dragged me underwater.
Soft palms grabbed me by the hips before her breasts gently pressed against my chest. My eyes met hers, accompanied by my dreamy smile. I wrapped my arms around her before swimming back to the surface.
We burst through the surface, gasping for air. Then, things slowed down as we looked into each other's eyes passionately. She let out a naughty giggle before moving in, squeezing her breasts between us as our lips met. Suddenly the whole world was quiet, even if it was for just that moment.
***
We sat on the bank of the lake, bathing in the sun. Urvi was curling a strand of hair in her fingers while staring into the clear water beside us.
"What is in your mind, darling?" I asked.
"Nothing really. I just feel so happy and I wish this happiness stayed," she said.
"Don't worry. We will make sure it will," I replied with a smile.
She smiled back before lifting her thick left leg, stretching it out, and placing it on my chest. She touched my chin with her big toe, looking seductively at me. I grabbed onto her leg, sliding my right hand up until I reached her bubble butt. Urvi leaned back until she was lying on the grass, her hair spread out on the ground.
I put her leg down and got onto my knees, before crawling over her. She touched my cheek with her left hand, gazing into my eyes. I lowered myself until our lips met, locked in place as we quietly slipped into a good mood.