Chương 78: Chapter 79: Death and rebirth.

Ash is back before Wrax is. He apparently killed her while they were out adventuring. Probably before she could reach level forty.

"Oh, I don't like this," she says as she wakes up.

"I feel like shit."

"Yeah," I say.

"It's not fun to suddenly lose so much of your stat points. What level did you get to?"

"Thirty nine," she says. She looks around.

"Now I'm level one again. I barely have a hundred hit points. This sucks."

"It was nice to be able to go turn in quests and jump up a dozen levels right away," I say.

"But you'll get used to it. And soon enough you'll level up again." She continues to complain about the situation, and is still groaning and complaining when Wrax comes in. He takes in the state of the cave in a few glances, and then looks at me.

"You still have not chosen your prize," he says.

"I've got time," I say.

"Don't I?"

"I just would have thought you would be excited to find what prize you want," he says. The way he says it makes me think that he's very proud of his collection, and wanted to come back to see me fawning over it, having difficulty choosing between prize items in his collection. He wanted to show off. I really dropped the ball.

"I promise I'll go through your collection after you kill me," I tell him. He huffs, but seems satisfied by that.

"Speaking of which," he says.

"Climb on. We are going back to the lava lords." I smile at him.

"I was really hoping you'd say that." In just a few hours, I have 85 stat points to spend and I'm putting my gear into my spatial bag. I put twenty points each into strength, agility, vigor, and awareness, then five more into willpower. I also have a bunch of completed quests for the next time we go into town. Once all my gear is in the spatial bag, Wrax looks at me.

"Are you ready?" he asks. I take a deep breath and close my eyes. I cancel Shell. Then I nod. The first strike knocks me down, and I feel muscle tear and bones break. I take 2470 damage in a single blow, and can feel part of my body torn asunder from the strike. But it's not enough to kill me. Thankfully, he doesn't let me wallow in the pain for long, and another claw strike comes down. And the next thing I know, Ash is helping me up.

"Sucks, right?" she asks me. I pull up my notifications. You are dead. Respawning. You have been reset to level 1. You have lost 15 points from each of your attributes. Your Mab's Rage has increased to level 3. Your Bow skill has increased to 33. Your Riding skill has increased to 5. Your Spellcraft skill has increased to 36. Respawning in Dragon Cave. Selecting equipment: none. I sit up and rub the back of my head.

"Yeah," I say.

"It really sucks." I look at my pools. I have 154 hit points. That's kind of funny. I also still have a talent point to spend from when I hit 35. I should use that to fill in the blanks somewhere else. I stretch myself as I re-equip my armor and items. What talent do I want? I debate taking regeneration for my health, but it still doesn't feel like I need it. It doesn't feel like I'm ever going to really benefit from getting back one hit point per second.

There are talents that are specifically focused to various weapons. There's an archer talent, a swordsman talent, an axe wielder, mace maven, all that sort of thing. Those might be worth taking. There's one that allows me to make a spell attack for free, like getting Magical Dart without having to spend mana on it. That would make it a worthwhile spell right away, if it was free. There's also a talent for luck. I'm not sure if I trust something that just makes me vaguely luckier.

I don't know how to quantify luck, so I wouldn't trust that it was working. Let's see, what else is there? Durable for more physical toughness. Mighty blow that makes you stronger and has you do a bit more damage. Mobile lets me move even faster than normal, but looks like it only applies to travel style movement. Observant helps me see more. Then there are resistances. I could get a resistance to fire, or to acid, or to any flavor of damage. I haven't run into different types of damage, I don't think.

But I have run into problems with fire. Maybe I'll take that. It's not immunity, but it is resistance. On the other hand, Ash already has the resistance to heat. Maybe I should get one for cold. If I had resistance to cold, I could go fight the yeti without freezing my ass off. I could probably fly on Wrax for longer and we could go higher if I was resistant to cold. And, in combination with Ash, we would always have at least one of us resistant to the attack, be it cold or heat.

On the other hand, heat resistance is going to come up more. I mean, we can just avoid the cold places of the world if we want to, or just get clothing that is meant for the weather. I lived in Minneapolis; I know all about dressing for the weather. I can get resistance to cold just from layering. I haven't seen anything that blasts cold energy yet. I've seen spells that deal with the cold, like Mab's Rage and Ice Spike, but I don't know if those occur frequently enough for it to be worth the talent point.

But I've had fire breathed on me by several different creatures. And it might be better for Ash and I to have the same resistance. Then we can go against things that produce fire on purpose, and both be inured to it, both be able to handle it more easily. Having two people resistant or immune to fire damage would be hugely helpful any time we were against something that used fire in its magic or its attacks. Would it be that useful to have the same thing against cold if only one of us had it?

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. I think fire is the way to go.

"So El," I say, looking over at her with a smile.

"You ready for your go?"

"I don't know," she says.

"I don't like this."

"You'll be fine," I say.

"Look at us. We're fine. We're just level one again. And you get to ride a dragon."

"Yeah, that's the best part," Ash says.

"It's like riding a motorcycle, only way better."

"I did always like riding on a motorcycle," El says. She still doesn't seem convinced.

"And you're going to fight Wrax, right?" I ask.

"Yeah," she says, sounding a bit stronger.

"I'm going to go down fighting."

"It'll be easier the next time," I say.

"In fact, it should get easier every time."

"I don't have to like it," El says.

"I just have to do it. Right?"

"Right." She still doesn't seem convinced, even after Wrax shows up and picks her up. But she goes with him, and I hear her whooping in joy as they fly off. I don't know how well that's going to go for her, but I'm confident she'll be okay. I look at Ash.

"So what do we do now?" I ask.

"We could have sex," she says.

"There might be a skill for it. Have you considered that possibility?" She takes off her armor and starts fiddling with it, banging out the dents and adjusting the straps. Probably improving it. I sit down next to her and take off my own armor. I start riveting the leather scales, trying to make them a bit tougher.

"What is it with you guys?" I ask.

"My charisma is back down to 45. I can't be that hot anymore." She bangs on her armor a few times before she responds.

"It's not about that, Caleb," she says.

"It's about safety and trust."

"What do you mean?" There's another long pause, punctuated with her turning her armor this way and that, banging out more dents and then lightly tapping on parts to fix them up a bit.

"I mean you've never been one of those guys who's just trying to get into our pants. When we first met, you didn't try to be all macho and alpha male. You didn't rate us and decide which of us was the most attractive. You just saw us as people. You accepted that we were stronger than you, you've never seemed the least bit bothered by that. You're a stand up guy."

"Thanks," I say. I keep putting rivets into my armor. I don't want to put in too many. Too many and the armor will get heavier, which isn't a huge problem. But it'll also make more noise when I move. And that would be a huge problem. I want more sneak, not less.

"And sex is fun," she says.

"I miss it." She tries on her breast plate again, raising her arms to make sure she can move with it on.

"It's been like three weeks since we've come into this world, and I want to have sex. With you."

"Why me, though?" I tie some loose strands of the armor together and start working the leather to make it softer and quieter.

"Why not just find someone else and jump their bones?"

"I just told you that, dummy," she says.

"It's about more than just being attractive. You have an attractive personality. You're the kind of person I want to sleep with, even if it doesn't mean anything."

"Do you want it to mean something?" I ask her. She stops working again and puts her bracers down in her lap.

"I don't know," she says.

"I don't begrudge Gigi and El wanting to sleep with you too." She holds up a hand.

"And don't try to deny that. I know they've both tried to go for a ride, and I know you've turned us all down. That actually makes us want you more, you know."

"I understand that," I say.

"But no means no."

"You haven't really said no," she says.

"You just change the subject. Avoid the issue. If you're saying no now, then I'll drop it. I won't ever bring it up again. Because you're right; no does mean no. And I respect that."

"I'm just not ready," I say.

"It's all so complicated."

"Would it be easier if you slept with both of us at once?" Did I just get offered what most guys dream about?

"I don't have much faith in my ability to please one of you in bed, let alone two. I'm not a machine."

"But you might be," she says.

"What with the stats and all that. You're orders of magnitude stronger, tougher, and faster than you used to be."

"What if I'm just, you know, faster? What if I can't last long enough for you guys to enjoy it?" She giggles at that.

"Do you think that'll be a problem?"

"I don't know," I say, still working on my armor. I start working on the pants, replacing leather that's been cut away or split open by attacks.

"I have no idea what it'll be like. I haven't had sex in a while, even before the end of the world."

"How come?"

"Because I didn't have a girlfriend." She nods, unlacing her bracers and fidgeting with the grommets.

"So you feel like you need a girlfriend? Not a fan of casual sex?"

"I've got nothing against casual sex," I say.

"I've just never been good at it."

"Want to give it a try?" she asks.

"I promise I won't tell anyone if you suck at it?" I shake my head.

"I don't like hiding things from people, and I think we'd have to hide it from El if you and I slept together. Unless we were, you know, an item."

"We come to that again. Do you want to be an item, Caleb? Do you want to be my boyfriend?" That's a good question. Do I want to be Ash's boyfriend? Her ebony skin is beautiful, and she has her hair as down as it gets with her horns holding it in place the way they do. Do I want to know what it would be like for those shark teeth to nibble my skin? Do I want to know what it would be like to kiss along her jawline? Being her boyfriend would mean more than sex. Wouldn't it? We'd be partners. We're already partners.

We already share a bedroll, even if we don't actually sleep together. Would we? Would we start snuggling at night? Is that all that would change? I like being touched. I like the idea of snuggling up with her. And maybe the sex would be the way it was in my dream. Maybe I'd get to experience that for real, and not just have a wet dream about her. But would it really change much of anything? Do I have to be her boyfriend to be able to do that? She's offering a friends with benefits situation. So is El.

El doesn't seem to want a relationship. She just wants to shag. And she kissed me yesterday. When we were alone. And it was one hell of a kiss. Do I want to kiss Ash? Would that help settle things?

"I don't know," I say.

"It's all very confusing." Ash nods, running the lace back through her bracer and trying it on, tying it in place.

"Maybe the three of us should just get drunk and see what happens," she says.

"That way there won't be any pressure."

"I've never had drunk sex," I say.

"Why not?" she asks.

"Because you can't consent when you're drunk."

"But you can consent before you get drunk," she says.

"Then everything is good." I shake my head.

"You might change your mind. Withdraw consent. But you can't do that when you're drunk. The last thing I want to do is have a nice night with someone and then find out the next day that I'm a rapist."

"I don't think that's the same thing," she says. I shrug.

"It's how I've always seen it."

"Then no alcohol," she says, smiling at me.

"We'll just have to find something else to get our inhibitions lowered. Well, to get your inhibitions lowered. El and I are already down."

"What do you mean?"

"We talked about it, while you were gone. We talked about having a threesome so that no one got the better of you and no one had sloppy seconds."

"You guys talked about me?" Ash nods. Then she smirks at me.

"Yeah. Apparently, you're a good kisser," she says.

"Though a little bit shy. But El probably thinks that any guy who doesn't immediately rip their clothes off when she raises an eyebrow at them is shy."

"She's enthusiastic." Ash pulls the armor out of my hand. I didn't see her move closer, but she's now close enough to me to measure in inches.

"Enthusiasm is good," she says, her voice low and sultry. I blush. I can feel it.

"Y-yeah," I manage. It's more syllables than I thought I'd be able to do. Go me! Ash runs a hand down my face, then traces it down my arm. A tingle follows her touch as she moves back up an cups my chin in her hand.

"You don't need to be shy," she tells me. She leans in, closing her eyes. But she doesn't come in all the way. She makes me come that last inch, makes me lean in. She makes me consent to the kiss before she gives it to me. Her lips aren't as pillow like as El's. They're still soft and smooth, but they're hungrier somehow, thin and sharp. She slips her tongue into my mouth with an insistence that I have no desire to deny.

I wrap my tongue around hers and trace the feel of it, as if I'm trying to see if her tongue feels human or not. But that' snot really what's on my mind. What's on my mind is the feel of her breath on my skin, the slide of her tongue over mine, and the press of her teeth against my own. She breaks off the kiss after a little while. It could've been a few seconds, could've been hours. I'm not sure I'd know the difference. I know that I want to keep doing it, and her pulling away makes me want her more.

Her hand rests on my chest, and she breathes a bit heavily.

"You are a good kisser," she says, taking a deep breath.

"El was right about that."