Chapter 28 #3
I didn’t get to eat until I was full before Cetus attacked, but my throat is so raw that I can’t even think about finishing breakfast without wincing. At least I’m warm. When I arrived, Guy already had a blanket and my cloak waiting for me.
“Of all of us, you really got the short end of the stick with gear,” Miko says. “I don’t know how you can get around in all this cold weather in such light fabric.”
“Once she gets to level five, she’ll be able to update her gear,” Sylvia says. “Surely, there will be warm clothes in Thrace.”
“Speaking of level five,” Cait says. “How does anyone that level survive a battle like that?”
Guy shakes his head. “I wish I knew. It’s really bothering me. Most of us are around level thirty, and I wasn’t sure that we were going to survive.”
“Remember that dracaenae?” Cait asks Guy. “Way too high-level for that area, and she attacked when it was just you and Lauren.”
Miko rumbles with a bitter chuckle. “Attacks from OP monsters and Zeus worshippers coming after you. Lauren’s breaking the game, and it’s trying to break her back.”
Everyone turns their questioning eyes on me.
Miko’s right. Everything was normal until I broke that spider village quest. Since then, none of it has followed its programming.
Some of that’s been nice. The people of Sardis can rebuild and have real lives now.
NPCs who were only ever supposed to be in the background now have fulfilling love lives.
Princess Idaea no longer has to suffer her father’s blows.
But now I’m fighting battles way outside of my level as well as fending off players sent by their god to kill me. If not for my friends, I would definitely be dead.
If not for me, they’d be perfectly safe.
Sylvia is such a kind soul. Miko has suffered enough at the behest of Hekate.
Cait and Guy? I hate to admit it, but Aphrodite’s magic is working on me.
I look at Cait’s beautiful, determined face, knowing she’d slaughter anyone to keep me safe.
Guy’s gentle hand rests on mine, and I remember all he’s done to make me feel pampered and adored.
They don’t deserve to be targeted like this.
“I need to leave the group,” I say. My friends protest, but I raise my hand to stop them. “Things are just going to get more and more dangerous. The game doesn’t want to break me, but there’s at least one god who certainly wants me to stop fucking with the system.”
“Lauren, the gods are just NPCs,” Cait says.
“You mean like Alexander, who just killed a monster by firing bullets into its brain?” I ask.
“NPCs or not, not all the gods are working against you,” Guy says. “You said yourself that Aphrodite is thrilled with your progress. Dionysus isn’t ordering me to do anything to hurt you.”
Cait nods. “Ares made it clear he’s not going to do anything to make Aphrodite unhappy.”
“Artemis is only ever concerned with how I’m helping nature,” Sylvia adds. “So when you aided Arachne’s children, she was pleasantly surprised.”
“Yeah, but there are a lot more gods than that,” Miko says. “And even if it’s just Zeus, you don’t really want to piss off the King of the Gods.”
Cait sends Miko a cutting look. “Please don’t tell me you agree with Lauren that she should leave.”
Miko leans back in her chair, frowning. “It would be the smart choice, but…” She sighs. “Lauren was the first person in months to show me kindness. So…no, I don’t think she should leave.”
“Then what do we do?” I ask. “You’ll never get your offerings if we’re always running for our lives.”
“I don’t run from anything,” Cait says with an arched brow, like I’d just challenged her bravery. “If the gods want to target us because you’re making a few NPCs happy, then they’re going to have a fight on their hands.”
“We all almost died!” I tell her. “You were so adamant about that when I met you. Playing by the rule book is kind of your thing for a reason.”
“Yeah, well, sometimes you have to break the rules for people who are special to you,” she says, keeping her unwavering stare on me.
Cait’s tone is unyielding, and her stance is intimidating, but her words are true.
There’s a hard glint in her fierce eyes, but there’s the promise of tears as well.
She’s hurting. I want to hold her to me, let her curl against my chest while I stroke her beautiful red hair and promise her everything will be okay.
“You’re special to me, too,” I say.
“Then please don’t go,” Cait whispers as every hard line of her face and body softens. “The moment you leave us is the moment you die.”
I’m condemning them by staying, but selfishly, I take their refusal to let me go as my excuse to stay.
I nod and say, “As you wish.”
Sylvia sighs. “I know it’s not even noon yet, but I think we all still need a long rest. That battle used everything we’ve got.”
She’s right, so no one pushes back. We all just get up from our seats and climb into our beds. When I close my eyes, I hear, “Cleric of Aphrodite: Level Four. Spell Gained: Kiss of Life, to be used no more than three times before leaving the spell list.”
Well, at least there’s that small comfort.