44. Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Four
Cody
Cody sighed and ran a hand through his hair before facing the trio of women. “Look, I know you think you could take her—”
“We were winning!” Nyrah insisted, claws still out.
“No, we weren’t,” Yana said quietly. She was holding a clean towel to her head, where Henry had got her, but she had insisted her elven magic would help her heal quickly. “Temica and her chicken were both toying with us.”
“They were,” Cody said. “But I don’t think Temica is as powerful as she says she is. I still think she’s bluffing about the whole ‘goddess’ thing. She has limitations.”
“Her ability to relocate,” Yana said.
Cody snapped his fingers and pointed at her, happy that at least one of them was following his line of thought. “Exactly! She used it to arrive here, and she used it again when Nyrah rushed at her, but she didn’t use it again. She just walked out the front door.”
“Like a mortal peasant,” Nyrah said.
“You think that specific power has limitations?” Yana asked. “Maybe a cool down period? My elven spark magic has similar restraints. I currently have nothing left for a twenty-four-hour period.”
Cody sat in the armchair again and the girls returned the couch. “That’s what I was thinking, yes. I am fairly certain she usually uses it to arrive, and again to leave. This time she used it to move out of the way, when Nyrah attacked her.”
“That is one big assumption, guys,” Morgan said. “And I have no idea how it helps us.”
“It’s pretty standard for skills to have limitations within a game,” Cody said. “Like only being able to use something once or twice a day, or having a two-minute cool down period until you can use a skill again, stuff like that.”
Yana was nodding along, but both Nyrah and Morgan still looked unconvinced.
“She’s a fucking goddess!” Morgan argued. “I don’t think that kind of game logic applies to her! Especially when she’s in her own game!”
Cody shook his head. “Nah, I don’t believe that goddess shit. I’m still leaning towards the Chaos Demon theory.”
For what it’s worth, I agree with the Chaos Demon theory, Knife said. I mean, it was my idea in the first place.
Thanks, Cody said. And yeah, I know.
“So, you have a hunch that she’s a demon not a goddess?” Morgan asked. “And that she might have limitations on her relocation skill? And that made it okay for you to agree to her terms? To put Gracie’s life in danger? All of our lives in danger?”
“Morgan…” Cody got up and made his way over to her. He passed Knife back to Nyrah, before holding his arms open to Morgan. She begrudgingly stood up and hugged him, burying her face in his shoulder.
“I don’t like this. I’m…I’m sorry. I’m not really mad at you, I’m mad at her, for putting all of us in this situation in the first place.”
“I know.” He held her close, rubbing her back. “We’re going to get through this.”
Yana stood, looking focused. “I think we need to go over everything that needs to be done in order to win this game.”
“That’s a good place to start,” Cody said.
They moved to the kitchen, bypassing the mess of books they’d need to clean up later. Cody grabbed the notepad and pen used for grocery lists before sitting down at the table.
“How many more people do you need to reach full Friendship with?” Nyrah asked. She’d retracted her claws and had normal fingernails again.
Cody brought up his game screen and the Resident Menu.
He winced when he saw that there was now a countdown right next to his Stamina Bar.
It was just under 168 hours. But he turned his focus to the Resident Menu.
“I have four more people I need to finish Friendship Leveling. There’s Bob, Lexi, Doug, and Marigold.
Marigold has been a bit of a problem. She’s at zero.
I haven’t figured her out. And Doug might be an issue; he’s only at three out of five.
But I’m confident we can speed through the others. ”
“Wouldn’t say no to one of those weird song montage things you told me about,” Morgan said dryly.
“No!” Cody said. “That’s the last thing we want.
When it’s a full montage, it feels like we lose our freewill.
Time passes in a blur and we barely remember what happened.
We might not level up if we get stuck in a song.
It could end up a…I don’t know, a You Failed, You Die song.
If you sense a song coming on before I do, say something right away, and I’ll control-alt-delete it.
Nyrah, Yana: you can probably do the control-alt-delete thing, too, since you’re more connected to the game system than Morgan, because of your roots in Velasarin. ”
“What’s control-alt-delete?” Nyrah asked.
“It’s something you can do if your computer freezes.
It usually brings up a Task Manager so you can…
” he trailed off, noticing the confused looks on Nyrah and Yana’s faces.
“It’s like a spell. You say the words, and it stops the song.
I’ve used it before and it worked, so I’m hoping it still works if we need to do it again. ”
“Ah, an incantation,” Yana said. “I understand now.” She began quietly reciting the newly-learned incantation to herself, committing the words to memory. “Control-alt-delete…control-alt-delete…”
Morgan bit back her smile. “Anyway, I suggest we pick the easiest friend quests and get them done pronto. We have the rest of the week to figure out the others.”
“Bob is the most straightforward,” Cody said. “I need to catch four specific fish, snap some pics, and text them to him.”
“I can help!” Nyrah said. “I already caught a fish for you!”
Cody looked at Morgan and then Yana. “Are we in agreement? We’re spending the rest of the afternoon fishing?”
“I guess,” Morgan said, but sighed.
Nyrah noticed and looked over at her, giving the other girl a soft smile. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“Maybe?” Morgan raised one eyebrow. “What are you thinking?”
“I was thinking I was about to lose my maidenhood to the man I love, but then that witch Temica interrupted us,” Nyrah said.
Morgan nodded. “Yep. I’ve been horny all day and now that bitch ruined our fuckfest.”
Cody rubbed his face, trying to think of something to say.
On the one hand, yeah, he was looking forward to getting to know Nyrah and Yana more intimately now that everything had been discussed and everyone was okay with the harem thing.
His dick strongly agreed that the harem was a good idea.
But the thought of screwing the rest of the day away while neglecting the Friendship quests was one that made his stomach knot with anxiety.
Failing now meant death. Not just for him, but for everyone he cared about. It was a major boner killer.
“Unfortunately, I think we really need to focus on fishing and finishing off these Friendship Levels,” Cody said.
Yana raised her hand.
“You know you don’t have to raise your hand, right?” Cody told her.
“Sorry,” she said. “But…aren’t Nyrah and I part of, you know, completing the game?”
Nyrah gasped and then grinned. “You have to Romance Level us!”
“Oh, right!” Morgan met Cody’s eyes and quirked a smile. “Well, if Temica thought you wouldn’t be able to make twenty orgasms happen in one week, she’s one dumb bitch.”
“Wait, what?” Yana was blushing the most Cody had ever seen, and the girl blushed a whole lot. “Or-orgasms? Is that how Romance Levels work?”
Morgan shrugged. “It was for me. And like we said earlier, it’s safe to assume it’ll be the same for both of you.”
“This. Is. Marvelous!” Nyrah clasped her hands in front of her chest and gave Cody a dreamy smile. “I’ve never had one of those before! But I have heard of them.”
Morgan tilted her head, regarding the nekofae quizzically. “You’ve never, you know, done it to yourself?”
“No.” Nyrah shook her head. “I have tried. And failed. Some of the other young priestesses at the Rose Temple have spoken about it, in secret, away from the Head Priestesses, of course. But now I’m glad I never figured it out, because Cody will make love to me, and I will experience it for the first time with my Heart Mate. ”
“Huh. What about you?” Morgan asked Yana.
Yan leaned back in her chair, as if trying to distance herself from the question. “What about me?”
“Have you ever touched yourself and made yourself cum?”
“Morgan,” Cody said. Clearly, the other girls were less experienced in more ways than one. And Yana was not very comfortable talking about it.
Yana shook her head. “N-no. Can we please go fishing now?”
Ten minutes later, Cody was standing on the beach behind his cottage with three of the hottest women he’d ever met, and they were all wearing tiny bikinis.
Yana and Nyrah were both wearing their gemstone necklaces, so they appeared human.
Yana’s forehead injury had stopped bleeding and was almost completely healed.
Cody could just see a pale pink line where Henry had scratched her.
Fuck me, he thought. He could have been getting to know the new girls better, cozied up in his bedroom, petting pussies and going strong until midnight, but no, Temica had to show up and add a ticking time bomb to the plot of his fucked up life, and now they had to spend time fishing.
His impending death in less than a week was still a boner killer, but the bikinis were helping bring his dick back to life. And Morgan was right…he needed to accomplish twenty orgasms in the upcoming week. It was a task he felt ready to tackle. But for now: fishing.
Cody brought up pictures of a sunfish, a catfish, a northern pike, and a yellow perch on his phone.
“These are the fish I need.” He showed Nyrah the pictures. “Do you think you can find them in the lake? The internet says it’s usually better to fish for catfish in the evening, but I say we give it a go right now, anyway.”
“I will do my best!”
Nyrah went up on her tiptoes and gave him a kiss on the cheek before wading into the water. Once it was deep enough, she started swimming away.