The forest thickened as Liam and Simone pressed onward, the air heavy with the scent of damp moss and decaying leaves. Sunlight filtered through the canopy in jagged shafts, casting erratic shadows that danced like warnings. Two days had blurred into a rhythm of hunt, fuck, and rest—each encounter sharpening their edge, the bond pulling them tighter. Simone's wound from the wolves had scabbed over, a faint scar marking her skin, but her movements were fluid, her eyes alert. She scanned the underbrush, bowstring taut against her fingers.
Liam's senses tingled, PER guiding him to a faint trail of footprints—human, uneven, desperate. Survivors Remaining: ~4400/5000. The dome's contraction accelerated, squeezing the weak into fatal mistakes. He signaled Simone to halt, crouching low. "People ahead," he murmured, voice low and commanding. "Not alone. Smells like fear and blood."
She nodded, her breath steady despite the pulse in her throat. He's always one step ahead. That certainty... it makes me wet just thinking about it. They crept forward, roots whispering underfoot at Liam's subtle command, ready to snare.
The clearing opened to chaos: a ragged group of five huddled around a smoldering fire, their gear mismatched and worn. At the center knelt a woman, her hands bound, blonde hair matted with dirt. A burly man—Jax, from the crude tattoo on his arm—loomed over her, fist raised. "You think you can just walk away, bitch? This settlement's mine. You heal for us, or you bleed out."
The woman—slender, with curves hidden under torn robes—didn't flinch. Her eyes burned with quiet defiance. "The system's trial isn't yours to twist. I've seen the light in the roots. Your 'protection' is chains."
Liam watched, calculating. The group: three fighters, one archer, Jax the leader. Levels low, maybe 3-5, affinities scattered. Opportunity. He glanced at Simone, who mouthed Take them? He nodded once.
Jax's backhand connected, splitting her lip. Blood trickled, but she spat it out, whispering a faint glow—healing light flickering before fading. "Divine judgment comes for tyrants."
That was the signal. Liam surged forward, Root Manipulation lashing out. Vines erupted from the soil, coiling around the archer's legs and yanking him down. He screamed as thorns pierced flesh, pinning him. +40 EXP. Simone's arrow whistled, embedding in a fighter's throat. He gurgled, clutching the shaft as blood sprayed. +45 EXP shared.
Chaos erupted. Jax whirled, drawing a crude axe, mana crackling in a crude Fire Burst. The bolt grazed Liam's shoulder, searing fabric and skin. Pain flared, but VIT held; he countered with Bramble Wall, spikes exploding upward to impale the nearest fighter through the gut. The man thrashed, intestines spilling in a wet coil. +50 EXP.
Simone dodged a wild swing from the third, her dagger flashing to sever tendons in his knee. He dropped, and she drove the blade into his eye, twisting. +55 EXP. Liam closed on Jax, DEX weaving him past the axe. He fired Light Bolt point-blank, the beam punching through Jax's chest, cauterizing as it exited in a spray of charred meat. Jax staggered, eyes wide, then collapsed, twitching. +80 EXP. Boss Kill Bonus: +100 EXP.
The last fighter bolted, but roots snared his ankles, dragging him back. Liam approached slowly, pressing a boot to his neck. "Pledge or die." The man whimpered, but his eyes darted—treachery. Liam's roots tightened, crushing windpipe with a snap. +60 EXP.
Silence fell, broken only by the crackle of dying embers. The bound woman—Elaine—stared up at Liam, blood smeared on her chin, but her gaze held awe. She struggled to her knees, robes parting to reveal pale thighs and the swell of her breasts. "You... you're the one. The roots obey you like a god's will."
Liam cut her bonds with a vine's edge, assessing. Identify pinged: Elaine, Human (F) LVL 4, Affinities: Nature, Light. Class: Novice Healer. Useful. "You're free. Join or go. But out there, alone means death."
She rose, unsteady, but her hand brushed his arm—reverent, almost prayerful. He's the vessel. The Mother Tree's chosen. Heat stirred in her core, faith twisting into something carnal. "I serve the divine. Let me prove it."
Simone watched, a flicker of jealousy sharpening her features, but loyalty held. She sheathed her dagger, stepping close to Liam's side.
They stripped the corpses: axes, a few potions, leather scraps. Jax's ring hummed with minor fire resistance—Liam claimed it. As night crept in, they made camp in the clearing, the bodies dragged aside for scavengers.
Elaine tended Liam's burn first, her fingers glowing with soft light, mending flesh with a warm tingle that bordered on erotic. She lingered, breath hot on his skin. "It honors me to touch the chosen."
Simone smirked, unpacking rations. "Chosen, huh? He's that, alright." Her hand slid to Liam's thigh under the firelight, squeezing possessively.
Tension simmered. After eating—venison from prior kills—Elaine knelt before Liam, eyes downcast. "My service includes all. Body and soul." She leaned in, lips parting to take his cock into her mouth, tongue swirling slow and devoted. Liam groaned, hand tangling in her hair, guiding her deeper. She sucked eagerly, throat relaxing to swallow him whole, gagging softly but persisting.
Simone joined, stripping her top to press her tits against his arm, kissing his neck. "Share the devotion," she whispered, her free hand stroking herself. Liam pulled Elaine up, bending her over a log. He thrust into her pussy from behind, wet and welcoming, her moans muffled against the wood. Each pound rocked her forward, ass jiggling with impact.
Simone straddled Elaine's back, facing Liam, grinding her slick folds against the healer's skin while kissing him fiercely. He reached around, fingers plunging into Simone's ass, pumping in rhythm. Elaine came first, walls spasming around his cock, crying out in ecstasy laced with prayer. Liam pulled out, flipping Simone onto her back and slamming into her, the dual slickness easing his drive. He fucked her relentlessly, her legs locked around his waist, until she shattered, pussy clenching.
He finished on Elaine's tits, ropes of cum painting her chest. She rubbed it in like anointment, eyes fervent. "Blessed."
Exhausted, they collapsed together, bodies entwined. Liam's mind cleared: two women now, bound by pact and faith. Power grew, but so did needs—more followers, more strength. The dome whispered of greater threats ahead.
[Status Screen] Name: Liam Voss
Age: 28
Race: Human (F) LVL 5
Affinities: Nature, Light, Space (Rare Triple)
Class: Acolyte of the Mother Tree (E) LVL 10
Profession: None LVL 0
Stats: STR: 20 (+1) DEX: 22 (+1) VIT: 24 (+1) INT: 27 (+1) WIS: 17 (+1) PER: 18 (+1) END: 21 (+1) LUK: 10
Skills: Light Bolt (Common - Light): Mana: 10. Bramble Wall (Uncommon - Nature): Mana: 15. Identify (Basic): Mana: 5. Root Manipulation (Inferior - Nature): Mana: 8.
Passives: None
Titles: None
System Credits: 120 (+50)
Inventory: Previous + Vine Wolf Hides (x4), Fanged Roots (x2). + Crude Axes (x2), Minor Potions (x3), Leather Scraps (x5), Fire Resistance Ring.
Total EXP to Next: 660/1500 (Class LVL 11)