A “family” day

The original plan had been for Ellie to look for a single Murloc and attack it so that Jay could see how she held herself in combat.

But thanks to them having been spotted, Jay was about to step in when the small girl that somehow felt like a sister to him took action.

With unexpected skill she called forth a light magic shield that completely blocked off the Murloc. Then she went on the offensive, though her sword handling was extremely lacking, how Jay felt.

It still was enough to severely wound the low level creature and when it turned away, Ellie shot a ball of light after it that killed the creature no three yards away.

A bit proud she turned around and saw Jay standing there with a pondering expression. He then explained that while she reacted extremely good, her sword skills was lacking and she still had a bit few experience. Ellie only smiled and stated that he should simply teach her then.

Said and done, Jay gave in and really explained her the first basics of the sword: How she had to hold herself and grab the handle, how to swing it for a slashing attack and how to pierce.

Blocking was no option with her thin figure and light sword. For this she had her light shield, even if it consumed mana.

Like this they looked for her next target and found it only some dozens of steps towards the east. Just as Ellie was about to leave the high grass they kept hiding in, Jay held her back.

He had thought about how he could help her gain a level and decided to form a party with her. As she looked at him with eyes wide open after she accepted his invitation, Jay of course knew the reason for that.

"Yeah, please don't tell anybody about it, okay?" J.

"S-sure…" E.

What Jay had been referring to were the two skills [Champion] and [Hero] that gave a huge leveling buff.

He trusted Ellie enough to show it and even if she spilled the beans, the people she could tell it to already knew about it, except Marcus. That she jumped at him the next second and threw her arms around his waist came out of the blue for Jay though.

Ellie seemed overly happy that he had shared such a huge secret with him and couldn't keep her composure.

After she calmed down again, Jay hinted her to the Murloc that was facing the other way and she readied herself.

The few hints Jay had given her with the sword had helped her fight on a completely different scale. One blocking with her light magic shield and a few slicing attacks after the strong initial had been enough to finish the Murloc.

Done with this one, Ellie rushed back not to get found and asked Jay for more hints as she naturally had noticed how much better her sword handling had been. This time though, he only hinted her to the weak spots of those fish-like monsters she would have to keep fighting for today.

Jay hid very well how anxious he had been when one of her attack got repelled from the now dead murloc's scales. Even as she fetched some as proof of defeat, Jay kept watching out for her and only eased up when she had gotten away from it.

There was no risk with him there of course as he could eradicate the whole camp with a single spell while shielding Ellie, but still…

The next target they chose was a pair of Murlocs that was patrolling quite a bit away from their settlement. Jay's plan for her was to lure one Murloc over with a magic attack and then then try to defeat it swiftly until the second would arrive.

That plan blasted as the first murloc's head did the same.

Ellie had cast a critical shot of her [holy stake] and one hit killed the monster. That left her enough time to prepare for the second while Jay got a hint to how good her magical talent was.

Like he had told her before, she targeted the frills and lower belly with her sword as she fought the other monster. Thanks to going for the weak spots, the fight was over in only five strikes and without her even having to rely on her shield spell.

From then on, Jay was a bit more at ease as she pulled single or pairs of murlocs towards her and took care of them. He used the time to hunt some fish at the shore, though he had to use his bow as he was lacking a fishing rod.

Thanks to his skill he still managed very well though.

Over the next hours, Jay only once had to step in when the leader of this small settlement got pulled and called his three helpers. While Ellie to the end had managed to defeat a group of three without too much trouble, four had been a bit much and one was even a lot stronger.

Jay had simply fried two adds with a lightning bolt each and left the boss to Ellie, but not without paying close attention.

The moment she had defeated the single add Jay had left for her, he saw the small portrait of her to the left in his field of view lighten up. Jay checked her of course and saw that Ellie had managed the promised level up, even though she just recently had one.

Jay had analyzed her beforehand and knew her Experience Bar had previously nearly been empty. That way he had also seen her stats that were pretty good for her level and in a short break had asked her if she was working out.

Apparently Alexis had made a plan beforehand that included a similar training to what Jay went through, just that it was nowhere as hard and a certain Instructor was missing as well. He was simply happy for her to get cared so much for.

As they had reached their goal of gaining her another level, the two decided to call it a day once Ellie defeated the few Murlocs that crossed their path on the way out of the settlement. Jay had by then stored numerous fishes in his inventory like he had promised Mia.

The moment they left the beach he summoned his horse and the two rode back to Gold Creek. On the way, Ellie tried to cuddle a bit with Jay, but it only felt like a little sister seeking closeness for him while at the same time it showed him she was no longer mad at him for his slip of tongue.

Only a short while later they reached the Inn quite a bit earlier than they had to be back and entered through the kitchen. After Jay gave the fresh fish to Marcus he decided to help him as Ellie had already left to help out in the dining hall.

It seemed the first customers had arrived a bit early today when Mia had set up an advertising sign about fresh fish as today's special.

While preparing the catch of the day took them a while, Marcus and Jay chatted a bit. This time he openly told Jay that for the first time since his beloved wife died, he had feelings for another woman. Jay couldn't hold back and stated they all already knew, what seriously surprised the man. Then he went on and told Marcus that Melika seemingly felt the same way, but she was hesitant because of Ellie and that she thought he still misses his wife.

After pondering over it for a few seconds, Marcus explainded that while latter was true, he would talk about Melika with Ellie and see if he couldn't possibly convince her to give a new woman a chance. Jay barely could hold his laughter to that.

"Marcus, you're getting something wrong. As I said we all know, I really meant ALL! What do you think who asked me to talk about it with you?" J.

"...M-Mia?" M.

"Dude, it was your daughter! Ellie wishes for you to find happiness. She really likes Melika and I myself think you for sure give thr impression to be this happiness for each other! Stop idling around and finally get your ass up, will ya?" J.

The next second Marcus hammered his knife into the wooden table and Jay wondered if he'd either run out of the kitchen directly or if Marcus was simply mad at him.

Just as he was about to apologize, the burly man pulled him in and hugged him tight while clapping his shoulder. All that exited his mouth was a "thank you".

They kept preparing and portioning the fish in silence from then on as the chef seemed to need some time to think about it. Jay thought that he might give him a hint how to approach Melika, but concluded that he'd have to find a way himself in the end.

As the started with the real cooking, Marcus seemed to have made a plan and told it to Jay. He would ask her later if she wanted to sit down after everyone left and tell her how he felt.

For this, he asked Jay to inform the others and as latter complied, the easy to get along chef muttered a statement that surprised Jay.

"I slowly get why our proud Mia fell for a youth like you!" M.

It seemed like she had heard just this, when Mia entered the room and inquired what they where laughing about. Not hiding anything from her, the two explained what they had been talking about as she would hear it at least an hour later anyways.

To their both surprise, Mia turned on her heels and stated that she would inform Ellie and Eloise so the two of them wouldn't stay there. Then she looked at Marcus and explained that she would reserve a big room for him.

She really was happy for him.

The rest of the evening was mostly busy work as the news about fresh fish at the Lion's pride had made it's rounds. Even Mia had to admit that the hall had never been this full before.

Even all rooms got rented, except Jay's old one where Eloise normally resided and the one reserved for Marcus.

Once some of the guests had left and the second batch hadn't arrived yet, Mia called the team to table while Jay and Marcus brought out the spares or leftovers of the day to eat. During the tasty dinner, Mia leaned over and whispered into his ear that she was really thankful that he had talked some sense into Marcus.

He nearly had to cough as she continued that she would thank him in her chef's stead tonight...

The evening went on busy for quite a bit afterwards, but they all had fun working. It seemed Eloise and Ellie got along very well and everyone glanced over to Marcus and Melikas careful flirts from afar.

When finally the last customer left and only the last table was to clean up, Ellie and Eloise had already left. Jay and Melika took care of it while Mia opened a bottle of wine for them and sat down with Marcus at their table. As he had barely cleaned the plates, Jay received a notification that he once again had fulfilled the helping Quest, only this time the amount of XP had risen considerably.

Once the other two returned from the kitchen and sat down besides them, Mis rose from her seat. Then she grabbed Jay's hand and excused them yo the others as they had "a bit to make up".

On their way up, Mia and Jay heard the middle aged pair snicker and talk. After a moment of eavesdropping and hearing Marcus really express his feelings, Mia seemed to have gotten impatient and pulled Jay after her.

The moment those two entered Mia's room, she directly embraced him and they cuddled a bit while standing behind the door. As they let go after a short while, Jay fetched his promised present for the busty elf from his inventory.

Overjoyed she directly started to strip down and put on the new lace her young lover had just gifted her. Jay had to admit that while her nude form was already extremely beautiful and enticing, the moment she presented the new set of lace on her, he barely could hold back.

In the end he had to give in to his urges when Mia climbed onto him while he sat on the bed to enjoy the show.

After a sloppy kiss that transmitted her thankfulness, she not even had a chance to take her new present off. This night it had to endure quite a bit, even though they went on with it slow this time.

.

.

.

After an overly long night and a short sleep in the morning hours, Jay got woken up by sounds that irritated him. He soon found the reason for those slurping and smacking tones when he looked down to his boner.

Mia had seemingly woken up before him and was already taking care of his morning wood.

The moment she noticed he had woken up, she looked up to him without letting go of his tool.

Then she leaned a bit back while holding it in place with her delicate hands and simply stated that she hadn't properly thanked him for talking with Marcus.

The moment her statement got finished, she directly went on with taking care of Jay's little buddy.

In the end, the two went at it one more time, though it was more of a quicky as Mia seemed to have been sucking on him for quite a bit already. After they finished together, the two of them cleaned themselves and dressed up.

On their way down to the dining hall, they already heard the voices of Ellie and Eloise chatting and laughing. The moment they spotted Mia and Jay come down just minutes after their usual time, they smiled at them knowingly. Following a comment that they had expected them to wake up a lot later, Ellie inquired if they had been able to hear or witness anything last night.

When Mia explained that they also only could tell that Marcus really had confessed to her, or at least started to do so, the four of them sat down extremely exited to learn more. They even had to hold Ellie back from going up to the room Mia had given to Marcus after she finished her breakfast.

Jay barely saw the new couple descend the stairs together when he was about to leave. They had taken even longer than the first guests, but they deserved it. Both were brimming with joy and had even gotten a bit red as they sat down at the table.

Only showing him a thumbs up and shouting them congratulations, Jay wished them all the best but he had to leave again. He was already late for his appointed time as he wouldn't ride alone.

Only Mia had escorted him to the door and after inquiring with whom he'd travel, she rose a brow.

Still giving him a short kiss as goodbye, she waited until he had mounted his horse until she wished him a good travel. Just as he was about to ride off, she added something that first irritated him but then brought a wide smile onto Jay's lips.

"I guess I'll probably have another surprise for you when you come back!" M.

"Oh, something sexy I hope?" J.

"Not something…" M.