Rejected Misery (1/2)

* Over the Great Elgolar Plateau *

Bezran, leader of the Dune Raiders, paced nervously up and down near the plateau's steep edge. "What do you mean they're not back yet?!" he yelled to his second in command. "It's been an entire day! There is no way they were bested by two women!"

"They were tricked Bezran! Last I saw them, the bitches enraged a pack of coyotes in their den just before our men passed by to investigate. They ended up being the ones chased by the mutts and then I lost them when they ran down to the base of the Plateau!" answered an the equally frustrated lieutenant in defence. Bezran massaged his head while unleashing a string of curses. He was a burly man with a braided goatee and wore a leather vest armor, over a flowing linen shirt. He turned around and addressed all his men at once, ten of his finest. "We haven't had a good job from the fuckin Guild in months, ok? This mercenary shit is new to me too but it's supposed to be easy money! Just like the fat fuck asked.. We grab his whore.. and the bitch's daughter.. we bring em' back.. we get paid! What's so hard about that? Are we not the Dune Raiders? Are we not good enough to catch two bitches?" he yelled at them with a passion of an enthusiastic drill sergeant!

"Yes Sir!" the men replied in a practiced cacophony of growls and clanking of scimitar steel. "Then get down there, find whatever hole they dug themselves into and BRING THEM HERE!!"

The Dune Raiders dispersed and started scaling the side of the Plateau, headed for its base. In the dead silence of the desert's dusk, Fatna, was able to hear Berzan's roars from the small cave she was hiding in. She quickly woke Sumire and gave the sign for her to be quiet. They gathered their few belongings and started moving slowly, staying close the the Plateau's wall. "I think there's a bigger cave near here. We should hide there untill they leave.." she whispered to her daughter, praying to every god she knew that the Raider would be stupid enough to just leave without searching thoroughly.

* * *

After meditating for almost 7 hours I became impatient and interrupted my concentration by opening my eyes. Next to me sat the Dire Coyote I had created, standing watch while I was in deep trance. I felt I was very close to breaking through the next rank of my Aether Cultivation skill but couldn't bring myself to continue sitting still for a few more hours. Maybe that night I would continue, but only after I had time to practice my own combat skills. Firstly I opened Trishda's Shop and perused my options. Magic related skills and spells were all over 500 Gold so I immediately ruled that out. Besides, I didn't think I was ready to start casting any spells efficiently with my limited Mana reserves and control.

What I did have was a very strong body and two scimitars I could use. I had also plundered the dead mens' armor. They were wearing vests of toughened leather, leather bracers and shin guards. I took the one set and wore it over my kimono themed vest and skirt. The other I assimilated, gaining the ability to reproduce exact replicas at the cost of Mana and materials. Gaining a better understanding of its make and design I could also improve upon it, at least in theory. I thought about assimilating one of the scimitars as well but hesitated. I didn't know when I would be able to get my hands on new weapons again so I decided to keep one as a spare in case the one I used broke or became dull.

Shifting the Shop's filter to Martial skills I was shocked to see that they were relatively expensive as well. A "Sword Master" skill I discovered cost about 380 Gold, while its lesser cousin the "Sword Adept" was at 250. It made sense however.. Being able to obtain almost any skill or item needed to have a price that would balance out the benefits of that or else I would have an unfair advantage over any other Champion. And it's not like I can't obtain skills just by training! I only needed some guidelines.. Hey that's it! How about a manual instead of a magic scroll that just teaches you something automatically! That should be less expensive right? I immediately searched for anything related to sword-fighting and scimitars in particular. The Shop did indeed have manuals for skills! "Basic Swordsmanship for 12 Gold.. and this is.. oh this is interesting, 'Sabbah's Dance of Blades' for.. 30!? That's expensive! But it seems to focus specifically on scimitars.." I mused while I scrolled through the results of my search. After weighing my options I reluctantly decided to buy both books. Every other type of item was just too expensive and I needed help NOW. So I deemed it better to spend this money now and live enough to earn it back some day.

The two books appeared before me with a puff of magic and I heard a clanking of coins as my stash became smaller by a good margin. I stood, stretched my back and warmed up my muscles as I checked my Status.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Race: Superior Dungeon Core Lv.3

Avatar: Arsani (Hermaphrodite)

Age: 29

HP: 75/75

MP: 22/15

XP: 23/80

Aether: 0

Gold: 11

Physical - 9 (Near Peak)

Mental - 3 (Average)

Social - 5 (Above Average)

Magic - 4 (Slightly Above Average)

Skills

1) Monster Summoning (Rank 1)

2) Dungeon Manipulation (Rank 1)

3) Aether Cultivation (Rank 1)

Passive Skills

1) Fire Resistance (Rank 1)

2) Natural Allure (Rank 1)

Boons

1) Blessed Body (+1 to Physical)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Knowing that I wouldn't require Mana to train my body and sword skills, I decided not to let my newly collected Mana go to waste. I summoned two Elgolar Coyotes for 12 Mana and placed them in the command of the Dire Coyote, effectively turning her into an Alpha. Then I instructed her to take her pack and guard the entrance to my Core Room. After that I also summoned five more Slimes. The four Amber Jellies were tasked with going out in the desert and bringing back any creature or item they could carry in their solidus bodies. I sent a Lv.5 Slime with them as a guardian of sorts. The fifth newborn Jelly I kept with me, for a more... embarrassing assignment.

I placed the Slime on my waist, under my skirt and commanded it to expand and tie itself around me like a belt. When it did, it looked like a thick, gelatinous waistband. Then it extended down towards my genitals and engulfed them, becoming like a supportive jelly pouch. My cock and balls remained compressed inside the Jelly's body and as I moved and jumped around the Slime absorbed any shock and vibration with its rubbery body keeping them safe and unhurt. "Instant, shapeshifting cock pouch!" I exclaimed. Of course, my gelatinous cock pouch, also made me just a tad horny but it kept my cock in a tight squeeze, making it unable to become hard. As a bonus, the Amber Jelly seemed to absorb any pre-ejaculation fluids that dripped from my aroused, monster of a cock and earned 2xp points every 10 minutes or so. With that out of the way I opened my first book of basic sword training and got to work!

• • •

A few hours went by and my training was coming along nicely. The manual of sword training must have been magical in some way, because every page, every instruction guided me down a, very easy to understand, path. Not only that, I believe it assisted my body in absorbing the practice and the understanding of the techniques. The first dozen pages were designed to strengthen the apprentice and prepare them for the knowledge that was to come. Time flew by as I constantly shifted positions on the floor, repeating exercise after exercise in a never-ending string of sets. Soon I was exercising over a small puddle of my own sweat. Every hour or so, a Slime would pop in the Dungeon and spew forth a material for me to absorb.