Chapter 7

The bright light slowly dissipated as my eyes re-adjusted to the ambient light in the room, we had appeared in. Once my sight returned to normal, I noticed we were back on the Dungeon’s main floor, though I had expected to end up in the Pact house.

“Don’t worry,” Amenthia said in her amused voice, “you will get used to it. It only affects people for the first few times and soon your body chemistry will get used to it after a few more transports. That is why we ask new adventurers to only teleport out to the Dungeon entrance for the first few weeks. Going to the Pact house would be even more disorienting for you if you attempt it now. Besides, unless you direct it to our Pact house before entering, you will be sent here by default.”

I nodded and we made our way to the Guild office’s first floor. When we got in the room, we walked over to the nearest line and began the waiting game. As we progressed in the line, waiting for our turn, I was either observing the people and creatures around us or engaging my beautiful companion in idle chit chat. We mostly talked about how this first expedition into the Dungeon had gone and I thought that it had gone well, despite the blackout after the goblin fight. However, I found that I wanted to get Amenthia’s input, given we would be working together for a long time.

“So honestly,’ I asked with some hesitation, “how do you think I did today? To be honest, I have been a nervous wreck for most of the day, even if I didn’t show it.”

She smiled lightly and gave me a light kiss on the head, “you did absolutely fine in there. Believe it or not, most of the new adventurers call it quits before they make it to the gateway. Don’t be so worried about how you did today. This was a good start so far, you did more than I thought you would today. I am very proud of you, and I know that Tyr will be as well.”

That made me smile, which, of course, caused her to grin again and I blushed in response. By that time, we were finally making our way to the next open counter. We came across a young woman that looked to be part orc, but the features were mute; more than likely she was only a quarter orc or less. She was cute, regardless, and was quite pleasant when we arrived.

“Good evening,” she said with a slight gravelly sound to her voice, “I am Vrokta, and how may I help you today?”

Once again Amenthia took the lead. “Good evening, Vrokta, we are here to hand in our orbs for the day and then, we are going to head down to see Esmerelda. If you could send word for her to expect us, we would appreciate it.”

Vrokta nodded and pulled out a tray that looked to have multiple sections within it. Each looked to be based on a specific orb size and each size had two holes determining type. Amenthia took our bag off her shoulder, dug her hand into the depths of the bag and began depositing the drops into their respective receptacles. She first placed the twelve small orbs with low light and three bright ones into their places on the tray. Then she placed two tangerine, or medium sized orbs, with low light and six with bright light into their receptacles on the tray.

Amenthia looked at me and pulled out the talon, “Do you want to keep this as a memento of your victory?”,

“Memento? No,” I answered, with a shake of the head. “However, if it can be used to enhance or make something that can be useful to us then yes. I think we should trade it in, so we have the money to upgrade our resources sooner, rather than later.”

Amenthia once again smiled that hundred-watt smile, “There isn’t anything we could do with this that would be beneficial, so I agree that we should deposit it.”

I nodded and she added it to a small basket at the far side of the tray. Vrokta pulled the tray back to her side and began to go through it, humming a tune as she worked. It was nice to see someone enjoying their job; it was a far cry from how people acted in my world.

She took each individual orb and placed it in one of six tubes in front of her. When the orbs were completed, she placed the talon on a scale. A few stats glowed above it for a second, before the item dropped from the scale into a hole that appeared underneath it. A drawer opened and she reached down inside, taking out a bag. She took a quick glance at a piece of paper and placed it in front of us with a smile.

“You have earned fifteen hundred and forty gold pieces for your deposit today. The talon you procured was of very good quality, but low magical quality; regardless, it was a nice money maker.”

Amenthia thanked her and took the bag of coins, placing them in our satchel. We thanked her and made our way past the lines to the stairwell down to the floor below.

Amenthia was glowing with pleasure, no doubt happy for our haul today. Fifteen hundred gold pieces was nice start, I figured, but we would need to earn much more to stay ahead of the curve. We need to grind enough – be aggressive in our search for challenges - and we need to prepare – to level up ahead of the floors we move to - as well as ensure that the equipment we have will be more than adequate. This will allow us to maintain an advantage.

We returned to the advisor section of the first floor and asked for Esmerelda. She came out a few minutes later and directed us to the same desk we had visited earlier that day. We took a seat and Amenthia passed over the paperwork that we had processed with Vrokta.

Esmerelda looked over the paper, running her finger along the side every few moments. Due to the type of paper I could see the words sliding up the page. It reminded me of someone reading on a tablet or e-book. I had wondered how all that information would have fit on a single page. When she reached the bottom of the page, she asked me for my card. I passed it to her, and she tapped the page. The contact caused the page to disappear in a green flash, then she returned the card.

“I must say that you had a very good first day,” she said with surprise and happiness apparent in her voice. “You have made me very proud with this progress and I am fortunate that I was assigned as your Guild representative. You should do well if today’s results are any indication and, in case you were wondering, the paper is required for trial tracking. I verified the account, then it merged the information with your card and this, of course, uploaded it to your personal Etta in the Knowledge Center. Now I suggest that you make your way back to the Pact house and get some rest, as you still have two more trials before you are eligible to be given tasks by the Guild. Enjoy your night, both of you, and I will see you tomorrow.”

We gave our goodbyes and made our way out of the structure; Amenthia, of course, attached to my side as we went. Again, I encountered stares as we went, and they were often kind of odd at times. Then, of course, the dark glares from men who no doubt wanted to have her to themselves caused me to make note of them. After about twenty minutes, we were back in front of the Pact house, I knocked on the door, causing it to open, and we made our way in. Amenthia made to pull us towards the common rooms, however I pulled us towards the Quartermaster. She gave me a questioning look, but I just smiled back at her to assure her that it would be worth it.

We arrived at Brot’k’s a few minutes later; the sounds of metal banging on metal were filling the room. No doubt he was hard at work making or fixing something one of our members had given or requested.

“Brot’k!” I yelled, “Are you busy?”

The banging stopped and he came into sight from the back a few minutes later. We made our way across the room to his counter.

I grasped his arm in the standard fashion and pulled off my helmet. I -put my sword and shield down next to me. “I wanted to let you know how today went with the gear you gave us!”

“My friend,” he said with a slight throaty laugh, “I am happy to see you have returned relatively unharmed and I am glad that the armour did the trick.”

“That it did, my friend,” I replied with a nod. “All of it worked well and allowed us to make it to the second-floor village. However, a fight with a goblin for my trial caused some damage to the left shoulder of my armour and the chain mail underneath”

A surprised look came on his face. “You made it to the village on your first day! Usually most virgin adventurers don’t complete their trial until their third or fourth day and then it takes them two weeks to make it all the way to the village. Mind you, their weapons and armour are not as good as yours are. Give me the armour and I will make the necessary repairs. It will be ready by morning.”

“Well, I have something they don’t,” I replied, causing a confused look on his face. “I have Amenthia. Without her, I would not have made it half as far. Your armour indeed added to that success, so you both are the reason I did so well today and will continue to do so in the future.”

He smiled and laughed at that and Amenthia got the cutest blush. It felt good to turn the tables on her. Brot’k was still laughing while he went into his hidden back room and returned a few minutes later with the completed scallops. They were perfect, with the same black leather and golden clasps on the part facing towards my body. Of course, one of them had a space that would allow access to the bracer. There were intricate designs on the blades of the scallops. It was a work of art, and I was humbled by the work he had put into them.

“Wow,” I exclaimed with awe, “these are beyond what I could have hoped for. I must say that your skills are wasted repairing beginner’s tools and you really shouldn’t have to hide your gifts!”

“Your words are most kind, Pathios, but I am not able to have those kinds of advantages. Most of the best smiths can hone their craft by going out and adventuring_- I am not able to do so. I also am not fortunate enough to be a member of the three smith houses, which would have been able to provide me with what I needed without me adventuring. Therefore, I am stuck doing what I do here. It is the life I have to lead, I am afraid, but I am happy with the opportunities Tyr has given me.”

“You will get the chance, my friend,” I stated as I grasped his shoulder. “I will give you what I collect that can be used for smithing and you will turn it into something that I can use. When I am asked, I will make sure that people know you were the one who made them. Where I come from, word of mouth can be a powerful force in building up popularity in a craftsman. Given time, I’m confident you will start getting more requests from our house members and more supplies as a result.”

The look on his face was profound, with a mixture of awe, confusion and gratitude. The look on Amenthia’s face was also a mixture of emotions and one of them was awe. The others, I could tell, were much more primal and kinda scary.

“The fact you would do such a thing for me, is a rare and profound act, one that I will never forget. I will be your personal smith, bring me anything that you get, Amenthia will be able to identify things I can use as you gain them. However, you need to go eat and rest for the day; it will refill your health and we can talk more tomorrow.”

We quickly removed my armor and gave it to Brot’k to repair, I had no doubt it would look brand new by morning. Brot’k said goodbye to us and Amenthia nodded enthusiastically before pulling me out of the room, hard, by my arm. Behind us a throaty laugh followed us out of the room. She seemed driven and wild with emotions that I could not read. I dug in my heels, bringing us to a fast stop and causing her to stumble a bit, before turning around with an expression of shock on her face.

“My lovely Amenthia,” I said softly, “I can appreciate the sentiment of what I can assume you have in mind. However, we have not known each other very long; let’s spend a bit more time together before we rush anything. You are an amazing woman, one that I know I will have a long time with, but I don’t want to screw anything up.”

Multiple emotions crossed her face, yet again, and I was worried that I had said the wrong thing until a smile appeared on her face. She leaned forward and kissed my lips softly and simply nodded. She took my hand more gently and guided me back to my room without the urgency she had shown only moments before. I paid attention to the route we took, so that I could find my way if I was ever alone, though I did have the map, if I needed it. I highly doubted that I would be left alone very often, given Amenthia’s need to be near me, but it never hurts to be prepared.

When we reached my door, I bade my beautiful partner goodnight, which seemed to be painful for her. I told her we would see each other in the morning, and she nodded and wished me good night with a forlorn look on her face. I must admit, I watched her ass while she walked away, and it was downright hypnotic. She turned to look back - catching me looking - and laughed before adding a bit more sway to her hips. I entered and - looking around the room - part of me wished I had the special compartment to hide my most precious things. It would be awesome to have something like most superheroes had, to hide their armour or costume when they were not using it. I removed my clothes and found that I had at least kept my boxers, though I wondered if these were the only pair I had. I laid down and allowed sleep to come, wondering what the next day would bring, with my last thoughts being of how sweet Amenthia smelled.

I had a dreamless sleep, no doubt from the fatigue of the events of the previous day, but I felt rejuvenated. As I slowly gained more awareness of my surroundings, I quickly realized that I was not alone in my bed and I became slightly worried. A very nice smelling bundle of warmth was cuddled to my left side, her breathing slow and hypnotic. I wondered how Amenthia had gotten into my room as I moved my right arm carefully so I could tap my bracer without waking her up. With a tap and a whispered command, my map display sprang to life showing it was six am.

Within moments, I felt her beginning to stir beside me, no doubt a reaction to my activating the map. I didn’t think she could press and move her bosom into my arm any more than she already had, but the woman proved me wrong. Her eyes fluttered open and locked onto mine, the smile she gave was only amplified by the slight blush that covered her skin. She knew she had been caught and I wondered why she had done this, as well as what was going through her thoughts right then.

She had a decent amount of skin showing -wearing a top reminiscent of a tee shirt and panties that looked like boy shorts. I would need to ask her where she got those, as they didn’t seem to be standard issue clothing around here, but I had to admit that it was an amazing sight. I thanked the gods for putting me in this amazing position, as I would never have had a woman like this in my world and I knew how lucky I was.

She sat up a bit and stretched, which did even more wonderful things, as her unfettered breasts swayed under the fabric. Thankfully the boxers were masking the usual result to so much stimulating imagery and I hoped that she didn’t accidentally brush against it, or I would no doubt stain my shorts.

“Good morning, Amenthia,” I said softly, “And what exactly happened to warrant this visit? As I recall I left you to go to your room and myself to mine; so when, exactly, did you join me?”

She blushed further and replied, “I know I went to my room, but I couldn’t help myself, I am sorry if I overstepped a boundary. It just felt right to me and, to be honest, I have never slept more soundly in my life.”

“Be as it may,” I said with a slight nod. “From now on, let me know ahead of time before you choose to join me in bed, because for all you know I could have been naked!”

I could swear I heard her mutter, ‘If I could only be so lucky!’ under her breath, but I wasn’t sure. She laughed when she realized I might have heard her and the ravenous look on her face told me that I had, indeed, heard correctly. In fact, I knew she would have preferred it, and I wondered if I would see her just as naked in the future. If I hadn’t been hard before, I was now, as I imagined what she would look like, though I doubt even my fantasies would do her justice.