Chapter 114: Isn’t that how you two-legs do it?

Mel glared at Shelur before giving John a concerned look, and upon seeing that look, he sighed and waved his hand while saying, “You may as well tell them.”

“You sure?” Mel asked in surprise since she knew that he didn’t normally like to be the centre of attention, something that had obviously been changing recently.

“Something tells me that even if I wanted to keep it from them, they would be able to uncover it, especially Emberslag.”

“Me?” Emberslag replied while pointing to herself.

John nodded before saying, “I don’t know who you are IRL, but if you or your parents have enough pull to have the dwarven leadership take you seriously about this incident, then you can sure do a background check on a nobody like me.”

“I’m not sure anyone who is a friend of both Alea and Shizu can be classed as a nobody,” Emberslag replied while Black Dragoon nodded in agreement, adding. “Especially a man.”

“Is it strange for the pair of them to be friends with men?” John asked in surprise. “I mean, I saw Princess Shizu out on a date just the other day.”

“Oh! Who with?” Shelur asked with obvious interest.

“Jason Marks, and it wasn’t a date,” Mel answered. “She just did it to have an easier life at university.”

“Never heard of him,” Shelur replied, prompting Mel to say. “Then you're lucky.”

Emberslag studied John for a moment before asking, “Didn’t you enquire about us before agreeing to join?”

“Not really,” John replied. “You're friends with them, and they asked me to help you; that’s all I needed to know. Besides, this is apparently a good opportunity for me to level.”

“That’s right, that’s right, a true man doesn’t need a reason to help beautiful ladies,” Jackalope, who had been following John around, stated sagely. “You and I are of similar minds on this, bro.”

“And I suppose the fact that you would be surrounded by four beauties didn’t sway your decision?” Shelur asked teasingly.

“I wasn’t informed of the party comp; for all I know, you could have all been hulking men… except Dream Star, since she was with me when she joined.”

“Thank you for remembering that I’m not a hulking man,” Mel responded with a pout.

“Exactly how long have you known Alea and Shizu?” Black Dragoon asked curiously.

John glanced at Mel before asking, “What’s it been like, two days for Princess Shizu and one for Princess Alea?”

“Seriously?” Shelur asked in surprise, to which Mel replied. “It’s true, I’ve only known him a little over a week myself.”

“I guess I should thank Sarah when I have the chance; it’s through her I got the chance to meet you all,” John said thoughtfully.

“I’m sure she’d love that,” Mel teased before Shelur asked. “Sarah, as in Sarah Lapis? Blue Ice Queen.”

“Yup,” Mel replied, and since he’d already given her permission, she went on to explain John’s story and how he was the one from the humans' racial punishment announcement.

“Fuck, that was you?” Shelur asked; for the first time, she looked at John with something other than distrust or dislike.

“Wow, you really did have it rough,” Emberslag replied before saying apologetically. “I’m sorry if I made you remember something painful.”

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“It’s not like I’ll ever forget,” John said with a shrug while Black Dragoon just stared at him with a thoughtful expression.

After that, the group finished opening the cages in awkward silence before a certain jackalope made the situation even more awkward: “So when are you all going to fuck?”

Everyone glared at the jackalope while Mel asked, “If I turn into my bear form, can I eat him?”

“I’m keen to find out,” Shelur replied as the two, for the first time, shared a smile.

“What?” Jackalope asked. “Isn’t that how you two-legs do it? Go on dates, get to know each other before having sex?”

Mel ground her teeth before reluctantly saying, “He’s not entirely wrong; that is kind of how we humans handle relationships and end up having sex.”

“Speak for yourself; I’m still a virgin,” Black Dragoon replied, while John and Emberslag said simultaneously. “Same.”

All four women and Jackalope stared at John in surprise before the Jackalope wiped a tear from its eye and said, “You’ve had a hard life, bro, but don’t worry; now that I’m here, we’ll find you all the females you could ever want.”

John rolled his eyes at Jackalope's comment before noticing that, for some reason, Mel was glaring at Jackalope as if she wanted to kill him.

“Wow, that’s surprising,” Emberslag replied as the other two women nodded. “I mean, with your good looks, I figured you for one of those playboy types.”

“Do I seem like one of those?” John asked in offence, which prompted Emberslag to quickly wave her hands and say, “No, no, not at all; that's one of the reasons I was having difficulty getting a read on you.”

“You wouldn’t recognise the current him from the one before Sarah, and I took him to the salon,” Mel teased before thinking. {So he’s a virgin after all. I had my suspicions, but it seems Elrinira was right and that definitely answers a few questions.}

Black Dragoon looked at the animals they had freed before asking. “So how are we getting them out of here? The quest says they need to escape the hideout alive.”

“I mean the exits right there,” Shelur said while thumbing over her shoulder. “But I don’t really feel right about letting them fend for themselves in an unknown forest; after all, we don’t know where they all came from.”

“Can't we just teleport them out?” John asked, prompting Emberslag to ask. “Do you know a teleport spell? Because I sure don’t.”

“I do,” Mel replied before moving away from the others while motioning to the animals and saying, “Come gather around me and I’ll take you to safety.”

“What about me, bro? Want me to hang around and give you advice on how to win these females?” Jackalope asked.

John rolled his eyes before saying, “Appreciate the offer, but it’s fine. I don’t think we’ll have much time for whatever you're imagining, and it’s better if you head somewhere safe.”

“If you say so, good luck, bro,” Jackalope replied before it quickly hopped up next to Mel and tried to rub itself against her, causing her to glare down at it and say. “Don’t even attempt to try that.”

“Oh! So it’s only my bro you want rubbing up against you?” Jackalope asked, making Mel flush and glare at it even more while saying. “I never said that.”

Jackalope stared at her with dead eyes before saying in a hushed tone so that the others wouldn’t hear him, “Babe, I’m a beast of the wild; I can smell the pheromones coming off you. If you and my bro weren’t boring two-legs, you’d already be going at it like jackalopes.”

“Sh… shut up,” Mel retorted as her flush increased even more, and she quickly added, "Teleport: Emerald Enclave."

A magic circle started to form on the ground as John and the other women all watched in surprise before Mel and the animals disappeared.

"Isn't that cheating?" Shelur asked, to which the others just nodded in agreement as they received a quest update

[Quest Update]

[Number of animals freed and escaped the hideout alive: 7/20]

“So, Vincarna, question,” Black Dragoon said while inspecting John’s staff. “Why are you using a staff with your shield? Seems kind of an odd combination.”

“As I mentioned to Emberslag earlier, I just received the shield as a reward for getting my quest. I already had the staff since it was the best weapon I could afford after leaving the starter village.”

“Makes sense,” Shelur nodded. “The first ten levels are a pain in the ass for gear if you don’t have anyone to give you some gold.”

“And here I thought you were going for the whole male Valkyrie look,” Black Dragoon teased.

John smiled in return before saying, “I’m not sure I could pull off the feathered cloak.”

“You know your history, very good,” Black Dragoon remarked in an impressed tone while John asked. “Isn’t the spear the weapon of choice for dragoons?”

“That’s right,” Black Dragoon replied as a dark coloured spear appeared in her right hand. “While we can naturally use other weapons, certain skills require a spear.”

John frowned at her words while saying, “Seems kind of limiting for a second world that's supposed to be all about free will.”

“True, but don’t forget that Genesis is also supposed to replicate the real world, and my draconian race is famed spear wielders,” Black Dragoon explained just as Mel reappeared in the room, causing her to ask. "Did it work?"

Mel smiled and gave a thumbs up while saying, "Yup.”

"Nice," Black Dragoon replied while returning the thumbs up.

"Ok let's go,” Emberslag said as she led them towards the room's only other exit, which led out into another tunnel that was lit by more manastones in the rocky walls.