Room 50… (627 days ter.)
As her dark eyes flickered open to stare up at the night sky, a night sky that again held only the forest-green moon and the ocean-blue moon, Nox wondered what she was feeling. So far she’d been in this world for around 1224 days. Or approximately 3.5 Earth years. And after all that time she and Ginger were not only still alive, but were on the cusp of conquering the Dungeon of the Cyclops. It felt like a dream. Or more like a dream within a nightmare.
And when she thought of how little she’d gained over those 3.5 years, she wanted to weep. Sighing, she focused on her Blessing.
Worldly Prostitute
Name: Nox Walker
Race: Human
Level: 8/100
Subrace: Pneswalker
Exp: 1129/2000
Str: 108
Con: 116
Int: 124
Wis: 124
Cha: 116
Luc: 116
Mana: 124/124
Stamina: 113/116
Regen: 1.24 Per Hour
Regen: 1.16 Per Hour
Yes, in those 3.5 years—despite risking her life in a dungeon where she had no skills to back her up—she’d only gained 8 levels. In short, to fully level her Blessing, she would have to go through this again and again and again!
With another weary sigh, she focused on her skills.
Skill
Level
Effect
Cost
Calcute
Dark Vision
Resist All
Worldly
Max
Max
Max
Max
Evaluate Expression
See in the Dark
Provide Immunity
Generate Income
0 Mana
Innate
Innate
1 Stamina
A person with a Blessing got a new skill at levels 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25… and so on, for a total of 21 skills when they hit level 100. Since she spent so much of her time in dimly lit sewers, for her level 5 skill she’d picked dark vision. It came in handy. Perhaps more so than resist all did.
I’m sick of this, Nox moaned to herself, scowling. Yet, although she hated it, she knew she’d come to get used to the horrible grind of it all. The time spent in the dungeon each day was usually quite brief, and was followed by 12 or more hours of stalking the poor rats in the sewers while using her worldly skill to help search for coins. For all that her Blessing gave her no spear skill, after so long she was quite proficient. And, to end her day, after hunting rats she would sleep for 8 to 9 hours.
Each day was the same. On the other hand, she was clothed and fed. Nor was her life any more tedious or harder than those of a billion or more people back on Earth. In fact, there were some benefits to this world. For one, they had healers that could use magic. Food was cheap, and would remain so. Plus, albeit homeless, she had a safe pce to sleep.
Sighing, she pushed herself up right and started folding her two bnkets. During the winter, which thankfully had been pretty mild, she’d given into temptation and bought an extra. To her immense shock, mild or not, the winter hadn’t been all that bad. She’d made a tiny tent-like structure with one bnket, and had curled up in her other bnket inside that tent. That her Pneswalker title gave a 30 percent immunity to every type of damage, including the cold, had helped, as had the fact the alleys were protected from the wind.
Looking down at herself, Nox studied her retively new outfit. She’d grown over the years, and even if tough her old leather clothes had started to fall apart. Her new outfit was… well, if not cute, then a fair bit better than the shape her old set of clothes had eventually found themselves in. For one, these weren’t stained with brown ink. On top of that, now when it rained she at times bought soap for her outdoor showers. The woman sighed. Much as she hated to admit it, she was starting to fit in with this world. Sure, she still dreamt of her computers, and pined for them as a woman would a lover, but she understood they were forever beyond her reach, and that she would never see one again. As such, she didn’t let her craving affect her life in this now-not-so-new world she’d found herself in.
At the alley entrance Nox nodded at Si, who seemed to be an ever present feature of the alley, and took the bread that was offered. Long used to the taste, and having long since gotten used to the fact she was eating rat meat, she hungrily tore into it, eating quickly.
“Luck,” the woman told her when the bread was gone, and Nox nodded back. Even in her old life she’d never been a big talker, and it seemed here that trait still remained true.
“Hey, how much,” a man asked, sneering.
Nox sighed. Even after so long, they never seemed to learn.
“How much for what,” she innocently asked, looking confused.
“You know…” The man’s smirk widened.
“You do know my nickname is sewage girl, right,” she asked the man. “That I hunt rats in the sewers each and every day, and that I sometimes fall in the river of sewage that flows through those sewers. Are you sure you want a kiss from someone who’s drank sewage water after falling in the cesspools so often? Really? Do you want to be known as shit guy? Do you think any of the prostitutes at the brothels will even look at you after you stick your tongue down the cesspool that my mouth is?”
The man blinked.
“Tell you what,” Nox continued. “We can go wading in the sewage together after I’m done with the dungeon… and we’ll see what happens.” She winked at the man.
Keeping a cheerful, though totally fake smile on her face, Nox waited. Frowning, the man, confused, backed off. Several times a guy had taken her up on the offer, and each time she’d taken them down to the sewers and waded into the stinkiest cesspools she could find. Those guys always retreated, leaving her rushing for the showers at Old Granny Cran’s bathhouse.
It’d been… embarrassing, to say the least, and paying for the baths had been expensive, but the propositions had for the most part stopped; nor did she have to carry that awful satchel around with her anymore. Albeit, she did wish she had all the silver she’d spent on baths back.
Continuing on her way, she stepped up beside Ginger who was frantically pacing around in a wild-eyed frenzy. “Today, of all days, is the day you’re te,” the beastkin girl fumed with eyes that were filled with disbelief.
“I find that hard to believe as well,” Verdant said, standing beside her sister.
Nox shrugged.
“How have you been,” the beastkin woman asked, looking the girl over.
“Okay,” Nox replied. “You came to see how the st day went?”
Verdant nodded. “I had to,” she expined. “Each day she’s here terrifies me. And after this, she can go back home.”
Nox nodded back. She still wasn’t sure of the story, but it seemed Ginger had done something pretty bad, albeit not out of maliciousness, that had either harmed or upset her whole tribe, and was how she’d gotten the Blessing of Backstabbing Thief. Nor was she sure of what punishment the tribe had handed out, but whatever it was, completing this dungeon, or maybe reaching a certain level through her own efforts, would fulfill the criteria of her punishment. Either way, when this ended, Ginger would be fully accepted back by her people.
“Come on,” Ginger fumed, and tugged at Nox, dragging her up the dungeon entrance where the beastkin girl handed the guards two silver coins as the admission fee.
“Stop,” Nox commanded when the girl hurled herself at the inner door where five cyclops would be waiting. This was the twentieth time they would kill those five monsters, and while the beastkin girl seemed to take facing those beasts in stride, Nox herself nearly soiled her clothes each time. She needed time to prepare for what was to come.
“What,” Ginger snapped.
“First of all, calm down,” Nox stated. “The state you’re in, you’ll rush in there and end up hurt, or something worse.”
Ginger gred at the girl, but paused to take a deep breath.
“And the two spears you’re carrying,” Nox asked.
The beastkin girl blinked and looked at the spears she held. “Oh,” she gulped, and handed them over to Nox.
“And the caltrops,” Nox then asked.
Ginger felt at her belt pouch, and blushed when she discovered it was closed. She undid the straps and open it, giving her quick access to the caltrops within.
Nox nodded and rested one of the spears against the wall close to the inner doorway. She also took a deep breath and took a caltrop in her left hand, with a spear in her right.
“Fuck,” the girl, Nox, then fumed. “Five of them is pushing our limits. We've done this 19 times before, but… be careful! This one st time, be really, really careful. Okay?”
“I will,” Ginger impatiently assured the girl.
In preparation for what was to come, Nox briefly closed her eyes and took another deep breath. Opening her eyes, she studied her beastkin companion, then reluctantly nodded.
They stepped through the doorway where, with fearsome roars and enraged bloodshot eyes, five immense cyclops immediately bore down on them.
With dazzling speed, Ginger dashed forward, running between two of them, drawing their attention. She then pivoted around a third and pnted her dagger in its back, bringing forth a howl of pain and outrage.
That left two cyclops charging towards Nox who moved so that one cyclops was charging her with the other directly behind him. She waited, and with the butt of her spear on the stone wall behind her, she raised it—and as she now expected, the foremost cyclops ran headlong onto the spear, impaling its midriff. It started to howl, only to have the cyclops behind him, still heedlessly rushing forward, ram into him from behind, pushing the spear even deeper into the midriff of the first cyclops.
With a deft flick of her fingers, Nox sent a caltrop flying to nd beneath the raised right foot of the first cyclops which was stamping about howling. It brought its foot down on the pointy object, evoking another roar.
When the second cyclops took a step back and hurled around its companion, Nox retreated back to the safe room—something she knew was cheating, and which would never be allowed in an actual RPG game. There, with a quivering hand, she quickly grabbed her second spear. The terrified girl then readied a second caltrop before, with her heart racing and terror ripping her sanity to shreds, she rushed back into the room. Should Ginger kill one of the cyclops while she wasn’t in the room… well, she wouldn’t get credit for clearing the room, which would mess things up.
The same two cyclops again charged her, with the uninjured one bearing down on her at an insane rate, while the injured one gged a few steps behind it. Nox readied her spear and events repeated them just as they had before. This time the uninjured cyclops rammed its midriff into the spear, while the previously injured cyclops then came crashing into it from behind. She then flicked a caltrop beneath the foot of the newly injured cyclops.
The girl retreated from the room, took a deep breath, and with a caltrop in both of her right and left hands, she re-entered the battle. There as the creatures bore down on her, she flipped a caltrop beneath each of their left feet. She then again retreated in order to take out two more caltrops.
Ginger will be okay, the girl told herself. At level 5 of her Blessing, she bought the dodge skill. And she’s a beastkin on top of that. They’re tough and they’re fast.
Again stepping back in the room, she tossed two more caltrops at the cyclops that charged her. The terrified girl then repeated the process twice more before retreating back to the safe room.
Taking a deep breath, Nox repeatedly stepped into the safe room, allowing the two wounded cyclops to focus on her and charge before retreating. It kept them focused on her, and away from Ginger who was busy with three of the creatures. Even so, Nox could tell the girl was strained to her limits. Then one of the cyclops the beastkin girl faced fell, and was swiftly followed by a second. Like dominoes, the rest, already being wounded, fell in short order.
Her pounding heart feeling like it was going to tear itself out of her chest, Nox, drenched in sweat, plopped down on the floor. It was over. The dungeon had been cleared.
You have cleared room 50 a total of 20/20 times!
You have killed a mini-boss. (Triple Rewards)
Base Reward: 30 experience.
Additional Reward: 6 experience.
Room 50 Completion Award Generation!
Base Reward: 150 experience.
Additional Reward: 34 experience.
Rolling chest… 219
Bonus chest… 50
Final chest…269
When the girl had recovered enough, she focused on her companion.. To her shock she saw Ginger was also resting on the floor, and that there was blood on the beastkin girl’s face.
“Seems one of them clipped me,” Ginger told the worried girl. “But I’m okay, It only nicked me and tore the skin a little. Probably looks bad though.”
Gulping, Nox nodded. It did look bad.
The two rested for a bit before Ginger stood and eagerly stumbled towards the chest that had appeared in a bze of blue light. As was now the norm, she tossed the bag of coins it held to Nox. Next, with her face now lighting up in glee, the beastkin girl took out a dark dagger that she carefully scrutinized.
“I dub thee Toothy Two,” the beastkin girl crowed without a hint of embarrassment.
As was usual, while Nox just wanted to rest and recover after a fight, Ginger was the first to approach the inner doors of the room that’d appeared when the st cyclops had fallen.
Inside, she stepped aside and let Nox be the first to touch the crystal that was in the center of an otherwise rge and empty stone room.
You have cleared the Dungeon of the Cyclops 1 time.
Base Reward: 2000 experience.
Additional Reward: 460 experience.
These six—plus one—chests are yours!
Around the crystal, seven pilrs of blue light burst into view, then faded, leaving behind seven pilrs with a small chest atop each.
Nox gave a sigh of relief. Normally there would only be six chests, but it seemed her worldly skill also worked here.
With Ginger having long since been designated as the primary chest opener, Nox sat back to watch.
Chest one, for whatever reason, was empty.
Chest two held a bag of 50 silver coins.
Chest three held a pair of fancy socks.
Chest four held a fancy headband.
Chest five held a small gem that when touched would give 500 experience.
Chest six held a bag of 50 silver coins.
Chest seven held a small gem that when touched would give 500 experience.
With the experience gems being unable to leave the dungeon, Nox and Ginger each used one, boosting their experience by a ft 500. It seemed with these Nox’s worldly skill didn’t work.
With the silver coins, they each took one of the bags, while the socks and headband went to Ginger.
While Ginger studied the socks and headband, Nox again checked her Blessing to see how the day’s bounty had affected it. She was pleased to see it’d pushed her over what was needed for level 10. Sure, her Blessing sucked… but the higher she leveled it, the better off she was.
Worldly Prostitute
Name: Nox Walker
Race: Human
Level: 10/100
Subrace: Pneswalker
Exp: 309/2000
Str: 110
Con: 120
Int: 130
Wis: 130
Cha: 120
Luc: 120
Mana: 130/130
Stamina: 119/120
Regen: 1.30 Per Hour
Regen: 1.20 Per Hour
Quite decent, the girl mused, nodding to herself, finding she was quite pleased as she studied her stats. While she would never learn the sex skills it offered, the other skills were useful. If nothing else, when she hit level 100 the immunities offered by her resist all skill, plus the immunities offered by her Pneswalker title, would make her quite resilient. Being able to see in the dark was nice. Plus any increases to her stats would affect her worldly skill.
I’m still daunted that it took me 3.5 years to reach level 10, Nox noted, but having conquered my first dungeon is… nice!
Hmm, and now that I’m level 10, let’s see what skills I can get while Ginger keeps studying those socks and headband. Sheesh… it’s socks and a headband, for crying out loud. Now, if they were both computers I could see her spending an hour or two, or a year or two, looking at them… but they’re not.
She studied her options which came down to enhanced regeneration, and inflict pain.
Inflict Pain
A prostitute is a mistress of pleasure and… pain! Sure, people come to you with all sort of cravings, but who are you to judge? This skill ensures you inflict pain on those who crave it while not doing damage to their tender flesh.
To ensure those who crave submission are fully satisfied, this skill can stun and daze your clientele. It also allows you the freedom to inflict the pain upon your clientele where you feel they most desire it. The brain, or the testicles… it’s all the same and it’s yours to choose. Sharp, or lingering, you decide what your submissive partner most desires, or if they’ve been bad… deserves!
As a psi skill twisted to suit your needs, the effects rely upon your intelligence.
Warning: As a psi skill, the effect of this skill can be severely reduced if the mental resistance of your client is high enough. Pain reduction skills will also apply. Sure, this method leaves no marks, but due to these drawbacks, many prostitutes who deal in pain go with the old true and tried methods of whips and paddles. Just be careful of that unwanted bruising and bleeding.
Cost: 3 mana
Sure, the skill didn’t do any damage, which infuriated her, but while she was doubtful she knew that in any RPG game the ability to inflict a decent stun could be game changing.
She focused on her skills.
Skill
Level
Effect
Cost
Calcute
Dark Vision
Inflict Pain
Resist All
Worldly
Max
Max
0000
Max
Max
Evaluate Expression
See in the Dark
Inflict Pain
Provide Immunity
Generate Income
0 Mana
Innate
3 Mana
Innate
1 Stamina
Frig, the girl fumed, noting that to properly use the skill and get its full effects, she would need to use it 2000 times to max out its level. That was going to cost her 6,000 mana—or a full 4616 hours, or 185 days.
Yikes!
Nox gulped.
Still, she knew the skill would cost someone with a psi Blessing 5 mana, and she pondered the reason why it was so much cheaper for her. The answer immediately hit her. The skill did no damage, meaning for her it was less powerful than it would be for a true psi. Plus its strength was based on intelligence, and for a normal prostitute whose intelligence—due to cking her many titles—would never go above 100, it would also be cking in the pain it caused. And, thirdly, the amount of mana a person possessed was based on wisdom; which again would never go above 100 for a regur prostitute. If someone with the prostitute Blessing was to use it to inflict pain on a client, then the cost couldn’t be too high.
Nox shuddered.
Not that she understood why someone would want such a skill used on them. Nor did she want to understand.
Seeing Ginger was finished studying her new socks in horrifying details, Nox stood and together they walked back to the exit.
As they exited, Ginger was swept up in Verdant’s arms and the beastkin woman started crying. Nox nodded. In the dungeon, as the sole competent fighter, the beastkin girl’s life had been in danger. But now the two could go home together.
Verdant then let go of the girl and started studying the wound on her sister’s face. Her face went white as she studied it, and she again frantically clung to the girl.
What shocked Nox the most was when Ginger squirmed out of her sister’s arms to come over and give her a hug.
“I begged Callo to let me do the dungeon solo,” the beastkin girl stated, looking sheepish. “But I now know what would’ve happened if he’d let me. I would’ve died.”
Nox shook her head.
“No,” she deadpanned. “You wouldn’t have. You wouldn’t have got past the slime room, and they wouldn’t have killed you.”
“Well…” Ginger sheepishly looked at the ground.
“With anyone else dragging me through that pce, I’m the one who would’ve ended up dead,” Nox told the girl. “I’m gd I had you as a partner.”
“I know I cimed I was dragging you,” Ginger replied, still looking sheepish. “But I wouldn’t have gotten through without you, nor would I have gained the levels I did without you. Thanks!”
“You would’ve,” Nox assured the girl. “The dungeon was dangerous, but when it got too much for you, you would’ve jumped back in the safe room and thought things through.’
Verdant snorted.
