Eternal Dominion Book 23: Strife, page 5
All of this added together to create a situation where a single swing of Xeal’s blade would kill any tier-5 player and a tier-6 player would last two at best. Suddenly his double upward and downward slashes plus transitional attack allowed Xeal to cut a path through Habia’s ranks at a frightening pace. About 15 minutes and 15 refreshes on his taunts later, Xeal was standing before Atius, Djimon and Frozen Sky, as the three of them looked at him in horror. Though with the amount of blood that was currently coating him and the look he was giving them, Xeal couldn’t blame them as they tried and failed to defend themselves. The first to fall was Atius as his defense against physical attacks was the weakest and it had only taken 12 hits to kill him. Next came Djimon as he lasted 20 hits and then Frozen Sky tried to run, only for Xeal to cut him down from behind.
It was only then that Xeal turned to look at the army that was currently between him and Nium’s force, as he smiled and let loose a fire elemental filtered dragon's breath attack as a taunt. This time Xeal could tell that practically the whole of the army had been affected, as his stats once more hit the cap of the skill’s range, but Xeal didn’t care as that had been the signal for the army behind them to charge. In the next instant, Xeal had shifted to his lightning form and flash stepped above the enemy players, just as 10,000 lightning spells entered him and he unleashed it all with all but the last dregs of his MP on the players below. Xeal didn’t wait to see the results as he flash stepped back to behind Nium’s line, as he all but collapsed as he was out of everything by that point. Furthermore, his health was nearly gone as he dealt with the backlash of his taunt skill. Since he had gone 16 minutes with all his stats at 1,000%, he now only had .0001% of any of them left for the next 160 minutes. That meant his health, which was normally at 259,969, was only at 460 and all of his other stats were equally affected as they sat at 1 in every category. It was only due to his title ‘skin of your teeth’ that Xeal was even alive, as it prevented any of his stats from dropping below one.
That had created a situation where 460 was his max HP and he didn’t even have enough SP to activate his quick equip skill, or strength to stand. No, as Daisy and Violet arrived at Xeal’s side, he was completely helpless and he just sighed in relief as they created an illusion to hide him and them from view. At the same time, they made it seem as if they had helped him up and returned to the command tent, for any watching from afar. Seeing that he was being watched over and knowing that there was nothing for him to do, Xeal just let sleep take him.
When Xeal next awoke, he had recovered his stats and Daisy and Violet were curled up next to him on a mat that he had been moved to in a tent at some point. After checking the time on his interface, Xeal just sighed as he had slept right through the night and in doing so, he likely had more than a few worried about his condition. While he felt fine, Xeal knew one thing for sure, he wouldn’t be casually using taunt in such a way again. As while it had let him kill over 3,500 players in a manner that allowed him to dodge continually through the use of his transitional attack skill, it wasn’t worth the recovery time. Though, looking at a few of the advanced skills that it had unlocked for him, Xeal was getting a few ideas for when he reached level 246 and had enough class skill points to take one of them.
Still, that was a task for another day, as he turned to first Violet and then Daisy and woke them with a kiss on their cheeks. As they stirred, they ended up cuddling in closer to Xeal as they slowly opened their eyes and smiled at seeing him awake. Finally, after a few yawns Daisy was the first to speak as she remembered the events of the prior day.
“You have no idea how scary it was when you went to sleep on us. It was like you were barely alive for hours and we were afraid a stray rock or something would finish you off.”
“It probably could have. So, how did the battle go?”
“Do you mean the rout?” asked Violet. “As once the first few lines of our enemy force collapsed, that was all it was. Right now, our forces are still pursuing them into Habia’s lands with Caleb and Casmir at the helm. Return scrolls aren’t worth much when you are in the wrong country and the borders won’t normalize until a ceasefire or victory is had and the lands officially change hands.”
“That’s good. So, who all stayed behind with us?”
“Just our party and from what Lucy says, no one is expecting you to return to the front until after you meet with King Dorrin two days after tomorrow,” replied Daisy.
“So does that mean that I actually have the rest of the day off?”
“We weren’t sure when you would wake up,” answered Violet.
“Hmm, I think I just want to spend the day right here with you two cuddling up to me.”
“Xeal?” commented Daisy, sounding unsure of what he meant by that.
“What, holding and being held like this just feels right right now. Plus, I need to spend more time with both of you and I love moments like this with both of you. I also think this is the first time that I have woken up and it has just been both of you and no one else looking over us. Unless they are listening from just outside the tent right now.”
“Guilty as charged,” came Luna’s voice as she stuck her head in.
“But don’t worry, you can go ahead and continue and we will just go for a walk,” added Selene as her head joined Luna’s.
“Yeah, you just better put a ring on their fingers first.”
“Else we will have to let everyone know that you went out of order on them.”
“Though, the same could be said about all of us in reality as well.”
“So, we guess do what you will.”
“Alright, the moment has been ruined,” stated Daisy.
“Agreed, though I wouldn’t mind a date if you are up to it,” added Violet.
“All I wanted to do was spend another hour or so cuddling,” grumbled Xeal, as he sat up and smiled at the pair of fox-women. “Though, I suppose I could make another attempt at wooing you two and see if I succeed.”
As Daisy and Violet sat up, Luna and Selene both pulled their heads out of the tent and Xeal took the opportunity to turn to Daisy and give her the most passionate kiss he had to date. Five seconds later he broke it and as she blinked a few times, he turned and gave a slightly pouty Violet one to match, before breaking it and speaking to both of them.
“Daisy, Violet, you both mean more to me than I like to admit at times, but with Gale busy elsewhere you both are my caretakers right now. As you make sure that I know when I go a bit overboard and are there to help me recover. While I am not quite ready to say that I love both of you, I am ready to tell you that neither of you better plan to go anywhere, because if I am not in the middle of falling for you, then I don’t know what is going on in my life at this point.”
“Consider me wooed,” replied Daisy.
“Xeal, you’re a real meany, you know that,” commented Violet. “You pick now of all times to send us on this emotional ride.”
“Sorry, but as all of my wives will tell you, I don’t care about timing with this kind of thing.”
As Xeal said that, Violet pulled him back to her as she extracted a few more kisses from him before letting him go and responding.
“Sorry, Daisy, but I am not going to play fair at this point, as I think I want him to fall for me first.”
Xeal just smiled as he found himself being playfully fought over for the next hour, before they made their way out of the tent. Where they were greeted with broad smiles on Luna’s and Selene’s faces, as they held in what Xeal knew was some playful teasing. The rest of Xeal’s party was out helping with battlefield cleanup as even if the dead were mostly players, their bodies would still be around until they resurrected, or something did something with it. To make things worse, when there were so many bodies in one place it could generate an undead spawning area, or attract monsters from afar if left alone. Hopefully, once the chase ended and the main army returned, they would clean up the trail they left in their wake before, as the supply train had already withdrawn due to the danger posed by Paidhia.
Still, Xeal put all of that out of his mind as he enjoyed a hike and picnic lunch with Daisy and Violet, as they chatted happily while bonding. That said, when they returned it was to an annoyed-looking Eira and she held in her comments. Xeal just smiled as he embraced her and apologized for not letting her know he was fine earlier. She pouted a bit, but she just sighed as Luna and Selene had told her the gist of the situation and why he did what he did. Though she still demanded to be the one next to him that night before he logged out.
(*****)
November 26, 2268 & ED Year 8 Days 34-35.
As Alex made his way downstairs on Thanksgiving morning, he was greeted with the scent of freshly baked pumpkin pie and knew that his mom had already started to get to work for the day. With Sofie around six- or seven-months pregnant, Alex’s mom had stepped in to help out with the daily cooking that needed to be done. Though today, Nicole, Ava, Mia and even Sam and Kate were expected to help out unless something happened in ED. Alex and the others who lived in the mansion were being tasked with setup and taking care of a few other tasks that needed extra hands, as they would be hosting another big event. Still, everyone had smiles on as they just enjoyed a day offline while hoping that it stayed that way.
When it was about 10:00 AM, Alex found himself and his family being loaded up, for a few quick appearances in town at a few community events. Apparently, according to Kate, this was more of his image work and it sounded like the intent was for him to make appearances at more events in the future, especially for local charities. When Alex had tried to counter that they would be leaving in a few years at the most, she just shook her head and said that they would still have a house there, thus they would need to continue making such appearances even after moving. Alex just sighed as he was directed by Stacy and the other members of his security detail on when to move and where to be for the rest of the morning and early afternoon.
While he wouldn’t say that it was his favorite way to spend four hours of his life, Alex could at least appreciate seeing his children smiling and giggling as they enjoyed all the new experiences. This once more made Alex lament just how much of their lives he was missing, as he focused on taking care of things in ED and longed for the day when he could finally take a step back. Though there was a part of him that worried about if he would ever really be able to do that, or if his attempts to do so would end in failure. He would think of his own dad and how he was only really around for a few hours any given day and on the weekends. It was hit or miss based on what was going on and how he was even worse despite being his own boss. In a way, Alex worried that he would never give himself the time off that he knew people needed, as he would just worry about things in Eternal Dominion.
Thoughts like that dominated Alex’s mind until they made it home. He joined Ava and Mia with their four little ones, as they did a video call with Lydia. While the two had stood firm on her not being invited for the holiday, they did schedule an hour to let her see Evan, Nova, Aidan and Nadia as they played. In the end Alex would say that call was sweet, but awkward, as all parties involved seemed to dance around the issues that they were still dealing with. Lydia had recently taken a chance and left the program that she had been in, but she had stayed in the area that it had been run in.
Currently she was living off Ava and Mia’s spending money, as they had shut their grandma down when she had tried to give Lydia her life savings. She had rationalized that she didn’t need it as she would never want for anything while living with them. Alex and the twins couldn’t refute that, so Kate had stepped in with a compromise. Alex had allocated more than enough for each of his wives to enjoy a life of luxury in the monthly budget, at least in his mind. In reality, it was about enough for a one-bedroom apartment, food and utilities for one. So, Ava and Mia had each taken half of theirs and passed it onto their mom, with their grandma holding onto her life savings, just in case. This hadn’t come without a few strings, as their mom was still volunteering almost every day at the soup kitchen while looking for a job. She had also had to introduce them to Steven and his kids as they figured that if they scared him away, he wasn’t worth anyone’s time.
Like that, things had reached a new normal over the past few months and Alex just hoped that Lydia would find a part-time job that would allow her to play ED. Part of the deal Ava and Mia had made was that until Lydia was paying for half her own expenses, she wasn’t allowed to play ED. They had also rejected any notion of her working for FAE, as they didn’t want to have Alex put in the situation of being her boss. So, he had stepped back and just supported them as they tried to figure out the best way forward.
After that call, Alex found himself mingling with all of the family that had made the trip out or, like his grandparents, now lived in the area. This had included dealing with Nicole’s extended family, as her grandparents had insisted on several of Nicole’s aunts and uncles and their families being included in the day’s events. With Henry’s, Tara’s, Fred’s, Dan’s, Amanda’s and most of the staff having members of their families out as well, they had needed to open up the den and dining room upstairs, just to fit everyone who had come. Thankfully, Henry and Tara had been more than happy to pull their families up there for the meals, as a way to escape some of the drama that came from the whole situation. Though, by the time dinner had ended, Alex felt like he had escaped the day relatively unscathed, as he had only had to deal with a few questions up to that point.
All said, Alex would call it the first Thanksgiving that didn’t have some sort of major drama since he woke up in his past. He was thankful for that, along with everything else that he had going for him in his life, but most of all he was thankful for all of those who loved and supported him. With everything going on, Alex knew that without them he would have likely already taken the main system’s AI’s offer to escape reality completely. Especially with what he remembered from how things had gone in his last life and he knew now just how much of a waste that would have been.
When Xeal returned to ED it was already well into day 34 as he found himself next to Luna and Selene, who had just logged in as well. After a few extra kisses just because, it was time for Xeal to make a quick trip to visit Levina. While he was still torn on how to proceed with her, Xeal knew that there was no ignoring what they had, after the experience they had had together. So it was that after having the others use the teleportation gate, he flash stepped back to Anelqua and greeted Queen Aila Lorafir as he passed through. Finally, Xeal stepped through the teleportation network there and into Levina’s cave. Like always, the electrical phoenix was simply lying there as she let time pass. When Xeal arrived, she smiled upon seeing him and spoke.
“Oh, to what do I owe the honor to today?”
“Sorry, I asked Kate to hold off on logging in for a bit to keep this visit as a surprise until the last moment. Especially as I wasn’t sure that I would be able to make it at all.”
“Didn’t want to get my hopes up, only to dash them. At least I know you care. So why are you here today?”
“Because, like all the other ladies in my life, you deserve my time and attention and yet you are the only one who rarely gets any of it.”
“You know your wives have been coming to see me quite often now, right?”
“No, but I assumed that they would start to do so. They want to know you and just what having you in my life will mean for them.”
“That is still weird to me, as my sisters and I just stayed out of each other’s way most of the time before. We didn’t have any of what your wives call shared time with Watcher. We didn’t worry about such things when eternity was the scale by which we measured our time with him.”
“Yet with him you didn’t have eternity and you most certainly won’t have that with me.”
“Yes, time has certainly changed its meaning for me over my existence. From the news that all of my sisters have had a child at this point, I am well aware that-”
“Let’s not base our relationship on what your sisters have found. Rather let’s just agree that you took the biggest risk and suffered the biggest punishment for it.”
“Yep, I am clay in your hands and you could make me do anything you like, yet you would never abuse that power. No matter how much I might like you to.”
“That kind of power over another isn’t something that I want. Though, I will still ensure you behave if you were to ever decide to rampage.”
“Then you better not die before giving me plenty of reasons to care about this world after you’re gone.”
“And there is the rub, as you should already have at least four of them if you want this to work between us.”
“No, until I have a child with you, I will not allow myself to consider your other children as-”
“Levina, what are your sisters’ children to you currently?”
“Banished or worse, though I expect they will start to pop up here or there, now that things have really started to get moving out there, from what I hear and see through Kate.”
“So, the time has already come for other primordial souls to mark my kind?”
“That’s right, Watcher and my sisters were first and we took a large risk by betting on our hosts when we did, but we also are reaping a greater reward for it.”
“So, I should expect tier-6 and tier-7 players to start popping up with enhanced powers like myself?”
“No, by waiting so long our children will have lost any real chance at seeing real success, without you or another guarding their lives closely. Were it not for the need to enter that infernal prison where all primordials, save for myself and my sisters, are trapped to make deals with them directly, I would say that you should reach out to them.”
“But instead, they have to meet similarly to how I and Watcher met, which means that it is random and nothing I can do will allow a player to be marked before they reach tier-3 like I was.”
“Xeal, the fact that you were marked by Watcher then and not once you attempted to reach tier-5, 6 or 7 baffles me when I think about it. No matter how I think about it, all it says is that the universe which decides all of this and you like to call the main system, determined that you were a sure bet.”
