The Realm Between: A LitRPG Saga (Books 7 - 10), page 61
“Zadori,” he said softly, running his fingers over her knuckles.
“Yes?” She smiled at him.
“You know that I would do anything to complete these quests—to bring back my people.”
“Of course.” Her smile fell as she recognized the seriousness in his expression.
“You know that all I care about is bringing back my people. I have blinders on to everything else.”
Princess Zadori hesitated this time, “Yes.”
The lines in the elf’s face softened as he moved on to the uncomfortable part. “I do not want you to feel like I used you, but there is no space in me for love right now.”
“Oh.” Her lips curved into a frown, but she didn’t pull away. For several moments, they sat in silence. Then after a while, she seemed to reanimate, her head bobbing slightly. “I know that we have a quest to complete, and we need to stay focused. I know that nothing matters as much as collecting all the stones and bringing the elves back. But there will come a time when all of that is over. I do not think it is wrong for us to enjoy these small lulls between the storms we are constantly facing.”
The tightness in his chest increased. It was as Jin had feared. She had taken his words the wrong way.
“Zadori.” He looked up at her with visible discomfort. “When all this is over, I will have to go back to my people.”
The princess nodded before perking up a bit. “Don’t you think that if we wed, it would make for a great strategic alliance. Everything we said could become the truth. The two of us together,” she placed her hand on top of his and gave it a gentle squeeze, “we could change history. We could merge our races and create a world where elves and men live side by side.”
The optimism in her voice only made him feel worse, but he couldn’t skate around the truth any longer.
“There is someone else I love,” he blurted out.
“Oh.” Princess Zadori quickly withdrew her hand from his as if the sheer act of touching him was betraying the other woman. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know. You’ve never spoken about her before.” The words came out in a jumble—a clumsy mask to hide the pain behind them.
“I never spoke of this person before because nothing matters until we collect all the stones. I can’t afford to look to a future that’s uncertain. But I also don’t want to continue to betray the feelings that I have.
“What you and I did…What we had to do—”
“Stop.” The princess held her hand out. “You don’t need to say anymore.” She hugged herself, surrendering to sadness. “I understand.”
He sighed, looking up at the two squirrels that had finally found each other. They sat together on a tree limb, flicking their tails, observing the play going on below.
The elf could not dwell on hurt feelings. They still had a job to do.
“We will have to keep up appearances until we leave Smallguard. We can hold hands, but I will not bed you again,” he told her, unable to force himself to look in her direction.
“I understand,” Princess Zadori repeated.
“I thank you for understanding.” Jin stood, feeling a bit insensitive, like he was speaking to an underling. “We should go back now. If we stay away for too long, Elohrel might begin to question why.”
“Yes. We should go back.” The princess got up, a shell of the woman she had been when they’d entered the forest. The light had faded from her eyes, and though she was no longer frowning, her face held an expression of loss.
Jin was worried she wouldn’t be able to hide her emotions, but the second they reached the gate to Smallguard, she perked back up as if the conversation hadn’t even taken place. He was grateful for her superior acting skills, but he couldn’t help but wonder what the long-term repercussions of his actions would be.
GOD OF LIFE
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
THE REALM – DAY 781
It’s amazing how tiring it can be lying on your back all day. That’s what Azure thought when he was finally unchained for the night.
“Get some rest. You’re going to have another long day tomorrow,” the guard told him before blowing out the horrid incense that had kept Azure in a numb stupor for hours on end.
“Can I bathe?” he asked, feeling sticky and sweaty and generally gross.
They had retrieved him early that morning for a bath. Once more, he had been attended by a woman who scrubbed his skin bare. It had, admittedly, been the best part of his day.
Breakfast had consisted of a meager ration of fruit and bread. Lunch never came, and Azure was unsure if he’d be fed dinner. The slop from the night before had barely sustained him until the morning. And though he hadn’t done anything physical all day, he’d run out of energy a little before noon. While Azure would never admit it to any of his friends, he was pretty sure he’d slept through at least one of the women he’d been with that day—something he had previously not thought possible.
The guard left without answering his question.
Azure sat up and rubbed his wrists. Even though his limbs weren’t stretched very far, he’d still managed to acquire a rash from the chaffing of the metal shackles against his skin. He was a few points of Health down, but nothing that wouldn’t recover naturally with sleep.
It wasn’t much longer before Azure was brought a sandwich. The bread was dry, and there was barely any meat in it, but the vegetables were abundant. While it was a bit bland, the meal was definitely more filling than the one from the night before.
He hadn’t even finished eating before Jin walked into his room. It seemed that the elf had recovered his armor, which meant that things must be improving in the outside world. Being drugged and chained up all day, Azure had no idea what was happening regarding the peace talks, or if they were even happening at all.
“You’re less naked,” he mumbled around a mouthful of food.
“And you’re very naked.” Jin looked him up and down, his nose wrinkling. “My Gods, it reeks in here.”
“Can’t be helped.” Azure shrugged. Nothing about the situation was of his making.
The elf pushed the door back open to let some of the stench out. “I came to tell you that we should be out of here tomorrow night, but The Sapphire Eye Warriors require you to test a trial system they’ve come up with. You’ll be battling some of their warriors.”
“Hopefully, they’ll give me some time to limber up beforehand.” Azure shook the soreness out of his arms. “I’m not exactly at my best right now.”
“I’m honestly not sure what they’re expecting,” Jin admitted. “Whatever the case, I wanted you to be ready for it.”
“Will I have time to train first?” Azure didn’t want to embarrass himself by being defeated too quickly.
The elf pressed his lips into a line. “I don’t think they’re going to give you time to train first. You have…” he hesitated on the word, “breeding duties again tomorrow morning.”
Azure groaned. “I never thought it was possible to not look forward to sex until now.”
Jin chuckled, but his expression quickly settled into seriousness. “Do not, under any circumstances, throw any of the fights. It won’t serve anyone any good.”
“Understood.” Azure nodded.
The elf took a step toward the door. “Now I have to go tell Rerdam and Uden the same. I’m not sure if Uden will be fighting, but it’s best he’s informed too, just in case.”
“Of course.” Azure’s head bobbed again, and Jin excused himself, leaving his friend alone to contemplate the next day’s trials.
Sleep came surprisingly easy, but Azure wasn’t exactly excited about waking up. Rinse and repeat. He was fed, bathed, then chained down and run through a gauntlet of women whose faces and names he could never hope to remember thanks to that damnable incense. The only blessing was that he was released earlier than the night before.
While the effects of the incense were wearing off, he was presented with a leather tunic and breeches to wear, as well as a pair of boots.
You have received the following items:
Leather Tunic
Defense: +8
Type: Light Armor
Durability: 13/20
Item Class: Common
Quality: Poor
Weight: 1.4 kg
Leather Breeches
Defense: +9
Type: Light Armor
Durability: 11/20
Item Class: Common
Quality: Average
Weight: 0.5 kg
Leather Boots
Defense: +4
Type: Light Armor
Durability: 11/20
Item Class: Common
Quality: Average
Weight: 1.8 kg
The items fit him like a glove, the caramel color of them quite becoming on him. It felt strange wearing clothes after nearly two full days of nudity. There was a weight to the garments that made him feel slightly unbalanced, though Azure assumed it wouldn’t last long, and he was right. By the time a guard came to retrieve him, he had gotten used to his new clothes.
He was led toward the back of the village. Just outside of a line of huts was a barren patch of land. Practice dummies were set up on either side, determining the perimeter of the small training grounds. The area was encircled by women clamoring for action. Analyzing as many of them as he could, Azure received a notification.
Congratulations! The skill: Analyze has reached Level 27. This skill allows you to see how dangerous a foe is in relation to your own level. Use this skill frequently to avoid getting yourself killed. You can now spend 20 Mana to see your foe’s Health bar.
Finally, a useful perk! Azure immediately used it to re-Analyze several of the women he’d already looked at only to find their Health bars full and with no determining numbers beneath them. He could only guess that he would just see the red bar shorten as he shaved off Health from the person’s life. This would definitely be useful in real battles going forward. Not so much when it came to fighting an enemy he wasn’t allowed to injure.
The sea of women parted for him to be led in the middle of the training grounds. As soon as they did, Azure caught his first glimpse of Jin and Princess Zadori standing on the opposite side of where he’d entered. They whispered to one another, but the other voices around Azure were so loud that he couldn’t hope to hear what they were saying.
After a few moments, Elohrel raised her hands into the air and called for silence while she walked toward Azure. The women immediately calmed.
“Today, there will be a trial to test a possible method of compromise with Hidden Gem Mining Company,” Elohrel spoke to her people. “All of you have had training experience. All of you have gone on hunts. But few of you have faced our greatest enemy. Man.” She pointed at Azure. A soft mix of cheers and booing rolled through the crowd before it settled again. “No longer would I have you lie with curious idiots who wander beyond our borders. In Smallguard, we are building a community of strength. Of warriors. And to make more warriors, I would increase our strength by breeding with strong men. This is a test to see who is worthy, both of us and our sapphires.”
This time, the voices that rose were all in approval, though the cheering lasted for but a moment before Elohrel began speaking again.
“Three trials this man will have to face. First, he will battle a first-year warrior. Next, he will battle a more seasoned warrior. And finally, for sport,” she smirked, “he will battle me.”
This seemed to get everyone excited. Chatter and cheering coiled around the training grounds like a scarf.
“Here are the rules of these skirmishes,” the tribe leader said, forcing the villagers into silence. Her gaze was on everyone but Azure, even though the rules applied directly to him. “Opponents will fight until one must submit. No major wounds shall be inflicted, but minor flesh wounds are allowed and will not stop the trial. Should one of our warriors be greatly injured, whether by accident or on purpose,” Elohrel turned to address Azure finally, her eyes narrowing, “their opponent will face the same injury or worse. Do you understand?”
“Yes.” Azure nodded.
“Good.” Her head slowly rotated back toward the crowd, though her hand extended to gesture to Azure. “This is Sir Azure Galvan, Captain of the Royal Guard to King Jin Umewraek. His first opponent of the evening will be our very own Sural Cragspell.”
As soon as she said the name, a girl in her early teens stepped out from the crowd wearing a full set of armor and holding a double-bladed polearm. While the girl wasn’t the least bit intimidating, the weapon she wielded looked nasty. Made of one solid piece of metal, the blades were long and curved at both ends.
The girl stood at chest-level to Azure, with wispy blonde hair that seemed a bit unkempt. She wore a stone-serious expression, as if she didn’t fear the battle to come at all.
For a moment, Azure wondered if he was meant to fight unarmed until Sesna walked up and presented him with a wooden dagger. “Here.” She offered it with no sense of apology.
Azure gave the weapon a sardonic look before taking it.
You have received the following item:
Wooden Training Dagger
Attack: +1-3
Type: One-Handed Weapon
Durability: 7/20
Item Class: Common
Quality: Average
Weight: 0.2 kg
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he mumbled under his breath, pretty sure he’d seen toothpicks with better stats.
There was no doubt that Sural had the advantage. Her long, bladed weapon gave her a better reach. To top it off, the full metal armor she wore would make it difficult for Azure to land a hit. Only her head and her hands were exposed. If he wanted to do any real damage, he’d have to go for the chinks between her armor. With no metal protecting him, every part of Azure was vulnerable to her blades.
He glanced at Jin, both surprised and annoyed that the elf had agreed to such unfair terms. Jin only looked on with a straight face, not seeming to have a problem with the situation.
“Opponents, take the field!” Elohrel said, calling the girl forward.
As she approached, Azure’s attention shifted to her youth. All thoughts of combat aside, he realized that she was even younger than he had first thought. Maybe even only ten years old. He would feel horrible if he won. What adult man wanted to beat up on a child? A silent wish that Child Protective Services existed in The Realm flooded his brain, but there wasn’t much time for it because Elohrel called for the battle to begin.
Sural lifted her polearm, holding it in both hands in preparation to block any incoming attacks, but Azure wasn’t about to make the first move. Rushing in would be stupid when he didn’t have the advantage of the longer weapon. All she would have to do would be to step back and thrust, and Azure wasn’t even minutely convinced that she wouldn’t kill him without a second thought. Everything about this protected the women—not so much the opponents they were facing.
I’m not really sure how this prepares her for a real-life situation, he thought. Had we met out on the field, I would be fully armored and with my sword. Sure, my reach still wouldn’t be as long, but we would be on closer to equal footing. The odds of her running into a man with a training dagger are slim to none.
The women around them jeered at the uneventful fight while they waited for one of the opponents to charge forward. Azure would not fall to peer pressure. He knew better. Besides, the elven king and princess were not making any sound at all. They, too, knew that Azure needed to be patient.
Sural’s eyes began to dance nervously around her tribemates as they egged her toward advancing. Azure just needed to wait.
As expected, it wasn’t much longer before the pressure became too much for the inexperienced fighter to bear. With surprisingly swift motions, she swung her polearm around to stab at Azure, but he had anticipated it long before she even moved. He rotated to the side to avoid the hit, then gripped the bar of the polearm and wrenched it from the girl’s hands before turning the weapon on her. The blade touched the chest plate of Sural’s armor, and Azure used it to push her back, forcing her to lose her balance and fall to the floor. Her eyes grew wide with fear, and she quickly raised her arms in surrender. A cacophony of booing climbed around them as Azure secured his victory, though there was no pride in it with his opponent being so young.
“Better luck next time, kid,” he told Sural as he retracted the spear and offered her his hand to stand.
She refused the gesture, tears welling in the corners of her eyes. As soon as Sural was on her feet, she rushed him.
Azure wasn’t sure what to do, so he just held his arms out to the sides to show the tribe leader that he had no intentions of fighting the girl further. Leaving himself wide open, Sural took the advantage to gift him with the classic kick to the groin. The wind left Azure’s lungs as he crumpled over. Cheering replaced the booing surrounding them as Sural reclaimed her polearm and turned it on Azure, though he was too distracted by his pain to care much.
“That’s enough,” Elohrel said with a smile, calling the girl off.
Azure glared at both of them. Clearly, he had won the battle fair and square. He did not condone sore losers or dirty tricks, but apparently, both were praised here.
“Good job.” The tribe leader patted the fledgling warrior on the shoulder before sending her back to join the others.
“I think I won that one,” Azure told her for good measure as he found his way back to his feet.
“Think what you will.” Elohrel brushed him off before addressing the crowd again. “Next up is Heshela Glowdraft.”
Azure recognized the girl who stepped forward this time as the one who had kissed Jin when they’d first entered Smallguard. Unlike the child he had just fought, the teenager was dressed in leather armor similar to his own, though much fancier. Her carob-colored hair was pulled back into a ponytail, her brown eyes large as they assessed him. In her hand was a wooden shortsword. Upon seeing it, relief flooded Azure.
