Playing God

I was having a dream, and it wasn’t one from which I wanted to wake up.

It was a good dream. A very good dream. If I didn’t wake soon, I was going to make a mess.

My eyes flicked open to see Lira’s head bobbing up and down, and her tongue swirled around me. I groaned, the sight of her naked body crouched on the bed beside me, combined with the feel of her mouth, sent a shock of pleasure through me, and my hips jerked as I came.

She licked me clean, then snuggled in against my side. “Good morning, my God.”

“Gnn,” I managed, still lost in the throes of pleasure, my brain not fully awake and now swamped with endorphins.

Lira giggled—a sound I’d never heard from her before. It was light and musical, matched the positivity and playfulness she so often exuded. “You did give me permission to do what I wanted,” she teased. “I recall you being very specific about it.”

“No complaints,” I said, when I could find my voice. “No complaints at all.”

“Good.” She nuzzled closer, her warm, nude body pressing against my side. “Morning has arrived, but I don’t want to get up.”

My thoughts drifted back to the goblins and the mine I still needed to clear out. Those little bastards had my stuff, and I owed them payback, too.

“One of us has to,” I said reluctantly, “and I’m afraid it may have to be you. One of the problems with respawning naked is that I now have nothing to wear.”

“Respawning?” she said, placing a kiss on my shoulder. “Interesting word. I can see what you mean.” She pushed herself up, unashamed in her nakedness as she padded around the bottom of the bed and fetched her clothes.

I propped myself on one elbow, watching the pleasures that was Lira first thing in the morning. “What are you going?”

“Back to Fernwick,” she said, wiggling more than was strictly necessary as she pulled on her trousers. It made her breasts jiggle enticingly. She smiled as she saw the direction of my gaze, then slipped her shirt on, pulling her cowl over the top. “Either I go, or you do. And while I’m sure many of the folks in Fernwick wouldn’t mind seeing you naked, it’s probably better if I go.”

She had a point.

“You have a point.” I sighed. “Problem is, I don’t have any money. The gear I need won’t be cheap.”

“No matter,” she said, sitting on a chair as she pulled on her boots. “I have money.” She smiled, then grabbed her pack and cloak. “I’ll see you soon, my God.”

“I’ll pay you back!” I called after her as the door latched. I wasn’t about to let her pay my way.

Besides, I had a hundred gold pieces coming for clearing out the mine, and I would get to that just as soon as Lira returned with new weapons.

She hadn’t asked what I wanted, but I shrugged it off. Lira was nothing if not resourceful. I trusted her judgment.

Which left me the day, and nothing to do. I could hardly go out hunting, weaponless and naked. But I wasn’t about to sit around idle, either. Maybe I could train up my stats. I pulled up my sheet and took a look:

 

I’d forgotten about the perk. Lira had been quite distracting. But first, my skills.

I’d dumped the skill points from my last level up evenly between Archery and Sword. I now considered the Attack stat.

Define Attack.

Attack: a measurement of overall ability to deal damage. Higher Attack increases damage with weapons and unarmed combat.

I didn’t have unarmed combat, but I didn’t think I was likely to need it, either. I wanted to focus on Sword and Archery for now, with Daggers when I had the spare points. But was it better to level a weapon skill, or level attack?

Define Weapon (Sword).

Weapon (Sword): subset of the Weapon skill. A measurement of proficiency with swords. Higher Weapon (Sword) increases damage, accuracy, critical chance and finesse with swords. Higher scores allow for advanced techniques such as parrying, riposting, precise strikes, and disarming.

I could use some of that. It seemed focusing on a specific weapon would be more advantageous than a general Attack, while Attack would help when I used weapons where I had limited skills.

But I wondered how it worked in practice. I’d gained some insights in Herbology automatically. Would Sword work the same way? The only way to find out was to pump the skill, and then kill gobbos. I was okay with that approach.

My Archery was fifteen and Sword was thirteen, so I dropped four into Sword and the other two into Archer, keen to keep both skills equally useful.

Now to address my perk.

Show perks.

Available Perks (Level 5):

Combat-Oriented:

1. Quick Strike: Increases attack speed with light weapons by 10%.
2. Shield Block: Slightly increases the chance to block incoming attacks using a shield.
3. Precise Aim: Small accuracy boost when using ranged weapons (bows, crossbows).
4. Battle Awareness: Slight chance to evade attacks from behind.
5. Second Wind: Gain a small boost to Endurance after a successful dodge or parry.

Non-Combat:

1. Keen Observer: Increases perception, allowing better identification of hidden items or traps.
2. Barter: Get a slight discount when buying from merchants.
3. Herbal Knowledge: Ability to identify common herbs for simple healing remedies.
4. Locksmith Apprentice: Ability to pick basic locks.
5. Traveler’s Endurance: Decreased Endurance drain during long journeys.

Some looked more useful than others, but after my experience with the goblin net trap, there was one obvious choice.

Buy new perk: Keen Observer.

You have gained a new perk: Keen Observer.

With my skills boosted and perk selected, I pulled up my sheet again. My gaze settled on my Strength—only a 10. Not great for a world like this. My high Intelligence would be an asset if I ever trained as a mage, but I had to survive long enough to get there. Could I train my Primary Attributes?

I didn’t know, but I had a whole day to find out. Lira would need at least that long to get to Fernwick, buy my gear, and come back.

Buoyed with new enthusiasm, I stepped out of the hut and, for pretty much the first time in my life, went to the gym.

It was hard, boring work. What did people see in this? Only my motivation to get stronger, to kill goblins, Drakos, and become what Lira needed kept me going. Then again, a girl like Lira was motivation enough for anyone, and maybe that’s why other people went to the gym. It made sense. She had a way of motivating me that nothing in my previous life could ever come close to.

I found the heaviest stones by the bank of the stream and practiced lifting them, careful not to drop one on my bare feet. A sturdy branch on a nearby tree served for pullups. Pushups followed, though I wished I could Google proper form and technique. I had to make do with what I remembered.

I kept going all day, stopping only when my arms, chest and back were too sore to continue, then resting and pushing on.

My Endurance gained a couple of ranks, and even Resilience went up one, but my Strength stayed stubbornly at ten.

A progress bar would’ve been handy. Something to tell me if I was making any headway. But even if my Strength wasn’t benefitting, ranking up Endurance was almost worth the effort.

It wasn’t like I had anything better to do.

It was late afternoon when the creak of leather and the thud of hooves signaled that I was no longer alone. I rose from where I’d been lying on the grass, forcing myself through another set of pushups.

Lira was sitting on her horse, a large bag behind her stuffed with new gear, watching me with a smile and a raised eyebrow.

“I brought you some clothes,” she said, blatantly running her eyes over me. “But now I’m regretting I did.”

I laughed, glancing down at myself. It was nice to hear her making jokes, and without any ‘my Gods’ or ‘Kaelans’ in the mix. On a whim, I brought up her info card, looking to see if the events of the previous night had made much difference:

 

I blinked. Somehow she’d gained a level since the day before, and looking at her skills I had my suspicions how. Again, her points had gone into Devotion and Faith, but unless I was very much mistaken, Attraction had risen further. Divination appearing on the sheet made sense, because she’d told me she’d used it.

But it was the new entry in at number three that drew my attention. Love.

I stared at it for a moment. It wasn’t just some stat—it meant something. Something fragile, yet significant.

I gazed up at my High Priestess, sitting on her horse with that teasing smile. Her devotion had always been there, plain and obvious, but this … this was new.

A two. Small, fragile, and vulnerable.

Another reason not to let her down.