Ch 84

  A day—or at least what felt like a day to Matt—passed as he diligently worked with Apricity, sparring between bouts of battling monsters. They managed to defeat four more creatures that were the same as the first two they encountered. Although this wasn't sufficient for them to gain any additional levels, there was a growing confidence that stemmed from repeatedly facing the same type of monster. Matt still needed to concentrate on getting an arm around their necks to restrain them, but he had successfully incorporated grabbing one of their front legs into his routine about half the time. This maneuver allowed him to twist their bodies in a way that prevented them from reaching him with their claws, although it did make it more challenging for Apricity or Bob to attack effectively. Nevertheless, the results remained consistent, and they went to sleep with the understanding that such fights would become a regular part of their routine for the foreseeable future.

  Upon waking, Matt discovered Apricity nestled into him, using his shoulder as a makeshift pillow while his arm had instinctively wrapped around her, drawing her close. He sighed at the sight, knowing it would take considerable willpower to remind himself that, despite this seemingly ideal scenario for a relationship, he needed to stand firm as he gently woke her. As Apricity became aware of their intimate position, her gaze challenged his resolve, but he steeled himself and spoke before he could change his mind.

  "This can't keep happening," he said firmly.

  "What do you mean? Isn't sharing body heat one of the first rules of survival?" she replied, a hint of playfulness in her tone.

  "If we were trapped in a frozen tundra, sure. But we're not, so there's no need to sleep together," he explained, trying to maintain his composure.

  "It makes me feel safe," Apricity admitted, vulnerability creeping into her voice. "Please, I promise not to push for more, but at least let me use you like a safety blanket."

  "The problem is that I like it too," Matt confessed, worry lining his words. "And one of these times, I might take liberties without thinking, and that is going to—"

  "I'm fine with that," she interjected, her voice steady and sincere.

  "I'm not. Apricity, now is not the time for a fling or even starting a relationship with the intent to keep it going. We need to stay focused on survival, and that means getting stronger in every way we can," Matt asserted, his tone firm yet gentle.

  "Then consider keeping your distance as training because I am not going to stop snuggling when it makes falling asleep so much easier," Apricity replied, her voice laced with determination.

  Matt frowned, recognizing that Apricity wasn’t going to back down unless he really forced the issue, something he was reluctant to do as it would only complicate things further. Yet, a slight smile tugged at his lips, reminding him of why he had avoided relationships in his adult life. So, he decided to shift tactics with his next response.

  "You wanted to know more about my life, so let me tell you about my experience dating," he offered, attempting to steer the conversation into safer waters.

  "No girl wants to hear about who a guy they're interested in has slept with," Apricity interjected, her expression cold.

  "Well, the girl I'm going to talk about didn't even get past a quick kiss on the lips. You see, as usual, I thought I knew what I wanted. I'll leave her name out of it, but she was a member of the cheerleading squad, and her athletic physique certainly showed it. Back then, I believed that a physically active girl with a bit of drive who would push me to be better was perfect for me. What I failed to notice was her neediness and the control she sought to have, as it seemed she needed me to be with her constantly. Our relationship lasted two weeks before I called it off and dealt with the backlash. I quickly learned that cheerleaders don't take breakups well. Within a week, the official story circulating was that she had broken up with me because I couldn't keep my eyes to myself. Thankfully, I hadn't slept with her; if I had, it would likely have ended even worse for me, considering what happened to a guy a year later who broke up with her after a more serious relationship."

  "Sounds like she was a real winner," Apricity commented snidely, her eyes narrowing slightly.

  "She was a good experience for me," Matt replied thoughtfully, "It helped me avoid certain traps, like being in a relationship with someone who has dependency issues."

  "I don’t have dependency issues," Apricity retorted, her voice firm.

  "A week ago, I would have believed you," Matt said, his tone softening, "but now, can you honestly say you haven't developed a few since everything happened?"

  "That's different," Apricity replied, taking a deep breath before sighing deeply. "I don’t need you to hold my hand all day or anything like that. I just need to feel safe when I try to sleep right now. Things almost went really badly for me, and even if it was this Tempormr you spoke of who brought me to you just when everything was about to go horribly wrong, it was still because of you that I was saved. So, for me, you're my safety, and you're the only safety to be had right now, according to what my feelings are telling me."

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  "Then we need to fix that and restore your sense of safety within yourself."

  "Matt, have any of your high school flings ever taught you that women don't always want you to fix things when we talk about them?"

  "Yeah, but that's the biggest load of nonsense I've ever heard. If there's a problem and I care about it, I'm going to try to fix it. Any woman who has an issue with that is not someone who will work out in the long run. So, do you want to address this issue or just ignore it?"

  "You can be a real jerk sometimes."

  "Is that a no?"

  "Fine, if you think you can fix it, go ahead. But if you make it worse, you have to deal with it my way."

  "Deal," agreed Matt with a smile. "You go along with what I come up with, and I won't object to you snuggling in the meantime."

  "Oh, and what exactly are you planning?" challenged Apricity, eyeing him curiously.

  “Nothing yet. I know that you and Bob need to reach level 9 at the very least before you can start to feel safe. So, for now, that will be my focus as I try to think of a solution,” Matt explained, his mind already racing with ideas.

  “Alright,” Apricity nodded, trusting his judgment.

  “Then let’s get to it,” Matt said with determination. He got to his feet, and after they took a bit of time to prepare for the upcoming battle with monsters, they were right back at it. The cave was eerily quiet, and it once again took what felt like hours before any monsters showed up. But once more, they found themselves facing two steel hounds. Just like the two times before, they quickly dealt with them, their teamwork seamless and efficient.

  They were just about to retreat when suddenly Matt felt a sharp pain in his head, accompanied by a rush of accomplishment. A moment later, the feeling turned to confusion and worry, and an image of himself looking pained flashed in his mind.

  “Bob, is this you?” asked Matt, glancing at the bobcat, who was acting differently than he had after the prior telepathic thoughts. “If so, tone it down; it feels like you’re pounding on my head.”

  A moment later, the pain subsided to what felt like an itch in his mind as Matt looked at Bob, pondering what to do about this new connection. For the time being, they both returned to the safe room, where they settled in to discuss and experiment with their newfound link. They discovered that the more Bob pushed, the more discomfort Matt experienced, but it never reached the intensity it had when the connection first formed. Although words were beyond Bob’s ability to use effectively for a full conversation, a bit of experimentation revealed that he could send over a few command words and names. Each of these was a single word that Bob had associated with specific concepts like "good," "food," "go," "come," "give," and, much to Matt’s dismay, "fish."

  It turned out that Bob was very unhappy with the lack of fish and wanted Matt to rectify the situation. The only problem was that Matt wasn't in a position to do so, but Bob didn’t seem to understand this. Thankfully, watching Matt try to explain the fish shortage to Bob was doing wonders for Apricity's mood as she laughed at the absurdity of the situation. Amidst the laughter and confusion, the rest of the day passed with them successfully defeating six more monsters. This victory also allowed Apricity to reach level 5, and she excitedly declared that she had gained the option of choosing "dungeon guide" as a path, which she eagerly selected.

  While Matt worried that she might be choosing a path that was too narrow, he couldn't deny its usefulness for their current situation. Especially when Apricity shared her newly acquired skills. The first skill was dungeon exploration, which they discovered allowed her to see farther in the dungeon than Matt when they stepped outside the safe room. The second skill was dungeon mapping, which enabled Apricity to generate what she described as a mini-map, much like those found in video games, while they were in the dungeon. Remarkably, she could also summon a larger version of the map when she willed it, although this would tire her out and proved less useful as it only displayed the areas she had already explored. To Matt, this meant they had a reliable method to safely navigate the dungeon once Bob and Apricity reached level 9, at the very least.

  After what felt like ten arduous days of battling, averaging around eight monsters a day, both Bob and Apricity had reached level 8. However, Apricity wasn't content with the path options available from her latest level-up and was eager to expand their exploration efforts to potentially unlock better choices. Unfortunately, Matt didn't agree with this plan. Despite Apricity's improvements, both instances where she attempted to fight a monster had ended with Matt needing to intervene and rescue her from harm. Each time, he also had to heal her injuries. Bob was only marginally better in combat; he managed to handle only one enemy at a time but struggled with more.

  With most of the monsters they had encountered up to that point appearing in pairs, Matt couldn't shake the feeling that they might be surrounded by two pairs of monsters if they didn't have the safety of the secure room behind them. This nagging concern was what kept him constantly resisting her suggestions to explore further whenever she brought them up. They were in the midst of one such heated argument when they were abruptly interrupted by a new figure materializing before them. Greg had arrived, looking far more bedraggled than Matt remembered. He scanned the room before his eyes landed on Matt, and his face lit up as he began to speak.

  "Man, am I glad to see you again. Things back on that other world have been getting really hectic in the last few days."

  "Right, is that why it looks like you just survived a battle?" Matt asked, eyeing Greg’s disheveled appearance.

  "Oh, yeah. Mando accused everyone at the fort of collaborating with goblins, which, to be fair, was true. But he blew it out of proportion, and, well, that war you wanted to avoid has started up."

  "A war?" Apricity questioned, her eyes widening. "You didn't say anything about a war."

  "Who is she?" Greg asked, brushing off some dust and looking puzzled.

  Matt shook his head and introduced them, gesturing between the two. "Apricity, Greg. Greg, Apricity. Bob, Greg. Greg, Bob. Now that we have that out of the way—"

  "Wait, that bobcat is Bob? Your patron really did come through for you. Too bad he seemed to stop caring about us once you were gone. Everyone from our core group is still alive, and the fort and those inside are safe, but we've been raiding the forces trying to siege it for two nights now."

  "Greg, you're getting ahead of yourself," Matt interjected, concern evident in his voice. "Let's take a moment to breathe before you share all the details."

  "Sure, any chance you have some food?" Greg asked, his stomach audibly growling.

  Matt pulled out some of the monster meat they had salvaged from the steel hounds. They had cooked it using the little wood they had left, along with the fat from the hounds themselves. This involved rendering the fat when they had more wood available, but since then, a pot had been transformed into their makeshift fire pit. The aroma of the cooked meat filled the room, providing a brief moment of comfort amidst the chaos as they waited for Greg to share his story.