Dark Fate: Book 2 – The First Night
: Chapter 15

The reunion was interrupted by Ted Anderson, the building superintendent, stepping to the front of the group. “All right, who are you three, and what are you doing in here after everyone else evacuated? Don’t you know there’s monsters all over the place?”

I shook my head as I looked over Ted’s information. Warrior was the lowest of the ‘melee fighter’ classes. It, and a few others, were derided as ‘NPC Classes’ by others, due to the fact that they were substantially weaker than even their basic counterparts, like Fighter or Monk. If he picked Warrior, it meant that he didn’t have any good options, or he was dumb enough that he thought it ‘sounded cool’. Still, even Warriors were useful as meat shields and cannon fodder for low-level characters.

I took a breath and looked at him. “Were. There were monsters all over the place. And we’ve been hunting. You’ll be happy to know that we destroyed the spawning ground in the basement, the ‘dungeon’ according to the System. The information we got said that, with the core of the dungeon destroyed, the spawn rate of the goblins nearby should be reduced.”

Rachel gasped. “You went hunting those monsters? And you took Talia and this other girl along with you? How could you be so reckless?”

I held out a hand to keep Hibari from speaking, since she was clearly about to go off on Rachel. I simply smiled at the girl, and said, “My ladies accompanied me because they were never safer than when they were in my presence. And if I hadn’t killed the dungeon when it was weak, it would have started sending out more powerful monsters than the little level 1 and 2 goblins that were spread throughout the building. There was a Level 7 in the dungeon, you know.”

“Level 7?”

“Fuck, I’m only Level 2!”

“I still have 20 XP to go to get to level 2!”

“What do we do? We can’t fight against a level 7!”

“What are you, an idiot? He said he killed it, so there’s obviously a way to kill a level 7 as a level 1! They’re probably not all that tough. They’re goblins, y’know? They’re the first things you slaughter in any RPG!”

I shook my head as I listened to the crowd. That kind of thinking was going to get people killed. Especially since they thought I was only level 1 or 2.  Idiots. But it wasn’t my problem if people thought they could just somehow find a way to win out of nowhere, like an anime protagonist. Plot armor didn’t exist in real life!

Ted got in my face again, and said, “So, what exactly did you do? I need to know what damage was caused by the goblins and what was caused by people for the insurance claims and paperwork for the property owner. That means I need you to verify any damage to the building you might have caused, and so janitorial fees can be applied to your rent as per the rental agreement.”

I just looked at him. “Ted, you are so out of your fucking league right now. This is the goddamn apocalypse. Monsters are appearing everywhere, people are seeing blue screens, magic exists, and probably half the building’s tenants have been killed in an afternoon, and you’re going to try and talk to me about a damn rental agreement?” I said the words slowly, making sure to enunciate every syllable perfectly, as if talking to someone who was a bit not all there, mentally.

Actually, I didn’t have anything against Ted, in particular. He was a decent guy, as building supers went. Kept the building in good repair, responded to community complaints fairly, and didn’t come screaming at people for the rent check if it was one minute past the time it was due. But he just wasn’t cut out for this new world. He couldn’t handle all the changes, which screwed with everything he knew about the world.

I almost felt bad for the man, really. He was an anachronism, and, in the last timeline, he simply couldn’t keep up, and ended up dying after the first week, as he attempted to ‘maintain order’ and got eaten by an eight-foot-tall praying mantis that was trying to get to the goblin dungeon in the basement, drawn by the higher mana coming from the dungeon.

I turned my back on the sputtering Ted, and looked at the other residents. “Like I said, we killed all of the monsters we found already, but more may appear like they did the first time. So, I recommend none of you sleep alone, and you have people keep watches, just in case. And if you see blood in an apartment, probably don’t bed down there, because that means something likely spawned there. Don’t want another goblin spawning by you while you sleep, right?”

Turning back to my pets, I said, “Come on, girls.” I started walking towards the stairs, and Talia and Hibari turned and followed at my heels. The rest of the residents were too stunned to say or do anything. All except for one couple.

Rachel and her boyfriend followed after us. Or, rather, after Talia. Huh. I hadn’t noticed that Bill was a Slave Master. But then, I didn’t have any reason to talk with him like this last time, and I hadn’t yet gotten in the habit of inspecting people I met that I developed after that demon captured me by pretending to be a damsel in distress. Not exactly fun times.

As we began walking up the stairs, Rachel called out, “Talia, wait! Why are you just going along with this guy? Who is he, anyways?”

Talia looked at me, and I nodded shortly. Turning to look at Rachel, she said, “He is Zayn Greene, the man who lived next door to us. And I am going along with him because he is my Master. Without him, I would be dead by now.”

“Master? Wait, what do you mean by that?” Rachel chased us up the stairs as we quickly moved to the third floor. “Talia, you don’t have to go with him if you don’t want to! Bill’s a Rogue, and I’m a Priestess, and we’ve both gotten to level 2 already, so we can protect you!”

I stopped at the door to the third floor, and said, “Well, Talia, what do you want to do? Would you rather come with me, and get fucked senseless all night, or would you rather go with your friend and her boyfriend, who are lower level than you, so they can ‘protect’ you?”

Bill, the rogue, got a lecherous look on his face, when he was sure that Rachel wasn’t looking his way. I could just imagine the fantasies running through his head. However, he shook his head, to try and think with his big head instead of the little one, and said, “What, you mean to say that you’re already past level 2? We’ve been killing monsters across the city! What have you been doing?”

Talia looked at Bill, and shooke her head. “I am already level 5, as is my Master. Hibari is only level 2, but that is because we came across her after we finished slaughtering the goblins, and she hasn’t had the Master’s training like I have.”

Rachel looked gobsmacked. “But are you really going to have sex with this man, just because he helped you kill some monsters? I know we never saw eye to eye on that stuff, but I thought you were committed to saving yourself for marriage!”

“No, I’m not going to have sex with him because he helped me kill monsters. I’m going to have sex with him because he’s my Master, and he wants me to please him. And because he’s already taken me, more than once, so it isn’t like doing it again will make that much of a difference to my ‘purity’.”

Bill licked his lips. “Man, if I had known you were like this, I would have suggested to Rachel that we try some fun ages ago. You and her both have the same Sub/Dom fetish, huh? Guess that’s why you’re such good roommates. But listen, dump this guy, and come with us. Tomorrow, the cabs will be running, and we can go over to my place and ride out the craziness. I have a full setup in the basement, for all those times when Rachel ‘misbehaves’.”

Rachel turned to look at her boyfriend, shock and embarrassment on her face. “Bill! I can’t believe you!”

Bill just smiled, and reached over to grope Rachel’s breast, eyes locked on Talia’s as he did so. “Shush, Rachel. You already knew I wanted to get a piece of that ass. But I was respecting the whole ‘no sex until marriage’ thing, so I didn’t push it. Now, with that out of the picture, no reason she can’t join in. Didn’t you tell me you fantasized about her going down on you while you rode me before?”

“BILLLY!”

Right, that had gone on long enough. I wasn’t about to let this little punk think he could get one over on me, and start taking my things. Stepping in front of Talia, I smiled, and said, “Tell me, Bill, I see you’re a Slave Master. A wonderful class for a dominant who enjoyed the lifestyle before the Apocalypse. I wonder, have you already enslaved Rachel over there?”

He smirked. “Of course. She’s been a nice, obedient little pet, ever since the first time we started ‘experimenting. She gets off on the roleplay, and now the System has made it official! And I can use it on anyone, not just her. So, if you know what is good for you, you’ll back off.”

“Ah, to be so young and foolish once again.” I chuckled, drawing a dark glare from him. “You are fundamentally misinformed about the true nature of the mark, you know, especially about its limitations. For instance, you can’t enslave someone or something that is already enslaved. And you can’t enslave another Slave Master without going through a formal duel for control. Most importantly, the victim has to be helpless in some way, like being grappled and held down with overwhelming force, for the brand to be properly applied.”

Rachel blinked. “Wait, does that mean you’re a Slave Master, too? And that’s how you got Talia to have sex with you? You bastard, you’re worse than the monsters that have been running through the city!”

Bill just eyed me, appraisingly, almost as if he were looking at me for the first time. “So, you are a Slave Master, then? Then that makes things simple. I’m willing to buy Talia from you. You’d still have ninja girl there to keep your cock wet, and you’d get some money, right? I’m seeing Talia’s market price listed as $6000. I’ll give you eight grand, if you let me buy her. You come away with a healthy profit, and free up one of your Brand slots for some tail that will fight it more, yeah?”

I chuckled, and grabbed a handful of Talia’s ass, causing her to moan and lean against me. Maintaining eye contact with Bill, I said, “Oh, I think I’ll keep them both. But if you’re wanting to see what it would be like getting balls deep in this fine ass, we might play on the balcony later.”

I was goading him on, and I knew it. He knew it. Rachel knew it. The girls knew it. And he still did the one thing I hoped he would do.

“Fine, you want to play it like that? I’ll shut you up right now! I challenge you to a duel!”

“I accept.”

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