Bending the Rules Pt. 09: Legendary

/Mm, I love that you're conflicted about that. Do you prefer the thrill of the chase and the struggle of winning a lover's sexy attention, or the anticipation of a dirty fuck you know is going to happen?/

(I'm lost. Where are we going with this?)

/I just want to get to know you better, Nuru. See what makes your heart beat a little faster. Anticipate what you're going to like the best, when I get you that nookie I promised. So...?/

(I liked it with Hasina, and Nyarai both. Considering Hasina didn't have a lot of time, I'd be hard pressed to decide between them if I could do it again.)

/Nuru, you and I are going to have so much fun. With Nyarai, was it the power with the rope that you liked, or the certainty of your orgasm that you enjoyed more?/

(I liked how she was getting off on getting tied up. Although it's kind of the same thing to be honest. I was getting off because she couldn't stop me, and they both loved it. And that was even more hot.)

/Would you rather be endlessly teased and build tension without touch, or find more and more intense stimulation and find out exactly what every nerve in your body is capable of?/

(I'll need to try both before I can answer that.)

/Fair enough. I'll just optimistically mark you down as 'both'... Do you want someone to be clearly in charge, or do you want it to be mutually shared?/

(Shared. Not that I don't want to try those others again, but there are so many kinds of people out there, I feel like it needs to start from a place of equality. At least until we figure out what works best for us.)

/Aw, you were doing so well./

(You said there were no wrong answers.)

/There aren't. I was starting to hope you were flexible all the way down the list, that would have been a first for me, bonus EXP. Let's see... skip that one, you wouldn't know. And that one, we'll try that later. That one I think I can answer already. Oh, here's one: would you rather be appreciated for your heart, or your body?/

(My heart. The body's going to fail me at some point.)

/Not necessarily. We'll come back to that. Would you rather try something new, or do something edgy and exciting that you've done before?/

(Something new. But I'll probably want to circle back to everything I've done and explore it deeper before long.)

/Good boy. Hmm, I can answer that... and that... how much shame do you feel about me, anyway? You're way out past the edge of acceptable behavior, according to most of the High Factions./

(I have no regrets, if that's what you mean. I don't talk about you much, but that's because demons aren't polite or healthy to talk about.)

/Of course. Does it excite you, to think about Katlego finding out?/

(Oh look, I'm back to my spot. You'll have to ask me later. My 'weak male mind' can only hold one conversation at a time. Nobody's here, but those thieves can pop up anytime.)

/We need a strategy for that moment, sooner rather than later./

(That moment terrifies me. _She_ terrifies me. I'm not sure if that qualifies as "excited" or not.)

/Don't shy away from that feeling. Embrace it. Feed it. Think back to that look in her eyes - you know the one, where she's riding you, right in the middle of her ecstacy, flushed and tense and can't sit still. Ask yourself if you want her to know why she can't help herself. Think about it and tell me... are you hard right now?/

Nuru looked down.

"Uh... bad time?"

Nuru shook himself, startled.

"No! No, just... haha. Daydreaming."

"Oh yeah. I would be too if I was sitting out here all day. Got a few armors for y- hey!"

Jaheem jumped at the thief who couldn't dodge quickly enough, leaving all the armors he was holding in his arms to fall noisily to the ground. Nuru sighed.

(Told you.)

/I'll be back, Nuru. Don't forget that rug./

(I'm incapable of forgetting anything now.)

/You know what I mean. And get some parchment the same size while you're at it. And some hat pins./

*****

Nuru tugged at Adana.

"What's this about the rug, anyway?" he said over his shoulder. He unrolled a small cotton mat, the cheapest kind the museum had to offer.

/That'll do. You'll only be able to use it once anyway. Now, I'm going to tell you how to draw a symbol. It's very complex, so I want you to draw it in the dirt. We're going to practice this until you get it right./

"You know the sun's going down. I won't be able to see it very well."

/I will, though. You need to commit this to memory, and for you it won't take long. Just do as I tell you. First, create a circle./

Nuru drew it.

/Bigger./

He drew it again.

/Now make a star inside it, half size. Start from the bottom, not the top. Move your hand up, I'll show you where it's going. Nope, farther away. Farther. Too far. Just a little to the left... there./

He followed her instructions slowly, carefully. Text, or runes, or something went around the outside of the star, but inside the circle. Then in the middle, he drew a name.

('D3vi'? Is that... your name? Your true name?)

/I appreciate you didn't say that out loud. No, it is not my true name - but it is one of my names. One of the "more true" names, if you like. I've had it longer than Adana, and it will suffice for our purposes./

(You have more names? Not just two?)

/Well, of course. You didn't think I had Adana my whole life, did you? Even an alias gains power the longer it is used. Most demons probably have at least four names, of increasing age, if they know what's good for them. Archdemons have six or more, I've heard./

"I feel like I'm being cheated with just my two names."

/Well, your True Name can be as long as you want. You can just add more words./

"Not the same thing. Anyway, what else?"

Adana added some runes through her name and then walked him through the order of the lines. He did it a few times before he got it right.

/OK. Now you're going to do that same thing on the parchment. Don't touch anything until I say so./

She cast something, and Nuru's finger started smoking.

"Uh... is this safe?"

/As long as you do as I told you and don't touch anything else. You want to do this before it's completely dark, or do you want to keep asking stupid questions?/

(You're a demon. How am I supposed to know what a stupid question is in this circumstance? Just trust you, is that what you're saying? You tried to kill me.)

/Sigh. True. But you know my reasons. Or do I need to explain it to you again?/

"I think I do know."

/At least you know how to keep sensitive questions in your inside voice. Now, the sooner you do this, the sooner your finger can go back in your nose without hurting anything./

"I don't pick my nose. That's disgusting."

/Don't you? I've heard you humans do that. Perhaps you're an exception./

"Maybe the really stupid ones, or who don't care about personal hygiene."

Nuru pressed his finger onto the paper and drew a circle, and then a nine-pointed star inside of it. He traced her name in the middle, and then some other runes through that. A thick line the width of his finger discolored the paper just a little.

"It looks like a scroll."

/Similar concept. Also you're going to roll it up like one, inside the rug; put the hat pins through the corners first. Get to the temple early and put it down before anyone sees you. Stand on that when you get to the altar to hand out your fresh EXP. Tell me the moment you do it and you'll get what I'm sending you./

"Early? I'm going to sleep then."

/What a luxury./

"Don't you need to sleep?"

/Yes, but I also have preparations to make. Talk to you tomorrow, nerftown-orphan./

"Fine. Quit reminding me of that, and I'll quit rubbing in my privilege."

/That would be lovely./

*****

"Just one more day of this," Nuru said.

The armor game started to become one-sided as the group learned some tactics that gave them the edge, including everyone holding tightly to each other and running together with the brawler in the middle holding everyone steady. Final score was twenty for them, twelve for Jaheem. Nuru practiced his Musical Trance accompaniment and for a third day miracle, no one was seriously hurt.

"I think we have defeated him," the tank said. "We probably won't be back tomorrow."

"Just as well, I won't be here either," Nuru said.

"Victory!"

"Yaaaahhh!"

"Too bad we don't get EXP for this."

"That's why we're off to the Rope Jungle tomorrow."

"Ugh, do we have to?"

"Feel free to find another party, ya pooper."

"Will you let me come back afterwards?"

"Nope, you knew what you signed up for with the no-one-left-behind-to-Level-Fifteen pact. If you back out, you're out forever, and our faction gets no points for the contest for any of us. Traitor."

"Fine, I'm still in, but we've got to go do the Great Hedge Maze next."

"Oh no, you're not leaving us stuck in a huge maze to show off your directional sense..."

Nuru listened as their voices trailed away.

*****

"Sorry I'm late," Ace said. "Ran into a random encounter that I wasn't prepped for, had to recover a bit. You got the money?"

Nuru handed it over.

"Good, good. You want the story now, or tomorrow?"

"You know what? Let's do it now. Come with me."

They went to the armor shop again.

"Makena, prepare to note down the historical record of that piece in escrow, will you?"

"Gladly."

He whipped out some parchment and prepared a quill.

"A little background first," Ace started. "Granite Canyon was once a home to a dwarvish enclave. They were prosperous in their brisk trade of heavy construction materials before Conjuration was introduced in an Expansion and made any material easily accessible to every place in the World Map. The five families signed mutual assistance pacts and had unique armors commissioned by the talented blacksmith living in the area at the time.

"He had a theme going - the common armors we see today all came from designs he created, and his students have since made variations on before creating their own designs. But his masterwork was the five sets created to link the families together and remind them of their bond. They were also enchanted for practical purposes and the heads of household all wore them out on their quests and to their formal gatherings. They became heirlooms, but over time two of the four others have either been stolen or lost. The third was taken for ransom, and when the ransom was not paid it was disenchanted and finally recovered only in its degraded state. The piece is still museum quality and resides in a private collection to this day, but the one you now possess is one of only two surviving fully intact in its original form. It fits the rest of a set that is Uncommon as it is no longer produced but was once popular, but the chest piece is unique.

"As to how I got it - the family whose heirloom it is has fallen on hard times. Kofi, the father, insisted they could never part with it, but Kojo, the son, disagreed. I struck a deal with him to gain access to the storage vault in return for a rather unsavory favor which I've been sworn to never divulge but which would give them back some economic advantage. He tried to back out on me of course, but I brought leverage in the form of evidence that would tie him, and more importantly his family, to the favor I did for him which would cause quite the scandal. Naturally the guards were under strict orders and I could not leave in the normal way and Smoke Portals were blocked inside. I had to use the common version of the armor you gave me as a decoy, and then activate a Smoke Portal against an exterior wall on my way out by jumping out a window and swinging back on a rope tied to the shutter. Having also anticipated this, my first portal linked at an angle to a boat in a great lake near here. I doubt if the birds have ever seen a human body skip like a rock on the water before, but I believe yesterday they did. Once I dragged myself out and caught my breath, I came straight to you."

"That is quite the story," Makena said. "Don't tell me how much of it is true, it's perfect for a collector to buy."

"It's all completely true, I swear," Ace said, indignantly.

"Moderately easy to verify on the most fantastical points I would think," Nuru said. "Give your buyer a guarantee of some percentage money back if it's not true and let them investigate themselves. They'll probably appreciate it even more once they've put the effort in."

"That might work," Makena said. "I've heard of that before."

"Substantial style bonus for you, my friend. You said you'll be there tomorrow?" Nuru said.

"Yes," Ace said. "I simply must see how you're going to give me EXP proportional to all that. I'm also curious to see if anyone else comes up with anything half as interesting."

"Yeah, me too," Nuru said. "Here, give me the rest and I'll see you tomorrow."

Ace gave him another load of armor, and all but wiped out his currency. Once he left, Nuru turned and gave it all to Makena.

"By the gods, that's a full set," Makena said reverently. "I'll get the armor out of escrow and shine it up. It's in great shape but it didn't get the velvet glove treatment on the way here. Mayor's getting it this afternoon. Here's some of the money. I'll split the cost with you for the cleaning, but I'll square with you on the remainder after I've got time to itemize. I'll have more money for you, I just don't know exactly how much yet. Here's your EXP in the meantime."

"Alright. Talk to you soon."

*****

"Hello, Nuru."

The ghost waved his hand and a white circle of fog appeared around them, dampening all sight and sound. He drifted around the outside, looking over his shoulder at Nuru, leering, a predatory grin on his face.

"Afolabi. What are _you_ doing here?"

"Oh, just checking up. Decided to start early, did you? Thought you were going to sneak in the back door with this new business agreement?"

"I wanted to see if it would actually work."

"Mm. And how is that going for you then? How's your coin purse doing?"

"Rather terrible."

"I'm so awfully sorry to hear that," the ghost sneered sarcastically. "Poor little Level Four. Thought he was going to bend the rules, slip out of the path that Dev has laid for all to follow."

"...Dev? What are you talking about? Who's Dev?"

"The creator of all. The source of the very rules you seek to defy. The director of the Bar of Rules Lawyers. Oh, but you won't tell anyone about that, will you? It's very much frowned upon. You might be shocked at the repercussions."

"Cute," Nuru deadpanned. "I won't tell a soul."

"I must insist you swear an oath, of course."

"I do so officially swear. Are we done here?"

"Not quite. The Bar has authorized me to impose two last binding terms on the business arrangement. One is that no armor that is currently needed to fill faction quests is allowed to be requested. Spoils the fun of the popular quests, you know. I have decided that the other will be this: you must keep doing exactly what you're doing. Make it a grand spectacle. Wear the marker of a quest giver, and tell one and all that you're accepting an armor set - any armor set reasonably available, you choose. For one week, take them all, at a fifty percent markup. That'll get the word out, don't you think?"

"I'm going to be in debt for ten years paying that off!" Nuru groaned.

"Advertising isn't free!" Afolabi chortled. "Now, my moment has come. I will be gone, but the terms must be obeyed - you know the punishment."

"Yes," Nuru said, stuffing his fists in his eyeballs.

The ghost giggled. The fog lifted, and so did his voice. He laughed, deep and hearty and long, without stopping to breathe. His edges pulled in, as the sound of his voice rose higher and higher. A breeze stirred, became a rushing wind, and in a moment the laughter faded, turning into a somewhat familiar sound - the sound of a soul being distorted, as he had heard from Adana, but growing higher and higher into a piercing unearthly shriek, and then with a crackle and thunderous boom of lightning, Afolabi was no more. A bolt of white forked from the lightning and struck Nuru, leaving a white mark on his chest that showed through his shirt.

"Oh fuck I am so dead," Nuru gasped.

*****

"The payment due, and delivered," Nuru croaked to himself, scratching at the glowing spot on his chest.

\Tick tock, Nuru.\

"Adana? What are you... Why do you sound weird?"

\Oh no, this isn't your demon friend. This is your ol' pal Afolabi, or that tiny bit of my soul that's left. I'm just here to let you know the specifics of what needs to be done.\

"Seemed straightforward enough to me."

\But conditions apply. Today's the day, Nuru. Go to the town square and declare your quest before noon. Put on the marker and let the drama unfold.\

"Couldn't it wait until tomorrow?"

\No. Every action, every moment that passes drains this wisp a little further. If your task is not complete by then...\

"Gah! Alright, alright!"

Nuru scrambled to his feet and left his drum behind in favor of the mat, dashing towards the temple. A small crowd had gathered there, waiting for him. He skidded to a halt before they saw him, backed up, and went in through the side entrance. He expected Father Emeka to see him any time now, but he was up by the front, lighting candles. Nuru lay the mat down by the altar and snuck back out, went back around and walked up confidently to the group. Ace was demonstrating the manuever he'd made with the rope with a pendant and his arm, showing the swinging motion back towards himself he'd used in his escape.

"Alright ladies and gentlemen, let's get started. Who's got a story?"

All eyes turned to Ace.

"I've already heard him. Time's wasting, but feel free to stick around and tell it again afterwards. Anyone else?"

"Uh... I challenged a dwarf to a drinking game and slipped a sedative in his drink when he wasn't looking. Switched his armor out for the disenchanted one and high-tailed it," one of the thieves offered.

"Great. Fifty points. Anyone else?"

"Held a bunch of skeletons down and stripped them of their armors, put the useless ones on them while they clicked their teeth and cursed at me," another said.

"Ten points," Nuru said.

"Hey, how many points do I get?" Ace said.

"Two thousand."

"Wooo!"

"Dang, nice job man!"

"And that's on top of the base EXP for every piece proportional to value right?" Deron said.

"Correct," Nuru said.

"I looted a ghoul nest with a bunch of them, left the replacements just like I found the originals," another thief offered.

"Liar," another said. "I bet you chucked the whole mess in a hole."

"That's where the nest was!" he protested. "You know ghouls keep things in stupid places."

"Bluff check faaaiiiiilllll."

"Dammit."

"I got up early and stole the pants from a gnome colony guard off his line," another thief said.

Everyone groaned.

"Weak, everybody knows their dress uniform is the cheap kind he didn't want."

"No, no wait! They weren't that style, they were his basic patrol uniform pants, he had to have them. They issued him new pants every single day, and then on the morning of the last day I draped them all over and while he was busy running around collecting them I stole his dress uniform boots which were the expensive ones from inside his tiny house while he'd forgotten to lock the door."

"Three hundred points," Nuru declared.

"How many digits is a point worth?" Deron asked.

"12," Nuru said.

"Not bad considering we made good money on this. You made the points worth enough at our level."

"Yeah, relatively low risk, I'd do it again between faction quests. I still don't know how you have enough to give at your level, though."

"Alright, gimme a second and then I'll pay out," Nuru said. "You don't need to come inside, I'm going to mark them and then you'll get the EXP."