Starry Resonance Ch. 01

Forcefully dispelling the depressing thoughts, he went back to where Selt was waiting. "I'd tell you to be careful, but I guess I'm the one that's about to have a rough time," he said.

"I'm always careful," Selt said, excited that they were finally going deeper into the dungeon together.

"Maybe I'll try that from now on," Yvain said, opening the double doors to an open sky and a forest currently on fire.

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"Don't rush too far ahead. We're way over our heads here." The destruction before Yvain reminded him of the beast he had recently fought. It was as if a giant had thrown a tantrum and mauled everything in its path. Craters with no perceivable bottom, gashes on the ground wider than Great Divider, massive trees ripped off their roots and/or burnt.

Selt could survive many things, but Yvain wasn't sure even the kid could get out of such a confrontation alive. Be that as it may, such thoughts were wasted on the scrawny youngster who fearlessly led the way.

Every part of Yvain wished to just stay in the great hall and wait for rescue or the dungeon to end by itself, but neither were a possibility. He didn't know how he survived in the end nor did they have supplies to have an extended stay. And as much as he loved a challenge, he wasn't one to throw his life away for no reason.

Selt cut his exploration short and turned, his forehead creased, "Is that fear I hear in your voice?"

Yvain couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic with him or not but decided to answer honestly regardless.

"It's apprehension," he said. "For all intents and purposes, I died in this dungeon." He went on to explain what he went through after he left the great hall. Selt remained still, and Yvain didn't urge him to move as he got lost in the recounting.

"I've never felt so helpless before," Yvain's eyes regained focus. "If we manage to get out of here, I think we should abandon the idea of leaving Empryon for now and work more on our preparations. Maybe even merge with a stronger guild."

After a second or two of silence, Selt spoke, "So that's why you were naked when you walked in."

"Come on Selt, I'm being serious," Yvain said with exasperation. He should have known it'd be pointless to try and have a serious conversation with him.

"I'm being serious too!" Selt said. "I had my act perfectly planned out and you suddenly walk in with your big ol' swinging dick, ready to slap me across the room with it," the kid slapped the air in an exaggerated manner. "For a second I didn't know how to react and almost broke character."

Ignoring the mention of his genitals, Yvain did feel a bit silly now that Selt mentioned his nakedness. It wasn't the perfect attire to discuss their future considering the circumstances and the participants. "We'll continue this conversation later, it's not like we can do anything without talking to Nelimir first," he said and surveyed their position.

When they first opened the doors to this new area, besides a clear look of the forest, they were greeted with descending stairs that were coming out of a castle very much like the one they entered at first. The castle itself was bigger and with an unorthodox shape not meant to follow any logical architecture. They could see it from where they now stood so it served as a nice reference point.

Still, what were they supposed to find here? So far nothing had happened even after walking for over half an hour. Some disaster had obviously come through the razed forest, but where was its source?

"Should we head back and check another section?" Yvain asked, more to himself than his companion.

"What for?" Selt said as he pointed to the deeper parts of the forest. A woman was staggering toward them.

Dried up reddish-brown blood was sticking to her mouth. She was wearing a form-fitting obsidian suit that could easily hide her in the dark, but it was covered in tears that gave view to countless fatal lacerations. Standing out from the dusky clothing was her pasty skin, framed by a mane of smooth vermilion hair that reached her waist.

As she got closer to them, Yvain could see that her eyes were barely keeping focus. She was simply walking forward without actually seeing.

With a disregard for danger, Selt ran toward her while waving.

"Hey! Are you an enemy of this dungeon?" he yelled. The woman didn't show any recognition and just kept walking with the same lost gaze.

"I told you not to rush ahead idiot!" Yvain ran after Selt. Seeing the wounded woman and the destruction around them made him uneasy. He tried to clench his right hand but it was no use. He would have to make do with just his left just as before. Maybe he should have gone for a smaller weapon.

"Jeez calm down, look at her. She can barely even move." Selt stopped in front of the woman and put on a friendly face, "Excuse me miss, you wouldn't happen to be-" but she walked past him, oblivious to his attempts at engaging.

Yvain slowed down to a trot and, mirroring Selt's look of confusion, stared as the woman stopped in front of him. Now that they were face to face, he realized that they were of the same height which was something uncommon with female humans. It could be said that her age was somewhere around the late thirties or early forties, but it added an air of maturity that increased her beauty rather than detract from it.

She silently stood in place, so Yvain decided to speak first, "What happened here? Are you alright?" He was fully on alert, ready to strike should she try anything.

The bleak cyan eyes of the woman regained their light. At the back of his head, Yvain was marveling at how striking they were, but at the forefront, he was engraving an image he would never forget for the rest of his life. The woman simply beamed at him, her eyes taking the shape of crescent moons, and laid her head on his shoulder. Immediately all strength left her and Yvain was forced to hold her weight against his chest, dropping the sword he had been carrying.

"You sly dog," Selt came running back and looked up and down at Yvain and the woman he was now holding in his arms. "This paints quite the picture. Did she pass out?"

Yvain's mind was currently in turmoil. The image of her smile and the joy in her eyes when she looked at him kept replaying over and over again in his head. Each repetition made his chest become warmer. Mixed inside that warmth was a strange elation at the way she rested her head on his shoulder with no hesitation, subsequently allowing herself to pass out.

Strangely enough, her body was still warm despite the apparent blood loss. Every rising and falling of her chest, pushing against his own, sapped the strength from his knees. And every breath she softly inhaled and exhaled made his ears go numb. All this, happening directly on his naked body, intensified the tactile attack. But all of these feelings were clashing with a perspective formed over his entire life.

At twenty-five years old, Yvain was still a virgin. It wasn't for any lack of potential partners; he just never felt any shred of attraction at the women around him. Many considered him strange for it, just as many found it attractive. But he couldn't care less. He would watch on as others talked in excitement about a woman or a man. The particular physical trait they liked, the way they spoke, walked or ate, the little quirks. He couldn't understand the appeal.

Yet his friend had managed to find a lover from outside of Empryon; an event that had peaked Yvain's own curiosity on the matter, seeing the man change so completely in demeanor in front of her. It had still not been a priority then, but that was quickly changing the longer he held this being in his arms.

This woman was human though. Nothing in her features said otherwise. Even the elves, who were the closest to a human-like appearance, had their distinctive long ears.

"She looks very elegant, doesn't she? Are you making sure to cop a feel?" Selt's voice appeared right next to Yvain. He quickly turned his head and saw the kid wearing his trademark smirk. Grasping how he must look, heat began to accumulate on his cheeks.

Selt's eyes suddenly threatened to pop out of his eye sockets and his jaw went slightly slack.

"No way," he whispered.

"What?" Yvain said defensively.

"Are you blushing?!?" Selt said in a harsh tone with both incredulity and the delight of a kid getting a new toy.

Yvain looked away by reflex and immediately realized his mistake. He might as well just have said yes. "Can you stop messing around?" he said, cringing at how weak the words came out.

Selt quickly moved to glimpse more of his cheeks burning up, almost skipping around.

"If you have time to waste why don't you go do your job!?" Yvain said and waved toward the path the woman had come from.

"You just want me to leave you alone with her!" Sel said, clearly reveling in his teasing. "Stars know what you would do if I let you out of my sight."

Yvain only gave the kid a dirty look, not knowing what to say. Somehow that was enough, and with a last chuckle Selt turned for the path the woman came from with a content smile.

"We do need to finish this dungeon already; I'm dying to tell the others about all this," he said and headed deeper into the forest.

Yvain was slightly taken aback at the abrupt decision. It was never this easy to get the kid to drop whatever had caught his attention. By reflex he tried to think of a way to stop him from going but nothing came to mind.

He'll be fine, Yvain thought.

"I'll stay here while I wait for her to wake up. Don't stray too far," he said. While the woman in his arms didn't seem to be in critical condition he couldn't walk around with her being unconscious in the middle of the destruction surrounding them, not knowing who or what caused it.

Selt just waved his hand dismissively and disappeared behind some trees.

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Yvain was becoming self-conscious. Besides Selt who never seemed to care about social cues, and his master who had the same disposition, everyone always gave him a hard time for his unabashedness.

He always thought of them as weird. He still did. But it felt like he could now understand just a bit of their reservations.

After gently setting the woman down against a tree, Yvain searched for any resources that could work as makeshift clothing, be it branches or leaves, but found nothing of use. Deciding that he would just have to stay naked, he started the frustrating journey of finding the perfect angle to greet the woman whenever she woke up without letting her see his more embarrassing parts.

He tried sitting in front of her, legs together and bent up, but everything was too exposed. He sat next to her and moved his waist so that his butt hid his genitals but, while it did the job, the position felt too feminine. He tried sitting with his back facing her, but that would leave him too exposed to a possible attack. He grabbed a bunch of leaves and set them all on his lap, but he would eventually have to stand anyway so there wasn't much point. Thinking up to here, Yvain realized that no matter what he tried, she would see him naked.

Understanding the futility of the matter, he just sat in front of her with his legs crossed.

He couldn't help himself from wishing she wouldn't wake up until they left the dungeon and he could make himself decent, even if it meant taking longer to finish the trial. It was unfortunate that reality often disregarded any type of wish.

Taking advantage of her unconscious state, Yvain had given in to unquestionable compulsion and stared, noticing in the process that her cheeks were trembling, while her lips were fighting back a smile. Even in their bloody state, he found them alluring. Then it dawned on him.

"H-how long have you been awake?" Yvain's eyebrows scrunched up at his stuttering. Damn it man, get it together, he thought, frustrated.

The woman covered her mouth and laughed. It was as boisterous as Selt's, yet it didn't feel unpleasant at all. It had a husky undertone to it that made the hairs on his back stand on end.

The laugh went on for at least a dozen seconds. And the more confused Yvain looked, the harder the woman laughed, holding her side with her free hand and groaning in pain.

It got to the point that tears spilled from the corner of her eyes.

When she managed to gather herself enough to talk, the woman sniffed a bit and wiped her cheeks with her sleeves. She then mimicked Yvain's crossed-legged position and rested her chin on one arm. It detracted from the graceful overtone she had when unconscious, but it gave her an aura of wildness he very much preferred.

"I quite enjoyed your attempts to seduce me," the woman said.

Yvain inwardly and outwardly groaned, finally understanding. "I'm sorry you had to see that." He was endlessly grateful that Selt wasn't there at the moment.

"You don't seem too sorry," she said, moving only her eyes toward his waist.

Yvain cursed a million times in his head as heat rushed to his cheeks. His cock had inadvertently grown to rise out of his crossed legs and stand at attention. He knew what was going on, but the knowledge failed to inform him why it had happened without him noticing, and in front of a stranger. Though he could very vividly describe what he wanted to do at the moment.

The woman looked back at him and his blush got fiercer when she widened her smile, her eyes almost turning to slits. He could remember seeing the same expression in other women that were interested in him, but none had the numbing effect of this one.

Stars help me.

"A-anyways, my name is Yvain. What's yours?"

The woman straightened herself, the sultry aura from before a bit more subdued. This time she gave him a different kind of smile, one closer to simple contentment. It was devastating all the same.

"Hello, Yvain. You may call me Nora."

"Nora," Yvain tasted her name, appreciating the way it flowed out, "So what exactly happened to you?" He gave her body a look over, taking in all the wounds it was covered in and trying to ignore all the curves.

Nora considered him for a moment, gauging what to say. "I was in a fight, would be the short answer. Can still you use starlight?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Because the fight isn't over yet. I managed to buy myself some time, but I don't know if I'll be able to win on my own," Nora took out a sword seemingly out of thin air. Yvain was startled for a second, but having gone through perspective shattering events in the last hour or so, he quickly calmed down.

The weapon was as long as Yvain's old great sword but much thinner with only one edge. The hilt had an elegant and refined look, but what caught him by surprise was the creature carved on it.

"What's that?" he asked.

"The hilt?" Nora said with a tone that alluded to her disbelief at him not knowing the answer.

Her slightly confused look made Yvain space out for a second, focusing on imprinting in his mind how adorable she looked when puzzled.

Shaking his head he answered, "No, I mean that . I fought it a little while ago, but I don't know what it is."

"You fought a dragon?" It couldn't be more obvious that Nora didn't believe him, and he couldn't blame her. Whatever it was that he fought, it vastly outclassed him.

"More like I got pushed around like a ragdoll," Yvain said with a shrug. "I didn't actually manage to hurt it or even put up a fight."

"Then how are you alive?" Nora asked. Yvain didn't know the answer to that, but looking at her made his relief at the fact become a bit sweeter.

"That's what I've been wondering myself," Yvain said and put his right hand over the hilt. He ran his fingers around the contours of the beast, stopping at the jaws and remembering the ones that were aimed at him twice.

Even if he lived, it was a fact that he completely lost. Yet his caution didn't mean that he didn't wish to fight it again. The thoughts he voiced to Selt stemmed from the reality that he needed to become stronger. They all did. The kid probably knew that but he liked to push buttons wherever there were buttons to push.

Nora's hand was suddenly on top of his. The simple touch sent more blood rushing to his groin.

"Is this wound from the fight?" she asked.

Yvain tried to find any hint of mockery in her words. If she knew what the beast he fought was, then she should know that such a tiny puncture couldn't come from fighting it. But the genuine concern in her voice couldn't be mistaken.

"It's just a scratch, had to fight off some skeletons," he said, trying to sound as dismissive as possible. Yvain felt like he didn't want Nora to worry at all. Especially over a wound that came to be over his own weakness. He couldn't remember if he had ever felt that way at any time in his life. Usually it wasn't about seeming weak or strong, but simply growing and challenging himself.

Like Nora's sword, a bottle suddenly appeared in her free hand. It was of simple design, but its insides were filled with a transparent green liquid.

Not being able to hold his curiosity back anymore, he finally asked, "How are you doing that?" It felt like it was something only someone like Roesia could do. Maybe Nora was well versed in magic, but her sword spoke of a more physical concentration.

"Trade secret," was all Nora said, giving Yvain a wink. She then dragged herself forward until their knees touched.

Being so close, even the suit that completely covered her body couldn't hide how explosive everything was. From her breasts to her thighs, it all lit a fire inside. He had never expended so much willpower before, and all to ignore the feeling of his groin growing bigger and harder. It was proving to be impossible.

Nora for her part just gave him a knowing smile but didn't do any more than that. She uncorked the small bottle and, taking his hand in hers again, spoke, "It'll sting a bit, but it'll also heal the wound completely."

"That easy?" Yvain said. Draconian's Tavern didn't have anyone that specialized in medicine, so they were forced to buy medical supplies in guild owned stores. But they were only composed of simple things like gauze and bandages. If one forked over a bit more money they could buy medicine, but what the store offered only sped up the healing process of surface wounds. In other words, if someone wanted a speedy recovery for deeper injuries, then an actual professional was needed, combined with medicine.

"See for yourself," Nora said and poured a single drop on the back of his hand.

Yvain bit down a scream. This was far from a sting. His whole body was thrown inside a furnace.

Sweat instantly covered him as he broke down in shivers and, losing the strength to stay upright, fell on Nora's breasts. Despite his current predicament, a part of him marveled and how easily his head sunk into them, yet no embarrassment or excitement came. All he could concentrate on was his left hand crushing her thigh, trying to find some kind of anchor inside the raging storm of pain.

Did he really fall for a trap? He didn't want to believe it. He couldn't understand what was going on between them or what he was feeling, but he didn't want to think that Nora was an enemy. He heard her voice but couldn't make out the words as they were muffled behind what sounded to be wind blowing into his ears.

The pain was worse in Yvain's wounded hand. Sliding his face down Nora's breasts, he saw that the hole in it was already closing. The speed was fast enough that strings of muscle and skin could be observed sticking to each other. Yet each connection sent a current of agony crawling through his arm and into the rest of his body. It wasn't until the wound fully closed that the pain left as fast as it came and Yvain was left panting.

He loosened his tight grip on Nora's thigh and, being able to feel his senses again, was about to push her away. It was the gentle touch on his head that stopped him.