Freelance Saga 2: Quantum Interference (3 page)

The steady drip of water hitting stone greeted his sense long before he fully regained consciousness.
Drip. Drip... Drip. Drip...

Scott opened his eyes slowly and found that he was once again embraced by darkness. It was not the eternal blackness of empty space, like before when the voice had spoken to him. This darkness seemed natural and somehow, safe.

He sat up and looked around. Faint rays of light streamed through an opening nearby illuminating the interior of what looked to be a shallow cave.

“Where am I?” The last thing he remembered was being laughed at by an unseen woman. How had he gotten into a cave?

Scott was greatly surprised when a message screen popped up. He stared at the new arrival while his mouth hung open like a stereotypical slack-jawed yokel.

“A message screen? They’re working again?” He read the screen quickly to see what it had to say.

~*~

Greetings
, Scott Hunter. Due to quantum interference during your last login attempt your data file has been corrupted. We were made aware of this by the lunar goddess
Seductia
.

The timely intervention of the goddess has allowed us to locate your quantum signature once more. We have completed the restoration of your original file based on your last saved state. Unfortunately, certain functions cannot be enabled at this time due to the prior event.
These functions will be reinstated as soon as possible. Please take note of the estimated repair time next to each function and plan your time on Alterra accordingly.

Currently
unavailable
functions:

Enhanced
Experience Gain
-
47 Hours

Quantum Transfer Protocol
-
567 Hours

Reincarnation Protocol
-
623 Hours

Skill Usage
-
42 Hours

Te
lepathic Whispers
-
38 Hours

Please note that it is inadvisable for you to die before the transfer and reincarnation protocols are reinstated.

~*~

He finished reading the message screen then closed his mouth. Those bastards had screwed up his data file somehow, and now they advise him not to die until
repairs are complete? He had been right! If he had died it would have been permanent!

Scott started to check his menu screen since that had not been listed on the unavailable functions message. However,
another screen popped into view.

~*~

You have been granted the Lesser Blessing of the Mother Dragon.

All stats increase by
10
points.

Hit points and mana increase by
25
points.

You gain the skill:
Serenity

Serenity grants you the power to avoid conflict with monsters for four hours, once per day.

~*~

Scott stared at the new message screen then curled his hands into fists. He raised his arms then lowered them. His body felt much lighter after the increase to his stats. It was like he had been wearing weighted clothes and had finally taken them off.

He tried to check on the serenity skill. Unfortunately, a message screen popped up to remind him that he could not use skills at the moment.

“Now that’s just bullshit!” He had the power to be free of monsters for four hours per day, and he couldn’t even use it!

Suddenly, the high-pitched shriek of a hunting bird echoed through the air. Scott stopped cold and turned toward the opening to the cave. Were the damned birds out there?

He crept over to the opening and attempted to take a look. The entire time that he was in motion he prayed that the birds would not see or hear him.

The massive creatures circled overhead, but from what he could see they did not seem to know where he was. Quickly, he moved back into the darker part of the cave. He could not help but feel like a rat cornered in a hole.

A female voice called out to him.
“
Huuu-man
, come out to
plaaay-yaaay
.”

Scott did not know which was worse, the unrelenting
attempt to get at his sweat meats or the horrible reference she had unwittingly made. He drew further back into the cavern and sighed.

There was no way out of this situation. They would easily catch him if he left the safety of his hole. Even if he had been at one hundred percent he would have bee
n too slow to escape.

Despite his recent stat increase,
lingering injuries and stiffness would make it nearly impossible to get away. The arrow and its accompanying wound had mysteriously disappeared, but he still looked and felt like an ill-used punching bag.

Several tense minute
s passed before something strange and terrifying occurred. The bird woman from before cried out, “Found you!”

He looked around frantically but there was no sign that his haven had been compromised. A panicked shriek from outside caught his attention and he moved forward to risk taking a look. Scott shuddered in
voluntarily. One of the flying women had captured a man, and now held him up by his ankle.

“You thought that you’d get away
from Momo? Silly boy.” She twirled around happily. The motion caused her captive to start screaming again while he went on a terrifying ride. The strength of the monster had to be enormous. She was hovering in mid-air while holding a grown man by the ankle!

“Let me go dammit!” The man attempted to kick her with his free leg but she easily avoided the awkward attack.

“So feisty, and you’re sort of pretty for a human! We’ll have cute babies, I think.”

“No! No!” He began to blubber a
nd cry, like a terrified child.

The harpies and hunting hawks laughed. Yes, the hawks laughed as well
. It was creepy and sinister in a way that only a laughing bird could be.

Momo the Harpy Q
ueen, as Scott started to think of her, simply giggled at her prey then said, “Its ok. You’ll like being one of my husbands. At least I won’t eat you for a while.”

The wail the man unleash
ed was heart wrenching. There was nothing that he could do for the hapless man. That could have been him up there begging and crying to be released.

The harpy queen and her retinue flew off with their prize. The man’s scream
s echoed in the distance for only a short time but they were burned into Scott’s memory.

He had just witnessed something terrible. He had been powerless to prevent that poor man’s abduction. This fantasy world had proven to be a terrible place for humanity in general. How this could be seen as a game was beyond his understanding.

Scott waited a short time then slid out of the safety of the tree root cave. He had to keep moving. If he really was in the game world, and all signs did point to that fact, there would be human civilization somewhere. He would not be able to survive in the wilds as he was now.

While he was tempted to simply stay in the cave and try to wait things out, he knew he would need food and water. He would have to come out anyway. Besides, there was no guarantee of safety in that cave. It had served him once, but who knew if it would continue to be safe?

The last few days had been horrible for Scott. He had survived by drinking rain water from oversized leaves and eating whatever roots or insects he could find. He had grown sick after being caught in a heavy downpour. He had even been molested by a bug woman and chased by birds of prey!

He walked through the forest. Every sound or sudden movement caught his attention. It was slow going
, but he persevered. After a few hours of wandering he managed to reach the edge of the woodland and saw a river in a relatively open area.

There were more trees on the other side, but this was a good sign! A water source like this would be vital to civilization. There had to be a human town or village along the course of this waterway.

“Finally, a break.”

Scott decided to observe the area for a moment. He wished that he could use the skills that he had acquired during his tutorial. The
identify
and
observe
skills would have saved him a great deal of heart ache and intestinal trauma.

Just when he had thought that it might be safe to head toward the water he noticed movement from the opposite embankment. In the distance he could see a creature that looked like a cross between a giant rat and a lizard amble out of the woods. It had a spiked fin running along its back. That much he could tell. It was a little too far away to see every detail, but he believed that there were scales running down its overly long legs.

Silently, he considered the creature. It would probably be able to run quickly. He had not seen a monster like it on this side of the forest, so it was either rare in the area or its kind chose not to cross the water for some reason.

The creature looked around suspiciously. Scott wondered if it had caught his scent but it seemed more interested in the river bank than the woods on his side.

Slowly, the bear sized monster padded toward the water’s edge. The closer it came, the more cautious it seemed to become. It drew its head down and looked around tensely.

It sniffed at the ground then looked around again. When it reached the water it stood there for a moment gazing into it. The monster seemed like it was searching for something.

The monster leaned forward and began to drink from the river. Scott wondered at its caution. It was a big creature, even for this bizarre planet. It would probably have had few to no natural predators on Earth.

Scott’s attention was drawn away from the monster. Something in the water, he had seen something move in the water. That something was a dark shadow that seemed
to sway and move with the current of the river. The shadow began to slowly drift toward the monster drinking on the opposite bank.

From his vantage point he could see it, but the rat-lizard would probably not have had that luxury. Suddenly, the monster lifted its head. It sniffed the air then looked left and right. Carefully it took a step back.

However, its caution would not save it. Dozens of tentacles ripped outward from the deceitfully still water and thoroughly ensnared the beast. Scott watched as the writhing mass wrapped the creature tight, squeezed the air from its lungs so completely that even its panicked scream had been rudely cut-off, then dragged it swiftly down into the depths.

The water was barely disturbed after the initial assault ended. Just as suddenly as the brutal event had occurred, the area went back to a scene of perfect tranquility.

Scott looked down then turned away from the peaceful scenery. It would not prove to be his savior after all. Even the monsters only went there out of desperate need. The rat-thing had known that going to drink could lead to its death. It still went. Nothing but severe thirst would have driven it to do such a thing.

He sighed softly then started to walk again. The river was out, but if he stayed far enough from the water he might be able to occasionally use it as a guide. He would have to watch for river beasts and the occasional thirsty monster, but it was the best lead that he’d found so far.

Soft pink lips parted gently then formed into a tender smile. It was the fleeting glimpse of a warm and friendly personality. “Do you love me?”

Delicately tapered fingers traced the curve of the man’s jaw before she leaned in to ask him again. “Say it. Say you love me.” When he refused to answer she pouted cutely at him then reached toward his shoulder.

The scream that erupted from his throat echoed throughout the forest clearing. Her slender hand, delicate and refined, gripped the arrow protruding from his shoulder. The gentle seeming fi
ngers twisted the shaft eliciting another scream.

“Oh, I do love the beautiful music you serenade
me with dear one.”

“St-stop this you demon…” T
he man feebly attempted to crawl away but he had no strength left.

His tormentor lifted then lowered her hips in a slow deliberate way. Curvaceous hips slid sensually up and down atop his rock hard manhood. She took the time to thoroughly enjoy her sense of power over her prey. “Stop it? You don’t like my foreplay? We’re in love, right?”

She grabbed his throat in a vice-like grip, twisted the arrow once more, and then cried out in a loud and desperate voice. “Give it to me! I want all of it!”

“N-no!”

“All of it! I want your love burning inside of me you worthless human!” The hand clenching his throat squeezed brutally. He started to choke. He gagged desperately due to the lack of air. His spittle turned to foam and he feebly tried to knock her hand free.

Their bodies began to glow with a soft white light, but the light emitted by the dying man declined rapidly even as the woman’s body grew more luminous. “So warm, I can feel the strength of your love for me.”

The girl sighed suddenly and the light faded away. “Seriously? Dead already? Humans really are weak.”

“I’ll never gain another level at this rate
.” Her cheeks puffed outward then she pouted. Why wouldn’t one of these weak idiots love her properly?

She looked down at the dead man and frowned. Her lower lip poked out. “I’m cute, right?”

When he didn’t answer she reached down and grasped his head and chin. She made his mouth move up and down like a puppet. “You’re the cutest fox in the whole forest Kitsune-chan.”

“Really! You think so! You’re so sweet Dead-Guy-San!”

She made his mouth move again. “I should have admitted it when I was alive. I could be cuddling with you right now.”

“You’re right! You should have. What do you have to say for yourself?”

“I’m so sorry, also I have a really tiny penis and you can do better than me anyway.”

“Well, that’s a start.” She smiled triumphantly for a moment then dropped his head. She sighed then pouted once more.

“Why won’t one of these humans love me?” She hugged herself tightly then took on an expression that bespoke long term suffering. No one understood her needs.

She raised her hand and started counting off her qualities using her fingers. She touched her pinky
with her thumb and said, “I’m cute.”

She touched her next finger and said, “I have a pleasant personality.”

She looked down, grabbed her breasts, and lifted them. “I have an amazing body.”

She raised another finger, “I’m fun at parties… I think. No one ever invites me to any, but I’m sure I’d be great at one.”

Kitsune threw her hands up and looked toward the sky. Sunlight streamed down through the canopy of the forest to embrace her with its divine radiance. “I can even cook! Who wouldn’t fall in love with an awesome girl like me?”

She pouted again then sighed gently. “Maybe someday.”

Her bushy tail swished from side to side briefly before a carefree smile spread across her face. “Ah well, at least I have something tasty for dinner.” 

The fox girl stood up and dusted herself off. Despite the horrors that she had perpetrated
moments earlier she seemed quite cheerful.

A gentle breeze flowed through the clearing causing the wildflowers to sway gently. Their subtle scent filled the air with a peaceful fragrance that seemed intent upon covering up the murder that had just committed.

Beneath the shadow of a fallen log that rested just outside the clearing, Scott continued to lie perfectly still. He had witnessed it all. Even after that man’s inglorious end, he had remained in hiding. The log had fallen in such a way that it was raised from the earth atop the stump of another of its destroyed kind. In that dark, shallow, space he had born witness to the death of a man.

There had been no choice. At least, that is what Scott told himself. He had remained unmoving the entire time that the previous scene had played out. Did this make him a coward? At the moment it did not matter, nor did he care. Fighting these monstrous women had proven disastrous the few times that self-defense had been necessary.

There was nothing to be done at the moment but wait patiently. It felt like an eternity had passed before she made her move, but the fox woman eventually grabbed the large man, hurled his corpse over her shoulder, and skipped off merrily into the forest. Alone, unarmed, and incredibly underpowered against such a monster, there was little that Scott could have done for that poor bastard. So, he continued to do nothing.

When he could no longer hear her happily skipping through the forest Scott started to move away from the area. He needed to find a place to rest, to regain his strength. He had spent several days looking for such a place and had yet to find it.

This world and its people were insane. That was the only answer. The things that he had seen since waking up here a few days ago were beyond any reasonable possibility.

Scott shuddered at the thought of the last few days. He had been forced to hide repeatedly. The monsters he had run across were incredibly strong compared to the dragon-turtles that he’d had to deal with d
uring the tutorial. Most of the notable monsters were humanoid. That meant that they would all count as boss monsters, as queens. How most of this damnable forest’s denizens could be boss monsters was beyond his understanding. Either way, he could not stand up to them at all.

As
Scott walked away from the scene of the brutal murder he noticed something wedged between two trees. It was a backpack! “Must belong to that guy, or did anyway.”

It would not have been safe to check it here, so he took it
and ran from the area as fast as he could. The man wouldn’t miss it, and Scott needed anything that he could get his hands on.

There was no way for him tell how much distance had been covered in that trackless wilderness. When he grew tired of running he stopped and leaned against a convenient tree. Hungry and dehydrated, he panted heavily as he opened the backpack. The first thing that he saw nearly made him cry. “Bottled water!”

The only reasonably safe water that Scott had been able to drink in the last few days was supplied during a rain storm. He had drunk his fill from the large green leaves that he had used as a bowl, but he’d lost that during a panicked flight brought on by a massive frog and an overly amorous monster girl.

H
e had found no other reasonably safe water sources, and he had succumbed to his thirst once the day before. He had drunk from a mud puddle swarming with
Seductia
knew what. His old friend,
explosive diarrhea
, had come to visit him again last night.

There was a river nearby, but that place was swarming with the monsters that constantly attack
ed anything that got near. Monsters and monster women were everywhere and they all wanted to eat him or love him. Scott suspected that some of them wanted both at the same time.

Scott smiled at the bottle of water. The language printed on the side was not one that he recognized, but it was obviously water, right? He opened it up and drank his fill.

A strange sensation immediately raced through the man.  Unbridled energy ran the length of his body. Power surged from head to toe. The sense of strength was intoxicating, but it suddenly gave way to extreme discomfort. He began to sweat profusely.

The source of the discomfort made itself known. Scott looked into his pants. His genitalia had become obscenely, gloriously,
erect
! “What the hell!”

“What was this shit, Viagra water?” He stared at the empty bottle then pressed back against the tree to fight the pain of the intense and massive erection.

It was too much. The pain was too much. Scott had to set the beast free from its imprisonment! He unbuckled his belt then dropped his pants as quickly as possible. His absurdly swollen member pointed outward like the veiny accusatory finger of an angry god.

He stared down at it utterly transfixed by the sheer girth of the thing. “What the hell! Is it going to explode?”

Scott had always considered his man-hammer to be rather average in both length and girth until it had miraculously increased in size during the tutorial. It had never been small, but it was also nothing to worth talking about at parties. The thing that he bore witness to now, the evil existence trembling in barely constrained rage, was certainly not what he was accustomed to seeing.

Experimentally, he touched it. The effect was electric. He gasped involuntarily in response.

It had not hurt at all. If anything it had felt amazing. “Man, I need to take a few bottles of this stuff back home with me! I’d make more money in a year than most countries do in a decade.”

Scott trembled softly as a light breeze blew across his rock hard member. The sensation was bliss itself.

“I, I need to distract myself from this unholy thing.” He gently squatted down then reached into the backpack to fish out a few more items. There were several more bottles of instant erection, and a few packets of what looked like food. Scott did not trust it one damned bit due to the mishap with the water, but when he took his current predicament into account he could not afford to be choosy. The only food that he had eaten in several days was the occasional insect or grub worm.

There was one other thing that caught his attention. A bracer, black with a bright red stone at the center, was stashed among the various odds and ends. The whirling gold symbols on the band made him think of the cheesy looking magical props a wizard in a game might wear.

Between the bracer and the insta-erect water Scott could only come to one conclusion. “Was he a
wizard pimp
? Who owns something like this?”

One of the backpack straps slid forward then lightly dropped down to antagonize his insistent shaft. Scot
t yelped excitedly at the sudden sensation. “Sheesh, behave yourself you damned penis!”

He took a deep breath then sighed. Hopefully the grotesque erection would fade away soon. He wasn’t sure how much more he could take.

Curious, Scott put the bracer on then admired it for a moment. He envisioned himself as a wizard pimp then grinned like an idiot.

The idiotic expression turned to surprise when the bracer clamped shut around his wrist and a bright red flash of light erupted from it.

If that was not enough a message screen popped up not long after the bracer had taken hold of him. “Telepathic whispers have been reinstated?”

Words and images invaded Scott’s head
after he closed the message window. An angry feminine voice shouted at him in the recesses of his mind. He could not understand her. The words seemed to be unintelligible screams of rage instead of true language.

Between the pain in his manhood, and the pain in his head, Scott could not think straight.
Unable to do anything about the strangely familiar voice shrieking inside the back of his head, he tried to rip the bracer from his arm. It chose to be obstinate and refused to come off.

The girl started screaming louder. She became more insistent. Finally, he could not take it anymore. He gripped the bracer tightly
and shouted, “Get out of my head, dammit!”

Light flared from the gemstone then began to shine around his fingers. A few feet away a thick red mist began to form. It rapidly coalesced into a familiar person. It was the red haired dragon girl, Scarlet. He had captured and bonded her during his tutorial phase. He had tried calling for her repeatedly
on his first day back, but she had not come.

She blinked twice then started to scream again. “You dickless
bastard
! How dare you not summon me for almost a week?”

He didn’t know what was going on here. Scarlet had just popped out of nowhere and started to bitch. Hadn’t he seen enough crazy shit today? What was with her?

Between the pulsating evil that raged within his cock, and the incredibly shitty week that he had been having, it was hard to focus on what she was asking.  “What…?”

Her eyes locked onto the bracer on his arm. She stared at it, took a step forward, and then blinked. “Why are you using
a spell bracer? You did not need one before.”

“I just found this thing. Look Scarlet--“

“Just found a spell bracer? Those things are supposed to be extremely expensive.”

“Scarlet, I’m sorry, but I’ve had a hard few days.”