Framework of the Frontier, Sain Artwell [read me a book .TXT] 📗

William peeled his eyes back to the horizon. “Yeah, good morning.” If this was a dream I’d have woken up with her.

She emptied a small pot over the parapet, whipping it to get every last drop out. He noticed she used her left hand. A huge purple bruise stained her right bicep. William still felt sorry for that one.

“How’s the head feel?” she asked. “You collapsed after the tenth blessing ran out.”

“I did? Oh yes, I did.” He remembered it now, up until the point everything cut out.

Blessing of Strength, as he’d named it, boosted his already improved body past human limits. It only lasted about nine seconds at a time, but for those nine seconds he had felt like a little kid again. He jumped like a frog, sprinted the backyard in two seconds, and lifted human sized statues of stone like they were, well, like they were heavy styrofoam. The misty stuff, or rather divine energy, was depleted with each use, but there had been no other adverse effects. Until the last blessing flickered out and he passed out.

Closing his eyes, he felt the reserve of divine energy filled back to brim. “I feel all good now. Thanks for letting me test it out.”

“You owe me one, and Ember. She helped carry you to bed.” Lidarein glanced at the fortress of Royal Parcelforce looming above. “I gave Letter King my report about you. You’re not quite as dangerous as your friends were, yet, but those blessings are plenty strong. I’m honestly a little envious.” Lidarein ruffled her bed-hair thoughtfully. “She’s gonna try to recruit you to be a Ranger.”

“A Ranger, is that a town guard, sheriff, constable? What exactly does the job entail?” William asked.

“Hmm. Well, my job is a bit different than other Ranger’s, given that I’m now the Chief. A regular Ranger is in charge of protecting a town. Out here on the Frontier it can mean anything from having to draft an army of adventurers to clean dungeons to negotiating with the native tribes. It’s a very open ended job. That’s kinda what I liked about it… before I had to put on the Chief’s helmet. But anyhow, if you asked me, I’d recommend that you think it through. I dunno if you had any plans for your life yet, but for a man of your potential, the portals are all open and the realms wide for the taking.”

She touched her five pronged silver star hanging off a pendant. “This becomes hard to abandon when you have a town depending on you, even if your god suddenly shows up and tells you it’s time to go beat up an evil lich.”

William cracked a smile. “Duly noted. I didn’t have plans on making any impulsive commitments yet.”

The corners of Lidarein’s lips lifted with an impish mock frown as she adjusted her oh so tight pants. “Aww. None at all?”

”I meant,” William coughed, “I’m trying not to make any. Doesn’t mean I might not make impulsive non-committed decisions. Or, you know, impulsive commitments of different kinds. There are various casual impulsive arrangements.” Shut up please, William cursed at himself as his ears started to burn.

”Well, best of luck with that, holy boy.” Lidarein tapped his chest on her way indoors. “If you do decide to skip it and go elsewhere, I’m gonna cash in that debt you owe us by having you haul my ass from the inn to bed, for a casual arrangement.”

“Yea, sure. Please.” William stood there for a moment.

Did she wiggle her ass normally with every step or was it on purpose? If he did decide to leave he’d make sure to haul that perfectly tight ass anywhere it wanted to go, even if it was the last thing he did.

As for what to do? Well, he did have a few plans. First, find a way to contact the others and find them. After that? Maybe try to figure out how he and the others beamed themselves into the Cursed Frontier? Not that he wanted out. Hell no. Life back home could go fuck itself. After finding his old gang, he’d probably need some kind of job though.

William leered at the elf butt distancing into the hallway. The shape imprinted a pleasurable shape into his memory. He was in a fantasy world. He had a rockin’ hot body. He had divine powers. He would figure things out eventually. But, in the meanwhile, he might as well see if he could wiggle his way into the favor of a hot fantasy babe or two, or three, or four, or more?

If I’m God’s paladin does that mean no sinning? Please, oh lord above, give me an answer.

William closed his eyes and breathed deep, searching the divine energy within him for a sign. When God gave none, William took the liberty of interpreting the silence his way. “Wasn’t there a line about sowing thy seed wide, or something.”

Not long after he’d joined Lidarein in Ranger’s office, Ember arrived. She was full of excitement and brought with her a basket equally full of breakfast. She set out freshly baked flatbreads, mystery sausage, equally mysterious vegetable paste, and a bottle of soup with a tempting meaty aroma. There were spices and flavors William had never tasted before, which made every bite a scrumptious discovery of deliciousness.

“This is great,” he said, putting everything he could on a new bread.

“You went all out huh?” Lidarein licked her finger. “Let me know how much it costs. I was supposed to cover his stay.”

“Hehehe. Don’t worry.” Ember looked more than a little smug as her. “I traded the sausages for inspecting some magic items with the Sorcerer’s Eye. The rest of it I made all by myself. I’ve had a lot of spare time the past few months.”

“Marry me,” Lidarein said, stuffing her mouth with