Nymphsaga/Break

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Lore Update

Katja's and Dana's "Survival Handbook."


As all of you should know by now, there are no difficulty settings in Nymphsaga. This may be the first virtual reality game you've ever played, or you may be a veteran. You can be casual or a hardcore raider, or you can be a purely social gamer. It doesn't matter. When you step outside the barrier into the vast world around us, you step into the same exact world that everyone else does. The world does not care how good or bad you are, and it doesn't discriminate or make exceptions for anyone. It judges us all as equals. Still, we, Katja and Dana, the authors of this piece, believe that the world around us is survivable for everyone. While skill, training, and improving yourself are important, this game is one of preparation; everyone can make it outside the barrier if they prepare accordingly.


We are a couple of former leaders from well-established competitive progression-oriented raiding guilds in Mormia. Many Nymphs come to us seeking guidance regarding their adventures and training, so we decided to put together a list of seven general guidelines that we - as well as our companions - follow ourselves. We do not claim to be authority over anything or claim that our methods are always the best, but we believe that we can offer a lot of valuable insight into making yourself a better player. These are not rules or laws that you absolutely have to follow. You might have a different kind of approach that might suit you better, and that's fine. Think critically and think independently.


1: Guidelines for team composition.

We strongly believe that to have a strong team, you need different Nymphs to carry out different roles. In general, there are three different roles for Nymphs, each of which are equally important.

We have tanks, defensive players whose primary role is to generate "aggro" and keep the attention of enemies on themselves, so the other team members can focus on their own respective roles. Then, we have healers to take care of fatigued team members. Us Nymphs are very small and weak creatures that just can't keep up with most enemies, so having a healer in a party is even more important than having a tank. And last, we have the supporter Nymphs whose purpose is to suppress, weaken, and slow enemies with anything they have in the arsenal, be it crowd control, stuns, or status-altering effects.

You might notice the lack of damage dealers in this list; that is not to say that pure damage dealers do not exist. It's just that we, in our very humble opinions, believe that every Nymph must carry their weight in some additional way to contribute for the common good of the group. Everyone can deal more than enough damage to help the team, even healers. Therefore, pure damage dealers are - sorry to say - kind of useless. Feel free to prove us wrong though.

We strongly recommend that you have five or more members in your group and that your group consists of at least one tank, one healer, and two supporters. You can have the extra spots for any roles you want but try not to stay too far away from the 1-1-2 ratio. Having an extra healer is always more important than having an extra tank, in our opinion anyway. Secondly, having Nymphs in supporting roles be also capable of casting some heals can be wildly beneficial for any party.


2: Diversify your offense.

Diversity of offense is, in our opinion, even more important than the diversity of roles. For each and every one of us, there is that one invincible enemy that we cannot beat no matter what, mostly because they are immune to our damage. In an ideal setting, every member of your team can deal different kinds of damage to enemies to cover each other's weaknesses. It's not going to matter even if there are ten of you when you all deal physical damage only; slimes and other metaphysical enemies are going to make you sorry.


3: Train, train, train.

Allow me to start by quoting Socrates: "No man has the right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training. What a disgrace it is for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable." We don't care about your habits in the real world, but this quote couldn't be truer for us Nymphs. Despite the common misconception that rises from the fact that this is a game, we Nymphs can get more fit and athletic if we train hard, just like in the real world. If you work out, you will look better, feel better, and even regenerate stamina faster, which is immensely helpful. Run, exercise, and follow a good workout plan, especially if you're a caster since you're naturally weaker. Work your butt out, no excuses. Do not skip days, ever. Seriously, your survival depends on it.

I, Katja, personally recommend gymnastics and yoga. As for a recommendation from Dana, practice martial arts and flying. Being able to do flips and tricks in the air is not only effective means of training your muscles and getting sweaty but also freaking cool and incredibly satisfying. Your wings are awesome, don't ever forget that.

Do not forget to train and practice your fighting skills either. Do anything to make yourself better. There is a glass ceiling for us Nymphs as far as our passive abilities and levels go, and we are simply too weak to break it, so we need to rely on training to get better. Aiming and training to use weapons you're unfamiliar with is especially important, as using an ability will not mean anything if you miss your attacks. We especially recommend getting yourself a sparring partner. Don't worry too much about getting actually hit. You won't die from accidentally getting sliced by a sword so go all out as if wanting to kill your partner.


4: Rely on professions.

Every single profession can benefit you somehow, in and out of combat. Do this not only for yourself, but also for others, as you can benefit your party with your own, unique skills. Make sure you got potions, rely on powerful food effects, and enchant every piece of clothing you can, and for the love of fuck, help each other in this regard. We need these skills to prepare for adventure adequately, so do not just leech off others. Relying on professions and training your own becomes critical later on, as all professions can also be utilized in combat in unique ways, maybe even to learn new active and passive abilities. Upgrading your house with professions is also cool.


5: Strategize and communicate.

You should always strategize BEFORE you go on an adventure. Never go out on an adventure without a comprehensive battle plan. Of course, you always need to change plans on the fly when strong enemies appear, but having general plans and plans for setbacks is very important to establish beforehand. Battlefield is a living, ever-changing and unpredictable place after all.

We can't stress how important it is to talk to each other during combat. You can help each other so much better and act as a cohesive unit when you're all vocal. Don't worry too much about enemies understanding what you say. Lastly, listen to the party leader. We're not saying that a party is a dictatorship, but seriously, have one or two people to make critical decisions for some semblance of order. We admit that this rule is the one where we have some bias, as we are both raid leaders in our respective guilds, but hey, it has served us well. We're not leaders of some of the best guilds in Mormia for nothing.


6: Make friends and help each other.

We do not always agree on everything, and we don't get along with everyone, but it's important to be friendly and social in this small community. Henceforth, it's good to have a lot of friends here in Grove and beyond. Help those in need to the best of your ability, even those you don't like. Treat others the way you want to be treated yourself. All of this is especially relevant in small groups and with those you will be teaming up with. You're going to be spending a lot of time with them, so chemistry and getting along is important.

When we recruit new players to our respective parties, we always "interview" them first. We use quotation marks because it's more like a casual conversation or a date, honestly. We drink, learn stuff about each other, tell jokes, play games and stuff… The point is to know your allies on a personal level! Both authors of this piece agree that getting together, having fun, playing games, and drinking is a perfect way to bond with possible party members.

Preferably train with your new partners together before going in an adventure for real, and if possible, don't just rely on one group either. Having a lot of friends to rely on is important since you sometimes may want to - or even have to - tag along with other parties. Being part of a bigger guild where you can team up with different members based on your needs could also be something to look at, but we recognize that this is probably hard to achieve, given the size of our community.


7: Relax.

Don't forget to take few days off to heal and relax. Free time is important, both for your mind and your body. Going on an adventure is extremely exhausting, ridiculously dangerous, and just fucking scary. Every time you get out there, you risk getting raped or captured. Adventuring is NOT something that anyone should be forced to do when they're not in the right mindset for it. You really don't need to go on an adventure every day or even every other day. Yes, this is a rule, an absolute law you must follow! You can ignore everything else on this handbook, but do not ignore this guideline!

While we're at it, make sure to make most of your days off by doing something constructive, like on professions to contribute to the society, or by training, studying or strategizing. Like, just because you're not out there endangering your safety doesn't mean you can't be useful to others. That's not to say you shouldn't take days off, because you totally should! We all need fun in our lives, and having some days dedicated to nothing but fooling around is important as well. Drink, socialize, play, do whatever you want. You can even pursue romance and pleasure if you feel like it. We don't judge.

This concludes our list of guidelines for adventurers. It will be updated if need be, as we are still only a few weeks into the game, and new information will most likely force us to readjust some of our statements. We both, Katja and Dana, hope and pray for your safety. Good luck on your adventures, and as Grove's motto goes, "Never lose hope".



Nymphs of Grove are two full nights of sleep away from their raid of Fort Hammercliff, and a new morning has risen.


For many, the past two days have been ones of relief but also of confusion, shock, and even fear. Most of this is due to the existence of Paradise, a community of Nymphs completely separate from Grove, which is contradictory with previously thought-to-be-facts about the game. There are also stories from Nymphs in the captivity of goblins which many find equally confusing, mainly regarding their behavior, which seems contradictory with existing lore books.


On one of the excerpts from the Gamer's Logbook, the one about Nymphs and mortality, the exact mechanics behind mental breakdown were explained along with the claim that "programmed enemies are not intelligent enough to abuse this mechanic, as it would be just plain unfair". Well, some Nymphs claim that this information is bogus, as some of the goblins could abuse the resting mechanic to "heal" Nymphs between rape sessions, which would reset the "counter" to keep Nymphs as their slaves for longer periods. Should everything else in this excerpt be accurate and factual, it would mean that Nymphs could, in theory, be kept as slaves indefinitely, a thought that terrifies many. Only hobgoblins and shamans, the elite ones, could "abuse" this mechanic though. Why this is, Nymphs do not yet know. They can only theorize how it's possible, and they cannot find consensus.


During these days, there was also yet another meeting between the community and its organizers, and for the first time ever, few Nymphs from Paradise also participated in the discussion. Amongst the topics was the next collective chapter in the lives of Nymphs and a new goal that they have set their sights towards. This goal is to establish a connection to Paradise, a village where many Nymphs held captive in Fort Hammercliff claim to be from.


With the goblins more or less gone, it might even be easy now, because based on the reports told by the Nymphs of Paradise, their home lies in a place called the "Sparkling Forest", somewhere on the other side of the Hammercliff Valley.


As for Paradise itself, the Nymphs from there describe it as a village straight out from a medieval fantasy, which makes it very different from Grove. It's much more concentrated and condensed, with most of its residents living near the center, which is different from Grove, where the population is scattered across a vast area. While there is no protective shield around the city, it's surrounded by mountains and hills and thus located in a very secure area where most enemies can't find it. Abundant with water, multiple streams run through it from the mountains to the north, and according to the residents, the waterfalls are stunningly beautiful.


There are no signs of past civilizations, large pyramids, or ancient theaters either. Trees are normal-sized, and thus, there are no treehouses either. All Nymphs live in more traditional houses, some of which are built partially underground. As far as similarities go, there is an abundance of food, which seems to be free for everyone there as well. There is also a simple city center, where most larger buildings are located, including the temple hosting their "leader" and a university, where most books are located. Overall, the central area of Paradise kind of reminds the residents of a central European village one would perhaps find in Alsace, France.


It also has to be pointed out that in Paradise, there is even knowledge about a profession called "Forging" that is unknown to Grove and, therefore, unavailable to its residents. Then again, Grove also has a unique trade skill available to its resident, called "Grooming".


There are multiple good reasons to want to connect the two villages, which almost every Nymph agrees with. What they don't agree with is how to go about their business. For the first time since the council was established, the vote was split. First, the prospect of a great raid to the north was suggested, but a slim majority voted against this idea. Their reasoning was that a large raid wouldn't actually help connect the two villages long-term. Like, if they set up a large raid for one visit, how will they go about their next one? How about Nymphs who want to travel in between the towns individually? Should they always rely on raids as some form of weird public transportation? In the majority's opinion, it's ridiculous to think that a whole raid would be set up just to get few Nymphs from one place to another.


Instead, they propose that individual groups should explore the area and try to work together to plan out a safe route everyone can use safely without any reliance on raids. But then, the minority asks, what about helping Nymphs who are from Paradise get home? Wouldn't a raid be the best way to go about it? Yes, without question, says the majority, and they do not have a counter proposal to this. But what about the risks? Nymphs succeeded once, but will the second time be as easy? A big raid could end up in a big mistake. If that happened, Grove would effectively be curb-stomped with no way of recovering. Besides, there are two more important points to consider regarding this debate that I haven't even talked about yet.


First, and less importantly, there is the increased activity of demons in the Hammercliff Valley and Misty Forest zones. Demons used to be something that very few Nymphs came across frequently, but many adventurers have reported seeing way more of them in the past day, some of which are even stronger than one would expect to find in the Misty Forest. While they're not as widespread a menace as goblins were, they are individually more terrifying. For starters, they do not have a base to operate from. That's why demons are a problem that Nymphs can't simply solve overnight, and it is basically impossible to save the captives of demons in one fell swoop. Of course, this could all be just temporary and be a problem that will solve itself overnight just as quickly as it appeared. Still, Nymphs can't rule out the possibility of demons knowing about their raid expedition either.


Second, and more importantly, the Nymphs have realized that the protective shield around Grove has shrunk. Not only that, but the shrinking seems to coincide perfectly with the raid of Fort Hammercliff, having occurred as they got home. The shrinking was not significant, and it will still take dozens of similar events for the first residents to find their homes outside the barrier. Even so, it's worrisome for most Nymphs, especially those who currently live in the outskirts of Grove. Nobody knows for sure why this happened. Was it because of some kind of punishment from developers for their "unfair" raid? Is it some kind of unknown, still to be discovered game mechanic? Could it have been intended from the start? Could it have been just a coincidence that the two events coincided? Nymphs hope to find answers soon.


Finally, the Nymphs decided to continue observing the situation, deciding to explore the area independently for now. They would vote for a one-time raid at a later day to decide on how they should help the Nymphs of Paradise get home. Usually, Nymphs wouldn't vote again on anything as decisions are final, but as there are more things to consider regarding this debate, they feel it's necessary to vote again later, maybe with an even greater turnout.



Before we get to the next part of this tale, I want to talk about something. In fact, there's a lot of things I want to talk about.


Much information has been left out from the story, as a lot of it isn't all that important to the plot. Yet, knowing about it will probably still help you understand this world better. That's why I'm devoting the rest of this subchapter to tying up some loose ends and explain information about the game and its mechanics. While I recommend that you read the rest of this subchapter, I'm not going to bullshit either. None of this is important in terms of character development, so feel free to skip through any of it if you want.



Regarding Soldier's Talents.

As previously mentioned, there are eight talents for every class. There is some crossover, as you will see soon, but most of these talents are unique for each class. Talents "Athletics" and "Speed" have been explained through the story already, so I will skip those.


"Assassination" is kind of like the Stealth talent available to Rangers with few key differences. It offers players much greater critical multipliers, combined with an additional multiplier to surprise damage, where Nymph can deal increased damage to an unsuspecting enemy. It also allows players to see the enemy's weak points with a special ability that can be cast once every minute. The multipliers vary from weapon to weapon, but not greatly, and Assassination can be done with any weapon.


"Weapon Mastery" is a versatile talent that allows the player to specialize in weapon-specific abilities, both on-use and passive, both defensive and offensive. It is designed for players who prefer to specialize in specific weaponry and is especially excellent for those who want to diversify their offense with additional abilities. It also offers unarmed bonuses for Nymphs who prefer not to use conventional weapons and instead choose to fight using their special boots and gloves.


"Magic Imbuing" adds magical damage to every attack by applying a Spell Crystal to a weapon. It is not the same as the Ammo Specialization for rangers, as the damage is added, not converted. The primary damage source of soldiers is, and will always be, physical, and even this talent won't change that. This talent is, of course, weaker than its ranged equivalent in terms of magical damage, but it has the upside of allowing players to learn new abilities that deal purely magical damage and cost mana in addition to stamina, which is something that rangers with Ammo Specialization will not get.


"Strength" increases the raw strength of the Nymph. Useful for blocking, and for handling bigger weapons, and most importantly, doing more damage. It will not make them ridiculously strong through; they're only strong when compared to other Nymphs.


"Iron Skin" is a purely defensive talent that reduces all damage the Nymph takes by a simple percentage, working against both physical and magical damage. It won't protect against stuns, poisons, or most other status-altering effects, but it is still the most powerful purely defensive talent in Nymphsaga, meant for players who either cannot or do not want to rely on dodging. It also protects clothes from damage, magically strengthening them against physical attacks so that they cannot be destroyed while the player has any stamina left.


"Retrieval" is the last talent, one which adds functionality to weapons. The main gist of this talent is in the name, which is to call back weapons instantly if they're knocked out of hand. To explain the next part of the talent, I must first point out that there is actually an automatic call-back mechanic in the game, which will activate if the player has been disarmed for a specific time or if the weapon is about five meters away from the player. This talent also increases that timer and the distance tenfold, making it so that any melee weapon can be used as a thrown weapon, provided that the player has the strength to toss it. Needless to say, it's not so useful with large weapons. And finally, the talent makes summoning weapons more convenient, as with this talent, it can be done with a simple free-to-use spell. Usually, players have to open the user interface to get their weapons out from the inventory, so this is a big update, especially for Nymphs who want to use multiple sets of weapons.



Regarding Ranger's Talents.

We have already gone through "Athletics", "Ammo Specialization", "Stealth", "Longshot" and touched briefly on "Accuracy", so there's no much to go through.


As explained, "Accuracy" is the so-called "Aim-bot" of Nymphsaga. It is not a talent that will lock itself into a target for a guaranteed hit, but instead will give all weapons a "target circle", even those which naturally don't have one. This circle is very large and noticeable. As long as there is an enemy within this enlarged circle, the weapon will do the rest and hit the target. There is also a smaller target encircled within the bigger target for more accurate targeting, which can be used to aim at weak points of enemies when needed, meaning that the weak points of enemies will effectively be automatically exposed as well. The "Aim-bot" can also be turned off temporarily in some situations. This is a talent that is - needless to say - one that will not actually increase the damage of Nymphs in any way and is meant for just assistance. Nymphs who can shoot easily without relying on this talent are completely useless and give no benefits. It is only recommended for shooters dependent on movement and those with no time or skills to aim effectively.


"Recovery" is a handy talent, as Rangers don't have natural boosts to their mana or stamina recovery. Recovery boosts both of them significantly. It doesn't offer any other benefits, but still, with a lot of extra stamina and mana at their disposal, there's a lot they can do.


"Automatic Loading" allows Nymphs to instantly load their bullets into their guns, effectively eliminating the need to reload, which is a huge timesaver for anyone. This is impossible in the case of bow users, as they already summon the arrow to their hands when drawing the bow, so instead, they can generate arrows free of charge. Gun users still have to pay with their resources to generate ammo unless they happen to find a super rare space gun with the automatic loading enhancement. In this case, their ammo will become free too.


"Overclocking" is the last talent, which unlocks a whole new extra profession for rangers, used to enhance and improve weapons, giving them new quirks. It kind of works like enchanting but can be applied to weapons on top of that, meaning that they get double enchants on their weaponry.



Regarding Caster's Talents.

Like with rangers, I have gone already through half of their talents previously, and those are "Restoration", "Barriercraft", "Dual Slots", "Instant Casting".


"Status Altering", like Barriercraft, unlocks a whole new set of spells for the player. They can be used to strengthen allies with buffs or to weaken enemies with curses. There's a different set of spells available for each spell crystal, meaning that the number of spells this talent offers is enormous.


"Summoning" is another talent that unlocks a new set of spells, which can be used to summon monsters to momentarily fight in the caster's stead. Of course, these summons can be used for other tasks as well. I'll let you figure out what I mean by that.


"Meditation" is a talent which, under the right circumstances, will improve player's performance in every field, and at the same time nonetheless. Mana will regenerate faster, the spells will be quicker to cast, and they will deal more damage. The talent demands the player to stand still, or at least within a certain small area for it to be effective, so it's a big toss-up in that sense. It is a potent talent in a group setting where the focus of the enemies can be kept away from the caster. However, it can even be a burden in other situations, as combat in Nymphsaga demands movement for virtually every combat role.


"Telekinesis" is a talent that offers players one single ability and nothing but this single ability. It is precisely what it sounds like, and it allows the player to move and levitate things with their minds. What makes it great is that it can be used for non-combat purposes and even on living beings. It works on literally anything. The spell is channeled and therefore is unaffected by increases to cast speed. Its mana cost - which is generally inexpensive - is directly linked to the weight of the target player is trying to lift, being higher for heavier objects. In theory, players can lift anything - even mountains - but since mana has limitations, lifting ridiculously heavy items is impossible in practice. Even lifting another Nymph with magic is hard to accomplish.



Regarding Spell Crystals.

Spell Crystals are an integral part of Nymphsaga's gaming experience, primarily meant for casters, but they can be used by other classes as well based on their talent choices. Generally speaking, when equipped, players unlock the element infused inside the crystal to use for combat purposes. For soldiers and rangers, this can mean elemental damage, and for casters, this means spells, a lot of them. While every crystal comes with some spells for casters to learn instantly, most of the spells still have to be learned through training.


Just as there are eight talents for each class, there are a total of eight different Spell Crystals? While they are all equally viable, they have their strengths and weaknesses. They all fit different styles, situations, and players. First, the schools of magic that can only be used to deal damage will be explained.


"Fire" is an element exactly what it sounds like; it's used to burn enemies to death. It relies heavily on casted and channeled spells, and the spells have to travel to their destination to deal damage. They deal some of the damage right off the bat, and then the rest through "burn". While definitely amongst the most destructive schools of magic in terms of raw damage, there are very few ways this can be used for crowd control. Fire spells are very likely to piss off enemies more than other schools of magic, which can be either a good thing or a bad thing.


"Water and Frost" are combined into one school of magic. Basically, this crystal gives player the ability to freeze things. Generally speaking, this can happen either by blasting the enemy with cold air or by creating water which then can be frozen. As was the case with fire damage, it relies heavily on casted and channeled spells, and the spells have to travel to their destination to deal damage. Frost spells deal low damage but have nasty freeze and slow effects attached to them. Being able to douse both enemies and the environment with water, and then freeze it later, can cause trouble for enemies in various ways and is one of the most effective ways of crowd control in-game.


Casting "Lightning" is kind of like rolling a dice on the battlefield. Sometimes, it can deal very little damage, and sometimes, it does a lot of it. While the range of damage is massive and the potential for damage is high, the overall damage output is average. While the spells are cast and channeled, they travel to their destinations typically instantly and hit with almost one hundred percent accuracy. Lightning can stun enemies too, but this effect is random, and therefore not very reliable. Lighting resistance is also amongst the rarest in Phantasm, meaning that these spells can be used to damage pretty much anything.


"Earth" spells rely on physical damage, which makes it unique for casters in the sense that it's the only way for them to deal physical damage to enemies without any talents or professions to help. It relies heavily on channeled spells, which most often are cast on the environment. Needless to say, there is no travel distance in these cases. It is a very effective element in dealing raw, instant damage in high output, and can be used for defensive purposes and even altering the battlefield. It is not, however, useful for crowd control.


"Arcane" is a school of magic specifically designed to be used against other schools of magic. Its average damage output is very low, but it can also degenerate mana from the enemies, making it super effective against casters and metaphysical, magic-based lifeforms. It functions like most spells, through casting, channeling, and spells that have to travel to reach their destinations.


"Shadow" is a school of magic that relies entirely on damage-over-time effects or DoTs. Out of all the schools, it deals the most damage by far and away, but since none of the damage comes instantly, it's hard to maximize its full potential outside raid settings. While shadow spells are cheap and travel to their destinations instantly, they typically rely on long cast times, especially when dealing with the most powerful of spells. Only the first couple of weaker spells can be cast instantly on the run. There is also some crowd control in the form of blinds and even mind control, which makes shadow magic overall versatile.


Now we get to the schools of magic that can be used for healing.


"Nature" spells, like Shadow magic, rely primarily on over time effects. It offers players two elements to play with, out of which the first is poison, used for many different purposes from damaging enemies to weakening them, even crowd control. There is a high emphasis on over time effects and mana intensive instant cast heals when it comes to healing. Natural heals are never cast or channeled, as they always come out instantly. Some of them find their targets instantly, some don't. Natural heals under no circumstances can deal damage, so dealing with them in a fight can be tricky, especially with a lot of enemies around.


"Holy" spells, unlike Nature spells, work both on friends and foes alike, with different effects depending on the target. Some are healed by them, while some receive high damage. Holy spells have to always be cast or channeled, and they do not rely on over-time effects a lot. Some of them have to travel, while some reach their targets instantly. Holy magic is not as useful for crowd-control as nature spells are, but on the flip side, holy magic can be used to dispel negative status-altering effects with high efficiency.


Normally, Nymphs have just one set of spells, but with Dual Slots and some higher tier stones, that allow multiple schools of magic, Nymphs can even learn four sets of spells. Of course, versatility always comes at the cost, since specializing in just few schools means higher mastery over them, especially at higher tiers.



Regarding "Tiers".

Just like enemies have ranks, items have tiers attached to them. Every item category is divided into tiers, even collectibles, and each tier can be differentiated by both name and color, with the higher tier items being more powerful than their more common counterparts. This not only means better effects, but also more effects per item in some cases. From the most common to the rarest, the tier levels are Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic, and Legendary. Technically there is also tier zero, but since it only has the currency in it, it's not important at all to discuss here.


The tier level is also directly linked to item rarity, with Epic and Legendary items being by far the rarest. Normal, common items make about 80% of all items dropped by enemies, most of which are ingredients, wh. Out of the twenty percent left, fifteen percent are uncommon, while the remaining five percent are divided into the last three tiers. In this small sample, rare items make up 80%, extra rare make 18%, and epics make 2%. It is worth noting that this percentage divide is across the entire world of Phantasm, and in some places, high-tier drops are more common, while in some places, they can't be found at all. Raid bosses also tend to drop very high-tier items.


Spells and abilities also have tiers attached to them, making them more powerful and costly. While low-tier abilities scale upwards based on the tier of the weapon player has currently equipped, high-tier abilities always require high-tier weapons and Spell Crystals to be useable. On the other hand, none of these abilities have level requirements for the player in question. It is also worth noting that if the caster gets a tier-three Spell Crystal with two elements on it - which is the minimum requirement for such a crystal - the elements count as tier one instead of two or three.


And lastly, regarding collectibles, they are looted items that have no combat use and can't really be used for professions either. In a sense, they're kind of like trophies; they're proof that the player has ventured far into the unknown and found something awesome. Like every other item in the game, they can be divided into tiers as well. Technically, lore books fall into this category, but let's be honest, nobody collects them as trophies for personal use. They are always donated to the various libraries scattered across Phantasm. Otherwise, collectibles can come in the form of almost anything: decorations, containers, dishes, fun accessories, books, technology, sex toys, you name it. Yes, there are legendary, tier five dildoes as well. Let that sink in.



Regarding Professions: "Cooking".

Out of all the trade skills and professions, cooking holds a unique role as an activity everyone can partake in, not just the "specialized chefs". I mean, it doesn't take a genius or a specialist to pick up a knife, chop up some vegetables and toss them together to make a salad. So, what's the point of having specialized chefs? They can do three things that nobody else can.


First off is growing and cultivating plants. Chefs possess a unique ability to extract seeds from ingredients they pick up. Doing this - along with a bit of Nymph's magic - they can grow plants even outside their natural habitats. These things don't even have to be limited to food products, as they can also grow herbs used by alchemists and grow carnivorous plants for pest control. It is even possible to grow up some plants that may, in fact, be a little horny, which can be used for pleasure. It is in this ability that also lies some of Chef's special skills, which can be used for combat purposes, as they can summon and grow vines and plants instantly to either deal damage or slow down enemies with crowd control. They can also draw magic from nature to replenish mana and stamina, and extract positive status-altering effects.


Next is the magical spice of the Chef. The food they cook is instantly laced with this magic, which makes their meals not only taste better by some form of weird magic, and the power of this magic scales with their cooking level. You can always expect food worthy of Michelin stars from the high-tier Chefs. Their food also boosts players' stats when consumed, with the effects lasting from several hours up to even a few days, depending on Chef's skills and the ingredients used to create the dish. Lastly, chefs always get better and longer effects from their food.


And finally, Chefs can craft supplements and such, which can - unlike other food - be stored in inventories. While Nymphs don't need to eat as much as humans do, they eventually get hungry, and being hungry will result in negative stats. Having a candy bar while on an adventure is always a good thing to have, and Chefs can make them for anyone. These items can't give boosts to stats though.


Before I get to the next profession, let's talk a bit more about food. Nymphs live entirely on plants and can't consume most animal products. Two examples of animal products they can consume without problems are honey and semen, although the other one is not used for food. The thing that forces players in Nymphsaga to live on a vegetarian diet is a limitation with their feet or their digestive systems and a limitation in their ability to acquire food. After all, it has been established that monsters disintegrate upon death, making it impossible to harvest meat. Monsters do not drop meat either, at least not for Nymphs.


When it comes to drinks, they are limited to water, juice, and drug-laced beverages. Not alcohol, though. Nymphs can't drink alcohol because they are little children, and kids can't drink alcohol. They can, however, drink a much safer, yet just as intoxicating alternative, which replaces alcohol with a special kind of miasma-infused sugar harvested from a sugarcane-like plant called "Demon's Whistle". Best of all, it will not make Nymphs fat and will not result in a hangover. Just like with source generation, their drunkenness is directly linked to their heat. Nymphs get very, very horny and extremely friendly when they are drunk, and they will fuck anything that moves, even those who are looking to hurt them. Needless to say, it is strictly forbidden to go on an adventure while drunk, as the risk of getting raped - if you can even call it rape at that point - increases tenfold with every permille of sugar in their bloodstream. Think of it as Nymphsaga's version of "Don't drink and drive".



Regarding "Alchemy".

Alchemy is probably the most relevant and popular profession in all of Grove. It's used to make potions, which everyone uses, and not just every now and then, but a lot. It relies heavily on herbs and vegetation in general, which is why Alchemists and Chefs like to typically work together. Chefs can, after all, grow rare herbs that Alchemists use for their potions and mixtures. Other ingredients include animal parts and mucus harvested from enemies.


In addition to beneficial potions, Alchemists can also make poisons, mixtures, and even explosives that can damage enemies, which is how they get some joy out of Alchemy in terms of combat. Some potions are also alchemist only, and these can give various, powerful boosts to different stats. Otherwise, Alchemy is a very simple and straightforward profession that rarely has any real effects in combat to make them better fighters. If not used for explosives, Alchemy primarily offers passive bonuses, like increased effects from potions or immunities and resistances to various different kinds of damage.


Another way how Alchemists can help their allies is through transmutation. This process is not useful for anything alchemists themselves can do, but other professions may rely on alchemy for this, as some special, high-tier ingredients can only be made by alchemists.



Regarding Crafting: "Sewing", "Forging" and beyond.

Sewing and Forging are professions similar in nature, as both are used to craft and create new equipment, and most of the things describing one also apply to another.


As briefly mentioned before, Forging (or Blacksmithing) is not a skill that can be learned in Grove, which makes it rare. It's used to make weapons, simple as that. They can't make guns or profession-specific weapons, but there are no restrictions other than that. Yes, they can even make some caster weapons. Forging relies a little more on alchemy than sewing, as Nymphs from Grove or Paradise can't mine or smelt ore. They forge metals and crystals into different shapes with magic instead. Smiths get their combat bonuses by improving existing weapons beyond their normal limits. I will not go through this profession in any other way, as it will not play a significant role in the story for a long time, if at all.


While clothes can be looted from the enemies, there is something special about the clothes made by Nymphs. All clothes on Nymphsaga - both looted and crafted - tend to be a little weird, to say it nicely, and are a strange mix of cute and childish and revealing, if not outright slutty. Modesty is not a virtue that Nymphs hold when it comes to their clothing, as it tends to be brash, bold, colorful, revealing, and "in your face". Clothes made by Clothiers are no different on this front. Instead, what makes them different is that their clothes have a completely different set of unique effects that looted items can't have. Whenever these effects are better or worse change from person to person, but usually, players have to rely on an outfit that mixes both looted and crafted items. Clothiers are also the only kinds of people who can create makeup and hair dye, and edit clothes by changing their colors and adding prints to them.


Clothiers themselves benefit from their professions by using various kinds of transformation spells, which can even temporarily change their combat role. When wearing clothes they have made themselves, they also get extra effects, making them passively stronger.


Finally, it has to be pointed out that Clothiers have by far the largest recipe book in the game simply because there are literally thousands of different kinds of clothes. Because of this, Sewing is the only profession in the game that comes with a catalog, which can be used as an additional user interface by other players. It works in a similar fashion one would expect an online store to work with multiple pages and different ways to categorize items.


There are also professions for other types of crafting as well, making it possible to create futuristic weapons such as pistols and rifles, as well as jewelry, but such professions are not available in Grove or Paradise. Besides, they operate in a mostly similar manner to Forging and Sewing anyway, so going through them all would be a waste of time.



Regarding "Enchanting".

Enchanting deals with the souls of the enemies, as well as enchanting gear. This makes it a skill directly linked with crafts, as they can benefit greatly from each other and work together to create even stronger items and enchantments.


Any piece of equipment can be enchanted to have a new, unique effect, but items can only have one enchant on them at a time. Enchants are usually item-specific, as stamina bonuses are typically found only on boots, and damage bonuses can be only put on weapons. The only exception to this rule is jewelry and panties, which can be enchanted with anything. What makes Enchanting so great is that players can pick exactly the effect they want on their items. When a new, better item doesn't have the effect they want, Enchanters may be able to fix that. Of course, like with Sewing, some effects are unique to drops, while others are unique to Enchanting, so Enchanting is not always the solution. Besides, as enchants are always extra effects, they are not always strong.


The intrigue of Enchanting does not stop there, though, as it has one unique effect to it that no other profession has, and that is its effect on other things as well. It's not just gear that can be enchanted; other items, like some collectibles and ingredients, can be enchanted too.


Dealing with souls, Enchanters also have a unique ability to control Demons. This works by raising them from birth, and by manipulating them in controlled environments to obey some commands through spells while still young and weak. It can only be done to demons that have been birthed by Nymphs, and demons have to be enchanted when they are merely few days old. Fully-grown, wild demons cannot be controlled.


Through this manipulation, they can grow up to be almost any kind of Demons, but Enchanters have to be careful not to raise them to be too powerful. Demons are, after all, devious creatures that will exploit weakness if shown it by their mistresses, and such experiments can easily end up in disasters.


As far as Enchanter's personal gains go in terms of fighting, they can create special kinds of enchanter-only weapons and enchant their weapons and panties with special enchants, which are far more powerful than normal enchants. And finally, Enchanters can also use Demons as tools for combat, kind of like casters with a Summoner talent use their minions.



Regarding "Grooming".

Grooming holds a unique position (together with Scouting) as a profession that isn't learned to create good, but rather to offer services and learn new abilities. The basic mechanic of Grooming - also referred to as Caretaking - revolves around taming wild animals and using them as pets and companions.


Tamed beasts will obey their masters up to a certain extent and can even be taught abilities. Typically, taming is achieved through a long and costly channeled spell that has an effect of precisely sixty minutes, but this spell is improved with experience. To reward Caretakers for being good owners, taming spell also adds permanent, invisible status effects on their recipients, making taming easier in the future while also increasing its effects further. Taming the same beast repeatedly will always be rewarded in this regard.


In order for a monster to be eligible for taming, it has to be domesticable. This characteristic applies to all of the beasts native to Earth and most beasts native to Phantasm. Meanwhile, humanoids, most insects, and demons are unavailable for taming at all levels. High-level Caretakers can also give birth to their own pets - provided they are eligible - which will result in a pet that is more powerful and more loyal; birthed pets don't even need to be tamed since they're already born tame. Caretakers can also assist other Nymphs with giving birth by making the experience easier and safer.


Grooming is undoubtedly the most useful profession in combat because having a strong pet is like having one extra Nymph on the field. To make sure this profession is not too overpowered though, pets can't be summoned or dismissed and cannot be resurrected under any circumstances. All of the hard work and effort put into specific pets will disappear when they perish. Another important thing to consider is that Caretakers can only control one pet at a time, so taking two for a walk or to an adventure is a big no-no. Even pets born tame will rebel against their masters if they have their master outnumbered even two to one. Because of this, Grooming is also somewhat dangerous as a profession; if Nymph, for example, has three pets in one closed space, and they can only control one of them at once, the other two can rape their owner. Getting submitted will cause any pets and minions to rebel on the spot, including the tame ones, and dispel any existing spells. And since pets are not naturally sterile, well… Let's just say that the accidents can sometimes be devastating.


And lastly, on the topic of closed spaces, Caretakers have the privilege of having the largest player homes by area to accommodate all the space they need for their pets. Most of this space comes in the form of yards, and these yards can even be used to have fenced areas and pens for animals and beasts not suitable for taming. This plays well with the Caretaker's ability to assist Nymphs with birthing, as they can safely take care of otherwise dangerous animals by having them live in caged, sealed areas.



Regarding "Scouting".

Scouting is a profession that focuses on exploration and survival, basically being a tool to gain a tactical advantage against opponents and environments alike. As has been established throughout the story so far, they can discover information about their enemies and detect hidden secrets such as traps and treasures. Generally speaking, becoming a better scout means improving these two abilities further, but the intrigue of becoming a Scout doesn't end there.


As Scouts grow, their maps become substantially better. They have added functionality and features to it, which most obviously comes in the form of mapping larger areas at once. They also access much more accurate information about landscapes and can even mark locations of noteworthy landmarks that normal maps can't show. Scouts, through their maps, can also navigate through zones where normal maps don't work. This is linked to a hidden mechanic called zone difficulty, which determines the general amount of challenge that can be found in any given zone. Scouts can also share their fixed, correctly functioning maps to all close-by Nymphs to reduce the Scout's burden of constantly having to check out the map for everyone.


This brings me neatly to the topic of zone difficulty. There are three kinds of different zones; general zones, raid zones, and safe zones. In the context of the story, "safe zone" means Grove or any other area with no significant population of enemies that want to rape Nymphs.


Pretty much every named zone in this story is considered a general zone and covers the vast majority of the world's surface area. Although they can sometimes bleed into each other, they do have borders within which they have their own unique sets of enemies and other hazards.


Zone difficulty in these cases goes from tier one to tier five, and high-level Scouts are needed to navigate the harder zones. When it comes to tier-one zones, everyone can track them through their maps without problems. From tier two onward, problems start to rise, and scouts are needed to unlock the maps. Maps that are one tier above Nymph's current limit, be it a Scout or not, can sometimes malfunction and be displayed incorrectly, while maps that are two tiers above the limit cannot be displayed at all. It's also worth pointing out that tier five maps cannot be truly unlocked even by scouts; even their maps will break.


While some tier-three zones can be easier than tier-two zones, especially if the team setup is optimized for said tier-three zones, the general trend in difficulty goes upward, with high-tier zones always offering more difficulty. Enemies come in bigger stacks, they're higher ranking, elites are more common, and the risks of being captured are higher. Losing and getting raped in a tier-one or two-zone does not automatically mean you get captured, especially if you get raped by a wandering enemy or a trap, but if the same thing happens in a tier four or five-zone, you're extremely unlikely to get away.


Raid zones are basically zones within zones and can be located anywhere. Some general zones don't have any, while some may have multiple ones. There are no rules to how big or small they can be, or even where they may be located. Some raids even exist outside and bleed into their surroundings. Like general zones, they go from one to five, but a level one raid is always harder than a level one general zone. This is due to the larger concentration of elite enemies and bosses. While the so-called "World bosses" that exist out in the general zones are less common, every raid is guaranteed to have a boss, or sometimes even multiple bosses. Raids are the true endgame and the ultimate challenge in the game of Nymphsaga. They offer the most challenging encounters and the best loot, but also the highest stakes. You generally speaking only get one chance since the chances of being caught are absurdly high even at lower tiers. Most raids are near inescapable. Raids follow even stricter rules for mapping, and a Scout is always needed to display it properly.



Now, with all this information out of the way, let's get straight back to the story.







Snow

While some have contributed towards the collective effort of Grove to connect the two cities, the past few days have been ones for most to take breaks. Nymphs do not suffer serious injuries, but that doesn't mean that they don't have to heal. In a sense, being pregnant means being "injured" for Nymphs, and the only way to heal these "wounds" is to give birth. It's not something that will sideline Nymphs out of action for months, but rather just days. Despite this, many are still waiting to give birth. Almost every party who has had some of their members fall victim to the goblins is taking the break, as they help their friends recover in a way none of them expected.


The hypothesis Wendy came up with regarding the effects of sex and increased source generation on hastened childbirth seems to be a popular one, as many Nymphs have made similar assumptions independently based on the lore and the evidence they've seen. She wasn't the only one to put three plus four together to get seven and to be realistic, she wasn't even the first. In fact, a Nymph called Amanda even came up with the name for the hypothesis, "Hastened Childbirth Theory", or HCT, and is currently studying it. As far as results go, there is a very small sample size and only anecdotal evidence, but results seem to be strongly in favor of it.


Because of the evidence presented supporting HCT, Nymphs all across Grove, some reluctantly and some joyously, have participated in "healing" their friends by having sex with them. It's not just Wendy and Angel, or Rain and Lemon. Out of all the victims of pregnancies, roughly two in five admit to succumbing to their desires and having at least one sexual encounter with some of their close friends. Nymphs don't know how large the real percentage of such Nymphs are, as understandably most don't want to disclose what goes inside their private bedrooms, even if it could help Nymphs collectively understand the so-called "Hastened Childbirth Theory" better.


Let me pivot to one crucial issue that the question about the prevalence of sex in Nymph's society raises: acceptance. Nymphs all are little girls, and their bodies are physically immature, but that doesn't mean that their minds are. People controlling them are NOT children. Even the youngest humans controlling Nymphs are eighteen. You'd probably think that just like in the "real" world, many of them find the idea of having sex with children socially unacceptable and repulsive, and you'd be right. Kind of. It's complicated.


Pedophiles of all kinds - those into real girls, 2D and 3D loli and shota - started playing Nymphsaga to play as and with children, so accepting the circumstances was easy for many. Yeah, shotacons were not happy to find out there are no little boys after all. Still, that can't be said about everyone, not even the majority. Other incentives have to be in place for those to participate in sexual acts.


The feeling of necessity is the biggest factor, as Nymphs now know that sex is an effective way of treating various "problems". Then, there is the lack of competition in the sexual marketplace; the only way of enjoying safe sex is doing it with another Nymph. There could be demons and beasts as minions to help Nymphs out in the future, but that's just speculation and still far in the future of Grove. Most importantly, Nymphs just plain and simple have accepted it in their hearts and softened up to the idea for various reasons. Their hearts are changing. Does it have something to do with being a Nymph? Maybe so. Overall, Nymphs of Grove simply see safe sex between Nymphs as an overwhelmingly positive thing regardless of their preconceptions, feelings, sexual orientations, or personal views.


Speaking of the positive effects of sex, Angel is feeling better than ever. She feels almost as if she was born again. Her physical condition is amazing and probably the best she has felt during her entire life as a Nymph. Her mental condition is still not great, as she still carries worry in her heart over her friends. She wakes up very early, which was not on purpose, but what's there to do about it? She did go to sleep early. In the small hours of the morning, she decides to go for a jog.


Sven - the man Angel once was - was an active man in his life and loved running, cycling, and hitting the gym. He was a bit of a bodybuilder in addition to being a gamer and a musician, so he was a busy man indeed. This love of fitness has carried on to Angel, who even as a little girl works out to the best of her ability. There are no gyms in Grove, so she has to settle to working out without weights, but that is not a problem for her.


After a quick lap to the park and back, she moves on to her next morning routine: tending the garden. She is the only one who uses the neighborhood's public garden, so it's all for her to use. Wendy and Rain don't care about it and can't utilize it properly anyway. Angel is saving some space for Lemon, as she suspects there are plants Lemon wants to grow, but that is only a plan for now. She grows vegetables and herbs only, as plenty of wild fruits and berries grow in the neighborhood. Only three plants she has gotten from beyond the barrier are vanilla, thyme, and Demon's Whistle, which she is hoping to use to make some homemade liqueurs with an alchemist.


As she thinks about what to make for breakfast, she is surprised from behind in the middle of her work. Without a word, someone hugs her from behind, causing her to gasp in surprise.


"Good morning."


The familiar voice of her good friend - once lost, now suddenly found - surprises her even more than a warm embrace ever did. Shocked to hear the voice of her dear friend Rain, she jerks herself free, only to turn around and hug her even tighter than she ever hugged her. Rain's grip is still pretty weak, but Angel grabs her tight, almost as if to squeeze her like a toy. "Oh god, you're safe! I was worried to death!"


"I was worried too", Rain admits. "Since I didn't know if I was going to find you here…"


"What happened to you? What about Lemon?"


"It's a long story, but we're both safe now."


With a sigh of relief, a giant weight is lifted from Angel's shoulders. Holding Rain by her hand, she proceeds to drag Rain upstairs. "Let's go wake Wendy up. She'd be glad to see you safe."


Rain nods, smiling happily. She doesn't have to ask because she knows from the way Angel is acting. Her dear friends are all safe.



Meanwhile, in Lemon's little treehouse, she wakes up to a pleasant and warm feeling of soft skin rubbing against her own. Ever so slightly, the curtains of her eyes open up to see a face of a little smiling girl. The touches of this blue-eyed, tired-looking cutie are as gentle as they can be and surprisingly well mannered despite the fact that she's laying on top of her, stark naked. A nervous smile appears on Lemon's face as well, along with a rosy blush. She does not know what to think. Waking up with a girl lying on top of her is one she loves, but this girl is a stranger to her. Well, almost anyway. She does recognize her for the Nymph they saved together with Ron, and she's glad to see her well, but this kind of intimacy from a stranger feels strange to her.


Before Lemon can even inquire the stranger about her well-being or name, this girl leans in for a kiss. The kiss is not just with lips, but also with nipples, as the flat breasts of two girls press comfortably against each other with stiff nipples taking most of the pressure. Even their belly buttons kiss. Unable and unwilling to move, Lemon takes the sweet kiss, closing her eyes as she lays her hands on the little girl's naked back. It's just a touch and not a hug, as she's not trying to tug her closer. They're so close that they can feel every breath and every heartbeat. The stranger is not looking to make an advance or any bolder moves, which at the same time feels very relaxing, but also a little frustrating to Lemon. Her hand moves up to the unsuspecting girl's buttock and grabs onto the tight and smooth cheek as hard as she can muster. The stranger squeals in surprise, and eyes half-open, she looks down at mischievous Lemon, who's left licking her lips. Blushing, the girl tries to divert her gaze as she feels a rough hand on her butt.


Oh, you were so daring to get on me like that, Lemon repeats in her mind. "What's wrong, sweetie…?"


"Did you save me…?"


Lemon finds her heart fluttering. Her soft voice is like that of an angel, so clear and so refined. She also realizes instantly from the girl's Slavic accent that she's probably somewhere from Eastern Europe. It's definitely a voice she wants to corrupt with lewd and naughty moans. "What if I did…?" Lemon asks. It's not like her to lie, but part of her wants to see what kind of reaction this girl would have would she believe Lemon truly was her sole savior.


Perplexed and confused, the girl smiles, fidgeting, finding it a little hard to put her feelings into words. "I would be eternally in debt…"


"Well, technically it wasn't me, but I did help you out a little together with my friend…" Lemon admits. It immediately reminds her of her friend, Rain, who she now realizes is missing.


"O-oh…" the girl says, sounding a little disappointed. "Well, I'm still eternally grateful to you…"


"Is assaulting little girls in their sleep a way you like showing gratitude…?"


The girl can't help but blush in embarrassment and laugh. "Oh, I'm sorry… You must've found it uncomfortable…"


Lemon tilts her head, still smiling happily, now also giggling. "I didn't say that…"


Those words seem to give the girl some courage. "So, what's your name? I'm Snow."


"Lemon."


"Alright, my little Lemon…" Snow says and raises herself to an upward position, suddenly opening up her inventory. "If you don't mind my sexual advances, I'm sure you won't mind this either…"


What appears in Snow's hand genuinely surprises Lemon. It's a little egg-shaped toy, a pink vibrator. It seems to be a cordless model with a remote controller, and it definitely isn't what Lemon expected. She knew of sex toys, but this is clearly an electronic device. Lemon was already planning on going full throttle on offense as she prefers to be a top, but having seen a vibrator, her favorite sex toy in the whole wide world, one that has given her so much pleasure over the years, she can't resist the idea of having another girl using it on her.


Before Lemon can ask Snow about where she got it from, Snow is already looking to advance. She turns it on, taking a few steps back, and presents it to Lemon's vagina. The vibration immediately causes her legs to spread slightly as she finds her lower body vibrating and shaking. Moving up the slit, digging into her, it reaches up to her clitoris, pushing it up and exposing the head properly. That causes her entire body to arc and her legs to spread up even more.


With lust and vigor, Snow pushes herself down, kissing and licking the flat brown chest of Lemon, all while continuously pushing the vibrating egg against her most sensitive spots. It is clear to Lemon from the start that this girl shares a mutual passion for little girls. Indulging in this passion is something that Lemon is very much okay with, even though she prefers to be a top. Getting out of your comfort zone doesn't hurt once in a while. Besides, it feels incredible, so why not? It feels so amazing for Lemon that she gets from zero to a hundred in a matter of just minutes. When she woke up, she felt calm and satisfied, but now she's already wet, acting all slutty and feeling just as horny as she did last night with Rain.


Snow gets bored of Lemon's chest quickly and proceeds to use her tongue and fingers where it feels even better. Lemon, covering her mouth, looks down to see just what her partner is planning. While still pushing down the egg, she moves her lips to the lower parts of the lips, sticking her tongue against the hole. Snow looks almost as if wanting to lick it dry, but one does not simply lick a wet pussy dry. She's also looking to use her fingers and decides to stick two inside right away. Lemon doesn't like having things stuck inside her, but she doesn't really mind this time. The pleasure of having fingers grind in and out of her is undeniable and causing her entire body to tremble. Maybe this isn't so bad after all, she tells herself. I mean, at least they're fingers.


Persistent rapid flickering of her pleasure bean and the quick back-and-forth movement of the fingers are looking to push her over the edge real quick and with stunning force. Legs voluntarily spread as far as they can go she cums all over Snow's pretty little fingers with a warm squirt. Eyes roll back, she tries to muffle her moans, failing miserably. To the very end, Snow just pushes forward, all the way through the orgasm, driving Lemon nuts. Having reached the summit of her climax, she's unable to get down. Feeling light and blanking in her mind, she can barely realize that mixed with the pleasure is something unfamiliar and strange.


As Lemon lays down, twitching in pleasure, Snow opens up her inventory to summon yet another toy, some kind of a strap-on dildo, to be specific. It's not one that you wear like panties, but rather a plug-in type capable of bringing extreme pleasure to the wearer as well. With two plugs, it's inserted into both holes, and despite what one might think, it will firmly stay in place even through more extreme and fast-paced plays. Snow realizes that Lemon's still oblivious to what she's planning, which makes her giggle happily. After all, she wants to fuck her hard.


Meanwhile, Lemon's attention is completely taken away by something entirely different, as she can feel strong movement in her stomach. Something's trying to push out, and she knows it. She knew she was pregnant, but she had no idea she was so close to giving birth, especially given that her sporty and tight belly is flat as a washboard. Hand on her stomach, eyes closed, she concentrates on the feeling, borderline scared of what's about to come next. She doesn't want to be forced to give birth and become a mother to anything, especially not a tentacle baby. The only silver lining in all of this is the fact that it's probably going to be over fast. She feels hands lift her legs, and she finally opens her eyes to see the strange, green, partially transparent rubbery cock attached to Snow. She immediately extends her hands to her crotch, covering her pussy up with another one and grabbing the rubbery cock with the other one. "W-wait just a minute!"


"What's wrong?" Snow asks, still smiling.


"N-no, not right now!"


"Oh, don't worry! It will feel awesome!"


Well, Lemon can't deny that, and part of her even wants to experience it. She's lukewarm to the idea of enjoying strap-on sex as opposed to feeling cold towards the idea of male on female sex, but that's not the issue she has. "I feel like I'm giving birth…!" Lemon straight up says.


"W-wait, what!?" Snow is puzzled and confused. "Y-you too!?"


"I said, it wasn't me who saved you!" Lemon says, in haste to explain herself. "We were victims too, and the tentacles got us pregnant!"


"A-and you're about to give birth NOW!?" Snow is panicking. She has no idea what to do.


A sudden jolt of pleasure - almost as if a sharp, painless kick coming out from inside her body - causes Lemon to let out a loud, girly yell, and after a moment of relaxation, forces her legs back open wide. Her entire lower body trembles and her offspring moves rapidly. She anticipates pain, asking, Will it hurt? It's the last thing she wants. Given her tiny stature and the fact that childbirth tends to be a painful process for even adults, she's scared to the brink of tears. She was not ready for this because, to be honest, she had almost forgotten that she even could be pregnant. "No, I'm scared…!"


Snow has gone through the same thing before but in captivity. She has spent five days of her life as a Nymph as a slave to the tentacle boss - the fact that only she knows for now - and through this ordeal has given life to a few tentacle spawns. She moves out of the way quickly, taking to the side of Lemon, and grabs her hands. "It will be over soon, I promise." Lemon nods with teary eyes. "It won't even hurt. Trust me."


Snow's words of encouragement are really what Lemon needed and give her strength to go through her ordeal. She can feel something pushing out of her. It's small and narrow compared to the baby one would expect. Yet, it still manages to feel huge. It could be as thick as the bumpy tentacles that impregnated her. It does not have much force behind it, so it can't really push through her narrow passage. Lemon has no other option but to help it, as resistance will only delay the inevitable. So, she leans on her elbows, beginning to push with her internal muscles, a skill she's surprised to even have.


A little push seems to be what her unborn child needed, as it pushes fast out of her. As soon as it reveals the tentacle head covered in a clear, slimy mucus, Lemon's arms betray her, and her back is again pressed against the bedsheets. She can't push; she's already out of fuel. It's so extremely exhausting she can't believe it, but the worst seems to be already behind her. It's slithering out of her, pulsating like a worm, bringing her pleasure on the way out. Little by little, it moves out until it, pretty much just with one fast push, escapes the vagina completely. A worm-like tentacle has been born, and with no umbilical cord, it's hard to even believe that it would be a child of a human-like being. Yet, it is undeniable that it came out of Lemon, a newly turned mother of one. It really was over in a flash. Less than a minute from her realization that it would get born, it's already over, and she's free.


The worm squirms almost as if trying to get away when a hand stops it. A palm extended wide open above it traps the worm inside a strange, dark red glowing spell circle, courtesy of Snow. It wasn't a spell of destruction but rather one of restriction.


"Don't worry. I got it", Snow says.


"Got… It…?" Lemon asks, confused, opening her teary eyes a little bit.


"It's a submission spell that enchanters know. When used on a newborn demon, it can be turned into an item." Lemon hasn't heard of such a thing, so she's left very confused. She can't even find the right words to ask. "It won't kill it. It'll just make it so it can't grow up to be an uncontrollable monster."


Lemon finds it hard to appreciate what's going on, but she's somewhat glad to know there's such a spell.


Snow sighs, disappointed. Suddenly, she's not feeling so good about using the dildo to fuck Lemon. She decides to unplug it, slowly but surely. After that, she lays down next to Lemon, feeling still a little horny.


Lemon finally sits up to look down at her child, the abnormal rape baby she never asked for. Wriggling, it's unable to escape the confines of its prison, spell-bound. Lemon still can't believe it came out from her. She extends her finger to it to give it a little poke, and it feels just as weird as it looks. It's warm, squishy, and covered in a layer of mucus. As she touches it, something appears in front of her. It's a window for an item, so the spell-bound baby counts as loot, as crazy as it may sound. It counts as a common reagent that can be used to cultivate and grow a demon, all the way to tier five. In addition to Nymph ID, which can track down who gave birth to it, it has some icons and symbols attached as flavor text. What they mean, she can't figure out. Sighing, accepting that it belongs to her, she sends the demon spawn to her inventory. For now, she wants to completely forget about its existence. She wants to kill it, but is that the right thing to do if it can be useful? Besides, her mind might change later, so she doesn't want to make a big decision.


Then, she looks down at Snow and realizes that she has grown a little meek and silent. She knows why. Snow is pregnant as well. "I guess you're going to have to give birth too…" Lemon says.


"O-oh, so you realized that I'm in the same position…" Snow says, also nodding as a response.


"Are you scared?"


Snow shakes her head. "To be honest, having experienced it before, I already kind of know what to expect, but… I'm not looking forward to it regardless…"


"It must be due for delivery soon…" Lemon says, with a hand on her jaw.


Snow nods again. "I think so too…"


Although Lemon is free from the offspring that was causing her horniness to some extent, she still feels a little heat, and she can tell that Snow is extremely horny. However, the situation has reversed because Lemon is not so horny that she would blindly accept submitting to anything Snow would have in store for her. Instead, she feels that she has the strength and the ability to be "the top" this time around. Would she appreciate it? she wonders as she stares at the unplugged strap-on laying on the bed. She was planning on using that thing on me, so maybe she likes control. Then again, she did kinda leave it unguarded, so maybe she is asking me to use it instead? That's certainly one way to look at the situation…


Without Snow realizing, Lemon quietly steals the strap-on for herself, hiding it behind her back. "Want me to help with the delivery?" she then asks.


"W-what do you mean…?" Snow asks.


"Well, I think that sex could perhaps speed up pregnancy since it's sped up by source, which is generated more during sex…" Yes, even Lemon has independently thought of this exact same theory that many others have.


"I mean, I don't mind, but…" Then, Snow moves her eyes to Lemon and sees the strap-on in her hands. Her eyes open up fully, and a slightly nervous smile is drawn on her face. Just looking at the scared blue eyes, Lemon can tell that a heart is beating like a drum inside this little child's chest. "You're not planning on using that one me…?"


"Oh? You were looking to "reward" me for helping you, but you never asked what I want…" Lemon says, really putting weight on the words reward and I. "What a peculiar toy…", she adds as she looks at the toy with a curious look in her eyes. "To use it, I must insert it into my holes…" Despite being a little weirded out by the idea, she proceeds to put it on. Both inserted sticks are like plugs, and as said before, they really lock into the place. She's very slow to put it on, inserting both plugs at the same time, with eyes rolling back in the process and a crazed smile appearing on her face. Just putting the toy on alone feels orgasmic. As soon as it is fully in place, she feels like she can relax, but just moving and feeling the rubbery dildo sway in the air is causing the plugs to move inside her, causing both of her holes to convulse and tighten up. She can just imagine what it feels like to thrust with such a sensitive toy. "You see, I happen to be a top. I like dominating girls."


Snow whispers and nods. "Yeah, me too… But I thought you were sub, considering how willing you were towards my advances…"


"Well, you are wrong", Lemon says, pushing Snow down with her hands, giggling happily and gleefully. On her knees, she looks down at her body with the rubbery dick standing on top of the little girl's flat belly. "Oh, what a sight! It almost makes me jealous of men!"


"A-are you sure you wanna do this…?" Snow asks whispering, looking to bargain with Lemon. "I mean, you must be exhausted because of what just happened…"


"Nope!" Lemon loudly proclaims as she pulls back her hips to present the tip of the dildo to Snow's drenched pussy.


"O-okay…! T-then, at least be gentle…! I'm a guy, y-you know…!"


Lemon laughs softly, delighted by the irony. Is everyone except me a guy in this world or what? Oh, how the roles have reversed. She grins happily, looking still down, observing every move of the helpless-looking little child underneath her. She grabs into the hips and begins to push. "Sorry, I don't plan on being gentle", she speaks out as she watches clearly how the lips open up to give way and how the wet folds open up, letting in the shaft. She observes every single expression that the cute girl makes. Snow's face is everchanging, and with every inch into this girl, she makes a new, unexpected face. From a smile of doubt, it turns into a wide-eyed look of fear and shock, straight into that of pure pleasure. When the tip finally reaches the endpoint, she breathes in rapidly, letting out a soft gasp of pleasure, exhaling a moan of relief. And Lemon, she just loves what she's seeing. It's a sight she could get addicted to, one she would love to see over and over again.


Expecting it to be a little difficult to move with, Lemon starts out slow, fully intending to go in fast as soon as she gets properly going. She expected a little friction given the tightness of a tiny hole and the rubbery, unnatural surface, but there seems to be none. The movement feels effortless even with her measly strength. Only her position is holding her back, so she moves a little bit. She's looking for a missionary position and leans forward, thrusting her hips up and down.


Despite her initial reluctance, Snow gives out a lot of room with her fully spread legs and really takes the cock in like a girl. Seeing how her body reacts, Lemon begins to move faster with a wide smile on her face. She can feel it moving and pleasuring her to a much greater extent than she anticipated.


While Lemon can't feel the convulsions and slight movements of the little girl's inner muscles - which she would love to feel - she can definitely feel extreme pleasure from the way her toy tickles her own inner muscles, and this pleasure is a perfect spice for her to move as fast as possible. It draws her in. Despite lacking the male instinct, her hips move in near-perfect, unstoppable rhythm. She can't slow down at all.


Snow feels her body pushed down with force, almost as if by something much larger than a little girl. She can't move, and she won't move. She's completely unable to do anything to stop the Nymph fucking her. Her body reacts marvelously and draws it in as the soft skin of two children slaps against each other, just intensifying the pleasure.


Despite Snow's claim to be a top, her body acts obedient, and her face has turned silly from pleasure. It seems like a shameful lie. How can she claim to be a top when she's acting the way she does? Her words - coming from the midst of her wild moans - also mirror obedience and willingness too. She is surprisingly talkative and has a sharp tongue, and the word that she ends up speaking the most is fuck. "Ah, fuck! Fuck me! Fuck me hard!" Those are just some of the things she ends up blurting out in the process of being dominated. And then, there is also the visual factor for her. Enchanted by the wonderful sight, she observes the place where they connect, and more importantly, she observes Lemon. She still clearly has a slender body of a little girl, with her chest, belly, and wide hips, but a long extension is added to her crotch. It feels almost surreal to her. It's clearly a little girl, yet she makes her feel like this with a simple toy. If there ever was a way to make her truly enjoy being fucked by a dick, it sure as hell is this very situation.


Lemon, empowered by how Snow acts, empowered by the idea of her being able to dominate a girl so effectively, finds a part of herself that she never knew she had. She loves her genitals and being a girl, but having a dick certainly has a charm to it, especially since it's a powerful tool to use against the girls she loves so much to dominate. You could even say that a whole new world has opened up to her. It's a shame that she won't be able to last much longer. She's on autopilot, but she's getting exhausted. She knows she won't be able to stop until she cums, or until her body gives in. At the pace she's going at, she knows it's the orgasm that will shatter her rhythm first. She moans, thrusts, and feels her entire body arc and convulse as sweat drops appear on her face and body. She's almost there, and she's not the only one.


Snow has been on the verge of exploding for a while now. She wants to move a little bit, but she's not allowed to. She wants to close her legs, but every thrust against her cervix just forces her to keep them spread wide open. She wants to hug Lemon and touch her, but she can't even lift her back from the sheets to reach for her skin. She feels truly and absolutely dominated, and she loves it. Lemon's conjuring up a magnificent orgasm for her, and she's forced to experience it. Having her slim body slammed down, she cums with a squirt of liquid and a lovely scream. Her eyes roll back, and she's burning up. Her convulsions and quivers feel brain-meltingly intense. Yet, Lemon won't stop. She's not there yet. Snow almost wants to slow down for a while, but she can't say anything intelligible in between her animalistic moans. She's so sensitive she's trembling. She manages to close her legs finally, but the squeeze of her soft thighs on Lemon's hips is unable to slow the girl down.


Lemon can tell that Snow is still on top of her climax, which seems to be an unrelenting one, and most definitely long. She herself feels that she can't take it anymore either, and she finally feels her own orgasm slow her down a little bit. Climax completely takes away her ability to focus and move as her holes twitch. She's pushed down deep, and her back arcs backward. Sweaty and exhausted, she collapses forward to the clutches of her lover. They share an embrace, feeling each other's sweaty, hot bodies, and both of them, still moaning, extend their tongues forward. Their lips meet for an intimate kiss, one hotter and more erotic than any of the kisses they shared when they were merely warming up. They moan and mumble through the kiss but neither speak a word nor even try to. This kiss is a sign of things to come. Lemon has no strength or stamina to go for round two instantly, and Snow's legs are way too weak and squishy to even imagine doing anything similar to Lemon. Things are starting to slow down for them, but they're far from done. They're not stopping, not until their mission is done.







Recess IV

When Rain enters Wendy's apartment, she is already awake, lying still in her bed, reminiscing everything that has happened to her during the past few days. She hasn't even put on any clothes. Being naked doesn't stop her from getting up and hugging her friend the first moment she sees her. Only when Rain comments on Wendy's appearance, she finally decides to put on clothes. The same panties and the shirt she was wearing last day are enough, as modesty is not something that she has to be mindful of when in the company of her close friends. She doesn't even bother tying her hair.


As the first thing they all do, they tell each other about their stories in detail, commenting on each other's misfortune with varying levels of compassion. That's not to say any of them were unsympathetic at any point, but words and compassion coming from Wendy having heard of what Rain had to go through border on theatrical. Suddenly, the nightmare that happened to Wendy doesn't sound like the worst thing that could happen to a Nymph.


Having relaxed a little bit, Wendy sighs deep, a palm covering her face. "Jesus Christ, you've gone through absolute hell… How did you get away though?"


"A kind ogre saved me."


"Ogre? Really? Like a big, fat green guy with potato nose and antennae ears?"


Rain, who is usually the one making the jokes, looks at Wendy with a thin-eyed expression, arms crossed. "He was actually brown and muscular."


"What happened to it?"


"Oh, after he saved us, he helped us home", Rain says. It clearly seems like neither one of her friends believe her. "He also claimed to be a player."


"Well, given the fact that there are other towns for Nymphs, nothing surprises me anymore…" Angel says, arms crossed.


"Wait, seriously?" Rain asks. "We're not the only ones?"


"Yeah, there is this place called Paradise, which is completely separate from Grove", Angel explains. "Just like us, they think it's the only starting place for players."


Rain lowers her eyebrows, confused. "Well fuck me, what else are devs lying to us about then…?"


Wendy shrugs and replies: "Who fucking knows?"


"At least none of the information we've learned in the past few days contradicts lore", Angel reminds. "So far, they have been the absolute arbiter of truth, over our memories and what devs tell us."


"It's pretty scary to think that we can't really trust our memories though…" Rain says, worried and annoyed. "I mean, what is true and what's false? There's no way of us knowing."


"I don't think we should really worry about it either", Wendy says. "I, at very least, do not want to even think about memories of my personal life being a lie."


"I wouldn't go that far either", Angel says. Rain also agrees. "I think that the healthiest way to think is to believe in our memories until we're proved otherwise", Angel adds.


"That's not a bad plan", Wendy says, nodding, and turns towards Rain. "Speaking of which, how about your physical condition?"


"Okay, I guess", Rain says. "My baby is pretty energetic."


"O-oh, really…? I can't even feel mine…"


Rain looks at Wendy's stomach. "It doesn't really look like you're pregnant either. Not with that waist."


"Right back at you", Wendy comments. "But, I mean… Have you been feeling hot…?"


"I do think that I am hot."


"I mean horny, you dumbass!"


Rain blushes and scratches her cheek, nodding. "Yesterday was kinda bad, but I'm fine now though… Me and Lemon, uhm, kinda… You know…"


"Oh, really…?" Wendy asks, a little surprised, not because she wouldn't put that past Rain, but because she didn't expect it from Lemon.


"How about you then? How are you feeling due to your condition?" After Rain asks her question, silence falls in the room. She can tell that Wendy and Angel are both blushing. Rain immediately suspects that they might've done something, but she finds that idea to just be too unbelievable, so she doesn't even want to comment on it. "Never mind…" she says.


"I-I mean, I do manage…" Wendy says, trying to laugh it off. "I'm good…"


"If you're feeling bad, just tell me and I'll brew some tea", Angel suggests.


"Honestly, I think I'm about to give birth soon", Rain says. "It won't be needed…"


"I wish to give birth soon, so it will be just over with", Wendy says, a little annoyed. "I mean, not because I want to, but to get better."


"Yeah, I agree", Rain says and nods. "I'm also looking forward to raising it."


Wendy looks at Rain, shocked. "Wait, raising your baby…?"


Rain nods again. "I learned that enchanters can do something with demon spawns. I'm planning on using my firstborn for experimenting."


Wendy doesn't even know what to say. In the context of normal children, what Rain is talking about sounds very cruel to her, but they are talking about demons, so she's a little conflicted. Then again, she herself was thinking about killing her baby, especially if it's a goblin, so she's not one to criticize Rain for cruelty. Of course, killing a baby and making it a guinea pig are on entirely different levels of cruelty, but I digress. Wendy feels that punishing the unborn child for the actions of its father is wrong, but if the child is going to grow up to be a sex-crazed monster, one that might potentially become a danger to Nymphs, killing it could be the most ethical thing in her eyes. Besides, it might be preferable to the child as well, as it would be just forced to live its life in captivity and endless, insatiable lust for source. Oh, and then there is the little issue of them being inside a game, so her real-life morals are not applicable here. "Can you do anything with other kinds of babies…?" she asks.


"I don't think I can do anything with them", Rain says, shrugging. "Are you worried about yours?"


Wendy nods. "I don't know what to do with it."


"Just kill it…" Angel says.


"Yeah, I mean, what else you can do?" Rain says. "It's not like you're going to source feed it either."


"Oh right, there's that thing too…" Wendy remembers. "Maybe I really have no other choice…"


"I'll go around asking other people for advice", Angel suggests, standing up. "I'll do it right away. Maybe someone might have a solution."


Rain gets up as well. "If you two don't mind, I will go home. I want to talk, but there is something I must do."


Angel and Wendy both know that Rain is talking about giving birth. "Are you sure you don't need help…?" Wendy asks.


Rain looks at Wendy, thinking about her question. Since Angel is leaving, it would mean that Rain and Wendy would be alone, and Rain knows that. She thinks she knows what Wendy is thinking, but she does not dare to engage in anything sexual with one of her old friends. She wants to keep that as her red line, at least for now. "I don't think I do."


"Is that so…?" Wendy asks, sighing. She does not want to push Rain to have sex, and honestly, she's not sure if she would want to do it either, mostly because she fears that as a self-admitted lolicon, Rain would be sexually interested in her current form, something that weirds her out. I guess I'll rely on someone else if it becomes unbearable for me, she tells herself. "Well, talk to both of you later then."


With Angel and Rain leaving and going separate ways, all three get a little more time to spend alone.



Angel is lucky to find Dana relatively quickly, who is probably the best source for the information she's going to find. After exchanging few kind words, Angel asks her question regarding what to do with babies. To summarize the rest of the conversation, along with Dana's answer, she talks about the possibility of Caretakers setting up some kinds of fences and safe houses for children Nymphs give birth to, as it is only possible for them to create such infrastructure. However, she also expresses concern over the fact that it is impossible to domesticate and control enemies such as goblins. Still, she talks about how there are a couple of places in Grove that would gladly offer help in this regard. She specifically mentions Amanda, a name that was mentioned earlier in this chapter.


"Amanda is a little special, to say at very least", Dana says and pauses for a bit as she's not sure how to put her thoughts into words. "Let's just say she needs goblins for some kind of experiment she's running."


Angel is a little confused. "Experiment…?" she says, spelling each syllable out slowly.


"She's, uhhh… She's a little bit of a mad scientist. She wants to figure out precisely how effectively sex can help us Nymphs generate source quicker, and also how effectively source helps the babies themselves grow."


The nervous blush appears on Angel's cheeks, and a sly smile on her lips though. "…And she's doing this alone, or…?"


"I think she has some help", Dana says, shrugging, "but she might also be looking for more volunteers."


"O-okay, thanks… I'll tell Wendy that she can donate her baby for Amanda's experiments…"


"Oh, right, you mean her", Dana remembers. "So she hasn't given birth yet, huh…"


"Yeah, the goblin's probably due soon", Angel says and shrugs.


"How about your other pals?" Dana asks. "Any luck finding them?"


Angel finds herself pleasantly surprised by Dana's question. Angel really didn't expect Dana to remember, especially since they didn't really talk one to one when they met, but apparently Dana has an uncanny ability to remember every single face she comes across and even some other facts on top of that. With a delighted expression, Angel replies: "Yes, they're home."


With that, the two go separate ways.



Meanwhile, Rain is home enjoying herself in peace and quiet. She feels like all she needs is a little push for her baby to be born, so she decides to relieve herself of some stress by masturbating, which is not something she has done at all. Even though she wasn't really horny beforehand, all it took was touching herself a little bit to get into the right mood. It takes her only about ten minutes to get to the point where she feels her baby being born. I will not go through this process, as it goes pretty much the same as it did with Lemon. The only differences are that she's alone and that she's not really scared about it hurting. It is over in an instant, and she's left exhausted, finally feeling physically relieved and strangely satisfied.


She sits up, legs still spread, looking down at what just left her body, with confusion and slight repulsion drawn all over her face. Even though small, it's not cute at all, as one would expect babies to be. It's nowhere as disgusting as she thought it would be, and it definitely isn't noisy at all. Best of all, she doesn't have to worry about changing diapers, ever. Rain doesn't have to worry about it getting away or suddenly growing; she has plenty of time to subdue it. On her first try, she manages to trap it inside its restrictive spell circle, after double-checking the instructions, of course. She doesn't want it staying in her bed though, so she picks it up with two hands and looks at the squirmy, faceless, and limbless worm.


"Oh, you bastard. I'm going to turn you into a lab rat", she tells her child. As she walks it to the middle of her work table, she tries coming up with a name to it, but she can't really come up with one, at least not right away. She leaves it be and heads towards a shower, which is something she badly needs. Once clean, there really aren't any more things troubling her, despite maybe her worrying about her mental condition and the possibility of the game changing her personality. Still, I'm not going to go through any of that again, as she hasn't really reached any definitive conclusions.


Instead of tying up her hair as usual, she settles for a simple ponytail but otherwise decides to dress up normally in her new gear. Having inspected her baby turned into a useable item, she is looking to gather information about different kinds of symbols and what they mean. She suspects they have something to do with demon's traits as well as different kinds of paths she can raise it towards, but since she doesn't know about their meanings, she decides to hit the library. She remembers seeing a large book in the enchanting section of the library about what it takes to raise a demon all the way up to tier three and about general information regarding the raising process in general. She also hopes to find information about the extra rare enchanting reagent she found, the so-called "Soul Lodestone". At the moment, it functions as a normal soul stone with a massive capacity of five hundred souls. Apparently, it will also be the primary vessel to which all souls will be stored, prioritizing every other stone.


Inside the library, she finds the book she wanted instantly and picks it up. Players can't take books away from the library, but by paying a low price of one gold, they can copy any text in the library and take the copy home. Contributors always get a discount, but Rain still has to pay as she hasn't personally contributed any books. It's a price Rain is definitely willing to pay for the valuable information stored inside this 153-page recipe book devoted to raising demons. She also picks up a book about soul stones but does not make that her reading priority.


Home again, Rain gets straight into reading and figures out that her first job is to feed the offspring. It can be done by either feeding it source or souls, out of which the former is free but laborsome, while the latter is fast but potentially expensive. Her demon will not need much to evolve to the second tier, just five filled common soul stones. Alternatively, she could just use the demon as a dildo to feed it source, but that's not something she wants to do.


Furthermore, to manipulate its growth and mutate it into being a specific kind of monster, Rain needs special ingredients. Every demon has several "growth paths" and different paths require different ingredients to be fed. Without a special diet, it would grow up to become the kind of demon its father was. At first glance, none of the paths available for this specific demon seem interesting to Rain, at least not until she sees the last one on the list. This one, capping at just tier three, can be grown to be some kind of futanari demon, which can be attached to a Nymph to temporarily give them a penis. Not a demon that is useful for combat, but rather, solely for sex and fun.


Reading about this and realizing that it is a choice for her, she finds her heart pump fast. The last two times she did it with a girl, she was lamenting the fact that she didn't have a dick, and the supposed fact that she would never be able to have one, but here it is, lying right under her nose, and it's so simple as well. She can make her futanari dreams a reality. Like, she can grow herself a temporary dick! She can't believe it!


Immediately, she begins reading into what she needs, skipping through the pages frantically. Turns out, she has to rely on alchemy for step one, and she just happens to have the potions at hand, so she feeds them to the demon immediately. After that, she can then give it the soul stones - which she also has in hand - and thus, the demon involves, almost as if straight out of Pokemon. Now, she has a slightly bigger and meaner-looking tentacle at her hands, one that resembles a dildo more than a worm. Yet, it still is definitely a living being.


Step three requires five large soul stones, each of which are filled with ten souls in addition to source, even more potions, some fake cum she already ran to during her second expedition, and three rare mushrooms she hasn't even heard of. Furthermore, she no longer has an option between soul stones and source, as she will need both. Obviously, having a day all for herself, she decides to head out, hoping some local shops could have what she needs in stock.


After walking around in the center for a little bit and touring shops, she comes across everything she needs apart from two mushrooms. She got only one since, as she expected, they're scarce and valuable. She had to give out something equally valuable in return for it too, but she didn't mind. It was a good trade, as the trader seemed happy too.


Rain decides to go home and separate the items she needs from her inventory to store them safely. On her way back, she sees a girl waiting for her at the door. Warm light is lit in her eyes as she recognizes Pink. At the sight of each other, both of them run towards each other, arms extended, and share a loving hug.


"You really are safe! I heard so from the girls and have waited for you ever since!"


"Hope you didn't wait too long. I was out for quite a time."


"I don't care!" Pink says happily and looks at smiling Rain. She can't even help herself, so she steals a kiss from Rain's lips, a move that shocks and even startles Rain. She's okay with being kissed by a cute girl, but right now, they're outside. Arms extended slightly, not anymore touching Pink, she stays still, engulfed in the passion of her good friend. After a solid ten seconds, Pink finally relents and says: "I know we shouldn't… And that we promised, but I just couldn't help myself…"


"I-it's fine, really…" Rain says, laughing, hugging Pink once again, also looking around herself. "You should've waited until we got inside though… I don't want to risk getting seen by Angel and Wendy…"


Pink separates from Rain, holding hands up like a criminal being pointed at by a gun. "Okay, I'll resist! Even though you're so cute!"


"Why not come in? I have something fun to show you."


Happily obliging, the overly cheerful Pink rushes inside Rain's apartment the moment the door opens up. She jumps directly on top of Rain's bed, face against the sheets, and she kicks about while giggling. Rain's not sure what to make of it, but she sure does not mind Pink fooling around in her house. In fact, she finds it cute. "It smells of you…" Pink says, giggling even more. "Oh boy, this is the bed that my dear Rain sleeps in."


As Rain hears the word "smell", she immediately blushes because she's afraid Pink would notice a scent much stronger than her natural little-girl-scent since she just a moment ago masturbated in that very bed. She starts unloading her inventory to the already messy table, to the outer right corner. Her tentacle spawn lays dead in the middle of the table, still squirming. She feels Pink coming from behind and looking down at the strange creature.


"Ewww, what the hell…? It looks like a dick…"


"Oh, it's my child", Rain says, with a dead serious face and expression.


"R-right… I heard about you going through some difficulties…"


"Let's not dwell on that."


"Are you fine though?"


Just thinking about the tentacles makes Rain feel a little anxious given everything that happened and how they made her feel and act. She figures out that she might as well be honest. "It was a very, very difficult experience, in more ways than one."


"What could you mean by that…?" Pink asks, looking a little uncomfortable and worried.


"Something about miasma poisoning", Rain says. "It kind of… Changed me at the time, maybe even permanently. I'm not sure if those scars will never heal…"


"I've heard something about miasma as well and victims of it."


"Really? From who?"


"Melody and folks talked about it. They don't have first-hand experience though."


"Oh, you've come to know them as well?"


"I actually grouped up with them yesterday. We were looking for you and Lemon together…"

That came as news to Rain since Angel and Wendy never told her about it. She looks at Pink, surprised, and smiles brightly. "I need to thank them all then…"


"No need to thank me though!" Pink says, laughing. "I was just doing what I know you would do for me."


"Yeah, you bet", Rain says, nodding.


"But what about this child?" Pink asks, changing the subject back to the creature laying still on the table. "Is this what you wanted to show me?"


Rain nods, also showing Pink the book, which is open at the page telling about the so-called futanari demon. She points her hand at the picture of the strange-looking demon with a long, surprisingly human phallic extension and little tentacles growing from the base. As Pink looks at it, she can only think of one thing, and she immediately realizes what's up.


"Wait… You're going to turn this into some kind of living sex toy…?"


Rain nods, with clear excitement in her eyes. "I'm turning it into a dick!"


"Seriously…?" Pink asks, with lowered eyebrows and an overall skeptical look on her face. "Isn't it already a dick though…?"


Rain shakes her head. "It's just a dildo. What I mean is a dick that can be attached to a Nymph like a strap-on!"


"T-that's possible…?" Pink asks, surprised, with a shaky voice.


"What, did I get you interested?"


"I-I can't deny it… But I wouldn't use it…"


Rain tilts her head, letting out a long, stretched-out "Really?"


"I thought I made myself clear the last time around", Pink whispers, sounding embarrassed. "I really prefer being a girl… And that means having a vagina…"


"Oh, so it's about being on the receiving end you're interested in?" Rain asks, with a hand on her jaw.


"I-I mean… I DO like dicks…" Pink says, blushing like crazy. "It's just that… The idea of little girls having dicks is heresy…"


"Then I'm happy to be a heretic", Rain says, with a serious expression, getting closer to Pink. "In any case, it's good to know I have someone to use this on."


"I never said that…" Pink says, finds herself on retreat, smiling and laughing uncomfortably though.


"Oh? Your loss, I guess."


"C-come on, Rain…" Pink says, still laughing. "We promised to not have that kind of a relationship."


Rain looks at Pink's body, basically daydreaming in her head about boning her. She finds it very easy to resist her temptations because she feels pretty satisfied at the moment. She nods at Pink's comment. "You're right. I won't seriously push you to do anything."


"It doesn't look like an easy recipe", Pink comments, looking at the list of ingredients. "Looks like you have a good start though."


"Yeah, harvesting enough source and souls is going to take a couple of days."


"Does the source have to be yours?"


Rain shakes her head. "I'm happy to loan it to anyone."


"How about the demon itself? Can it be dangerous?"


"That evolution route should have zero risks of pregnancy or the demon being able to turn against its master, but a sterilizer made by an alchemist has to be applied to it to eliminate the poisons. It has the same effect that its father has to turn Nymphs crazy with miasma poisoning." As Rain says that, she realizes that she forgot to buy the said sterilizers. Most alchemists don't have them in stock, as they only work on males. Moreover, ingredients for them are uncommon and used for more sought-after potions, making them a waste of valuable resources in the eyes of many. Rain has to either deal with the miasma in small doses or get someone to make her potions. "I'm probably not going to rush raising it, even though I really want it."


"Oh, I almost forgot!" Pink suddenly says. "Wendy and Angel talked about wanting to meet up with all five of us to discuss our future plans. Do you think we could bother Lemon?"


"Well, she should be awake…" Rain thinks out loud, wondering why she hasn't heard about her yet. Then she remembers the other Nymph as well. It doesn't take her a moment to put two plus two together. "Actually, I think she could be busy…"


Pink tilts her head, looking puzzled, as she has no idea what Rain means.

"Oh, and can I ask one thing from you?"


Pink nods. "Sure, what?"


"Don't tell others about this…" Rain says meekly. "Especially not Wendy and Angel."


"Why not?"


"It's a little embarrassing. They're just going to make fun of me."


"Who cares? It's just banter."


"Well… I suppose… It's just the kind of banter I'd rather avoid."


"Besides, who are you going to loan it to?"


"I'm not sure… Those I feel comfortable telling about this…"


"Why did you tell me then?" Pink asks, leaning in closer towards Rain with a smug smile. "Is it because you think I'm an easy fuck?"


Rain immediately blushes. "I-it's not that I think you're easy… I don't want to reveal this secret to those I have no desire to fuck, because there's the risk of them getting actually interested."


"Oh, really now?" Pink asks. Her facial expressions reveal her suspicion. She doesn't believe a word of what Rain just said. "Do you actually think those two would be interested then?"


"No, honestly…" Rain says. "It's just that I would never fuck those two, so they don't need to know."


"Alright then", Pink says and nods. "I'll honor your wish. I can also help you feed it later."







Reunited

About a week into the game, a group of six Nymphs, every one of them friends with each other, left the town of Paradise towards the mountainous regions to the south, planning to venture farther than ever before. Past the Sparkling Forest - the area considered amongst the local communities to be entry-level - lies Hammercliff Valley, which was the next frontier for this party. Little did they know that this would be their last adventure together.


It started out well, and they were hopeful about the journey ending well. Why wouldn't they be? They're all skilled and confident, especially considering their past success. They defeated many foes and looted their treasures. They even survived an ambush of a group of eight goblins! Having decided it was time to return home, they turned back, only to be surprised by a group of demons that turned out to be a little too much for them. There were four A-ranked demons and two elite ones, a group that was way worse than anything they had run into so far. The group was forced to scatter and split into three. Out of the six, the one who was unquestionably unluckiest was their summoner, Snow, for she was the only one who found herself alone in the forest.


This group had a plan in case of these kinds of situations: get home as soon as possible. Deep in the dangerous reaches of Hammercliff Valley, Snow was not feeling optimistic about her survival, but she didn't want to give up. To make matters worse for her, she was heading in the wrong direction straight from the start. She had only ever relied on the group's navigator for directions, so she didn't even realize that her own map wasn't being displayed correctly, and this turned out to be terrible for her. By the time she realized that her maps were malfunctioning, as evident by the fact she found herself in the unknown, southern parts of the valley, it was already too late.


In the valley, she faced many adversities, barely surviving them all. Her equipment didn't survive the many tentacle traps that would've turned out to be fatal for her if it wasn't for her minions. She knew that she would not be getting home anymore. She was tired and way too deep into the valley. The night was falling too. Weeping and scared, unable to accept her fate in her heart, she searched for a place to rest and found it within the corridors of ancient ruins.


These ruins were the ones she met her fate in. She is not a scout, so she couldn't really track traps either. It was only a matter of time until she got caught. As we know, her fate was to be trapped in the lustful embrace of a tentacle demon, one that she would not escape until the day Ron found her.


Five straight days and nights went by. It felt like a lifetime during the ordeal, but looking back, it felt like a blink of an eye afterward. The flashes she can remember from it all can be fit within an hour-long time window, a thought that horrifies her. When she inquired Lemon about how long the game had been going on now, she got legitimately upset just thinking about the fact that for almost a week, she had been separated from her friends, who themselves could be in danger. Then, she got even more upset and scared when she heard that she was not even in Paradise. She's in Grove, a place that is completely unknown and strange to her. She could barely contain the tears anymore, and it took a good while for her to calm down.


By the time afternoon rolled in, she was invited and accepted to the little get-together of the five reunited Nymphs. It was the first time in days they could be together in the same place at the same time, making it a special moment for all. Sitting on the large bed inside Lemon's apartment in a close and tight ring, with intentions of discussing their plans going forward, they briefly introduced themselves to Snow, and Snow introduced herself to five friends.


Snow, in real life, is a country-grown boy, having lived her entire life on the shores of Lake Lagoda about an hour's drive away from Saint Petersburg, Russia. Despite being an adult, she admits to living with her parents because of her relatively young age. At first glance, she seems quite shy, but you will quickly find out that she's actually an extrovert with quite a sharp tongue once you get to know her. She's somewhat unconventional and even inappropriate at times. She usually dresses up modestly in an outfit that closely resembles a typical sailor school uniform popular in many Japanese schools. Her long-sleeved jacket is white, and her skirt is bright red, and she also wears a matching sea captain's hat on her head. As far as her clothes go, she definitely stands out.


She's a caster who plays a fully supportive role in a group, relying primarily on summoning allies to do fighting and by strengthening her allies, Nymphs and monsters alike. She doesn't use many spells on her enemies and instead opts to use her spare mana and time on heals, making her also a secondary healer. Her arsenal of spells and the wide list of creatures she can summon makes her a rare kind of player who can, in theory, solo any type of non-elite enemy, provided she's adventuring in a relatively easy area and keeping a level head. While she's yet to come across an enemy she's completely unable to do damage against, she still does the best in group settings due to being a great benefit to her allies. Overall, her playstyle is very defensive and calculating.


"In any case, we're happy to accept you on board, even if just temporarily", Wendy says.


Snow nods, smiling shyly.


"About your friends", Wendy begins, "were those five close to you?"


"I mean, we were starting to get really close…" Snow says meekly, not sure how to explain herself. "But I didn't know them from before I played this game, so to be honest, I'm not sure… I just want to know they're safe." Then, she looks around the girls sitting in a circle with her. "By the way, who was the other girl who helped me out from the ruins?"


Rain, who is sitting next to Snow, raises her hand. "That would be me."


"Oh? So, you were Rain?"


Rain nods and is about to reintroduce herself kindly, when suddenly, to her surprise and to the shock of pretty much everyone in the room, Snow leans in to take one very soft and short kiss from Rain's lips. Suddenly not sure what to even say, she just stares at Snow, dumbfounded.

"What kind of a lewd woman are you!?" Wendy suddenly asks, raising her voice, and pointing her finger at Snow, blushing and clearly embarrassed.


"Oh, that was just a little "thank you" kiss", Snow says, giggling.


"In what world is that normal!?" Wendy asks, still flustered.


"C-calm down…" Lemon says, finding the whole situation funny more than anything else.


"Maybe she's just jealous of Rain", Pink says, laughing hard.


"S-shut up! I'm so not!"


"I mean…" Snow is blushing herself, having just realized what she did might've been inappropriate. "I just… Kind of did it without thinking… I don't even know why… I just thought it was the most appropriate way to thank someone…"


"Well to be honest, kissing someone you just met as a thank you is not the first thing that would come to my mind…" Angel says, shrugging, appearing overall neutral to the whole situation.


"O-okay, I'm sorry, Rain…" Snow says, giggling. "I hope you're not angry…"


"No…" Rain says, whispering in the softest and girly voice she can muster. "I didn't mind…"


"Yeah, I'd be more worried about Rain kissing you if I were you, Snow", Wendy says, arms crossed.


"Oh, you…" Rain says, turning towards Wendy. "Oh, right. Didn't you say something about other Nymphs here being from Paradise?"


"Right", Wendy says, trying to collect her thoughts and act like a leader. "There were like a forty or fifty of them…"


"Really?" Snow asks surprisingly loudly. "Where? How?"


"We raided Fort Hammercliff", Angel explains. "We wanted to save all the Nymphs who were captive. Amongst the captives were a lot of Nymphs from Paradise."


"I just thought that could some of your friends be in that group?" Wendy asks. "Since you ran to groups of goblin hunters and all that."


"It is not out of the question…" Snow says, thinking about it. "We did stumble across two groups of goblins in our last journey, and since we were scattered, a small group would've definitely been an easy target."


"We should go around asking organizers about the names of these Nymphs", Lemon suggests. "Want me to go with you, Snow?"


"Isn't this meeting more important to you…?" Snow asks. "I mean, you're finally reunited and all that… You don't need to be that concerned for me."


"Are you kidding me?" Lemon asks and laughs. "We're taking a break, so we have all the time we need for ourselves."


"I have a better idea", Pink states loudly. "Let's go together!"


They all look at each other, nodding, and leave for the center in hopes of finding out the identities of the rescued Nymphs.



They're unsurprised to find out that the people present in the theater and library do not remember the names of every single individual, but from the twenty or so names floated around, none sound familiar to Snow. She also tries to describe her friends to those willing to help out, but she's not very good at explaining people's appearances. Besides, she kind of thinks that most of her previous party members are kind of plain. There is, however, one Nymph that remembers seeing a girl that matches one of Snow's descriptions. In fact, this girl is apparently studying in the library, just a short walk away from our heroines. With haste, Snow heads towards the direction of a pointing finger, loudly thanking the helpful Nymph before leaving.


She's really in a hurry to see if the Nymph is one of her previous party members, so much so that the five Nymphs have a hard time keeping up. Snow doesn't really care though. As soon as she sees a black-haired little girl reading a book, sitting on a bench, she cries out her name. "Crystal!"


Distracted by a familiar voice, this girl raises her eyes from the book, and she's lit up with joy. She drops the book as she stands up. It's clear that she can't believe her eyes. "Is that you, Snow?"


"Yes, yes!" Nodding, Snow rushes to Crystal and grabs both her hands. "What happened to you?"


"We were on the way home", a girl named Crystal begins. "Me, Trisha, and Bell. We got ambushed again by goblins."


"What about others?"


"I… I do not know…" Crystal says, looking a little worried. "Trisha and Bell probably got back to Paradise since they weren't with me in the castle."


Crystal, at first glance, looks as average as a Nymph can be as far as size goes. If you look close enough, you will realize that she's got stacked hips, but even that doesn't make her unusual in any way. She's got wild-looking short and curly hair, raven black in color, which partially covers her eyes and ears, twists and turns, and sticks to various different directions. While chaotic, it fits her like a glove and actually looks very cute on her. Her brown eyes also have a darker shade to them. She appears fully human, and her skin is a lighter shade of brown. Her clothes are rather plain but have a militaristic touch to them. She has a black, plain tank-top and baggy green camo shorts that reach all the way to her knees. She also has dog tags hanging on her neck.


"I have no idea what has happened to Polly and Hina though", Crystal admits. "Have you got any clues regarding those two?"


Snow shakes her head. "It's a mystery…"


"How about you? Did you get into trouble?"


"Long story short, I was alone, got lost, and then, caught by tentacles…"


"Yikes…" Crystal says, with a slight hint of disgust in her voice. "Not sure if that's better or worse than what happened to me…"


"I was caught by goblins too", Wendy says, inserting herself into the conversation. "As horrible as it was, I can definitely imagine tentacles being worse."


Crystal then realizes that she and Snow have company.


"They're with me", Snow explains. "They're all good girls."


"Really?" Crystal eyes the five girls as a shy smile appears on her face. "So, you're all local? Nice to meet you. I'm Crystal."


Brief introductions follow.


"Do you have a party yet?" Wendy asks. "Snow has already joined us, so I thought it would be a good idea for you to join as well…"


"I… I don't have one yet…" Crystal admits, scratching the back of her neck nervously. She shows signs of fear, and doubt is oozing from her voice. "I haven't honestly even thought about returning to the battlefield…"


"Are you scared?" Wendy asks, to which Crystal just nods. "I don't blame you."


"Yeah, I mean, you went through it as well…" Crystal says, looking deep into the eyes of Wendy. "I don't know how much you experienced, but what I went through honestly made me feel like there was no salvation for me."


"Honestly, I'm afraid of getting caught again as well", Lemon says. "Oh, me and her", she continues, pointing at Rain, "Got also caught by tentacles."


Rain nods. "I don't think any of us are in a hurry to get back to adventuring."


Crystal nods, sighing. "I know I will return eventually… I just need time."


"We all need time", Lemon says, nodding. Everyone is in agreement.


"Well, for now, why not join our party? Even if it doesn't get anywhere, let's help each other."


Crystal is hesitant to accept because she just met these five Nymphs, and she is, to be honest, still too attached to her first group. She knows meeting up with those is impossible, but she feels like she can't really let go like that. She just feels so sad not knowing what has happened to most of them. It's upsetting for her to think that she has to move on, even if just temporarily. "Sure…" she finally says.


Wendy gets closer to Crystal, looking curious. "What's your role?"


"I'm a tank", Crystal says, which is something that makes everyone in the party really happy. "I'm guessing you ladies need a tank…?" she adds, laughing a little. "It's written all over your faces."


Rain extends her hand to Crystal and says: "I used to be the only melee in this party."


"Really?" Crystal says and shakes Rain's hand. "Let's share the burden then."


It still hasn't been decided if Crystal will join the team for sure, but with Snow already in the group, she sees no reason not to join. This party of seven is starting to look like a proper set-up, but it's still far from perfect and desirable. Knowing how badly they fell flat the last time they faced great adversities, they all know they need to improve and add to their arsenals. If they can't get better, they're just going to just fail again. Next time that happens, they might not be so lucky and be saved.



On the way back to Lemon's house, Crystal introduces herself a little better while learning about the girls she just met. In the real world, she's an American woman of mixed heritage, with her mother being Hispanic and her father being black. She's 35 years of age and lives in a small town in Texas. What makes her different from pretty much every other Nymph in the group is that she actually has a family of her own, two children, and a husband. She used to be a real MMO junkie but nowadays doesn't have much time to play anymore with her kids, and work taking too much of her time. She doesn't tell much about what kind of person she is - apart from being "brutally honest" - but everyone can tell that she's very kind on the surface.


Her in-game combat role is not only melee but very much in-your-face and close-quarter. She isn't anywhere similar to Rain in style. Her weapon of choice is a large double-headed axe, and her talents are Strength and Iron Skin. She is way more tanky than Rain, but that doesn't mean she's any more suited to the role than Rain because she can't rely that much on dodge. As a fighter, she is surprisingly technical per her vast experience with a similar weapon from her days from an unnamed competitor to Mormia, a game she used to play a lot in her twenties.


Now the Nymphs finally get around to discussing their future. While Wendy is the leader and the strategist on the battlefield, Lemon is like the chairman for the group, the person who leads the conversation in the group. Or, at least, so the other girls treat her. They both are regarded as leaders of some sorts. It might've not gotten apparent from the story yet, but it absolutely is the case. Lemon is actually the first one to realize something about what Crystal told, something that the others did not even think about at the time.


"Since you were in goblin's custody, you must be pregnant as well."


"Oh, that…" Crystal says, blushing a little bit. "I already gave birth to it."


"So, are you okay now?"


Crystal looks hesitant but nods either way. "As okay as a girl can be after giving birth to a monster…"


"It's good to hear you're feeling well", Wendy says. "I still haven't given birth…"


"Honestly, it's not that awful an experience, so don't be scared", Crystal says. "By the way, I was impressed by the amount of lore you girls here in Grove have discovered. There was a lot of information we didn't have in Paradise."


"Have you two from Paradise discovered something that none of us from Grove have?" Lemon asks.


"I didn't get time to read through everything", Crystal explains, "but you did seem to miss the third page of the book about mortality…" It is a page that everyone in the group is dying to hear about - no pun intended - since the question of mortality and what happens next is one that puzzles literally every single Nymph in Grove. "I was going to submit it to Paradise's library, but someone else did so before me, so I submitted it here instead."


"Wanna tell us what it's about?"


"Honestly, I'm bad at explaining…"


"That's fine", Pink says, getting up. "The book's right around the corner. Let me go pick it up for us."


With that, the group finally gets the opportunity to read the piece of lore word to word.



Excerpt from the Gamer's Logbook; "Exploring the Mechanics of Nymphsaga", entry number ???, "Nymphs and Mortality, Part Three: Death, Rebirth, and the Cost."


Having explained what leads to Nymph's mental breakdown - which in this context means death - and how it can happen, the only thing to really explain is to explain what happens afterward. As stated in the previous chapter, the player's spirit will leave Nymph's body upon mental breakdown. What happens next, anywhere from few minutes up to three weeks after it has taken place, is rebirth.


Nymph's life is an eternal cycle that cannot be interrupted by normal means. Nymph's soul can't escape Phantasm. It can't return to the world players consider "real", and it can't perish completely. Instead, when rebirth occurs, the player will get a new body, which highly resembles their old one but is never exactly the same. There are always few features that will change from their last avatar.


The place where the rebirth happens is either the closest "Garden of Rebirth" to the place where they perish, or, in the case of the closest "Garden" being undiscovered, the last "Garden" the Nymph visited. The rebirth always happens on the "Day of Rebirth", which occurs on the first day of the Eclipse, considered to be the end of a month in Phantasm. Despite being organisms of bone, flesh, and blood, Nymphs grow from plants that bloom on the day of rebirth. These flowers only bloom where there is a lot of source present, or in other words, in places where Nymphs tend to live.


When the player comes back to life, they will lose all their equipment and everything in their inventory and all their learned abilities, levels, talents, professions, and even their predetermined class. They will literally have to start from scratch and make the choices again. They can choose to take a completely different path or a familiar path. It is entirely up to them.


Lastly, there is also a spiritual cost to each rebirth. Every time player resurrects, she will lose an irreplaceable part of herself. What this something is, is a secret for now and a surprise left for when the player dies. Then again, by the time she has resurrected, she won't know what it is that she lost.



It isn't really a relief for any of the five Nymphs who didn't know about it, as it was what they expected. They suspected they would resurrect; they just didn't know about the details that turned out to be a little harsher than any of them feared. Whenever being forced to be this world's prisoner is better or worse than being granted the release of death is left for every individual to decide for themselves.


"There still isn't any information about how to actually get out from this game", Angel points out.


"Yeah, but the text says it can't be interrupted by normal means", Crystal says. "That suggests there's more to this."


"Yeah, and we don't really know if there's a fourth part either", Snow says, shrugging.


"But what about the thing we lose when we die?" Pink says.


"Honestly, those last sentences feel like a riddle", Rain mutters to herself.


"Well, we're almost three weeks into the game", Lemon points out. "We don't know what day we spawned to this world on, but the so-called day of rebirth hasn't taken place yet."


"It can't be too many days away", Pink says. "I mean, it said "the end of the month", or something…"


"How long is a month in Phantasm?" Wendy asks. "Thirty days? How is it even counted?"


"I mean, the month on earth is determined by the time it takes for the moon to revolve around the earth", Lemon points out with a speculative tone. "Since Phantasm IS the moon in this case, maybe a month is the time in which Phantasm revolves around that huge gas giant…? I'm guessing the time is not the exact same as on earth… I mean, it could be…"


"Makes sense", Pink says, nodding. "Maybe we will know the answer soon."


Crystal sighs deeply. "Honestly, I was WAY more scared of never being able to die than I was from actually dying…" Silence falls on the room, and Crystal realizes this. She hasn't really talked about it much because the others have. It's about the fact that many Nymphs already know, but our heroines don't yet. "The goblins were sure to let us rest and heal to make sure we never break down."


"But that goes directly against the lore!" Angel yells, sounding scared.


"Yeah, I know", Crystal says. "But I swear to God, I'm not lying. It was the elite goblins that were calling the shots and making sure we get rest."


Wendy, having realized that she too could've been in a situation where she wouldn't be able to break down, falls silent and scared, unable to really say anything. Flashbacks of what the goblins did to her come back to her, but this time, accompanied by the idea of not being able to get out. Had there not been any plans for a raid, she wouldn't have been saved. The goblins intended to keep her there as a slave for a long, long time, perhaps even indefinitely. There's just no way that would be fair to us, she tells herself.


"The tentacles weren't like that", Snow says, deep in thought. "We were heading straight towards breakdown, right?"


"If you can even say that", Lemon says, shrugging. "Since we had basically broken down already."


"I mean", Rain begins, beginning to challenge the idea of not being able to break down. "Just because the goblins let you rest doesn't mean that you would've been slaves for eternity, right?"


"Yeah, there has to be some mechanic that would protect us from that kind of abuse", Wendy says. "There's just NO WAY it would be fair otherwise."


"When has this game ever been fair to us?" Lemon asks, pointing out the obvious.


"Yeah, and the text is pretty clear", Crystal says. "If we get rest, our stamina bar will regenerate, which will interrupt the countdown. It was exactly what happened to me. I'm not saying there isn't a mechanic we don't know about yet, but the evidence suggests that it is possible to abuse this mechanic."


"Yeah, but the same text also says that enemies can't abuse the mechanic", Wendy points out. "How do you explain that then?"


"I… I don't know…" Crystal admits. "I'm just talking about my personal experiences…"


"Can you actually remember the exact thing the text said?" Rain asks. "Because I'm pretty sure it said that "programmed" enemies can't abuse the mechanic."


Crystal turns towards Rain. "What are you implying?"


"What if the enemies are not programmed? What if they are thinking, feeling, and intelligent beings just like us?"


Crystal, who found herself on the other side of this debate, can't do anything but admit: "…That would change everything."


"Wait a minute, Rain", Wendy says. "Are you talking about monsters like that ogre you met?"


Rain nods. "Ron claimed to be a player despite being a monster. It could very well be that some of those goblins were the same."


"I can't imagine players, humans like us, being so cruel to us", Angel says.


"Me neither, but it's possible", Rain says. "And they could be controlled by someone else than us players. I wouldn't put it past the bastards who are behind all this."


Crystal had not heard about the monster that was a player yet, but the fact that everyone else seems to believe the story - Snow included - and the fact that Lemon also says that she talked to this ogre named Ron makes her a believer too. "Well, it would definitely explain everything, and that would also mean that there are no contradictions in the lore."


"Yeah, and it also means that this game just got a little scarier", Pink says.


"So, let's summarize", Lemon says. "If we're caught by a dumb enemy, we'll resurrect and lose our progress along with something important. If we're caught by a smart enemy, we're probably forced to be slaves for God knows how long. Either way, we're royally fucked."


"No news there", Angel says, sighing. "We were fucked from the moment we got stuck here."


"Instead of discussing depressing shit, why not actually discuss how we can avoid this all?" Rain says. "If we never lose, we will never have to worry about getting caught."


"Well, that was the topic we WERE supposed to talk about anyway", Wendy says. "I'm happy to talk about that."


"So, provided that Snow and Crystal join us", Lemon begins, "we have Rain and Crystal as tanks, Angel as a healer, Snow as a secondary healer and a supporter, and me, Wendy and Pink as pure damage dealers. Have any of you actually read the updated guidelines written by Dana and Katja?" Everyone shakes their heads. "Because they said, and it got me thinking, that damage dealer isn't a viable role. Everyone should contribute in some other way."


Wendy immediately realizes that this is partially directed at her. "Well, I am the tactician, so…"


"Yeah, I think you're fine", Lemon replies. Then, she turns towards Pink. "But how can WE contribute?"


"I could get a stone that offers me more crowd control spells", Pink says. "I don't want my damage output to suffer, but if we all benefit more from it, I'm happy to change my style."


"There can never be too much crowd control", Rain says. "We have barely any at this point."


This leaves Lemon in thought because she hasn't thought a lot about how she could contribute to the team with crowd control. She doesn't have the right talents, and she can't really serve as a secondary tactician either, given her constant distance and a stealthy role. "I mean, I do have some crowd control, like pin-down and concussive arrow."


Wendy taps Lemon's shoulder. "I actually have always viewed your attacks as finishers of sorts since you rarely leave your target alive. If we get more crowd control, this role of yours will become just easier."


"Yeah, I don't REALLY think that we need every damage dealer to have crowd control either", Pink admits.


Snow nods. "Provided that I'm a full supporter, I think we can afford to have one pure damage dealer in the party of seven."


"Besides", Pink says. "Isn't being an alchemist already your role?"


"Well, it's more like a precaution than a combat role", Lemon says, sighing. "I kinda feel embarrassed about staying as the sole damage dealer, especially after saying that we all need to contribute with something other than damage."


"Don't mind it", Wendy says. "Just do your thing. We don't have to agree with everything that those two big shots have to say."


Lemon nods reluctantly.


"Speaking of professions", Angel realizes, turning towards Snow and Crystal. "How about you two?"


"I'm an enchanter", Snow says. "I heard you already have one. Not sure if that's viable."


"I don't think it matters", Rain says.


"I don't have a profession yet", Crystal admits.


"Wait, really…?" Wendy says, looking at Crystal with a suspicious look in her eyes.


"I-I just didn't think of them as a big deal", Crystal says, sounding defensive. "I couldn't choose either. I should probably get one now though."


"We don't have a Smith or a Caretaker in the group", Pink thinks aloud.


"I actually thought about becoming Caretaker once I learned about them", Crystal admits. "It could fit me better than the ones that were available in Paradise."


Wendy's suspicious look turns a little more surprised as her eyebrows raise. "Oh, that would actually be super cool."


"I kinda like animals, so it's a no-brainer for me", Crystal says, giggling.


"I wish I had that luxury", Snow says. "I can't tame demons that aren't my own. If I want more demons, I need to get pregnant."


"Oh, what should I do with that demon?" Lemon asks, turning towards Snow. "The one you restrained."


"Give it to me", Rain suggests.


"Well, I don't mind, but wouldn't it make more sense for me to give it to Snow…?"


"I don't really care…" Snow admits.


"Let me adopt your baby", Rain says.


"Please, don't frame it like that…" Lemon says, laughing. "It's a freaking demon…"


"What are you even planning on doing with it?" Angel asks.


"Not sure", Rain admits. "Since the first one is for pleasure, the second would be for combat."


"Wait, pleasure?" Angel asks. Rain realizes that she might've accidentally said something she had no plans of telling, and she doesn't answer Angel's question at all. "Pleasure who exactly?"


"Don't push me…" Rain says, clearly flustered. "I don't want to tell you…"


"Oh fuck that", Angel continues, with a pushy smirk on her face. "You brought this up, so spill the beans."


Yet, Rain refuses to explain herself. This time, all she can do is stay quiet and look away.


Meanwhile, Wendy is quick to mirror her own thoughts and feelings into Rain. Because of the fact that she feels changed because of her experience and the fact that she actually has warmed up to the idea of taking a dick - an idea completely foreign to her before she became a Nymph - she suspects that Rain could be going through a similar change. It also gives her the courage to push Rain on this topic and admit her own feelings out loud. "I totally get you if you feel like you're changing because of this world. I'm like that as well."


Rain looks at Wendy with dubious eyes. "Do you feel like this world has changed you as well…?"


"Yeah, this world has kind of made me warm up to dicks…" Wendy says, cheeks beet red and voice shaking. "So, I completely sympathize with you if you want to, um… Pleasure yourself like that…"


"Dude…" Rain says, finally deciding she must explain what she meant. "It's not like that… I'm growing a demon that kind of works like a strap-on…"


Wendy, having realized that she kind of admitted herself changing while making a vain point, just gets even more embarrassed, and it's clear to see.


"I-I mean", Rain says, whispering, "I have changed as well, but I don't think I like dicks…"


"I always liked dicks, so I don't feel like I've changed", Pink says, half serious, half joking.


"Okay, I'll say it as well!" Snow suddenly shouts. "I'm exactly like Wendy!"


"I have changed a little bit too", Crystal admits. "I've still always been a heterosexual though…"


"I think we all have", Lemon says. "Don't feel embarrassed about it, Wendy."


"It's just that talking about these kinds of topics feels weird…" Wendy says.


"I thought you weren't planning on telling anyone else", Pink says, poking Rain with her elbow.


Rain sighs. "Well, cat's out of the bag. Don't expect me to chase you girls with it though."


"Now I want to make myself a similar demon…" Snow says, giggling. "If it is possible for me."


While the discussion diverges from more serious topics to those that are a little bit more casual and more personal to each one of them, they completely forget about what they were supposed to talk about, but that's okay. They're not going on an adventure for a while, so they can have their fun and their pointless discussions.


They all admit that they have changed, and honestly, they can all see the changes in each other, especially Rain, Wendy, and Angel, who have known each other for so long. No longer do they even think about each other's real personalities, and instead, they exclusively use each other's in-game names. No longer do they refer to themselves or to each other with male pronouns, but rather, they use feminine ones, even for themselves. They all are hesitant to admit that they've become more girly in their behavior and in how they speak and move, but they're quick to see the changes in each other. It's disturbing for them to think that they could be going through similar things, but in the end, does it matter for them? No. They just quickly dismiss it and store it in the back of their minds and move on. It does make up for some bedtime thoughts - something to think about while waiting to fall asleep - but it's the least of their worries in the dangerous world.


In the end, it has to be said that they have all become more open sexually and more willing to talk about their sexuality and preferences. Will their new forms and their new nature as a Nymph change them even more? Deep down, they know, yes, they will continue to change, perhaps for better, perhaps for worse. They all agree that it won't matter as long as they're happy and as long as they're safe.



There are no disagreements in the newly formed group of seven; they are to put their efforts into pushing through Hammercliff Valley all the way to Paradise. They have not decided yet what's going to happen once they get there though. Will they go separate ways if Snow and Crystal find their friends there? Will they even find their friends there? That's something they have to worry about later. They feel like they have a lot of preparing and improving to do, mostly because they do not want to relive their bad memories of that place. Once Wendy gets better, they pretty much get instantly back into training and getting to better shape.


Speaking of Wendy getting better, her belly would actually start to grow during the last moments of her pregnancy. It was already late, but she decided to take on Angel's suggestion anyway and go visit the Nymph named Amanda to perhaps donate her baby. Amanda was quick to offer her either instant relief or a bed to sleep on, out of which Wendy opted out for a bed. Amanda didn't seem to her like a girl who would've wanted to go down on her personally, and instead was more interested in using her pets to push Wendy forward, a thought that Wendy herself considered unacceptable.


On the very same night, she got to deliver her baby, fortunately with Amanda by her side. It started without warning during the early hours of the morning when her firstborn decided it was time for him to see the light of day before she was even awake herself. She woke up confused, initially not even aware of what was going on. There was pain, and she cried for a bit, but Amanda supported her through the whole thing. It was over quickly. It honestly wasn't as bad as she initially thought it would be, at least as far pain goes. A little crying child of a goblin still connected to her by an umbilical cord - the ultimate proof of her motherhood - was delivered to the world safely.


She didn't want to hold onto the baby any longer than she had to, and Amanda realized that Wendy wasn't too keen on hugging him, holding him, or breastfeeding him, or whatever. Instead, Amanda simply suggested to take the baby off Wendy immediately.


"Don't you worry 'bout a thing", Amanda said, smiling from ear to ear. "I'll take care of yer baby!"


Wendy felt a little bad burdening a girl that she barely knew with such a task, but Amanda insisted that it wasn't a burden. In fact, she insisted that it would be a big benefit for her. Wendy didn't ask by, and she didn't even care why. All she cared about was getting the goblin out of her hands. Like, she never wanted to give birth to a goblin, but she still had her own morals and values. She knew she wouldn't have the heart for infanticide, and releasing the goblin into the wild would've just made it a problem for the future. Having Amanda take the burden from her hands truly was the best thing she could've ever hoped for.


But enough of that. Let's get back to what they must do next: train and get familiar with the styles of their new allies and learn to use new skills and tactics. They decide to take regular trips to Misty Forest, the only place they feel 100% comfortable training in. They always had no troubles clearing enemies in this forest, and now with their new and improved tactics and some super useful crowd control in the form of Wendy's focus on poisons and Pink's frost magic, they do even better. They train in groups of four, with three benched at a time, following the group around, "just in case". This is to train with different kinds of setups to prepare for different situations in case something goes horribly wrong. They try training without healers, sometimes without tanks. Some setups are better than others, but they never get into trouble in these easy areas. They also learn to combo their attacks more effectively. Lemon, for example, usually takes slowed and stunned enemies as her targets to one-shot her enemies while others focus on tankier enemies.


They're sure to not forget about professions either. With their new enchanter-only enchants, Rain and Snow boost their performances, and Wendy gets even better with maps and finding treasure, meaning they will no longer have any problems with high-level areas and broken maps. Angel learns to make rations that can give temporary boosts on adventures, and Lemon's potions continue to improve. It's not just the effects either; they are starting to taste good as well, especially Angel's rations. Most of it comes in the form of candy bars. Pink doesn't really have room to improve anymore since she can't find good recipes anywhere, but hey, at least her transformation ability is getting stronger, meaning that she can live her magical girl fantasies with more efficiency!


This leaves us with Crystal, who gets herself familiar with the arts of taming. She still doesn't have any actual pets of her own because she has no place to keep them at, but she learns some abilities that are linked to her taming spells, abilities that are automatically learned by her tamed minions for the duration of the taming spell. So far, she only has two, and they only work on canines; she can teach them a crippling ankle bite and an interrupting paw strike, both of which are effective means of crowd control against all manners of enemies, especially casters. Going forward, she reckons this could be a good tactic for the future, as raising reliable pets for combat is more trouble than it's worth; abilities that are included in the tame spell feel enough for her.


So, they improve a lot, and it's noticeable. It also makes them confident. They feel like they're finally ready to return back to the front lines, but not before they have one more night's rest, one filled with fun, games, and a little bit of drinks. They gather around in Rain's house this time, who lost the bet to play the host. What do they play with? Well, they don't really have a lot to play with, but they have a deck of traditional playing cards. You can play like a hundred games with them, so they have a lot to choose from. Since they're all from different parts of the world, they all are familiar with different games. In the end, they settle to play simple poker as it is a global game they all know the rules of and decide to go forward from there.


They manage to play for about fifteen minutes until they get bored because the truth is that poker is a dull game without actual stakes. They don't want to play about money, but that's not a problem at all. They have two things they can stake, and those are clothes and sugary drinks with intoxicating effects. It's not the most PG combination there is, especially as Nymphs tend to get horny when drunk. Even though some of the Nymphs in the group end up losing more than the others, it doesn't get THAT lewd, at least not until they decide to play even more childish party games like spin the bottle. It kind of starts with truth or dare rules but quickly dissolves to nothing but dares, most of which involve intimate contact of some sort.


They only had a set amount of drinks, so it never has a chance to get out of hand, relatively speaking. They do know self-restraint. Well, at least those who win do. It's usually the loser that ends up getting drunk, which just fuels their losing streak. When they run out of drinks, it's already late, and they decide to go different ways. Well, everyone except Wendy. Whether she's just bad at playing cards or just had bad luck, she was the one getting the most shit-faced. She was also the first one to get stripped. Now, she lays defenseless on Rain's bed, not wanting to move. Rain, on the other hand, is very good at poker. In fact, you could call her a natural.


"You know…" Rain says, leaning closer to Wendy. "I know my bed is comfy, but I need you to bugger off."


"Don't be like that", Wendy says, laughing. "God, my head is spinning so much… I just can't get up…"


Rain sits down on the bed and sighs. She is starting to get tired and just wants to get to sleep. "No, really, I just want to sleep in peace."


Just like that, Wendy actually gets up, hugging Rain from behind, with her head leaning against Rain's shoulder. "Let's sleep together…"


"Dude…" Rain says, with thin eyes.


"Don't call me a dude", Wendy says, pouting, sounding offended. "I'm a GIRL, you ass."


"…It's a figure of speech."


"Come on, Rain. Get naked already."


"There's no way I would sleep with you."


"Oh, fuck off, I know you're into little girls."


"I'm not into you", Rain says, sighing. "Besides, you're drunk."


"I'm not drunk!" Wendy states loudly, then laughing.


Rain is starting to get uncomfortable because she really doesn't want to do anything to Wendy, especially when she's drunk. No, she wouldn't probably do anything even if she was sober, but the situation is not one that she wants to be in. Rain does admit to being a little bit horny. Had it been someone else than Wendy drunk in her bed, she wouldn't have hesitated to pounce on her. "Please, just leave."


Yet, Wendy is still not having it. "Hey…" she whispers, straight into Rain's ear. "That dick of yours should be ready by now… Wanna try it on me…?"


Rain sits still like a statue as her heart pounds faster. She indeed has it ready. Wendy was actually one of the girls who helped give it source, but Rain hasn't used it yet, not even once. She just hasn't had the opportunity. She has wanted to, but an opportunity hasn't presented itself. And there it is; the opportunity is hugging onto her, naked, pushing her little body against her back.


Wait, this can't be actually happening, Rain tells herself. Rain is tempted, really tempted. Just like she can't get the softness and the warmth of the little girl from her skin, she can't get that raw, preteen body from her mind. Oh, she would love to do some real lewd stuff to a girl like that. But she's drunk! Rain reminds herself. She's not in her right mind! She has to be messing with me! She would be furious at me once she sobered up!


"Come on, Rain…" Wendy's childish voice is oozing with lust. She sounds serious. "Fuck me hard…"


Rain shakes herself off from Wendy's grasp and stands up, backing off. Wendy doesn't look like she's following. Instead, she just collapses back to the bedsheets. "Just go to sleep…" Rain concedes a point and decides to let Wendy stay. As Wendy realizes this, she just responds with a cheerful "Yay", but nothing else. She doesn't even realize that Rain walks away to the bathroom to cool down, just to get away from the situation.


Fuck's sake, why her of all girls? Now I really wanna fuck someone, but there's no way I would do HER. Not Wendy. No way in hell. Sighing, Rain leans against the door, waiting and hoping that Wendy will pick up the hint and drop her advances.


After about two minutes, after being in the dead silence, able to cool down a little bit, Rain finally figures out it's about time she goes to sleep. The first thing she sees when she gets out is Wendy, who is unsurprisingly fast asleep. It's a good thing since it means that she can sleep peacefully as well. She gets naked and is about to change clothes to her light pajamas when she figures that she feels way too hot. She does sleep naked every now and then to make her sleep more comfortable from time to time. Can she do it with Wendy in the same bed with her? Fuck it, it doesn't matter, she tells herself. She does keep her panties on, but that's all she needs. She crawls to the other side of the bed and falls asleep quickly.



The following day, Wendy is the first one to wake up, sober. Something is not quite right, as she can feel something warmer and heavier than a blanket wrapped around her. The first thing she sees as she opens her eyes is the sleeping face of Rain, whose cheek is pressed comfortably against her chest. Rain's arms are also hugging her body, which at first glance looks incredibly cute to Wendy until she realizes that's her naked body she's grabbing tight onto.


Wendy sighs heavily after realizing that this "mistake" was partially her own doing. At least she remembers exactly what she did on that evening, which is nothing. Rain never laid a hand on her, at least not while Wendy begged for sex. You could say that now she has laid her hands on her but in a different way.


What scares Wendy the most is what was going on in her head at the time. She wasn't just messing around with Rain. No, at the time, what she asked Rain to do was what she really wanted. She really wanted to have sex with Rain, one of her friends. Not only that, she wanted to be fucked. She hasn't just warmed up to the idea of enjoying dildoes and other long objects as masturbatory aid; she just straight up asked to get fucked raw. Well, at least she wanted it when she was drunk.


Holy fuck, I'm glad Rain had some restraint. I have a newfound respect for her. Wendy's somewhat okay with intimacy, but she really wants to get up, so as much as she hates to do it, she decides to wake Rain up. Rain wakes up pretty quickly, but instead of reacting like Wendy hoped she would, Rain, still half-asleep, hugs her even tighter. "Get off me already…" Wendy orders.


"No way…" Rain mumbles. "You're so warm, hot, and squishy… I just wanna hug you…"


"You damn pedophile…"


With Wendy's second sentence, Rain finally realizes that she's not in bed with who she thought she was in bed with. She was having a nice dream about an unspecified fictional character she has hots for and, for some reason, immediately assumed that was the girl she was cuddling with. "Oh, what's up, Wendy?" Rain asks, sitting up, stretching, and yawning.


"I hope you had a comfortable sleep…" Wendy says, sitting up herself, staring daggers through Rain.


"Your chest is pretty comfortable", Rain blurts out.


Wendy covers herself up. "You better not be thinking about anything perverted…"


"You're the one who asked me to do actual perverted stuff", Rain says, getting up. "Glad to see you're yourself now."


Wendy sighs deep. "Yeah, thanks for not doing anything to me…"


"If you want to get fucked, at least ask me while sober", Rain says, as she begins to dress up.


Wendy knows Rain is just joking, so she doesn't even bother getting angry over what Rain just said. Or was it merely a joke? Wendy wants to make sure by asking a serious question regarding the subject. "So you're saying that you would have done it if I was sober…?"


Rain looks deep into Wendy's eyes, unsure how to comment. She doesn't know the answer herself, but her silence proves that she is at least thinking about it. "I didn't say that…" she finally says.


"Just answer me."


"Probably… Not…"


"So? Which is it?"


"It's not something I think I should do to you, ever", Rain answers with a straight face. "I hope you feel that way too. I don't want to be put into a situation where I have to make that kind of decision. Is that good enough an answer to you?"


A smile appears on Wendy's face, and she nods. "That's perfect."


"Oh, and it also depends on how drunk I am", Rain adds, with a playful smirk.


Wendy can't help but laugh.


Chapter IV

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