Author's Corner: Finally Nick starts to get a little stronger, but not all is roses and candles as he soon will face a very difficult foe.

Legend

" " = people talking

italics = people thinking

* * = sounds

' ' = people talking within telepathy

CAPS = Power usage

Book 2: Chapter 3: Soul Shackled?

After a few hours of meditation, Nick stood up to glance out of the window with a melancholy look on his face.

*KNOCK* *KNOCK*

“Come in.” –Nick

As Tiffany walks in the room she sees the look on Nick’s face and even feels some of his melancholy through their shared bond. This causes her to walk up behind him and give him a hug.

“What’s wrong? I don’t like the look on your face.” –Tiffany

With a small *sigh* Nick finally turns around to look Tiffany in the eyes.

“Just thinking of the unfinished business I have back on my world. Usually when people are summoned like this they have no way to get back home but it’s different for me. I already know how to get back home. But I left my family and friends there and I hope they are okay.” –Nick

“Don’t worry, I’m sure they are fine. But it’s weird for you to act like this, you always are full of confidence! I think it is time to bring some of that back…” –Tiffany

With that Tiffany pushes Nick onto the bed and starts to slowly strip her clothes off. Just as Nick was about to protest and ask about his core issues she mounts him and starts to attack his lips viciously. At this point Nick has given up on answers and starts to go with the flow, that always seems to work with women!

After a couple hours of being dominated, Nick finally gets a break as the blissful look on Tiffany’s face tells the story about how satisfied she is. To ensure she doesn’t just pass out before helping him out, Nick holds her face closely and stares in her eyes with a serious look to wake her up.

“Snap out of it! I really do need some private lessons!” –Nick

“Huh who what? I thought that was code for sex?” –Tiffany

“Well it is! But I always need help, that makes it a pun or something I don’t remember.” –Nick

At this Tiffany looks at Nick then starts to laugh hysterically.

“Okay okay, I’m done laughing! Now what do you need to know?” –Tiffany

“My core is at a bottleneck, I’ve read every book in the Library and there is nothing about this in there. How do you or anyone else make a breakthrough?” –Nick

“What? How did you… never mind, I’ll ignore the fact that you read every book in the Library after being here for just a little over 24 hours and instead answer your question. It’s a secret cultivation skill that is passed down so as to not make everyone immortal. Fortunately I can teach it! Teach Nick Cultivation!” –Tiffany

*DING*

Skill Unlocked: Cultivation

Not wanting to waste time on descriptions Nick instantly puts 9 points in it and meditates as tons of information he didn’t know even existed went through his head.

Damn I thought this was a fantasy rpg world? Why do I have all this xianxia knowledge now! Maybe I should review that information on magical beasts, the books in the Library do say something about ranks that are more important than levels as levels only show their experience and not how strong they are. Yes, they do have regular ranks 1-9 and then immortal ranks that start at saint and go above god ranks! I need to stop ignoring knowledge as I’m sure I could have gained this skill on my own if I just tried, it is the most obvious thing after all… -Nick

“Thanks love! I’m positive I can make a breakthrough tonight!” –Nick

“That’s great! I need to leave and talk to mother, I have been ignoring her all day.” –Tiffany

With that Nick sat on his bed in a lotus position while activating the cultivation skill hoping to make a quick breakthrough. Tiffany just smiles and starts to sneak out of his room when she bumps into her mother, who just so happens to be tapping her foot as if to say ‘took you long enough’.

“Mother! I was just going to look for you, we have things to discuss…” –Tiffany

“I know, come!” –Queen DeMonte

Then the Queen casts some weird spell causing them to blur and then distort space before completely disappearing. Looking around, Tiffany realizes she does not recognize this place at all!

“Where are we?” –Tiffany

“Hohohoho, this is just my private plane that I created for solitude. Us immortals have to have things you know.” –Queen DeMonte

“Okay mother, I’m not going to insult your intelligence and just say what happened.” –Tiffany

She then explains how she ended up married to Nick leaving out all the important details about Nick’s progress training and strength. Apparently when women talk about men, they don’t talk about the things that one would think of. Of course every square inch of Nick’s body was described in explicit detail causing even the Queen to blush.

“Okay that’s enough! I think I understand. Well you better hope he kills the Demon King or you will be in trouble when your father finds out KAHKAHKAHKAHKAH!” –Queen DeMonte

Eventually the two of them teleport back to just outside of Nick’s room and see something amazing. It seems that Nick is in the midst of a breakthrough, but unlike the normal mana core ones which just take the elements and make pretty displays, this breakthrough is explosive and full of power!

This display caused shock in the both of them, causing Nick to take a deep breath as the moment he had been waiting for was finally arriving. In order to achieve this breakthrough he had to hijack a hero summoning and even find a new wife just to teach him the necessary techniques! This was long in coming and finally he will be able to save his world!

*BOOM*

With an explosion Nick felt new energy as his body was reconstructing itself from the inside out with a massive rush of Aura. No longer was his Aura a tight little ball of energy ready to be used, now it was a roaring wave that was completely untamed!

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA, I did it! I can finally save my world!” –Nick

With the loud sounds both Tiffany and her mother had long since walked into the room.

“What do you mean save your world?” –Tiffany

“Hum… Did I not tell you? Someone on my world has to make a breakthrough with a 1 year deadline or the world gets destroyed. But it’s all good now that I made the breakthrough! Simply arriving back on my planet should solve everything. Great news!” –Nick

“As good as news as that is, are you able to do that and still come back? You still have to kill the Demon King if you want my daughter… legally.” –Queen DeMonte

“Yes, I have the ability to teleport to any of my wives so it shouldn’t be a problem at all. So long as Tiffany is here I can come and go as I please!” –Nick

“Hohohoho, things may not be so simple. Go ahead and show us.” –Queen DeMonte

“Okay!” –Nick

TELEPORT!

*DING*

ERROR: unable to leave world while under effect: Soul Shackle

“Wait what? What is soul shackled debuff?” –Nick

“Hohohohoho, it seems someone did not check their quests. Though many quests can be quit, the hero quests cannot and they only end upon death buahahahahahahaha! –Queen DeMonte

Quests? Oh shit I do have quests, and I’ve never checked them! –Nick

“Show quests” –Nick

*DING*

Quest Log1. Heroes Quest

2. Right to Marry the Princess

“Damn not enough, show details heroes quest.” –Nick

*DING*

QUEST:

Heroes QuestYou have just been summoned to another world through an ancient Hero Summoning Ritual. Defeat the Demon King is your only task.Rewards:

Hero Title becomes permanent

Soul Shackle RemovedFailure:

Quest only fails upon death and auto completes if Demon King dies regardless of the cause.

Soul Shackle becomes permanent if Quest is ignored

“Well that’s ominous… how does the other quest look. Show details right to marry the princess.” –Nick

QUEST:

Right to Marry the PrincessYou have been tasked to get the final killing blow on the dreaded Demon King.Rewards:

Right to Marry the PrincessFailure:

Someone else will gain this right.

Problems will arise with current status has Princesses Husband

“Well that explains things. I guess I need to find this Demon King and find his weaknesses. Any ideas ladies?” –Nick

“Sure, but you said something about a time frame, do you know how long you have left to save your world? Time may not move the same here as there.” –Tiffany

“Well it’s only been a few days here so it shouldn’t be too bad. Plus I got this timer at the corner of my… OH MY GOD 5 MONTHS HAVE PASSED?!?!?” –Nick

With that Nick panicked and then stared very hard at the timer. After a few minutes he realized that time was the same here as there which was a huge relief. That just means he spent 5 months getting summoned which makes sense as the magic was insufficient and his solution was just to throw more magic at it! Sure it worked, but he lost so much time!

“Don’t worry, it will be fine as you just need to kill the Demon King within 7 months! He’s actually not impossible to kill, you just need to destroy his soul with the exorcism spell that I gave you. The hard part is finding his core and casting it, as long as his brain is well that will be impossible so I guess a method to remove his head from his shoulders before digging in his chest for his core which will be the black mass or so the records say.” –Tiffany

“No, I only have 1 month! After this they will come looking for me! I’m going to leave and see how strong that guy is, it will be a recon mission in case he is too strong. Is there anything else besides the light attribute that will work on him?” –Nick

“Like all things he can be burned by black fire, otherwise not much else works besides things infused with the light attribute in which you already know and there are many, but light itself cannot be used for attacking anything besides demonic souls, you need a different element for that.” –Queen DeMonte

“How does one gain black fire in this world? I have a wife that can use it, but she isn’t here to show me…” –Nick

“Only the Elves know how to bond with magical beasts and take their elements. Just fine a magical beast with the black flame and tame it, that should work!” –Tiffany

“Well that’s a plan, anything else I should know before I go on my journey?” –Nick

“Just that I love you and hope you come back to me successfully.” –Tiffany

“If I’m not back in a month then send the heroes in, even if I fail, I doubt I’ll die but if the Demon King doesn’t die in a month then I’m screwed!” –Nick

With that Nick went out of his window and flew up high in the sky to survey the world and come up with a plan.

Fucking Elves! I hate Elves! And how does one find those treehuggers anyways? I guess I have to fly towards the center of their forest, who knows I may run into something. –Nick

“Before I run off to my doom I need to check my status carefully to make sure there are no Easter eggs waiting for me. Show status and skills.” –Nick

*DING*

STATUS WINDOW!Name:Nick CageAge:32Race:Evolved HumanAlignment:NeutralLevel:12Aura:6.0Titles:Superhero, HeroStrength:4000Vitality:4000Dexterity:4000Concentration:4000Intelligence:4000Wisdom:4000Unlocked Affinities:LightStat Points:57

SKILL LIST!

Active Skills:Analyze (level 10)

Cultivation (level 10)

Passive Skills:Light Spell Mastery (Level 10)

Aura Mastery (Level 10)

Aura Manipulation (level 10)

Aura Control (level 10)

All Weapon Mastery (Level 10)

Not seeing anything new except the huge increase in stats and the Aura raising to 6.0, Nick decided to fly to the middle of the forest separating the human kingdom from the demon kingdom. He made sure to fly very high in case there were any magic formations or other nasty things waiting for him since he planned to fly to the very center of the forest before descending down to the ground. But just as he was about to reach the dead center his head hit something very hard.

*CRASH*

Too dazed to know left from right or up from down he fall many miles towards the ground. Just that would be fine, but the tree line in an Elven forest makes the red woods look small and tame so for the last few thousand feet he was hitting branch after branch until finally hitting something solid. Unfortunately, this something solid just so happened to be the courtyard of the Elves citadel in their capital city.

As Nick came out of his daze his first thoughts where what did he run into and how did he not see it. Of course he was looking down at the time in the middle of night so he simply did not notice the largest tree on the entire planet that spanned all the way to the heavens. Once he noticed it, he started to gulp and look around. It was at this time his loud entry to the courtyard was noticed by the Elves and guards started to surround them.

Fucking treehugging pussies. Look at their men! Tall skinny and look like little girls, every last one of them! I’m just glad Elves are not my type, I highly doubt someone in this city is so my curse should be fine. –Nick

“Halt! Who are you and why are you in the Elven citadel. Be thankful you appear to be human and not demon or you would already be dead.” –Random Elf guard

“Hah, like you haven’t already scanned me. I’m low level so even weaklings like you should see who and what I am.” –Nick

Like Nick is going to give any face to weak looking male Elves.

“Sir, he appears to be one of the summoned heroes, we should take him to the Queen since it is probably about diplomacy or the Demon king.” –Smart Elf Guard

“Fine, let’s lead him to the Queen to decide his fate.” –Random Elf/Guard Captain

“Lead the way.” –Nick

As they came to the doors that would appear to be leading to the throne room of the stupid looking palace they were in, Nick noticed two voices and decided to listen to them. Both were female but one sounded in command so he assumed that one was the Queen and the other a different Elf or something looking for help.

“Please help our people, we are cousins and need to stick together in this time. The Demons corrupted our the youngest of the guardians and she is now on a rampage through our cities!” –Elf in need

“We do not have the power to stop such a beast! The Demons are at our door and we cannot spare a single warrior!” –Queen Elf

Lawl she said warrior, as if Elves even know what the word means! I think she meant ranger or treehugging druid or some other stupid class no one likes. –Nick

Before Nick could listen in further the Guard Captain opens the door and interrupts the two women.

“Your Excellency, we have a summoned hero that seems to have falling from the sky. He is very strong and may be able to help us.” –Guard Captain

“Strong you say? Maybe I should have asked the humans instead of you dear cousin.” –Elf in need

Ignoring the second Elf Nick quickly looks at the Queen to insure nothing bad would happen (specifically with his curse). He was very thankful to see that she was the normal looking skinny Elf with no attractive features on her body whatsoever. He has seen many pretty faces and hers was just a normal Elf face! With that done he started to talk still ignoring the other Elf thinking it unimportant.

“Hello, my name is Nick Cage and I am one of the four summoned heroes that are here to kill the Demon King. I have come to your city for some help actually.” –Nick

“Oh? And why should we help you? What have you done for us?” –Queen

Fucking Elves, no way I’m helping this bitch with anything! –Nick

“I guess killing the Demon King isn’t important to you. I suppose I can just leave, I’m sure there are other Elves that need my help.” –Nick

“As a matter of fact there is. My people could use your help!” –Needy Elf

*SIGH* another needy Elf. She better not be like her ‘cousins’ as I hate those High Elf types. Maybe she is a Wood Elf or something less annoying, let’s see… -Nick

At this time Nick finally looks over and sees the most beautiful creation ever. Fortunately she wasn’t one of the treehuggers but was instead a Dark Elf! She looked the same age as Nick which means nothing as naturally born immortals all look his age it seems, she had long whitish blue hair with the brightest yellow eyes that just wanted to suck in his soul and steal all reason. He stared at her eyes for a solid 5 seconds before she turned away blushing. This caused Nick to finally look at the rest of her and boy was he surprised. Dark Elves are known for being shorter than their High Elf cousins and she was no disappointment, at 5”2’ she was still taller than many humans but what made her stand apart was her enormous E cup breasts on a beautifully tinted purple skin!

“Any offer from one as beautiful as you could only be accepted. But please tell me what needs to be done. Also if I could have your name that would be great.” –Nick

“My name is Valerie and I am the Princess of my people. One of our guardians got corrupted by the Demons and is now on a rampage. We need a peaceful way to stop him and the only one we can think of is the Taming method of the High Elves! As a guardian one would need level 10 taming and the Light element to purge the evil the demons put forward.” –Valerie

“Oh? I just so happen to have level 10 light affinity and can easily purge the evil, but I’d need to learn the taming skills from your oh so gracious cousins first. As a hero I can make it level 10 instantly. But what do I get for succeeding?” –Nick

“I’m sure I can give you whatever it is you needed from the High Elves! Or me…” –Valerie

“Sounds good. I accept!” –Nick

*DING*

Quest Accepted: Taming the Guardian

“Great! Now that is done, what do you need?” –Valerie

“First I need the taming skill or this quest will instantly fail.” –Nick

“I can help with that, least I can do for my cousin. Teach Nick taming.” –Queen

*DING*

Skill Unlocked: Taming

Instantly putting 9 points in the skill gave Nick all the knowledge he needed to cure the beast and tame it, and also how to gain their special elements. Now he just needs to find the right type of magical beast, one that is most likely found in the Demon lands so no need to bother the Elves about it.

“So, what do you need from me?” –Valerie

“That can come later after I finish the quest as I doubt you can help me ahead of time. By the way, how did the Demons corrupt your guardian?” –Nick

“This is one of the younger ones so his skills are still fresh. He has the darkness element and was easily exploited to make it corrupted.” –Valerie

Wow two birds with one stone! With the darkness element surely I’ll be one step closer to black flame! –Nick

“Great! Let’s go meet this corrupted guardian of yours. I’m guessing he is a high ranking magical beast?” –Nick

“You could say that, our guardians are the highest of ranks, but your stats are high enough to fight them I suppose.” –Valerie

“Well let’s go, faster I get there the more lives I save!” –Nick

*DING*

Your willingness to help others has changed your Alignment from Neutral to Good!

Huh?!?!? Well I guess that’s a good thing, somehow I feel in this world this may one day save my life. –Nick

“it’s the middle of the night. We sleep it off for a few hours, come with me as you can rest in my room” –Valerie

Not even giving Nick time to respond let alone accept or rebuke, she grabbed him by the hand and swiftly ran to her quarters.

“Good, now we are alone. Anything you wish to say or do to me? Maybe make me your slave bitch and spank me?” –Valerie

“That… sounds like a plan” –Nick

As if her words were a command, Nick without any sense of control tossed her on her stomach and ripped her dress off. He then started to slap her juicy ass over and over again while she yelled his name.

“Give it to me! I can’t wait any longer, I must have it!” –Valerie

“Give you what? And call me master, bitch!” –Nick

“Give me your dick… master!” –Valerie

“With pleasure!” –Nick

So he did just that, causing them to go at it like a bunch of rabbits until the sun came up.

“W what happened? I feel different, and bound to you. Did you make me your slave? If so I’m not against it.” –Valerie

“Insatiable! It’s a trait of mine, you are now my wife and we are soulbound. You are not a slave, though if you wish to act like one in bed, I won’t stop you.” –Nick

“Yes, this does feel like a soulbinding. I feel another soul nearby too, as well as other links off world. Which makes sense as you are summoned from a different world. But before we go into that, we need a plan to stop the guardian, just having the skills are not enough. Let’s compare stats so we can make a better plan. Show status to Nick.” –Valerie

*DING*

STATUS WINDOW!Name:Valerie CageAge:112Race:Dark ElfAlignment:GoodLevel:500Mana:125,000Titles:Princess, MasochistStrength:2500Vitality:2500Dexterity:2500Concentration:2500Intelligence:2500Wisdom:2500Unlocked Affinities:Light, Dark, Fire, Wind, Water, Earth, Lightning

“Ooh nice stats. Did not expect a Dark Elf to have Good alignment. I’ll ignore the name change for now, that’s very frustrating by the way. Show status to Valerie.” –Nick

*DING*

STATUS WINDOW!Name:Nick CageAge:32Race:Evolved HumanAlignment:GoodLevel:12Aura:6.0Titles:Superhero, HeroStrength:4000Vitality:4000Dexterity:4000Concentration:4000Intelligence:4000Wisdom:4000Unlocked Affinities:Light

“Wow my husband is so strong. You shouldn’t have any problems then! Let’s go, my forest is very close to here, just on the other side of the tree to the west.” –Valerie

With that they started to fly around the tree to the west. This told Nick where the Dark Elves were at least. With the Demons to the NE of the Tree and the High Elves to the South, the Dark Elves being on the West is actually a good place, though still too close to the Demons for any real safety.

After 5 minutes they came to the first village ruined by the ‘guardian’. It was at this moment that Nick realized he never asked what the guardian was. Hearing it had the Darkness attribute was enough to make him giddy. On second thought he wish he asked though as he would have never expected to find a large black dragon spamming 2 miles long with wingspans even larger!

“There, the black dragon is our youngest guardian and the one you must subdue. He is only a saint beast as he is too young to reach the higher realms, which is good and bad. Good that we can still stop him, bad cause he can make himself super large like this and destroy more at once.” –Valerie

Nick took one look at the dragon and said the only thing that one can say when facing this type of situation without any warning.

“Fucking dragons…” –Nick

___

Looks like for now people don't want more side stories but it's close enough that I may do some later anyways. Either way the real hero will have a few more chapters since it's part of the story, but bios for the other girls may be skipped at this rate.