(A/N here at the top because I have too much to say.
I'd like to start off by saying the only reason I continue to write this story is because of your support, so thank you. While liking futa's isn't the most niche fetish, this novel will never pay the bills when it goes premium.
With that out of the way, I'd like to take a census on who would prefer James to willingly bottom or strictly be a top from now on. I'm talking completely consensually.
Please leave your decision in the comments below.
PS: I'm also an idiot and forgot to put what skill James got from Emily a chapter ago, so that will be at the top of this chapter instead. I'd go back and edit it, but I don't expect the people already caught up to go back and read it. Forgive me!
And now, back to your regularly scheduled programming.)
———————————————————
(Skill Thief Activated… rolling 'Emily Dell's' skills… random skill [Small Blades (17)] selected.)
"I already have this stupid fucking skill!" —James Cromwell, a day ago.
———————————————————
The dungeon entrance was a lot different from what James had expected.
In the game, dungeons were portrayed as a map marker and nothing more. Once you clicked on it, you'd be instantly teleported inside.
In front of him was a stone platform, built with pale white marble. In the center of the platform was a floating blue gem.
There were pillars in the four corners that realistically depicted various monster faces, it was as if the monsters themselves had been turned to stone.
As they stepped up onto the platform, James couldn't hear.
He almost fled back down the few steps when he heard the other women breathing.
It wasn't that he couldn't hear, but the platform completely blocked all the forest noises with some sort of invisible barrier.
It was a strange sensation to see plants moving in the wind and not hear the rustling of leaves.
Susan was fingering one of the pillars and James heard her speak softly.
"Definitely a 'Wave' dungeon.."
When she turned back to look at him, her eyes were big in concern.
'Her worry is starting to make me worry..'
"Sooo, how do we start it?"
"Most times, the party leader will just place their hand on the gem over their. Since I'm new to your group and serve under you, I won't take charge unless you want me too. Personally, I'd recommend Justine, her class buffs work a lot better as party leader."
This sounded good to James and he nodded to his slave.
"It's all yours, if everyone's ready, then you can begin the dungeon immediately."
Justine looked a little shocked that she was suddenly leading a dungeon party, but her old confidence came back quickly. She hadn't been a mayor all those years for nothing.
Suddenly, a prompt filled his vision.
(Justine Clement has invited you to her party. Do you accept? Yes or No.)
James's eyes bulged and he cursed his servants.
"There's a party system and you all didn't tell me!? What the hell!"
All the women around James flushed with shame except Susan.
"Sorry James.. that's just one of those things that most people know.."
With a sigh, he let the matter drop in a huff.
"Don't worry about, I can't expect you girls to think of every little detail all the time."
Mentally accepting the invite, a whole new world appeared in front of James.
It was very trippy at first, four red and green bars implanted themselves in the left side of his vision. When he focused on it, he could see the names of the women around him.
Red seemed to be for health and green for stamina. Justine had an extra blue bar and it was for mana.
(You're under the effect of Justine Clements party leader skill [High Morale].)
Focusing on it, James read further.
[Skill: High Moral (Level 11)]
Description: Influences others under your command to not be shaken by mind skills like [Taunt] or [Aggression].
Skill Bonus: 55% to mental resistance (Level 11)
'That's pretty handy.. I'll take Justine with me next time I visit Galea… hehehe'
Then a thought struck James.
"So I can only see everyone else's health and stamina, but not mine? That seems kinda stupid. Also why is Justine the only one with a man bar?"
The girls were still embarrassed by there earlier error and now couldn't meet his eye when he asked this question.
"Master.. you can toggle your status on and off.. just say 'Status On'. And the reason Justine has a man bar is because she's the only one with magic skills that requires an activation cost. Emily's and my magic skills are passive, so we turned that one off to get rid of vision clutter."
James almost tore his hair out when he heard the first part, he barely payed attention to the rest of the explanation.
'That was one of the first goddamn things I tried when I got to this stupid world!'
He was seething in anger when he said the words to activate his status and his own bars appeared on top of the others.
Then, James paused for a moment as he recalled what he had actually said his first day in the Fractured World.
——————
'I'm totally screwed, what about a stat page.'
"Status."
"Activate status."
"Status screen"
'Shit nothing happened.'
———————
'Why is it so damn picky! If I never said character sheet then I wouldn't have known about [Entoxicating Scent]! It would probably be on to this day and I never would've been able have a normal conversation.. I hate this place..'
Veronica spoke up after a moment to interrupt James's internal complaining.
"Then uhh James.. you probably don't know about the [Combat Log] either.."
His face went blank and he stared at Veronica for a moment before he sighed deeply. It was actually a very impressive display of his lung capacity.
James activated his [Combat Log].
He turned it off almost immediately. The damage numbers displayed were from his revenge.
There was a lot of, You have inflicted bleeding on Diana Troth for (x) amount of damage, over and over again.
James dragged his hand down his face.
"Is there anything else I might be missing?"
The girls squirmed for a second and Susan called out from the side.
"Well your level 10 already, do you know how to use your inventory?"
James retrieved his knife and displayed it to her.
"I got that one down, a prompt told me that I unlocked it." James cast his gaze over the party, "All right, if there's nothing else, we should get this party started."