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Jonathan wasn't able to sleep that night, he had too much on his mind. He wasn't the only one who could sleep though, his companions had been awake a night but that was less due to a sense of wistfulness and more due to them getting thoroughly fucked, it seemed that Fade had offered the Sentinels firestokers as a welcome gift and they were putting those pills, and his companions, to good use.

Jonathan wasn't thrilled that Fade and Marra had a way to spy on him whilst he was in the Dread Tower, Jonathan needed to be careful with what he did and with what he said.

He wandered into the throne room, the two brute guards taking no heed of him. The room seemed less intimidating without Fade's presence. Jonathan was surprised he was allowed to wander around unattended in the Dread Tower, maybe Fade wasn't all that bad.

A leather bound book resting on the thrones armrest caught Jonathan's eye. 'It couldn't be, a Fade's guidebook?' It was. Curiosity overtook sense. Jonathan approached the throne and gingerly opened the book.

Name: Just Fade

Age: 31

Gender: Male

Occupation: Sorcerer

Special Abilities:

Monster Compell - Low intelligence creatures will follow your commands. Limit of 10 creatures simultaneously. Does not work on most humanoids.

Upgrade - Unlimited Duration - Creatures you command will remain under your control until you take a hostile act against them or until you hold a nullification stone.

Upgrade - Increased Capacity 1 - Limit increased to 100 creatures simultaneously.

Upgrade - Increased Capacity 2 - Limit increased to 1000 creatures simultaneously.

Upgrade - Increased Capacity 3 - Limit increased to 5000 creatures simultaneously.

"Upgrades? You can get upgrades!?" Jonathan didn't remember seeing that option in his own guidebook.

"Well yeah, duh, this is a game after all." Lily appeared standing on to of the pages of Fade's guidebook. "Though that would require you to RTFM. You know, actually read."

"Lily? Fancy seeing you here." Jonathan said, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

Lily was not wearing her usual semi-transparent robe, instead she was wearing small pasties that barely covered her nipples and a small cut out piece of fabric that covered her crotch. It left even less to the imagination than her usual outfit did.

"Aren't you a bit cold?" Jonathan asked.

"You getting a good look pervert?" Lily crossed her arms.

"Hey, you are the one being the exhibitionist here not me." Jonathan pointed to her exposed ass. "Would it kill you to wear some pants?"

"I'll have you know my outfit is customised by the player and not by me." Lily pouted.

"No way, so I can dress you up like a llama and you just have to deal with it?"

"Fortunately, without your guidebook you can't dress me up as anything."

"Damn, I will have to find my guidebook again then. Shame I dropped it." Jonathan smirked.

"You can just say "recall guidebook" and it will return to you."

"You know, for a tutorial fairy, you sure leave out a lot of crucial information." Jonathan sighed.

"You're feedback has been noted and will be thrown into the nearest trash can." Lily sat down on the page and looked up at Jonathan in a huff.

"Thanks."

"Also, leave it to you to team up with the only other player who is as big a pervert as you are."

"Fade?"

"No, Painsley. She goes through monster dicks like they are tic tacs. Also, she is somehow more frustrating than you which I didn't even know wad possible."

"You wouldn’t happen to know where she is right now?" Jonathan asked hopefully.

"Can't say. Like literally can't, rules and all that. I can say she has your guidebook though and she may or may not be using it to find you." Lily probably said more than she should have.

"Well that is reassuring." Although if Painsley was using his guidebook, he best not recall it just yet. Though Jonathan was keen to see what kind of upgrades he could unlock, it would have to wait.

"Jonn." Lily's face turned uncharacteristically serious. "Fade is bad news. I can't tell you why but I wouldn't trust him."

"I don't trust him, but he did save me from being turned into a head on a stick so he can't be all bad."

"Fade doesn’t give anything out of the goodness of his heart. He always has an ulterior motive. He is using you." Lily's voice was filled with genuine concern.

"Who isn't these days?" Jonathan smiled, trying to break the tension.@@novelbin@@

"Well, don't say I didn't warn you." Lily stood up once again, her curves jiggled without any form of support.

"Fade mentioned you were the first one sent here." Jonathan changed the subject.

"Obviously. How else would new players find their bearings without yours truly to guide them?" Lily did a little spin and mimed a curtsy. "I'm invaluable."

"But why?" Jonathan asked.

"Why what?"

"Why do all that for Isekguy Studios?" Jonathan rubbed the back of his neck. "Does it pay well?"

"Not really…" Lily pouted.

"Then why?"

"Well, let's just say my body back home was on its final legs. Moving here was a… better alternative." Lily's face grew sullen.

"Does that mean your body back home is gone? What happens to our bodies when we come here?"

"Oh here we go with all the questions again." Lily forced a smile. "You know I can't tell you stuff like that."

"But it doesn't make financial sense either, how does Isekguy get any sort of return on their investment from sending people to another world?" Things didn't add up, maybe the Tracker was right in thinking the real threat was the "Shapers", the Isekguy Studio developers.

"I'm not really a business kind of gal. I just work here." Lily smile grew more genuine. "Though I'm sure there is a lot of money in interdimensional travel, if such a thing existed of course."

"Of course." Jonathan nodded.

"So you snooping around Fade's guidebook to try and find his weakness or something?"

"I'm not snooping, I'm just, examining. Though knowing thr limits of his sorcerer ability might come in handy. Also "Just Fade"? I thought I'd messed up with my name…"

"Ha! Yeah, he got as frustrated as you did during character creation it was funny as hell. "Fade" was too short of a name so he went with "Just Fade" almost feel bad for him." Lily chuckled. At least Jonathan wasn't the only one who found the character creation process annoying.

"Wait." Jonathan said as he realised he and Lily had be talking for quite sometime. "Shouldn't you have disappeared by now? I think this is the longest you've ever stuck around."

"You got Fade to thank for that, the more upgrades you acquire, the longer I can manifest for."

"How do I get these upgrades?" Jonathan might need the power boost going forward.

"Once you have used your ability enough, upgrade options become available to select in your guidebook. Considering just how much fucking around you have done, I am sure you have at least one or two upgrades ready to be selected." Lily's words surprised Jonathan, he was not used to actually getting answers to his questions.

"So just recall the guidebook and select them?" Jonathan confirmed.

"Yup."

"Damn. Alright then." Jonathan teetered on the edge of recalling his guidebook so he could unlock these upgrades but if it was being used by Painsley, he would have to wait until she found him. Or so he thought.