The first elite spawned by itself.

  Even without Rix to compete with, Aelin still went as hard as she could. Considering that Ether and Nakten were her only real competition, it was a foregone conclusion that her team was going to summon an elite first.

  “INCOMING!” Aelin hopped backwards as the ground in front of her bubbled while the elite Water Slime spawned.

  “Ether!” I backed away from the pair of monsters that I was aiming at. Justia had a sword in her hand, but for the most part she was just staying close to me and keeping an eye on the others to make sure no one got hurt. Nakten and Ether had some scrapes since they were only melee. Fray had been hit a few times as well, but no one had anything more than a few scrapes, which was easy for Justia to heal.

  My wife shot across the circle of land, smashing her shield into the elite’s head. The human-form slime turned to face the ivory woman, who backed it away from the rest of us.

  Nakten was right behind her but pulled up short as Fray took the opportunity to slice through one of its legs. Aelin peppered the monster with pink arrows, which forced the core to move out of the center of its chest towards the head. Without a right leg, the monster toppled over.

  As it fell, Ether slapped its head with her shield, knocking the core up into the air. Once free of the gelatinous covering, Aelin shattered it with an arrow.

  The monster was dead before I could get in range to shoot it.

  “That wasn’t bad at all!” Nakten laughed. “I thought these things could kill students?”

  “We’re a team with three Gods, and legendary equipment.” Aelin gave Fray a high-five. “Of course we’re awesome.”

  “I’m not a God yet…” The Anubis bounced her eyebrows at me. “If all it takes is once, we could get me that upgrade…”

  “That’s not all there is to it.” I cut her off. I knew some Adventurers thought the risk of a monster attack elevated things, but I didn’t want to have to split my focus to keep half my mind on alert if we got attacked.

  “Oh, really?” Nakten turned to Ether. “So what’s your safe word?”

  “That’s not…” I shook my head as I stepped in between them. “It’s not just a physical thing. There has to be a connection between us as well and that’s something the two of us don’t have.”

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Nakten pouted her lip, which, with her canine face, did give more effect to the puppy dog eyes. “How am I supposed to ‘connect’ with you when I’m not paired up with you?”

  “Because you’re not just connecting with me.” I motioned at everyone. “It’s all of us.”

  Her eyes widened.

  “I mean the teamwork, the trust, the bond we all have to trust that you have our backs.” I shook my head. “You have to work on that.”

  “So you don’t have an orgy with multiple women in your bed?” Nakten grinned.

  “Not…” I thought about how to rephrase. “Not with everyone here.”

  “Ah…” Nakten turned to Fray. “Those two aren’t interested in guys, but why haven’t you jumped on that?”

  “He slept with my sister.” Fray folded her arms across her chest. The look on her face dared the Anubis to ask more questions.

  “Oh…” Nakten clicked her tongue as she looked at me. “For shame.”

  “She’s—”

  “Not interested in that right now.” I cut Aelin off. “What matters is that she’s not going to awaken today, regardless of what we might do.”

  “Oh well.” Nakten spun on her heel and smacked Ether’s arm with the back of her hand. “Let’s see if we can get the next elite!”

  “No you don’t!” Aelin turned to her partner. “Come on Fray! We’re going to get more elite spawns than either of them!”

  I chuckled as the four went back to making their rounds, smashing the water slimes, then moving to the next spawn zone.

  Justia moved closer to me as we walked back to where we’d been farming. “You know Rix awakened her Sugaru class because of you.”

  “I know…” It was something that was supposed to trigger when her bloodline unlocked at level twenty, but somehow her giving herself up for Aelin had triggered her bloodline to awaken. I wasn’t sure how it had worked, but for some reason, even though there was no seal connecting us and we hadn’t been together, my bloodline had caused her to trigger. “That was something that would have happened at level twenty anyway.” I glanced over at where Nakten and Ether were fighting. “Ether would have only gotten her class unlocked if she took a city Mantle, so I’m assuming it’s going to be similar for Nakten.”

  “Having a bloodline perk that early gives everyone a significant boost…” Justia looked down at her hands. “You think mine is active?”

  “I don’t know.” I nodded in Miel’s direction. “You’d have to ask her. Our CBs won’t even show elemental affinities on other Adventurers, so I know we can’t see bloodlines.”

  “Maybe I’ll wait until we get back and ask Gesai.” Justia sighed. “But if you have unlocked the bloodlines of everyone on this team…”

  I nodded. “It makes you wonder how long the Primus will hold up their end of the deal.” I glanced over at Nakten. Hopefully, Votic would keep the Primus off our back, but I knew that even that wouldn’t last forever. Eventually, the other Gods were going to see me as a threat and come after me. I just needed to be ready for them when they did.

  Rating, Review, Follow, Favorite, or Comment does wonders to boost my morale. If you want to help support my writing or check out advanced chapters, head over to my .

  RR Writer's Guild