Kai sat on the end of the bed, trapped between Syl in front of him putting metaphysical fake nails on him, while Alicia sat behind him amusing herself working his hair into an elaborate double braid that probably meant something he had no clue how to decipher.

  The three of them had managed to escape the maze and return back to the nexus of archways just as a constant drizzle was starting to pool into rapidly growing puddles and the passing twilight was threatening to cast them into darkness at any moment.

  All in all, their trip had gone smoothly.

  When they reached that first chest, they found Syl was the only one who could open it, one of those mysterious shards the only thing locked inside.

  The discovery changed their focus from just getting out as quickly as possible to finding both Kai's and Alicia's shards and escaping the maze before they found themselves trying to navigate in the dark.

  They had actually been lucky finding that first chest so close to the entrance, as they had to go much deeper than they initially expected just to find a hint of what direction they needed to travel to find the next one.

  The three of them came to the agreement that the first chest's proximity to where they spawned was by design. A means to inform any team attempting the test that there was more to do in the maze than just finding a way out alive. Because had they not deliberately detoured to open that chest, finding the exit was laughably easy with Syl’s new mana sense.

  In fact, everything was a little too easy with Syl guiding them, so much that it turned out to be detrimental.

  Upon opening the second chest after a good hour of picking their way carefully past traps, avoiding puzzles and using secret passages just to find six mana potions, they realised they had to change their method of exploration if they wanted any chance of finding the other two shards in time.

  They were pleasantly surprised when they discovered that triggering traps and solving puzzles was far more mentally stimulating for them and sped them through the maze at a much faster pace. It actually got to the point that the three of them came to an agreement that they were having fun despite, if not because of, the added risk.

  After three hours, one mimic and seven chests later, they found themselves well stocked with potions, weird fresh fruit, odd vegetables, a smattering of spices, and a total of three mysterious shards; it was finally time to leave.

  The only issue they had now was that it was getting dark, it was trying to rain, and the exit was a good hour or two back the way they had come.

  Luckily they didn’t have to go back on themselves to find the exit again; instead, they relied on Syl’s growing confidence in her new abilities to find a faster, if not also riskier, way out.

  Twenty minutes, three traps, two skipped chests later, and one trap-turned puzzle, they were out.

  “All I’m saying is we don’t know what was in those two chests,” Kai said as he examined the midnight blue nails on his free hand. “There could have been something good inside; they definitely weren't there the first time we passed through that area.”

  He rotated his free hand; no, the thick, long nails were definitely something he couldn’t see himself living with. Luckily, he didn’t have to. They were in the domain, and anything the girls did to him here wouldn’t carry back out, into the real world… Except the last time Alicia had worn her T-shirt outside, it had somehow remained white, and to the best of his knowledge, that shouldn't be possible.

  He looked down at Syl, hunched over his hand. She had her tongue poked out the side of her mouth, trapped between her lips as she concentrated; it was so cute he knew he could bear being trapped while she worked on him.

  Sometimes it was the small things in life that kept you happy, or at the bare minimum, sane. And unless he was utterly mistaken, the two girls were having the time of their lives playing with him like he was some kind of life-sized doll you could put nails on and give new hairstyles.

  Curling his fingers and letting the nails clack against each other, he had to admit Syl was doing a surprisingly good job, and he had to wonder, “Syl, how did you even learn to do this?”

  She sighed, yanking the hand she was still working on back into position. “I had literal years of nothing to do whilst you were off having adventures, old and new. Just watching and tweaking the occasional thing here and there was boring, so I found ways to multitask. You will be surprised how much you can learn with unlimited access to the internet.”

  “And yet you never learnt to cook,” Kai chided.

  The verbal jab earned him another yank on his hand and, for some reason, a tug on his hair from Alicia.

  “And stop complaining about those two chests; you got outvoted three to one,” Alicia said as she pulled on a strand of hair a little harder than Kai thought was necessary.

  “I still don’t think it’s fair that you get an additional vote for Gift; it’s not like he can’t chime once for yes, twice for no, or something like that.”

  Syl sighed, “He was sulking; there wasn’t anything for him to do in the maze, and the chests held nothing of interest for him. He told me to just use his vote as I saw fit, so I did. He certainly earned the right to have a vote. How he solved that last puzzle, I will never know,” Syl said.

  “Yeah, I was too worried about the sudden lack of a floor to figure anything out. But Atheos crammed a lot of stuff into that growth stone; I wouldn’t be surprised at anything Gift can do. At least not until we have actually managed to establish the extent of his current abilities.”

  “You know about Atheos hiding things in the growth stone, archery-related skills and abilities?” Alicia asked in surprise.

  “Yeah, old man Inego said Gift was… a beautiful weapon. Told me to make sure he was cared for,” Kai tilted his head back to try and look at Alicia, “I don’t think that’s going to be a problem.”

  “Wait, Kai… Did you happen to tell him how Gift was made?”

  “Yeah, why?"

  “One moment the little old lady was asking me to get Gift to shoot several targets at once; the next everything was shaking. I have never heard someone curse like that. I'm just glad none of her ire was directed at me. We had a serious conversation after that about Gift after that.”

  “That shake was the one time I saw an ounce of joy from Kain.” Syl grumbled.

  “Where is the stringed arrow slinger right now?”

  “Sleeping downstairs, he’s just a child and needs plenty of rest to process the day’s event properly.”

  “Why downstairs and not on your hand like before?”

  Alicia tugged on another strand of his hair. “Do you think we will be able to get the next two tests done tomorrow? It has only taken us two days to do three of the tests. If we assume the second run of each arch takes the same amount of time… we should be out of the dungeon within the next four days.”

  Not at all sure why Alicia had changed the subject, he thought about her question. “It depends on what the test is. I know the fifth room is some kind of checkpoint where we can trade with the dungeon master.”

  “Did anyone else get cryptic warnings about the dungeon master?” Syl asked as she finally released her death grip on his hand.

  “Yeah, I think Inego got told off for saying too much, though it did sound a little scripted,” Kai chuckled as he watched Syl get up, go to his side, and crawl past him to join Alicia somewhere behind him.

  “I wonder how we are doing in the tests?” Alicia asked as she started tugging on all the different braids she had worked into his hair.

  “Does it really matter? We just need to survive,” Kai said.

  “All done.” She said as she tapped him on the shoulder.

  He got up and started gently patting his head, trying to get a feel for what Alicia had done. Why Syl hadn’t put in any mirrors, he didn’t know. Something about growing into himself before seeing himself. It sounded dumb, but it kept her happy.

  If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  All of a sudden, Alicia squeaked, “Syl!”

  Kai spun around to see why, only to see Syl lounging back seductively in white lacy lingerie as Alicia's butt, in matching black lace, wriggled away as she scrambled for one of the pillows.

  Kai was caught off guard by all the lace, ribbons and, oh god, the straps that seemed to serve no other purpose but to draw the eye and accentuate the two young women's trim, toned figures.

  His eyes wandered, his brain betraying him as it worked to absorb as much information as it could, to permanently lock away the sight, the memory, of what he was seeing in as many neural connections as possible.

  Syl gave him a hungry look as she shifted her position, the simple movement causing her hair to fall from her shoulder, cascading down behind her. He didn’t know how she had done it, but the movement seemed perfectly calculated to draw him in, revealing a perfect shoulder that just begged for his attention.

  Without thinking, he stepped forward.

  But then Alicia turned around, holding a big white pillow protectively against her.

  She looked so vulnerable, so pure. The look of uncertainty she gave him froze him in place.

  Her golden eyes seemed to flash as they locked on him; a moment passing between them, a silent conversation, something changing in the unspoken exchange. Alicia's tight apprehension slowly melted away as she let the pillow fall from her chest.

  Kai took another step but held himself there.

  No, this wasn’t right.

  It was still too soon for him, for her.

  His body was screaming, but his brain finally found time to focus.

  “You said four more days, just four more days to get out of the dungeon, then- then I can talk to Thanric… confirm some things.”

  Syl pouted as she exchanged a look with Alicia, the two of them having a silent conversation.

  They both nodded.

  Syl lay on her back and kicked her legs against the mattress in frustration a couple of times before she sat back up and said, “I’ve waited for centuries; what’s four more days?” as she rolled onto her knees and crawled down to the bottom of the bed.

  Kai watched her, his body screaming at him that he was making a mistake. Why did she have to crawl to him like that!?

  Taking the front of his shirt, she pulled him in close to her, pressing herself up against him; she lingered.

  Taking a breath, Kai's brain melted all over again; she smelt amazing.

  He was unable to pin down the scent; she smelt both sweat and spice; he groaned as he felt himself fighting to resist all over again. “You found a new scent,” he groaned as he leaned in for a kiss of his own.

  “Scent?” She pulled back in confusion. Turning to Alicia, she asked again, “Scent, did you use any perfume or change the soap?”

  Alicia shook her head in confusion. “Same soap and water as always.”

  The moment Syl turned back, Kai took the kiss his own words had stolen from him.

  Letting her break free several thunderous heartbeats later, Syl gasped as he said, “Figure it out, because you smell amazing.”

  Then he promptly left the domain before he couldn't resist any longer.

  Syl let out a long, frustrated breath.

  Kai had left, which was fine; she didn’t want to force him into anything he wasn’t quite ready for.

  The good thing was he was only one step away. She smiled. Even Alacia was one step away. she had

  The bad thing was she let herself get all wound up without anywhere to put all the pent-up energy.

  Turning around, she saw Alicia admiring the fit of the lingerie Syl had, without warning, slipped her into.

  “Alicia?…”

  “Yeah?” Alicia asked as she looked up from playing with one of the little bows.

  Syl was already crawling back towards her with a hungry look in her eyes and one side of her bottom lip pinched between her teeth.

  “As thanks for backing me up back there, how about you let me show you how you take that off?”

  Kai awoke from a dream he would probably never forget, not if he could help it.

  Knowing that anyone could be watching, there was no way he would be working out his rising frustration the manual way, so he tried rolling over in an attempt to get back into it.

  But just as it was typical in his life before the system came to earth, he couldn't quite get back into the dream, at least not in the same vivid detail he had experienced before waking up.

  Disappointed Kai rolled out of bed and prepared for the day.

  Coming back from shaving and a quick dip in the bathing pool, Kai looked about for his amour, but it was nowhere to be seen.

  He had grown so used to finding everything clean, ready and waiting for him in a nice, neat pile that when it was nowhere to be seen, he had to go investigate if everyone was okay.

  Yesterday had been trying for Syl, and Alicia hadn’t actually spoken much about her experience, short of mentioning the little old lady she never actually got the name of.

  Admittedly, last night had been anything but typical, and he hoped his armour had just been forgotten.

  Entering his domain, he found himself standing in the middle of the living room wearing nothing but the boxers he had slept in, while, just as his luck would have it, Alicia was on her way down from the bedroom, groggily rubbing at her eyes as she took each step with the caution only someone lacking a good night's sleep could muster.

  Kai quickly summoned one of his spare T-shirts and pulled it on before she could notice he was there.

  So used to seeing her so well put together. Kai was surprised to see Alicia actually look dishevelled for once. her hair a mess, loose strands escaping in every direction. Her shirt hanging loosely from one of her shoulders, exposing far more than she probably intended. And to top it all off, the clips of her black garter belt swinging freely against her thighs as she took one step at a time.

  She got to the bottom of the stairs and stretched, raising her arms in a wide arc over her head as she groaned and rolled her neck.

  “Morning, Alicia.”

  “Morning…” Alicia said through a long, drawn-out yawn.

  Kai waited…

  Alicia froze. Her arms were still held high up above her head as her mind tried to catch up.

  She looked at him and blinked, her arms slowly lowering to her side.

  Modesty restored, she turned and bolted back up the stairs with her hands pinned flat against her butt as she tried to keep the shirt from bouncing up.

  Kai had to wonder how the hell it was that this kept happening to him.

  Knowing he definitely wasn't going to chase after her, he plopped himself down on the couch and waited for the fallout.

  He didn’t have to wait long as a similarly dishevelled Syl came thundering down the stairs and leapt into his lap, smothering him with her lips.

  Surprised by how light she was, Kai tried to extricate himself from her enthusiasm, but she didn’t let up until she reciprocated, and they both had to stop just to breathe.

  Settling, she sank her head into his shoulder and ran her hand through his now unbraided hair.

  For once Syl wasn’t trying to tease him; she was with him, and it just felt right.

  “Alicia is getting dressed; she tells me she gave you an eyeful… asked me to apologise for her, but I’m more interested if you liked what you saw.”

  Kai immediately thought of his dream and had to ask, “Do el’vie happen to, erm, purr?”

  “El’vei? No, I don’t think so…” Syl chuckled. “But I know Alicia does…”

  A moment passed, then Syl suddenly sat up and swatted him on the shoulder. “You peeked!”

  “Peaked? What, no, I just had a dream, that’s all… I will admit, the lingerie, it made an imprecision.”

  Syl's eyes widened at his mention of having a dream, and she swatted him on the shoulder again. “You peeked!” she giggled.

  “No, I had a dream.”

  “Kai, what happened last night happened in the domain. Your domain. Face it, you peaked.”

  Kai couldn’t exactly argue with her logic. “It was a dream; I didn’t-“ he tried.

  Sly stopped him by placing her finger on his lips.

  Grinning, she repositioned herself, placing a knee on either side of his waist; she had him straddled as she leaned in and whispered in his ear, “See anything you like? Any advice, perhaps?”

  Realising what had happened last night after he left, he had to admit it. He had peeked, but he felt terrible about it, like he had invaded their privacy.

  “Syl I really didn’t mean to-“ he found her finger back on his lips.

  “Kai, I'm not mad; it's my domain too. If I wanted privacy, I would have had privacy. In fact, I may have thought about you…” She wriggled her hips. “And I know how pent up you actually are, so I wouldn't be surprised if I subconsciously invited your sleeping mind in.”

  There was a sound from the stairway, and Syl rolled off him, kissing him on the cheek as she got to her feet.

  “Don’t worry about Alicia either; I know for a fact you were on her mind too. That was when I got her to purr the loudest.”

  “Sorry, purr the loudest?” Alicia asked as she got to the bottom step; this time she was dressed and her hair expertly put up for a day's adventuring.

  “No one!” Kai blurted out before Syl could reveal the recent revelation about Kai’s sleeping mind.

  “Just idle conversation. Do either of you know where my armour is? It didn’t really need cleaning, but I’m used to it being ready for me… I'm not complaining that it wasn’t. I just don't know where it actually goes when I store it at night.” Kai rambled.

  Syl palmed her face.

  “What?”

  “Kai, your armour, you stored it in the domain; just unstore it like everything else, you big lovable idiot.”

  Alicia giggled.

  Kai cocked his head. “Oh yeah, I guess I just got so used to waking up with a nice, neat pile each day, I didn’t think… They’re ready, right?” He blinked, “If they aren't, that's fine; I really should be the one maintaining my own armour anyway. Did I ever thank you two? If not, then know I really appreciate not smelling like a goblin's sack each day.” Kai continued his nervous rambling.

  “Of course your armour is clean; it takes seconds to run my charm over it all; we just got… distracted, and I forgot to put them beside you like I usually do.”

  “You put them outside… You don't just unstore them?” Kai asked.

  “Yeah,” Syl chuckled, “who do you think folds your clothes and puts everything into a neat pile? It's not something I'm physically capable of, and my telekinesis is far too rough. I'm worried I might break something by trying. Besides, it’s one of Alicia's favourite tasks, says you look peaceful when you're sleeping.”

  “Syl, please,” Alicia hissed.

  Kai got up and headed towards the stairs. “Well, I appreciate the effort. If you two will excuse me, I'll go get ready.”

  “Not the bedroom!” Alicia cried, her face turning bright red and the tips of her ears twitching violently.

  “Why?” Kai asked cautiously, had he done something, said something, wait, the bedroom was where… He had to focus.

  “Oh, relax, Alicia.” Syl flicked her wrist; her t-shirt disintegrated, tight leather armour wrapping around her exposed body like some kind of risky anime transformation. “Just tidied everything up.”

  “Everything?” Alicia asked cautiously.

  “Even that.”

  Maybe Kai hadn’t witnessed everything in his dream, because he couldn’t quite figure out what the two were talking about.

  Putting his foot on the bottom step, something dawned on him.

  “If I get dressed in the domain, it doesn't carry out… So why aren’t you stopping me from going up there?”

  “It’s simple,” Syl said, “you’ll have to get dressed twice.”

  Not seeing why she would want him to get dressed twice, he said, “But that’s just inconvenient for me.”

  “And… you’re not actually the only one here that likes an innocent peek.”

  “Peak?” Alicia asked.

  His suspicion that Syl liked to peek on him confirmed, and not willing to get into details, he left.