The tournament was the next afternoon, which explained why Pamela had been determined to get him on a plane that very night. He reflected again on how insane it all was. Which was easy to do, given that he was standing in the middle of an arena, looking absolutely ridiculous, waiting to see what his doom would look like.
The doors opened on the other end of the arena. The name on the bracket had given him no clue as to what he'd be facing. The name had simply been Bess Crusher, which didn't sound promising at all. He didn't like the sound of being crushed, not one bit. When the figure came out onto the arena floor, his heart leaped into his throat.
It was a very large, very powerful looking minotaurus, carrying a giant battle axe. Ben looked at his bat and then looked again at the ax. I am definitely dead, he thought. Deaddeaddeaddead. He tried to force down his fear. Contestants normally didn't die. Perhaps he'd only end up hospitalized. For a month. Getting his food from a straw.
On the jumbotron he could see the prize the contestants were battling for. It was a fine looking ring indeed, with a giant red gem that had to be the biggest ruby he'd ever seen. Man, what I could do with the money that would bring! He thought. It's gotta be worth at least ten grand! Maybe twenty! Looking again at Bess with her giant axe reminded him that he wasn't winning anything. He'd have to consider leaving with all of his limbs a victory.
A bell sounded, and the minotaurus's axe left her shoulder and took a position in both of her hands, at the ready. Did the bell mean the contest had started? Apparently so, because the axe was headed straight for his head! He dodged it and struck the minotaurus girl in the gut with his bat. She didn't even grunt, getting her axe ready for another swing.
"Hey, you're not gonna kill me with that thing, are you?" Ben shouted.
"Of course not!" Bess said indignantly. "Intentionally killing an opponent is grounds for disqualification. This blade is dull, and I try to strike only with the back end or the flat of the blade. Don't you know how these games are played?"
"Sorry, I'm new!" he said.
"A newb, eh? I thought as much. I'll make this quick."
She swung the axe down again towards his head. Maybe it was just his fear talking, but he was sure that the blade end was what she was going to strike him with. He got down on one knee and braced himself, placing his bat in two hands to block the blow. He was sure the bat wouldn't even slow that huge axe down. But maybe it would be slow enough that his football helmet would stop the blow.
To his surprise, his bat was not cut in half. At the last second, she had turned her blade to the side. The impact caused the bat to vibrate in his hands painfully. But his bat held. Bess' axe did not. To both his and the audience's shock, the axe's handle shattered, sending the blade flying, landing many yards away. Bess was left holding onto an axe handle with no axe at the end of it.
I have to take this bat to college with me! Ben thought. This thing'll never break! Seeing his chance, he started taking home run swings at the minotaurus, trying to put her out of the fight. He struck her again and again, yelling "I'm sorry" "I'm sorry!" while Bess blocked most of the hits, and asking him why he was yelling that he was sorry.
"Haven't you ever been in a fight before!?" Bess yelled back.
With a roar, Bess rushed at him and took him down, hard. The bat flew out of his hands. She ripped his pants off with one pull of her mighty arms, drawing a roar of approval from the females in the crowd. Ben's private parts were exposed for the crowd to see. No, for the whole world to see. This was a televised event! Ben's face turned beet red. She quickly covered his nakedness with her upper body, pinning his legs, and began undoing her top to expose her enormous breasts.
"Waitwaitwait, what are you doing?!" Ben shouted desperately. "I thought there was no rape in the coliseum anymore!?"
"I'm not raping you!" Bess replied indignantly. "This is a pleasure attack! Since you broke my axe, it's my next most effective way to beat you!"
"No, stop! I'm really failing to see the difference here!"
"Do I have to explain the rules, newb?! If I do this after you've lost, it's rape. If I do it during the fight, it's a pleasure attack. Pleasure attacks have always been legal in the coliseum. I just have to stop when you ejaculate! It's the same as using my axe! If I swing it at you during the contest, it's legal! If I do it after the contest, it's assault!"
Bess sandwiched his penis between her ample breasts and began squeezing them and moving them around. Ben felt as if he'd gone to heaven, as if his penis was between the two warmest, softest pillows in the world. He simply laid back and enjoyed the sensations. Bess pulled him back to reality.
"Newb, at least make this look good! Your whole upper body is free! Don't give up yet! You're on live TV! Don't you want to at least give a good account of yourself?"
In fact, he did, so he struggled, tried to push her off, tried to wriggle out from under her, even tried punching her in the head. It didn't even faze her. She simply smiled at him as she continued to stimulate him with that amazing chest. He couldn't even see his penis, the breasts were so large. All he saw was a small amount of his ejaculate exiting her cleavage, some of it hitting her chin. It was by far the best orgasm he'd ever experienced, even better than Pamela's hand job.
Bess rose to stand over her defeated opponent. The crowd roared as she raised her arms in victory. When she was done celebrating, she offered her hand to the prone Ben. He took it and she hoisted him back to his feet with ease. He stumbled immediately, his legs unable to hold his weight. Bess held him up to prevent him from falling back down.
"What's wrong with me?" Ben gasped.
"You're in critical ecstasy," Bess explained. "I guess you've never had a monster make you come before? When you give your semen to a monster, it takes some time to stand up and walk again. Here, I'll carry you back."
She took Ben in both of her arms and began walking him to his locker room. The crowd cheered again, this time in approval of Bess' sportsmanship in aiding her fallen opponent.
"You should be proud," Bess said as she carried him. "There are skilled opponents who aren't going to last that long against me."
"I got lucky," Ben said weakly. "Your axe shattered."
"Maybe, but you showed spirit. I hope you'll get some real training and come back next year."
"Not a chance in hell," Ben said.
Bess chuckled as she opened the door to the locker room and gently laid Ben down on a bench. Pamela was there waiting.
"Thanks for going easy on him," Pamela said. "The way you beat him was definitely better than the alternatives."
"It was?" Ben said.
"Yes," Bess replied. "I could have choked you, or I could have pummeled you with my bare hands. Would you have preferred that?"
"Oh," Ben said. "I guess I like the breasts better."
"As you should!" Bess said proudly, hefting her massive chest in her hands. "Look at these things!"
"Yes, they are very impressive," Pamela said. "I'm sure you have another match to start getting ready for."
"I do, I do," Bess said. "I just wanted to make sure the newb's gonna be all right. Newb, get some sleep. And come enjoy the rest of the tournament starting tomorrow! Contestants get free admission and refreshments once they're out!"
Bess left Pamela and Ben alone. Ben was barely staying awake. Pamela started slapping him lightly.
"Don't go to sleep yet, tiger," she said. "You'll get plenty when I get you back to the hotel. Right now I need you to be aware of what's going on."
"I'm sorry I let you down, Pamela," Ben said.
"Yeah, well, it's my fault for not thinking of a better plan," she said ruefully. "Anyway, the ring isn't the one we're looking for. So that was all for nothing."
That caused Ben to try to sit up. He failed.
"Are you saying that I just lost my breast virginity for no purpose?! Now you've taken that away from me too!?"
"I wouldn't get too attached to the idea of your first times being special," Pamela said. "And besides, how was that not special? How many people get their first tit fuck in front of a national television audience?"
"Not the kind of special I was looking for," Ben said angrily, wishing he wasn't having to say this from his back. "So what's our next step, since this was a total fail? Don't tell me, we're getting on another plane first thing in the morning."
"Yep," Pamela confirmed. "We're going to New Remina!"
"New Remina!" Ben exclaimed. "What are we looking for there?"
"Nothing," Pamela said. "We're going to be traveling by foot to the Monster Lord's castle."
"The Monster Lord's castle. As in the castle the Monster Lord resides in. Are humans even allowed there?"
"Sure they are. Not many make the trip, because most modern humans can't stand a two day hike. But those that do are welcome to tour the place. Why, are you afraid?"
"No!" Ben said defensively. "The days of fearsome, magic wielding Monster Lords are long gone. I'm just nervous about going to a place where the only humans will be us. There's no cops there, no human authority. Not on the road to the castle, definitely not in the castle itself."
"It's perfectly safe," Pamela insisted. "Mostly. Believe me, we haven't even started the dangerous stuff yet. You'll probably be safer at the castle than in some of the other places we'll be going."
"So why are we going all the way to the castle again? Is that the next place you're looking for the thing, which is obviously some kind of ring?"
"No, we're going to the Monster Lord's castle to get a sword. You can't fight the dangers we're going to face with a baseball bat and a football helmet."
"What's so special about this sword?" Ben asked. "Leaving aside the fact that I have no idea how to use a sword!"
"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me," Pamela answered. "You'll have to use it for yourself before you can believe."
"Oh, I get it. Magic. So how am I supposed to stay safe in the meantime? We'll be out in the wilderness of Hellgondo for two straight days! There are still monsters there that rape and eat people!"
"They aren't that common," Pamela assured him with a wave of her hand. "The Monster Lord may be a mostly ceremonial position nowadays, but her law still stands. Not many would dare attack a human so close to her domain. If anyone does, I'll protect you."
"You'll protect me? How the hell are you supposed to protect me?"
"Like I said, you won't believe it until you see it. So there's no point in explaining it to you. Now get some sleep, you're going to need it."
Not only did Ben sleep all night, Pamela had to get him up and nearly carry him to the airport for the flight to New Remina, where he slept through the entire flight. Arriving in New Remina woke Ben up nicely, since he'd always wanted to see the place, but Pamela, noticing that his energy was mostly restored, wanted to begin the hike to the Monster Lord's castle at once. No time for sightseeing on this mission to save the world, she said. Pamela did concede to getting a good meal into Ben so that he'd have energy enough for the day's walk. She also bought him refreshments for the two day journey, since there would be no restaurants or even convenience stores until they reached the Monster Lord's castle.
Ben, of course, had to carry everything. Being strong, he didn't care, plus he ate the vast majority of the food anyway. He marveled at how little Pamela ate. If she'd consumed five hundred calories in front of him in the last two days he would have been shocked. She insisted that she needed little food. Or sleep, for that matter.
To Ben's disappointment, there wasn't really a road to the Monster Lord's castle. The journey was over flat, yet uneven ground where he had to constantly watch his step lest he trip over a small fissure or crack. In several hours, he was sure they'd only covered ten miles or so.
"Don't worry," Pamela said. "It gets easier the closer we get. The first day will be tougher than the second."
"I hear the Monster Lord's Castle is in the nicest part of Hellgondo," Ben said. "Even nicer than New Remina."
"Yep," Pamela said. "Most of Hellgondo is pretty bleak, but it has its small spots of paradise. So I'm going to do something very difficult for me and apologize to you for putting you in that tough position at the coliseum."
"I appreciate the apology," Ben said, although his voice told Pamela that her apology wasn't nearly enough. If he wanted more, however, he wasn't going to get it.
"I really thought you'd do better, though," Pamela said. "Earth blood, monster blood… So what race of monster is in your heritage, anyway? Obviously not a powerful one."
"No," Ben confirmed. "Not powerful at all. My great great grandmother was a slug girl."
"A slug girl?!" Pamela repeated. "Wow."
"Hey, we're proud of our slug heritage, okay?"
"I wasn't denigrating your heritage, I was just a little surprised. Slug girls didn't make their way to Earth very often. But they are really into finding permanent mates, so I guess it shouldn't be surprising that if a slug went to Earth that she'd come back with a man."
"Excuse me! Hello, travelers!"
That was a female voice calling from behind them. Ben and Pamela looked back to see a woman with small wings flying towards them. Well that's convenient, Ben thought. Flying over this ground would be so much better than trying to walk over it. Pamela was on guard. Ben decided that he should be as well, since a flying woman was obviously a monster.
The monster landed in front of them and greeted them with a smile. "Hey, are you two traveling to the Monster Lord's castle?"
"We are," Ben said.
"Oh, that's so exciting!" the strange monster girl replied. "I've never made the pilgrimage before! But I see you two aren't monsters! Are you tourists?"
"Something like that," Pamela answered.
"Wow, not too many humans are willing to hike two days just to see the Monster Lord's castle! I'm sure it'll be totally worth it! Can I travel with you two?"
"We're walking," Pamela demurred. "We'll be going at a much slower pace than you are. You should fly on ahead of us. I'm sure you'll reach the castle by nightfall at your speed."
"Oh, I'm scared traveling alone!" she replied. "There have been rumors of human bandits on the road to the castle, robbing tourists and weak looking monsters like me."
"You're a succubus," Pamela said. "First off, you can fly, secondly if they mess with you, you can probably put them all in critical ecstasy in minutes. Assuming they even put up resistance once you touch them. Most human males are too weak even for that."
Ben was intrigued. He'd never met a succubus before. Succubi had mostly congregated in Succubus City, a mid-sized city in the Gold region which was one big feeding district. All cities had feeding districts. They were a designated safe place for monsters and human males to hook up. His friends had tried to talk him into going to Edenburg's feeding district to celebrate his eighteenth birthday. All of them had done so, many not even waiting until they were eighteen. It wasn't as if most monsters asked for ID, although boys who were obviously too young got thrown out of the various cafes and clubs where the feedings occurred. Edenburg didn't have any succubi, at least none who were out in the open, because it was still a fairly religious city. Although tolerant of monsters, succubi had a reputation of being too perverted for decent folk. So they tended to stick to the Sentora and Hellgondo continents.
"Sure you can travel with us," Ben said. Pamela shot him a dirty look. "What's your name?"
"It's Ashley," she said, blushing.
Ashley was quite lovely, a dark haired, pale skinned beauty with all the attributes Ben would have expected from a succubus. A skinny body, with breasts that should be too large to enable her to walk upright. She looked entirely human, except for three things: those wings, her tail, and those fangs. Ben never could get a straight answer as to why they had those fangs. They were almost never used in combat. Succubi didn't drink blood. They were cousins to vampires, so maybe it was just something that evolution hadn't bred out of them yet.
"I'm not going to gainsay my companion here if he really wants you to travel with us," Pamela said. "But if you are going to join us, I need the truth about why you want to do so. Your previous explanations were less than convincing."
"Okay, you caught me! I have… a bit of a problem. I wasn't just going to the Monster Lord's castle to sightsee. I'm hoping for… a cure."
"A cure?" Pamela asked. "A cure for what?"
Her face turned red in shame. "I…. I guess I have to tell you anyway, because I need the boy's help. You see, I have…. A very sensitive gag reflex."
Pamela could barely contain her mirth. "I'm sorry," Pamela laughed. "I know how devastating that must be for a succubus. Tell you what, I'm a doctor by profession."
"I thought you were a scientists?" Ben interjected.
"I'm that, too," Pamela said. "Anyway, even if they can't fix your problem, I might be able to help."
"That's so nice of you!" Ashley said. "But I kinda need the boy's help now."
"I'm Ben, by the way," Ben said.
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Ashley replied. "I can be socially awkward at times. I get bullied a lot by the other succubi for my… problem."
"Well what can I do to help?" Ben offered.
"I need help taking my pill. It's a pill to relax my gag reflex, but I can't swallow it. Ironic, isn't it?"
"And how do I help you swallow your pill? Do you need me to massage your throat or something?"
"Something like that," she said nervously. "If by massaging my throat you mean doing it with your penis."
Ben's face flushed at the same time his dick started pressing against his zipper.
"Oh for crying out loud!" Pamela said in frustration. "That whole story just so that you can feed off of my companion? Get lost."
"No!" Ashley shouted. "I'm being honest! What I need to do is just put the pill on the head of his penis, and then I deep throat him and the pill goes down! Usually."
"So let me see if I understand this," Pamela said. "You can get a dick down your throat, but you can't swallow a pill?"
"Or drink water, or eat food, sometimes I even have trouble brushing my teeth!"
"Only a succubus," Pamela said, shaking her head in disbelief. "Well, it's up to Dan, here."
"That's Ben," Ben reminded her.
"Oh, Ben, would you help me?"
"Yeah, Ben, will you help her?" Pamela asked teasingly.
"I'd love to," Ben said. "But…. I'm a virgin, and I've been trying to save all these experiences for a time when it would feel special. I've never been in a girl's… mouth before, and I was really hoping I'd manage to avoid that happening on this trip."
"Huh," Pamela laughed derisively. "Fat chance of that. You should help her. What could be more special than helping a succubus with her medical issue? Don't you like to do good deeds?"
"I….. yeah… I guess."
The truth was, Ben really meant it when he said he wanted these experiences to be special, and one by one they were being taken away from him in meaningless, impersonal ways. He had long imagined what his first blowjob would be like. A girl he was in love with, who he had kissed, held hands with, cuddled with, and one day she'd surprise him that way. Now he was basically being asked to be someone's tongue depressor. Damn it, he thought. I may not want to do this, but my little friend REALLY wants to do this, and part of me thinks the idea is really hot.
"Oh, what the heck, let's do it!" Ben said.
"You're such a humanitarian," Pamela teased. "Even though this is a monster."
"Can you, uh…. Look away?"
"Why?" Pamela asked. "I've seen it. I've touched it. Did you forget? Besides, this is fascinating. It's a medical procedure. As a scientist and a doctor, I should supervise this."
"Fine," Ben said reluctantly, pulling his pants down to expose his already erect member. "Ashley, is there anything you need me to do?"
"Nope!" Ashley said cheerfully. "I just needed it out and hard!"
Ashley walked over to Ben and grasped his penis with one hand, while pulling a pill bottle out of a front shirt pocket. Probably due to the chill, she was wearing more than a succubus would normally wear. Long pants and a button up shirt, a rugged one for warmth and travel.
Ashley placed the pill on top of the head of his penis and without further ado, swallowed his entire length. Whatever he'd imagined a woman's mouth would feel like, this was many times better. It was all too brief, however, as she withdrew her wonderful mouth.
"Thank you so much! I have to take them every twelve hours! So if you liked that, look forward to tonight!"
Her smile was intoxicating. All Ben could think about was that wonderful mouth smiling at him in appreciation and what more it could do to him. Then the smile changed to one of alarm and she began gagging.
"What's wrong?!" Ben asked in alarm. "Are you okay?"
"It's…. it's coming back up! Quick, shove it back in again!"
Ben didn't need to be told twice. He rationalized that he only reacted as quickly as he did because she was in distress and this was the only way to help her. Sure, that was it. Pamela simply looked amused as Ben shoved his dick back down Ashley's throat. Her gagging quickly ceased as her throat relaxed with his penis lodged inside it.
Ashley reached into her backpack and pulled out a bottle of water. From another shirt pocket she pulled out a straw. She opened the bottle and placed the straw into it, then opened her mouth just enough to get the tip of the straw into it from the side, a difficult maneuver with Ben's penis already in her mouth. She then began to drink from the straw.
The sensations that assaulted Ben nearly caused him to collapse. Her sucking on the straw caused her mouth to tighten and create a vacuum, while her swallowing of the water caused her tongue and throat to do things to his penis that he couldn't even describe. After a few swallows, she pulled back again, thanking him. Ben chose that moment to actually collapse, falling onto his back.
"Oh, sorry!" Ashley said. "We succubi have powerful sexual magic! It drains energy even if you don't come!"
Ben's only answer was to whimper.
"Are you just going to leave him like that?" Pamela asked. "That's the first time he's ever experienced a woman's mouth. He's got to be right at the edge."
"Oh, how inconsiderate of me!" Ashley exclaimed. "Oh well, I should finish my water anyway."
Kneeling down before Ben's prone form, she inhaled him once again all the way to the root and began sucking water through the straw again. Just before she finished the bottle, Ben came explosively down her throat. Determined to finish her water, however, she kept up the wonderful swallowing motions until shortly after he was finished. As Ashley gave him one last grateful smile, Ben passed out.
He awakened to find that he was being carried. No, not just carried, he was being flown. He was in Ashley's arms, her wings flapping. He looked down. He wasn't sure whether to be alarmed or feel safer that he was only about four feet off the ground. They'd made good time. Somehow Pamela had been keeping up with Ashley, as the geography had changed from ultra dry flatlands to forest, albeit not the nicest forest he'd ever seen. At least it was sparse. Having to pass through gnarled trees and underbrush would have been a pain.
"Oh, you're awake!" Ashley said brightly. "Do you think you can stand? I've been carrying you for six hours. I need a break."
"Of course, yes, by all means!" Ben said. "And thank you!"
Ashley lightly set him down on the ground.
"How far away are we now?" Ben asked Pamela.
"Knocking you out was the best time saver we ever could have come up with," Pamela said, smirking. "We'll set up camp soon. I think we'll make it to the castle by mid afternoon tomorrow."
Even Ashley decided to rest her wings and walk with the group. The forest had an odd smell, not particularly unpleasant, but not what Ben would normally have associated with forests. The air had felt odd ever since he'd arrived on the continent. It was cool, but the kind of cool that seemed to chill the soul even though it wasn't that cold.
It hadn't been more than fifteen minutes since Ben had awakened when he saw a commotion up ahead. It looked eerily like the one that had gotten him in trouble in the first place, except he didn't see any monsters this time. What he saw were four human males attacking a lone female. She was fighting back, but they had weapons. She did not. Ben didn't even look at Pamela and Ashley, rushing towards the fray.
"Should we help him?" Ashley asked, turning to Pamela.
"I don't think it's going to be necessary," Pamela said. "He's misanalyzed the situation. She doesn't need his help."
Indeed, Ben was starting to think the same thing as he got closer. There had been four men attacking a lone woman when he was about one hundred feet away. By the time he reached the girl, there was only one man still standing, threatening her with a wicked looking dagger. Ben noticed that she had a sword, but it was still in its scabbard. Ben's headlong rush into the melee was interrupted by the girl's fist to his face.
"Ow!" Ben yelled, holding his nose, which he was sure was bleeding. "Behind you!"
The girl had turned to deal with the man running at her, which happened to be Ben, giving the man with the dagger, now behind her, an opportunity. Not as much of an opportunity as he thought, as she swung around with a roundhouse kick, knocking her last assailant out in an instant.
"Wow!" Ben said, still holding his nose. "It looks like you can really handle-"
She punched him again, this time with a right cross that staggered him.
"Hey! I'm not attacking you! I was trying to help you!" Ben yelled.
She threw another punch at him. Ben dodged and answered with a straight right hand to her mouth which snapped her head back. A trickle of blood ran from her mouth. The girl put her finger on it and seemed surprised to find blood on it.
"I'm sorry!" Ben said. "It's just that you kept on hitting me!"
Ben could see that she was not actually a human girl. She was a dragonkin. She had light brown skin and stood only about five foot three. She hit like a heavyweight boxer, however.
"No human has ever made me bleed before!" she said, smiling.
"Wait, do you like that I punched you?" Ben asked. "Because I've had about all the weird I can take for one lifetime just in the past couple of days, and-"
She did a side summersault that ended in one of her feet slamming down on his forehead. That one knocked him down. The dragonkin pounced on him, pinning him with her body and working to undo his pants.
"Wait wait wait! What are you doing?" Ben yelled.
"What does it look like I'm doing?" she said with annoyance, still struggling with his pants. "I'm raping you!"
"No no no no, please don't do that!" Ben begged. "I'm a virgin and I've wanted to wait for that special someone and that special moment and everything else has been taken from me except for that. Please don't take that last thing away from me!"
She paused, looking at him intently. Then she punched him in the side. "You're a virgin?! Ugh. It's no fun to rape you if you don't want me to do it."
The dragonkin rose off of him and extended a hand to help him up.
"It's not rape if I want you to do it," Ben said.
"Sure it is."
"No, it really doesn't work that way," Ben insisted.
"Sure it does," the dragonkin countered.
"No, rape is when you do it even though the other person doesn't want you to do it."
"Yeah, because the virgin is the expert on rape. So you were really trying to help me?" she asked. "You weren't with those bandits?"
She turned to gesture to the fallen bandits, but they had already fled.
"Honest, I was only trying to help. Do I look like a bandit?"
"It's true," Pamela said, emerging with Ashley from behind a tree. "He likes to rush to help a maiden in distress. Without thinking or assessing the situation, of course."
"Oh, you're traveling with a monster?" the dragonkin asked. "Cool!"
"So what's your name?" Ben asked.
"Oh, it's Emma," she replied. "I suppose you're going to the Monster Lord's Castle?"
"We are," Ben answered. "Why are you going?"
"Oh, just to see it," Emma replied. "This is my first time really getting out and seeing the world, so I decided to start with the Monster Lord's castle, since it's on my home continent. Then I'll probably check out New Remina, then catch a flight to Sentora. I've never been on a plane before."
"Ah, a world traveler," Pamela said. "I think it's great for young people to go and learn about the world. As much as I love books, you can learn a lot more by getting out there than by just reading about it."
"I'm afraid we don't have many books where I come from either," Emma said ruefully. "But I did learn how to fight. My goal is to be as great a warrior as the Heavenly Knight Granberia was."
"That's a tall order," Pamela said. "But you were pretty impressive in that battle. Didn't even need to draw your sword to deal with those hoodlums."
"My rescuer did more damage to me than they did," Emma said, although she didn't seem upset by it at all. She almost seemed happy that Ben had punched her so hard. "So can I travel with you guys?"
"Why not?" Pamela shrugged. "You bring us some combat skills, which will make the journey safer. We're only a half a day away. We were going to set up camp soon. Not sure I want to camp here, where the bandits have just been."
"I know this forest pretty well," Emma said. "It's not far from where I grew up. I used to explore out here from time to time. About an hour away is a fairly secure spot. We'll need to post watch during the night because of the bandits, but I doubt any will challenge two monsters and an athletic looking man. They prefer easier prey."
"I'm surprised there are humans out here, so far from any human settlements," Ben said.
"Anywhere on this planet where there's wilderness, there are humans scraping out a living," Emma replied. "It wasn't always that way. Hellgondo was free of humans a long time ago. But coexistence brought humans here. It also brought a lot of monsters who normally stayed away from human settlements into the cities and towns."
The party resumed their walk, following Emma to locate a good campsite.
"So how old are you, if you don't mind my asking?" Ben asked.
"I'm seventeen," Emma replied.
"Has anyone ever told you that you look like a young Zendaya?" Ben asked.
"Zendaya?" Emma replied, frowning.
"Sorry, old movie star. A long, long time ago."
"Ohhhhh," Emma replied, realization coming to her. "You watch old Earth movies. I like them too."
"Much better than what they make on this world," Ben said.
"Oh, no doubt!" Emma replied enthusiastically. "Two thousand years and they still can't make a movie of the same quality as even an average old Earth movie. Has anyone told you that you look like Brendan Fraser?"
"No, nobody has, because I don't look anything like Brendan Fraser."
"You don't really look like him except for that dopey look you always have on your face."
"I do not look dopey!"
"Yes you do," Pamela and Ashley said in unison.