She woke to the early morning light again. This time, Xander was curled against her back, face against her shoulder, his arm around her. A layer of blanket separated them, but that wasn’t much when she realized she was naked.

Face burning, Astra couldn’t bring herself to move.

Xander did, though. Sighing softly in his sleep and putting his face against the nape of her neck. His hips pressed against the pillow between them.

She knew nothing had happened. In fact, she suspected she’d undressed herself. He’d been an absolute gentleman and laid on top of the blankets. Reaching back, she checked, finding that he was even wearing pants, as she’d suspected. She had been the indecent one.

Ears folding down, she just wanted to die. Her fingers clutched the blanket, eyes stinging. If this had been back on Earth, she knew it wouldn’t have ended well. Xander was… so… she couldn’t understand his patience or his self-restraint when it came to her. He had so much power over her right now and he wasn’t using it.

“Nothing happened,” Xander said and sat up, avoiding looking at her.

“I know... I just... can’t believe I did that...” Astra pulled the blanket over her face.

“You were exhausted,” Xander said and slid off the opposite side of the bed. He shuffled around a moment, and she felt cloth hit the bed next to her.

Still unable to look at him, she curled into a ball, pulling the pillow over her head too.

“Don’t wallow in embarrassment too long. You have much to do,” Xander said and left.

Astra peeled the pillow off when she was sure he was gone and sat up. He’d left her shirt and pants from the day before on the bed. Her underwear remained somewhere in the pile of armor on the floor. Climbing out of the bed, she straightened the blankets, still feeling like her face would melt from blushing. Picking through the discarded equipment, she found what she needed and put them on. If she’d had her Inventory, she would have just equipped them instead of having to deal with all the hooks and straps.

Picking up her armor, she headed to the bathhouse to get a quick wash before assisting White and Rita with breakfast. When she arrived at the kitchens, she found the two women butchering the Boars from yesterday.

“Hey,” she greeted. “Sorry, those are such a mess...”

“They’re good stew meat,” White said. “Help us out, though?”

“Right.” Astra rolled up her sleeves and approached.

As she worked, Astra assessed her physical condition and determined that she felt fine. She didn’t feel delirious or like her brain was shutting down. She kind of felt refreshed. Surely her body on Earth was dying by now. Or had she been found? Were they taking care of her? Why was she still in Ashguard then? Getting the VR headset knocked off would only result in disorientation, rather than brain damage. Surely, they would’ve tried to wake her up if they’d found her...

Her hands moved automatically as she thought, cutting the Boar open at specific points to drain blood into a bucket and gut it.

She’d given up thinking this was some kind of update to the world that made it a single-player game. If that had been the case, there would’ve been side quests and stuff instead of just the Convergence plot line. Were the fail-safes on her headset turned off then? Was that why she felt like she was actually here in Ashguard? Surely there wasn’t a real world that had pocket dimensions that kept meals hot and steaming right next to frozen treats, cold as the day they were freshly made for as long as they were in your Inventory. Surely this world wasn’t real.

Xander’s face was far too pretty for him to have been simply born with it. It had to be computer-generated.

So why couldn’t she log out?

“Wow! That’s... the best cuts of meat I’ve ever seen,” Rita said.

Astra blinked back to the situation at hand and found that she’d nearly finished tearing down the Boar. Everything usable was off it and set out in an orderly fashion. Targeting it, she read the text popup: [Pork Belly Level 334, Crafter Astra Diane]. She’d successfully used her Crafting Skill without using her Menu. Despite the pig having been tormented to death, the meat would undoubtedly still taste good due to her high Skill used when butchering it.

Did that mean she didn’t need her Menu to access her Crafting Skills? If they worked the same as a combat Skill, she just had to remember what she could do and just... do it.

...Did that mean she might not need her Menu at all?

* * *

Xander was extremely glad that Astra had covered her face when he got up. Knowing that she’d seen his body’s reaction would have been the end of his self-restraint. He’d shoved a pillow between them for safety but when she reached back and touched his hip, he had to bite his lip and hold his breath. He was quick to get up, tossing Astra’s shirt and pants onto the bed before escaping to get to the bathhouse.

Thankfully no one was there to witness his embarrassment. He realized now he should not have gotten into the bed with her at all last night and this situation was his own fault. Next time she did that, he would sleep on the floor, he told himself.

Not that it helped right now. Finishing his wash, Xander got dressed and headed out to see if anything had gone wrong overnight. He had acquainted himself with the hunters that guarded Vard. There weren’t many of them, but they were highly Skilled, having learned their abilities the natural way. They carried a great many scars, but they also had stories. Getting to know them felt a lot like being back in Hollowood, except he was marginally more respected here. Not trusted, but respected as a Healer.

Approaching the lead hunter, Xander lifted his hand in greeting.

The Human woman nodded in return.

“Any trouble last night?” he asked.

“No,” she said. Most of her forces were Lycanth, the remainder were Humans with a few Felis and Giants. She moved on, leaving him to his thoughts as she went to the bathhouse. Letting her go, Xander continued through the city, learning his way around and taking stock of the inhabitants.

There were very few Felis in the small city, he’d noticed, and no Elves. There were Dwarves and Giants in Vard as well, but they all had an air of depression as if they were just waiting to die off. He supposed it made sense. If Vard had been isolated for so long and most of the population had been killed in the last Convergence, what remained was likely not going to last much longer. Xander, being Elven, couldn’t contribute. Astra… well, it was a question as to whether an Immortal could bear children.

In effect, they were both essentially useless for the longevity of Vard. Although, Astra could bring new people if they were willing now that she’d attuned to the Soul Stone. If she could safely get back to one of the major cities.

Kayson’s warning still rang in Xander’s head.

Immortals could make new Soul Pacts with Ashguardians after their previous one died, and their soul left. Ashguardians, however, were stuck for life. Xander would have to die in order to allow someone else to make a Pact with her. He had no intention of dying permanently for someone else’s potential gain. Not that they would gain much more than access to Unlocked Healer Skills. Every other Cursed One in the world had Warrior or Mage Class.

The more he thought about it, the stupider it seemed. Hopefully, others would come to that conclusion soon.

His stomach reminded him that he hadn’t eaten breakfast yet, and Astra had probably helped prepare the food, meaning it would be high-quality.

Xander swallowed, having salivated at the thought.

Heading back towards the communal kitchens, he was in time to see Astra giving the local children baked goods. He smiled to himself at that. She’d always had a soft spot for children, it seemed. Even when she couldn’t understand what anyone was saying, she would automatically step in whenever a child was in danger. The street urchins in all three major cities flocked to her whenever word got around that she was in town because she would always feed them. She fed the homeless too, whenever she saw them.

Xander supposed that was ultimately why he loved her.

If he was being entirely honest with himself… it was why he’d joined the Guild after being let go by Walter at the Item Store. She probably didn’t even remember, but he had been one of the people she just gave food to once. Sure, he’d been employed at the time, but he’d been standing outside a tavern, mentally calculating if he had enough money to get more than a loaf of bread when she’d tapped his arm and handed him a meal.

He’d seen her before. He’d heard the other kids talking about the Immortal that gave out food.

That had been the first time he’d ever seen her up close.

After that, Walter’s shop had closed and Xander decided to try his luck at becoming an Assistant.

Shaking his head, he pushed the memories away and approached the kitchens. Astra saw him coming, flushed with embarrassment, but still gave him a bowl of stew and a hunk of bread. “I was going to try to get my Menu out of the lake with Undead today,” she said.

Xander nodded as he ate, leaning against the door frame of the kitchen as he listened to her.

“I can use my Hunter and Cooking Skills without my Menu at least,” she said and went back to helping Rita and White make more food for the city.

If nothing else, this seemed like the perfect setting for her, Xander supposed. He swallowed. “Did you not realize that before?” he asked.

She turned to look up at him, ears folding back. “No.” Astra glared. “I’m guessing you did, and you didn’t say anything.”

“I thought you knew,” Xander mused.

“Well, assume I don’t notice stuff,” Astra grumbled. “I’ve got a lot going on right now.”

“I will keep that in mind,” he said, lingering over his breakfast. “When would you like to attempt the retrieval?”