War God for Hire- Gladiator by David Burke (books under 200 pages .TXT) 📕

Once again, Hilde stared at him. Her mouth was almost agape. “Kyle, you’re a god. I’m your servant. It is amazing beyond anything I ever expected that you treat me so kindly. I am yearning for when you can bring me from the void, but not just out of fear of this place anymore. Now, I am excited to stand by your side. You will be so much more than Krig ever was. That is why I gave you that oath. I meant it. My life is yours. If I can play some small part into bringing you to power, it will change so many things about Verden.

“And if my body can bring you some comfort, then that is what it is here for. I certainly don’t have any expectations on you. I’m not your—what was the word you used back on Earth? Oh yeah, girlfriend. I’m not your girlfriend. You don’t have to buy me presents. I am your servant. I am here to meet your needs.”

Kyle was very still. It figured that the first girl since Tess that he made any actual effort at forming a real relationship with was not gonna be into him. He couldn’t help but feel awkward.

The expression must have shown on his face because Hilde said to him, “But please, by all means, enjoy Nyda, and Kierra, and Meeka, and maybe even Marie, although I think you need to make sure of her intentions first. In fact, I will be disappointed if you don’t enjoy them.

“As far as I am concerned, they were all put upon the surface of Verden for your enjoyment. One of the signs of a powerful man in this world is the number of women that he attracts to himself. Just as much as power or gold or land, it is a status symbol. It should be so much more for a god. I’m only glad that you can see that. Krig never could.”

Again, Kyle was quiet. He didn’t know what to say. It wasn’t exactly that his feelings were hurt. How could they be after what he had just experienced? It was more that he didn’t know how to handle things now.

Chapter 27 - Getting Reacquainted

The awkward silence continued on for a minute, but finally Kyle decided to go for it. “And what if I want you to be my girlfriend?”

“Oh, Kyle, you might want that now, but you won’t possibly feel like that after you come into your power. You just don’t know what to think right now,” Hilde replied.

“So, are you saying no?”

“Don’t be that black and white. I will say yes if that is what you want,” Hilde answered.

“I don’t want you to say yes because I ordered you to. That would feed into your view of how this has to be. I am saying I want to know if you would like to be my girlfriend. Not as Ild’engel, the celestial servant of the war god, but as Hilde, a woman who is with a guy,” Kyle said.

“Yes, but it isn’t possible. You will come to understand these things. But don’t worry, my dedication to you is just as great. Even greater perhaps, because I will always remember this sweet guy that you are now, even after you become the war god who does what he has to do.”

“Fine, I don’t wanna fight about it now. I do need to know one other thing.”

Hilde seemed relieved that he dropped the girlfriend issue and so she said, “Of course, anything you need, Kyle.”

“So, this is kinda embarrassing, but I got carried away there. Not sure if, um, well… you know… if you have protection,” Kyle stumbled over his words as he spoke. It was really a rookie move but the exotic setting, the heat, her beauty, they’d all conspired to rob him of common sense.

A moment of confusion was followed by true laughter from Hilde. “Oh, Kyle, just when I think you have shown so much potential, you remind me of what a babe you are and why you need me.”

Kyle scowled at her. He didn’t know why she was talking to him like that, but didn’t like feeling like he had missed something obvious again.

“Oh, it makes sense in a way, but you don’t need to worry about that. First off, you aren’t here physically. I had assumed you figured that out when you made your armor disappear. Only your soul is here. Look at your character sheet, and you will see what I’m talking about,” Hilde instructed.

Rather than argue with her, Kyle looked at it. What he saw was astounding. Not only did it list his race as deity without mentioning human, but all of his stats were at their max, as was his War Essence. Earth Essence was still at ten out of twenty-five and the other types were still empty, but everything related to being the war god was maxed out.

Under his raw essence there were two listings, and then a timer of sorts under that.

Raw Essence: (Mantle) 137,843,569

Raw Essence: (Construct) 2,462

Drain: (Soul Portal) 47/minute

After reading the sheet, Kyle asked, “What does that mean?”

“You will have to describe it for me. I can’t read your sheet here,” Hilde replied.

He explained, and she said, “Soul Portal is what you are doing. You have created a path through the void and projected your soul here. Even without sending a physical body, it still is draining forty-seven raw essence from you per minute to stay here. If you are still here when it hits zero, then you will be trapped here just as I am.”

“Wait. Based on how much essence I had stored up before I came here, that would mean I’ve been here for over three hours. That can’t be right,” Kyle protested.

“Nevertheless, it must be true. Now, you need to leave as quickly as possible. As fun as this, uh, I think you named it a booty call,