"Hey there, Loverboy." Aphrodite purred. Shiloh opened his eyes, and found himself naked, ba the same bedroom she'd used him in st time. She was ying on the bed in quite a seductive pose, and her eyes were afme with lust.

  "Hello, my love." Shiloh said, smiling at her.

  He strode over to the bed and y down on his baext to her. She rolled over to y almost on top of him. She draped one leg over his, her cock spicuously missing, and draped an arm across his chest, resting her hand on his shoulder. Shiloh ed his arm around her aly ran his fingers across her back, inhaling that intoxig st she always seemed to be surrounded with.

  "You know, that wasn't as intense of a ritual as I expected." He idly ehe ritual only required that he swallow the seed of every other member of his party without physically toug them, whiaturally turned into a bukkake that he was certain hadn't been quiet enough to keep Viktora from hearing.

  The vampire girl had been quite keen on not leaving their little campsite after she was certain they weren't her ehough she did berate them for the fire. Even with the bs, she had been able to spot them from hundreds of yards away. So, they bahe fire and relied on the entments oents to keep them warm. Viktora had been shocked that they'd given her a tent all to herself, and even more shocked when they found their manners and offered her dinner and some water.

  When they had their little sojourner situated properly, they sidled into their tent and... ahem... got busy trying to tact the goddess. Now that he was in her presence, Shiloh had to remind himself to school his speech. Aphrodite was anything but malicious towards him, but the ritual was as binding for her as it was for him, or so they assumed.

  "Not as intense as you expected, hmm?" Aphrodite looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. "You realize that was a level four skill, right? You're now level thirteen, and this is the first time you're using it? Of course it's not as intense as what you've quickly bee aced to, but I suppose I make up for it."

  Shiloh raised his own eyebrow. "I suppose I'm going to have to be careful seleg rituals from now on."

  "I suppose you will."

  They rexed like that for a while longer, just appreciating each others' pany. Shiloh let his eyes wander over the room while he traced meaningless patterns across his lover's back. The big heart-shaped rug was still there, and pink was the dominant color of the decor, but there were a few things he found... odd.

  Firstly, the room didn't have walls. It simply kind of faded into white nothingness when you got far enough from the bed. There was a vanity, though no mirror, which didn't make seo him as he figured that Aphrodite would quite enjoy looking at herself. The other thing icture sitting on a nightstand on her side of the bed.

  It depicted her in a toga, smiling broadly and ed around the arm of a man also wearing a toga, though he was built like a brick outhouse. He had a mess of scars running across his face, his hands, his arms, and down his neck. Other than that, the man was quite handsome. He had full, luxurious bck hair and a curly beard that covered most of the bottom half of his face. He seemed to be smiling as widely as Aphrodite, if his kled eyes were anything to judge by.

  "Hephaestus." Aphrodite whispered wheiced him examining the picture.

  "Is-" Shiloh cut himself off, having been dangerously close to asking if her husband was okay with what they were doing. She, of course, kly what he was thinking, but she just gave him a cheshire smile instead of answering the unasked question.

  "Tell me, Loverboy, what was it that finally got you to initiate tact with me? The proper way, I mean."

  Shiloh blushed at the recolle of falling face-first into her breasts while she bathed. "My love, Lady Aphrodite, your Apostles are endeav to plete the task you've assigned us. We have reached the territory of the vampires, but have received intelligehat the vampire lord, Ronak, is not possible for us to beat at our current level. Do you wish us to attempt to kill him at this point in our lives?"

  Aphrodite closed her eyes for a moment, then looked at him and smiled. "No."

  Shiloh breathed a sigh of relief he hadn't known he'd been holding. She giggled and waited for his question.

  "Will we incur der's wrath if we try to get stronger before killing Ronak?"

  She closed her eyes again. "No." Her eyes met his once more.

  Shiloh's breath left in a whoosh once more. The other questions they had prepared were in the event of being told that st the castle was the correct thing to do. Now that they'd apparently bee off the hook, for the time being, he was free to use this third question for anything he wanted. He thought long and hard, stroking Aphrodite's bad relishing in the feeling of her naked body pressed into his.

  "Lady Aphrodite, what I do to show you, and the rest of the gods, how grateful I am for everything they've done for me? Even the ones who didn't directly affect me have still given their approval of what I have been blessed with. I want them to know that I am thankful for it, as it has allowed me to keep those I love safe."

  Aphrodite's smile grew wider, her eyes filled with a fiery pride, and she pulled herself into him, nuzzling against his chest. It was a moment before she answered.

  "Shiloh, my love, the gods have been watg you. They have seen the gratitude you've shown me, Akeso, Nemesis, and Hera. They know that yrateful for what has been given to you. If you wish for them to remain on your side, you simply o use what you've been given for the good of all. Find the Dungeon Core."

  "Thank you, my love." Shiloh said, lifting her and kissing her. Wheried to deepen the kiss, she vanished and he felt himself being hurled bato his physical form.

  ***

  Shiloh opened his eyes. That was a tremendous feat in and of itself, as his lovers had attempted to glue his eyes shut with the amount of sticky, sweet seed they'd drenched him in. He could feel it c every single inch of his fad neck, and a goodly portion of his torso as well. He stuck his to and swiped it around his lips and, as soon as he tasted it, he began scooping the cum into his mouth with both hands. His lovers watched, half in amusement and half in desire, as he ed his body of their essences, one licked fi a time.

  When he was uo find any more, he stood up and smiled at them all. He opened his arms wide, and they crushed him in a group hug.

  "I love you all so much." He whispered. A body went stiff in the pile, and he pced a hand on her. "You too, Katerine. I know it's very sudden, but I love you too. My heart is bursting with love for all of you, and I couldn't bear it if somethio happen to one of us without saying it."

  "I l-love y-you t-t-t-too." Katerine whispered back, and the hug grew even tighter. Eventually they separated, but only long enough to remove the bhat had been sullied from the and repce them with fresh ones before f the cuddle puddle.

  "So, what did the Chief Slut have to say?" Ara asked casually, earning a sp from Elnor and Shiloh.

  "Don't speak about a goddess that way!" Elnor reprimanded her.

  "Be o Aphrodite." Shiloh softly chided. "She is the reason that I'm here at all, and she's been my biggest advocate. Through me, you all have felt the effects of her blessings."

  "Good grief, dad." Ara sassed him. "I'm pretty sure Aphrodite would call herself a slut if asked."

  I would. The goddess's voice echoed in their heads.

  "What w-was that?" Katerine demanded, looking around.

  "Aphrodite." Beck responded, not even look over at her. "She pops in from time to time."

  "Aphrodite?"

  "You know, the goddess of love?" Beck sassed her.

  And sluts. Aphrodite added dryly.

  "What do you mean she just 'pops in'?" Katerine's shock had pletely overridden her usual nerves.

  "Lady Aphrodite has been quite fond of Shiloh ever since he was made her avatar and, by extension, the rest of us. She has visited us on rare occasions and usually has something to say that is quite insightful, if you're not too busy drooling over her." Elnor expined, casting a dirty look at Bed Ara.

  "So weird." Kateritered before ying back down and snuggling into Shiloh again.

  "So, what did she have to say?" Ara asked again.

  "We won't be st Emberhearth Castle." Shiloh said, drawing a collective sigh of relief from his lovers. "She doesn't want us to ght now, and said that us going to level up first wouldn't anger der, either."

  "That's the best news I've heard all week." Elnor murmured.

  "What was the third question you asked?" Beck sat up and looked at him. "Was it naughty?"

  "No." Shiloh chuckled. "I asked her how I could show my gratitude to all of the gods for helping me, and by extension all of you, the way that they have."

  "What did she say to that?" Elnor asked as Beorted and id back down.

  "She told me that they already know, and that if I want to keep them on my side then I should use the power I've been given food, and to find the Dungeon Core."

  "Sounds like we o make some progress on the mai." Ara ented.

  "That would be quite wise." Twil assessed from the far end of the pile. "Bosses drop massive amounts of experience, and we are overpowered and overdue to clear the first few floors. If we get a favorable biome, we could probably kill the first three bosses irip."

  "That would be really good for leveling up." Beck mused. "Plus, it would give us all a substantial amount of ."

  "I still have that big chest of money Hera gave us." Shiloh added.

  "I fot about that!" Ara gasped. "How much is left in there after we bought all our supplies?"

  "It's still more than half full." Shiloh replied. "I don't know the money of this world very well, so I 't give you a better ahan that."

  The tent fp was suddenly ripped open, drawing shrieks from the naked beauties in the cuddle puddle, and Viktora was revealed in the doorway. Despite being equally nude, she had apparently not expected to see all of these strangers bare skinned, and she blushed furiously before she could even utter the question that was obviously oip of her tongue. Instead, she sealed the fp again and they heard her scamper into her ow.

  "I think she might have overheard some of that." Ara's wry tone echoed in the silence Viktora had left in her wake.

  "I'll go talk to her." Shiloh said, extrag himself with many pints from his lovers. He donned a set of his on clothes ao Viktora's tent.

  "Viktora? May I e in?"

  Her answer was long in ing and quite muffled. "Yes."

  Shiloh opehe fp aered. The vampire was curled up on the bedroll they'd givehe only parts of her that were visible was the top of her head down to the tip of her nose, and her fingers curled around the b. Shiloh sat down where she could see him without moving.

  "Are you okay?" He asked calmly.

  "Yes."

  "Did you want to ask us something?"

  "Yes."

  He waited for her question, but she didn't give it.

  "Did we startle you by all being naked?"

  "No. I had to up after Ronak's debauchery all the time."

  "Why did you leave?"

  She looked at him long and hard before answering. "They're all like me."

  It took Shiloh several minutes before he realized what she meant. "Oh! You mean they're all of the third gender as well?"

  "Yes."

  "Does that bother you?"

  Viktora sighed and pulled her face fully out from uhe b and responded. "It doesn't bother me that they are like that. It bothers me that you are the only male with them. You say you're from another world, and the gods are watg over you and talking to you."

  Shiloh waited for her to tinue, not seeing the point she was driving at.

  "What exactly are you?" She whispered, and he could hear fear in her voice. "Why are you carting along all of these freaks like me? Are we just a colle for you t about? Will you turo one of them, to worship you at your and?"

  Shiloh sidered her momentarily, wantio know that he was seriously thinking about her questions. "I am a human. I used to live on a world called Earth, but I died. Aphrodite reinated me on Glitnir as her avatar. I am not carting around any of my panions; they choose to travel with me of their own free will because we all love, trust, and respect each other. They are not objects or sves to me, nor I to them. Additionally, I would appreciate it if you didn't refer to anyone as a 'freak'."

  "Isn't that what we are? Freaks?" Viktora's voice was angry, fused, and hurt.

  "You're not a freak, Viktora. None of you are freaks. What you are is simply what you are, you ot ge that. But it doesn't mean that it's who you are, and that is much more important." Shiloh smiled at her, and she seemed to rex a little bit. "As far as 'turning you into one of them' goes, it is entirely up to you. If you wish to join roup, I am sure the others would be most weling of you."

  "I'm not going to sleep with you." Viktora practically snarled. "Not with any of you."

  Shiloh raised his hands. "Whoa, you don't o sleep with any of us. We're n to force you into anything you wouldn't want to do. If you want allies, though... If you want someoo trust, to watch your back, we do that for you."

  She remained quiet. Shiloh gave her several mihen stood aed the tent. Before the fp closed, he heard her voice.

  "I'll think about it."