While everyone in town was spending most of their time preparing to battle the horde, they still needed to devote a few hours here and there to recreational activities. Otherwise, the stress would start piling up, emotions would fray, and people would make mistakes leading to a hundred other problems.

  Edge wasn’t the only one who was planning to work out some of his tension in the arms of another person. Jumo had a date with Tessa, Trapper and Dialla were eating dinner at the nicest restaurant in town, and Riller was drinking with Momo. Sasha and Violet were having a girls’ night out since neither of them had other plans and they wanted to go dancing.

  As it happened, he had booked reservations at the same restaurant as Trapper. Strictly speaking, he had bribed the manager to get him a table, but it worked out the same in the end. After getting a haircut, he had stopped by the consortium, and Bee helped him choose a new outfit. Then he ran by Mel’s apartment to pick up his date.

  His eyes went wide when she answered the door.

  Edge had seen the woman in her armor, and he’d seen her clad in nothing at all, but not a whole lot in between. Certainly nothing like the crimson, floor-length dress she was wearing now. The fabric complemented her coloration and highlighted her muscular curves. The contrast between what her neckline concealed and revealed sent a shiver of desire running down his spine. I’ve never seen her in makeup before either.

  He realized that he’d been staring without saying anything, then grinned when he noticed she was doing the same thing—checking him out and admiring the view. “Damn.” Mel whistled. “We look fucking fantastic. I’m ready to do this if you are.”

  He took her arm, and they made their way over to the restaurant—a sprawling, swank structure known as the Yellow Plum.

  Unlike most of the establishments in Puppet Town, the Plum featured an extravagant environment. The ambiance, entertainment, service, and dining experience were just as important as the meal itself.

  It began the moment Edge entered the door. Someone came by to take their coats, while another staffer used a skill to clean the mud from his boots and erase every speck of dirt from Mel’s dress. They were handed a glass of white wine while the busser cleared their table, then the hostess led the pair into a dimly lit room with only a dozen tables inside.

  A string quartet provided sumptuous, sonorous music, and the air was filled with the scent of rose petals and cedarwood—luxury imports from Earth. When they took their seats, a man walked over to offer them a hot, spiced towel, along with a plate with wafer-thin mints.

  “This is heavenly,” Melenia spoke in a low voice. “I never expected to eat at the Plum on a peacekeeper’s salary. Thanks for asking me out.”

  “Of course.” He smiled. “Life’s finer pleasures are always better shared.” She licked her lips and made a suggestive expression by way of reply, which left him grinning again—all thoughts of the coming ordeal driven out of his head by the delightful force of Mel’s presence.

  When the waiter stopped by with the menu, they ordered a five-course meal with chocolate cake for dessert. The familiar flavors from his homeworld were incredibly expensive—doubly so now that the planet was on lockdown and the System had severed all access to the portal network.

  Edge enjoyed the music and ordered a second glass of wine, losing himself in the moment until a server came by with a cup of split pea soup drizzled with dairy cream. He let out a soft moan of pleasure after taking his first bite, and neither of them said another word until the first course was nothing more than an aftertaste on their tongues.

  The rest of the meal was just as superb, a splendiferous feast that only those with superhuman Perception could enjoy to its fullest. In addition to entrees made with pieces of mana seeds and slivers of mana berries, Edge had splurged on some favorites from back home, spending far more Credits than he cared to admit for a scoop of honest-to-gods ice cream that was only big enough for them to take a single bite each.

  They stepped onto the dance floor while waiting for the cake—bodies forming a sensual rhythm with unerring precision and liquid grace. When the server waved him over, they went back to their table to enjoy a treat that cost more than the rest of the meal combined.

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  The reason for its jaw-dropping price tag was simple. This dessert was made with a slice of mana fruit, the highest grade of mana food he knew of. They only grew in extreme-threat biomes, which meant someone must have explored one of the new regions bordering the Ivory Plains. A risky venture for even the most experienced resource hunter.

  But Edge was willing to pay to take his tongue to heaven, and he wanted to share the novel experience with someone who was important to him. He had eaten some incredible things since arriving on Ord—experienced a vast array of culinary delights that he never could have imagined before casting his consciousness across the stars.

  This blew all of them out of the water.

  Words could not convey the sheer deliciousness of that cake. He lacked the vocabulary to contain such a mind-blowing, utterly satisfying experience. They both made noises that would have been deeply embarrassing if he was in a state of mind to give even the smallest of fucks about what anyone else thought at that moment.

  He came back to himself an indeterminable amount of time later, taking one last lick of his plate before setting it down, straightening his shirt, and pretending the whole thing had never happened.

  The second half of their date took them somewhere most people would consider to be more than a little strange—the boxing ring located inside the keepers’ headquarters. However, those people didn’t know Mel nearly as well as Edge did.

  Not only was going head-to-head for a few rounds a fun reminder of how they’d met; it was a perfect way to help his friend blow off some steam. He was one of the only people in the settlement who could engage Melenia when she was going all-out without suffering severe and lasting damage.

  While Edge enjoyed these matches too, he did have an ulterior motive, since a bit of pain before pleasure was the powerfully built guardswoman’s preferred form of foreplay. The other deputies had made themselves scarce in exchange for a big barrel of beer he’d arranged to have delivered while they were eating at the Plum. Thanks to his tactical foresight, the pair had the whole place to themselves for the next few hours, and he intended to make the most of it.

  She must have noticed no one was around, but she didn’t ask any questions—content to let him take the lead for a change. He gestured, and his fancy clothes vanished, leaving him wearing nothing but a pair of boxing shorts.

  “I am so jealous of that rune.” Mel laughed while walking over to her locker to change out of her dress and into something a great deal more flexible. He was tempted to Shadow Step over and sneak a peek but forced himself to stretch out instead. He had a feeling that he wasn’t missing out on anything he wouldn’t be seeing soon and didn’t want to ruin the delightful thrill of anticipation saturating every second as he waited for his date to return.

  She came back wearing shorts and a sports bra, smelling of the perfume she’d put on before leaving for dinner.

  “Before I get distracted and forget, I have something for you.” Edge spent a sliver of mana and pulled a canteen out of his vault. “This is to commemorate our trip through the Deep-Gill Grottos.” He told her about the Freshwater Sapphire embedded in the container. “And this is just because I thought you would like it.”

  He activated his rune and handed her a pair of spike-bone knuckles Ander had crafted from the remains of a gorilla general he’d battled in the Savage Garden. He was going to explain the details of how they’d been modified, but that turned out not to be necessary. Mel had already slipped them on and was fiddling with the control gems embedded in the base.

  “Adjustable grip. Insanely durable material—seems resistant to most elements too. Quality weapons all around. But this”—she thumbed a control—“is the best part by far.” When she turned the gem, the one-inch spikes on the business end of the knuckle plates retracted until their surfaces were perfectly flat. When she turned it the other way, the spikes grew until they were six-inch claws that were bladed on the interior.

  She took a few experimental jabs, moving so quickly that her fists became a seamless blend of bone and well-tanned skin.

  “Versatile and effective in close quarters. The adjustable protrusions let you deal with everything from soft targets to armored opponents to creatures with acidic blood or some other reason you don’t want to poke holes in them while pummeling their insides to paste. Thank you, Edge.” She pulled him in for a passionate kiss. “I love them.”

  Then Mel got a look in her eyes that set his heart racing. “Do you mind if I try them out now? Kidding. Not kidding.”

  By way of reply, Edge merely grinned and stepped into the ring.

  ***

  The next two hours were some of the best of his life. They got in one hell of a workout in more ways than one, going at it until they were lying on the mat—covered in sweat and grinning like fools. Mel had rather… unique tastes, but Edge had to admit they were growing on him, as was the woman herself.

  He used Repel Water to power wash the mat, then blew it dry with Maelstrom, showering them both off in the process. He enjoyed chasing a naked Mel around the room with powerful gusts of air as payback for a few punches that had really rung his bell, and they both got dressed just as the other deputies walked into the building.

  After sharing a final, lingering kiss and bidding Melenia goodnight, Edge headed into the Ivory Plains—ready to steal some skills before calling it a day.