Chapter 36 Collars

That night Blake lay in bed with Lillia laying behind him. "Blake, thank you for being patient with me…."

"Hmmm? Why wouldn't I? You really wanted to learn this new way of casting. Why wouldn't I help until the end?" Blake asked as he turned over and faced Lillia.

Seeing his face so close, Lillia blushed and lowered her head. "I know it must have been frustrating to deal with…."

Blake placed his finger on her lips, stopping her from continuing as he leaned in and kissed her forehead. "You are my girl. You wanted something, so I made sure you could have it. There is no need to say any more about that, okay?"

Lillia's face was bright red. She nodded dumbly as the only thought in her mind at this time was the kiss on her forehead just now. She stared into her boyfriend in name only eyes in shock for almost a minute before quickly lowering them and snuggling up into his chest. "Thank you for finding me…."

"And thank you for choosing me…." Blake replied softly as she hugged the girl close to him.

Like that, for the first time since they were together, Blake fell asleep holding Lillia in his arms. Lillia, who was still awake, looked up at the sleeping face and smiled. She was truly happy at this time.

The next morning Lillia and Blake got up at the same time while Tina awoke an hour later. After Blake had cooked breakfast and served it, he took this time to make an announcement. "I think we should head out for a bit and see how things are turning out. What we really lack at this time is the ability to gather information. Cell phones are dead, and there is nothing allowing us to know what is going on in the outside world."

"So you want to scout around for a while?" Tina asked.

"Mmm… I want to see if we can also trade a few things as well. Right now, the flying dragons should have moved from this area already. The only dragons around should be drakes who roam around eating any humans they see. While they are a bit more dangerous since they can breathe fire, it will be fine as long as we take proper precautions. But my main concern is not dragons but people. I do not know this region since I have never been here, and I do not know what factions might have sprung up. The last thing I want is a human faction somehow discovering our base." Blake explained.

"Factions?" Both Tina and Lillia looked at Blake in confusion.

"During this time, a bunch of humans will band together to gather resources. Those who think working together is the best option type deal. Some of these groups are run by people who will enslave the people under them and treat the girls in their group as playthings. I myself was almost tricked by said groups in my past life. I almost became a dog in order to survive off a few rations per day. But I was able to see past their lies, or more like I watched as they killed someone trying to run away when I was on my way to sign up. Luckily they never saw me, and I turned around when I did." Blake explained. Those groups were nothing more than a bunch of bandits. They would go out and loot. If they found families, they would enslave the men to do labor and then would make the girls become their sex slaves. It was a harsh reality for many. And some even did it willingly just to survive.

"To think such things would happen…." Tina was surprised by Blake's words.

,m "You have not watched or read much apocalyptic stuff, have you?" Blake asked, and Tina shook her head.

"Trust me when I say that humans' ability to read the human mentality is almost on point about certain things. Humans are just as much as animals as any other being on this planet. The only thing that separates us and what we consider animals is our intelligence. But what happens when you bring in beings with the same or even higher intelligence than our own? We become no different than the animals we once considered beneath us." Blake laid it on thick, but Tina understood what he was saying.

"So, how are we going to gather information then?" Tina asked.

"We will just do what anyone who is a higher life form should do. Take someone hostage and force them to talk if they do not talk." Blake answered with a smile, causing Tina to frown. She did not wish to use such methods, but it seemed it was the only way. She let out a drawn out sigh.

"What Blake said is right. That is the best way if someone doesn't wish to talk. But I would think most would give out anything we asked since we are not asking anything personal." Lillia added in.

"Yes, but our biggest issue is you two," Blake said with a frown. "You two are too eye catching. Lillia is beautiful, and Tina has a cute appearance. It will cause many people to want to covet."

"We have cloaks for that," Lillia answered as she pulled out a cloak.

"It will still not be easy to deal with. There is only one thing that might keep people from trying to make a move against us. That is if we wish to stay low key, and that thing is collars." Blake's suggestion caused the two girls to look at him strangely. Blake only chuckled as he continued: "In my past life, collars were a means of marking a faction's girls. So that the girls could leave their home bases and help with gathering resources. It was a means of saying they belong to us. You touch them, we kill you, type of thing."

"I see… wait, is that why you specifically said to keep the dog collars readily available!?" Lillia asked in surprise.

"Mmm… I was not really wanting to use them, but even after the Age of Magic arrives, these collars will still be used. And in a way, it does keep these girls safe. Although it might be demeaning, it is better than what might happen to you in some of the other factions. While we might be stronger right now, we are only doing this to keep ourselves from running into too much trouble. The thing is, we need to create an emblem to match. So that emblem on the collars and my neck are the same."