Night fell over the camp like a heavy, cold velvet cloth. Ulixes returned to his commander's tent.
He pushed open the thick canvas flap. Inside, the warmth of a small brazier and the soft glow of two oil lamps greeted him, a sharp contrast to the biting night air. There, in organized silence, Mira and Kore moved soundlessly.
Without needing a command, Mira took his heavy breastplate, her skilled fingers quickly undoing the complex leather fastenings. Kore had already returned with a basin of warm water and a clean linen cloth. No words were spoken. This was a rhythm they had established, a comfortable silence he couldn't find anywhere else in the bustling camp.
Ulixes sat on the edge of his simple camp bed, a wooden frame with a thick straw mattress. He removed his dusty sandals, feeling relief as his tired feet were finally free. Kore knelt before him and gently began to clean the dust and grime from his feet and calves with the warm cloth. Her touch was professional, yet there was a tenderness in it that transcended a servant's duty.
Meanwhile, Mira stood behind him. Her strong fingers began to massage the rock-hard muscles in Ulixes' shoulders and neck. He groaned softly, his head lolling forward as Mira expertly found every knot of tension and loosened it.
In the midst of that silence, their touches began to change. Mira's massage became slower, more sensual, her palms now caressing his skin, no longer just kneading muscles. Kore's sweeps of the cloth on his legs became lighter, her fingers occasionally brushing his skin deliberately.
Ulixes raised his head, opening his eyes. He looked at Kore, who met his gaze from her kneeling position, her dark eyes under the lamplight showing a question and an offering. He then glanced back at Mira, who had stopped massaging and now simply rested her hands on his shoulders, her warmth seeping deep within him.
He remembered their conversation in the bathhouse. As long as it wasn't coercion... as long as it was subtle...
He reached for Kore's hand, gently pulling her up. He then turned, his other hand finding Mira's waist. He pulled both women closer, into an awkward yet intimate three-way embrace beside the bed. He kissed Kore's forehead, then turned and crushed Mira's lips with surprising tenderness.
He led them onto the bed. The space was cramped, forcing their bodies to press against each other. The scent of clean sweat from his body mingled with the faint fragrance of the olive soap they used. He laid Mira on one side and Kore on the other, placing himself in the middle.
He turned to Mira, kissing her again, this time deeper, his tongue dancing with hers. His free hand traced Kore's body, from her shoulder, down to her firm breasts, then to her flat stomach. Kore sighed, her body writhing beneath his touch.
He then shifted to Kore, giving her the same attention, while his hand now explored Mira's body. He was not in a hurry. This was not a conquest. It was a shared exploration, a mutual adoration.
He pushed Mira onto her back, then buried his face between her thighs. As his hot tongue began to work, Kore crawled up and her soft mouth enveloped Ulixes' hardening manhood. The room was now filled with a symphony of wet sucking sounds and deep moans of pleasure.
Ulixes brought Mira to a trembling orgasm, feeling her muscles tighten beneath his mouth. At the same time, he felt his own wave of heat begin to rise from Kore's incessant ministrations. He pulled away from Mira, then with one fluid motion, he reversed their positions.
Now it was Kore's turn to lie beneath him. He entered Kore with one smooth, deep thrust. Kore let out a small cry, her slender legs wrapped tightly around Ulixes' waist. As he began to move, Mira, just recovering, now kissed Ulixes' neck and chest, her hands helping to guide Ulixes' hip movements, becoming an active participant in her sworn sister's pleasure.
They moved as one. Three bodies, three breaths, three heartbeats racing in the same rhythm. The passion within the tent was thick, a warmth that contrasted with the cold night outside. This was not about power or politics. This was about intimacy. About finding warmth in a cruel world. About genuine release.
With a final growl, Ulixes released himself inside Kore, his body trembling as climax hit him. At the same time, he felt Mira also reach her peak, her body tensing beside them.
He collapsed, panting, his body lying between the two women. He pulled them both into his sweaty embrace. In that comfortable silence, flanked by the warmth and loyalty of the two people he trusted most, Ulixes felt all the tension of the past days and weeks finally dissipate. For the first time, his mind was completely blank. Peaceful. He closed his eyes, and a deep, dreamless darkness swallowed him instantly.
The darkness was total and weightless. A peaceful void, born of immense exhaustion. Ulixes did not know how long he had slept in the embrace of Mira and Kore, but consciousness returned not due to the morning trumpet or the rough touch of a guard. Consciousness came as a light.
He did not open his eyes. He just... saw.
He was no longer in his cramped, leather-smelling commander's tent. He stood on a floor that felt like smooth yet warm marble beneath his bare feet. The air around him felt clear and pure, without temperature, neither hot nor cold. And silence. An absolute silence, so deep that he could hear the faint sound of blood flowing in his ears.
He looked around him. He was in an impossibly vast open hall. Pillars made of crystal that seemed to breathe with soft light soared high into an invisible ceiling, which appeared like a slowly swirling galaxy. Beyond the hall stretched a landscape that defied logic. Silver mountains floated gracefully above valleys overgrown with indigo grass. Waterfalls of liquid light flowed silently into rivers that wound like silver veins.
His soldier's instincts immediately took over. He checked his side, searching for the hilt of his gladius. Empty. He checked his body. He wore no armor, only a simple white tunic of an unfamiliar fabric, lighter than silk. There was no threat. No enemy. Nothing but impossible beauty and deafening silence.
He tried to analyze. Was this a dream? His sharp brain tried to find imperfections, wrong details, as often happens in dreams. But everything felt too real, too solid. Every vein in an indigo leaf, every reflection of light in a crystal pillar, everything was perfect.
In the distance, at the center of all this splendor, stood a magnificent palace. Its structure seemed carved from a single colossal pearl, its slender towers piercing the galactic sky, and from its countless windows, a warm, inviting golden light emanated.
There was only one thing a man trapped in a place he could not comprehend could do: walk towards the only focal point. Towards that source of light.
He stepped, and his feet made no sound on the marble floor. He walked through gardens where flowers released spores of light instead of pollen. He crossed a bridge made of solid energy that pulsed softly beneath his feet. He kept walking, his instinctive fear slowly replaced by an overwhelming sense of wonder.
When he arrived before the main gate of the palace, two giant doors made of pure golden light opened for him silently, bidding him entry. He stepped over the threshold, entering a central hall so vast it could contain his entire legion.
And in the center of that hall, he saw them. Two figures. They stood on a raised platform, their bodies human in form, but their faces were an impossibility. Their faces were hidden behind dazzling orbs of light. One glowed with a soft, warm golden light. The other shone with a clear, sharp silver light.
Ulixes stood before the two beings, his battle-hardened instincts screaming caution, yet his body felt unnaturally calm. He could sense no threat, only an overwhelmingly ancient and powerful presence.
The voice came from the figure with the golden light. It was not a sound that entered through his ears, but an echo resonating directly within his mind, clear and laden with the weight of millennia.
"Welcome, the Anchor," the voice said. "I am the one who records. The one who weaves. I am the God of Stories."
The figure with the silver light then spoke, its voice sharper, more analytical. "And I am the one who observes. The one who judges. I am the God of Observers."
Ulixes remained silent, his tactical brain trying to process this impossible situation. Gods. Here, in a place that felt like the beginning and end of everything.
"We summoned you here because a grave error has occurred," the God of Stories continued. "Your life path... has been manipulated. Your destiny has been stolen."
The God continued, and images flashed through Ulixes' mind. Images of a blue Greek sky, of a heroic lineage, of a destiny he was supposed to fulfill as a warrior bringing glory to his nation.
"But that path has been diverted," the God said. "By an intruder. A thief. The God of Chaos, whom you know as the system you have been using all this time."
A chill ran through Ulixes. That system. The blue panel that had been both his guide and his prison.
"Why me?" Ulixes finally asked, his own voice sounding alien in this silence. "Is there anything special about me?"
The golden light seemed to pulse with amusement. "No," the God of Stories replied, its answer piercing and merciless. "There is nothing special about you, the Anchor. You are one of many possibilities. One of many stories born from the mind of Thomas Vance, 'the Dreamer'."
The God explained. About a being with maximum-level lucid dreaming power, who could create worlds from his dreams. And in each of these worlds, there was an anchor, a clone of himself, who lived out that story. If the anchor died, that dream world would also be destroyed.
"The God of Chaos crept into this story," the God continued. "He manipulated your destiny, turning you from a hero into a slave, for only one purpose: to steal Divine Stones. Offerings given by the observers, the Higher Dimensional Beings, as a reward for an interesting story."
"He has successfully taken 2,551 stones, strengthening himself with energy that was not his rightful due."
Ulixes stood frozen. His entire life. His suffering in the ludus. His victories in the arena. The bloody fight against Spartacus. Everything... was just a rigged show, a game played by gods to steal coins from unseen spectators. A powerful nausea rose in his throat.
"But now, we have cast him out," the God of Observers said, its voice cutting through Ulixes' thoughts. "So now, the system's grace he granted you will be removed."
The God of Stories raised its hand of light. Ulixes felt a piercing cold sensation, as if something that had long resided within his soul was being forcibly pulled out. He saw a thin wisp of shadow, like ink dissolving in water, drawn from his chest and vanishing into nothingness. A strange emptiness remained, but also a sense of cleanliness.
"You need not be disappointed," the God continued. "...because in return, we grant you a new system called 'the gift system'."
"This system has the ability to house gifts from the gods, and each gift will be stored in the system inventory, and you can open or use it anytime."
As the God spoke, a new, warm and pure light flowed into Ulixes, filling the void left by the old system.
"To begin," the God of Stories said, "I, as the god of stories, will grant you the gift of a 6000 Spartan souls card. When this card is used, all your legion's troops will become Spartan warriors."
Before Ulixes, a shimmering golden card appeared out of thin air. The card depicted the silhouette of a warrior with a helmet and shield, pulsing with a silent power.
The God of Observers, who had been silent until now, spoke, its voice clear as silver. "I will also grant you the gift of a summon General Artemisia card (from the movie 300: Rise of an Empire)."
A silver card appeared next to the golden card, depicting the figure of a woman with a sharp gaze and two curved swords. Both cards floated before Ulixes, emanating immense energy.
"So now what will I do?" Ulixes asked, his mind racing to understand the new rules of his game. "Since I have deviated from my intended destiny, will that impact this world?"
"Yes," the God of Stories replied. "The change in destiny has caused this world to become unbalanced. So, to preserve this world, we need 100 divine stones for each sheet of your life path."
"If the higher dimensional beings do not provide enough divine stones, then this world will be destroyed, and we gods cannot help you."
"So you must perform well on your life path, hoping that the higher dimensional beings provide sufficient divine stones."
"What is meant by Thomas Vance 'the dreamer'?" Ulixes asked, a question that had been nagging at his mind.
"Thomas Vance 'the dreamer' is a being with maximum-level lucid dream power," explained the God of Stories. "He has the power to create worlds from his dreams, and each world has a main character, a clone of himself. We call him Thomas Vance 'the anchor'."
"So you are Thomas Vance 'the anchor'. If you die in the world he created, then that world will also be destroyed."
The weight of that knowledge hit Ulixes. He was not just fighting for his ambitions. He was fighting for the survival of a reality.
"That is all we can convey," the God of Stories said, its voice beginning to fade. "For what comes next, it all depends on your decisions in your life path and how many divine stones will be given."
The two cards before him shone brightly, then shot into his chest. The light in the hall became increasingly dazzling, swallowing everything, and Ulixes' world returned to darkness.
Author's thought: I've already created a Pat_re_on, and I plan to offer advanced chapters there with basic tiers, but I've noticed a decrease in interest so I haven't done that yet. This is because there's no certainty whether this fanfic will continue until the end of the story. I have many ideas every day that disappear a few hours later, so I've started writing a new fanfic to serve as a foundation for my further ideas so they don't just vanish. However, that's not my current focus; I'm still concentrating on this fanfic. But, if reader interest continues to decline, then I will shift my focus to another fanfic. I also plan to write a novel, but I feel my experience is still very lacking in some aspects and story depth, so I will continue to focus on learning through fanfics.