Tensei Skill Shop Chapter 32

Tensei Skill Shop

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 32:

I could hear the murmurs of the audience as they exchanged bets and analyzed my moves, but the majority of my attention was on my own breathing, and the next one waiting to face me.

“Next!” I called out hoarsely.

Analyze it. Use not just your eyes. Use everything. Hearing, the feel of the air on your skin, the smell of his sweat and everything. Everything.

I shifted my body, already moving before I even considered what to do. The fist whipped past my face, so close I could feel the air it cut through pressing against my facial skin. My counter blow was blocked by the other arm, feeling as though I had struck something extremely solid.

“Blocked you, coa-”

Elbow swing to the limb, push the knee outwards to unbalance, feint for the face!

He fell back on instinct, raising his other arm to block.

Switch to real target, step in, stomp down, move each part of the body in sequence, build up force, then SLAM it in!

The breath exploded out of the other man’s mouth, spit splattering my face as he wheezed for air, stumbling back slightly. I didn’t miss that opening; a quick stride forward put me in range for a grab around the collar, before a twist to manipulate his center of gravity sent him slamming down onto his back.

“I give!” He gasped out, just as my fist paused in its downwards motion above his face.

Withdrawing, I took several steps back, centering myself once more. Everything felt heavy, but deep inside me, I was feeling the heat running through my body, the pounding of my blood in my ears making it hard to hear anything else. Most of the heat came from my back, contrary to the words I was repeating in my mind.

Set your heart ablaze… set your heart ablaze…

“Next…”

“...losing energy! I… think he… last longer…!”

“Alright! …ome, coach!”

The one after that was big and heavy, and my strikes didn’t seem to do much, forcing me to focus on dodging. The faces of those around me were filled with excitement, showing how impressed they were by the display I was putting on. But that wasn’t what I wanted.

Fine. If you can take me at full power… then I’ll just go beyond that-!

My fist slipped through the guard he put up, causing him to seize up from the impact.

And if one isn’t enough! Then I’ll throw even more! Right here, right now, I’ll surpass my limits!

The heat was overwhelming, and I felt it filling my fists as I punched over and over, going faster until I-

“I GIVE!”

My fist halted, going over the other man’s shoulder instead of the face I had initially aimed for. In the distance behind him, I saw a strong wind rustling through the audience and the environment.

“Hhaahkkk!” I collapsed, gasping for air. Okay! Fuck! Overdid it there!

“Coach?! Bring a stamina potion!”

“That’s not gonna be enough! Somebody get a healer!”

<Rick-tan?! What the heck were you doing?! I’m coming over with Irene-tan right now!>

Moments later, I felt the crowd around me backing away, before a cool wave washed over my body, taking away most of the exhaustion. My vision returned to me, allowing me to make out my two redheaded Sekireis looking down at me with concern.

“What the heck were you doing, Rick-tan?!” Matsu repeated out loud, her hands on her hips in exasperation.

Irene held a glowing hand over my body, pouring healing magic into me. Someone else passed a potion vial to her, and she quickly tipped it into my mouth to further boost my recovery.

“Well?” Matsu demanded.

I swallowed the rest of the potion, before answering her question. “Trying to push to Level Two…”

“Did you really have to be so reckless?!” She scolded me.

“Um, excuse me…” The two girls looked at the new speaker. “I know you two are together with coach, but you’re still Hera Familia, and this is Zeus Familia territory…”

“It’s fine, isn’t it?” A familiar voice called out, drawing everyone else’s attention.

I was able to turn my head enough to look. Zeus was coming closer, an amused grin on his face. He had been watching the whole event, and only waited until now to step in. Since he was the god in charge of this familia, no one objected to his decision to allow Matsu and Irene to take care of me.

“Enjoyed the show…?” I asked him.

“Yeah,” He nodded, “You’ve definitely inspired the rest of the familia with what you did today. There’s no way you won’t qualify for a level up like this.”

“I’ll wait till I see the update before I believe that.”

With the Zeus and Hera Familias rising in status and ability, it wouldn’t do for the trainer to fall behind, especially with the middle floors requiring higher levels of ability to survive. I could stack increased growth skills all I liked, but to actually break past the barrier and into the next level, I needed high level excelia. Those were often earned by surviving or surpassing intense challenges, so the idea I came up with was to challenge and beat all the Level Twos in the familia in duels.

One of them was a tough, but doable fight. Two, a challenge. All of them…? Maybe I was a bit inspired by Kengan Ashura and its sequel.

“You achieved a Limit Off, that’s not something anyone can do just because they want to,” Zeus informed me, to the impressed sounds of the audience.

“Lord Zeus, what’s a Limit Off?” One of the newer members asked.

“On a rare occasion, when you really want something, your emotions serve to unlock the falna, granting all your abilities a powerful boost. Rick here not only did that, but he was able to sustain it through the last three fights, which is an incredible feat.”

“Ohhhh~!” “As expected of the coach!” “Can’t believe he managed to beat them all!”

Irene finally removed her healing hand, and helped me sit up. “How do you feel, Rick-dono?”

“Much better. I feel like I can go another round.”

Matsu poked me in the head with a scolding finger. “Don’t.”

“Alright, go for a wash, and I’ll give you your update afterwards! The rest of you, dismissed!”

With Zeus’s decision made, the familia members dispersed. Some traded coins from the bets made on how well I would do, while others decided to go for a quick dive into the Dungeon, picking up their equipment as they left.

“We have to go back now, since we left a bit hastily. Let us know the good news later!” Matsu said to me before departing with Irene, at a more sedate pace compared to their hasty arrival.

“Dammit, if only your riajuu ways would stop you from leveling up.” I overheard Zeus mutter, which drew the usual reaction from the others.

“Another godly statement that we don’t get!”

He does know that I know what those statement means, right? And being jealous about me having a relationship isn’t a good look for a god. Giving him a finger gun salute, I headed off to get myself washed up.

Shortly later, I looked at the parchment denoting my falna stats.

Rick Steel
Lv. 1
STR: S923->S978
END: A890->S953
DEX: A885->S923
AGI: A845->A889
MAG: S923->S962

Zeus left out the skills from the list, citing the lack of parchment space as the reason. I could see the information through my status screen anyway, so not having it printed was fine with me.

“Some of the other gods are starting to ask questions, wondering why my familia members are progressing so quickly,” The god commented.

“Tell them that their children need to get good,” I responded, “Or in my world’s terms, git gud.”

From what I could recall of canon, Ais held the record for fastest level up at one year, before Bell broke that record. With my training skill and the others I distributed to the familia members, the Zeus Familia definitely stole that record from Ais at six months. From what I could find out through the Guild, some of the other familias were barely cracking D rank in stats.

My words made him bark with laughter. “It would be interesting to visit your world, if not for the rules against that.”

“So what’s the verdict? Am I able to level up?”

Zeus nodded. “Yeah, the way you pushed yourself certainly qualifies. You can now become Level Two.”

“Great. What about the Developmental Abilities?”

That was one of the falna’s special traits; at every rank up, there was a chance to pick from a selection of abilities for the falna to specialize in, depending on the person’s experience. Someone like Ais who focused on the sword would unlock Swordsman, while Bell’s lucky tendency actually manifested Luck as an option. The same went for blacksmiths who unlocked Blacksmith, or alchemists who gained Mixing. Just as a person with higher Strength status would be stronger than one who was lower, having a Developmental Ability made a lot of difference in the selected field.

I also recalled Hermes saying something like the falna couldn’t be fooled, regarding the suspicions over Bell’s unnatural growth speed.

But apparently, that didn’t consider my foreign advantages, given the list of possibilities Zeus laid out for me.

Yeah, I didn’t mix that many potions in Skyrim, but I still got Mixing. Swordsman, Hunter, Mage, Mystery, Stealth, etc… There’s just way too many to pick just one from, especially if I plan to bring the falna with me to other worlds going forward.

I checked the list over one more time.

Damn, Luck isn’t an option here. Guess I’m not protagonist-material enough to qualify.

“Can’t decide, huh?” Zeus chuckled. “Well, take your time. Or don’t, the Denatus is in two weeks, and there’s been talk of granting a nickname to the adventurers who’ve ranked up.”

I gestured my acknowledgement. “Alright, I’ll get back to you as soon as I’m done discussing it with the others.”

“You’re a man, aren’t you? Make some decisions yourself!”

Well, I think of myself as more of an Ashikabi before that. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

…

“But you already know what it is you want, don’t you?” Uzume said to me after I shared the good news.

“Yeah,” I admitted, “But what I want and what I can have are two different things.”

Matsu giggled, adjusting her glasses. “Rick-tan, sometimes you get too focused on the basic stuff that you forget about all the possibilities you’ve already unlocked.”

The other two Sekireis nodded in agreement. Even Leafeon, slung around my neck like a nice-smelling scarf, chirped as if sharing the same opinion.

“I do act like that sometimes,” I conceded. “Alright, I’ll admit it, what am I not thinking of that I should be, to allow me to grab more than one DA?”

“[Creation].”

I stared at Matsu, then facepalmed. She was absolutely correct.

That was entirely my own fault too. I had been too engrossed in playing the adventurer life; going into the Dungeon, training the other members of the Familia, and just interacting with the rest of the developing Orario. Part of the reason was to try and avoid showing off more than was necessary, but it was also because I was focused on developing the skills in others instead of working on myself.

“What would I do without you, Matsu?” I asked rhetorically.

“Probably be stuck grinding worlds for more skills to sell to Sano.” She responded directly and without mercy.

“Gurgk!” I keeled over from that verbal stab, my head smacking onto the table.

“Leaf.” A paw patted the back of my head in consolation.

“Well, I’m sure Rick-tan would have found some way to grow if I wasn’t around.”

“Don’t even joke about that.” I said sharply without lifting my head. “You, all of you are precious to me, and I definitely don’t want to lose any of you.”

“And that’s the Rick-kun we know and love.”

The warm feeling pulsing through our bond let me know that they were smiling just like I was.

“By the way, Rick-dono,” Irene interrupted, “Just how much LP have you saved up now?”

[230,360 LP]

The number came to mind the moment I thought about it, and I shared the information with them. Good food, exciting experiences, and shared love had granted me with quite a bounty of LP.

“And how much do you need to get the skill you’re thinking of?” She continued.

I checked [Creation], receiving the answer right away. “I’m about three thousand short.”

There was a meaningful silence, enough so that I looked up to see them exchanging glances.

“Well then,” Uzume finally broke the lull, “Perhaps we should give our Ashikabi a reward for ranking up.”

It wasn’t a question, and Matsu and Irene were in full agreement.

They quickly adjourned to the bedroom, leaving me to get a drowsy Leafeon settled into her bed before I was allowed to enter. The sight waiting for me within made me gulp, and I was especially aware of my blood rushing downwards.

The three of them were on the bed, all in nightdresses that hugged their curves and exposed skin in arousing ways. On the left, Matsu slipped a strap off one shoulder, flashing one of her breasts at me. In the center, a kneeling Uzume lifted the bottom of her dress to expose the thong she wore. And sitting on the edge of the bed on the right, Irene winked, her low-cut outfit drawing attention to her cleavage and the peek of her panties, while a finger to her lips emphasized her lipstick.

“So, Rick-tan, who are you going to pick first? Each of us has a special surprise planned.”

I considered it for several seconds, before my eyes flicked towards Irene, who had her hair undone from her usual low twintails style. They picked up on it right away.

“Don’t worry. Tonight, you’re going to be with all three of us,” Uzume informed me, “The only difference is the order.”

“And the other two won’t be sitting on the sidelines too,” The bespectacled Sekirei added, having already closed the distance to pull me towards the bed.

As the two of them stripped my clothes off my body, peppering me with kisses as they did, I watched Irene tie her hair into a high ponytail, the motion doing tantalizing things to her breasts. My gaze drifted to her exposed armpits, which were smoothly shaven as well, before settling on her smouldering eyes.

“Look how big you are,” Matsu giggled, caressing my erection, then giving it a few pumps.

“Alright, Rick-kun,” Uzume whispered huskily into my ear, making me shiver, “Lie down, and let Irene-chan pleasure you.”

Even as I was guided to lie on the bed with Uzume’s thighs as my pillow, my eyes remained fixed on Irene, who was now slipping off her nightdress to expose those enormous breasts, which she used her hands to jiggle seductively for my viewing pleasure. Her face still wore that teasing smile, tinged with the slight embarrassment of the current situation.

“Do you know that magic can make things very convenient?” Matsu said to me as the other Sekirei moved between my legs, which I spread to make room for her.

“Uh huh…”

“For example… a lubrication enchantment…”

A magic spell glowed in the valley of Irene’s breasts, moments before she wrapped them around my shaft.

“A heat enchantment…”

Another glow preceding the sudden rise in temperature, making me gasp.

“And a pleasure enchantment…”

I groaned, feeling the sensitivity of my groin rise rapidly. Likewise, Irene let out a moan, having targeted herself too.

“Now, enjoy as Irene-tan gives you her first titfuck,” Matsu murmured, licking my nipple from her lying position by my side, “There will be many more.”

“Oh, fuuuuck…”

Even as Uzume leaned forward to rest my boobs on my face, teasing me with their soft pleasure, the sensation from below was overwhelming me. Irene’s hands manipulated her warm flesh around my cock, stroking it in interesting ways that I marveled at. Fast and chaotic, then slow and rhythmic, with the occasional lull as she used her mouth as well. My own gasps and moans must have sounded like pitiful begging, from the way her tongue played around my glans, or when she took the whole head into her mouth for deep and intense sucking.

“Mmph! Mmph! Mmph! Mmph!” The sounds she made were so lewd as well, adding to the already overwhelming stimulation from everywhere else.

Uzume’s puff-puff motion on my face, Matsu’s licking of one nipple while she teased the other with her fingers, the feeling of their flesh against my hands… all of it sent me rushing closer to the edge…

“I-Irene! I-I’m…! Cu-cumming!” Oh fuck, I’m going to always want it like this!

…and over it.

I felt my cum rush out of my balls, flowing up through my shaft, and splurting out… right into Irene’s waiting mouth as she continued to milk me; her tongue coaxed my glans to unleash every drop available, while her hands kept moving her titflesh up and down, encouraging the continuous flow.

Eventually it petered out to a stop, though Irene continued to suck away at my cock, extracting anything left within. Uzume removed her breasts from my face, allowing me to see the outcome.

Some of my cum had escaped her mouth, spilling down between her breasts and making it even more slippery. Irene, noticing me watching, pulled her head back and opened her mouth, showing off the huge white spunk she had collected in her mouth, which she then proceeded to swallow.

I recognized that move, since Matsu had studied my turn-ons, and used Archive to share it with the other two. Meanwhile, Uzume and Matsu made sounds of discontent, but didn’t voice any more complaint than that.

“I like the way you taste,” Irene told me, licking her lips.

“We all do.” Uzume chimed in. “After all, he made a skill for it.”

“Alright, who will it be next?”

I considered it, before settling on Matsu. What does she plan to surprise me with, considering how much we’ve done together until now?

I quickly found out.

“Gaghk! Gluck! Glurk!”

“You can do it, Matsu! Take him deeper!” Uzume encouraged.

Next to me, Irene was watching with wide eyes. “How perverse…”

And yet you’re masturbating to this as well… I reached out with one hand and started groping one of her breasts, which she enjoyed as well.

The contrast between the normally graceful appearance of Matsu, and the disgraceful features of the slut deepthroating my cock was a huge turn on. I could feel her throat working around my cock and her lips flexing around its base, even as her tongue lapped against my balls. She drew back to take a deep breath, before plunging herself back down once more, with Uzume’s hand on the back of her head providing assistance.

Just when did she practice for this?! I managed to think, before the stimulation made me blow my load for the second time that night.

I could see Matsu’s eyes widen, before they rolled back in ecstasy. The throaty groan she made only added to the stimulation, even as I drained my balls down into her belly.

“Wow…!” Uzume sounded surprised, “She’s cumming from this too?!”

“O-oh my!” Irene gasped.

Yet the blissful enjoyment that was leaking through to us was eliciting envy from both of them in return. The corruption was starting to spread…

“And for my surprise…” Uzume turned her back to me, using her thumbs to tug down her panties as she wiggled her ass.

I spotted something artificial poking out from between her buttcheeks. “Is that…?”

“Want to try pulling it out?”

Stepping backwards closer to me, she bent over and thrust her butt out, using her hands to spread them for me, exposing the rubber ring sticking out from her asshole. Hooking my finger through it, I began tugging on it, watching as her anal ring stretched widely to release a large ball, then another, and another…

“Nnngh… I can’t believe… it feels this good…” Uzume moaned.

“And I can’t believe,” Irene sounded scandalized, but also aroused at the same time, “You made me use my lubrication enchantment for this…”

“Look at how wet Uzume-tan is…” Matsu pointed out the arousal leaking from between the other Sekirei’s legs.

Contrary to how the anal beads flopped over the moment it was pulled free of Uzume’s anal hole, my own cock was standing stiffly upright, already fully recovered and ready for another go. The sight of her winking hole was erotic, even more so with the shiny slippery texture of it. There was no stink about it, indicating that a [Clean] had been used to prepare for this.

“Rick-kun…” Uzume said softly, “Take my anal virginity…”

I reached out to grab hold of her hips, even as she kept her hole spread open for me. Guiding it down, I watched as it swallowed up my cock.

“Uh, oh, ohhhh!” Uzume moaned as she gradually eased herself down onto me.

Her back hole wasn’t as hot as her pussy, but it had a lot more pressure to it, with her reflexive tenseness making it hard for her to take me in fully. Yet she didn’t give up; her hips bobbed up and down, with my hands supporting her as she worked to accept my whole length into her.

“Oh fuck,” Uzume panted, “Oh fuck, oh fuck.... That’s so BIG!”

“Uzume-tan’s swearing…”

That wasn’t all she was doing either. With my cock already inside, her hands were freed up, and she was now using them to touch herself furiously, one hand rubbing away at her pussy even as the other squeezed her own breast. Even if I couldn’t see the fine details from behind her, her motions made it very obvious.

My own hips were moving as well, soft upwards thrusts to slowly pound my way deeper into her anal regions. After a few more inches, Uzume began throwing in a few twists, rolling her hips from side to side to try and tease a bigger response out of me.

Needless to say, it worked wonderfully, and I was soon shooting my third load for tonight up into Uzume’s butt. Matsu even grabbed the part of my shaft that was outside to give it a few jerks, milking out more of it into the brunette. She was likewise having her own anal orgasm, twitching with the force of her own climax.

“It feels so hot inside me…” Uzume mumbled. “Oh no… there’s too much… it’s spilling out…”

“I’ll catch it!” Matsu volunteered.

True to her word, she had her hands cupped underneath Uzume’s butt, collecting the leakage from the anal orifice. Letting most of it sit in one palm, she used her other hand to scoop up some of it with her fingers, before lewdly licking the fluid off her digits.

The next scoop was offered out instead. “Have a taste, Irene-tan~”

“Eh?!” The redhead recoiled, “But that’s…”

“It’s clean, remember? And besides, it’s your Ashikabi’s semen…“

Blushing furiously, Irene cast a glance at me, then opened her mouth to let Matsu feed the cum-stained fingers in, sucking them clean as a show for me. However, that was soon interrupted as Uzume thrust herself between them and onto me, straddling my lap and kissing me intensely with lots of tongue movement. Then she was replaced by Matsu, then Irene, each of them taking turns.

“So now that we’ve all given you our surprises…” Matsu moved to lie on one side of the bed.

“A quick [Clean], and reapplication of lubricant…” Irene did what she said, giving my cock a few strokes with her hand to confirm that the magic was working.

“...It’s time for the real fun.” Uzume finished, going onto all fours with her butt sticking out towards me.

“””Come, our Ashikabi!!!””” The three naked Sekireis invited me.

I went for the closest hole, sinking my cock into Irene’s wet cunt, and causing her to moan loudly. It was soon echoed by Uzume and Matsu, as my hands found theirs as well. With all the times we had fun with each other, I knew just where to touch them for the best effect.

“Riiii~ck!” Uzume slumped slightly to the side, her head resting on Irene’s chest.

She began licking and sucking on the breast conveniently in front of her, the added stimulation causing the redhead’s pussy to tighten up on me, making each thrust even more pleasurable. Matsu likewise decided to join the fun, going for Irene’s moaning mouth with her own.

“Mmm~ Slrp, Irene-tan… your kissing’s- Mm, mwah, slrrrrp- good~”

That’s true. I agreed in my head, even as I focused on pounding my hips against hers.

The other two Sekireis traded off between them in giving her intense kisses and pleasuring her breasts, plus the occasional hand going down to caress her clitoris. Similarly, they were guiding her hand to their own breasts, encouraging her to grope their bodies in return. With the three of us ganging up on her, Irene ended up climaxing repeatedly, her sweaty body thrashing beneath ours. And when I finally came inside her as well, it culminated in an extremely powerful orgasm that left her panting senselessly.

“My turn to ride next!” Matsu called out.

“Then, can I have Rick-kun’s tongue instead?”

I obliged them, letting the pair mount me. As I ate Uzume’s nether flower to several gushing orgasms, my hands were busy groping her firm butt, occasionally slipping a few fingers into her asshole for added stimulation. Meanwhile, Matsu bounced her hips atop mine in a rhythm reminiscent of her earlier deepthroating. The way the both of them were going at it, it was like they were trying to make up for the days we couldn’t have sex because of all the work we were doing around Orario.

“Your tongue feels so goooood!” Uzume moaned, her thighs clenching around my shoulders.

“Come on, Rick-tan, cum in me too!” Matsu panted, switching from her bouncing to a rough grinding, one that did the trick. “Oh fuck, yes! Yes! Yeeesssss!”

Once the flow of semen slowed, she slid off me, and I felt a wet tongue began lapping around my length, cleaning off the sex fluids. The [Sex Maniac] job class was shining in this situation as it always did, as the stimulation helped revive my flagging stamina for the next person. I blinked several times as the hips covering my vision suddenly moved out of the way.

“Ohhhhh!” Uzume gasped as she took her turn on top of my cock, kneeling instead of crouching like Matsu did.

Irene appeared to have recovered enough, and this time she approached me head on, engulfing my mouth in a hungry kiss. It was as though she was trying to make up for the ones received from the other two, with how lewdly her tongue writhed against mine.

“Rick…” She mumbled against my lips, “I love you… now… and forever… love you…”

“Same-Mmmm~”

And on and on it went…

“Irene-chan… please do the enchantments for us…” Uzume requested.

“Okay.”

“Alright, Rick-tan, enjoy our double fellatio titfuck!” Matsu told me, already moving her breasts in tandem with Uzume’s.

This is fucking awesooooome~! I tilted my head back as their tongues played over the tip of my cock.

Indulging in our shared passion…

“In… and out… in… and out…”

“It feels so weird… but niiiiieeee!” Irene squealed as Matsu yanked the anal beads out. “Matsu!”

“Ehehehe… did you enjoy that?”

“Let’s see how you like it!”

“Kyah~”

And trying out various ideas…

“They’re going to be wondering what those hooks up there are for,” I muttered.

“Okay, Rick-kun, just stay still. We’ll do the moving.”

I did as Uzume said, watching as the cloth-restrained Matsu was pushed towards me, sending my cock plunging deep into her well-used pussy.

“Rick-dono,” Irene held up a cup of water to my lips, “Make sure to stay hydrated.”

“Thanks.”

The other Sekirei made muffled sounds of pleasure as she continued to swing back and forth from the ceiling, unable to move a limb as her body was used like a pleasure toy.

…until all of us were finally spent.

“It’s morning already…”

“So it is…”

“Could you draw the curtains…?”

“I don’t feel like moving,” I mumbled back, but a quick application of telekinesis saw the light from the window covered up.

Turning my head, I took in the aftermath of our intense fucking session. Lying on her front, Irene still had her hips raised, with my semen leaking from her cunt and splattered on other parts of her too. Matsu and Uzume were likewise tuckered out, cuddled up against me with their sweaty and cum-streaked bodies, wearing blissfully exhausted expressions. The entire room smelled of sweat and sex, and it would be a huge chore to clean it up the normal way.

“I’ll let the others know… that we’ll be taking the day off…” Matsu raised a shaking hand to her head, using telepathy to send out the message to the other Hera Familia members.

Uzume was already dozing off, and I soon felt myself join her.

On a side note, I gained enough LP to [Create] and [Edit] a skill which allowed me to pick multiple Developmental Abilities. It was even named [Development Potential], as though to represent the heights its holder could reach in various fields.

For some reason, Zeus seemed annoyed when he updated my falna to reach Level Two, as though he saw something he was jealous about. Wonder what it could be~?

…

“So how long more do we have left?” I asked Sano during one of the brief updates the gods of the world allowed us to have.

“Approximately another month,” He answered, “I’m almost done replenishing the shop’s stock.”

“Oh good. That’s just enough time to tie things up here.”

The god nodded. “I’m looking forward to seeing the results of your work.”

It was quite a hefty list to go through. Thankfully, the data analysis skill helped avoid most of the trouble, but it had still taken Sano a while to peruse all the skill-related information we had gathered.

How the skills I brought had meshed with the falna, how the summoning skills had performed, both initially and after tuning, the effects of the naturally generated skills within the falna, and even the potential ones from those the native gods had imbued into the world’s system. That last one was still years away from coming to fruition, but Zeus was taking note of those I had detected as potential future recruits. In the future, we would be making a return to examine the results.

“And we’re looking forward to getting back to a relaxing routine.”

Sano made an amused expression when he heard me say that. Our conversation soon came to an end, and I returned to consciousness in the physical world.

In my lap, Leafeon stirred, roused by my awakening. “Fee?”

“Nothing much,” I told her, “Just one more month to go.”

She nodded, understanding my words. “Leaf!”

“The three of them will be coming back later today, so let’s go welcome them, shall we?”

“On!” The Pokemon chirped, hopping off my lap and moving to wait by the door.

Another big difference from the time period of canon Danmachi was the number of monsters the mortal races had to deal with on the surface, especially since the entrance underneath Babel wasn’t the only one. Because of that, familias would occasionally venture out of the city to go and cull the surface monster population, and currently, the Hera Familia was one of those. It wasn’t an easy task either; the surface monsters in Bell’s time barely had magic stones, due to time and reproduction diluting their magic energy, but the ones in this time period were still dangerously tough enemies to face.

I had faith that they could handle it, but all the same, I worried about my girls. That was the reason I had asked for, and gotten today off, on the day they were set to return.

After donning the badge bearing the emblem of the Zeus Familia, I went out to kill time in Orario, with Leafeon perched on my shoulders. As expected, I drew some attention wherever I went, both for the unique creature with me and the emblem I was showing. Though more so for the latter.

The Zeus Familia’s star was rising, as a result of our effort as adventurers and the Guild’s in promoting us as symbols to strive after. The same went for the Hera Familia, of course. And that helped encourage the inter-familia competition, as the other gods tried to gain power for their own familias. There were a few clashes so far, but nothing to warrant official attention.

Yet.

Sooner or later, the whole War Game thing is going to take shape. I noted some adventurers from a different familia eyeing me as though sizing me up, before they decided to just go elsewhere.

“Feon.”

“I know.”

There had been one event where some cocky adventurer tried to attack Leafeon with his sword. Too bad he didn’t learn until too late that her tail was pretty damn sharp, enough to slice through his blade before he even managed to swing halfway. Afterwards… well, a certain familia’s house turned out to have rather flimsy construction, resulting in its collapse. And that’s all that was said of it.

The bell denoting the time rang, prompting me to head for the east gate where the Hera Familia would be returning through. The further away we got from Babel, the more construction work we could see, as Orario continued to slowly expand outwards. I knew a guy named Daedalus was in charge of most of the design, but he seemed to be taking a big step back from doing so for some reason.

I continued to wander around that area, sampling from the food carts or just striking up conversations with the workers who were on break. It was quite tempting to leave and go in the direction my bonds were leading towards, but I restrained myself.

“There they are!” I overheard someone say.

“Is it really them?”

“It is! It’s the Hera Familia!”

As I started making my way to where the commotion was, I felt the mental link start up.

<Rick-tan? Are you nearby?>

<Yes, I’m close. Heading your way now.>

<Good. We missed you too.> Irene’s voice joined in as well.

<Can’t wait to see you again, Rick-kun!>

A thought came to mind. <You’re going to do something to annoy Hera, aren’t you?>

She didn’t even try to deny it. <That’s right!>

I could see the admiring gazes of the normal citizens of Orario intensifying as the all-female familia came closer to where I was. The next moment, a white-clad figure broke away from the group, leaping high over the heads of the others. There were sounds of amazement and wonder as Uzume performed a few tricks while soaring through the air, before finally landing in my outstretched arms. Leafeon had hopped down to avoid getting caught up in the collision, but neither of us had eyes for anyone else but each other.

“I missed you,” She whispered to me, and kissed me in front of everyone present.

I returned the kiss just as fiercely, even as some of the audience let out appreciative whistles and cheers. Her den mother nature had given her a reputation of sorts in Orario, but occasionally she would show rare moments of affection, and rejecting them was the last thing I would do.

<Hera-tan is gonna scold you afterwards…>

Irene just sighed with amused resignation.

Later that night, the three Sekireis sat with me, sharing the same details of their mission that they had already given to their goddess. With Irene and Matsu scouting out the hidden dens of the monsters, the rest of the familia didn’t have to waste time on slow searches, or worry about escaped ones reproducing and causing trouble again in the future. Their efforts also yielded another benefit.

Irene and Matsu had finally joined Uzume in ranking up to Level Two.

The brunette’s qualifying accomplishment had been to save the group she was with from a huge monster swarm, using her skills and her movement techniques to fend off the beasts. In comparison, the other two had gained the necessary high excelia by providing support to the rest of the party during the monster hunt.

“I used my magic spell!” Matsu boasted, “It worked well in conjunction with Irene-tan’s enchantment.”

I noticed the third member of their group was oddly quiet. “What’s wrong?”

“The chant for my spell…” Irene confessed, “It brought back… memories.”

I reached out to lay a comforting hand on hers, which she responded to with an appreciative smile.

The two of them had gained spells from their falna, different from the ones they already had access to. Matsu’s granted battlefield awareness to all those she targeted, almost to the point of prescience, and made them fight with the most incredible teamwork as though they had spent years training to do so. Irene’s worked in a similar fashion, granting the allies she targeted a counter-element effect on a type of enemy, just like how she had created dragon slaying magic to help humans fight dragons.

That same history was mentioned in her spell’s chant, invoking the name of the late dragon Belserion, who had died in front of her.

“You don’t have to cast it if you don’t want to.”

“No. It’s a very powerful spell. I’ll get used to it eventually.” She squeezed my hand. “So, what happened while we were gone?”

“Sano’s almost done with things, so we only have another month before we go back to our world.”

“That’s great news,” Uzume smiled, “I’ve missed having all the usual modern conveniences.”

“And I missed having my computer access!” Matsu added, “Archive magic doesn’t do enough to make up for it.”

Even Irene, who had spent less time living with us in the shop compared to her life in Earth Land, nodded.

We were all in agreement. As interesting as life in this world was, it wasn’t home. Personally, I had gotten used to the multiversal view from the living room window, and kept expecting to see that instead of the olden architecture style when I looked out from our house. And I caught some of them having similar behavior, like Matsu looking around for her laptop, or Uzume sighing when she remembered we didn’t have a TV. So the news of our departure date was received with good cheer.

On my end, I updated them on the stuff they missed while they were outside Orario. The Denatus was in two days, and one of the topics was the conferment of titles upon those Adventurers who had ranked up. That was probably why Hera had pushed for my girls to join the culling expedition, to try and get more members on that list so that she didn’t fall behind Zeus. There had been a few other familias whose members had achieved Level Two as well, so it was likely to take a whole day before the results were announced.

However, there was another announcement that would be made during that time, and it stemmed from the recent scouting mission that reached the 17th Floor. Standing in front of the entrance believed to be leading to the 18th Floor was a giant humanoid monster, a unique one that was tentatively given the title of Monster Rex.

“At the Denatus, Zeus intends to announce a joint expedition between the two familias, to slay the Goliath.”

Afterword: I initially planned for this chapter to end with a climactic fight against the Goliath, but I got quite carried away with the smut scene. So instead, I chose to end it with an announcement of what the combined familia expedition intends to do. As for whether they can beat the Goliath… it’s not like they intend to set out immediately, and Rick’s training skills will do a lot to narrow the gap before that happens, not to mention all the skills the familia members have. It will be a tough fight for sure, but it’s not unwinnable. Hope I do it justice with my writing. As for what Developmental Abilities Rick got, that’s going to wait till the next chapter too.

I’ll be uploading a few lewd pics for the smut scene later. Thanks for supporting me!