After the initial excitement of inspecting the underground facility, the next two days we spent combing the ruins for more information was far more sedate.
Even though we confirmed the ruins were uninhabited and disabled all the traps we could find, the girls and I stayed together for mutual safety. Each day, we’d pack down the tent to conceal our presence and I’d use my earth magic to restore the land and conceal the firepit. Then we would seal ourselves inside the ruins to search them before emerging in the afternoon to set camp back up and wash.
Despite it being not nearly as exciting as our first trip had been, none of the girls seemed disappointed by the more laid back pace. Which reminded me that this was supposed to be more like an archeology trip rather than a dungeon delve from a video-game.
Despite the fact that you might as well be a video-game character now, Liam, I reminded myself with a sardonic grin.
While the girls had been studying the ruins, taking notes on the structure, and making theories about it; I had focused almost entirely on practicing my skills to hone them and boost their mastery rating.
I had a good-sized chunk of SP in holding and would have more when we got back to Juneau. My current theory was that the points were meant to be spent. Sitting on them for an excessive amount of time would be wasteful, so I needed to figure out how I would spend them.
One power that I really wanted to level, if only for the utility of it in my everyday life was Dimensional Pocket, since the ten pound weight limit was really restricting what I could do with it.
Besides the storage ability, my various ‘Guardian’ path powers were the next ones on my list to boost. I still was considering the Empower Reservoir power so I could help charge the girls’ coins in the off time, but it wasn’t as if they were pinching pennies at the moment, so that one sat on the back burner for now.
I made sure to test and show the girls the new Tunnel to Companion power, which both startled and excited them.
The fact that I could, at a moment's notice, respond to an urgent call for help if they were in a situation where they couldn’t reach out to me, was apparently a major relief for both Rieka and Kassandra.
“You have to remember, Liam,” Kassandra had said while we snuggled by the fire after the first day of casual exploration. “The easiest way to disable and reduce the threat of someone versed in summoning magic is to take their spell components away. They can have the most powerful summoned creature of all time, but if they cannot get the summoning out? There is no real threat.”
“That makes sense. Kind of like a guard cannot sound an alarm if they are silenced quick enough?”
“Sort of,” Rieka said, taking over the explanation from her spot stirring the evening’s dinner in our cooking pot. “It’s one of the reasons that, in times of war, spellcasters are often targeted at extreme ranges. If they can be neutralized before they know of the threat, then they are much easier to remove. The same goes for assassinations or kidnappings. You have to strike quickly and from surprise.”
Kassandra gave my waist a squeeze with her coils to pull my attention back from Rieka to the dwarf lamia currently using my shoulder as a pillow. Her slitted eyes glimmered faintly in the firelight, highlighted by the reflection of the flames in her red hair and on her spectacles.
“But with your combined abilities, Liam? With the one to contact us and the ability you have to come to us in an emergency? All we need is the briefest of seconds to send you a ‘help!’ and you can come racing to us.”
Kassandra’s right hand was tracing patterns on my shirt. As she spoke, she trailed her fingers downwards to toy with my belt while grinning up at me.
“And you know that we would be quite happy to thank you appropriately for such a dashing rescue.”
“You know that I wouldn’t do it for the reward, though,” I reminded her gently. Leaning forward, I bumped the tip of Kassandra’s button nose with my own, making her coo happily and squeeze me a bit tighter.
“We know that, Liam,” Shayla said over her sketchbook. “But that doesn’t mean we wouldn’t want to reward you for the gallantry.”
The moth woman was currently hidden from view by her large sketchpad with its wooden back. The only things visible of her higher than the waist were the edges of her shoulders and the antennae bobbling back and forth over top of the pad. The scrape of charcoal on paper told us what she was up to, and I would have put good money on the idea that she was drawing me and Kassandra at the moment.
“Yeah!” Jane piped up from the other side of the fire. The little mouse scholar was sorting through a stack of written notes from the day and using the papers to hide much of her blush as she joined in. “It just feels right…”
“Oh? Does it now, Jane?” Kassandra wiggled in place so she could peek at the mouse kin girl. “I can’t argue with the facts, but—”
I muffled the rest of Kassandra’s teasing with one hand over her mouth. I knew where she was planning to go next, since my mischief-macaroni was a saucy lass.
“Thanks, Liam,” Jane said, her large mouse ears wiggling furiously as she did her best to hide her blushes with the notes.
Even if she’d been able to hide her face properly, the fact Jane’s long tail was going wild behind her would have clued me in on her current state. It was partially why I’d muffled Kassandra, as I could tell Jane was at the tipping point of her decision and I didn’t want any of the girls pressuring her, even playfully.
A wet sensation against my hand told me that Kassandra was peacefully protesting my choice of ways to mute her by licking my hand. This wasn’t the first time she’d done it, so the sensation didn’t startle or bother me. But I knew that her next step was biting, and didn’t want to go that far. While my troublesome Nugget didn’t have fangs, her teeth were still sharp!
So I removed my hand from her mouth and, before she could speak, replaced it with my lips.
Crooning happily, Kassandra adjusted to wrap both arms around my neck and pin me there to continue the kiss, her coils squeezing me rhythmically while she wiggled in my lap.
<><><>
“I’m still disappointed that no written records survived,” Jane pouted as the girls broke down the camp for the last time. She was carefully coiling up the ropes for the tent while Kassandra and Rieka ensured that the cooking gear was stashed away in Rieka’s dimensional bag.
“It is unfortunately expected,” Shayla answered in her normal quiet tone while the large moth woman tugged free the stakes and brushed the dirt off them. “So much time has passed that the written logs will have rotted away if they aren’t under some kind of stasis enchantment, like that record room in the other ruins.”
“I was just hoping for another of those record rooms,” Jane said, her tone a cute grumble as she tucked the last of the ropes away and began folding the thick canvas tent up with Shayla’s help. “Or maybe hints to another ruin we could check out.”
“There is still more of that copper map to clean and study. Also, we have the books we took from Shadow Mountain too, there might be more clues in there,” Kassandra suggested.
The girls continued to toss ideas back and forth while I worked to fill in and conceal our entrance into the ruins.
Since I’d used Shape-Shifting to shovel a bunch of the dirt out of the way initially, I was scooping the majority of it back in the same way now, before using my Manipulate Element ability to smooth the whole thing out before Rieka laid out one of her markers like we had for the previous facility.
We’d be giving Queen Gemma a map to the location as well, but it might be some time before she could arrange for a group of researchers to come out here on the sly, something that was necessary due to the proximity to a border. I was sure that there had to be more political wrangling that needed to occur as well, considering that this was likely on another noble’s land and she’d need to get their approval, but thankfully that was above my pay grade.
For now at least, I thought ruefully as I shoveled another armload of dirt back into the hole. But at the rate things are going with the girls, that might change. I promised Rieka kids after all, and I meant it. That is going to have all sorts of implications, I’m sure.
I had no idea how the Coldeye Queendom worked for its inheritance, beyond the implication that it was a matrilineal society given that it had ‘queendom’ as part of its official national name. Rieka had advocated that she was far down the line of succession, so didn’t have to worry about political marriages and the like, but I couldn’t help but wonder if her rank was growing given how much she was contributing to the nation with these historical finds.
Something for Future Me to deal with, I guess, I thought while sneaking a glance at my girls.
All four of them were chatting and smiling, their various nonhuman features not detracting from their beauty in any way. Hell, maybe I’m a degenerate, but Rieka’s tail, Kassandra’s scales, Shayla’s antennae and wings, and Jane’s cute ears were all quite attractive to me.
Don’t be a hater, Future Me. You are as into them as I am right now, I thought with a grin before returning to my work.
Once the campsite was properly hidden away and Rieka had put her markers down, we trooped back across the fields towards the nearby town. We’d started out right as the sun was rising and were making a direct shot back towards the nearby town. All four girls had agreed that they wanted to push to get back in a single day, since that would mean we could sleep at the inn and enjoy proper beds for once.
Something that I wasn’t about to complain about, especially with the looks that Kassandra and Rieka started shooting me when they discussed getting rooms.
While we traveled, the girls got back to experimenting with the Grant Power ability. I think all four of them were excited by the idea of potentially getting something like the Mana Reservoir, even if it was small to start with. It was one reason why I was considering buying the higher level ability to give it to them now, but we were waiting to see what the next rank of Grant Power could do first.
It was during one of the experiments while we were crossing the grassland that the notice I’d been waiting for finally appeared.
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Jane had been the one who triggered it, as we’d been experimenting with how large of a difference they could make to their bodies by shifting mass around.
The little scholar had added a few inches to her height and adjusted her ears to a smaller size—come to find out she was a bit self-conscious about the large size despite the fact I kept telling her that they looked cute to me. I was about to remind her of that fact when the edges of my vision flashed and a message scrolled across my vision.
Power Grant Power (Minor) has achieved Mastery 1000/1000.
New Powers available in the System interface.
Congratulations, Traveler.
I immediately closed my eyes and focused on my interface to get more information. Since this was something I did idly fairly often, it didn’t take long to navigate to the entry under my Powers menu to see what my new option was.
Grant Power (Lesser) - Cost: 400 SP - Granted abilities can be held until needed with no restriction on how long they are held, but still have a short duration once activated. Parameters are preset at time of granting.
“Well crap,” I muttered. “There was a time limit on how long they were held? I mean it said a ‘short window of time’ but damn…”
“What was that, Liam?” Jane asked curiously, turning to walk backwards with a happy little bounce while her form reverted slowly.
“I think he just got the power leveled up,” Rieka said with a knowing smile. “He closed his eyes and looked thoughtful for a minute, so either he got a notice from the System, or maybe Cariad reached out to him?”
“Rieka has it,” I said with a sigh. “I’d forgotten that the minor rank of Grant Power said there was a limit to how long you could hold the granted power. The lesser rank says there is no time limit now, but it still needs to be preset when I grant it and it reduces in strength by two ranks.”
“And you can’t preset the power to allow for everything?” Jane asked, the mouse kin’s eyes burning with curiosity as she fell in beside me.
Acting without thinking, I bent and wrapped my hands around Jane’s waist before hoisting her up to set the smaller woman on my shoulder. She’d enjoyed riding up there before and the last several shifts she’d done were increasing her height, so I figured it was her way of asking for another ride.
Jane squeaked in surprise and flailed about for a moment before her long, flexible tail wrapped around my neck to hold her in place and she clung to the crown of my head with both thin arms.
“Liam! Warn me next time,” Jane protested directly in my ear, making me wince slightly. The wince must have been enough that she realized how loud she was right next to my head because she began to gently pet my head with a free hand.
“Sorry about that, Jane,” I said, only for Kassandra to speak up next with a big grin.
“If you want to surprise someone by picking them up, I volunteer. Whenever you want, just snatch me up!”
“And of course there isn’t anything sexual at all with that implication?” Rieka teased her friend, getting a broad wink and a grin from the shameless dwarf lamia.
“To get back to Jane’s question,” I said loudly, hoping to haul the conversation off of innuendo and sex for a short while at least. “We did test that before, and it wouldn’t take. Not for Shape-Shifting at least.”
“And that’s the only power you have high enough level to grant, right?” Shayla said from her position at the back of the group.
I waved my free hand over my shoulder in agreement with her statement, the other resting against Jane’s hip to help her balance on her ‘perch’ so she could relax more. The tail wrapped around my neck was tight, but the little mouse kin couldn’t really hurt me with her strength.
“Exactly. I was hoping it would adjust the reduction, but maybe next rank? It’s got five ranks like the others do, but the lesser rank isn’t going to train nearly as fast as the minor one did.”
“And if I remember right, you said it reduces it from the mastered level, not the current level you are working on. Right?” Rieka asked, her tail flicking slowly back and forth while my princess thought.
A quick close of my eyes to check the information and I confirmed her words.
“Yep. So if I only have the first two ranks mastered, then it reduces it to zero, but if I have the first three ranks mastered, it drops it to first rank.”
“Then what other skills do you have close?” Rieka asked.
“Elemental Manipulation for earth specifically, and Mana Reservoir are the other skills I've mastered through the first two ranks. I haven’t gotten the third rank yet because Shape-Shifting is my focus. I could get the moderate rank on Elemental Manipulation right now, but I dunno if you all having the access to earth like that will help you or not. Minor rank didn’t give me a lot to work with.”
I checked the numbers again and snorted in amusement.
“What?” Jane demanded, tugging on my ear with one hand. “What’s so funny?”
“Ow, hey be gentle with me. I’m delicate!”
“Oh! I’m sorry Liam—” Jane began to apologize before Kassandra and Rieka burst into laughter, then she bopped me on the head with one fist. “Liar!”
“I mean, I am delicate in some places. But to answer your question, Jane,” I teased before segueing into the answer so as not to embarrass the girl too much. “I just checked my costs and awards. If we wait until we get back to Juneau and I get the reward for this mission, I’ll be able to afford Mana Reservoir at the moderate rank. Given that I’m using Manipulate Element at home, I’ll likely train that one pretty quickly. Maybe a week or two and I’ll be able to offer that one to you all.”
From the excited squeal directly in my ear and Jane’s tail attempting to throttle me, I could tell she liked that idea. I could hear the other girls’ happiness as well through the ringing in my ears, so I didn’t prod Jane about partially deafening me.
“Would that be a bad thing for you, Liam?” Jane asked after she got her excitement under control. “It’s not going to throw off your plans, is it?”
“I don’t really have a ton of plans, beyond making sure you four are safe and training my skills,” I countered with a shrug that jostled Jane and made her cling tighter to my head for a moment. “I’m not the kind of person to plan out every step of my development. If I did, I probably screwed myself over as soon as I branched out from Shape-Shifting since that’s my main focus.”
“How is the mastery on that one going? Should you be saving for the last rank?” Rieka asked curiously, and I spared a smile for my princess.
“Not yet. I’m barely a fifth of the way through the mastery and I’ve been working hard on it. At this rate, I’d expect it to take half a year or more to get to the last rank.”
“Does the final rank have a mastery? Is there some kind of benefit from completing the tree?” Jane asked curiously, wiggling in place to get more comfortable on my shoulder. I could feel her small hands combing through my hair, fixing the tangles she’d put in it with her earlier flailing.
“No idea. I haven’t gotten far enough to find out and no one will tell me.”
“Not even Cariad? You’d think she’d be able to give you some information on that. Given how she’s obviously into you,” Kassandra suggested, slithering forward to take Jane’s spot on my right side since the mouse kin was riding on my shoulder.
“She explained in the past that the powers develop differently for each Traveler, based on their genetic history and the potential of their growth. So it’s likely that she doesn’t know. I remember she was researching ancient human Travelers to help me figure out what sort of path my powers might develop along, but hadn’t gotten too much information.”
This time, when I shrugged I made sure the gesture was a gentle one so as not to jostle Jane from her perch. The little scholar rewarded me with what felt suspiciously like a kiss on the top of my head, a suspicion reinforced by the giggles from the other girls.
“I won’t lie, the idea of having a natural reserve of mana is so nice. It’s not like we are short on funds at the moment, but being able to use magic without having to think about the cost would be very nice. Plus it would allow for additional security for all four of us,” Shayla said from behind me and I nodded, again being careful not to dislodge my passenger.
“That’s what I was thinking. And it’s not as if the larger reservoir isn’t going to help me. I have plenty of use for it, and can get far more done with both halves of my Manipulate Element with it too. The issue with the entropy school was always its extreme cost.”
“So if you get this second rank of Grant Power now, we have the rest of today and the carriage ride to help you train it. Then you can work on training up the Mana Reservoir while you are gone. And once you get it further along, you should be able to grant it to us before you leave and it would endure? I wonder if that will also train the Grant Power ability?” Jane rambled along cutely, her fingers still combing through my hair.
The sensation of the little mouse kin woman petting my head was remarkably soothing, so much so that I didn’t care if Kassandra was trying and failing to hide her bouts of giggles right next to me. I could see the soft smile on Rieka’s lips as she watched Jane mumble and give me head scratches, which I knew was resulting in a dopey look on my face.
But I just couldn’t care.
I let Jane ramble on for a few minutes as she debated the pros and cons for me, and it was endearing to hear the little scholar worry about whether I was hamstringing my own development or not even as the girls reminded her that it all would give me better opportunities in the future too.
Only when Jane began to circle back on the same issues did I finally interrupt her.
“I think that I’m going to do it. I’ll take the lesser rank of Grant Power now so I can give you all the Mana Reservoir when we get back to Juneau. It’s only ten points, which is a few iron coins worth of mana, but it drains first which means you can stretch your supplies further.”
“Thank you, Liam!” Jane proclaimed, hugging my head while my other three girls all expressed their thanks in their own ways, with words and affectionate touches.
Though Kassandra made sure that part of her ‘thanks’ was a butt grab, but I was at least ready for it this time and didn’t react.
Selecting the power was the work of only a moment, and barely reduced my current stock of SP. I had a bit over two thousand SP left after I got Grant Power at the lesser rank, which I was going to save for now so I could think on using it for stats or not.
After I opened my eyes from selecting the power, I realized that the girl’s conversations had changed over from discussing their plans to train when we got back to Juneau, on to another more interesting subject.
Now Rieka and Kassandra were plotting about getting a second room at the inn so they could properly ‘thank’ me for being so thoughtful.
My body reacted as was natural for a young man listening to two beautiful women that he very much loved plotting to ride him like a prize stallion. I knew I could adjust myself with Shape-Shifting to not show it, but that felt like cheating. So I just tried to ignore the erection forming in my pants as the two lovely women plotted and Shayla, my lovely shy moth, egged them on with the occasional suggestion.
But it was when Jane interjected into the conversation that everything came to a stop verbally.
“Sorry ladies, but I have a prior claim to him tonight,” Jane said when Kassandra paused to take a breath.
All three girls’ attention snapped to Jane and I could feel her shifting nervously on my shoulder, but Jane continued to power along despite the shyness.
“I owe Liam for saving me not just once, but twice in those ruins. As well as all the other times he’s saved us or gotten hurt for us. I hate to interrupt your plot, but he’s mine tonight.”
Jane punctuated her declaration by hugging my head tightly from her position perched on my shoulder. Her stature was such that it smushed her bust against the top of my head.
I could feel her nervous trembling through both my shoulder and the hand supporting her hip, and knew that she was worried she’d overstepped. But Jane had made her decision, it seemed.
A quick glance to the side confirmed what I was already sure of. Kassandra was grinning wickedly and bouncing from side to side as she slithered across the grass next to me.
Turning her way, I saw that Rieka’s eyes were narrow slits from her wide smile and she nodded her acceptance when I met her eyes.
A glance over my free shoulder showed me Shayla was blushing and biting her bottom lip. From the way her antennae waggled towards me, I could tell the thought of me and Jane together excited my moth lover, and she was likely already thinking about sketches of us together.
“Sounds like we have a date tonight then, Jane,” I said gently, shifting the hand against her hip to wrap up and over her legs and use my grip to hug her against my head.
I heard the mouse kin girl squeak in a mixture of excitement and embarrassment, but she hugged my head tighter in response.
So that my newest lover didn’t explode from blushing so hard, I pushed the conversation back to the Grant Power effect and had Kassandra detail what she wanted for her next Shape-Shifting. But as we walked, the faint scent of Jane’s skin grew stronger, along with the smell of her arousal growing the closer we got to town.
Shape-Shifting under their own power....
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