After spending several hours in the bathhouse with two of my lovers, we all returned to the bunkhouse to find Kassandra and Rieka waiting for us. Well, more realistically, Rieka was waiting for us while Kassandra dozed with the trapped wolf kin woman in her coils.

  It turned out that the two of them had done what they needed to and washed up at the barracks, the others from our group mission having already finished cleaning up and falling into bed at that point. While Rieka had gotten a second wind during the reports, Kassandra had worn herself out.

  Finding the annoyed princess securely wrapped in a half-naked dwarf lamia had triggered a bout of laughter from myself and my two exhausted companions. Jane and Shayla weren’t limping after our energetic ‘celebration’ at the bathhouse, but only just barely and only because of the hot water soak.

  The laughter woke Kassandra, who abandoned her captured princess to jump on me, but she was too tired to do anything more than declare me ‘warm’ and snuggle in to sleep once more.

  With my lamia-skin belt in place, we all knew that was the end of leaving the room for the day, so all five of us piled into the makeshift shared bed to sleep.

  I woke up the following morning with Kassandra still firmly wrapped around my waist, her head pillowed on my chest while she dozed. Her tail was draped over me and down my left leg, while Jane was curled tightly around my right. Rieka was hugging my right arm, using that shoulder as a pillow, while Shayla was tucked into my left side, her antennae draped over my face and clutching my left arm tightly.

  No way I’m getting out of here anytime soon, I thought with a wry smile as I assessed my situation.

  I knew that Valda had come back last night, because I could hear the familiar sound of her deep, sleeping breaths from her bed on the other side of the room. Which meant that I couldn’t, in good conscience, wake my girls up in a sexy fashion. And since that was the only way I’d be able to wake them up and not get in trouble, I was as good as trapped.

  Curse my improved endurance making it so I didn’t need as much sleep, I thought, putting on a fake accent like an old cartoon villain in my head for my own amusement.

  Resisting the urge to laugh at my own dumb jokes, I took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. The motion made Kassandra rise in the air slightly before slowly falling back down once more. The snuggly dwarf lamia shifted in her sleep, rubbing her cheek into my chest further while murmuring quietly.

  “Love you…”

  Those two words settled onto my chest like they carried the weight of the world with them. Because to me, they did.

  I’d come to terms with the fact that I loved my girls months ago. It wasn’t a new thought or even a new sensation to feel the upwelling sensation of a deep love in my gut. These four girls were the center of my world. I had killed for them, and would again.

  Unbidden, the smiling face of my friend and caseworker, Cariad, floated up and I felt my heart lurch in my chest, a familiar tightening that reminded me there were still others that had my affection.

  The girls already told me they approve of Cariad too, I thought with a small smile, making a mental promise to ensure I had time to talk to the fascinating daemon woman when I had the time. We still have that date I promised her too.

  Not wanting to dwell on the thought of what might happen with Cariad for too long and turn my morning wood into something that would definitely wake Kassandra up—and then get me in trouble because she’d want to make use of it and not be able to because our roommate was there—I pushed my thoughts on to other subjects.

  We’d made it back from another set of ruins, this one in far worse condition than the others had been. There was no way to tell if it’d been attacked like the others had been before we got there, since the tribesfolk had obviously been using the site for some kind of religious observance until we basically firebombed the complex. I was just glad that we managed to remove the weapons from the location, something that I had a feeling was going to draw more attention to my girls as well.

  Need to talk to Valda about that, I thought silently, blowing a tuft of Kassandra’s curly red hair from where it was tickling my nose. There is no way that at least some of the tech isn’t going to spread to the local populace, and honestly that is not my problem. I was more worried that there was something like guns down there. Instead, there was whatever those ‘disaster class’ weapons were.

  A shiver ran down my spine thinking of those odd contraptions, so like a missile but missing the fins. Mentally, I checked my Dimensional Pocket even though I knew they were gone, just to be sure that my memory was still correct, which it was. The System itself has whisked the odd devices away and rewarded me for the work.

  That reminds me… I thought, letting my eyes slip closed to view my interface once more. I still haven’t checked the notices to see what became of those mystery rewards. I should do that and maybe take a look at my mastery ratings after this mission, see where I’m sitting for those.

  My current SP was sitting just shy of four-thousand and six-hundred points, so I had a decent chunk to work with for now. I wanted to start looking through my abilities, but I forced myself to hold back. I needed to check on the nebulous rewards first.

  Navigating to the Contracts menu, I popped it open with a thought and words the color of a blacklight-bulb burned across my vision.

  Bonus Rewards awaiting redemption.

  Bonus Reward 1 - Special Power Unlock (Guardian Track)

  Bonus Reward 2 - Power Expansion Token (Lesser)

  Redeem: Y/N?

  Both listings for the bonus rewards shone a lighter pink rather than the blue-purple of a blacklight bulb, so I knew they were selectable just like the “Y/N” at the end of the message were.

  Curiosity won out and I mentally selected the second bonus reward and the Yes part of the redeem before a new message burned its way across my vision.

  Traveler had received 1x Power Expansion Token (Lesser). As the Traveler has the Dimensional Pocket ability, the token has been deposited there.

  A Power Expansion Token is capable of taking a single ability from the System and expanding it up through to the end of the indicated tier, fulfilling mastery rating and covering the cost of additional ranks at the cost of the token.

  Huh, that’s going to be useful, I thought, flipping over to my Powers menu and checking the abilities there. I had five that were below the Lesser tier, of which two made the most sense to use it on, which was my Manipulate Element (Entropy) which was hanging around the upper ranks of the minor tier, and my Grant Power ability, which was already at the Lesser tier, but not mastered yet. I considered Traveler’s Call but had no idea how useful it would be at the moment compared to the others, so shelved it for now. The other two—Intervene and Ward Contracted Companion—were edge-case useful at the moment.

  Probably gonna use it to bump Manipulate Element (Entropy) up to the max end of Lesser, that’d be the best use of it I think, since it’s the most expensive one to practice, I thought, shuffling back to the Contracts menu to check the other reward. Barring me getting a super-useful power from here that is.

  Repeating the process, I accessed the last remaining bonus reward and activated it, causing another flare of burning words to appear in my vision.

  Traveler has achieved a milestone along the Guardian track and unlocked a new power:

  The Watchful Ear (Unranked) - The Traveler’s perception of reality and the threats posed to their charges have become as fine-tuned as that of a lifelong guardian and approved by the System. Any contracted companions of the Traveler under a Guardian contract will be monitored for their own safety by the System itself.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Threats will trigger an autonomous response from the System to ensure the Traveler may fulfill their guardian duties, up to and including an automated use of Tunnel to Contracted in extreme situations.

  Huh, that’ll be nice, I thought, reading over the ability again. That would mean the System is watching over the girls for me as well, and can call me back on a moment’s notice if something happens before they can react.

  Precisely, Traveler.

  I had to fight back the urge to jump. The soft weights of my girls in their positions on or beside me helped keep me from freaking out when the System actively responded.

  Instead, I took a slow, steadying breath and then let it out again, directing my thoughts towards the nebulous, interdimensional super-computer that had asked me to do its dirty work for it less than a week ago.

  I appreciate the help then, System. My girls mean the world to me and I want to do anything I can to help them.

  And that is exactly why the Traveler was awarded the powers that he has been. Traveler Liam’s dedication to his contracted companions is only eclipsed by the assistance he has offered to the System in ensuring dimensional stability.

  That was both reassuring and not, I thought silently before pushing the thought aside and instead focusing on the System again. I hope that you won’t need my help too often, but if you do need me again, especially to help Cortha, then let me know.

  That is appreciated, Traveler Liam. System does not often directly intervene in the business of individual worlds, so it is unlikely that Traveler Liam will be contacted for direct intervention again.

  Proper compensation will follow if such a need arises, but it is advised that Traveler Liam continue to train in order to be ready should additional opportunities arise.

  Like what? I couldn’t help but ask, the question burning in my mind right then.

  Traveler Liam has already observed enough to understand that System occasionally has to operate outside of the oversight of the Dimensional Service and Repair division.

  Having trustworthy operatives with the best interests of a given world on hand is key to maintaining dimensional stability.

  What kind of threats might there be to dimensional stability here? I thought that as long as I “didn’t walk on the grass” everything would be fine, I shot back at the System.

  Traveler Liam following protocol for transit is required condition of maintaining status as a Traveler. Subverting those protocols is grounds for removal from the Traveler program.

  Traveler Liam has observed multiple instances of what threats still exist on this world which may affect dimensional stability.

  My mind immediately spun over what had happened the last few days. The discovery of the military ruins, the disaster-class weapons the System had helped me eliminate. The gentle nudges and more direct requests of the System itself to push me to do different things, to find and eliminate problems. Always targeting nearly the same subject.

  Traveler Liam understands.

  Some secrets must be maintained for dimensional stability.

  System will contact Traveler Liam if direct intervention is necessary, and advise if DSR personnel need to be kept out of the situation.

  Traveler Liam’s discretion is appreciated.

  Congratulations, Traveler.

  The finality of the last message, something that I was used to being appended to some great feat or achievement, left me thinking even more. The System had always added riders and bonus rewards in relation to ‘illicit research’ regarding the human-era ruins. The fact of the matter was that the research it had tagged was always relating to either entropic energy research, or samples of entropic creatures.

  What the hell were the ancient humans experimenting with back then, and why were they doing it? I thought grimly, but got no response from the System this time.

  Instead, the only response I got was the slow and steady breathing of the women in the room as all five of them slept on. My mind continued to return to the question of what the System had been implying, and whether my assumptions were on the mark for it or not. I had no way of knowing for sure, since only the System itself could actually confirm it one way or another. But I had a feeling that if the System called on me again, it would be to deal with more of this strange research. Which might lead to more fragments of information as well.

  What I did know about the ancient humans was that they were all dead, either wiped out in a massive war or some kind of disease outbreak was the most likely answer. Kassandra and Jane talked about the different theories regarding it, since there were next to no records of the ancient civilization beyond carvings and some ancient structures. The human-era ruins that we’d discovered held the most intact records of the ancient species, and most of what had been contained in them had been research of one type or another studying magic and summoning related to the different elements.

  I had the sinking feeling that those same research subjects were what had ended the ancient humans. The only question in my mind was if it had been a natural progression of digging too deeply…

  Or if the System itself had stepped in.

  No way to know for sure, I thought at last, blowing a firm breath out through my nose in a sigh. I could ask Cariad, but every contact I have with her other than face-to-face is via the System. It has cautioned me at every turn to keep things to myself and to not involve the DSR in this. And even if I did get word to Cari about this, what are the odds that she’ll be able to find any additional information.

  I twitched in surprise when a fresh message blazed across my vision. But this wasn’t the blacklight-bulb color of System messages. Instead, it was a cheery inquiry from the daemon I’d just been thinking about, delivered via the instant-messaging function built into my interface.

  Cariad

  Liam, I hope that this finds you well, also that you and the girls made it safely back to your camp. This has been hectic for the last few days while Mr. Cerebaton and I worked to deal with the after-effects of what was found in that structure. To say that it stirred up a mess is a major understatement.

  The upper echelons of the DSR have been raising a fuss and Mr. Cerebaton has been in several meetings. What little bits I’ve gathered relate to you specifically. For a newly-awakened Traveler to have done so much is unprecedented, especially from a species formerly on the ‘No-Contact’ list.

  Some people are digging into the whole situation, which isn’t anything to worry about since we’ve been entirely up-front about it from the get-go. Mr. Cerebaton was chuckling just yesterday about how the one who had pushed to make him stop training you was getting raked over the coals for ‘undermining the growth of a critical asset.’

  But enough about office politics, how have things been going for you? I know you and the girls are quite capable, but I can’t help but worry about you. Because of the increased scrutiny around your files, I can’t exactly peek in on you without getting caught, but apprising you of the changing situation and ensuring you had nothing else to report from the earlier situation falls under ‘due-diligence’ so I’m in the clear for this much.

  So let me know that you are safe, dang it!

  I smirked at Cariad’s long and somewhat rambling message before taking a moment to compose my reply to her. I knew she’d be quick to respond as well, she always was with this kind of communication.

  Liam

  We made it back safe yesterday and just kind of collapsed into bed after getting clean. The run back to our lines was not an easy one, but me and the girls made it back with only minor injuries.

  I’m glad that Cerebaton is getting a laugh out of the troublemakers who cut our sparring sessions short, too. But I don’t want either of you to get in trouble, so don’t push things too far on my account.

  Cariad

  We won’t push things too far. But this is the opportunity to push for more control and less oversight, since the higher-ups stepping in endangered what is showing itself to be a critical resource: you.

  Liam

  If it was anyone else calling me a resource besides you, I’d be offended. You know that, right?

  Cariad

  Me and your girls, I’m sure. From what you’ve told me, they get away with quite a bit. :P

  Liam

  That’s different and you know it. Speaking of, though. Don’t forget you owe me a date. I’d like a chance to chat with you face-to-face.

  Cariad

  I am looking forward to it! You just let me know when you are back on Earth and not having to play watchdog for your girls for a bit so you can relax. I wouldn’t mind getting to know them too, but regulations mean that I can’t just show up around natives. Travelers get a pass, though.

  Liam

  Will do. Gonna have to go, the girls are waking up. Take care, Cari.

  Cariad

  Take care, Liam. Looking forward to that date.

  Kassandra stirring on my chest had been what forced me to cut the conversation short at the end, and she wiggled again, this time her hip bumping against a certain appendage of mine more insistently.

  “Mmm… good to see you are awake too…” Kassandra mumbled sleepily, shifting to peer at me through her bangs with one eye.

  “Morning, Nugget. Sleep well?” I asked, blowing her a kiss.

  Kassandra smiled sleepily, blinking slowly once before she responded.

  “I did, but I want more than sleep right now…”

  Her wiggling grew more insistent and I knew where this was going. Pinned as I was, I couldn’t really escape right now.

  “Valda is in the room,” I warned Kassandra faintly, and her sleepy smile only grew wider.

  “Just means we need to be quiet. It’s my turn to get reassurance from you, Liam,” Kassandra said, her bare hips grinding into mine as she slipped into position.

  “What about the contraceptive spell?” I asked, summoning my last defense to try and slow my lover down. I wasn’t against this kind of wakeup, but I honestly hadn’t expected Kassandra to jump right on this—and me—so soon after waking.

  Kassandra’s grin only widened and she slithered up to whisper into my ear.

  “Just means you have to keep control of yourself… unless you want to go that far now?”

  Kassandra slithered back after she finished speaking. Her eyes, which had been twinkling with mischief clouded with lust as she slid over me. The warmth of my girls surrounded me on all sides as she settled into place with a quiet moan.

  Keeping control of myself is going to be a hell of a challenge, I thought, biting back a groan of my own. I should have known my mischievous-macaroni would get me into trouble somehow…

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