Chapter 1178 – Prep Grinding 18 – Little talks and one more heart
Nia weighed the sword. It was a long, sleek thing, with a narrow cross guard and long grip. The blade was wide, wider even than traditional two-handed swords. Despite its appearance, it could be easily wielded with one hand. Being made from manifested nirvana, there was no weight to it. Cuts by these weapons weren’t physical in nature, so that was never a drawback.
What was a drawback was that Nia had limited experience wielding longswords. The lance and dagger combination she had wielded for so long, she had mastered with dedicated practice. Nothing truly forced Nia to switch to this new form of her manifested powers. Intuition told her to go ahead with it, however. Intuition backed up by her level developments.
Something during the Raid must have given her the burst she needed. Of all of them, she did struggle the most while they were inside. It was good that it wasn’t just John who gathered valuable experience in Raids. With that in mind, she required some training. A master of all weapons was never far, in the harem.
“Sword stances are all just a question of what angle you want to try to hit your opponent at.” Metra demonstrated a number of ways to hold the sword with a wooden training weapon Lee had spawned into reality. “Your stupid fucking movies show a bunch of swords clashing mindlessly nowadays. Using normal weapons – dumb move. Smacking steel against steel at full force so that sparks fly quickly leads to two unusable chunks of deformed trash. Abyssal weapons are typically sturdier, so it becomes more possible with them. Since you’re a teleporting, anti-magic creep, I don’t think blocking should be anything you specialize in.”
Nia nodded. “I agree.”
“Great, then I will concentrate on teaching you the wrath guard.” Raising the sword over her shoulder, the blade practically level with her head, pommel pointing away from Nia, Metra grinned wildly. “Basically, what you do is, as soon as your opponent is in range...” She executed a powerful downwards strike. “...you split their skulls! It’s as aggressive as you can get.”
“As light as the sword is, you might want to try and apply some fencing techniques,” John suggested from the side. “I can try teaching you. Lydia might be better suited though.”
Nia mimicked the stance and the strike five times before responding, “Appreciated.”
John watched them train for about ten minutes. Even if Nia wanted to take his offer, she had enough to learn from Metra that he wouldn’t be useful any time soon. Since they knew how to find him, he headed back into the mansion. It was still the sixth day and he wanted to keep hanging out with his women. Specifically, those that would not accompany him during the Iron Domain trip deserved some special attention.
The smell of heavy pork broth hung in the air, filling John’s lungs as he entered the mansion. Much of his harem hung out in the living room of the base floor. Nathalia lay across a segment of the couch, claiming it for herself while exchanging words with Siena. A particularly dangerous duo, one would think, yet their topic of discussion was entirely mundane.
“Have you tried spiced jerky yet?” the dragoness asked.
“I have, it was rather... lacking,” answered the midnight elemental and leaned back with a sigh. “I do so love meat, but I like my hotness with chocolate.”
John did not catch the rest of the conversation, as he walked by with just a wink to Eliana, who was in a conversation elsewhere in the room with Rave, and Salamander. He entered a hallway and passed an open door. He caught a glimpse of Lee getting eaten out by Undine while a second body of the slime girl sat on the young Fateweaver’s face. Blood rushed towards his dick, especially as the moans followed him down the hallway.
Up a flight of stairs, the Gamer looked around on the first floor of the manor. In a small, half-hidden study, he found Momo having some solo time with a book and a dildo modelled after his dick. Although she had started it alone, she did not complain when he decided to witness her bring herself to climax. Well, not until she was calming down, anyway.
John ignored the erection that had given him and continued looking around the building. He found Gnome and Scarlett playing chess in the second living room. One was the obvious favourite, but an equal playing field was not always required to have fun. Although John was not looking for them, seeing the technomancer around let him ask a question. “Has Nightingale answered yet?”
“Nope,” the redhead answered immediately.
Since John had now confirmed that what Delicia needed, and Nightingale wanted by proxy, was in the hands of Arkeidos, he had seen fit to reach out to the goddess of night. The course of action had not quite agreed with his pride. Maximizing his chances against a millennia old lich of soul and metal was simply higher priority, so he had done it anyway. Scarlett had sent the message for him at the start of the grinding session. That was technically less than a day ago, even if it was almost six for them. Still, she must have been preoccupied, to not have seen the message in that time.
Nightingale would make for a powerful ally. Her abilities were, as far as he knew, focused on sensory suppression, rather than direct combat. Regardless, a goddess was a goddess and would increase their chance of success notably.
“Yes,” the Gamer admitted what he already knew. “And I can understand that you can fault me for that. Perhaps it would be better if I saw my values inspired by a divine ideal. Arguably that would keep me from becoming too arrogant – at least in this aspect.” He leaned forwards and kissed her. Willingly, she obliged. “But I can’t. That’s just not who I am.”
“It is fortunate you have Stirwin to humble you in the furthest reaches of your arrogance,” Lorelei whispered.
“Could not hurt to have others who keep me humble.”
“I lack the strength of will to oppose you, John.”
“I don’t think you do,” the Gamer disagreed. “I do not fall for women that break under pressure.”
“If the Lady so blesses me, perhaps you are right.”
“You do not need to be blessed with power that is already yours.”
“Will you test me to prove that?” Lorelei asked, taking both of his hands between hers. “Or will you swear an oath to me? If you cannot believe in the divine ideals of our Lady, then perhaps our love shall be enough to anchor some humility in you? May I ask you not to fail me? Not to fail... your...”
“I won’t fail you, my lady,” he finished the sentence for her. “As much as I may believe in my own superiority and as much as that superiority may be true, I will stay humble enough to not believe that my soul weighs more than that of others. For my principles alone, I would do so.”
“History is full of great men warping their principles in the name of power and convenience,” Lorelei responded. “Faith in the Lady is the greatest anchor in the truth, to me. Where faith fails you, worldly man, true love will not. To that, you agree?”
“To that, I agree.” John nodded.
Lorelei smiled and let go of his hands. She reached behind her head and unmade her blindfold. Its purpose could have only been ritualistic. Carefully, she folded it and placed it to the side. “It pleases me to disagree with you,” she confessed. “I know that, under all the words that fail to convey complete intent, your soul is true to divine grace.”
“Only because I want to live in a world where gentle souls like yours aren’t crushed,” John responded and checked on the numbers. It was a visual confirmation of what he already knew in his heart. “I could mark you now,” he told her, causing the smile on her face to bloom fully. Despite that, he kept a serious tone. “You can see it as the physical proof of my oath to you. You will help me stay humble. You know what I want in return.”
“You ask for many things.” Lorelei’s voice was filled to the brim with sweetness. “For my submission to your desires, for me to be, until our last day, one in your harem, for me to aid you with my powers and with what little wisdom I have. Yes, I know what you want in return. You want all I am. There is nothing I would rather give.”
John placed two fingers on her sternum. Place did not matter, only physical contact between them. Through that connection, his magic flowed into her. While it spread inside her, a part of her seeped into him in return. An exchange of small parts of their deepest selves.
Lorelei trembled and failed to withhold a moan, high-pitched and lustful. It lay in stark contrast to the conversation they just had, as did the intense reaction of her body. She threw her head back, while the winding lines spawned above her pussy, taking the shape of a heart with two arms extending to the side. Roughly, the shape mimicked that of the womb it was on top of.
A tingle around his right thumb let John know where the mark he received in return formed. ‘Fitting that she shares a space with Gnome,’ he thought, looking at the heart shapes that layered on top of the middle joint of the thumb. Similar ones were all over his knuckles, sharp lines extending down from them and towards his wrists, which were also marked. Each was somewhat like a ring for the women he was in love with. He wore them proudly, just as they did.
“Oh, John, I love you,” spoke Lorelei, a hand gliding affectionately over her mark.
“I love you too,” he responded, wrapping an arm around her. A whisper into her ear made her entire body tremble. “Let’s head downstairs.”
A pause could only last so long.@@@@