Chapter 177 - First rule of Lyly’s training. (Patreon)

“I will have to stress that whatever happens today will stay classified,” Lydia repeated for the third time in half an hour. “This includes all matters of sexual nature, but first and foremost we are talking about whatever skills or abilities anyone in this group, including me, reveals during this training. Nothing shall ever reach the public. Understood?” 

“Ja, for heaven’s sake,” Rave groaned, “we agree. Now, can John please open some dungeon, so I can punch something really hard in the face?” The techno-lover had been informed about Lydia’s decision to become a temporary member of John’s harem. Of course, she was happy about that, more people in the bed meant more people she could, literally, fuck with. “Really, Lylytina, I thought you, Lylytina, were the type to just give direct orders that you, Lylytina, then waited to get followed. Like, if someone asked if you, Lylytina, could repeat that, you would make them run fifty laps around the Reichstag.” 

“Is it necessary to repeat that nickname you have given me so often?” Lydia asked, ignoring the quip at the end. Her nerves seemed strained enough as it was. “Is it necessary to repeat the same instructions this many times?” Rave shot back, “All we wanted to talk about is what level of enemies John should pick.” Lydia’s fingers drummed on the dining table, then she sighed. “Yes, yes, you are right. I apologize,” she admitted and attention turned to John who was looking at the monster table.

He could easily solo all of these, as he had in the past. In fact, it was probably time to move on to higher dungeons. Rave was level 61 now, but knowing her she would be able to punch far above her weight. Last, he had Observed Lydia she had been level 68, better check if that still held true.

It did, nothing changed on that front. ‘Wait a sec, wasn’t I able to see the level just hovering above a person’s head before. That and their name?!’ John though, ‘Gaia, you piece of dirt, you stealth-nerfed me again!’

‘Yeah, great now I have to make another choice, thanks,’ his thoughts were filled with sarcasm as he picked the left option. There was no reason to take a class level over a new information parameter. One was something he could get anyway and the other was, most likely, never going to pop-up again and could prove vital in the upcoming grind sessions.

“Mhm, well, this will be nice grounds for experimentation, I guess?” John mumbled before announcing his idea. “See, although I know that you can gain experience using the group system, I have no idea how that experience is calculated. Only thing I know for somewhat certain is that I get more than you do. Because I am the Gamer, I reckon. If you get more experience from beating monsters of your level, or if I can pull people through higher-levelled dungeons to power-grind them, I do not know, however.” 

“Just stop overthinking it, John, and take the strongest guy in your arsenal!” Rave demanded. “Don’t be that hasty in your decision, Rave,” Lydia chimed in, “Information like this could prove vital in the future.” “Urgh,” Rave sank halfway under the table, “Okay, you two killjoys keep thinking about that then. Yo, Aclysia, do you have a coke for me?” “I am afraid not, mistress Rave,” the artificial guardian apologized, bowing with her salver in hand, she had grown accustomed to the object and it did harmonize with her servant role, so John approved. 

“I have several dungeons I need to clear from start to finish, though,” John said while Rave started listing potential beverages, she would like, in the background, none of which Aclysia could provide. From what it looked like, Rave would be happy with whatever decision they came with, as long as they came to a decision. “In that case why are we not doing that?” “Because the early floors will be a massive time sink…then again…” John looked at his classes, he still wanted to get a level in the Arcanist class, so he had a rough idea what each of the classes was worth.

The good news was that the mana cost reduction for the elementals stuck around. Also, that challenge was pretty easy, not that that meant the whole level would be easy though. “Okay, how about we grind up through some dungeons, and see how much experience you get for mobs at each stage…like Angels, let’s kills Angel’s,” he suggested at random. “Wait!” Rave intervened, “I can see my level progression now? No more wild guessing?” “At least Gaia told me so,” John shrugged, “you’ll have to look that up for yourself.” “Well, how?” Rave asked. He raised an eyebrow, “Jane, did you seriously forget that you have your own character sheet as long as we are in a group?” 

“Uhm…” the techno-lover looked to the side, “Noooo?” “Jaaane?” John teased, “are you, perhaps, a bit stupid?” “Oh, shaddup!” she burst out and playfully boxed him on the shoulder. “Okay, yeah, I did forget, so how do I… okay, that’s easy.” The window appeared in front of her. Also, another change, although one John had noticed this one sooner. He could now see the windows of other people in his group. 

Rave quickly found the purple bar, “Oh hey, I am already close to the next level, neat,” Rave said. Lydia, who had followed the conversation looked at her own window, “I am at about 5 percent,” she informed the group. “How peculiar an ability,” she followed it up, looking over the information’s displayed. “That aside I agree to your plan, John.” 

“Great, let’s go then!” John raised his arm and created the Instant Dungeon. Lydia looked around, obviously in search for the enemies. “Relax, we need to enter some catacombs or stuff first,” Rave told her. “Yup. Unless you get someone like Magoi, to put up another one of those intermediary barriers, we need to find the entrance to the actual dungeon first. Which is not really hard. For the Skaven it was a giant hole in the ground.” 

John stood up and took the lead. They would, probably, find the answer outside. He opened the front door and looked around. Quickly, he spotted the giant staircase of golden light, and was about to step outside, when he realized the still, freezing cold air on his skin. Without fitting clothes that wouldn’t be a pleasant experience. He closed the door again. 

“So, I have no idea if -quote unquote- heaven is temperate,” he admitted, “I think yes, several dungeons I have been in had some sort of sky or temperature changing effect, but I don’t know for sure. Want to take the risk or get our winter clothes first?” 

“I say, I am not leaving the house if it is that cold, unless Salamander warms everything up,” Rave gave her opinion. The elemental girls took this as their signal to all materialize. “I mean, okay, if I get the mana for it…but don’t expect me to heat you all the way through all of the fights, I want to burn stuff,” Salamander commented. Meanwhile both Gnome and Undine put in their best efforts to keep Sylph from interrupting the group planning. 

They succeeded by giving Sylph some basic math to do. While the air spirit was busy counting on her fingers and mumbling, her thought process regularly interrupted by her own flimsiness, forcing her to start calculating all over again, the part was able to chat uninterrupted. 

“I think, it is better, if we are cautious about this,” Lydia said. “You meat-people should really get your clothes,” Mono drily commented, “Wouldn’t want your oh-so-important balls to freeze, would you, master?” “I am deeply sorry that I forgot to remind you of this possibility, master,” Aclysia added, bowing as if she was still holding the salver she had left behind in the real-space. “I think we all agree to get our jackets first then. If we don’t need them I throw them into my inventory,” John stated. 

Two minutes later they were at the same spot but in considerably more fitting clothing. “Let’s do this!” Rave, enthused that things were finally taking a violent turn, shouted and kicked open the door following the I.D.’s recreation. Lydia winced like that act physically hurt her. “My property!” she complained as the wooden door flew forwards several metres and landed on the stone-tiled walkway that lead over the front lawn to the door. 

“Chillax, Lylytina,” Rave laughed, “It’s just a barrier.” “I know,” Lydia sighed heavily, “I still find the random destruction of property repulsive.” “You don’t want to face the Anti-Depressant then,” John said, “that boss fight levels the whole city. Anyhow,” he pointed at the stairs made from golden light, leading up to a giant gate placed on clouds, behind which the actual dungeon probably lay. They walked up there, the whole nine of them. Well Sylph and Salamander (The former still trying to solve the mystery of 11 times 33 divided by 3) were flying and what Undine did was not actually walking as much as flowing, but the rest of them, Lydia, Aclysia, Mono, Gnome, Rave and finally he, himself, were actually walking. ‘Geezus, my party is big,’ John thought and glanced over his shoulder, ‘and I fucked almost all of them. Everyone, except Mono…guess I’ll change that today!’

Yes, John actually went into this training session with some less than stellar motives. He had two things, he wanted to do. For his own levels, he wanted to get Charisma to 25. This would likely take more than just today, as he needed 3 levels to achieve that. Sure, in reality it was probably wiser to get more Wisdom or Intellect, so that he could continue using his skills without thinking about his resources too much. Both Gaia’s warning about relationship slots, and the fact Charisma was the only Stat he had yet to get the 25+ bonus in, motivated him to invest there first, however. 

The second thing he wanted to do was to get Mono’s Libido to 10. The reasons for that were simple, as much as he had grown to like Mono, her sarcastic commentaries were a nice change of pace and she did provide some intellectual banter, having a cute girl like her around, that he couldn’t give the sex, was a waste. Perhaps feeling her creator’s leering eyes on her, Mono shuddered and interrupted her happy talk with Gnome to give John a death glare with her white eyes. 

John quickly turned back to look at what was in front of him. His thoughts reached out to his obedient and older artificial spirit. ‘Hey, Aclysia?’ he asked over their mental connection. ‘What is it, master?’ came the swift and calm response. ‘Would you object to me raising your Libido to 25? I kind of want to learn what happens then.’ ‘I would not. I do however feel obliged to remind you that I am currently experiencing a 145 percent increase in the Libido stat due to having eaten a scale from Nathalia and a shard from her heart. Raising my Libido to 25 would put its effective value at over 50. I may experience major combat problems if I don’t get fucked regularly, opposed to the minor ones I will likely experience today.’ ‘…you really want to have sex, don’t you?’ John asked. 

‘No, that is not the case, master. I really want to have sex, with YOU.’ Aclysia clarified, ‘I have not yet been fucked by you. Worse, you gave the princess priority, which is putting me in a slightly bad mood...’ After a slight pause Aclysia continued, ‘Excuse my behaviour, master. You could fix this by giving me about five orgasms.’ Aclysia being annoyed with him, that was new. Honestly, at times, he had no choice but to admire the fortitude that the artificial guardian showed.

She cooked his food, she killed his enemies, she ate his junk-loot, put up with his (and everyone else’s) wishes, kept him psychological stable in times of trouble, and all she wanted in return was a good dicking. ‘You are the best, you know that? Never leave my life!’ John demanded in his mind, letting all of his appreciation for her flow into these words. There was a quick series of steps behind him, then Aclysia had caught up and kissed him on the cheek. “I hope you fulfil my request this night, then,” she purred, leaving anyone else confused. 

“What does she mean?” Rave asked, “I do not like it when you have psychic conversations!” “I only wish to claim master in bed tonight, mistress,” Aclysia stated, “surely you can grant me this much?” “Mhm, threesome sounds nice,” the techno-lover smirked. “…Sure,” Aclysia agreed, but not immediately and John felt a slight sting of annoyance from the artificial guardian. That fortitude wouldn’t survive forever it seemed, and John was not sure if that annoyance was something related to Aclysia being underfucked, or something else entirely. ‘I really need to heed Gaia’s warning and level my Charisma,’ John thought as he opened up the gates.