The Gamer Chapter 1523 – Levity (Patreon)

Plotting the murder of a world leader on the side should have made everything else he did during his stay feel just a tad surreal. However, lying on the beach, watching Rave and Nia play beach volleyball against Hailey and Lee, while sipping on a cold beer, all of that just felt normal. ‘I suppose schemes like this are just part of my monthly routine by now,’ John considered why he felt the way he felt.

The ball flew back and forth at a moderate pace. In the interest of fairness, and keeping the beach intact, the girls had agreed on doing as they had done during the Oklahoma vacation and push their powers down to the levels of regular people. That the game was a friendly back and forth under the sun further took the potential breakneck pace of volleyball out of it.

What remained in the end was the simply gorgeous display of the quartet bouncing around in the rough confines of the field that had been drawn in the sand. Thighs rippled, butts jiggled, breasts bounced – mostly Hailey’s, it had to be said. Lee, Rave, and Nia were not particularly gifted in that department. Not that it mattered.

John himself lay on the cool pillow of Aclysia’s thighs. The ice dragon maid calmed the Mediterranean heat around him to a degree that was plainly pleasant.

Besides those five and himself, only one other person was inside the Illusion Barrier. They had the rest of today and tomorrow off and many of the girls had decided to check things out around the city. They travelled in groups of 3 to 5, too powerful a target for any shenanigans to be pulled in the city.

“Say, Master, when do you think Lulu will be available again?” Aclysia asked.

“Not today. Too much internal work, soothing the concerns she has created through her speech earlier today,” John responded. Meeting the imperial tomboy in person was complicated tremendously by the need for her to have an official reason to come over. They could come up with excuses, as there was plenty they ‘should’ talk about. “Problem is that I can’t allow myself to see her too often.”

“Why is that?” Aclysia asked, while playing with the curve of his ear.

“Defeats the purpose of keeping this quiet, now doesn’t it?” John asked the maid.

“A stance I disagree with from the outset.” Aclysia’s lips stretched into a thin line. “I suppose that is why I will never make a good politician.”

John reached up and gently placed his hand on the side of her face. “You’re wonderful just the way you are,” he told her, with all the love in his heart. “Let her and I worry about the annoyance of being public figures.”

“I am still your maid, Master,” Aclysia disagreed. “I may not be interested in partaking in this charade, but I will find the necessary workarounds to enable you to have all you want and deserve.” She put a hand on his. Despite the cool the black-horned maid radiated, her touch was warm. “I will read up on the history of successfully hidden affairs.”

“I don’t think there’s a lot of literature on those,” John pointed out with a chuckle.

“Mildly known and later confirmed ones will also do.” Aclysia rubbed her soft, pale cheek against his palm. “We are not intending to keep this secret forever, after all.”

“Considering the risky business we did with the photos earlier, she’s already laying the foundations for ‘suspicious behaviour’.”

“Do you mind that?” Aclysia asked in that particular tone when she just wanted to hear him talk.

John was eager to oblige. Stroking his intellectual ego while simultaneously pleasing his first maid was ever one of his favourite things to do. “Not really. In the end, although we both have reasons to take things slow, my reputation won’t suffer if we get caught. Fusion and the entire world expects me to… gallivant? Yeah, that sounds like the right word. She, however, is one of the two ‘emperors of the old world’. Her chastity is of immense value. If her relationship is perceived as a worthless little fling, then that would harm the respect the people have for her. Best if there’s rumours over months and years, letting the people catch on only as it becomes apparent it really is a long-term thing.”

“I wonder when people will finally realize that you are serious about your relationships.” Aclysia let out a long sigh, as if it was the entire world that was being unreasonable. “Clearly, you know better than them what you want.”

“Lu Zhi is a symbol of her nation. She has been given privileges and duties by token of her birth,” John pushed back. “Monarchs are sovereigns, but they are also slaves to tradition. Behave outside of expectations and the entire nation will come down on you with disdain. A little less lethal of a problem, in Lulu’s case, but still.” He then sighed. “Besides, it’s not like I am infallible either. I’ve wanted women before that wouldn’t fit in with all of you. That it only went really wrong once, with Marie, is a miracle really.”

“You just don’t give yourself enough credit,” Aclysia told him, then she stopped herself and hummed. “Maybe I should not reinforce your ego too much… that is against your wishes… ah, but complimenting Master is ever so pleasant… but that does reinforce your ego… that is against your wishes… but-“

John sat up and went for a good old Aclysia reboot. Claiming her pink lips, he pushed up against her until she fell on her back. Atop her on the towel, he continued his deep conquest of her mouth. His tongue ventured, only stopping where hers met him in adoring unity.

From plastic, to metals, to oils, to mint and snow, her taste had changed. From plastic, to metals, to silicone, to faux-flesh, her body had changed. From plastic, to metals, to oils, to mint and snow, her smell had changed. Granted, oils were still part of it all, and when John concentrated, he could still catch notes of plastic and metal in her taste and smell. Her curves had shifted over time. Her tongue was a wholly different one now, the draconic muscle smoother than that of a human. Ears were pointy. Horns protruded from her hair.

Aclysia had started as a figure of a character. A creation by the juvenile desire of a young pervert that had somehow woken up to incredible power. Of A2’s original design, only the general shape of her hair really remained. In every other regard, she was her own person now, and John loved it. He loved the quirks she had gained, the quirks she had lost, and the quirks she maintained.

Broken out of her logic loop, Aclysia put both hands on the sides of his face, refusing to let him go. “More,” she whispered, between pout and demand, into their kiss.

More she was given, John’s hands tracing up and down her bikini-clad form. He wished to devour her on the spot, but there were laws in the harem that even he could not subvert. The beach was for kisses, and nothing more.

“Say… Master…” Aclysia talked as best she could, her words barely fitting between the kisses. “Would you… hmm…” she moaned into his mouth. To let her finish her sentence in a reasonable timeframe, he kissed his way down to her neck. He could feel the fibres under the pale, smooth skin move, as she spoke. Even that was erotic. “Would you protest if I changed my hair?”

“Depends,” John whispered, right next to her ear. He wasn’t going to tell her that it was her hair and therefore her choice. That would have been an empty phrase. Ultimately true, yes, but she had asked him for his opinion, and as her partner, he did have a degree of authority over this. It was just as inappropriate for her to change her hair in big ways as it was for him to get a tattoo she wouldn’t like. They were a unit, after all. “What do you have in mind?”

“I would like to wear a ponytail regularly,” she reported. “My hair gets in the way at times. Also, I would just… like to change things up a little.”

They both sat up. Bundling up Aclysia’s hair, he held it in a high-bound ponytail. The straight cascade of her orderly hair made for a surprisingly thin cascade, confined like that. It fell in a nearly straight line, only losing coherency when the different lengths of the strands asserted themselves towards the tips. Many strands remained free, framing her face. The longest nearly touched her collarbones.

She looked good. Of course she did. Ponytails were fundamentally attractive in the first place, at least to John, and barely a change. Besides that, there was nothing about wearing a ponytail that was actually a ‘change to her hair’. She could take the hairband out as quickly as she had put it on. “This is an example of you being a bit too concerned with my opinions,” the Gamer told her.

“There’s no such thing as being too concerned with your opinions.” Aclysia fanned out her hair, after he had let go, getting it all back into the proper display. “Although I will confess that I asked less because I expected the need for approval and more to just talk about it. This is a thing people do often, no?”

“Well, we usually just do that and then move onto the next topic,” John pointed out and chuckled at her knowing smile. “If you bind your hair up into a ponytail, Bae will get an aneurism though. I almost mean that literally. She could manifest the ability to have one just so she could die due to the perceived lack of oppositional symmetry.”

Aclysia let out a deep hum at that. “A predicament that I can certainly solve.”

“Of course you can, you’re the best,” John encouraged and placed another kiss on her forehead. The tall woman managed to make him feel even taller, shrinking into his embrace. Her lips latched onto his neck.

“Mwah!” she audibly broke off, then pouted. “Can’t leave hickeys on you…”

“If you could, I’d be covered with them all day, every day,” John told her. The amount of kisses his body received every given day would leave him black and blue with kiss marks. The most pleasant way to achieve those colours, no doubt about it, but he would still rather avoid it.

“Hmmm.” Aclysia just hugged him. In an only somewhat unexpected move, she dragged her tongue over his naked skin. The smooth surface glided along effortlessly, tasting all the hot sweat that gathered on him, even in her cooling presence. “You’re delicious, Master,” she said, after pulling her tongue back.

“I feel like you’re quite biased on that,” John hummed.

“Yes,” Aclysia responded, only to nibble on his collarbone. “I hope I’m not overbearing?” she whispered.

“Definitely not,” John told her. “If anything, I’m flattered by your attention.” He caressed her slender shoulders, so elegantly hiding supernatural power. “Has it been difficult? Your effort to stay relaxed, I mean?”

“It is getting easier day by day,” Aclysia told him. “I thought I understood how much my patience had diminished when I set out to reclaim it, but… I exchanged grace for presence, when I did not have to sacrifice anything.” The maid nuzzled against him and he combed her white hair. The streaks parted around his fingers like liquid silver. “In the early days of your conquests, my rage was such an effective tool that I seem to have gotten intoxicated by it. There was so much more to be wrathful about too… Nowadays, those that would dare try to hurt you are few and far between. Insults are more common but…” She shook her head. “I should not execute every last vile human being that denies your wisdom, Master.”

“You’re getting wiser yourself,” the Gamer noted.

“I better be.” Aclysia chuckled, a laughter like cute little bells ringing. “The cognitive expansion brought by Stats should be put to some use. Even if I lack the temper to be of political aid to you, that does not mean I have to live as an ignorant creature. A maid is a precision tool.”

“That’s an interesting way to put it.” Considering her words for a moment, he nodded. He wasn’t sure about the word ‘tool’ there, but Aclysia did not use it in a way to demean herself. In her function as a maid, she was a precision tool. As an individual, she was still his Aclysia.

His attention was pulled aside when Hailey headed in their direction. The country gal was clad only in the kind of micro bikini that created her alluring tan lines. The rest of her was as brown as ever. The Mediterranean was hot, but the sun here was not any more cruel than it had been in Oklahoma or the Guild Hall.

Although, in the case of the Guild Hall, that was the cruelty of the half-Asian bombshell, waiting within the volleyball field.

“Howdy, purrdy man.” With a drawl, a twirl, and the swing of her hips, she plopped down next to him. The blonde had settled in the harem so wonderfully, just wrapping her arms around him and joining the group hug by kissing first Aclysia, then him. The sight of the two women making out excited him more than Hailey’s huge tits squishing against his arm. He just loved seeing their polygynous group in motion.

John withdrew one arm from Aclysia duty and slung it around the newcomer. As three, they rocked back and forth to their heartbeat. “What can I do for you, Hailey?”

“Can ya giv’me the Rose?” she requested. “I’d like to run some tests while y’all are busy bashin’ each other’s heads in.”

John contemplated for a moment, then said, “I’d prefer it if you waited until we’re back home… but it’s yours, so…”

“I can entertain some safety suggestions. Just don’t make it an OSHA mandate or I’ll have ya forget what these feel like.” She pushed her tits a little stronger against him.

“That’s extortion,” John groaned, least of all because he was mentally frustrated, most of all because he was reaching the limit of how much teasing he could take. “If you’d do me the favour, when you do your experiments, do it on the Boating Seaquence. Also,” he pulled the Rose of Artifice out and presented it to Aclysia. “let her carry it when you don’t need it. Aclysia, you take care of it and keep an eye on everything.”

Since Aclysia was the only one of his main combatants not tied up in the tournament, she was the best for this job. Plus, if anything happened, her ice powers would harmonize nicely with Hailey’s item-given Ice Immunity. There was no better bodyguard for the enigma engineer, should she even need one.

“Affirmative, Master,” Aclysia said and stowed away the Rose in her own inventory.

“Why don’t we take a boat out to wat’r, if you’re that concern’d about some ruffians tryin’ a break’n’enter?”

“Because it will be harder for them to get away if you stay somewhere semi-public,” John told her. “I honestly don’t expect anyone to be brazen enough for this, but better safe than sorry… you could use Lee as an extra safety net, but if someone is determined to grab the Rose, then they’ll have the resources to temporarily overpower even a Fateweaver of her calibre.”

Annoying as that was at times, in the Abyss, there was a counter-magic for practically every magic.

Hailey nodded. “Who do ya think’ll be stupid enough to try?” she drawled.

“If anyone, it’s doubtlessly the Purest Front or the Great Sultanate… Well, the Odin’s Sons are also unpredictable… and I suppose there’s factions within the Sons of Rome that would profit from worsening Fusion’s relations… plus it’s just… what even is it?”

“Everythin`?” Hailey suggested.

“I mean, can it be a helicopter carrier?”

“Can neither confirm nor deny that, but am leanin’ towards yes.”

Not the answer John had expected.

“JOHN!” a sudden shout echoed out from the house. The last haremette that had stayed with them in the barrier, Nathalia, was making her claim. “I demand your attention!” A little pause. “And bring Hailey with you!”

“Well, seems like we’re wanted,” John told the country gal.

“Can hardly tell her no,” she giggled.