Chapter 95 95: Opening Up!
Zell and the girls spent quite some time killing low-level goblins and wolves, allowing Cryska and Veronica to reach the most basic level; however, tonight, Veronica would become a battle maiden and sync with him anyway, so it felt a little like wasted time.
Zell: Magic Knight Lv 20 -> 21 | Incubus Lv 18 -> 19
Cryksa: Dark Priestess Lv 11 -> Lv 14
Veronica: Deviant Dancer Lv 11 -> Lv 14
Then he realised that the combat experience for a useless shut-in goddess was much needed; thankfully, her fat ass with poor stamina could run a decent amount and didn't start wheezing after one dance.
Currently, they all sat around the dining table for dinner as Rika, Tessa, and Anya spoke about their wonderful day, "crushing nuts."
"I mean, weren't you supposed to be levelling today?" Zell asked,
He carried a piping hot roast potato covered in a garlic butter sauce to his mouth, slowly chewing and enjoying the soft, fluffy texture as it warmed his stomach.
To his left was the plump dwarf Anya, who seemed to be a little drunk as she began to eat messily and stroked along his thigh and reached into his crotch from time to time like she was checking it was still there.
On his right was the wonderful Rika; this girl would sometimes hold her knife as if to fight the other girls who went for her favourite vegetables in the sharing bowl while sipping the red wine laid out, her hands also sometimes slipping over his body and feeling his abs like a lewd girl.
Sadly if it were only these two, it would be great; however, since her change in the game, Anya's mother sat opposite him and drank heavily while eating the meal he cooked; her feet would constantly tease his inner thighs as she slipped off her shoes and stroked over his cloth pants, almost bringing him to climax from her nasty footjob.
He managed to get her to ease off after grasping her foot and stabbing it with a fork; Zell hated feet and would never massage or tickle her. Only through brute force could she realise he didn't like them!
Zell washed down his food with a glass of dry red wine: Devil Black - Cabernet Sauvignon, a wine different from his usual taste but very popular with Cryska and Griselda, who sipped it down happily.
"Heh... those guys wanted to hit on us and talked about hotels and how they are excellent in bed." Anya pouted, eating her chicken breast stuffed with cheese, red pepper and olives, chewing the thick, melted cheese like an erotic woman before Zell kicked her, and she ate the food without playing.
They seemed to enjoy the blend of black fruit tart, with soft notes of dark chocolate, tobacco and a slight mix of sweet spices to give an attractive combination of favours and a full range of sensations with each mouthful.
"Ah, what a captivating and wonderful wine; I like this one, Zell!" Cryska said with a slightly tipsy voice.
Her large crystal glass was once again empty; honestly, he was just glad this wine was his father's favourite, and there were over 20 bottles left, and it was only around ten credits a pop.
'Thank god I didn't have to buy that unit this life; my current credits are still 4,069. I will need to spend half of that to feed these hungry women, but Tessa, my goddess, will offer to pay 200 Credits a week to stay, along with Anya and her mother, that will pay 100 Credits until the real money trading starts.'
"Hey Tessa, that guy who hit on you was pretty polite, yet why did you smash his balls with the blade of your sword? Didn't you get bad karma for that?"
Zell enjoyed his wine leaning back as the warm fire crackled, the dining room lights were dimmed, and it felt almost like Christmas should have been back when his parents were alive and well.
Yanfra detecting his thoughts, decided to soothe his slightly saddened heart.
[Yinfra Zell's sad! Misses his parents, so rub against him!]
[*inaudible sounds of a silver cat wolfing down chicken*]
Suddenly, before the dark and sorrowful memories could take over, two soft fluffy balls of fur began to roll their heads and bodies against him, the silver tabby's mouth still filled with the chicken she stole from Anya's plate. At the same time, the golden one looked at him with mysterious eyes. However, Zell knew this was probably her idea, and this girl always supported him from the shadows somehow.
'Thanks, girls'
'Thank you, Yanfra.'
He communicated to them, his right hand stroking the chin of Yinfra as her silver body purred while curling around him, almost making him forget she was a goddess who reigned over beasts. Yanfra softly pressed her head against his hand before climbing onto his lap and curling in a ball, saving him from the three women assaulting his crotch.
[Heh! Stupid women, Yanfra takes the crotch!]
"Ah!? Someone stole the last of my chicken!" Anya cried out, only now finding out the thief cat stole her chicken as the pair matched eyes; a quiet moment greeted the dining room before the cowardly silver cat dashed towards the stairs, chased by a drunken high dwarf whose body now shrunk to around 5ft 3" and had small pointed ears, her plump ass swayed coming out of the short skirt giving Zell a lovely delight to see as her thong was deep into her ass.
'Such a sexy piece of clothing...' He thought.
"Get back here! Bastard cat, I will sell you to the dog food factory!"
"Shaara!"
[Fufu, Yanfra will buy many of those string underwear!]
[Stay away, dwarf, this delectable chicken cooked by my lover's body is mine!!!]
'How long can these peaceful times last?' Zell thought to himself, running his long fingers through the fluffy hair of Yanfra, who opened her eyes and looked forlorn, not wishing to tell him the bad news as she closed them once again.
TV Announcer: "Next on today's news, are monsters and superpowers real?"
Guest: "What hogwash, it's just special effects! How could the government believe these stupid theories thought up by..."
Professional: "Now, countless reported missing persons and deaths have occurred in the past few days. Can you explain them all? Most of the dead seemed to have been mauled by a bear, sexually assaulted or half devoured!"
TV Announcer: "Together with me is...."
The jingle of the news as the pretty blonde newswoman spoke to the guest and professional they hired, this show would typically cover things like global warming, the rigged elections and other issues.
Yet this wasn't good for Zell because he remembered this broadcast in his past life, yet it didn't start until four months after the game began.
'It's too soon!'
[It's too fast...]
Suddenly, this wonderful meal turned sour for Zell as the crushing weight of stress and reality hit him. He knew this for a long time but didn't want to accept it deep down; all boys wish to become heroes when they grow up.
He believed this could be him. However, reality taught him differently.
'I am no hero...'
Zell's eyes looked around him at the various women in his life, the lives he wanted to treasure and protect.
'Why do I need to care about others? Right now, my hands are only so big; if I get too greedy, won't I lose everything I have in this room?'
At first, Yanfra was about to speak, hoping he would give up that idea. Then his following thoughts entered her mind as the more mature and logical thoughts began to flow; she realised that Zell too could mature and grow in different ways than in the past lives she experienced alone by his side.
[Zell... All grown up!]
Clang, Clang! He tapped his glass and stood up suddenly; the loud scraping of his chair turned all the women towards him, from Yinfra, who lay on her back being "tickled to death" in revenge by Anya, to Cryska, who kept blowing kisses, to Zell and try to hold a straight face despite the red flushed cheeks giving away her intoxication.
Griselda and Yanfra perked their fluffy ears up, then fixated their eyes on Zell, not moving or even breaking their focus.
"I just wanted to take this moment to speak to you all and let you in on some of the things I've been hiding, not wishing you all to remain in the darkness."
[Zell... Punishment light now... can tell!]
For once, Yanfra would accept the punishment as the records held by the council of gods would say her name as the one who told them and not Zell; her glimmering blue eyes watched him, a new sense entering her chest. This was something that had never happened in the many lives she had lived beside him until now.
He never grew close to them in one run before, never chose to become a hybrid race or faced facts and reality so soon, usually just before death or after losing Rika or Nora.
Zell's eyes became severe as the small black light of the demonic blood fury flickered inside while he cleared his throat loudly, all gazes focused on him like he used "Tyrants Aegis" on them all.
"As you may know, this game is strange, and so is our current world..."
[Good luck Zell, mommy Yanfra is routing for you, always by your side... even in death.]
While he began to speak about the truth of Astral Online, the gods and his rebirth leaving out his customisation as Yanfra stopped him from talking about it in his mind to these women who won his trust and were allowed to know by Yanfra and also Yinfra, who stopped playing around and also watched Zell in awe, like her sister, she too lived countless lives with him however, only remembered the past two, the rest learned thanks to her sister's superior fate weaving skills.
"So from this moment on, it's very likely both the game world and this one will become challenging, from the monsters all being as strong as the goblin from today and players gaining powers in real life..."
All the women looked at him, and although still tipsy and blushing red, it seemed they all began to sober a little; of course, Cryska and Anya noticed the changes immediately.
'No wonder my slightly rough skin became as young as a teen, and my tits are now perkier than ever!' Cryska thought.
'Mmmm, I gathered that my dreams allowed me to know it might be true. I am glad he trusts us enough to tell us, as he said the goddess told him not to or suffer punishment.' Anya felt relieved by his words.
Tessa remained silent with a slight tremble in her body. Worried about her mother, that never once touched the game and refused to do so, although she vanished a few days ago since the game started, a slight fear of losing the most powerful woman she knows made her feel melancholy.
"My dear comrades, we still have time. Let's do the best we can until the very last moment. Tomorrow I will visit the dojo with Tessa, and we will see her mother and help her play the game no matter what it takes!"
"Eh?"
Suddenly, his words caused Tessa's body that stood up to leave suddenly to halt, shocked eyes looking towards him, 'How could he know?' she always felt he knew her well, everything from the moment he met her, yet even his story he mentioned only glancing at her from a distance...
'He is this considerate for me? Thank you, Zell.... from the first day, you have been so kind, and I only gave you cheek and attitude, taking your house for granted...'
A slight tear dripped down her cheeks as Zell opened his arms wide.
"Ladies! Welcome to the Apocalypse! Now let's drink till morning!"