Chapter 171 171 - Grateful Days
As the sun began to rise, Ryan opened a portal to his home and fell into his own bed. Both he and Alice were completely exhausted, but with the nonexistent time difference between the two worlds, the two returned while it was still night. The time difference was only a few seconds after they entered the portal, practically irrelevant.
*
"Huh? What?" Ryan said as he slowly opened his eyes. The window blinds were open and a sweet smell of food was wafting in through his bedroom door. Confused, he sat up in bed and looked both ways.
'She's still asleep' he thought. Alice was next to him, completely naked and with her blonde hair in disarray. Her face was completely serene, although she still had a little makeup smeared on her face. Running his hand through her hair, he brought a few locks behind her ear, as he leaned in to give her a kiss on the cheek.
"Sleep well," he said with a smile as he carefully got out of bed and made his way to the kitchen. When he got there, five girls were talking in low tones.
"Ryan has a serious problem with dirt, I think I'll study some more wind spells. That way we can sweep the sand out of here" Olivia said, her voice sounding tired.
Looking down at the floor, Ryan realized that some of the sand from the beach had gotten in through the portal and was now all over the room.
<That was a big wobble... >
'It wasn't intentional'
- 'You have to be more careful, Ryan.
'I'm sorry'
- You should apologize to them -
<NO! WAIT!>
Nyx appeared in front of him, floating in the middle of the room as she extended both arms to form a barrier. The two exchanged glances, and the succubus' smutty smile explained exactly what she was thinking.
Ryan activated his demonic form, and dodging between the shadows he crossed the room and hid behind one of the curtains. There he stood watching what they were talking about. Luna Nightglow and Syl Lullaby were exchanging magical papers, both of them had an interest in occult and dark magic, an area of magic that is still not so explored due to the lack of original books from the second world.
While they talked about it, Rose, Lyza and Olivia were planning the menu that Ryan would eat during the week. He kept quiet, expecting them to keep saying something bad about him, but what happened was exactly the opposite.
The girls had no reason to talk badly about him, they all love him. Still, Olivia was a little annoyed by the sand he had left, but it was nothing serious.
"Syl, can you make a magic circle to collect the dirt and send it somewhere else?" said Lyza, who was standing in front of the stove, cooking.
"I believe so, but Ryan should better understand how to do the dirt picking part. The work he's doing with magical machines is amazing," the former vampire said.
"Oh, I haven't seen his new projects yet. He showed me a bit of the mold of the weapon he's designing' said Luna, who was paying attention to Syl's lines.
'Those two look a lot alike'
<Yeah, they're both two huge goth girlfriends>
'How the fuck do you know so much internet slang?'
- May I ask you two, what is slang? -
<It's magical words used by a strict and selected few wise internet users>
- And what is that so-called internet? -
<.....>
Shaking his head, Ryan remained quiet as he watched the girls behave. In a way, he wanted to see how they were dealing with each other and what relationship they had away from his eyes.
Syl and Luna were closer. Luna was as busy a girl as Rin, yet she still showed up at least three times a week at Ryan's house to practice some magic and talk to him. Of the wives, Luna was currently one of the least relatable, partly because she had only recently joined the harem.
Her mastery of the shadow arts made her very interested in portals, which made her a little closer to Sylvanna, who was teaching her about portals and dark magic.
Lyza and Olivia shared a love of cooking, which meant they talked a lot about what dishes to make or what was healthier. Lyza was teaching about diet and training to Olivia, who wanted to get stronger physically.
"Oh! I forgot to tell you, the squats workout is working!" Olivia said excitedly. Olivia said excitedly.
"Wait a few more days and soon you will notice your butt getting bigger. But be careful not to lose too much fat, or you'll end up with a very hard butt. The chest workout I gave you will increase your boobs a bit, but you shouldn't increase the load too much"
Ryan's face flushed a little as he observed that conversation.
<Why are you shy? You've literally had sex with all of them>
'I just, I know I shouldn't be listening to this conversation'
Rose as a healing mage had a lot of knowledge about diet and nutrition, so she was planning with Lyza Ryan's diet. Something he didn't even think was happening.
'They're taking care of my diet? But I didn't ask for it...'
<You lived on scrambled eggs, instant noodles and orange juice. Obviously they would pay attention to that.>
'But they're even making a menu, isn't that a bit surprising?
<'When was the last time you cooked for yourself?>
'I think it was on the last trip to the second world, when we left the desert village and walked to the beach... That sand lizard was yummy...'
<'See, you only cooked it because you were completely alone...'>
'Makes sense...'
"I think we'll need to increase his diet to three and a half thousand calories a day, his energy expenditure is starting to get higher..." said Rose, who was checking a notebook.
"Increasing five hundred calories will make a good difference. The biggest problem is that he doesn't do fractional feeding," said Lyza, who was chopping up some fruit and putting it in a blender.
'They're thinking that much about me...'
It touched him a little, after so many years of being alone and lost, he now had people who truly cared about his well-being. Those girls wanted him well, wanted to help him, wanted to be there for him and support the dreams and goals he has. With a warmth in his chest, he returned to the bed, only to find Alice turning from side to side sleepily.
'This girl is so cute' he thought, and then left the room.
'I ended up knocking over some sand...' he said aloud, and stretching out his arms, he used the dampness of the place to gather up the grains of sand and dust. The water went all over the floor, and then began to float. The entire floor was dry, as every molecule of water was stored inside that bubble.
With a snap of his fingers, Ryan opened a portal and threw that ball of water through it. All the girls were watching him with wide-eyed amazement at the way he had found to solve this problem so quickly. With a smile, he sat down on the bench next to Luna.
Approaching the papers, he said excitedly "So you're studying black magic? There is a very good book in the library, the name is Codex of the Itinerant Caster. It has a chapter on the magics of the southern swamps, which go into the theoretical basis of black magics."
"I can help you find that book later" Olivia said, with a smile on her face.
"Yes, thank you" Luna replied, and then she turned to give Ryan a kiss on the lips.
Getting up from the chair, he approached each of the girls, giving them kisses on the neck and mouth. First on Syl, then on Rose, then on Olivia and lastly on Lyza. The redhead was about to finish breakfast, and sitting on a bench, he waited for the pancakes, mixed fruit, eggs and nuts to be ready.
After that delicious breakfast, the girls were even more enamored with Ryan, who managed to be more and more captivating. When Ryan returned to his office, he focused on his hearing to listen to what they were saying.
"He cleaned up the sand right away, isn't it amazing how thoughtful he is?" said Olivia, who seemed to be charmed by him.
Lyza gave a small laugh, "He's a crafty boy, and he sure knows how to make me happy. Did you see how excited he seemed about the food? I'll never get tired of cooking for him..."
"I'm amazed at how much he understands about so many areas of magic, I could never find that book" said Luna.
"I didn't even know that book" Sylvanna added.
"Me neither, and I work in the library" Olivia said.
Even in the other room, Ryan knew the girls had smiles on their faces. Grateful, he looked out the window as he thought about how to thank them for the wonderful life he was having.