Back home

Once he entered the house, Seth found his parents talking with some people from the slums. He didn’t even bother asking the system about them as he approached his parents.

“Mother, Father, I’m back.”

Both Nash and Hilda were overjoyed and quickly came to hug him, as well as ask about where he went, what he did, and so on. Seth stuck to his bullshit story about training in the wild, not willing to have them worry or pester him for nothing.

After spending a few hours with his parents, he let them be and went upstairs, where he knew Pearl was studying while hiding from the guests.

“Welcome back, Seth.” Said Pearl with a smile as she put her book down and came to hug him as well.

Seth patted her head and said: “Good to see you’re doing fine, Pearl. Is it only me, or have you gained a few more inches?”

Pearl smiled and shook her head while breaking the hug. “It’s your imagination. Where have you been?”

Seth sighed and said: “I don’t have time to tell you now since I’m in a hurry to return to the academy. I need you to go to Slumbering Grave inn.”

Pearl raised an eyebrow and asked: “Why go there?”. It’s been a while since the last time she went there.

“I brought you a gift from my travels. The innkeeper will give it to you.” Said Seth with a smile and refused to answer her questions before eventually taking his leave.

After leaving the confused Pearl behind, Seth said goodbye to his parents and made his way toward the academy.

Winter had arrived again, and there were already people working on cleaning the snow off the streets. Seth heaved a long sigh seeing the poor people working an entire day for a few coppers.

‘The entire capital could get warmed by a fire ascended at the third shell in a manner of seconds. It wouldn’t even waste the energy, since they wouldn’t even have to activate it. Just spreading it around will remove the need for snow plowing, heating, thick clothes, and so on.’

‘Oh Iris, if you could only see the world I’m planning to build, would you still be loyal to them like this?’

He knew he couldn’t blame it all on the kingdom itself, since no one has prohibited the ascended from doing it. It was just that they were too focused on getting stronger that they never considered other uses for their energy. He could still remember what the future, or in his case, the past, held.

Heaving another sigh, Seth stepped through the academy’s gates. Since it was already a little past noon, he first headed for his building. After opening the door and stepping inside, he was surprised to find Maya sitting at his desk, reading through some thick book.

After the door opened, she smiled and put the book down before walking up to him.

“Welcome back.” Said Maya as she moved her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately. Seth responded to her kiss and only broke apart after they were both satisfied.

“Thank you. What are you doing here?” asked Seth.

“I’ve been spending most of my time here after class, reading through water books and correcting all mistakes I might have had in my theory. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Of course, I don’t. What about the girls?”

“They are practicing in the training room. I wanted to go check on their progress, but they wouldn’t let me.”, replied Maya with a wry smile.

“I never told those brats that you may see their training.” Seth chuckled and grabbed her hand before leading her into the training room.

Once he unlocked the door, he found all the girls dressed in battered clothes looking at him and Maya. Seeing that it was Seth, they all stopped fighting and rushed to him.

Seth spoke a few words with each one of them until Henrietta approached him. Blushing slightly, four types of energy appeared around her and she said nothing while looking down at the floor.

Seth understood what she meant, but Maya was flabbergasted. She clearly saw all the girls using their energy when they stepped in, some of them even multiple types of energy, with some she had not seen before.

Before Seth could open his mouth, Maya looked at Henrietta and asked: “What did Seth feed you all? Why are there so many of you with multiple sources?”

Henrietta panicked for a moment, thinking she might have broken Seth’s rule to keep their sources a secret, and was about to sprout some explanation when Seth moved his hand around Maya’s waist.

“I never got the chance to tell you. There are quite a lot of them with unique or multiple sources. Their energies are…” Seth then explained everyone’s energies, starting with Henrietta.

She took everything well, relaxing eventually since she was quite used to Seth’s constant surprises. Seth told the girls to resume training while promising Henrietta they would speak later before leaving the training room with Maya.

“Why was she so bashful after you walked in?” asked Maya after returning to the classroom.

“I promised I’ll sleep with her after she forms her sources. Some sort of motivation while also giving her time to figure out her feelings.”, said Seth towards Maya while carefully observing her expression. Maya was Henrietta’s tutor when she was young, and he couldn’t say he wasn’t even a little worried about her reaction.

Maya stopped before turning towards the training room. Tiling her head to the side, she asked: “You plan on putting your hands on all of them, don’t you?”

Seth chuckled and hugged her from behind before resting her head on her shoulder and nodding while staring in the same direction. “Something like that. We’ll see how it goes. I don’t plan on forcing them tho and even if they refuse, I still want them by my side.”

Maya nodded before saying: “Hmm, I want in when you’re going to do it with Henrietta. I taught her everything, so I might as well teach her this. Knowing you, you’ll probably end up with her unable to move for a month. She’s probably still a virgin.”

“Hehe, I don’t mind it, but I already took Hollie’s virginity, and she was just fine.”

Maya turned towards Seth with a perplexed expression and asked: “You really did it with the bookworm? I figured if anything would pass between her legs, it would still be a book or something.”

Seth flicked her forehead with a laugh and said: “Don’t be mean.”

Maya stuck her tongue out and asked: “How did it go in the Wrath kingdom?”

“Would I be back here if I failed? I had the Valdez family hide inside an inn in the slums, but I created some chaos in Wrath. Did Iris say anything?”

Maya shook her head and said with a sigh: “I haven’t spoken to her that much. Ever since your fight, she’s been quite cold. She knows I’m on your side and pushed me away as well…”

Seth sighed and said: “I’m sorry it got to this. I know she’s your friend…”

Maya’s eyes became slightly downcast as she asked: “Will you still keep your word?”

Seth caressed her face and lifted it so that she could look into his eyes as he said: “I don’t intend to break my word. It will be a lot more difficult, but I’ll still make her come around.”

Maya nodded and kissed his lips before saying with a smile: “Thank you. I’m sure this is quite troublesome for you.”

Seth smiled and shook his head. “No need for thanks between us. I’ll visit her now since I need to let her know about something. ”

Maya nodded before remembering something and blushing slightly: “Seth, do you have any free time these days?…”

<She wants to introduce you to her family. Word has reached their ears that Maya has stopped fooling around and is now in a serious relationship and they asked her to meet you. >

‘I didn’t need you to tell me. She can speak for herself.’

<I informed host because the current leader of the family, her great-great grandnephew, fears you getting serious with her and threatening his position. He plans on making things difficult for host.>

‘Is he out of his mind?’

<…>

Seth smiled at Maya and nodded. “Of course, I have time for you. What do you need?”

“My family wants to meet you. I don’t really care that much since I haven’t been that close to them, but I can’t just ignore them. If you don’t want to, I can make some excuse for you.” Replied Maya with a blush.

“I don’t mind it. Not tonight, but tomorrow I should be free. You can let them know and set everything up.”

Maya smiled and kissed Seth again. They spoke a bit more before he went to visit Iris.

Making his way through the academy courtyard, Seth arrived at Iris’s place and knocked on the door. After being let in, Iris sighed and said: “Back already? Do you need anything?”

Seth frowned and asked: “Didn’t you receive any news from the Wrath kingdom?” He figured the Wrath kingdom should have already complained by now and he didn’t bother to actually check, but Iris’s reaction told him otherwise.

“No, what news?” asked Iris with a frown.

Seth frowned as well and asked the system what had happened.

<The king got the news but didn’t inform Iris about it. He already suspects you are the culprit behind the events and suspects Iris of covering for you. >

‘Iris didn’t inform him of me going to the Wrath Kingdom?’

<No. She just announced that she allowed you and Hollie to take a training leave. Your official reason for leaving the kingdom. >

‘Why?’

<She was afraid the king will try something with your parents if he knew you left that far. Aware that if anything were to happen to your parents, you will kill the king and his family, Iris hid the destination of your travel from him.>

‘Any other measures the king took?’

<Some shadows started snooping around the academy for a while, checking everything related to you, Maya, and Iris. They even broke inside your building, but I didn’t inform you because everything considered classified was being carried by Lisa in her storage space and they found nothing. They also lost ten more assassins trying to enter your parents’ house.>

‘They got so bold after everything that happened with Iris the last time?’

<He suspects Iris's report of you being able to fight her to be made up but hasn’t dared to make any braver moves since he believes you are at least a fourth shell ascended after everything that happened in the Wrath kingdom.>

‘Interesting. That’s good for me.’

Seth chuckled and said: “It seems the king already suspects you of turning against him. The Wrath Kingdom has issued a complaint of an ascended creating trouble in their kingdom and you know nothing about it.”

Iris’s frown deepened as she asked: “Was it Hollie?”

Seth shook his head and said: “You know I had her return after taking me there. Someone else must have been responsible.”

“So it was you…” said Iris with a sigh. Compared to the past, she didn’t seem willing to antagonize him anymore.

“Me? I’m barely a third shell ascended. How could I create that much trouble on my own? If you don’t believe me, I can let you look at my source.”

Sighing again, Iris shook her head and waved him off. She was already exhausted from trying to deal with Seth and now just wanted to speak to the king about what happened in Wrath.

Seth nodded and left. The king choosing not to inform Iris suited his plans well. The more the king suspected Iris of being on his side, the more he would push her to do just that.

With a giant grin on his face, Seth made his way towards the dormitory next and stopped in front of door number ten. After knocking on the door, Hollie appeared in front of him.

Looking him up and down, Hollie nodded and said: “Good to see you back in one piece. Did you do it?”

“I did. I just returned this morning and wanted to come and let you know as well. Thank you for all the help and what I said still stands, if you need anything just let me know.”

Hollie pondered for a moment before moving to the side to let him in and said: “Can you make me a bed as well?”

Seth nodded and quickly replaced her bed with a softer one. Hollie sat down on the bed and nodded before her expression became slightly troubled.

“Anything else?” asked Seth when he noticed the look on her face.

Hollie nodded and said: “I have been having trouble concentrating lately and I think it’s related to us having sex.”

“What makes you think that?” asked Seth, finding her words quite surprising.

“Whenever I read for a long time, my mind drifts to us having sex and my undergarments also get wet. I won’t be able to regain my focus until I make my body have an orgasm. I thought about asking Maya about it, but I didn’t know if that was alright. Now that you came back, I figured you might know how to fix this problem.”

‘System, can you analyze her spectrum of emotions using auras from when I was gone until now and figure out a solution?’

<Host… she is just horny.>

‘Oh. Why do you sound so disappointed?’

<…>

Ignoring the system’s suspicious behavior, Seth came next to Hollie and said with a smile: “How about we have sex and see if it fixes the symptoms for a while?”

Hollie nodded with a serious expression and said: “I was about to suggest the same thing. My body appears to be getting warmer ever since you appeared at the door.”

Seth chuckled and brought his face close to her neck. Tingling her ear with a hot breath, he nibbled on her earlobe while moving his hand up her thighs.

Hollie just closed her eyes and lifted her head with a deep breath. Seth’s touch felt so much better than her own.

As Seth’s hand reached for her drenched undergarments, he moved them to the side before sticking a finger inside. At the same time, he also bit harder on her earlobe.

“Mhmm.” A restrained moan of pleasure escaped Hollie’s throat and her hands moved instinctively towards Seth’s pants. Breaking this belt with a small wind blade, she grabbed onto his hard rod and started massaging it as well.

As her body started moving forward and backward on its own, grinding on Seth’s finger, Hollie couldn’t take it anymore and whispered: “Put it in.”

Seth pulled his fingers out and pushed Hollie on her back as she guided his rod towards her cave on her own. Supporting himself on one hand and using the other to massage one of her breasts, Seth pushed forward, sliding straight into her depths with ease.

Hollie exhaled a satisfied breath and a feeling of fullness overcame her as Seth started drifting in and out.

Under the symphony of her soft moans, Seth kept thrusting inside her at a constant rhythm. Once he felt her walls tightening and her body shaking gently, he increased his speed and, with one hard push, released his load inside her, both orgasming at the same time.

Absorbing the lust energy, he waited for Hollie to calm down as well before pulling out. Cleaning himself up, Seth changed his clothes and said with a wink: “I’m going now. If you need extra consultations, you know where to find me.”

He would have liked to stay more with her, but he had some extra stuff to do today.

After Hollie nodded weakly from the bed, Seth walked out and headed back towards his building.