The sweet scent of boiling guava filled the small cabin where we were making candy. Small seals on the iron pot poured chi into the mixture, sparking and lighting up as the juice and pulp bubbled. I ran a wooden filter through the mixture, removing the pulp until the juice boiled and concentrated. I had many sticks prepared and round molds for pouring. The girls watched me pour sugar into a pot of spirit water. I gently dissolved the mixture without boiling it, then set the pot to boil. They watched me on the edge of their seats as I worked filling the cabin with sweet scents. I let the dissolved sugar boil and poured it into the extract. Then, I poured the mixture into my molds and placed a stick in them.

“What is the point of this?” Daphne asked.

“I have a fetish,” I said.

“I have never heard of that word. What does it mean?” Venus asked.

“For too long I have neglected you. That ends today. I’m going to give each of you my full attention.” I said.

Venus spread her thighs where only the scant fabric of her undergarments hid her heavenly gate. I sucked in a breath as she poured some coconut oil on her thighs and rubbed them in front of me. She smiled, showing off her white teeth, and her glistening skin caught the light peeking through the upper windows.

My heart hammered in my chest as I stared, and for a few seconds, the world faded to the drumming sound of my heartbeat. “You must wait until chi gathering,” Venus said.

I coughed into my hand. That was the milestone I set and I wanted to watch these girls suck on big round candy balls. Seeing their cheeks bulge as they licked and moaned, the fantasy alone had my blood pressure rising.

9.9% wasn’t enough; I needed a little more, and I could move so much faster. The first milestone, the upgrade to my regeneration, would heal my cracked teeth and grow my lost one back. I was held up waiting for my body to finish healing from an earlier training session.

I wanted them, but I couldn’t move fast enough until I hit 10% completion. Once that happened, I would gain a little chi manipulation, maybe enough to make some headway into protecting my soul from these spirits.

My feet carried me over to Venus while the others watched. I looked down at her cute full lips, pointy chin, and slightly crooked teeth. I touched her shoulder gently over her clothes and glowered down at her. “Girl, you look like a tall glass of water on this hot summer day.”

“Too bad all you can do is look.” She grabbed the hem of her dress and flashed the side of her breast at me.

I sucked in a breath and breathed out, feeling the heat escape like a bronze bull. The Venus beside me opened one of the molds from an earlier batch and pulled a hard piece of candy free. She raised it to her lips and kissed it before letting me watch her push it between them. Her small pink tongue lashed out to cover the underside of the candy, and she slurped it into her mouth. She let the giant orb bulge the side of her cheek.

These women were so dangerous.

…

I woke up one morning and felt a tooth grow out from a formerly empty gum. Teeth that were cracked and hurt more than I would like to admit were sealed. Scars that littered my arm had shrunk and would continue to shrink. When I closed my eyes, I saw it: the fragment of chaos hummed within the chi gathered in my body.

At 10%, I had a choice: either gain a different fragment and continue at my slow pace or upgrade regeneration. I chose the latter because who wanted to be in body tempering any longer than they had to?

I closed my eyes and drank in the feeling of six girls lying on my chest. Their bodies nestled against me. Some were spooning while others had their backs to me, holding an arm between their breasts like a teddy bear.

Some part of me thought it was ironic. To me, they were like teddy bears. I held them close to help soothe the pain. Without them, I might have broken already. When reaching for the ultimate powers of the multiverse, a man needed a support system, or their stoic façade would crack. Once the façade cracked, it was all about heavy metal music, raising undead armies, and building the gynoid waifu harem.

I didn’t know if I loved them, but I lusted after them, and having them here with me made things easier. All six of them were beautiful, with features generally found in nobles. Their lithe bodies only became more attractive as they drank in chi. I could see the hardship melt off of them.

One of the Venus woke up as I watched them sleep. She blinked her beautiful brown eyes blearily before focusing on me. Her smile, which had once been strained, was a little truer than even a week ago.

She saw that all the other girls were asleep and spoke. “I have to tell you. The men plan to revolt.”

“The slaves, there aren’t many, only 50 at most,” I said.

“Before the Dahomey invaded and killed our warriors and my father. Our tribe was Yoruba. On the boat, our people protected us. We were the young future mothers of our people. If the men rebel, what will happen.”

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“They will be killed and turned into puppets like the natives and the Spaniards,” I said.

“If they run, will you chase them? If I ask you to let them go, will you? I’ve seen your puppets; you don’t need them.”

Keeping slaves, in general, was frowned upon in the sect. Only Dao Seedling could get away with it, mainly by capturing young mistresses from rival sects or lower sects. It was still frowned upon unless they immediately took them as concubines and bred them. Then, it was clearly only spreading the culture and superiority of the Thunder Eagle Sect.

“If they leave, the Yucatec will capture and enslave them. Most may be sacrificed to the Yucatec gods. Aguilar was almost sacrificed himself.” I said.

“Ewatomi, I know you’re not squealing to our kind master. He could kill us all.”

“Venus, what is your actual name.”

The girl smirked at me. “Moyosooretoluwaseninuayemi,” Venus said.

I felt a headache coming on when I heard that name. “I will have to practice it,” I said.

“Call me Yemi. It's like the English word yummy because I’m so sweet.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“I don’t know. I have some training to do.” I said.

The girls looked at me expectantly as I lay among them and pulled the girls, clutching my arms closer. I felt Yemi push her crotch against my leg while Ewatomi turned over and shoved her firm booty against me. It was a good morning to sleep in.

…

Sweat poured off me as I stood with the others lined up, steel plates shining in, while warriors in loincloths and cotton armor paraded 19 girls in front of us. None of the girls wore a top; only loincloths gave them any modesty as we waited patiently for the procession of warriors to make a turn and stand in front of our captains.

My own man, Pedro de Alvarado, would see to his interests as a captain, not out of favoritism to me. I thought it was important for my puppets to first act in the group's interest.

A man fired the canon just as the Yucatec were positioned. The warriors jumped, one of whom fell to the ground and covered his head. Aguilar spoke quickly to the chief as the stallion, full mast, leaped to his back hooves, searching for a mare.

“Can you repeat that you want me to tell the chief that the canon is angry with him?” Aguilar said.

Cortes, sweating like the rest of us, frowned at the man. “You repeated my words fine in Espanol. I paid a lot of beads for your translator, so translate.”

“We would appreciate it if you play it off as a joke. Maybe it will put the chief at ease.” Alvarado said.

“It isn’t a joke; they think our horses and riders are the same beings. Pedro, you aren’t a rider. You’re a centaur to them, like Chiron.” Cortes said.

“What advantage does this misdirection give us?” Alvarado asked.

Cortes rubbed his mustache. “They won’t try to make their canons or tame horses if they think they’re thinking beings loyal to us.”

“The chief says that these beautiful women are to be our slaves. They will serve us in any way we desire. Their soldiers will lead us from the beach further inland. One of the women, Malinalli, speaks the local language of Nahuatl.” Aguilar said.

“We are going to let a savage speak for us. Aguilar, how can we trust such a woman not to betray our words?” Alvarado said.

“She’s a woman; they are easy to control.”

I recalled women from the sect frying young masters alive and sect elders laughing. In that madhouse, men took women when they could, and women killed those they disliked. Female cultivators were brutal creatures, often addicted to their power. I had to kill more than a few who tried to throw their weight around. So far, I have six women on the road to cultivation. Adding another couldn’t cause more chaos.

Cortes shook hands, and Fray Juarez spoke in his ear. “Aguilar tell the chief he only needs to burn his heretical idols and learn to love Christ and he can be friends with Spain.”

“That is not why we’re here. Our goal is to scout the territory and report back. Are you suggesting we violate orders and overreach with the numbers we have?”

“Aguilar translate now; as for you, Pedro, you have changed. When did the governor buy you.” Cortes said.

The other captains tensed. Alvarado stared at the others and glared at Cortes. The natives turned, and out of the jungle came a team of puppets dressed in robes with a small thunder eagle stitched on the breast. In their wagon was a hunk of iron ore that had to weigh about 500 lbs. The wagon wheels threatened to snap as their cart bounced off roots.

“You will return our people before we discuss religion,” Aguilar said.

I sighed and stepped out of line. “Atom, get back in line now,” a sergeant yelled.

I flipped the man the bird and approached the wagon. The puppets stepped back, and I pulled the wagon out of the forest the rest of the way. Never had a hunk of iron looked so good. When I dragged the wagon to the path leading to the industry side of camp, I had the puppets take it the rest of the way.

“Translate for me, Aguilar. Do you want us to drop all pretenses? Once we do, there will be no going back; you will join the Walking Dead. I will cut the wheat from the chaff, adding your sons to our number and teaching them the ways of my people. They will learn to speak our language, fashion our weapons, and fight for us in battle. I’m sure they will be great warriors, but all of you will be dead, and a part of your culture will die with you. All your codexes will be added to our libraries and studied only by the curious.” I said.

I wasn’t going to burn their libraries and destroy the information on their gods, heaven, and history. That way lay madness. I would use everything they had and discard what I didn’t need. It would suck for the old people without any necessary skills.

Puppets walked into camp carrying dear. A butcher quickly took them, a pickler preserved them, and an accountant marked them for the food stores. We could use more efficiency, but that would come with time and mistakes. More puppets required more delegation and men to command them. The iron was on its way to a prebuilt foundry where the ore would be smelted and turned into anything the camp needed. In a couple of days we would have more steel arms and armor. All puppets doubled as basic infantry, another part of the basic puppet package.

The chief looked spooked when he pointed at a puppet missing an eye. “That is my brother," Aguilar said.

I had no idea where the man came from. My puppets were killing and turning people into puppets when they had a 5 to 1 advantage. To a cultivator, even a body tempering expert at 5%, puppets weren’t a threat. They were tools to make life easier.

The sun vanished as another thunderstorm swept overhead. Chac, the god, in the form of a storm, raged overhead. The chief stared at the sky as rain fell. He pulled an obsidian dagger from his sheath and turned to one of his warriors. The warrior bore his chest, and the chief lunged with the dagger.

It wasn’t a struggle. The warrior poured the violet shades of faith into either, only for the thunderstorm to draw it in. At that moment, the storm struck. Bolts of lightning avoided us, raining down one after another on my puppets. In each bolt, despite the speed of the strike, I felt the presence of a Chac. This wasn’t a mere attack; it was possession, and I had no countermeasures.

The bodies fell to the dirt before twitching. Sparks of electricity shot down their nervous systems, each targeting different parts of my seal. I watched with my spirit sense as the god experimented with the vessels. The experiment lasted only a moment, but I knew it had collected immense data from its tests.

I hid my smirk as best I could.

“Treachery, your god, has attacked us without provocation. He is an evil deity, and all worship of him must be stopped.” I pointed up at the sky. No, I wasn’t serious. Who killed the goose that laid the golden egg? I thoroughly planned to dissect the bodies and learn more about the possession process. How else would I ensure an excellent natural treasure dropped each time? “You fiend raising the dead to suit your purposes. You are an evil demon and no god at all.” I said.

What I wanted was simple. The gods needed to feel threatened enough to move and act. How else would I shake natural treasures out of them? If they did nothing, then what good were they?

This show wasn’t for the chief. He was as good as dead already. Lightning had sparked overhead for days, plenty of time to prepare for. Most of my puppets had seals to ensure the divine energy spread through their bodies more evenly, soaking it up instead of spilling it everywhere.

Bodies deformed as green leaves grew from their heads and plant roots wiggled beneath their skin. Rain fell directly on us harder than ever until all we could hear was the roar. Roots stretched out of the bodies, red and slick with black clotted blood. Rain fell upon them, and they grew more vibrant as more roots erupted from the puppets.

The smile remained hidden on my face. This wasn’t a dream come true; the vines erupted with bolts of electricity, and as they reached out, the puppets rose back to their feet. Their eyes remained, and suddenly, the focus came to them. One pointed at me and screeched in horror. I reached down to La Ceniza and drew her slowly. Rain hissed as the blade left its scabbard naked and hot. Like a tomboy, my sword looked good once she was prettied up.