Assessing the Situation

Damien was laying on the couch as Betty was preparing lunch. Betty was humming happily (maybe because they had just had sex in the bathtub) while he was deep in thought. His conversations with the Goddess had gotten him curious about their stats, so he pulled them up.

First was Bluey:

Slime – Level 13

STR – 177

VIT – 132

MAG – 53

DEX – 126

STR +52

VIT +8

Lightning Attunement

Lightning Bolt

Squishy Membrane

Bouncy

Bluey was fairly close to level 14, her progress had slowed down a lot since she was fighting mostly lower level enemies now. Bluey seems to be doing really good. Her STR is good, but she's overall high besides MAG. I guess that's not too big of a deal though considering we all can use magic now.

Next up was Aurora:

Fire-Fox – Level 11

STR – 86

VIT – 100

MAG – 206

DEX – 119

Fire Breath

Speed Boost

MAG +31

All Abilities +5

Flame Wall

Fire Mastery

Fire Attunement 2

Aurora was about halfway to level 12 after the elementals they took out the previous day. Aurora's MAG is ridiculous. I do want to get her DEX higher so her Speed Boost is even more effective.

Next was...himself.

Summoner – Level 8

STR – 42

VIT – 46

MAG – 97

DEX – 45

Stat Share

Heal (summon)

Summon Boost

Summon XP Trade Boost

Message

Summon Start-Up Boost

Copy Ability

He was about three-quarters of the way to level 9 now. Of course my stats suck. I guess that's balanced by my abilities, though. And having two summons. Damien considered the situation for a bit. Isn't Summoner actually just overpowered? Ignoring my low stats, I have two really capable summons, so I'm basically worth two combatants. I guess that's offset by having to care for them, but still. Well, maybe their stats aren't actually that high compared to similar-leveled Adventurers? Ugh, this is so confusing. He then looked over at Betty, who was smiling as she stirred their lunch stew. A similar-leveled Adventurer!

Betty saw him looking at her, and blushed. “What?”

“Can I see your status screen?” Damien asked.

Betty blushed like she had been asked to undress. “Can't you- oh, I forgot you're lower level then me. Because of Bluey and Aurora I keep thinking you're higher.”

Damien just raised an eyebrow.

“You can just use your Reader on lower leveled people to see their stats. If they're higher level, you can usually only see their name and level.”

Damien nodded, remembering the one time he had actually done that, all those months ago at the suggestion of Carleen. “Why is that the case?”

“I don't know,” Betty shrugged. “It could have to do with our world's past. Before creatures started coming in and the Adventurer's Guild was founded, there used to be a lot more wars, so maybe that was where.”

Damien just blinked at the history.

Betty continued like it wasn't important, and pulled up her Reader app, “Anyway, I can see your...what...” Betty said, perplexed.

“What's wrong?

Betty seemed slightly worried. “You're lower than level 10, right?”

Damien nodded.

“It says...'error' when I try to read you.”

Damien didn't understand. “Is there something wrong with me? Carleen was able to read my stats when she picked me up after the bear attack.”

Betty shrugged, “Can you pull up your status and show me?” Betty asked.

Damien nodded. He had done this before, leaning the screen towards Betty.

“Maybe something is wrong with my Reader...we'll check later with someone else,” Betty nodded.

Damien nodded back. “Do my stats seem low?”

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Betty blushed, “Um...don't worry, you're still really strong!” she said, trying to reassure him.

Damien just hung his head. “Can I see yours now?”

Betty nodded, pulling up her status screen:

Cleric – Level 10

STR – 52

VIT – 122

MAG – 253

DEX – 85

Light

Heal 2

Bolster

Multi-Target 2

Barrier

Bind

MAG +13

She was about two-thirds the way to level 11. What!? Betty's stats are really good. They're on par with the others or better. Although, they seem not high enough to justify not being a Summoner. As he was pondering, Damien noticed something. Wait, her STR is higher than mine!? Is she really stronger than me!?

Damien pointed to this, and Betty blushed. “I'm not stronger than you...”

“According to our stats you are!”

Betty shook her head, “You got muscles, right?” she explained flexing. “You can pick me up!”

Damien did so, causing Betty to blush and kiss him.

“I can't pick you up though,” she said, attempting to do so after she was set down. She...actually kind of did, if Damien leaned into it, but immediately dropped him on the couch.

Damien sat there and nodded. “I see, so your stats are only part of it...”

Betty nodded, as if trying to reassure him more. “If two people have the same stats, but one is buffer, the buffer one will still be stronger. Same with vitality and dexterity.”

Damien nodded again. So keeping your body healthy is important too. “What about magic?”

Betty seemed to think, “For Clerics, it's our devotion to the Goddess.”

No wonder Betty's spells are so powerful.

“I don't know about Summoners, though. Maybe it's the same, since the Goddess gave me a vision of you.”

I'm sure the Goddess won't just answer me. He waited a moment, but heard nothing in his head.

Suddenly the stew started boiling, and Betty ran over quickly.

“Sorry for distracting you.”

Betty blushed and looked at him. “You're my...boyfriend, you don't need to apologize for just wanting to talk to me about something important.”

Damien smiled, before going over to help her finish cooking.

After they ate lunch, they went over to the Guild Hall. Before they picked up a request, they went to find Liz, but she seemed to be on her lunch break.

Damien thought of yesterday, when he had run into Liz petting a cat. Motioning to the others, he went outside to the alley.

Sure enough, Liz was crouched down, petting a different looking cat while she ate a sandwich. Seeing them approaching, she immediately stopped, before inching her hand over to Aurora's tail.

“Liz...” Betty said, giving a nervous smile.

Liz snapped back to attention, “Yes?”

“Um...sorry to bother you on your break, but I encountered something weird with Damien when I tried to use the Reader screen on him...” she pulled it up and pointed, and Liz's eyes went wide.

“When did you notice this? Has this happened before?”

Damien shook his head. “Carleen, a Gold-Rank adventurer, was able to read my stats fine, although that was a while back.”

Liz nodded, “I don't know what to make of it. Is there something you think could be causing this? Like gear or some other outside influence?”

Well, I got my cloak from Madame Silvani recently... He took off the cloak, but Betty and Liz both shook their heads.

The only other thing I can think of is the Goddess put something over me?

Before he could voice this, Bluey asked, “Is it a problem? Isn't it just because Master is so awesome?”

Liz smiled, “Maybe. I can ask around-”

Damien shook his head. “I don't wanna make a big deal out of it.” Especially since I have an idea of what's causing it.

Liz and Betty looked at each other, then nodded.

After letting Liz pet Aurora's tail a few moments (not that Aurora minded), they went to get a request.

“We should probably get a good paying one, even if it takes a few days,” Betty suggested. “You need enough money to support multiple women now.”

Damien sighed, “Diana has a job. I mean, it would be nice to help them out, but she isn't unemployed.”

Betty shook her head, “No, I mean future ones the Goddess will send, too.”

Before Damien could reply, Bluey grabbed a request. “How about this one, it says forty silver.”

Damien tried to get a word in again, but Betty nodded and grabbed it. “Four Giant Eagles for forty silver. This is great! We can get there in two days, so four or five days of work for forty silver.” She leaned over to Damien, “I don't see any other Giant Eagle requests, but we might be able to use our other strategy too if we run into anything.”

Deciding to let the previous matter drop, Damien nodded. “That's a good idea.”

Since they could now leave things in their apartment, they went and packed for the trip, before heading north through Ancona and out of the city.

To get to the Giant Eagles, they needed to start out similarly to how they went to the Harpy territory, but instead of heading into the forest, they needed to stay on the road until they went further and further uphill, until eventually they were in the mountains. Unsurprisingly, the Giant Eagles tended to make their nests on the cliffs.

While Damien was having reservations with a lot of the stuff going on right now, the other all seemed in good spirits about the trip.

“How are we going to get the Eagles? Should I jump up and grab them?” Bluey asked, acting like she was going to jump up into the sky then and there. She and Betty were walking in front.

Betty giggled “No, we need to climb up to their nests, or lure them down somehow. I can probably use my Bind like I did on the harpies, too” Betty explained.

Behind them, Aurora was walking next to Damien, and he kept feeling her tail brush against him lightly, so he looked over at her.

Aurora blushed and smiled, looking down at the ground.

“What is it?” Damien asked.

Aurora leaned up to whisper, “Can I have you tonight, Master?”

Damien blushed slightly, and said, “I'd like to, but I don't want to make the others mad.”

She shook her head, “There's three nights on the trip, so we decided we'd split you once a night.”

Betty giggled while Bluey looked back, jealous. “I wanted to go first, but I lost our game.”

Damien sighed, “Why did you ask if you already knew it was your night?”

Aurora blushed, “You might not want too.”

He wrapped an arm around her, “Of course I would.”

Aurora blushed even more, her tail going into overdrive.

Their travel passed uneventfully, until at dusk they stopped at an inn. This was a well-traveled road, so the inn was bustling with merchants and other Adventurer's. They bought two rooms then sat at a table, ordering some stew.

While they were eating, Betty made sure to keep everyone on task. “We should get to the Eagle territory in the afternoon, so we should try to get at least two tomorrow. That way we can finish the last two the day after and start heading back. If we're lucky we might even get all of them tomorrow and start heading back right away.”

They all nodded while spooning mouthfuls of soup.

While they were eating, Bluey froze slightly, looking up towards the door. Aurora's ears twitched as well.

Damien, concerned, turn around, and saw Herod walking towards them.

“Haha, it's my summoner buddy. You on a request?” he said.

Damien was again put off by his smile, but tried to remain cordial. “Yeah. What about you?”

Herod's grin widened, “Of course, I just completed my Divine rank request.”

Betty gave a forced smile, “Congrats!”

Herod smiled at her.

Aurora sniffed slightly, “Where are the others?” she said, her voice quivering slightly.

Damien looked behind Herod, and noticed only two of the collared summons behind him. His stomach started to sink.

Herod chuckled softly, “Haha, a few weren't up to the task.”

Aurora grabbed Damien's knee under the table while Bluey gripped her spoon so hard it broke.

Herod, noticing, laughed harder. “Haha, seems like your summons aren't fond of me. It's not a big deal, they're easily replaceable, right?” Getting no response, he sighed, “Well, I should expect as much from an Bronze-Rank.” He motioned to the two remaining summons he had, who followed him away towards the rooms.

Bluey stared daggers at him.

Damien tried to calm her down. “We can't do anything about it, Bluey.”

After they finished eating, they started walking to their rooms.

Bluey was hugging Betty tightly. “Bluey...ease up...” Betty pleaded.

Bluey blushed slightly and let go. “Sorry, I'm just so mad.”

Betty pet her head. “I understand. I am too, but we should just focus on our own task right now, okay?”

Bluey nodded, then hugged Betty again, though a bit gentler.

Damien gave them both a kiss, then went into the neighboring room with Aurora.

Aurora held onto him tightly. “Master wouldn't let us die, right?”

Damien hugged with one hand and patted her head with the other. “Do you even need to ask? I would never do something like that. I would sacrifice myself before I let one of you die.”

Aurora pushed him back, “But I don't want Master to die.”

Damien shook his head. “No one's going to die. We just need to look out for each other.”

Aurora smiled and laid her cheek against his chest, tail wagging around. “Master, I love you so much.”

Damien picked her up and kissed her. “I love you too.”

Aurora grabbed his cheeks and started to make out with him.

Damien carried her over to the bed, putting her down and gently brushing her tail.

Aurora flicked it around. “Master...do that later...” she giggled, taking off her clothes.

Damien followed suit, until they were both naked on the bed together. Damien started licking her opening, causing Aurora to give a soft 'piyu' as she held his head down. After feeling her starting to spasm, he gently inserted a finger, until Aurora squirted slightly onto his hand.

Blushing heavily, Aurora poked him. “Master, stop teasing me and put it in.”

Damien nodded, sliding his member into her wet opening. He grabbed her hips, slowly thrusting into her, before going quicker and quicker.

Aurora arched her back, before spasming again.

Damien felt himself coming, and grabbed her tightly, holding her down as he released into her.

After they each caught their breath, Aurora jumped onto him, holding him and licking his cheek. “Master...”

Damien chuckled, “You're so affectionate today.”

Aurora blushed, “I just want to make the most of time with Master,” she said, sticking her nose into his chest and wagging her tail around.

Damien took this time to hold it in one hand and gently brush it with the other.

“Piyuuuu” Aurora let out softly in contentment.

Damien continued brushing it until Aurora fell asleep on top of him.

I really should buy Aurora a brush...