Novaris. Sax (June). 905. AGC.

Nodel. Waning Gibbous🌖. Day 21.

The next morning, Tesilim got a message from Alyx asking him to meet him at Lili’s shop. Tesilim wasn’t sure why he had received the message since he figured that was the plan anyway. Either way, he got ready, and it wasn’t long before he and Drex were making their way there.

Last night, Tesilim made the final decision on behalf of Drex to wait on any baby stuff until he also decided what he should do.

Walking into Lili’s shop, Tesilim found the whole gang was already there.

Lili was doing alchemy, Alyx was reading a book, and Jasmine and Rose chatted about something related to food. The first to spot him were the two ladies who went quiet at seeing his solemn face. Then their silence prodded Alyx to look up, and he put his book away. Finally, Lili was the last to meet his gaze as she placed down a beaker.

“What’s wrong?” She asked, speaking for everyone else in the room.

From there, Tesilim began his explanation of the issue with Jolly. This explanation ended with him pulling up his goals menu and showing them the description of his latest problem.

🔷 Crystal Notice 🔷

🔷 Goals 🔷

- A Seed for a Seed.

- Reach C Rank. Allotted Time - 1 Year.

- Reach S Rank.

- Help kill an Eldritch God.

🔷

🔷 Crystal Notice 🔷

🔷 Adventure Goal 🔷

Name: A Seed for a Seed.

Type: Investigation 🔍.

Rank: D.

Danger: Responsibility.

Suggested Number: N/A.

Threat: Responsibility.

Goal: Learn whether Jolly’s trade is beneficial or not, and then make a decision.

Reward: 1 Chaos Point and possibly a magical item.

Description: The S Rank Dryad Jolly wishes to gain your seed, and in return, she promises an S Rank magical item, free childcare, and lots of good times. However, considering what's at stake, it is better to be safe than sorry. Speak with your friends and mentors to discover whether Jolly’s trade is as beneficial as she makes it out to be.

🔷

Tesilim could see Alyx wanted to laugh but held back, realizing Tesilim was taking this as a serious issue. Meanwhile, after hearing the prompt, Rose stared at him as if he were a unicorn since only this type of absurdity could happen to him. Finally, Jasmine gave him a friendly and understanding smile as if she completely understood his predicament. It made Tesilim wonder if someone had given her such an offer due to her own issues.

Of course, that wasn’t it at all, and Jasmine felt bad for him because he was yet another individual getting chased by powerful entities, even if it was his own fault this time.

“Okay, so it's obvious you think I am being stupid here, but you have to understand this is new to me. Back on Earth, having a child was a serious issue.” Tesilim said solemnly, which helped Lili and Alyx reign themselves in.

“Sorry, Tes, it's just so crazy that this is happening to you,” Alyx responded.

“What's even more crazy is that you didn’t immediately take the deal. Honestly, good for you, it shows you are using your brain.” Lili continued teasingly.

“Uh-huh, yeah, okay, so what do you think? I already messed up by showing her my soul, so I rather not do something else that will come bite me in the ass.” Tesilim answered, staring down Alyx and Lili.

“I think it’s a good deal in the grand scheme of things. Well, as long as you get a contract.” Rose threw in, taking him by surprise, and Tesilim responded with a look that said, “And how do you figure that?”

However, she wasn’t the one who answered. Instead, it was Alyx who agreed, “She does have a point. Though it truly depends on what this item is, and even then, an S Rank item is a good reward, you can't just get those at a market.”

“Says the gnome who is carrying like three around,” Lili said, giving the gnome a side glance, to which he responded with a glare. Still, she continued, “Tesilim, what Rose said is true. Honestly, it wasn’t even the fact that you showed Jolly your soul the first time around. It's more than you did it without a contract that would seal her lips. Seriously, no high-ranker is peaking into some low-ranker's soul at random, so they wouldn’t just see the mana in there. The main problem with Jolly was that nothing was stopping her from spreading the word, though I doubt she would.”

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“What, so you guys weren’t worried about her kidnapping me?”

“No. Okay, well, yes, but we would get you back. I can always call home and get reinforcements, and honestly, I doubt an elf goes 300 years without making some high-ranking friends.” Alyx responded.

“Alright, that’s reassuring. However, back on topic, what you are saying is that I should take the deal but make sure it is enforced via contract?”

“Yeah.” Rose, Lili, and Alyx responded in unison.

“Before you do that, though, maybe you should check the actual item first,” Jasmine added, helpfully.

“Yeah, I probably should,” Tesilim responded as he took out the seed from his bag of holding, and as he imbued the item with mana, he brought up something he had forgotten about.

“By the way, what about Drex? He got a similar deal, though no magic item for him.”

Hearing his name, Drex, who had been relaxing in the corner chewing on the skull of a wererabbit, perked up.

“I don’t see why not.” Answered the gnome, his eyes glowing as he stared at the seed in Tesilim’s hand.

It took longer than expected for Tesilim to finish imbuing the seed, but eventually, he did and was hit with a mental rush of information. After taking a few seconds to recover, Tesilim brought the item's description to show his friends.

🔷 Crystal Notice 🔷

Tree House Seed - Item Rank: Mythical - This magical seed has been partially bound to Tesilim Telsy. When fully bound to Tesilim, the see can be planted, at which point it will grow into a magical tree house within an hour of its planting. During its growth period, Tesilim can direct the tree house to grow and accommodate his needs in a variety of ways.

Attention! Due to the item's intricacy and power, many of its capabilities and limitations are not fully listed here. However, you will still be imparted with knowledge of them.

🔷

“That’s great and all, but it doesn’t tell us what it's actually capable of,” Alyx said, annoyed.

“Yeah, can we also get an explanation? We can't see these screens, remember?” Jasmine commented as Rose squinted her eyes really hard. Her eyes glowed a golden yellow, and the redhead was clearly trying to see if she could spot anything.

Seeing Rose made Tesilim chuckle as he answered, “Yeah, sorry, but basically…”

“What! That’s incredible!” Rose yelled.

“So, you can basically have your own version of Alyx’s magical room?’ Jasmine questioned.

“Holy crap! Tesilim, you have to get it. Do you know how easy it would be to camp?” Lili added.

“Yeah, I got to admit that- that is one hell of an item,” Alyx noted as he inspected the seed.

“I don’t know, guys. Thinking about it, it feels like I am selling my body here. It also feels so weird to have kids like this. I always wanted to have kids with someone I cared about, not just random dryads.”

“Honestly, Tesilim, it's your call, but as long as everyone involved is willing, and you make a contract to make sure there isn't any funny business, you honestly come out on top,” Alyx told him as he handed the seed back.

“Yeah, you get a powerful magical item, get to make love to a bunch of hot ladies, and don’t have to worry about kids. I say you should, and while you are at it, see if you can add me to the contract.” Lili said, making Tesilim blush hard as he stared at her, having trouble finding words to answer.

“Wh-what? Wh-why would… Kids with… No… it's too earl… We haven’t even…”

“What? Oh no, sorry, I meant like I want to make love to a bunch of dryads as well. Of course, only if they are willing. However, if you do manage to squeeze me in there, I'll let you watch.” Lili responded while winking at him, and his face reddened.

Coughing, a blushing Rose tried to steer the conversation away, “Plus, Tesilim, in this world there isn’t this child tax concept that you are so worried about. Here, single parents get help from the churches or local governments.”

Also blushing, Jasmine helped her friend stir the topic away to another matter, “Tesilim if you do end up making a contract, make sure Jolly signs it outside of her Realm. That way, you know she is being honest about the whole thing. More importantly, she should add a clause that she has to sign first and that she cannot make anyone else sign against their will or pressure them to sign it in any way.”

Jasmine's words brought everyone back from their various thoughts as a real issue was brought up. They could joke about some things but when it came down to it, no one wanted someone else to be forced into doing any such things.

“Jasmine is correct, Tesilim. Jokes aside, someone's free will comes before anything else.”

“I know, and she made it very clear it was willing participants only.”

“Well, I think we should shelf this topic for another time. It's not like you need to make a decision right now, right?” Alyx answered after staying quiet for their last bit of conversation.

“No, I don’t. I would rather get it out of the way, though.”

“So then make a decision,” Alyx answered, causing the rest to stare at Tesilim as he thought hard about the issue.

Inside, Tesilim was almost convinced to take the deal. The main thing holding him back was a worry about relationships. For one, he wanted to pursue a relationship with Lili, and even if she said what she said, taking the deal might make things much more complicated than they needed to be. The other worry was that even if he was okay with flinging like he had with the dryads, Tesilim wasn’t very big on the harem thing. Contrary to other guys, he preferred one relationship to focus on and found the idea of multiple serious commitments exhausting.

On that note, maybe he had been getting his ideas and feelings mixed. He was so modeled by Earth's ways that when he thought about having a kid, it was instantly connected with a serious relationship. After all, that was often the case on Earth. Many people didn’t have kids until they were in a serious relationship. The problem was that this wasn’t Earth, and as Jolly herself explained it, a dryad often raised her children alone, so more often than not, their kids just came from flings with others they liked.

So, why did it feel so different? Probably the fact he would always know he had children out there that he wasn’t helping like a father should. Not like he could do much for them; he was just some D Ranker, while their grandmother would be an S Rank powerhouse. Actually, that made him feel better about the situation. These children would probably grow up in the best of environments with the best things gold could buy.

Now, if he could just fix the issue of his good, untapped fatherly nature.

Thankfully, that’s when it struck him that mind magic was a thing.

He wouldn’t need to worry about kids if he didn’t know he had kids.

Terrible, but brilliant.