“Umm… Can I share…my story now?” Marin suddenly asks. She blushes as everyone turns their heads to her.

I almost forgot about her after the shenanigans with Sitos.

“Go ahead, Marin,” Luna says.

“My parents are… A-ranked Adventurers.”

“Wow!” Hiro exclaims. “Ain’t that the second-highest Adventurer class? Your parents sound amazin’! How strong are they?”

“I don’t know… I don’t see them often…and I haven’t seen them fight. They visit me as often as they can between their missions.”

“They left you at home alone?” I ask.

“No…they hired a maid to take care of me. I became great friends with her. She’s almost like a second mom!” Marin explains and smiles.

Someone knocks on our door. Who could that be at this hour? I stand up halfway to answer it, but Luna offers to get it.

“Teacher Moria?” Luna asks after opening the door.

“Hello, Luna. Is Kai here?”

“Yeah, he’s over there.”

Moria walks toward me. I left group three a little early than planned. I hope Moria didn’t go through too much hassle because of that.

“Kai, good news. I’ve heard from Daisy that you’ve decided to join Lance’s group. You are all set to move into room 3A now. Pack up your things and let us go,” Moria says while setting a duffel bag in front of him.

“Can I go after finishing dinner? Luna and Marin prepared a huge dinner for me to celebrate.”

“Okay, I will wait until you are done.”

It’s a bit awkward to talk much with Moria around, so we mostly quietly eat our meals. Afterward, I go to my room to pack my clothes into the bag Moria brought. I keep my personal things in my backpack.

It’s a silent goodbye to my old team, though it’s not like I’m never going to see them again, right? They smile and wave as I give one last look to my old home. I smile and wave one last time before closing the door behind me. I’m a bit sad, but I’m not sure why because I’m going to skip two years and be on the best team!

“If you are concerned about not seeing your old friends again, do not worry. You are welcome to visit and see them any time you would like. There are no rules restricting that,” Moria informs as we head to third floor. “It is normal to feel the way you are feeling but give it some time. You will not regret the decision to switch to Lance’s group.”

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“Okay.”

We arrive at our destination. Lance greets us at the door. “Kai, welcome!”

“Hey,” I greet with a smile. The rest of the team waves from one of the round dinner table.

“Well, I will take my leave now. Good night,” Moria says and then leaves.

“Night, Professor Moria,” Lance says and then closes the door. “Did you eat dinner?”

I nod my head.

“Alright, well, I’ll let everyone introduce themselves more formally. You know me, Lance. I’m the Warden and leader of the team.”

“I’m Gaston, nice to meet you. I cook for the team and take on the Dispatcher role.”

“Taihan the other Dispatcher so that’s why we prefer you take on the Calculator role instead because we already have two Dispatchers and your magic skill is far greater than your physical skill I’m assuming but you know there’s nothing wrong with Three Dispatchers!.”

“I’m Astrid, the Sentinel!”

“My name’s Buddy, but you can call me Bud, if you want. My role’s the Crusher.”

He’s the only one I don’t know. He gave me the scroll with the strange symbol on it.

“Karen, Calculator.”

“Now that you know everyone, feel free to unpack and take the night off to enjoy your new home,” Lance says.

I grin. “So which one is my room?”

“You’ll move in with me!” Astrid exclaims. “I’m on the last door on the left, so bring it inside, I’ll help you unpack!”

Huh? I’m sharing a room with Astrid? She grabs me hand and pulls me toward her room.

“Well goodnight and have a good rest Kai! Don’t stay up too late,” Kaihan says and goes into another room. He winks before closing the door behind him.

“I’m next door, so keep it quiet,” Karen says and closes the door.

Astrid closes and locks her door. She grabs the duffel bag and says, “Let me unpack your things for you.”

“Wait, I want to keep this with me,” I inform before she reaches for my backpack. I can’t let her see Emdos’ book. I really wanted to read it, but I guess I won’t have a chance tonight.

Even though I saw this already, seeing it again brings me joy. I set down my backpack and jump onto the couch nearby. It’s so soft…almost like it’s sucking me in. I got the couch that I wanted.

“Aww, Kai, you’re sleepy already?” Astrid asks, hunched over with her hand on my head.

“Huh?” I interject. I didn’t mean to fall asleep. “How long was I out?”

“Just a few minutes, I think. I finished unpacking your clothes. Since you’re tired, why don’t we clean up and get ready for bed?”

“Okay,” I answer. If I remember correctly, there’s a huge hot tub in the bathroom!

“I’ve already started filling the bath…so let’s get in!” she exclaims.

The tub is already more than half. “Let’s…? Uh, we’re not gonna take turns?”

“Nope! We’re going to do everything together from now on! Let’s get comfortable with each other, okay?”

Everything? Then when am I going to have any time to read Emdos’ book?

I can feel the heat creeping up my face when Astrid starts taking off her clothes. “Are we taking off our underwear too?”

“Of course! Do you normally take baths with your clothes on?” she asks, now stripped down to her underwear. She blushes. “Umm…this is still hard for me, though. I’ve never shown anyone my…you know. But, I’m ready to be your girlfriend…so can you hurry up and take off your clothes too?”

“Umm…okay,” I reply. I take off my clothes slowly, feeling as if a hundred pairs of eyes were fixed on me. It helps to focus on Astrid’s body instead of my own. Her chest is flat, but her nipples pop out more than mine. My heart races as she drops the last piece of underwear to the ground. Similar to Daisy’s, she’s got a curved hole between her legs, but it looks different. It makes me very excited nonetheless. My friend is already standing up.

Neither of us says anymore and both get into the tub, which is more than enough space to accommodate both of us inside. It feels really nice, especially having the ability to immerse everything from my neck down in water. I couldn’t do that with the old tub in my old room.

We finish our bath in silence as well as the remainder steps before bed. The whole time my heart practically pounding out of my chest. The bath wasn’t as relaxing as I hoped it would be either. I’m not sure what to expect as the both of us tuck ourselves into bed from opposite sides. I keep thinking about what Daisy said earlier today about it feeling really good if I put it inside the hole.

“So… I asked some of my classmates who are already in relationships and had some experience with this, so I’ll take the lead, okay?”

“Okay.”

“They said they started by kissing, which sounds easy. We’ll just put our lips together and smash our tongues together.”

“That sounds a little gross. Is it supposed to feel good to drink each other spit?”

“Yeah it does, but I don’t know. You’re supposed to start feeling warm and hot inside. Want to try?”

“Sure.”

We scoot closer to each other until our faces are inches way from each other. Astrid says, “Here I come.”

With that, she closes her eyes and lunges her face toward mine. What followed was not pleasure, but a shock of pain. Our front teeth collide and a clack resounds.

“Ow!” both of us cry out, our hands covering our mouths.

“Sorry about that,” Astrid says. “Let’s take it slower this time.”