I Own a Brothel in Another World

Chapter 55 – Never Underestimate Humans

My consciousness slowly leaves the land of the dreams and I lazily blink a few times to probe how much sunlight might be assaulting my face. After a moment, my brain realizes something is wrong and they shoot open, revealing a sea of pink above me. Or rather, a sky of pink.

It takes me a few turns of my head to fully comprehend the situation. I’m completely certain I’m back in the weird, grassy space with everything being in various shades of purple and pink. Considering that I just slept with five girls at once, making all of them my official, fully beneficial Partners, this actually isn’t as much of a surprise. Since I’m here, I must have tiered up with their help. I’ll have to thank them properly after I wake up for real.

Finished with examining the situation I find myself in, I raise myself to a sitting position and glance around. Yep. It’s the same grassy hill I saw the last time. Even the cherry tree is there. Aaaaaaaaaannddddd, I’m completely naked too. My Hero Sigil is glowing. I have a hunch or two about why, but those can only be confirmed by that person.

And just as I think of them, pinkish smoke starts rising from the ground in front of me and begins swirling like a person-sized tornado. A few seconds later, it forms a silhouette of a shadowy woman which I’m already pretty familiar with.

Actually, that’s wrong. She looks way more detailed this time. I can easily discern all the lines over her mist-like body, which now seems to be enveloped in a membrane similar to Safi’s or Emi’s. The smoke still spins around inside, but she now looks more like a person than some being purely out of a purplish fog.

Her body finally finishes forming and she glances down at the sitting me. And oh man, even if it’s just a slight shape, all the curves look just so perfect they feel like they belong to an insanely beautiful woman whose charm transcends whatever my little brain has ever registered in the past. My whole body shudders after the mind realizes how much even more perfect she would look with a proper body. And it seems that in this space everything functions as in reality and I start feeling hotness spreading through my lower parts.

Seeing something rising, the ghostly woman smiles faintly and raises one of her eyebrows. I respond with a wry smile of my own. It’s pointless to try and cover my manhood now, she has already seen everything. And well, we are both stark naked and she doesn’t seem to be embarrassed by her form either.

“Sorry for… getting hard like this. I hope you are not offended.” I decide to apologize just in case. If she is the same person as the last time, she should understand my words.

“Don’t fret yourself over such a small detail. It’s not something you have much control over. Yet.”

From the tips of my toes to the very last millimetre of my hair on top of my head, an immense wave of goosebumps travels lazily. Calmness and relaxation wash all over me as the mysterious woman’s unimaginably soft and soothing, yet powerful and somewhat divine voice reaches my ears. Or more like, directly my soul. The sensation is so tranquil that even my slightly eager junior slowly withdraws and every inch of me enters a state of full Nirvana.

“Ah. I apologize. I should have toned it down before speaking.” She bows her head a little bit and her voice gradually becomes more and more tolerable, without melting my mind with each word that leaves her lips.

Regaining control over my own body, I stand up with a lot of struggle. Every limb feels like jello. I’ve never been so relaxed in my whole life. If I had any doubts about the woman’s identity before, they were completely swept away without me even asking a single question.

“There’s no need for the Goddess to apologize to a mere mortal. I feel blessed just by hearing your divine voice.” I also bow my head respectfully.

A beautiful smile forms on the Goddess’s lips. “As perceptive as usual. Anyway, let’s not bother ourselves with those unnecessary pleasantries. Our time here is limited and the clock is ticking. You are right, I’m the Goddess that watches over Naharren. I’m known under various names amongst many races, but you can call me Lumina as it is the closest to my true name, which can’t be captured perfectly by mortal languages.”

“Ah, right. Last time I got kicked out pretty quickly. I won’t be polite then, Goddess Lumina. May I know what is this place?” I start asking questions to not waste any more time.

“Don’t worry, you got significantly stronger since that day and thus we can stay here for a bit longer. Specifically, your soul has grown a lot. This space all around us is inside it. Some people in the past called it the Soul Realm. Something like the deepest part of your being. And you have almost complete control over it. Try imagining something, perhaps a few chairs or a table first.”

As she suggests, I try to think about two, comfy armchairs with a table in between them and soon, the pinkish mist arises from the ground again and forms them in a flash. The Goddess smiles and sits down. I follow suit. 

Deciding to do some more experiments, I envision my butler outfit on myself and the same dress Cornelia uses during work, on Lumina, just without the boob window to show some respect. Within a few seconds, we are covered in what I wanted. Taking it a step further, I wish for two glasses of water and the mist forms them too. Taking a quick sip confirms the contents seem real.

“You got used to it pretty fast. You truly are something else. And to think that I judged you useless at first…” She praises me with a smile and then her expression darkens a bit.

“Ermmm…. What do I owe this honour, Goddess Lumina? A second time we meet now. Do you perhaps visit all of the summoned heroes during their tier-ups? Because that’s what happened to me, I assume.”

She takes a deep breath and refocuses on me. “No, you are the only one I visited and even spoke with. Their souls wouldn’t be able to hold a fragment of my own until around Tier 3 or 4, and it’s not like this is something common too. I don’t interfere this much usually. I shouldn’t. As to why… Well… First, let me just say that I’m truly sorry!”

Lumina suddenly bows her head almost to the very table. This motion surprises me a lot. I didn’t expect a goddess to act so friendly with me and here we have one literally prostrating herself in front of me. And I have completely no idea as to why.

“Please, raise your head. I feel… anxious… seeing a goddess be like this towards me. I don’t even know what it’s all about.”

She sits up again. “I’ll try to explain everything in the simplest words then. From the very beginning. First, as you already know from the King and all the books you have read, there are limits to how much I can influence the world I’m overseeing. Most of the things I do are unseen to the eyes of the mortal races and are usually connected to the material and spiritual stability of the world itself. There are some boundaries even I shouldn’t overstep or my actions could possibly bring unforeseen consequences to my domain and all its inhabitants. So, unless the whole realm is in grave danger leading to complete destruction, I just keep tinkering with the fine adjustments. And you are already aware that this is exactly our current situation."

Goddess Lumina pauses for a moment, most likely to see if I understood what she recounted for me. I nod for her to continue.

“I’m sure you must be very curious about the Calamity, but I want to focus on explaining why I’m so sorry first. You see, the crisis is so serious that I decided to risk upsetting the spiritual structure of the world and chose the least invasive method in my hands to help solve it - the Hero Summoning. Without going into unnecessary details, I scanned other worlds in search of amazing people compatible with Naharren. And it so happened that I found five perfect candidates all close together. I couldn’t pass on that opportunity and initiated the transfer. I know what I did was pretty much kidnapping, but I was really desperate and Earth was already familiar with the Hero Summoning concept so it was at least a bit comforting for both sides.”

She tries to justify her actions as she explains. Her expression tells me that Lumina truly feels bad and guilty about the whole situation, even if she did all of that to save a whole realm of sentient beings. But, it’s another detail that catches my attention.

“You said five, but there were six people in that classroom. And all six of us got pulled into Naharren together.”

Lumina’s expression turns anxious and a wry smile pertains on her lips. “Ummmm… That is the first of the two main things I want to wholeheartedly apologize to you for… You see… I keep myself from interfering with the world also because… I always end up making things worse…” She makes a very deep and sad sigh. “Remember The Great War?”

“Of course. There were plenty of records in Rossberg’s Royal Library.”

“There was a huge imbalance in the world before that. Humans were greatly oppressed and almost driven to extinction. It wasn’t looking good for the world, where strong races always dominated the weaker ones, and I finally decided to intervene by introducing the System. It was meant to make them more equal. Everyone was supposed to receive the same level of guidance on how to get stronger by utilizing what they are good at. But… I made a mistake…"

Lumina chuckles anxiously.

"I underestimated Humans… They not only grew stronger as I predicted but their numbers, far exceeding those of other races, overwhelmed those so bad it left deep scars on their enemies. You know the current state of the world. No other race wants to risk the repeat of the Great War and keeps themselves at bay, even if they could possibly retake the lands Humans took from them during their thirst for revenge if all races worked together. Most of them understand they only got what they deserved and even would be willing to forget old grievances, but Humanity’s grudges are buried too deep within their hearts to let them even think about such concepts.” She turns even sadder when mentioning the last parts.

“Okay, but what does it have to do with the Hero Summoning and me?” I ask, completely not seeing the point of her bringing that up.

“I… might have made the same mistake then… I accidentally underestimated Humans again… It actually feels more like a curse that keeps coming at me… ” 

I’m not sure if her mist-like being needs it but Lumina takes an uneasy sip of water. 

“I never intended to summon you to Naharren...”

“What?” I furrow my brows and raise my voice in surprise. “What do you mean by that? If that’s true, then why couldn’t I just leave the summoning circle?”

“The thing is… you shouldn’t have been able to enter it either… It was surrounded by a spiritual barrier. I specifically made sure to bring it up so no one besides the targeted individuals would end up inside the formation. And you weren’t one. You should have been pushed back when trying to get in, not out.”

I slap my face and wipe it down with my hand, exhaling heavily. The Goddess lowers her head again.

“I’m truly sorry! I have no idea why and how you broke through!”

I sigh again and think for a moment but nothing comes to my mind. It’s not like I will miraculously remember something that can explain this whole situation. If she doesn’t know, there’s no way I would.

“What’s done is done. And I guess you couldn’t send me back?”

She shakes her head. “I didn’t want to risk it again so soon. I’m sorry.”

“Just stop apologizing. I get it. You screwed up. We all do sometimes.” I wave my hand at the Goddess. “So, what about the second thing you want to apologize for?”

“Contrary to all your friends, you received… pretty much the worst Class in the realm. No one in the history of this world broke through to the third Tier… And your body wasn’t enhanced either, staying the same as on your homeworld, while the quality of their bloodlines awakened. They were all prodigies in your world while you were…”

“Just your typical nobody with a bit of knowledge. Yeah, I know. You don’t need to sugarcoat things for me. It never bothered me. Life is not fair. If it were to affect me in any way, I wouldn’t have been teaching a class full of geniuses. But that’s still the aftereffects of the first thing, right?” I ask as my curiosity rises.

Lumina nods. “I felt really, really bad for your situation. Being suddenly thrown into an unknown world without any support when everyone else became powerful. I was pretty sure it meant a death sentence if you insisted on accompanying the Heroes. And even if you didn’t, I could easily see your life turning into hell with how weak you were. I truly pitied you. I didn’t want to do anything more but the guilt pushed me to help you just a tiny, little bit…”

She shows a wry, reminiscing smile. “I judged your personality to be like Humans of Naharren. And I was proven badly wrong. But it was too late. I had already given you my blessing. And on the day of your Class reveal, during the short connection through the catalyst, I saw all of your memories. Immediately, I understood why you received that Class. As most of them usually do, it suited you to the core. I’ve done it again...”

“You underestimated me.” I chuckle a little.

“Yes… On that day, I realized that in your hands, the supposedly weakest Class which no inhabitant of this world was able to properly raise, has actually an unlimited potential. Your mindset and the way you handle yourself are completely different from any race in Naharren. But, as I said, it was already too late…” She sighs and rubs her temples while shaking her head.

A smile makes its way onto my lips. I don’t know why, but completely shattering a godly being’s expectations and predictions just makes me feel… good. In all the stories, Humans always find their way to overcome those. I chuckle to myself again before returning my gaze to the Goddess awaiting my reaction.

“That blessing… It’s why my stats doubled on tier-up, right?” I make a blind guess while rubbing my chin.

“Yes.”

“Thought so. I can see why you would do something like that. You wanted to boost my stats a bit and expected that I wouldn't be able to win over too many Human girls, and especially those stronger than just common women.”

“It’s exactly as you have guessed that day in the bath. Ah! There are actually three things I need to apologize for. After the reveal, I kept a close eye on you. I have no excuse. I was just really curious. I kept reading your mind from time to time. I’m sorry!” She bows for the n-th time.

“It’s fine. You are a goddess. A much kinder one than most I’ve met in novels and stories. Reading a mind of a mortal or two is not a big deal, I guess.” I smile at her and she answers with a very relieved expression.

“And you are much more understanding than your average Human, but I already knew that.” She chuckles a little for the first time and it sounds just heavenly. “Anyway. Back to the second thing, the blessing. The stats… are not all.”

I furrow my brows. “What else is there? Ah. Perhaps all the affinities?”

“No. It’s… a bit bigger than that… and it connects to the stats a bit. I made it so that the effects of the blessing would come to you gradually, some at Tier 2 and the rest at Tier 3.” She ponders for a moment. “It will be easier to just show you.”

Goddess Lumina snaps her fingers and a familiar, pink window appears between us. It’s my full status menu.

“This was your status before you advanced. Quite impressive already at Tier 2. And now…”

She snaps her fingers again and another window appears to the right of the previous one.

The first thing that catches my eye is the enormous numerical values of my stats. I kind of expected that, but having sex with five Partners boosted the bonuses through the roof. And I can also see that my base stats rose by the same amount as they did on the previous advancement, 11, 11, 15, 14, 16, so it’s pretty much confirmed now that she set my upgrades at double my initial values for each Tier or something like that.

“Everything over a hundred. Truly a bizarre sight,” I say with a wide smile.

“Those girls are quite strong. Three of them are at Tier 3 while the rest are at Tier 2. One of them is into you quite a bit and started at the third level of the Bond. The rest are at the second level. You can check those later, including your new skills. Stats aren’t what I wanted you to see. Take a closer look.”

I can see the slight anxiety in the Goddess’s expression in the gap between the two windows and, urged by her, I examine both of the screens with more attention. It doesn’t take long before my eyes open wide from pure shock just as they fall onto the very second line of my status.

“Wha—… Wait… What?”

I blink countless times in confusion. Wishing for my clothes to disappear, I start examining my body with my hands. It’s just as I remember it. Everything is normal. With a befuddled expression, I glance back at Lumina.

“Could you… explain?”

She slowly nods. “Of course. You see, the first part of my blessing was the static values of stats upgrades, and the second part was… a body to actually make proper use of those stats.”

“Body? But it doesn’t look any different.”

“And it won’t really differ much. You remember that every race’s physique works differently and that’s why numerical values of their stats can’t be compared in a straight manner, right? And that Humans are kind of the weakest when it comes to it?” I nod. “Well, back then, I decided to gift you with a body that could utilize them perfectly to help with your low values a bit. I didn’t think you would ever reach higher than the third Tier even with a lot of luck on your side, so it seemed like a decent plan…”

“And that’s how I became a… Primordial?” I ask.

“Yes. Primordials were the very first race of beings born in this realm. From the outside, they looked pretty much like Humans do right now, so there weren’t going to be many issues with the change. The key difference is that their bodies were pretty much pristine. The efficiency ratio of different stats was at 100%. In comparison, current Humans have it at around 55% equally throughout the board. Elves, Dwarves, Beastkin at around 68% for their main stats, and beings like Dragons for example, at 87%,” Goddess Lumina explains as she counts the races on her fingers.

I extend my hand to stop her. “Wait. Then how strong am I when compared to the usual Human?”

She stares into the distance for a moment before answering. “Well, above Tier 3, the growth in stats increases significantly, so with yours slightly above 100… You would be at around Tier 5 with just them. If we included the fact that your body is not limiting your true capabilities now, then your real strength would be at Tier 6.”

“What?! Wasn’t Tier 7 like the peak of Humanity in the past?!”

“Kind of…”

I slap my face for the second time today. “Haaaaaaaaaaaaah…. What kind of monster did you turn me into…”

Lumina chuckles awkwardly. “That’s just in Human terms. Technically, you are no longer just a Human now, so… I’m sorry… I should have kept my hands to myself… It’s like I didn’t learn a lesson after two times...” She assumes a heavily disheartened expression.

“Honestly, isn’t it worse from your perspective than mine? Isn’t it bad for the world?”

“While you certainly seem strong on paper, especially when having Humans in mind, you didn’t suddenly turn overpowered as people on Earth tend to say. Neither are you immortal. Many monsters, beasts, entities can easily squash you. So don’t let it get to your head. Although, after getting in there myself a few times, I’m fairly sure you will make the best possible use of what you got.” She shows a kind smile.

“Well, thank you.” 

I feel like I definitely blushed a little after her compliment. Her mentioning immortality reminds me of the second change I noticed.

“One more thing. One of my titles was The Embodiment of Lust and now it was renamed to Demigod of Lust. I assume it’s due to my race?” I ask.

“Yes, you are right. Primordials were considered demigods essentially, thus the update. The effects of that Title didn’t change much. Here. You can compare them.” She snaps her fingers and two more windows appear in front of my face.

I chuckle to myself after reading them both in detail. “Didn’t change much? It now sounds like I’m a god myself, hahaha. Oh damn… I will have to be even more careful with it now… And I just barely reached some understanding in the full power of that Title…”

“Sorry…” She looks away from my gaze. I push the windows to the side so they don’t block my vision. “Now you know why I refrain from interfering with the races even more than other gods in their own worlds. I might be a goddess but… when you look at my history… I’m actually a huge failure…” 

A self-deprecating smile shows up on the Goddess’s face as she looks away. For a moment, she appears just like your ordinary, disheartened girl in my eyes. I don’t know if mortal sympathy means anything to her, but she didn’t instantly smite me down for getting hard from her body, so I decide to try my luck and wish to appear by her side.

My vision blurs for a moment and I find myself sitting in a chair just next to Lumina. She looks at me slightly surprised and I pick her right hand into mine.

“I’m sure that behind the scenes you are trying your best for this world, but it just doesn’t work out exactly as you desire. It may sound weird, but I’m actually kind of happy knowing that the Goddess isn’t some almighty, infallible, omniscient being that can do anything and doesn’t care about anyone below them.” 

It feels weird comforting a goddess, but I do it nevertheless.

“Thank you. And I’m sorry for all the inconvenience I have caused you.”

“It’s okay. Let’s end this apology marathon. I don’t hold it against you.”

We just sit there while smiling at each other for a while. When I realize that it looks like I’m hitting on a goddess, I cough awkwardly and distance myself a little.

“So… What now? Am I supposed to go and join the other Heroes and lead them against the Calamity, now that I can contribute something? Maybe even more than just something, actually, hahaha.”

“I want you to keep doing what you do. I can’t demand from you to abandon everything you have built up until now. And I’m aware of your plans to start adventuring in the future.” She swats away the two windows that kept hanging in the air.

“Isn’t the time limited?” I ask. Surely, the end of the world won’t just wait patiently.

“I noticed the Calamity early and took action as soon as I could so that the Heroes have time to grow. Besides sporadic Abyssal invasions, we are still quite safe. Also, even if unintentionally, you are in fact raising a small army of powerful women in your house.”

Lumina snaps her fingers and portraits of a few of the girls show up in the air. Safi, Emi, Sirgia, Cornelia, Elea, Neira. Those seem to be the ones closest to me currently.

“Each time you embrace them, they not only receive the timed bonuses but are also strengthened permanently. You’ve already seen the effects of that a few times. Just try to remember your night with the magician.” She smiles knowingly. “It’s thanks to you that she advanced. The influence might have been not that great back then, but now... With your new body… Let’s just say that their strength would soar if you kept filling them up, ufufufu~”

I chuckle at her implicative laughter. “Got it. I’ll keep doing my best. Then, about—”

While I’m speaking, ripples start appearing on the surface of Lumina’s body. She glances down at her shape and sighs dejectedly.

“Looks like we are running out of our time. I can’t stay here for much longer or it will damage your soul. And we do not want that, trust me.”

“Shoot. And I was just going to start asking about the Calamity…”

She looks at me again and smiles. “Don’t worry. I’ll tell you what I can next time. There’s a chance you’ll be strong enough to host the imitation of my true body here, instead of this mist-filled form.”

“So you are saying, smoking hot is not the peak of your beauty?” I ask her with a playful grin.

The Goddess chuckles at my joke and shakes her head. “I must say, your witty puns made me smile more than once since I’ve started observing you. Keep them up. We’ll see each other soon again.”

“Hm? Shouldn’t advancing from Tier 3 to 4 take even more time than before? But I guess for a goddess it’s still just a blink of an eye no matter if it’s a month or a year.”

“I can’t say how long will it take you, but I’m confident in believing that you’ll reach it quite fast if you keep your current pace up. Before today, you were already on the verge of breaking through. One girl was all you needed. Having five of them at once boosted you over the threshold a lot. Ah! One more thing! Your real body still hasn't gone through the evolution so it will most likely start when you wake up. It may be a little painful. Sorry about that.” She joins her hands together in front of her face and bows to me for the last time.

I shake my head as a strong force starts pulling me away from this place. “Because of course it will, hahaha…”

A moment later, I open my eyes and I'm greeted by the sight of five dark-skinned beauties sleeping all over me. Cinra embraces my right arm. Leyne buries the left one deep inside her impressive valley, Roseni covers my right leg with her whole body, Filue is heavily entangled with the left, and Neira sleeps peacefully on my chest with a blissful expression. Thankfully, I managed to erase most of the evidence from our fun before we collapsed, so only the smell of sweaty bodies lingers in the air.

“NGHHNN!”

Unfortunately, I’m not allowed to bask in the glory of our recent battle for any longer as an intense, searing pain starts coursing through my whole body. To avoid hurting any of the girls, I quickly roll myself to the side to escape their clutches, drop Neira onto Leyne and Filue, and fling myself off the bed, hitting the floor with a loud thud and grunt.

“Master!”

It obviously wakes up the sleeping beauties immediately and Neira shouts in surprise after watching my desperate flight. Lying and groaning on the floor, I manage to stop them from jumping at me with a gesture of my hand. I don’t think I’ll be able to speak while clenching my teeth this hard. Every part of my body gets hotter and hotter, to the point where my insides feel like a violent, scorching inferno.

“GAAAH! GHHHHHNNNNN!”

As I roll around and keep wriggling, I try my best to not scream my lungs out and keep my voice relatively down, but it doesn't stop the door to my chamber from flying open with a powerful kick. Sirgia rushes inside, followed by Safi, Emi, Cornelia, Teffith and Elea. I’m pretty sure they felt my pain through our connection anyway. 

“Master! What’s happening!” 

My cute dwarf runs up to me and tries to hold me down but it seems like even she, with her quite impressive strength, has trouble doing so. Pushed away by one of my motions, she falls onto her butt.

“What did you do to him!”

Just from her tone and the seething anger in her voice, I can guess how enraged she must be. And the target of her emotions is obvious. As I flail over the floor, I just hope she doesn’t do anything to the elves. Mustering all my mental fortitude for a single moment, I send an open Whisper to everyone connected to me, releasing a loud scream as I stop focusing on keeping my voice in check.

~STAY AWAY! NOT THEM!~

I don’t see it, but I can feel everyone present in the room shudder. The Whisper actually conveyed the message as it was, without converting it into a sexy tease. I would be up for researching that more if I wasn’t in a state of perpetual incineration of all my cells. At least I achieved my goal and everyone is now standing around, anxiously watching me suffer instead of attacking each other in any form. I’m pretty sure all other residents arrived in the corridor already and are observing the unusual spectacle too.

It takes five minutes for whatever is happening to me to begin calming down and the intense waves of pulsing and scorching pain slowly fade away. I roll myself onto my back and frantically gasp for air. It’s no surprise my breathing is a hot mess. 

“Haaaaah… Haaaaaaah… Haaaah… A litte… painfull… my ass… Haaaah…” I utter barely audible words.

Elea doesn’t waste any more time and drops to her knees to start healing me with magic. I open my eyes just to see hers widen in shock.

“He’s not hurt anywhere… He’s actually perfectly well? What in the Goddess’s name is the meaning of this?”

Still not completely calmed down, I just throw my arm up and show everyone a thumbs-up. “I’m fine… Haaaah… Just give me a moment… Haaaah... Sorry for… startling all of you…”

Everyone waits patiently for my recovery. Cornelia creates some water to help my parched throat and I drink it like my life depends on it. I take a glance around and notice weird, semi-transparent sheets of something everywhere on the floor. Picking one up clearly reveals that it’s skin.

“What the hell… Did I fucking moult? Unbelievable…”

“Master…”

I turn my head to the source of Sirgia’s voice and see her teary face just above mine. Raising myself up, I pull her into a hug and start affectionately brushing through her hair as she releases a few quiet sniffles into my chest. She must have felt really powerless seeing that she couldn’t do anything to help me. And it seems like she stormed here straight out of bed as she has only her panties on.

“It’s okay now. No one could have done anything. I had to go through this alone,” I speak loud enough for everyone to hear.

“What do you mean by that?” Cornelia asks from my side.

“I’ll explain everything in a moment. When it gets a bit less crowded here.” I glance towards the door which is packed with different heads and hands. “No offence guys, it’s not like I don’t trust you, but there are some things I can’t share with all of you yet.”

Teffith takes a deep breath and sighs heavily, releasing all the tension she kept up until now, most likely ready to defend me from whatever was causing me so much pain.

“Understandable. I do hope we’ll also get a short version of what happened. Come on girls, Master is fine. Let’s give him some space for now.” She starts walking towards the door and politely dispersing the audience.

“Don’t worry. I owe you all an explanation. And I actually planned on filling you in on everything soon, so you can stay too. Just… you may want to grab something to cover yourself with…”

She looks down and realizes that she is stark naked. Besides a spear held in her right hand, there are no other of her possessions anywhere near or on her body. She might be the nude sleeper type.

“Be right back, boss.” Teffith chuckles to herself and leaves with most of the crowd that stood by the door.

After those who wished to change their attire make their return to my room, Cornelia casts Hall of Serenity to cut off the sound from escaping, just to be sure there are no leaks. I sit on one of the beds with all of the elves and Sirgia on my lap. Safi, Emi, Cornelia and Teffith take the other one.

“Before we begin, I want to test something out. You all noticed that there was some change to my body with all that shed skin lying around,” I start.

“Even without that, it’s quite obvious that your body changed… somehow,” Cornelia squints her eyes a little. “I’m not exactly sure what’s the change since it looks pretty much the same as before but… it feels different. More… ummm… handsome…”

Everyone nods at her remark and I chuckle to myself. “You are not completely wrong. But first, Sirgia, could you arm-wrestle with me?”

My lovely dwarf looks up at me slightly confused. “Me? With Master? But… Dwarves are—”

“You know I’m aware of your kind being much stronger than Humans. Also, what’s your Strength score with my bonus right now?” I stop her and ask.

Sirgia quickly checks her status. “It’s… 66." Her mouth opens a little. "Amazing… So high and I’m only at Tier 3…”

“It rose so high because of these beautiful ladies here. It’s only thanks to them accepting me that everyone can grow stronger.” 

I pat her head and smile at all the elves around me, making them giggle and hug me from behind. Neira leaves a kiss on my cheek while blushing slightly.

“Are you sure you want to compete with me, Master?” Sirgia asks concernedly.

I take a peek at my own Strength and confirm that it’s at 103 as of now. “Yeah. This will help us a lot.”

We move a nightstand to the side of the bed and place a chair on the other side. Everyone observes intently as we take positions and join our hands. Most of them seem as confused as Sirgia.

“Okay. You can use your Physical Strengthening,” I tell her.

“What? But…”

“Trust me. I’ll be fine. Elea will heal me if anything happens, so please, don’t hold back.” I show her a reassuring smile.

Sirgia nods and activates her skill. I can feel her grip on my hand tighten. I summon a coin from my storage ring and throw it into the air. We both focus our senses and wait for the signal.

*TINK*

As I requested, Sirgia puts her all into pushing my arm down. The nightstand cracks a little under her elbow, but… my hand doesn’t move. I can feel the confusion of our audience growing even more while I just keep smiling at the cute dwarf. It’s not like I feel nothing. I can tell how hard she is trying and I do have to put quite some effort to not lose, but it’s not all the strength I can muster.

Sirgia pumps even more mana into her ability and my hand begins slightly shaking back and forth. I notice a few veins popping up on her forehead and decide that it’s enough for a showcase. Her eyes widen to the brim when my hand starts overwhelming hers and slowly but surely bringing it closer to the table. 

Before I manage to bring it down, the surface under her elbow breaks inside and Sirgia’s arm loses its fulcrum. I don’t react quick enough and slam her hand into the wooden top with so much force that it shatters, sending splinters into the air as our entwined hands hit the bottom of the first drawer.

I quickly pull our palms out of the wooden rubble and check if Sirgia is any hurt. Fortunately, she is quite tough and there is not even a single bruise. I sigh in relief and glance at her face, noticing not only the extremely wide eyes but also how pale it got. Looking around reveals a myriad of flabbergasted expressions.

I chuckle. “Well then… Where do I begin?”

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