Sonic's Growth Arc (3)

"Hah... hah..."

Sonic planted her sword in the dirt like a walking stick and dragged in ragged breaths. For well over ten minutes she had grappled with the Hell Underling I had already pinned, and in the end she had punched through its defense and killed it.

It had been a grinding, tedious slog — but the payoff was sweet.

She had jumped fourteen levels in a single stroke, landing at fifteen, and picked up fourteen points of Potential along the way.

If she had killed a Hell Underling at full strength, the level gain would have been even bigger. But I had already subdued the thing and hacked off its limbs, so the experience she received had been cut down accordingly.

Sun's gone down, looks like.

Sonic's status window gave me a rough read on the time outside. Every one of her stats had ticked up by a single point — the nighttime bonus from her Shadow Fiend trait, which raised all stats by one after dark.

In this world, the line between day and night was not a matter of the clock. It was the sun. If the sun was in the sky, the system called it day. The moment the sun vanished, it became night.

"What's the call? You want to clear another room, or head back and rest?"

I dismissed Sonic's status window and put the question to the party. Every pair of eyes swung toward her.

The rest of us had just fought our way through more than a hundred Hell Underlings and barely broken a sweat. The mountain climb had taken a bite out of our stamina, sure, but I hadn't built this party so soft that a single engagement would put us on the ground. Everyone still had plenty of fight left in them — which was exactly why they were all looking at Sonic.

She was the most worn down person here. Lowest level, lowest stats, lowest everything.

"I can... do more."

Sonic let out a long breath and said it anyway.

"You sure? We're going to be stuck in this place for a while. You don't have to rush the levels."

"No. I can do more. Please let me continue."

She said it with her will burning in her eyes.

Pride took a real hit, huh.

Spending over ten minutes to put down a single trash mob had clearly stung. She had only just been summoned, so of course she was weak right now — but in her previous life, she had been strong enough to go toe-to-toe with Fairies raised by the number-one PvP ranker. If she still had that power, monsters like these would have exited the stage the instant they appeared.

Sonic was the sum total of every scrap of knowledge I had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ever acquired: an all-purpose Fairy who could handle crowd control, combat, defense, and recovery entirely on her own. If she had come into this world with no memory, it might have been different. But she remembered being that strong. Of course her pride was bleeding.

"Sonic. I told you. There's no need to get impatient."

"But..."

"So if you're tired, just say so. Nothing's more pathetic than dying because you decided to play the hero. I already don't want to lose you. Understood?"

"...Yes. Don't worry. I have no intention of showing off either. I genuinely can keep going."

"Alright. Fair enough. Everyone done farming?"

"Mm-hm."

Kanisia nodded at the question. While I had been helping Sonic with her hunt, she had taken the rest of the party and handled the looting as sub-leader. The monsters were below our level, so no Growth Stones had dropped, but we had still picked up plenty of byproducts that would convert into Gold.

We picked our way past the corpse piles scattered across the ground and entered the burning village. A portal had already spawned in the square at the center, leading to the next chamber.

We stepped through.

"Master! This place is way too easy!"

We were back at base camp, working through a late dinner, when Oralisa piped up.

"Yeah? That easy, huh?"

"Uh-huh! You saw it too, right, Master? Oralisa went pew, pew with her arrows and those ugly monsters just went whoosh-whoosh-whoosh and dropped!"

"I saw. Our Oralisa's gotten crazy strong, hasn't she?"

"Heehee!"

I ruffled her hair as I praised her, and she lit up like a child.

"....."

Sonic's face, on the other hand, sank. This time, killing the monster I had pinned for her had taken nearly twenty minutes.

"There is no need to be disappointed, Sonic. Your level is still low, is it not? And your weapon is rather lacking as well."

Aquaril offered the comfort without a trace of condescension or showing off. She meant every word of it.

"...Yes, I know. But I found myself getting a little angry."

"Angry?"

"Yes. If I still had my original strength, a monster like that would have gone down in a single—"

"Pardon? Your original strength?"

"Ahem."

Sonic looked ready to start talking about her previous life, so I coughed, loud and pointed. She caught it, realized the slip, and changed course.

"...It's nothing. More importantly, Lady Aquaril, your skill seemed considerable."

"Aquaril."

"Yes?"

"Please just call me Aquaril. We serve the same Master, do we not? Let us be on friendly terms from now on."

"Hehe. Yes, I'd like that, Aquaril. Please call me comfortably as well."

"Understood, Sonic."

Fellow Swordsman-class Fairies, maybe — whatever the reason, Aquaril and Sonic hit it off fast. I let out a quiet breath of relief.

Sharing a Master did not mean Fairies were immune to jealousy. There was only one Master who could give them love, and no shortage of Fairies who wanted to receive it. Competition was inevitable, and once that started, feelings soured just as naturally.

They dropped the 'Lady' and that's supposed to be casual? They're still talking like they're at a state dinner.

Had they actually become friends? Well — friends by their standards, I supposed.

I shrugged and pulled up Sonic's status. One more kill had taken her from fifteen to twenty-two.

Allocate the Potential now? Or hold off?

She had twenty-one points available. Spending them all would make her stronger than she was right now.

Nah... no real rush. I'll save them.

Potential points were one of the most important growth resources there was. You only got them when you leveled up. Unless the moment truly called for it, there was no reason to burn them in a hurry.

"Who's first watch tonight?"

"Me and Abraham."

"Got it. I'll leave it to you. Come on, everyone — let's turn in."

"Yes, Master."

"Okay!"

"Yes."

Dinner finished, we left Kanisia and Abraham on first watch and stood up from the fire. We filed into the large tent and locked the flap behind us.

"Um... heehee. Master?"

"Hm? What?"

"Sooo, you know~"

The instant the flap was shut, Oralisa grabbed my arm and started shaking it, her voice stretching out at the end of every word. She wanted something.

"Are we just going to sleep like this?"

"What, you don't want to sleep?"

"That's not~ what I mean~ but still~"

"Pfft."

She never said it outright, but there was no missing what Oralisa was after. She had been sneaking glances at my crotch the entire time she talked.

And she was not the only one.

"....."

"....."

Aquaril and Sonic had not said a word, but from the moment they stepped inside the tent they had been staring a hole straight through my pants.

We've got a real dungeon push tomorrow, and watch duty later tonight...

Common sense said not to spend my strength in the wrong place. Sex was sneakily exhausting exercise, too.

But...

How the hell was I supposed to hold back?

A handful of gorgeous women, each stunning in her own way, staring at me with those flushed, hungry faces — what man alive could have said no?

"Alright. No overdoing it. Just once each, nice and easy. Got it?"

"Yay!"

"Understood, Master."

"Hehe. I like the sound of that."

I started undressing as I said it, and the Fairies nodded and followed suit. Then they came toward me.

"Get some rest. I'm going on watch."

"Yeees... Master..."

"Mm... see you later... nnh..."

"Come on, Sonic."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Yes, Master..."

I left a thoroughly wrecked Aquaril and Oralisa where they lay and stepped out of the tent with Sonic. After the thick, steamy air inside, the cool night hit my skin like a splash of water.

"Huh? You're already up? I was just about to come wake— wait."

We ran into Kanisia halfway, on her way to get us for the watch change. The tent flap was still slightly ajar, and she caught a glimpse of Aquaril and Oralisa sprawled inside with those dazed, well-used expressions on their faces.

The look she turned on me puffed up into a full pout.

"Well, well... aren't you loving the Fairies a little too much? Love me a little too, would you?"

"Ahaha... sorry."

"Hmph... I'll be watching you."

"Yes, ma'am! I shall devote myself utterly, my lady!"

"Hehe. Good luck out there. You too, Sonic."

"Yes. Thank you for your hard work, Lady Kanisia."

I threw her a salute as I said it, and that seemed to smooth her over. She headed into the tent with Abraham.

I'll fuck you senseless later. Sorry, Kanisia.

I watched her back disappear through the flap and offered her an apology that was not really an apology. Not that I had much choice — out on a dungeon run, I shared a tent with the Fairies, which meant chances to sleep with Kanisia were few and far between.

Whenever the opportunity did come, I was going to rail her until she never again felt the need to ask me to love her too.

Sonic and I took the seats they had left.

"You're not tired? You can sleep if you want."

"No. I'm fine. I couldn't possibly leave you to stand watch alone, Master."

"I said it's fine. Your stamina's already on the low side as it is."

"....."

Sonic closed her mouth. She was not wrong to go quiet — during the brief orgy earlier, she had been the first one to collapse.

"By the way, Master. There's something I've been wondering."

"Yeah?"

"How exactly did you grow the way you have?"

"Me? What about me?"

"I watched you fight earlier. You were swinging your sword and casting magic skills at the same time. Are you trying to obtain the Magic Swordsman class?"

"Ah."

I understood the question immediately.

There was a class called Magic Swordsman that let you wield a blade and cast magic at once. Using two weapon types simultaneously sounded appealing on paper, but in practice it was one of the least popular classes in Fairy Masters.

The reason was simple: it was weaker at physical damage than any of the advanced Swordsman classes, and weaker at magic than any of the advanced Mage classes. The flexibility to handle both was a real advantage in the right situation — but a party in Fairy Masters could hold up to five members. Slotting a Magic Swordsman was almost always worse than just bringing a dedicated swordsman and a dedicated mage. Faster, cleaner, more efficient.

The game had a single golden rule.

In the early game, a single Fairy could hard-carry just fine. Once you hit the mid game, one-man carries became impossible. Five people working in concert would always outclass one strong ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠body.

Sonic knew that. She had been raised by me — a man who lived and died by efficiency. Watching me fight like a Magic Swordsman must have looked completely insane to her.

"Come to think of it, I never told you, did I?"

"?"

"I've got a class called Uroboros's Avatar."

"Uroboros's Avatar...? I've never heard of that class. What kind of class is it?"

"Well..."

I laid it out for her — the class itself, and the process of obtaining it, curiosity shining in her eyes the whole way through. She started out hanging on every word. Before long, she was just stunned.

"A class like that... actually exists?"

"Yeah. Sorry. I should've told you sooner — slipped my mind."

From the moment I summoned her until now, I had had no shortage of time and chances to explain myself. I had used every last one of them to have sex with her instead.

"Now you get it? Why I made that choice? I'm not some all-rounder trash build other people raise. I can become a true all-rounder in every sense of the word."

"If you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠have an ability like that... then yes. Your choice makes sense."

The shock had settled enough for her to nod.

"See? Told you. Hmm. Hey, Sonic."

"Yes, Master."

"You're sleepy, aren't you?"

"Pardon?"

She tilted her head at the sudden question.

"No, I'm not sleep—"

"No, you are. You're definitely sleepy right now. But you're on watch, so you can't sleep. Right?"

"Uh... yes."

"Want me to teach you a way to wake up?"

"....?"

I grabbed a thoroughly bewildered Sonic by the hair and yanked. Her face buried itself in my groin.

"How about you suck my cock to wake yourself up?"

"...Yes, Master. Now that I think about it, I have been quite sleepy for a while. Slurp."

A wicked little smile curved Sonic's lips as she drew my cock from my pants and began to suck.

Three climaxes, as it turned out, were nowhere near enough to quench a lust that burned as hot as the campfire right in front of my eyes.