Let’s just say that my statement caused a… myrid of overwhelming reactions.
“Hah?” Ayame was the first to voice her confusion. “What the hell have you been doing while we were fighting for our lives?”
“I’ll get to that part very soon.”
“W-w-w-w-wait!!! Are you saying that the first elf is your mother?” I found this version of Seraphiel to be extremely cute. She was always so serene, so collected, and even if we were joking around, she was never out of her element, yet here she was, on the brink of fainting, crying, and losing her mind all at the same time.
“Your listening capacity and comprehension skills are simply amazing. That’s exactly what I just said, yes.” I replied somewhat mockingly with an amused grin.
“… Hmph!!!”
In the meantime, I could see that a lot of the laborers were utterly lost. This topic was entirely above their means, but I didn’t mind them listening in. Their lives were very boring, so some excitement must’ve been uplifting, even if they had no clue what was going on.
“I find this all very hard to believe. Do you have some proof? Your claims contradict everything we’d ever known about the afterlife.” Ambition asked. Indeed, my claims were directly contradicting her beliefs. The Eternal Forest didn’t exist and Luminara was still alive yes, but imprisoned. I should be grateful that such religious fanatics were not outright attacking me for what I just claimed.
“No, sadly not. It’s fine for you not to believe me, I can’t change your thoughts. All I ask is that you hear me out with an open mind before turning hostile. However, please keep in mind that I have nothing to gain from saying stuff that contradicts your beliefs when I’m actively trying to turn you into my allies.”
“Well… That much is true.” One of the archers agreed.
“He also has the mythical tree!” Another added.
“So this old elf just decided to adopt you on a whim?” Lucille inquired curiously. I could tell that she was very entertained by the news.
“Yeah, her and Mearie, the human primordial. That’s right, I have not only one, but two primordial mothers with ginormous mommy milkers adorning their chests. I showed them images of you five, by the way. They loved you all and send their greetings. Before you ask, they could read my thoughts, so I just thought of my memories of you and they saw them.”
“Me too?!” Seraphiel yelped once again.
“Yes. In fact, Luminara voted you to be the second greatest mother candidate in my harem – yes, I know you’re not actually in it yet.”
“Yet?”
“Yep.”
“What did they think of me?!” Aurora asked excitedly.
“Uh, they said you have amazing body for child-bearing, perhaps even the greatest out of all five, but that your personality is not ready yet.”
“Oh… That makes me happy bit also a bit sad…”
“What about me?” Lucille asked with an amused grin.
“Miri voted you close second, just behind first place, and Lumi put you third.”
“Lumi and Miri? So you’re even calling these legends by cute nicknames…” Ayame voiced her acute observation.
“Yep, they are my mothers after all. We bathe in the same pond and wash each other’s bodies and stuff.”
“Oh, I bet you love this new relationship of yours, huh.”
“I sure do.”
“So shameless… I’m somewhat reluctant to ask about their opinion of me…” my samurai was curious but clearly dreading the answer.
“Yeah, they said you are too petite – but I did defend you on that front – however, your mental trauma and grandiose dreams didn’t sit well with them. Mind you, this ranking of theirs is only about how great of a mother you would be if I impregnated you right this moment, not how good of a lover you all are or how good mothers you could become in the future. In that ranking, you all share the top 1 spot without a doubt.”
“Hmm… I see. Honestly, I can’t fault them, I truly can’t even begin imagining my life as a mother. By the way, I couldn’t help but notice that Blossom was not mentioned yet.”
“She won first place in both of their rankings.”
“Huh? Blossom did?” My dog-kin asked with a gasp, but in the next moment her lush tail began it’s trademark propeller movements.
“Yes, they said that you’re a devoted lover who only wishes to see me be happy, and that despite your airhead nature, once you realize that you carry my child in your womb, your motherly instincts will kick into overdrive and you’ll be the perfect mother.”
“Master…!” She shouted merrily while lunging straight into my embrace and began licking my face fervently.
“I can’t believe that this…
creature
almost killed me.” Iris mouthed with disbelief. For the first time she was not only faced with Blossom’s adorable physical traits being on full display, but also her needy, cute antics which only emerged when she was not in combat.
“Yeah…” Lyra added. She had a lot of trouble with Blossom in our fight, my dog-kin basically made her duties as a bodyguard straight up hell. “She was such a nightmare on the battlefield, weaving in and out of shadows and striking from our blind spot with incredible speed, but here she is just a… good girl?”
“Yes, Blossom is the best girl in the entire universe.” I decreed confidently, earning myself a myriad of extra fervent licks on my cheeks and lips.
“… While I appreciate all this new information, could you finally tell me how you know so much about my childhood?” Iris inquired. She was clearly still on edge about this whole situation.
“Yes.” I agreed while gently doing my best to calm my overeager dog-girl down. “So this entire combat system we all came to enjoy is the creation of the Soul Records, the greatest entity in the entire universe. It administers our classes, XP gains – everything. When you see a notification pop up, it was sent by this omnipresent being. Soul Records is also responsible for evaluating a primordial’s current strengths and weaknesses, after which it creates a specific trial which we not only have to succeed in to complete the Rank-Up Mission, but it also helps us grow as people. For me, it decided that I had things too… easy. I needed to feel pain, loss, devastation.”
I took a deep breath before continuing. This topic was still very difficult for me. “Thus, my trial was called the ‘Gauntlet of Suffering’, where I was forced into a simulation of Iris Thornclaw, from the moment she was born until her receiving the Child of Agony class.”
For the first time, I saw her eyes flutter wide open from the sheer shock I gave her. “Are you saying that you saw… and felt all that I did throughout my entire childhood?”
“Yes. That’s how I knew so much about you. While you people were frozen in time in the midst of our battle, I spent over thirteen years of my life there. This is also why I refuse to attack you, Iris, despite me technically being better off with you being dead, or at least as my obedient slave. I know that I’m just a weird stranger to you, but your life’s story had become a part of my me.”
“This is just too much for me.” She decreed tiredly.
“I know. I will show you my undeniable proof, after which I will let you mull things over on your own.”
With that, I placed my newly gained Child of Agony class into my three Secondary classes and summoned my window for her while also activating the innate spell that came with it, causing severe hemorrhage in my body, which reflected in the 20 temporary Strength I received.
“Oh… I see. I believe you, but I don’t know what to say beyond this.”
“Sure, I get that. Why don’t you go back to the battlefield? Vex and her two allies will finish soon, someone needs to be there to explain the situation to them.” I proposed, then continued to detail my plan in more detail.
“Mind you, the story is that you were hit by Soren’s earth spell from your blind spot and thus was sent flying. Upon impact, you lost consciousness, and once you came to, the battle had already ended.”
It was not hard to tell that she was not at all a fan of this fabricated story. “I would not make such a rookie mistake after nearly getting mauled to death by your dog-kin teammate.” I could hear a strong sense of pride toward her craft in her assured tone.
