"... Just, what are they doing?"
"They're playing rocks, scissors, and papers to see who will be teaching you first."
"How about you, Sir David?" William inquired. "Aren't you going to join them?"
David played with his beard and smiled. "I decided to be the last one to mentor you. That way, I don't have to worry about time constraints to make you understand… the true power of the Shepherd Class."
William looked at the smiling God beside him and nodded his head. In truth, he wanted to know more about his Main Job Class. Unlike Dark Magic where he had a teacher to teach him the ropes, The Shepherd Job Class was a mystery to him.
He had played many RPG games back on Earth, but none of those games had the Shepherd Job Class. In regards to the taming system, he doesn't really understand how it worked. More often than not, he had to use contracts in the name of the "God of Contracts" as a medium in order to temporarily add Spire and Psoglav to his herd.
As for Fenrir and the other trollhounds, they had sworn their allegiance towards William and automatically became part of his herd, without being tamed.
In short, the Shepherd Job Class didn't have a Tame Skill that William could use to tame Herd Type Beasts. He just assumed that he could tame them because The System classified the monsters around him by whether they could be tamed or not.
He was hoping that with David's mentorship, he would be able to understand what the Shepherd Job Class was truly capable of doing.
A loud shout broke William out from his daze as Issei raised his fist triumphantly. Lily, on the other hand, hatefully stomped her feet on the ground and gave William a pout. She looked so cute and adorable that most boys would unite and start a crusade against Issei if they were to see Lily's current state.
"Let's go William," Issei said as he picked up the Teddy Bear with a grin. "It's time for you to understand the power of the Divinity that I gave you many years ago."
Before William could even say goodbye to Lily and David, the world distorted and both he and Issei disappeared without a trace.
Lily clicked her tongue as stomped her foot in irritation, "Tsk! This was a good opportunity to turn William into a lolicon. Unfortunately, Issei still got him first in the end. So annoying!"
"You shouldn't say your thoughts out loud, you know?" David commented. "Especially when the other Gods are around."
"Hah~ what do you understand, old man?" Lily sighed. "You're old fashioned. You don't even know what 'Moe' means."
David pretended not to hear Lily's words and decided to visit Gavin in his hut. He was worried about the backlash that his friend received after he had done his best to keep William's soul from shattering.
Seeing that David was not interested in hearing her whining, Lily returned to the temple to wait for the next batch of candidates to arrive. Unlike Issei, who had already reached his maximum number of followers, Lily still had a long way to go.
Fortunately for her, there was not a lack of people who would happily sign her contract after seeing the bright smile on her adorable face.
-----
"William, listen well because what I am about to tell you is important," Issei said as he sat in front of William.
The two of them were inside his palace, where most of Issei's women resided. They were currently taking turns to hug the cute Teddy Bear to their voluptuous chests, not caring that blood was already seeping out of the Teddy Bear's nose.
"Girls, do you mind?" Issei grabbed William from his lovers and prevented them from having their way with him. "We boys are having an important talk. Aside from Abby and Gabby, all of you disperse!"
"Darling, you're so mean!"
"Hmp! Let's see if you're going to get any sleep tonight!"
"You better make us feel good later or else we will make you regret it!"
Several other complaints were made by Issei's lovers, but they all followed his order and left the room.
William stared at the two beautiful twins that stood on Issei's left and right sides. They seemed to be in their early twenties, and had petite bodies. Even so, that didn't change the fact that the two girls were definitely above average.
Issei cleared his throat and started his explanation about the uses of the Divinity he left inside William.
"Right now, you are only able to use 25% of the power of the 'Chess Piece' that I gave you," Issei stated in a serious tone.
"This has nothing to do with affinity, talent, or race. You simply don't have the qualifications to use its full power because you are still too young. Only when you come of age will the final seal on my Divinity break and allow you to use its power to its maximum potential."
Issei stood up from his seat and made a gesture. Abby, the one seated on Issei's left, glowed and transformed herself into a sword. The Harem God firmly gripped the sword's handle and gave it a few swings.
With each slash of his sword, several air blades materialized out of thin air and shot in the direction Issei aimed at. Issei made another gesture and Gabby, who was watching her lover's performance, smiled before transforming into a round shield.
The shield flew towards Issei and the latter caught it with his left hand.
"The power of my Divinity, is the power of bonds," Issei said in a voice laced with tenderness and affection. "The more intimate you are with your lover, the more powerful the connection will be. This will allow you to use powerful abilities that are exclusive to them."
The two girls transformed back to their natural bodies and hugged Issei. The Harem God held their waists firmly and gave both of them a kiss on the cheeks, before facing William.
"I'm not telling you to use your girlfriends as weapons, or pieces of armor. I'm just letting you know that anything is possible, as long as the bonds you have with them remain strong. Also, I have a feeling that if my Divinity and Gavin's Divinity worked together, you might be able to temporarily pass your Job Classes to your lovers for a short period of time.
"Of course, this is not yet confirmed. You need to experiment with this after you return to your world."
William's ears perked up when Issei mentioned that transferring his Job Classes to his lovers might be possible. He imagined Wendy using the power of the Monk Job Class to beat up her twin brother, Spencer, and it improved his mood greatly.
Seeing that William's mood had become better, Issei decided to show him what was currently happening inside his Sea of Consciousness.
William looked at his pale-faced spirit body, that was currently being hugged by three girls.
Wendy hugged his body from his right side, A beautiful mermaid with blue hair hugged him from the back, and a girl with silver-colored hair hugged him from the left. The three girls had their eyes closed as they channeled their spiritual energy around them.
The energy was slowly being absorbed by the blue gem embedded in William's chest. William's gaze softened as he looked at the three girls who were doing their best to help him recover faster.
"William, you are loved," Issei commented. "I'm sure that you already know what to do, so I will not interfere with your affairs. However, allow me to give you some advice. Women like it when the man they love tells them that he loves them.
"Don't just show, and make them feel, that you love them. Use words as well. Communication is the most effective way to keep a relationship healthy, do you understand?"
"Yes," William replied as he nodded his head. "Thank you. I will keep that in mind."
"Good. Since this is a special occasion, allow me to help you a bit. Remember, words are important," Issei reminded William as he placed his hand over his head. "I will let you talk to them for a period of time, so make sure to let them know that you are safe."
Something warm spread throughout William's body as he felt himself being pulled back by a strong force.
Issei and his two lovers glanced at each other before leaving the room. They would give the young boy some privacy and let him settle his affairs with his "girlfriends" before his training officially started.
------
Wendy, Est, and Ian had just finished channeling their spiritual energy to William, when they felt a gentle breeze brush against them.
Soon, they heard a voice calling out to them. A voice that they had been wanting to hear since he lost consciousness.
"Thank you for watching over me." William's voice reverberated within his Sea of Consciousness which made the eyes of the three girls widen in surprise.
"I don't have much time, so, please, allow me to talk without being interrupted. First off, I would like to apologize to the three of you. I could have prevented Carter from hurting all of you, but I decided to watch him from the side and allow his filthy spell to corrupt your consciousness.
"Est, I'm sorry. I could have dispelled the spell long ago and prevented you from suffering. Words cannot describe how much I hated myself for not killing Carter at an earlier time. Knowing you, I'm guessing that you might be riddled with guilt right now.
"I'm sorry for making you suffer. I'm sorry for making you feel guilty, and most of all, I'm sorry for not being there to apologize in person."
William then explained everything from the beginning. How he discovered that Wendy was under the effects of a suggestion spell that was slowly invading her Sea of Consciousness and the hesitation he felt in dispelling the spell in its earlier stages.
He explained how Carter tried to use the spell to have his way with Wendy, which forced Wiliam to take the matter in his own hands and purify the curse within her body.
