DxD: Tutorial 05
I wake up to the feeling of something soft and fuzzy pushing against my face. My eyes crack open to see a gray bit of fuzz staring me in the face. What? I force myself awake and open my eyes more.
Yua is sitting on my chest, paw extended and resting on my cheek, staring right at me.
I blink. "Uhh. Good morning Yua." She meows at me with a squeaky little voice. I'm not sure if that means she's smarter or not though, because she was pretty talkative even before I leveled her up. "Did you need something?" She moves her paw from my cheek to my lips. "Are you hungry?" She meows again. "Alright then. Get off me and I'll get you some food." Immediately she hops off my chest onto the bed, then down to the floor, and races into the kitchen where her food bowl is.
Okay, not definitive evidence, but she's almost certainly a bit smarter now. She seems to understand me at least. That or she's responding in ways that seem to answer my questions by coincidence. Which is unlikely, but not impossible.
I throw the covers off of me and get out of bed. Kyu is curled up next to the pillow, still sleeping. I don't bother waking her up, and instead I follow Yua to the kitchen.
It's only a little bit before my alarm would have gone off anyways, so since I indulged in sleep, I might as well indulge in some breakfast. I pour some vet recommended kitten food into Yua's food bowl, which is on the kitchen table, and then pour a bowl of cereal for myself.
I snap a picture of Yua eating next to me and send it to Momo with a caption. The little lady decided breakfast should be before the time I set my alarm for.
I finish breakfast and start getting ready for the day. Right before I hop in the shower, I get a text, but it's not a reply from Momo like I was expecting. I open it up and see a picture from Aika. It's a mirror selfie, and she's nude, but she's holding her towel in a way that teases but leaves her technically covered. Her expression is smug and flirty.
Aika really is the best. You sure know how to wake a guy up. She sends back just a winking emoticon. I save the picture and then I finish getting ready for school.
Before I leave I find Yua. She's finished eating and is sitting on the kitchen table. Since she's smart enough to understand me now, I figure I should say goodbye to her. I scratch her behind her ears.
"I have to go now, but you be good for Aunty Kyu, okay? I'll be back later." She meows. I hope that's a yes. I'm definitely going to have to level her up some more tonight. Waving goodbye I head to school.
On my way to school I use [Sneak]. I don't try to hide any more than that though, so a few people definitely see me. But it feels like less people notice me than they did yesterday. Or maybe I just became less of a strange sight. Either way, [Sneak] is gaining XP for it, so I keep it up. I can't keep it up infinitely anymore since it has reached level 30, but my stamina is only going down by 0.2 a second, which means I can keep it activated for more than half an hour, three times the time it took to walk to school.
Nearing the school, I start getting more and more XP as I start walking down routes filled with other Kuoh Academy students. As we're approaching the school I find myself walking slightly behind a blond boy, which is only noteworthy because there's not a lot of blonde students here.
Though he becomes distinctly more noteworthy when he looks off to the side at something, sees me in his peripheral vision walking shortly behind him, and leaps away, hand extended outwards and facing me.
I stop dead, confused. What the fuck is he freaking out over? I use [Observe]
<------>
Kiba Yuuto
Race: Reincarnated Devil
Level: 75
HP: 3390
MP: 1170
SP: 4230
CON: 113
STR: 141
DEX: 176
INT: 39
WIS: 23
CHA: 85
LUK: 23
<------>
Oh, right. Kiba. If I'm being honest, I completely forgot he existed. I certainly didn't remember him when I was genderbending the other males in the two devil peerages. Still, that's probably fine. I think he only gains the romantic interest of Sona's Queen, Tsubaki. I can probably swoop in before that happens.
I guess I accidentally spooked him? He didn't notice me so close under [Sneak], and when he noticed me he freaked out? I stare at him in confusion and try to act like I'm not sure what to do about the weirdo in front of me. It's not a hard act.
After a moment he seems to realize what happened and relaxes. His expression becomes embarrassed. "Sorry about that," he said. "I didn't realize someone was behind me."
I shrug to play it off. "No skin off my back. I should probably be the one apologizing. I've been told I'm a quiet walker before, and this isn't the first time I've spooked someone. A friend once told me they were going to put a bell on me, like a cat."
Kiba, being the friendly guy he is, laughs. "I can relate to that feeling, I would've appreciated it." We both start walking again. "So you're the new transfer student? Axton?"
"Word sure does spread fast," I say. "Yeah, just transferred in yesterday. And you are?"
"Oh, sorry about that. I'm Yuuto Kiba, Second Year, part of the Occult Research Club."
"There's a club like that here? Huh. I wouldn't have thought a nice school like this would approve of a club like that."
"The administrators of the school have a fondness for the supernatural," he explains. Yeah, I bet they do. We chat a bit more, Kiba explaining some of the things they supposedly do as part of the ORC, and we talk about clubs in general and if I'll be joining any. When we get to school we have to go different ways to get to our classes and split apart.
<+10 Affection with Yuuto Kiba>
Affection even with guys huh? I was wondering how the Game was going to handle that. Speaking of the Game, even while talking I kept Sneak active, I should see how it's doing.
<[Sneak] - Level 32(92%)>
<Reduces visibility and sound created by movement, allowing for stealthy traversal. 4SP/s.>
Not bad. Not a huge gain, but two free levels just from walking to school is pretty good. Though that rate of growth will drop rapidly I'm sure. Level scaling sucks.
Putting it out of my mind, I enter the classroom. I see Aika sitting on Atsuko's desk, talking to her. She looks up as I enter and smiles when she sees me. I smile back and sit down. She rotates on top of Atsuko's desk so she's facing me, flashing me in the process.
"Hey Axton," she says. "I didn't get a chance to introduce you yesterday, but this is my friend Atsuko Hyoudou."
Atsuko turns around to face me. "Hi Axton, it's nice to meet you," she greets me with a friendly smile.
"You'll have to watch out for her," Aika says, a smug grin on her face. "She's a bit of a pervert. Though you don't have any boobs so you'll probably be fine."
Atsuko, a horrified look on her face, tries to shut up Aika, but Aika just hops off the desk and moves away, laughing. She then sheepishly turns to me. "I'm not a pervert. Aika's just teasing me."
"Nah, she's obsessed with boobs. I think it's because hers are small and she's jealous," Aika flatly denies Atsuko's denials.
"But all boobs are great no matter their size," I counter, though hers were indeed small. Probably around Sona's size.
<+12 Affection with Atsuko Hyoudou>
Atsuko points at me excitedly. "See? He gets it! Size doesn't matter when it comes to boobs because they're all beautiful!" She freezes. "Ah, I mean. Uhh."
I have that skill I got from Aika that I've been wanting to try, and this seems like a good opportunity for it. I use [Lewd Scouter] on Atsuko.
<------>
Atsuko Hyoudou
Arousal: Low
Perversion: Moderate
Affection: 12
Orientation: Bisexual(closeted)
Fetishes: Boobs
<------>
"I see what you mean Aika," I say, grinning. I guess even as a girl, her love of boobs was a universal constant.
"Nooooo," she wails, slumping over. "Aika I just met him. Why did you have to ruin his first impression of me?"
I wave it off. "No no, it's fine. I don't think less of you. In fact, I respect your earnest enthusiasm. I mean, I'm more of a leg guy myself, but tits are pretty good."
She glares at me, pouting. "That's sacrilege! Boobs are best, nothing beats them."
I shrug. "I guess we just have different tastes."
"Whatever. You're a boy," she dismisses me and turns around. "What do you know about the good things about a woman's body?"
I raise my eyebrow and exchange a knowing look with Aika, who smirks. Out of curiosity, I use [Lewd Scouter] on her as well.
<------>
Aika Kiryu
Arousal: Moderate
Perversion: High
Affection: 100
Orientation: Bicurious(Straight orientation changed by goal of gathering harem for you)
Fetishes: Big cocks, deepthroat, rough sex, group sex, harems
<------>
Interesting. The fetishes aren't a surprise, nor is anything else except for the fact that I influenced her sexual orientation. I wonder if that will happen to every girl that reaches max affection?
The teacher walks in then, and classes officially get started for the day.
-x-
The morning classes pass by in a bit of a blur. I only half pay attention to the lessons, which is more than enough. For the entirety of the classes I instead use [Eavesdrop]. At first, I didn't really hear anything, except maybe I could hear the breathing of Aika and the person sitting in front of me a bit louder. But the skill levels up to level five within a minute, and for every level it gains, it also gains a meter in range.
At five meters the skill covers almost a fifth of the classroom, and I start hearing things. Mostly students mumbling to themselves, but also a few whispers passed between students. I don't hear anything interesting. The ones talking to themselves were either complaining about something or thinking through a problem out loud. The whispers are mostly students asking for clarifications from their neighbors. Damn, too many good kids actually paying attention to class.
Within ten minutes I can hear the entire classroom, including the teacher. I hear everyone's voice perfectly clearly no matter what volume they speak at or how far away they are. And, somehow, they don't all turn into a jumbled mess. I can't pay attention to each and every one of them at the same time, but they are all as equally easy to hear.
For a while, my range seems to stop growing, and I stop hearing new voices. But when I check the skill description, the range is still going up. Halfway through morning classes I start being able to hear other classes. Checking the skill description and making some guesses about the buildings layout, I come to the conclusion that the range is cut down if it goes through walls. Meaning if I can hear thirty meters out, but there's a wall twenty meters away, I can only hear about five meters past the wall. Assuming that it drops by half, which I think is the case. Something around there.
Still, by lunchtime I've made a new record in skill leveling speed, and [Eavesdrop] is now at level 32, matching [Sneak].
Before Aika and I can sneak off somewhere during lunch, Atsuko decides to drag us to the cafeteria, seeing as none of us brought lunches. We get some rather nice lunches, thanks Kuoh Academy, and sit down at a table. Aika and Atsuko sit down on one side, and I sit on the other.
We talk while eating, but it's pretty mundane stuff. Atsuko mostly asks me about myself and I explain my fake backstory. Partway through the meal I feel something on my crotch. I glance down to see a sock covered foot, rubbing me. I look at Aika, who's grinning. Atsuko keeps talking, unaware of what's happening.
The rest of lunch is spent with Aika rubbing my erection with her foot while I try to act like nothing is happening. Aika pushing against me just a little more firmly whenever I talk makes it difficult, but Atusko doesn't seem to notice anything.
After lunch is back to class, which means more [Eavesdrop] grinding. It slows down a bit because it's cost increases every ten levels like [Sneak] and I can't keep it up indefinitely anymore, but I still make some good progress. I stop training [Eavesdrop] for Japanese class though, where I continue using [Erotic Pierrot] to arouse Ms. Nakano anytime she looks at me. It's only my second day doing this and I'm already getting impatient. But fortunately today I have [Lewd Scouter] to give me an idea of how well it's working.
<------>
Mio Nakano
Arousal: Moderate
Perversion: Moderate
Affection: 20
Orientation: Straight
Fetishes: Femdom, edging, rope play
<------>
Her arousal was 'low' before I started messing with her, so even if it wasn't very specific, I could clearly see I was having an effect on her. I also gained another five Affection at the start of class, though none since then. I can probably only get her Affection so high just by making her think she finds me attractive but never interacting with her.
But Japanese class is over far too soon, and soon after, so is school. Kyu shows up as classes end but just tags along silently. I glance at Aika, trying to ask her through body language if she wants to come over to my place again. She seems to get it, because she thinks about it for a moment and then grins. Before I can figure out what that means she turns away.
"Hey Atsuko," she calls out. The girl in question turns to her, head tilted slightly. "Since Axton's new in town but was busy yesterday, I was thinking I could show him around town a little bit today. You want to come with? He'll treat us to dinner."
I raise my eyebrow at her at the assumption, but don't challenge it. I have plenty of money, especially after defeating the Tank, so that's fine with me.
Atsuko thinks about it for a second. "Sure, that sounds fun." We finish getting our stuff together and head out of school.
Kyu follows along. "Ooh, a date with two girls huh? You sure are bold," she teases. I roll my eyes a little, but it does make me wonder. Is that what Aika is doing? Last night she professed her interest in getting me more girls, does she plan on starting with Atsuko?
I make eye contact with Aika and raise an eyebrow. She winks back before turning her attention back to Atsuko. They start talking about the places they should bring me to, and I just nod and agree with whatever they suggest. Before long we end up in the plaza I visited on my first day here.
I saw most of the plaza the day Kyu gave me the quest to get a phone number, but I was paying more attention to the people than the stores at the time. The two girls point out the more popular spots as we go to them or pass by them. We spend some time playing games in an arcade, we pass by a movie theater, and they make sure to point out every good place to eat and buy snacks from. It's honestly a nice evening.
As we pass by a game store, the best place in town to get new games according to Atsuko, Aika sees a store and drags the both of us to it. When we enter I look around to see racks and racks of fashionable womens clothing.
"Uhh, Aika? I don't think Axton really cares about clothes shopping," Atsuko points out in a questioning tone. "And neither do I really."
"Maybe," she replies. "But I figured that since summer is coming up in a couple months, we should take advantage of having Axton here and pick out swimsuits." She heads deeper into the store, still dragging us by the arms.
Atsuko blushes lightly. "I don't see how him being here means we should pick out swimsuits," she protests. "In fact, shouldn't it be the opposite?"
Aika just shakes her head and sighs in a disappointed fashion. "No no no. We need a guy's perspective on how they look on us. They focus on different things then us girls."
Atsuko still looks hesitant. "I don't know Aika, we did just meet Axton and-"
"If you agree we can share a changing room," Aika interrupts.
"Come on Aika, we have to try on a bunch of swimsuits!" Atsuko is the one dragging Aika this time as she storms for the swimsuit section. Aika flashes me a thumbs up as they go.
Kyu laughs at the antics. "Man, that's one simple girl huh?"
I walk over to near the changing room and find a seat while I wait for the girls. "She's absolutely obsessed with boobs."
"Hmm. I can get behind that. Boobs are pretty great." Kyu lifts up her tiny breasts in emphasis. At least, tiny relative to me. They're not that small compared to her overall size. Speaking of which.
"Aren't you a little bigger now?" I ask her. She's looking closer to ten inches than the six she was when we first arrived in this world.
"Yep! By the time you max out your Rogue class I should be back to full size." She smirks. "But don't be sad. I can shrink back down in size whenever you want." She winks and visibly shrinks back down to six inches tall.
I'm about to reply when Aika and Atsuko come back with an armful of swimsuits. Kyu grows back to her new size and I wave to show the girls where I'm sitting. Atsuko doesn't even notice me, instead making a beeline for the changing room. Aika gives me a thumbs up before following her in.
"So you sleep with Aika. Somehow, she finds the idea of building you a harem hot. So the very next day she bribes her friend with some nudity in order to give you a swimsuit show?" Kyu whistles. "I feel like me and Aika would be best friends if I revealed myself to her."
The thought sends a shiver up my spine, one that's equal parts terrified and aroused.
Thoughts of the powers of the two combined aside, I was feeling pretty appreciative of Aika's plan. Especially since I could make it more effective then she realized.
I hear the muffled sounds of speaking from the fitting room as well as a lot of movement. I spend a moment imagining what they're doing in there. Is Atsuko getting handsy, or just looking? And how much is Aika allowing, or encouraging? I could probably [Sneak] and find out for myself, but I feel my skill level is still a little too low for something like that. [Sneak] doesn't seem to offer me much in the way of visibility reduction, judging by Kiba noticing me as soon as he turned his head this morning, which would make it difficult to sneak over there and peek in without getting noticed.
Kyu doesn't share my worries though and doesn't hesitate to zip into the changing room as well. She's such a voyeur. I'm jealous.
But soon enough they both came out for me to judge. They are both wearing somewhat modest one piece suits. Not school suits, these don't cover as much. They show just a bit of cleavage and the sides are open and showing skin.
"So, first swim suit, what do you think?" Aika asks while posing proudly.
I make a show of looking them both over. When I'm looking at Atsuko, I use [Erotic Pierrot] on her to very lightly push her arousal up. I don't want to go too fast on it, or she might get too uncomfortable and cut things short. And we're only on the first swimsuit, there was no need to rush. She blushes lightly as I look at her, but if it's from the effects of my skill, or just a boy looking at her in a swimsuit, I can't tell.
<+6 Affection with Atsuko Hyoudou>
Either way, she seems to like it.
"Pretty good," I finally conclude. "They accentuate your curves while still being modest. Perfect for when you want to look cute but you can't show off too much skin."
"Good answer," Aika says, nodding. "And you're absolutely right. We need to show off more skin. Come on Atsuko."
"No wait, that's not what he said at all!" the other girl protests as she's dragged back into the changing room.
That scene repeats a few more times. The girls go in, they change, and they come out with swimsuits that show just a bit more skin than the last one. I look them over, tweak Atsuko's arousal, and tell them my thoughts on the swimsuits. I don't gain any more affection from Atsuko though, despite ramping up the amount of arousal just a little bit more each time. [Lewd Scouter] shows her at "Moderate" arousal now, but that also isn't going any higher.
It takes them a bit longer to come out with the fifth swimsuit, but when they do, I see why. They are by far the sexiest ones they've put on yet. Atsuko looks embarrassed, and I can tell even Aika is a little nervous, though she masks it fairly well.
They're not micro bikinis. I don't think this store sells something like that, and the girls definitely aren't brave enough to wear something like that in such a public setting. But they definitely toe the line of public indecency.
The bottoms are small triangles of cloth covering up just the space between their legs that quickly taper off into strings that go around their hips that are tied on the side. The tops are strapless and are essentially just a strip of cloth that covers most of their breasts, though it leaves a bit of top and bottom exposed. Enough to tease, but not so much that they're inappropriate.
Aika does a slow spin and I see the tops are tightened in the back with strings that lace into each side like a corset. And the backs of the bottoms are little better than g-strings.
"That's uhh," I clear my throat. "Those are extremely good. Very sexy." I was honestly a little caught off guard. Though not enough to forget to use [Erotic Pierrot] on Atsuko, whose face is very red.
Aika laughs and puts her arm around Atsuko's shoulder. Atsuko moves to push Aika's arm off, but something goes wrong, because immediately her top slips downwards, apparently not tightened enough around her smaller chest.
All three of us freeze as Atsuko's boobs are put on full display for us all to see. She's definitely not flat, and her boobs are small, but they're also cute and perky. I note that her nipples are pretty hard as well. I'm probably to blame for that one.
Not one to miss a chance like this, I instantly make sure to boost her arousal. Though in my haste I accidently ramp it up a bit harder than I intend to.
<+12 Affection with Atsuko Hyoudou>
In contrast with that message, Atsuko blushes so hard her ears turn pink, and she turns and rushes into the changing room again.
"I think that's enough of that for today," I say. Aika nods and agrees. Before she goes back into the changing room as well I stop her. "Out of curiosity, did you set up that wardrobe malfunction?"
"Ooh, that would've been a good idea," she replies. "But nope, that was all natural. I offered to tie the back for her, but she insisted on doing it herself."
I shrug. "Alright. Go make sure she's not too embarrassed. Tell her that it's fine and I thought her boobs were very cute. Or whatever she needs to hear so she doesn't avoid me."
"Yes, master," she replies with a wink. She makes sure to sway her hips extra on her way back to the changing room.
After a minute I get a notification for another six Affection with Atsuko, so whatever Aika ended up saying apparently worked.
They come out a few minutes later. Atsuko isn't looking at me, but otherwise seems calmed down. The girls go to the front to purchase their clothes, each of them getting two of the swimsuits they showed me. I note with interest that they both also get the skimpy one.
After that I offer to buy them dinner, and we head into a family restaurant. The atmosphere is a little awkward at first, but Aika skillfully eases the group into conversation, and before long the three of us are chatting normally.
I use [Lewd Scouter] on both of them. Aika is up to highly aroused, not that surprising. Though she's not playing with me under the table again, which is a little surprising. What's more surprising though is Atsuko's information.
<------>
Atsuko Hyoudou
Arousal: High
Perversion: Moderate
Affection: 36
Orientation: Bisexual(closeted)
Fetishes: Boobs, Exhibitionism
<------>
Did I accidentally give her a new fetish by using [Erotic Pierrot]?
...Oops?
Oh well. Something to worry about another day. Our food arrives and we eat it. Afterwards we stick around and get some homework done. It's actually sort of nice just to relax a bit by acting like a normal student. Though another part of me is itching to hop back into the Dungeon and keep leveling. I'm still not satisfied with my strength, and I'm still not stealthy enough to sneak past the Devils or the Fallen here in Kuoh, much less any of the others that will be here soon.
Half an hour later we decide to call it a night. The sun has just set and both of the girls are expected home soon.
"Thanks for showing me around girls," I tell them before we split up. "I had a lot of fun."
"Oh we had a lot of fun too, didn't we Atsuko?" Aika replies while throwing an arm over the girl's shoulders. "Especially trying on the swim suits."
Atsuko blushes a little but otherwise ignores Aika's teasing. "Certain incidents aside, it was fun. And thanks for helping me with my homework, and for dinner."
"It was the least I could do," I say, waving it off.
"Well, my home is that way," she says, pointing in a direction. "I'll see you guys tomorrow at school!" Me and Aika wave her off and head off in another direction.
"I don't suppose you have time to come over?" I ask.
Aika shakes her head. "Sorry. I'd love to, but I'm already out later than my mother wants. I don't have the time." She looks around, and then pulls me into a secluded spot. "But I've got enough time for this."
She pushes against me and kisses me, her soft lips interlocking with mine. I feel her tongue slips past my lips and soon we're making out. Before it can get too heated though, she pulls away and winks at me. "I'll be thinking of you tonight."
With that she turns around and heads home. I feel a weight settle on top of my head and hear Kyu's voice. "She's a lot of fun."
"Yeah," I agree. "She keeps surprising me too, somehow. Like I know she's a pervert and I've maxed out her affection but still." I start walking home. I activate [Sneak] for just a bit of leveling, because there's no reason not to and it was pretty close to the next level. "So how was Yua while I was at school?"
"Kind of freaky actually. Like, she didn't do anything weird, but she's definitely a lot smarter now. She can't talk but she's pretty decent at responding to you anyways. It's kinda uncanny when a kitten that small nods when you ask it a question."
"I'm going to need to find a way for her to properly communicate," I muse. "With me at least. Other people would be nice as well but not a priority. You know of any good ways to do that?"
"Hmm," Kyu thinks. "I can think of four ways. First, turn her into a cat girl."
"How would I even do that?" I ask. "Just level her up?"
"Uhh. No idea. There's probably some items or something that can do it."
"So not viable in the short term. Next?"
"Make her your familiar, which will allow her to talk into your mind directly. Also it will give her full XP no matter what her level is. But it requires a special item. You can get it as loot or from a quest reward. It's pretty rare though, and if I make you a quest for one, it'll be a pretty hard one for you at your level."
"I'm going to mark that as Plan B in the hopes that one of the other options is better."
"Sorta like a familiar but not really, there are items in the Hunie Store that let you talk to animals, or let animals talk to you. There are telepathic ones or ones that just give them a human voice."
"But I'm out of Hunie. No wait, the Mailman said I could sell things now, I might be able to spare some potions. What's the fourth way?"
"Seduce a girl who can talk to cats and have her translate."
I ponder that for a moment. Koneko was a cat youkai, maybe she could talk to Yua? Or was that a racist assumption? Or would it be speciesist? I shake my head. "Even if I can find someone like that, it'll take too long and be too impractical in the long term. Hunie Store it is."
I reach my apartment and unlock the door. Yua runs into the entry from the hallway, meowing at me loudly. For her anyways. She's still a kitten, so her meowing is still pretty squeaky. I squat down and scratch her behind her ears.
"Sorry I'm late little lady. I got caught up with something. But I'm working on something that should make it so you can come with me in the future." She visibly perks up at that. "Give me a little bit to figure it out, alright? Let's get you some food for right now though."
I feed Yua and then start looking around in the Hunie Store for what I need. Quickly I find several options, but one stands out above the rest.
<Multiversal Telepathic Collar>
<Fits on any animal. Allows telepathic communication from the wearer to any party member.
5000 Hunie>
Expensive, but perfectly suited for what I want. Besides, the only other options are potions that have a limited duration and I could probably make myself with the right materials, and items that let me talk to animals that are very expensive.
Still, I need Hunie for it. Opening up the seller's part of the store, I start pricing how much I can get for my potions. It won't let me sell gear I picked up in the dungeon, so I can't just offload my old Iron Daggers, but the potions are all fair game.
I can get the most money for my XP potions, but those are way too useful to sell. Health potions, even my minor ones, sell for a good bit, but I refuse to sell those too.
Finally I settle on selling 25 of my Minor Poisons. They don't do enough damage to make much of a difference against the enemies I'm likely to face. I'll keep a few on hand just in case, but I can make more if I need them, and hopefully soon I can make better ones. And for 250 Hunie per vial it's a good trade.
I pull out the potions and submit my offer to the store. Immediately a box materializes on my kitchen table like it just got beamed in from the Enterprise, sound effects included. Yua jumps in surprise and I spend a moment calming her down before checking the box.
The box isn't empty, but instead filled with a cardboard grid sized perfectly to hold 25 vials. I pack the Minor Poisons in and close the box, which seals automatically. I wait for a moment, expecting it to disappear, but nothing happens. I look at my phone and see instructions. "Place the package outside of your door for pickup."
I shrug and do so. When I close the door, my phone dings, and I see that my sale went through and I now have 6250 Hunie. I open my door and the package is gone. Huh. I close the door again but don't move away. Going back to the buyers part of the store, I select the collar and purchase it. I also buy another 100 vials for 250 Hunie, leaving me with 1000 Hunie.
Exactly five seconds later there's a knock on my door, and the Mailman is once again standing on my doorstep. He holds out the stone slate. "I see you sold some of your potions. I appreciate the business."
"Sure, I needed the money for this item," I say, verifying my identity with the stone slate. You'd think that this wouldn't be necessary with [Observe], but there's probably a reason why he doesn't use it.
"That's what I count on," he says with a laugh. He hands the package over. "Thanks for buying from us, and have a good day." Once again, before I can say bye, he vanishes.
I shrug, close the door, and make my way back to the kitchen, opening the box. The vials get stashed away into my inventory immediately, but the collar I take out. It's a bit big, but the store description said it would magically change size, and it even changes appearance according to the wearer's taste.
I enter the kitchen. "Yua, I've got something for you." She looks up from where she was lounging on the table. I hold up her new collar. "This should let you talk to me in a way that I understand. Do you want to try it?" She jumps up and nods her head. "Okay, sit still, and I'll put it on."
I take off her old collar, a simple pink one, and replace it with the new one. Sure enough, it magically resizes to fit snugly on her neck. The plain leather appearance transforms into a lavender color with hints of white lace poking out from underneath it.
"Hello?" I hear the voice of a young girl in my head.
I smile. "Hi Yua. I hear you."
<+20 affection with Yua>
Yua squeaks and jumps around excitedly. "Yay! Yay! Yua can talk to Papa and Aunty!"
I blink. Aunty was Kyu, since I called her that this morning. I guess that made me Papa? Well, it was better than her calling me Daddy.
"Oh my god she's adorable," says Kyu. "Call me Aunty again!"
Yua tilts her head in confusion. "Aunty?"
Kyu squeals in delight and gives Yua a big hug. "You are just the cutest little thing."
"But Yua is bigger than Aunty," Yua protests. As Kyu and Yua play and talk, my phone goes off. I open it up and see that Aika texted me a picture.
In the picture she's on her bed, wearing the swimsuit she just bought earlier. The top has been pulled up, showing off her breasts. One of her hands is playing with one of her nipples, and the other is deep into the bottom part of the swimsuit, obviously fingering herself. Her expression is lusty and her face is flushed.
Another text follows it. I told you I'd be thinking of you tonight. And then another. I bet Atsuko's doing the same thing right now.
If it's Aika's goal to get me horny, and it almost definitely is, then she's doing a great job of it. Unfortunately, she's not here to take care of it right now, and Kyu is still a no go. I'll just have to ignore it and focus on leveling instead. I start equipping my dungeon gear.
"Papa?" I hear. "Are you leaving again?" Yua looks at me. Kyu is pinned under one of her paws.
"I am," I confirm, ignoring the guilt her question gave me. "I have to get stronger. There are dangerous people in the world, and I have to be ready for them."
She's silent for a moment, and then tilts her head. "Stronger means you're safer?"
"Uhh. Usually, yeah." That wasn't quite what I had been saying, but it wasn't wrong either.
"Then Yua wants to be strong!" She declares more forcefully than I thought she was capable of. "Yua doesn't want to ever be scared again! Yua doesn't want to be abandoned and be lonely and sad and scared! Yua wants to be strong enough so she can sleep all day in the sun next to Papa and eat all the best food like Papa fed her that day he and Mama saved her! Yua wants to save all the other lost and scared ones like she was!"
I'm caught completely off guard by her sudden burst of emotion, but reflexively I pick her up and hold her to my chest. She closes her eyes and snuggles in close.
"I didn't know you felt like that Yua," I said. "Papa's not strong yet, but I'm going to become the strongest. And I can protect you too so you don't have to worry."
"No." she protests. "Yua wants to be strong too. Yua wants others to look at her like she looks at Papa. Yua doesn't want Papa to do it all alone."
"Okay then Yua," I say. I was going to make her a bit stronger anyways, but if she's this determined about it, I don't see a reason to not indulge her. "I'll help make you strong. It will probably be scary, but I'll be there to protect you until you can protect yourself, okay?"
<+10 Affection with Yua>
<Perk rewarded for reaching 50 Affection with Yua>
<[Feline Friend] - Increases Affection gain with cats and cat related beings by 20%>
"Yaaaaaay!" She hops out of my arms and jumps around. "Yua will be the strongest ever!"
I laugh at her antics. Kyu floats over to sit on my shoulder. "Things got pretty real there, huh? She's so cute I forgot you found her abandoned."
"Yeah. But I think it's good. She has something she wants, and it's something that will better herself. She's not being mopey about it, she's actively pursuing her goals."
"Hmm. Maybe. Either way, let me help out a little bit too. I haven't given you enough of these."
--<New Quest Added!>--
The Little Lady's Level
Objective: Get Yua to Level 25 before canon starts
Bonus Objective: Get Yua to Level 50 before canon starts
Reward: 5k XP(for both), 1000 Hunie, Gacha Token, ? Affection, ? Skill Gem
Bonus Reward: 15k XP(for both), 3 Gacha Tokens, ? Affection, Familiar Stone
--<>--
I raise my eyebrows. "Level 50 seems like a pretty tall order, especially since she's getting reduced XP."
"That's why it's a bonus objective. You'll see that it has that difficult reward for making a familiar I mentioned earlier. It's a challenge. Plus, you've got how long until things kick off? Like three days?"
"Something like that, depending on your definition of start."
"Then just work hard, and if you don't get it you don't get it. Nothing on there is something you can't get later. I know you've gotten all the bonus objectives for the other quests I gave you, but that won't always be the case."
I nod, showing my understanding. And she was right. The rewards were very good, but not unique. Still, a few days of grinding might be enough if I use the XP potions I made.
I interrupt Yua's still ongoing celebration. "Okay Yua, I hope you slept a bunch earlier, because training starts right now."
The kitten skids to a stop and sits upright. "Yay! Let's go let's go let's go!"
I pick her up and place her on my left shoulder, the one Kyu isn't on. Then I use [Dungeon Traversal] to bring up the list of dungeons I can go to.
--<Please select a dungeon>--
0: Zombie Dungeon
1: Mystical Forest
1: Pharaoh's Tomb
1: Vampire Mansion
--<>--
Three new ones and they all look pretty interesting. But in terms of danger of bringing Yua too, the Mystical Forest was probably the best bet. Cats are suited for a forest right?