Speedrun 40

(Andy POV)

"So... We'll have to start thinking about names..." I mumbled as we lay butt naked on the genetically altered, extremely fluffy grass.

Olivia, reclining on my chest, gazed into my eyes with a satisfied smile. "You didn't cheat, right?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.

"I should ask you the same question." I pointed out with a chuckle.

"I did not." she protested with a cute little huff.

"Nor did I," I answered truthfully, a smile spreading across my face as I brushed a single strand of her hair to the side. "It was up to fate that decided it would be a boy."

"I can't believe we already know," she said in wonder.

It wasn't really a surprise that the system notified her of her health status suddenly changing, which now displayed Healthy/Pregnant and even gave information about the bundle of cells that would rapidly develop into a baby boy, not even a minute after the act.

Both of our vitalities were high, hers almost five hundred times that of a normal peak-condition human, while mine was only half of hers – so it was quite understandable.

With my enhanced swimmers, I could literally seed a planet in a single ejaculation, although not that I really wanted to.

Not only were they enhanced by my vitality, but also by my other skills, making them quite resistant to the acidity of a womb, while also having enough agility to sprint to the objective in a matter of seconds.

If it wasn't for the fact that the ovum chooses the candidate, I was pretty sure a fight, on the scale of a microscopic world war, would have broken out in one of her fallopian tubes.

That made the image of my little guys going on a crusade for the 'Holy Grail,' firing off spells, warping reality, and chanting 'For the motherland!', stuck in my head, making me release a light chuckle.

"What's so funny?" Olivia asked, perking up.

"Nothing, just my imagination running wild," I replied with a smile, making her roll her eyes.

"Can you believe we're going to be parents?" She said with a happy little squeal, her hands carefully placed just below her abdomen.

"I'm already mortified by the thought," I said with a wry smile, my hand lightly patting her head.

"Oh, you're going to do fine," she said with a warm smile, playfully swatting my chest.

"Hopefully," I said, releasing a sigh I didn't even notice I was holding in.

"Don't worry," she said, sensing my nervousness and squeezing my hand gently, "We'll be in this together."

"I know... But somehow the thought of ruling over a civilization seems like a lighter responsibility than raising a child."

"For you, perhaps," she commented with a chuckle, making me pout, "But we'll both learn and don't think you'll be spared from diaper duty."

"Damn it," I replied swiftly, already formulating plans for creating spells and enchantments for that role.

"And don't think magic will save you!" As if she read my mind, she immediately crushed my hopes.

"But why?" I whined.

"It's a bonding thing," she shrugged, "I've read it somewhere."

"...Alright," I conceded, realizing it's better to simply agree than go on an hour-long explanation of why said research had no basis, considering babies have no long-term memory, nor do they experience the world as adults do.

"Now that I think about it, we could have as many children as we want in the future," I said with a chuckle. "Screwing up one or two, for scientific purposes isn't such a big deal." My comment earned me more than a light swat to the chest, yet her palm print only stayed visible for a fraction of a second.

"Don't say something like that," she growled, her eyes squinting at me dangerously, "Don't make me keep you in line."

"As you wish, honey," I said with a snort and a playful roll of my eyes, "I promise not to experiment with our children."

"Good," she simply stated, her expression relaxing as she nodded in satisfaction, "Also, what do you mean by as many children as we want?" She added, tilting her head in confusion.

I blinked in surprise, realizing she didn't understand the underlying meaning of her regeneration skills. "Oh... Umm... You know that women are born with a predetermined number of ovum?" I asked, making her nod in response, "And you know your regeneration skills can practically revive you from the dead, restore your body from a drop of blood, right?" I asked with a worried smile, and in response, she nodded once again, "Well, those same skills also prevent you from losing your fertility... Like, forever..." I explained, making her eyes go wide, before a wide smile spread across her face, "So you can pump out as many babies as you want with your baby-maker, you little baby factory~" I playfully added, a chuckle escaping my lips, and my final comment awarded me yet another playful swat to the chest, and also a cute little pout.

"I'm not planning on having so many of them!" She stated while squinting her eyes.

"Good, I wouldn't know what to do with hundreds of me or you running around."

"Huh," My comments made her pause and a wicked smile spread across her cheeks, "A hundred sounds doable."

"No."

"Oh come on! Don't be like that! Imagine a hundred of little me's and you's running around the house, giggling and smiling!" she said, swooning in place.

"Imagine them casting fireballs at each other, erasing worlds in their teenage drama, or mind-controlling their teachers because they didn't get an A on their exam," I countered with a deadpan expression, making her freeze in place and look at me in horror.

"They wouldn't do that, right?" She asked carefully.

"Would you have done it if you had the power to do so?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Ugh..." She groaned, plopping her head down on my chest, "You might be right..." She said, averting her eyes for a moment, "Let's start slow..."

"Good idea," I said with a chuckle, "Especially because the little guy will be at least a tier 4 entity at birth."

"Huh?" She muttered in confusion before her eyes went wide, "What did you do?!" She exclaimed and swiftly grabbed my shoulders.

"Oh right, I didn't tell you that I merged my skills..." I said, awkwardly scratching the back of my head, "One of them allows me to bestow a skill and my race to my offspring. So that's what I did." I shrugged, carefully observing her expression as her grip tightened around my arms, "Before you start overreacting, he will be 100% human. The races I have would have changed his physique in one way or another, and while Deus could have been interesting with a divine domain at birth, I didn't want to give a nuclear weapon to a toddler. Also, while the Meta-Human abilities could have been beneficial to him, there was a chance he would be born as a Windex bottle or something equally ridiculous, so I didn't risk it."

After a moment of pause, and a small sigh left her lips, "I'm relieved. I was afraid you've done something stupid..." She said before she looked at me and asked, "What skill did you give him?"

"A copy of one of my newer skills, [Energy Generation]. It makes him practically immortal while he has some form of energy within his body." I explained, relieved she didn't make a big deal out of it. "I did try to give him one of my strongest skills, one of my authorities, but for some reason, I wasn't allowed to do so," I added with a slight pout.

"Probably for the best." She said with a chuckle, planting a light kiss on my lips, "Also, what is an authority? I checked your status, and you seem to have two of them, but I can't get any information about them."

"Eh... It's like a divine domain but a bit more complex." I shrugged, "You could probably get one if you merged your blade skills. Oh, that reminds me, I'll need a copy of [Albion's Legacy] sometime in the future, so don't merge it."

"Alright," she shrugged, "Want me to share it right now?"

"No need, it can wait." I said with a simple smile, "It's more important for me to have my baby mama safe, so I'll be sending over [Energy Generation] to you." And without waiting for a reply, using [Soul Cohesion]'s ability-sharing feature, I granted her a copy of the skill.

Her eyes went glossy for a fraction of a second as she read through the information. "Huh, sounds... powerful?" She muttered, then looked at me, "This is what you granted him as well?"

"Yeah," I nodded, "Although, I think it became a genetic ability, as the little thing doesn't yet have a soul." I shrugged, "Honestly, I've got no clue how it did that, or better yet how skills work at all." I muttered, slightly annoyed, "I'll start researching the topic when we get situated in our next world. Hopefully, that'll shed some light on the underlying mechanics of the skill system."

"You do that," she shrugged, her arms wrapping around my neck, and she showered me with kisses.

"What's up with you?" I chuckled, returning the favor.

"Nothing, I'm just happy." She giggled, snuggling up closer.

"By the way," I said, conjuring three drops of blood floating about my palm, "I've got you a few things. First of all, three races." She reached for the first one and converted it into a race card immediately, "That was Rabbitmen, which, to be honest, I collected for the unique aesthetics it provides. If you know what I mean." I sent her a wink and chuckled as I received an eye roll in response, while she shifted her race into that of a bunny girl.

"Damn, you're hot," I mumbled, as my hand gently rubbed her fluffy little bunny tail, while my eyes locked onto her two fuzzy little brown rabbit ears.

"Mhhm~" A light moan escaped her lips, before she sensually whispered into my ear, "It's sensitive~"

A shudder went through me, and I had to force myself to stop from, once again, succumbing to the temptation of my carnal desires.

I shook my head and playfully slapped her rump, a move that, in hindsight, might have been a mistake. A similar shudder went through her, and a primal fire was ignited in her eyes. I gulped and exclaimed, "At least wait until I give you all the stuff I prepared!"

She pouted in displeasure before reaching for the drops of blood, converting them, and equipping the races swiftly. "Let's get this over with quickly, so I can play a little more." She said with a sing-song voice, freezing as both of our screens notified us about a skill upgrade.

[Skill Evolution criteria for [Soul Cohesion] reached...]

[Skill: [Soul Cohesion] consumed the skill: [Blood Oath].]

[Skill: [Soul Cohesion] has evolved to [Unity].]

[Unity LVL: N/A]

- Allows the forging of permanent, unbreakable soul bonds with variable ranks, persisting even after death, between a number of individuals based on the soul strength of the bond initiator.

- Depending on the rank of the soul bond, it can provide an impenetrable defense against soul corruption and corrosion, shielding bonded souls from external manipulation, alteration, or corruption.

- Depending on the rank of the soul bond, it can enable individuals to sense each other's location and emotions, facilitating instantaneous communication regardless of distance, while also granting the bonder access to the bondee's soul space.

- Depending on the rank of the soul bond, the bonded individuals experience up to a 15% boost in their attributes and a 20% increase in their energy reserves.

- Depending on the rank of the soul bond, it can enhance regeneration in all forms, including mental health up to 100%, while in the vicinity of a bonded individual.

- Depending on the rank of the soul bond, the bond grants the ability to share up to one skill per month between bonded individuals.

"Well, that was a surprise," I mumbled as I read through the massive wall of text.

"Yeah..." Olivia mumbled before turning toward me, a worried expression on her face. "That reminds me, did you ever check the original skill after the, you know... incident... last time?"

"Yeah..." I simply muttered, unwilling to lie but not ready to divulge the story. The memory of my chat with a prerecorded message with that individual momentarily flashed within my mind.

*Flashback*

"Hi, Andy." He waved at me with a wide smirk.

"Fuck... I knew it..." I sighed in annoyance, my shoulders dropping as I greeted the most handsome man I'd ever seen. "Well, hello to you too, Andy."

"Let me just state it straight up, this is a prerecorded message, and I'm dead, by my own choice mind you." He shrugged. "I'm both sorry for messing with your life and at the same time not really." He chuckled. "I've used probability calculations, and by now, some of the future should have been changed. Thank you for that, by the way." He said with a satisfied smile. "So let me explain the what, and why..."

*Flashback ends*

I shook my head, returning to the present while Olivia raised an eyebrow, giving me a suspicious look. "You're not going to explain who you met and what you learned?" She asked, cocking her head to the side, before adding with a mischievous smile, "I thought from now on there won't be any secrets between us."

"As the man of this house," I said, gesturing towards the heavens, "I decided it is in your benefit not to know what that was about," I stated with a serious expression.

"Was it that bad?" Sensing my emotions, she asked with a worried look as she snuggled up to me.

"Somewhat..." I muttered, somewhat annoyed. "But don't worry, it's nothing I can't take care of now that I know about it." I patted her on her back before extending my hand to the side and pulling the Zanpakuto out of its current storage, a planet a few light years away. "On a brighter note, have this," I said, showing her the sword. "You might experience some discomfort while it binds to you, but [Energy Generation] should swiftly counterbalance it."

"Oh, woe me... Another sword..." She sounded 'enthusiastic', making me chuckle.

"Don't say that; you're going to hurt its feelings. It's not just any sword; it's made out of a soul and will grow stronger together with you."

She rolled her eyes, not really convinced by my story, then reached for it, and the moment she touched it, a shudder went through both her and the blade, transforming the blade into a pink jagged-edged double-sided sword.

"Wow..." She muttered in disbelief, feeling her ethereal connection to the blade. "I feel connected to it as if it's an extension of my being..." she mumbled in wonder.

"Well, duh..." I said, rolling my eyes, making her turn to me and pout, on which I promptly planted a swift smooch. "I told you it's not a simple sword."

I extended my hand and summoned Hanmugen from my soul-space. Its presence alone warped reality, making Olivia pull back while giving me a suspicious look.

"They are called Zanpakuto's, or spiritual weapons. You can store them within your soul and call upon them whenever you need them. As you've probably already noticed, they tend to have a single ability, as well as a secondary form called Bankai." I explained. "This one's mine; it's a bit different than a normal Zanpakuto as it has two abilities. It's called Hanmugen." Hearing its name, the spear visibly vibrated. "Its abilities are simple in this form. It serves as a mana battery, which can saturate my being with energies equal to the production of multiple universes, while also enabling me to precast unlimited amounts of spells, store them within it, and cast them repeatedly and infinitely, without any additional energy expenditure."

"Yeah, that sounds about right," Olivia muttered with a snort before looking back at her blade ready to test it out, "Sever, Setsudan." She whispered, basking the world in a white glow.

With a loud 'Shing', the blade shone brightly before the space station shook, and alarms started blaring.

"Did you just accidentally cut the garden in half?" I deadpanned, trying to rewind time around the thin cut that spanned throughout the entire station and failing miserably.

"Fuck," I muttered in realization. Her attack was conceptual in nature, ignoring all the defensive arrays around this place, making whatever she severs never to have been together in the first place.

I squinted my eyes and grabbed ahold of the station, forcing the two separate halves to stay still and forming a band-aid, a single strand of metal around the station, preventing the leakage of air to the empty void of space.

"Try not to do that indoors..." I muttered, finishing the swift repairs, and giving her an annoyed look, while she shyly averted her eyes and muttered a barely audible, "Sowwy..."

(A/N: Rest assured, the story will continue, I don't plan on dropping it. Also, apologies for the erratic update schedule, the chaotic year-end bullshitery at work has me swamped with all the end-of-year chaos...)