Harem Master - RPG story Ch. 022

Hey, another update of the Harem Master. This time aftermath of their exploration and his date with Naomi. Hope you would like this chapter!

Skill reminder: (sorry that I forgot to put in the last chapter)

Asher Montgomery (Harem Master -- Support)

Building Harem - Recruit new harem members

Building Relationship - Raise relationship level through sex

Stats Amplification - Gains 5% of each partner's stats.

Partner Enhancement - Temporarily boost partner's stat.

Additional Protection - Prevents pregnancy with harem members.

Lover's Gift - Temporarily clone a harem member's skill after intercourse.

Elara River (Swift Blade -- Assassin)

Fast Attack - Boosted agility for one attack.

Better Eyesight - Slight trap detection boost.

Nimble Movement - Increased dodge chance.

Master Essence - +10 agility if carrying Harem Master's cum.

Powerful Attack - Big damage boost for one attack after orgasm.

Ava Black (Fire Mage -- Mage)

Fireball - Casts fire missiles

Fire Shield - Summons a fire shield

Nature Resistance - +5% resistance to earth/plant magic.

Liquid Mana - Gains permanent mana by swallowingHarem Master's cum.

Sam West (Aegis Defender -- Tank)

Stoneskin - Reduces incoming damage.

Block - Nullifies next attack.

Improved Regeneration - Passively heals faster.

Madelyn Hayes (Ice Queen -- Support)

Icy Caress - Heals and soothes minor wounds.

Ice Spike - Deals magic damage, slows target.

Frost Shield - Summons a damage-absorbing ice shield.

--- Asher Montgomery ---

Asher and his team passed through the portal that brought them back to the Academy.

"Is anyone injured?" an elderly man, a medic, asked them immediately as they appeared in the portal room.

"Everyone's fine," Ava replied.

The man simply nodded before returning to a second medic, who stood by the portal.

Asher noticed Rachel talking to a girl who, like him, was a support. When their eyes met, she smiled softly.

Asher's whole team stepped to the side to avoid blocking the space around the portal. Tiffany agreed to take care of their loot again, and they passed all the items to her, except those they were wearing. She noted who took what, to then split the money equally among them.

After saying their goodbyes, Tiffany and Ava left for their rooms. Sam whispered something to Naomi, who glanced at her before nodding and departing as well, leaving Asher with Elara and Sam.

"We need to talk," Sam said. "Just a few minutes, but in a more private place. And we could farm experience, just in case we decide to join."

Asher kept quiet about the fact that Naomi had already confirmed they would join. He wasn't sure why Sam was so eager for him to take Nami on a date but decided to keep up appearances.

"Let's go to the house," Asher said.

"Don't make a mess again," Rachel said, standing behind Asher. "I cleaned it up, and it must stay like that, got it?"

"You cleaned it?" Asher asked, surprised.

"I didn't have anything to do, as all the students were exploring. I wanted to kill some time," Rachel replied, shrugging.

"Thanks," Asher said.

"Madelyn still hasn't returned," Rachel said.

Asher glanced at the portal. "When did she enter?"

"Not long before you," Rachel replied.

Asher realized that she had been there for over three hours, and at early levels, that was quite long, but that didn't necessarily mean something was wrong. Perhaps they just couldn't find an exit. Or they managed so well that they decided to stay longer. But no matter what was happening, he couldn't do anything about it, but just wait and hope that nothing bad would happen to her.

"Can you tell her to call me when she comes back?" Asher asked Rachel.

"Of course."

"Thanks."

"Are you okay?" Rachel asked, eyeing Asher's clothes, which were stained with his blood.

"Yeah, I took a hit, but a healing potion, and I'm fine," Asher replied.

Rachel frowned but simply nodded.

"In the evening, when you bring me the keys, you'll tell me everything. But for now, off you go--get some rest."

Asher, together with Elara and Sam, walked to the house. The living room was cleaned, just like the room where he had spent the night with Elara and Rachel. They changed into normal clothes in the bathrooms and then met in the living room.

"Where are you taking Nami on a date?" Sam asked immediately.

"Ugh... There's a roller rink nearby. I thought about taking her there and then grabbing something to eat. There's a burger joint on the way back."

Sam nodded. "That will be fine. Buy her flowers--nothing big, a single one would be perfect. And compliment her hair, but not immediately, later on during the date."

"Okay?" Asher replied. It seemed like Sam really wanted this date to go well. Asher didn't know why but wondered if he might find out during it.

Sam stepped closer to Asher, standing face-to-face with him. "But I promise, if you hurt her, I will castrate you, and you can forget about your harem," she said in a serious tone, staring straight into his eyes.

"Hey!" Elara exclaimed.

Sam stepped back with a smile. "Chill out. You said yourself that Asher is amazing, and Nami knows from the start that he's sleeping with other women, so there aren't a lot of options for him to hurt her."

"Still, you're not going to threaten him," Elara hissed, staring at Sam like she was ready to fight.

Sam shrugged. "I'm just worried about my best friend," she said and rolled her eyes. "Come on, it's not like I'm actually going to do it. I'm just fulfilling my duty of having this awkward conversation that needs to happen."

Elara just snorted.

Sam smacked her lips. "So, are we going to grind some levels now?" she asked, looking Asher in the eyes.

He glanced at Elara, who rolled her eyes and sat down on the couch. He stepped closer to Sam, leaned forward, and connected their lips as they kissed slowly. He traced the edge of her lip, exploring the rhythm of her kissing, gauging her responses. Her tongue brushed against his lips playfully before retreating.

When they parted, their eyes focused on each other. Sam smiled, licked her lips, and kissed him again, pressing her body against his. Her tits pressed against his chest, and even through the clothes, he could tell that she was rather on the larger side. Asher put his hands on her hips, but she grabbed them and pulled them to her ass while resting her own on his back, where she massaged him slowly.

They were kissing, caressing each other's lips, and teasing with their tongues as Asher groped her ass cheeks. They didn't need much time before the notification appeared in front of his eyes.

---

Level up with harem partner: Sam West -- Aegis Defender (Tank)

Relationship level +1

Relationship level with Sam West: 2

---

Asher closed it immediately and remained focused on kissing Sam, but just a moment later, they hit the limit. Sam was still kissing him, but he leaned back, stopping it. His breath quickened, and his hard cock was pressing against the material of his pants.

"We reached the limit," Asher said, stepping back.

"Pretty quickly," Sam replied. "A replay tomorrow?"

"If you join us," Asher replied, raising his brows.

Sam rolled her eyes, grinning. "I need to go help prepare Naomi. Remember what I told you," she added before leaving.

Asher sat down on the couch next to Elara, who shifted closer, hugging him.

"Is everything alright?" he asked, whispering.

Elara simply nodded. He embraced her, pulling her closer to himself. He could have just ignored their argument earlier. It seemed that everything was fine, but his mother had once told him to never ignore problems in relationships, even if it would be easier that way. She had been with his father for over twenty years, so they must have done something well, as they were still happy with each other.

"El, I don't want to argue; it makes no sense. But... why didn't you listen to the plan that we had?"

Elara sighed and pulled back so she could look Asher in the eyes. She was silent for a moment.

"In fact, I followed it. I lured the monsters and fought them together with Sam. Only, along the way, I inflicted some additional damage."

"But why?"

"Because I could," Elara replied, shrugging. "That's my role in our team, Asher--to deal damage."

"But you are not alone in this team. You are supposed to deal damage while Sam occupies them so you can have an easier job. That's why you were supposed to back off and attack while Sam distracted them. You didn't let her fulfill her role."

"I did. I led the goblins to her, and she then distracted them. I only added some damage before, so the fight ended faster."

"Taking additional risks," Asher said.

"I didn't risk anything," Elara replied, frustration creeping into her voice.

"El, I'm just worried about you, okay? I don't want anything to happen to you. And even if those goblins didn't pose a threat to you, it's still better to fight against two or three at once, not five. This Large Cave Spider wasn't a threat to me either, but these are dungeons, and something unexpected can always happen--just like when I was attacked by the Spider Dame, and... it got dangerous."

Elara frowned, staring at Asher with concern in her eyes.

"So, even if there's no difference between fighting three or five goblins, it's still a dungeon, and something else might happen. So, it's always best to choose the safer option, just in case."

Asher pulled Elara to himself, hugging her as her arms wrapped around him. They remained in silence.

Elara didn't answer him, and he wasn't sure if they had solved the problem--or what even needed to happen to solve it.

A phone ringing interrupted the silence. While still hugging Elara, Asher took out his phone and glanced at the screen--it was Madelyn.

"Hey, Maddy," he said after picking up.

"Hey," she replied.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What about you?"

"Agh... it's okay."

"Did something happen?" she asked, noticing his hesitation.

"I got hit a bit, but nothing that a potion wouldn't heal."

Elara squeezed him harder with her arms, pressing her face against his chest.

"Umm... are you busy right now?" Madelyn asked.

"I'm with El. Wait a moment," Asher said.

"She can come," Elara said, even before he had a chance to ask.

"We're at the house. You can come if you want to talk," he said to Madelyn.

"I'll be right there."

Asher ended the call and put the phone on the table.

"El, I know that you are strong and fast, and you can, without trouble, kill first-level monsters, but I don't want you getting hurt. So please, just be careful. There's no point in showing off or taking unnecessary risks in the dungeon. Can you do that for me?" Asher asked, looking into her blue eyes.

Elara thought for a moment. She nodded and then kissed him, climbing into his lap, sitting on his thighs. They were kissing until the phone interrupted them.

Asher let Madelyn in, and they headed to the living room, where he joined Elara on the couch, and Madelyn sat to their right. She leaned back and smiled softly, looking at them.

Asher looked her over. She seemed fine, but with potions, she could quickly heal any wounds, and with her baggy clothes, he couldn't see her body anyway.

"How did it go?" he asked.

Madelyn sighed. "We ended up in the Forest Dungeon and couldn't find anything for a long time. Nothing. No monsters. For almost three hours, we were just walking."

"That's strange," Elara replied, frowning. "But you found something in the end?"

Madelyn nodded. "Yeah, and it got even stranger. Two Forest Elves on the fourth level."

"What?" Asher said. "But..." he trailed off, frowning.

"Exactly," Madelyn replied.

"Wait, wait," Elara said, looking between them. "Can someone explain what you mean?"

"You can't find Forest Elves in a first-level dungeon," Asher explained.

"So, how did they get there? Came from the second level? Is that even possible?" Elara asked.

"Normally? No. But that's not even all," Madelyn said. "Zoe suspects that we couldn't find anything because those elves killed all the monsters before us."

"Where did such an idea come from?" Elara asked.

"They were already injured, and had items from other monsters with them."

"Maybe they killed humans," Elara suggested.

"And didn't take their weapons?" Madelyn asked.

"Maybe those humans didn't die but ran away, leaving the items from the monsters, and the elves gathered them," Elara suggested.

Madelyn bit her lip but then just shrugged. "Maybe. I don't know."

"How did the fight go? Did something happen to you?" Asher asked, worried. Two monsters on the fourth level wouldn't be a big problem for his team, but he was worried about how Madelyn's team managed.

"It was tough," Madelyn said.

--- Madelyn Hayes, an hour earlier ---

"Completely nothing," Jessie said as the whole group walked through the Forest Dungeon. "How long have we been here?"

"Four hours?" Anisa suggested.

"Less," Zoe replied. "Time feels like it's dragging because we're just walking. Let's head back to the exit portal and try the fourth direction--maybe we'll finally find something there."

As they were walking past the portal that led back to the Academy, Madelyn wondered whether perhaps it wasn't their lucky day and they should just give up and return. All this time would be wasted, and they would not get any experience, but it seemed like that wouldn't change by spending more time there.

In the end, she didn't voice her thoughts and followed after her team as they moved through the First Level of Forest Dungeon--the same one that Asher had been in the previous day. From what he had told her, they hadn't had a problem with a lack of monsters.

A swish of air preceded Anisa's scream. Madelyn noticed an arrow sticking out of her shoulder.

"Take cover!" Zoe shouted, running behind a tree. "On the right," she added while hiding. Madelyn did the same immediately, staying close to Zoe. Another arrow flew through the air, but it didn't hit anyone.

"Anisa?" Zoe shouted.

"I'm fine, but I got hit for twenty-three points," she replied.

Whatever it was, it was really strong, probably at the fourth level. Madelyn frowned--nothing that occurred in the Forest Dungeon on the first level came to her mind. Goblins didn't use bows, and nothing else could wield weapons like that. She realized that it must be some really rare monster.

"What's that?" Zoe asked as their whole team hid behind trees.

"I didn't see it," Anisa replied.

Zoe and Madelyn leaned out from behind the tree, searching the surroundings for their enemy. Between the trees, something ran toward them. It looked like a human but had long white hair, long spiky ears, and a pale complexion.

Madelyn hid behind her tree. "Elf?" she asked herself quietly, surprised.

"What?" Zoe asked.

"I think it was an elf," Madelyn repeated louder.

"One?"

"I don't know," Madelyn replied, shrugging. "It was coming toward us."

"Agatha and Sylvia, move toward it. Anisa, Madelyn, and I will cover you. Jessie, try to fall back and flank it," Zoe instructed.

Agatha moved from behind the tree, hiding behind her raised shield. A swish of air preceded the thud of an arrow hitting it. At the same time, Madelyn leaned out and noticed the elf with a bow hiding behind one of the trees.

Anisa drew her bow and leaned out, aiming in its direction.

"Behind a tree, a hundred feet ahead," Sylvia said.

"Agatha from the left. Sylv from the right," Zoe commanded.

Both women headed forward. The elf peeked out from behind the tree, but Anisa immediately released her arrow, and it had to hide before it even had a chance to fire.

Agatha turned suddenly, and a sword hit her shield as a different elf jumped at her from behind the tree. Madelyn immediately checked its status.

---

Forest Elf

Level 4

Health: 97/130

---

"It's injured," Zoe shouted, sending her missile made of dark magic toward it. The elf rolled over on the ground, and the missile, together with Anisa's arrow, flew through the air where it had been standing.

The monster immediately jumped forward. It was using a thin sword made out of greenish steel, moving really quickly. Agatha deflected its attack but didn't manage to block the next immediate one, and the monster wounded her arm.

The elf that had been shooting at them earlier leaned out again with its bow ready. Madelyn immediately sent an ice spike toward it. The monster released its arrow, but it was trying to hide at the same time, and the arrow flew far away from any of them, while Madelyn's skill hit the tree, not reaching its target either.

"Sylvia, attack the archer! The rest of you, help Agatha!" Zoe shouted, sending another missile at the elf. It jumped back, dodging it, then immediately swung its sword, trying to reach Agatha.

She blocked its attack, backing off immediately so its next attempt didn't reach her. Madelyn headed toward them, knowing that she needed to close the distance if she wanted to hit the monster with her skill, considering how fast it was moving but, more importantly, how quickly it was reacting.

Anisa, with her bow ready, waited for the moment when the elf would back off from Agatha, giving her an opportunity to shoot safely. When it happened, she released her arrow. The monster shifted to the side, dodging it easily, but Madelyn took advantage of that moment, attacking immediately. Her ice spike hit the elf in the arm.

It took a step back and didn't seem at all bothered by it. But even if Madelyn didn't do a lot of damage, the elf was slowed thanks to her.

"Good job, Maddy!" Zoe shouted, sending her own dark missile at the elf.

The monster still managed to jump away from it, but it was much closer this time. The elf didn't wait and rushed at Madelyn. She started to back off while Agatha chased it, but even before the elf had made it halfway, it stumbled and dropped to the ground.

Anisa released her arrow, which struck the elf in the arm. It turned around and cut with its sword at the black tentacles that were wrapped around its ankles.

Agatha reached it and attacked, but it rolled to the side as Zoe's skill tentacles vanished. The elf jumped to its feet, and Zoe's missile hit its stomach. Agatha tried to take advantage of this moment to attack, but the elf dodged and cut her thigh.

Madelyn glanced at how Sylvia was managing. The elf that had earlier been shooting at them with a bow now wielded a sword and was fighting against Sylvia and Jessie, who had joined her. Together they were trying to attack it, but the elf was too fast.

The monster dodged Jessie's attack, jumping toward her, moving away from Sylvia, who stood on its other side. Its sword pierced Jessie's stomach. Then it kicked her knee from the side, and as she was falling forward, the elf raised its knee with full force, hitting her straight in the face. Jessie flew backward limply as the monster pulled its sword out of her, sending a spray of blood through the air.

Sylvia, too late, leaped forward, slashing at the monster, but it had already jumped back. Everything happened in just a second, and Jessie was lying motionless on the ground.

"I need to help Jess!" Madelyn screamed, sprinting toward her.

Her heart pounded violently against her ribs, her breath coming in short, panicked gasps.

Jessie wasn't moving.

A sickening wave of dread tightened around Madelyn's chest like a vice. Was she still alive? She had to be.

But her body lay there, limp and lifeless, and the closer Madelyn got, the more terrifying that stillness became as she saw more clearly how much blood Jessie was losing.

Sylvia tried to attack the elf, but it blocked her attempt and then slashed her arm. Madelyn checked its status.

---

Forest Elf

Level 4

Health: 53/130

---

This elf had less health left. Madelyn sent an ice spike toward it. It was too occupied fighting Sylvia and didn't notice the incoming missile that pierced its side. The monster immediately turned around to check where it came from, and Sylvia attacked, piercing it with her sword.

Madelyn dropped to her knees beside Jessie.

Blood. It was everywhere. Her face was smeared with red, and more of it was still streaming from her nose.

Madelyn clenched her teeth, forcing herself to push the panic aside. She activated her healing ability immediately, her fingers trembling as she gently touched Jessie's temples, tracing down her cheeks toward her nose.

The cold sensation spread beneath her fingertips, meaning that the skill was working and she was healing her. Madelyn let out her breath.

Jessie's eyelids fluttered, and she opened her eyes.

"I healed you," Madelyn whispered, staring at the wound in Jessie's stomach. It wasn't bleeding as heavily anymore, but it was still open.

"Thanks," Jessie replied, checking her status. Then she sat up, looking at her stomach.

"Do you want a potion?" Madelyn asked, helping her stand up.

"Not now," Jessie replied, picking up her weapon.

"Can you fight?" Madelyn asked, worried that Jess wasn't yet able to go back into the fight.

"I must," she replied, rushing toward the elf.

Madelyn followed after her with a worried gaze. It was a close call, and Jess was rushing back into the fight still wounded.

The elf attacked Sylvia. She was defending herself, trying to attack too, but she couldn't reach it with her sword.

Even before Jessie reached the elf, Madelyn sent her ice spike toward it and wounded it again, as it had its back turned to her.

The elf turned toward her, noticed Jess coming at it, and blocked her attack. Madelyn realized that she had just warned it, and possibly, it wasn't the best move.

"I need healing!" Agatha shouted suddenly.

Madelyn turned toward the second fight that was happening at the same time. The elf was attacking Agatha. Anisa released an arrow at it, but it dodged and wounded Agatha's shoulder. She stepped back quickly, but the monster followed after her.

Madelyn rushed toward her, pulling out a healing potion from her bag.

"Zoe, Anisa, shoot at it together! You need to buy me a moment," Madelyn shouted.

The elf got closer to Agatha, trying to attack her again. Zoe and Anisa shot at the same time, aiming straight at it. The monster jumped back, and Madelyn shot her ice spike, forcing the monster to roll back even further, granting her more time.

She reached Agatha's side and passed the potion to her, which Agatha started to drink immediately.

The elf rushed at them, quickly getting close. As its sword flew at Madelyn, she summoned her ice shield, from which the sword bounced back, and the shield shattered to pieces. Agatha threw the empty flask to the ground and attacked the monster, giving Madelyn the opportunity to step back.

Madelyn checked her status to make sure she was out of mana and pulled a mana potion out of her bag. She quickly swallowed the sweet and thick liquid, restoring herself one hundred points.

With freshly restored mana, Madelyn sent her ice spike toward the elf. It dodged but got hit by Anisa's arrow instead.

Madelyn glanced at the second elf, which was still fighting against Jessie and Sylvia. It had only eleven health points left but still furiously attacked them.

Madelyn headed toward it, wanting to send her next ice spike at it to try and finish the monster.

The elf deflected Jessie's attack and then charged at Sylvia. She wanted to block its attempt with her shield, but it was too quick and wounded her arm.

The monster prepared to attack again, but Madelyn sent an ice spike at it, piercing its chest and knocking it off balance. Its attack, aimed at Jess, missed completely, and she took the opportunity to stab it with her sai, right next to the ice spike still sticking out of its body.

The elf's hands dropped. Its sword slipped out of its grip. It looked one last time at Madelyn, and its lifeless body fell to the ground, pulling Jess's weapon out of her hand.

"Are you alright?" Madelyn asked.

"Can you give me that potion?" Jess replied.

Madelyn immediately pulled out another vial and passed it to her, noticing that aside from the previous wound on her stomach, which had started bleeding again, she had a cut on her thigh and arm.

"I need one too," Sylvia said. Her left arm was completely covered in blood and hung limply at her side after she dropped her shield.

Madelyn passed another potion to Sylvia and then headed back toward the first elf, which was still fighting against Agatha. Jessie and Sylvia followed just after her, drinking their potions.

Zoe's missile hit the monster, and Madelyn checked its status.

---

Forest Elf

Level 4

Health: 21/130

---

It was close.

Madelyn launched her ice spike toward it. The elf dodged, but Jessie and Sylvia surrounded it along with Agatha.

The elf stopped, looked around, and frowned. Then it leaped at Jessie, trying to stab her with its sword, but even before it had a chance to reach her, an arrow struck its arm, and Sylvia attacked it, wounding its side.

Jessie without trouble stepped to the side, avoiding its blade.

A dark magic missile hit the elf in its back. It turned around in place, but Agatha stabbed its chest with her sword. As she pulled it out, it was covered in the elf's blood, and the dead body dropped to the ground.

--- Asher Montgomery ---

"After the fight, close to the tree where the archer was hiding, we found the items from other monsters," Madelyn finished her story.

"You were lucky, they were already injured," Elara said.

Madelyn nodded. "It could have been really bad if not for that."

"I'm glad that nothing happened to you," Asher said.

Madelyn bit her lip, averting her eyes.

"You returned after that?" Elara asked.

"Yeah. Everyone was after potions, and Zoe suggested that the elves had killed all the monsters in a close area anyway."

Asher wondered what the elves were even doing there. Normally, they shouldn't be there, but lately, monsters were behaving weirdly--especially when they started to appear in the human world without entering through the known portals. Did the monsters find some other way to travel between worlds? And between different levels in dungeons?

Those were the questions he couldn't find the answers to, and it only remained to wait for the people who were already investigating those things to discover something.

"So, you had a full team already?" Asher asked.

"Well... not exactly. We have a bit of a problem," Madelyn admitted. "Sylvia told us today that she talked to another team and decided to join them instead."

"Seriously?" Asher raised an eyebrow. "What about the others?"

"Yeah, they're all set. We're just missing one person now."

"You'll find someone, no worries. There's still a week left, and Rachel mentioned that more people are coming in through the supplementary recruitment."

Madelyn nodded. "Yeah..." she sighed. "Anyway, how did your exploration go?"

--- Tiffany Davies ---

Tiffany took off her whole set of equipment and lay down on the bed in just her underwear and a shirt. Her roommate was still not back, so she had complete silence to think about what she was supposed to do.

Should she join Asher's team? Or, more precisely, his harem? Tiffany frowned just at the thought of that word. She didn't associate it very well, it brought images of men playing with women and treating them like toys they collected, not really caring about their feelings or well-being.

Asher didn't seem like that... but she didn't know him at all. She didn't know what he was like or what his intentions were. Everything he had told her so far could have been lies.

Tiffany, even before she had come to the Academy, had known that she would have a hard time deciding which team she should join, but she hadn't expected that the choice would become so difficult so quickly. And all because of him and his class.

On one hand, he offered powerful boosts. On the other hand, there were conditions that his class demanded. Tiffany would have to... kiss him and then... have sex with him.

She had always dreamed that she would meet some man at the Academy, he would ask her out on a first date, then a second, a third, and then things would naturally progress further. And now, she was supposed to skip all those steps and just have sex with someone she didn't know at all? And that without ever in her life going out on a date?

A date. Asher took Naomi out on a date. But he didn't ask Tiffany out... Wasn't he interested in her? Wasn't he attracted to her? Did he just need her to fill the warrior role in his team? Was his constant reassurance that she would not be forced to do anything actually a suggestion that he didn't want to do anything with her?

But why, then, would he ask her to join his team? Well... he didn't. She had asked them if they would want to explore with her, and they didn't have a lot of options since there weren't many female warriors. Perhaps he didn't like any of them, and they just settled on whoever was available, and it happened to be her because she asked them first.

Tiffany rolled onto the bed, hiding her face in the pillow. She had no idea what she was supposed to do. She didn't know Asher, and he didn't know her, and if she joined, she was supposed to...

Tiffany sighed. And all of that was just the start of potential problems. He had a girlfriend. Elara was gorgeous, much prettier than Tiffany--it wasn't a surprise that he wasn't interested in her...

And if she accepted, she would be stuck in... in... whatever it would be. She wasn't even able to name the relationship that would exist between them.

Elara and Ava looked like models... Naomi was cute, and he asked her out. But not Tiffany... Did she even want to go on a date with him? Maybe... But he didn't ask her out. Was she already jealous of the other girls? "Gods," she groaned.

And even if he did ask her out, how would it go? They would meet, have some fun, sleep together, and then he would just start to ignore her, having a much prettier woman around him, and she would be stuck there, unhappy.

Or they would go on a second date. Maybe she would fall in love with him, maybe he would fall in love with her, maybe they would be together, live together, and she would be happy and have kids with him. She groaned again, realizing that she was getting carried away with those thoughts.

Her time to decide was short... She had a week, but with each passing day, more and more teams were being completed, and it might happen that, in the end, she would have no choice at all.

Would that even be so bad? If she was just forced into some team? Then at least she wouldn't have to think about it and worry.

She wouldn't need to decide, and she knew that whatever she chose, in the end, she would probably regret it. It was always like that... She had always made bad decisions when it came to important matters...

Join Asher's harem. Don't join Asher's harem.

Have sex with Asher. Don't have sex with Asher.

Was she even ready for that? Tiffany wondered and realized that probably not. Not with him. She didn't know him. Did she really want to lose her virtue to a man she didn't know? For upgrades to her class? Was it worth giving up the possibility of a normal relationship for those boosts? Because if she agreed, she could forget about a normal relationship. And then what? What would happen in the future? What would happen when they finished the Academy? Or when they stopped exploring?

But those boosts could make her stronger, and then if something went wrong, she could just leave. And the boosts would remain with her forever. She could become a powerful explorer, earn a lot of money, and then retire and sort her life out without him and this whole harem.

Tiffany didn't know what she was supposed to do. She knew that a long night awaited her because she wouldn't fall asleep easily, with all those thoughts clouding her mind. But she decided that she would make a choice. By noon the next day. She would think about it, then she would sleep--at least a few hours--and she would make her final decision tomorrow morning.

But Tiffany knew that in the morning, she would still have doubts and wouldn't be ready to make a choice. She would find a perfect reason to postpone it. She needed something more binding than just her decision.

She grabbed her phone and texted Asher that she wanted to meet to tell him about her decision tomorrow at noon. Immediately after sending the text, she silenced her phone and put it back on the nightstand with the screen facing down.

Tiffany lay down on the bed, sighing. "Maybe I should just toss a coin?" she mumbled to herself, lost in her thoughts.

--- Asher Montgomery ---

With a single rose in his hand, Asher climbed the stairs of the Academy. The flower shop was close, but their options were limited. In the end, he decided to buy just a single red rose, hoping that Naomi would appreciate the gesture and not care that he didn't spend a lot on it.

At the stairs, he passed two women who glanced at him and then giggled while whispering to each other. He realized that if someone noticed him giving the flower to Naomi, rumors would spread quickly around the Academy that he was going on dates while having a girlfriend. At least if those two recognized him, they probably thought that he was going to Elara.

Asher stopped in front of Sam and Naomi's room. The corridor was empty, and he hoped that no one would suddenly show up.

He knocked on the door, and Sam opened it immediately. Her gaze shifted over his body, then stopped on the rose as she nodded with a smile.

"Naomi needs a moment longer," she said.

"Can I come in?" he asked.

Sam opened the door wider and let him in. The door to the bathroom was closed, but he could see that the light was on inside.

"Nami, your boyfriend came for you!" Sam shouted.

Asher frowned, looking at her, surprised, but she only winked playfully and jumped on the bed.

The bathroom door opened slowly, and Asher glanced over.

Naomi entered the room with her head slightly lowered, avoiding looking him in the eyes. She wore black shorts that exposed her slim legs, which had a warm, dark complexion. She also wore a dark top that ended at the middle of her ribcage, showing her flat belly.

The material stretched over her tits, emphasizing them. At first glance, they seemed rather large, at least on her slim figure. They were certainly bigger than Elara or Ava, but smaller than Rachel. Asher thought that if Naomi had tits as large as Rachel's, she would look hilarious.

A warmth spread over his cheeks as he realized where he was staring, and he quickly focused his eyes on her face. Fortunately for him, she was still averting her gaze and didn't notice.

The makeup on her face was subtle but highlighted her cute features. Black, perfectly straight hair fell freely around her face.

"Hey," Asher said, passing the rose to her. "For you."

Her eyes widened in surprise. For a short moment, she looked shocked, but then she grabbed the flower and pressed it against her face, inhaling its scent.

"What do you say when you get a present?" Sam suddenly said, smiling widely.

"Sam!" Naomi hissed, sending her a threatening look.

Sam burst out laughing.

"Thank you," Naomi said, ignoring her friend and raising her eyes to Asher.

Her glance was brief before she turned toward Sam and passed the rose to her.

"Find something to put it in water, and behave while I'm out," she added, looking at her firmly.

Sam only smiled widely, her eyes shining with amusement.

"Have fun. And remember to use protection," she added playfully.

Naomi turned her eyes away as her cheeks darkened. "Sam!" she hissed again.

Asher realized that Sam was having a great time and wasn't going to stop, so he opened the door. "Let's go," he said, wanting to leave before Sam went too far.

They stepped out into the corridor and headed toward the stairs. They walked in silence for a moment until Naomi sighed softly. "Sorry about her," she said.

"It's okay," Asher replied, smiling. "I don't know her well, but it seems like she's always like this."

Naomi frowned slightly but nodded. "Yeah, Sam doesn't have any barriers. She says anything that comes to her mind without thinking."

"Do you know each other long?"

"From the first class in school, so it's been around twelve years."

"Almost your whole life. Just like me and... Agh, sorry," Asher stopped, brushing his hair. "That's weird. I shouldn't speak about my..." he stopped himself again.

Naomi didn't say anything, and only when they had left the Academy and headed toward the roller-skating rink did she speak again quietly.

"You can speak about Elara. I know that she's your girlfriend. It's not a secret or anything, and we are not going out behind her back. We... it's strange, but everyone agrees to it and knows what the situation is."

Asher looked at her. "And... you don't have a problem with that?"

Naomi sighed, shrugging. "I don't think so... I had some concerns, but..." she hesitated for a moment. "We will see what comes out of it."

There was another moment of silence between them. Asher realized that it was a bit of a serious topic for the start of their date. He wasn't sure what to say, so he asked the first thing that came to his mind. "Are you from here?"

"Yeah, I lived here my whole life," she replied. "Where did you come from?"

"Oh, from a small town to the west. You've probably never heard of it. It has just a few thousand residents, and I lived on the outskirts."

"It must have been peaceful," Naomi said, tilting her head slightly.

"Oh yeah, very," Asher said. "Sometimes too much."

"I've always dreamed of living on a farm one day. When I'm older, I'll have my own house, silence, peace, and nature."

"What about now? You don't like living in a city?"

"It's fine, but there's no space or peace here."

"It can get boring if it's too peaceful," Asher said.

"I think that after years of exploring, too peaceful would be exactly what I want," Naomi replied.

They had already reached their destination, and Asher opened the door for her, letting her go in first.

"Have you ever skated before?" he asked.

"No," Naomi whispered.

Asher frowned, looking at her. A moment before, she had seemed quite relaxed, and all of a sudden, she seemed tense.

"It'll be fine, I will teach you," he said, trying to calm her down.

Naomi simply nodded, looking around the room. On the right were the cash registers. In front of them stood lockers and benches, and on the left was a large skating area. There weren't many people, but a few were skating.

Asher stepped up to the cash register, borrowed roller skates for both of them, bought the entrance tickets, and got a helmet for Naomi--just in case she fell.

They sat on the benches, and Asher quickly fastened his roller skates, but Naomi had a problem. He stepped in front of her and knelt.

"Can I?" he asked.

Naomi gasped softly and nodded, averting her eyes.

He fastened her rollers. "Is that okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, thanks," she replied.

Asher picked up the helmet and slipped it carefully onto her head while brushing her hair back.

"You know," he said, fastening the strap under her chin as her whole face darkened, "Sam told me to compliment your hair, but I think I would do it anyway. You look really stunning with it loose."

Naomi glanced at him and quickly turned her eyes away. She tried to stand up, but she did it too abruptly, and her legs slid apart. She tilted forward, straight into Asher. He managed to grab her before she fell.

"Careful," he said, trying to balance both of them.

Naomi instinctively caught his arms. He felt her fingers squeeze his biceps. Her eyes focused on where she grabbed him, then she looked him in the face, being really close to him. Her lips parted slightly, but then she quickly pulled her hands back. Asher pulled his hands away from her too.

"Slowly, there's no rush," Asher said, taking two steps toward the rink floor and motioning with his hand for her to follow him.

Very carefully, Naomi moved toward him in small steps until she reached the edge of the skating floor.

She glanced at Asher, who had a wide grin on his face.

"Don't laugh at me," she said quietly.

"I'm not laughing," Asher said with a smile. "You just look even more adorable than usual when you focus so much on those short steps."

Naomi rolled her eyes, but her lips curved into a soft smile. "Stop it," she said. "You were supposed to teach me."

"For that, you first need to enter the floor," he noted.

Naomi sighed, then looked around the room one more time before taking her first step onto the floor and immediately grabbing the railing.

"You see? It wasn't so hard. Now, slowly," Asher said, skating to stand in front of her.

Roller skating came naturally to him, as he had learned it when he was around five. In the small town where he grew up, there weren't many attractions, and skating was a great way to pass the time for hours.

But now, he had to try to teach Naomi how to skate--something he had never done before. Explaining something that came to him instinctively was harder than he had expected.

"Okay, let's try this," Asher said. "Shift your right foot forward, but don't lift it."

Naomi slowly made the movement, but her left leg remained in place, and she lost her balance. Asher grabbed her, trying not to laugh.

"You were supposed not to laugh," Naomi said, pouting.

"I'm not laughing," he denied, not completely honestly. "It's just, you need to work with both legs."

He took a step back from her and decided it would be best to show her how he was doing it.

"Right leg forward, and with the left one, you push slightly. Then you need to lift it and put it next to the right one. And try to glide forward a bit with both legs held straight."

Naomi nodded, concentrating. She focused on her feet and carefully did exactly what Asher had told her.

She moved about six feet before stopping. But she didn't lose her balance and grabbed the railing.

Her face immediately lit up with a smile as she glanced at Asher and then quickly returned her eyes to her legs, focusing again on her roller skates, trying to repeat the move.

"See?" Asher said with a smile. "You're doing great."

Naomi didn't reply but grinned as she tried to repeat the movements, skating longer distances. Asher gave her small tips, trying to help her, but she was managing really well on her own.

Naomi was skating her second lap without grabbing the railing. Asher was following next to her, while her whole focus was on her legs and how to move them in rhythm to continue skating.

Someone suddenly skated in front of them and stopped right in their way. Asher grabbed Naomi by her arm, stopping her. She wasn't going very fast, and he managed to save them from crashing into two young women standing in front of them.

"And who do we have here? We haven't seen each other in a while, Geisha," said one of the girls.

She was a tall blonde with her hair pinned up in a high ponytail and far too much makeup on her face. Asher had a bad feeling when he saw her smile while looking at Naomi.

The girl next to her looked very similar but was shorter, with a smaller nose and wider-set eyes. They almost seemed like sisters, but Asher suspected she was merely imitating her friend.

Naomi tensed. "Morgana," she whispered.

Morgana tilted her head, seeming surprised. "Oh, you don't seem to be happy to see me," she said, stepping closer, then looking at Asher. "You found yourself a new sponsor? This time a man rather than that redhead bitch?"

Naomi frowned. "Stop calling her that," she hissed.

Morgana raised an eyebrow. "Oh, how loyal," she sighed. "But why are you getting so worked up? Are you scared of honesty?"

Naomi pressed her lips together and tried to move aside, but Morgana immediately moved to block her path.

"Come on, don't be like this," Morgana said. "Are you scared to talk with your new boyfriend present? That he would learn how you were earning your luxurious life?"

Naomi clenched her fists. "Morgana!" she said through her teeth.

Asher moved in front of Naomi, positioning himself between the two women. "Listen, I don't know who you are, and I don't really care, but we don't want to talk to you. So don't bother us, and go away. Mind your own business," he said without raising his voice while staring into her eyes.

"Hmm... I don't know what you see in an ugly girl like her," Morgana said, glancing at Naomi with a mocking smile. "Leave her, and I will show you what a real woman can do, not a sell-out pussy licker."

She moved closer to Asher, but he just stepped aside, and she skated past him, losing her balance slightly, but she didn't fall.

"How much do you charge per hour?" Asher asked, looking at her with feigned curiosity. "And is your friend included?" he added, glancing at the girl who was just standing to the side, not even saying a word.

Morgana snorted. "Buy us some drinks, take us to a hotel, and you will have an amazing night," she said, stepping closer to him again.

Asher noticed that Naomi was staring at him with wide-open eyes.

"So, not only are you whoring yourself, but also your friend?" Asher asked calmly.

Morgana squinted her eyes, but she didn't manage to say anything before Asher continued.

"That's just pathetic," he said and grabbed Naomi's hand gently. "Let's go," he said, moving toward the exit of the floor.

For a moment, he hoped that Morgana would just leave them, but she followed after them.

"I wouldn't give you anyway, sucker!" she said, moving in front of them. She skated backward, facing them while completely ignoring where she was going. "You have to pay to even have a chance with any girl, and it's still with a lesbian who licks that redheaded bitch's pussy and thinks she is better than the others."

Asher sighed and looked at her with a little pity.

"And you think any guy would be interested in you before drinking at least three beers, and only in the club where the lighting would hide your face? And then he would not even remember your name in the morning after you whored yourself for a few drinks."

Morgana clenched her jaw, and her face twisted in anger.

"You assh--"

While trying to insult him, she rode into the railing and fell to the ground. Her friend rushed forward, trying to help her but did it so abruptly that she stumbled into her and fell on top of her.

There was a moment of silence as Asher stared at their intertwined bodies.

"Well, good luck finding some desperate guy who can ignore the layer of makeup on your face," he said, skating away from her while pulling the silent Naomi along.

"You asshole! Come back here!" Morgana screamed while still on the ground, but he just ignored her, and together with Naomi, they left the floor.

He had lost all desire to continue skating after all of this. And he doubted that Naomi wanted to stay there either.

They took off their rollers and returned them with Naomi's helmet at the cash register and left the building.

"Are you hungry?" Asher asked.

Naomi nodded without looking at him.

The restaurant that Asher wanted to go to was on their way back to the Academy, and it was close, so after a few minutes, they were at the place. There weren't a lot of people inside, and it was pretty quiet.

They sat down, and Asher only briefly glanced at the menu, as he already knew what he wanted to order. He looked at Naomi, who was still tense, staring down.

"Nami," he said. "If you prefer to go back to the Academy, it's fine, we can go out some other time."

"It was all lies," Naomi murmured. "What she was saying," she added.

"It's okay," Asher said calmly.

"Really," she repeated.

"Okay."

"She made up all of it," Naomi said. "She was jealous and started to spread those lies, and none of it was true. I had never--"

Asher interrupted her, grabbing her hand that lay on the table.

"Nami," he said. "You don't need to explain yourself. I believe you."

She lifted her eyes to him. "Really?" she whispered.

"Of course," he replied.

She looked at Asher for a brief moment, then took a breath and looked away.

"Do you already know what you want to order?" the waiter asked as he approached them, holding a notepad.

"Big Monster Burger, fries, and a Coke," Asher said.

"For me, a cheeseburger, fries, and a Coke," added Naomi.

"Sure, anything else?"

Both of them shook their heads.

"It will be a few minutes," the waiter replied and walked away toward the kitchen.

"If you don't want to talk about it, it's fine," Asher said.

Naomi frowned slightly as she hesitated. But then she looked at him.

"Morgana, Julia--the second girl from today--and I are orphans. We lived in the same orphanage, and as we are all the same age, we always had the same room."

"When I went to elementary school, I became friends with Sam," she continued. "And she... comes from a wealthy family. Her parents never particularly cared about her or what she did, so they didn't mind that I spent a lot of time at her house."

"Actually, I was spending most of my time at her place," she said. "The caretakers knew where I was and didn't care about it. They were probably happy that they had one less person to care for at the orphanage."

Naomi sighed. "But... Morgana wasn't happy."

"She started turning others against me. At first, it was just silly insults--childish things. But as we were getting older... it started getting worse."

"Sam, for my seventeenth birthday, bought me a ton of new clothes. I told her not to do it, but Sam is Sam, she never listens to me."

Naomi glanced to the side.

"Then, when Morgana got to know about it, it got even worse. She started spreading all those rumors that we weren't real friends, that Sam was paying me to be her... private geisha."

"And then she came up with all of those other stories that she was telling everyone," Naomi whispered.

"I'm sorry..." Asher said. "As you said yourself, Morgana was just jealous. And that's it. But now it's in the past, you're in a new school, among new people, so you can start again."

Naomi looked at him and smiled, but there was not much conviction in her eyes.

"You know... it can be a new start for you," she said quietly. "But for people from here, it doesn't work that way."

Asher furrowed his eyebrows.

"People don't repeat them so much, but they must have heard them. You're friends with Madelyn. You can ask her--she was in a different class, but she certainly heard those rumors. Many people at the Academy did."

Asher sighed. "Perhaps," he said. "But there are new people there too, who can be your friends, and even if they heard those rumors, they wouldn't believe them."

"Like you?" Naomi asked.

"Agh... yeah," Asher replied, and silence fell between them.

The waiter returned with their food and set it on the table in front of them. Asher and Naomi started to eat in silence.

"Did you really fight against a monster outside a dungeon?" Naomi asked, interrupting the silence.

Asher lifted his eyes from his burger to her. He nodded and told her about their fight with the Goblin. It wasn't very long, but it started their talk about monsters and their weird behavior lately. He shared with her what had happened during Madelyn's exploration that day.

While eating, the topic shifted to conspiracy theories they had found on the Internet, trying to outbid each other on the most absurd hypotheses.

"Okay, but seriously, who comes up with such things anyway?" Naomi asked, rolling her eyes when Asher told her a theory about a government conspiracy and monsters that were actually bio-weapons.

"People who have too much time on their hands and not enough common sense," he replied.

They talked for a while longer after they finished eating, but finally, it was time to get going. It wasn't very late yet, but the day had been long and exhausting, and they had classes to attend in the morning.

"Do you want to go back?" Asher asked, reaching for his wallet to settle the bill.

"Yeah..."

Asher reached for his card and gestured to the waiter.

"Card," he said.

The waiter nodded and pulled out the payment terminal, but before Asher could pay, Naomi spoke up.

"Asher," she said quietly.

"Yeah?"

"Let me pay," she said.

He frowned. "It's okay, I can pay for us."

"You paid for the skates," she replied. "It would be fair if I paid here."

She pulled out her wallet and brought her card to the terminal. Asher wanted to say something, but as he thought about it, he realized that it was probably important to her that she was paying too and that it didn't seem like he was sponsoring her.

The waiter walked away after she had paid, and they got up.

"Thanks," she said.

Asher laughed. "It's me who should be thanking you," he replied.

They walked out of the restaurant and slowly made their way back to the Academy, talking about nothing serious, mostly about movies they had watched lately.

Asher escorted Naomi to the door of her room, where they stopped for a moment.

She turned toward him. They were close to each other, enough so that he could notice that her cheeks were a little darker than normal. She lifted her eyes, looking into his, but then she quickly averted them, looking to the side.

"Thanks for the date," she whispered. "It was... nice."

Asher smiled. "I had fun too. Maybe we can go out again one day--this time, you'll already know how to skate."

Naomi frowned. "I don't know if it's a good idea," she said. "Morgana... really likes that place."

"Oh... I didn't know. You could have told me," Asher said, realizing that her nervous behavior as they entered wasn't because she couldn't skate but because she was scared they would stumble into Morgana.

"I didn't want to ruin your plans," Naomi whispered.

"We would have come up with something else. It's about the company, not about what we were doing," Asher replied.

"So... see you tomorrow?" Naomi asked.

"Yeah," Asher replied shortly.

Naomi opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but instead, she just closed it, and her cheeks got even darker, which was barely visible because of her complexion, but with how close they were to each other, Asher could see it.

Naomi looked at him, and he realized that they were really close--face to face. Naomi licked her lips, and he wondered if he should kiss her. He had a girlfriend. He had kissed another woman before, but it had been different. Now, he was standing there after a date, with Naomi not being a member of his harem. He would kiss her just to kiss her, without even the excuse that it was because of his class.

But he wanted to do it, and it seemed like Naomi was waiting for it. He leaned forward.

The door opened suddenly.

"Are you going to kiss her or not?" Sam asked with a wide grin on her face, standing in the doorway. Naomi and Asher both jumped back from each other.

"Sam?!" Naomi exclaimed.

"What?" Sam asked, raising her eyebrows. "I saw that you were going to do it. And I wanted to have a better view."

"Shut up!" Naomi hissed, grabbing Sam's shoulders and pushing her back into the room.

"I'm sorry, it was amazing, thanks, see you tomorrow," Naomi said quickly before pushing Sam further into the room and closing the door behind her.

Asher chuckled as he remained alone in the corridor, then he headed toward the stairs to leave the Academy and head to the house where Elara was waiting.

He hoped she hadn't changed her mind while he was on the date with Naomi and that they weren't going to argue, as he was exhausted after this long day.

--- Asher Montgomery ---

Asher opened the door to the house and headed to the living room. Elara was lying on the couch, doing something on her phone, but she put it down as he entered.

"Hey," he said, sitting down on the couch by her legs.

"How was it?" Elara asked.

Asher glanced at her as she stared at him carefully. He wondered if it was some sort of test.

"Fine," he replied only.

"Did you like it?"

"El..." he said. The whole situation was weird. What was he supposed to tell his girlfriend when she was asking him how he liked his date with another woman?

Elara sat up, shifting closer to him.

"Asher, we've always told each other everything. I know this situation is weird, but I don't want that to change. I don't want this to make us start keeping secrets from each other, okay?"

"I don't want that either," Asher replied.

"I know that you were on a date with Naomi, so not telling me about it won't hide the fact that it happened. It will only make me think about it more and worry that you have secrets. So, please, I want you to be honest with me and tell me everything."

"What if I know that you won't like it?"

Elara sighed, staring at him for a moment in silence.

"I will need to learn how to live with that," she finally replied quietly.

Asher nodded reluctantly.

"So, did you like it?" Elara asked again.

"It was fine. We just talked and had some fun skating--at least until we stumbled into Morgana."

"Who?" Elara asked, frowning.

Asher sighed. "Naomi is an orphan, and she lived with this Morgana in an orphanage. When Nami befriended Sam, who has rich parents, Morgana got jealous, spread rumors about Naomi, and bullied her."

"Hmm..." Elara murmured.

"She was bothering Naomi, so we left and went for burgers. Nami told me about all of it, and then we moved on to some casual topics."

"Did you kiss her?" Elara asked, watching him carefully.

"No," Asher replied, shaking his head.

Elara shifted closer to him, hugging him, and remained silent. Her hand wandered over his leg, higher, until it reached his crotch, where she massaged his cock. Asher immediately got hard, pressing against the material of his pants.

Their lips found each other on their own. They kissed as Asher shifted his hands under her shirt, moving higher until he reached her small tits, which were naked. He fondled them, her hard nipples rubbing against his fingers as she continued massaging his cock while their tongues danced together.

Their lips parted, and Elara slid off the couch, kneeling in front of him and pulling his pants down.

Asher's hard cock sprang in front of her face, freed from his clothes. She didn't even pull his pants completely down before she leaned forward, staring him in the eyes. Slowly, she stuck her tongue out until she touched the base of his cock. Her tongue flattened on his hard member as she licked the entire length of it.

Her warm, wet tongue caressed his cock, and when she closed her lips around its head, Asher groaned. The corners of Elara's mouth lifted, but she remained focused on pleasuring his shaft, brushing it gently with her tongue.

She rested her hands on his thighs as she shifted her lips over his head, sucking him harder.

Asher's cock twitched between her lips, and Elara stopped brushing it with her tongue as she began to push her face lower, taking more of his member into her mouth. Two more inches vanished between her lips before she stopped, holding his cock in her warm, wet mouth.

Asher's breath and pulse quickened as he gasped from pleasure while Elara massaged his cock. A pleasant tingling spread through his shaft, to his abdomen and balls, where it was accumulating as she moved her lips up and down over his length.

Her light blue eyes remained locked on his face, watching all his reactions. The eye contact aroused him even more as he observed her with his cock between her lips, working him to an orgasm.

Her tongue occasionally brushed against his sensitive skin, bringing him closer to the eruption that was quickly approaching. Even though he was tired after the whole day, she was able to make him orgasm quickly with her sweet mouth. He simply relaxed, not wanting to prolong it unnecessarily.

"El," he gasped. She shifted her lips so his tip rested on her tongue.

Asher's cock twitched, and he shot his cum into her mouth, their eyes remaining locked the entire time.

A pleasant shiver ran through his body as he released between her lips while she sucked on his cock's head, ensuring she took everything. When he was finished, Elara let him out of her mouth, swallowed, and then licked his cock clean of any remaining cum, leaving it wet only with her saliva.

Then Elara pulled his pants up, tucking his cock back into his underwear, and sat next to him on the couch, resting her head on his shoulder.

Asher wanted to slide off the couch to reciprocate, but Elara stopped him by hugging him even tighter.

"El?" he asked.

"I'm not in the mood. I just wanted to make you feel good," she whispered.

"Did you..." Asher trailed off.

"Yes. I did it so that at the end of the day, you would think of me and not Naomi."

"Elara--"

"Honesty," Elara said, interrupting him. "Just like I want you to be honest with me, I will be honest with you, even if you might not like what you hear. So, that's the truth--I wanted to make you feel good and ensure that the last thing you did today was filling my mouth with your hot cum, rather than thinking about a date with Naomi. That's all, and you don't need to think more about it," Elara said, then pecked his lips.

Asher grabbed her chin and stopped her before she could pull away. "I'm thinking about you all the time, darling," he said, then kissed her again.

They kissed for a while longer on the couch while hugging, but it was getting late, and he still had to return the keys to Rachel. That meant he would have to spend the night alone without Elara.

"I'm going to miss you tonight," he said as they got up from the couch. "These past few nights were enough to make me never want to sleep without you again."

Elara smiled. "I hope that never changes."

--- Asher Montgomery ---

Asher knocked on Rachel's door, which opened shortly after. The teacher stood there in a loose shirt and shorts that looked like pajamas.

"I brought the keys," Asher said, lifting and jingling them.

"Come in," Rachel said, inviting him inside.

"It's late, and--" he started to say, but Rachel grabbed his shirt and pulled him in, closing the door.

"That's exactly why you need to come in. You need to tell me how the exploration went."

Asher handed the keys to Rachel, who simply tossed them onto the table. Then she sat on the bed, watching him expectantly. He joined her, sitting next to her, and told her everything that had happened in the dungeon.

When he finished, he noticed that Rachel was sitting with her brows furrowed, forehead wrinkled, and lips pressed into a thin line while staring at him.

"Of course! You warn them, tell them not to take risks, and what do they do? Those brats go off and do whatever they want anyway!" Rachel said sharply, throwing up her hands in exasperation.

"It was Elara who--" Asher started to protest, but Rachel interrupted him.

"I'm not talking about it! I'm talking about a trap! What if the monster had killed you?!"

"We fell into a trap, it happens..."

Rachel snorted. "If you weren't greedy for the coins, you wouldn't have fallen into it because Elara would have had her skill."

"That's not so certain," Asher replied quietly.

Rachel stared at him, pressing her lips together again. He felt like he was sitting in front of his mother after she'd found out he'd gotten into trouble.

Asher sighed. "Maybe we were actually tempted by the money..."

"And what did I say about taking a risk?" Rachel asked.

Asher didn't know what to say to her. She was right--they had made it harder for themselves to explore for coins. It didn't seem like a big hindrance, as they had accepted the quest, but then they had fallen into a trap, and he had almost died. Was that reasonable? Was it worth just those few coins? He survived, so in the end, it turned out fine.

"Asher," Rachel said slowly, her voice tight with emotion. "You almost died today. If the others hadn't come in time, you wouldn't have made it back to the Academy. Your parents would never see you again. Elara would be left without you. We would have held your funeral, and life would have moved on--for everyone except your loved ones. They would miss you every single day."

She exhaled sharply, shaking her head. "You've been with Elara your whole life. Do you have any idea what losing you would do to her? Do you really want to put her through that?"

"You would have died, Asher. Do you understand that? I don't know what else to say to make you see that this isn't a joke."

"You were angry at Elara for taking a risk during a fight, and yet you did the same with the whole team during the entire exploration," Rachel added after he sat there silently, not knowing what to tell her.

Exploration always carried risks--people died out there, even the experienced ones. It was just part of the job, something they had to accept. But Rachel was right. He didn't want Elara taking unnecessary risks, yet they had done the same. Sure, they earned coins for it, but were they really worth it?

Rachel sighed. "What's done is done. The important thing is that you returned. You have a chance to learn from your mistakes, and I'm asking you, and I will keep asking, because clearly, it's not working. Be careful," Rachel said. "In all aspects."

"Okay," Asher replied quietly, nodding.

"Go to your room now, get some sleep. Tomorrow, you have classes in the morning," Rachel said, and Asher couldn't stop thinking that she sounded just like his mother.

He said farewell to her and then returned to his room. He took a quick shower, reflecting on everything that had happened that day. But the moment he lay down on his bed, he fell asleep.

--- Asher Montgomery ---

Asher was running through the forest.

He was in the Forest Dungeon again.

"But the last thing I remember was going to bed. What's happening? Is this a dream?" Asher wondered. The more he thought about it, the more certain he became--yes, this was a dream.

He couldn't control his body, he was running between the trees as if something was chasing him. He wanted to turn around, but his body was not listening. He noticed a big lake in front of him and only stopped when he reached the edge of it.

He turned toward a monster that stood there. It would have looked like a normal girl if not for the slightly green skin and green hair. It was a dryad. Asher wanted to check her status, but he couldn't.

Their gazes met, and he noticed her golden eyes staring at him with something he didn't expect from a monster. It wasn't aggression, fury, or hunger... It was something like... concern?

Asher headed toward her and started to panic. He couldn't stop his body, and he didn't have any weapon with him. The dryad was clothed only in a white dress, and she didn't have any weapons either, but dryads used magic.

But then he relaxed as he reminded himself that it was only a dream. He had just laid down in bed. This was only a dream, he kept repeating to himself.

He stopped in front of the monster. She was shorter than him and slim. She had a gorgeous face, and the green skin only added to her exotic looks. If not for that, she would have looked like a normal woman--a very pretty woman.

They stood close, their eyes locked. Asher leaned in, his hand reaching up to cup her cheek before their lips met in a gentle kiss. His touch was soft, his lips caressing hers with careful tenderness.

The dryad pressed her petite body against him, her scent like a forest after the rain, her lips tasting of sweet maple syrup.

"Wait!" Asher thought. "I'm kissing a monster." As this thought pierced his mind, he opened his eyes in surprise. He was no longer in the forest but back at the Academy.

---

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