A Night of Rest

As morning broke, I opened my eyes. Yet rather than the early morning sun creeping through the blinds, I was greeted with pitch-darkness. Had I suffered an attack and gone blind in the night? No. Well, not unless you considered pure, unfiltered moé an attack. The blindness was not a status condition, but instead, the result of a blindfold in the form of Grace's soft bunny ear flopped across my face. I had rolled onto my back during the night and been shifted into the middle position in the bed. I awoke with each girl cuddled up against either of my sides, snuggled into my open arms, with their heads on my shoulders.

The result of two beast girls pressed resting on my shoulders was that I had a long set of floppy ears blocking my vision and a short set of pointed ears tickling my face and cheek. And with my arms held captive by the two snoozing angels, I could not escape the current predicament.

I took a quick peek at my stats page since I did not want to disturb the others.

Name: John

Gender: Male

Race: Human (Greater)

Age: 20

Class: Adventurer (Rank C), Magebreaker, Trickster

Level: 16

EXP: 15,580/16,000

AP: 41

Stats

HP: 600/600

MP: 500/500

Strength: 23

Agility: 24

Stamina: 26

Intelligence: 20

Wisdom: 20 (+5)

Charisma: 20 (+4)

Skills

Human (Greater):

Lead Belly (Natural, Greater)

Divine Presence (Natural, Mid) - Storage, Party Management

The Beheld Eyes (Natural, Greater) - System Interface, Lowlight Vision, Mk. 2 Upgrade Module

Magic Vision (Level 5)

Human:

Magical Comprehension (Natural, Mid)

Alchemy (Level 5)

Botany (Level 5)

Fabrication (Level 5) - Woodworking, Carpentry, Cabinetmaking, Masonry, Toolcrafting, Glasswork, Ore Refining

Reading (Level 5) - English, Common

Writing (Level 5) - English, Common

Mathematics (Level 4) - Arithmetic, Trigonometry, Calculus, Vectors, Probability, Statistics, Number Science

Leadership (Level 2)

Seduction (Level 2)

Deceit (Level 3)

Intimidation (Level 2)

Magebreaker:

Gauntlet Mastery (Level 5)

Dispell (Level 5)

Ground Smash (Level 5)

Elemental Fist (Level 5) - Water, Electricity, Fire, Air, Earth, Light, Darkness

Hardened Skin (Aura) (Level 5)

Detection Ward (Level 5)

Adventurer:

Combat Engineering (Level 5)

Cartography (Level 1)

Pathfinding (Level 1)

Trickster:

Stealth (Level 5)

Shadow Walk (Level 5)

Throwing Weapon (Small) Mastery (Level 5)

Underworld Informer (Level 3)

Mimic Voice (Level 3)

Ventriloquism (Level 3)

Trap Detection (Level 5)

Sleight of Hand (Level 5)

Anatomical Perception (Level 5)

To my surprise, the layout had considerably changed since I had previously looked at it when I was getting my second class. Suspecting it had to do with the "upgrade module," I tapped it for further explanation.

"Version 2.0.1.1: Obtained yesterday during an interaction with The Master of Multiplayer, The Tyrant of the Tabletop, The Vanquisher of Video Games..."

The list of titles continued for a few pages.

"... The God of Games himself.

Major Update(s): Ground-up overhaul of UI design.

Full Changelog"

I browsed the patch notes understanding only about half of the jargon used before giving up and looking over my skills again. Looks like I had passively gained some new Level 1 abilities. Also, my Earth skills now showed up here. However, I had not felt myself lose or regain the related knowledge, so I guess it was just background integration that the developer (The God of Games) had to work out.

"Achoo!" Luna's sudden sneeze snapped me back to reality. At the same time, the sudden noise woke up Grace, and her ears snapped to attention, returning my sight to me. "Sorry, your ears tickled my nose," Luna explained, to the now alert Grace, as she rubbed her nose. "No worrie-!" Grace started before freezing mid-conversation, her face turning red as she looked at me and noticed she had curled up next to me.

In an impressive feat of athletic and acrobatic ability, she launched herself from the bed, contorting her body mid-air to land in a perfect kowtow at the foot of the bed. Luna and I quickly sat up to look down at the girl, concerned about her bizarre actions. "...sorry....I shou....didn't want to bother...." I could barely make out the mumbles of the distraught girl. I was not entirely sure what she was upset about, but I had a hunch it might have to do with her childhood as a slave.

Unsure as to what I should do, I decided to do what my mom would do for me when I was upset as a child. I stood up from the bed and walked over to Grace before crouching down next to her. Grace started to shiver as I neared, her body quaking more intensely with each step I neared.

I scooped her up in my arms as I stood and walked back to the side of the bed. Luna, perceiving my intent, had already fluffed the pillows and had the bedsheets pulled back for us. I gently tucked Grace into the middle spot, on her right side, facing my way, before climbing into the bed myself to lay on my left.

Luna snuggled up against Grace, softly rubbing her back as I held her head against my chest. Luna and I comforted Grace with human contact and whispered reassurances as she wept about how unfair her life had been to this point. Finally, after half an hour of getting all the tears and emotions out, Grace had fallen asleep cradled against my chest.

Luna slipped from the bed and changed into her day clothes and cloak before exiting the suite. She returned shortly after, and I could hear the voices of the Hotel's maids as they came in to put down what sounded to be metal platters. I could overhear the maids ask if we needed anything else before Luna dismissed them. Luna returned to the room and came and sat down on the edge of the bed my back faced. She ran her fingers through my hair as she spoke.

"This poor girl. I suffered a similar fate. Yet throughout my time as a slave, I always had the memories of my loving parents and the hope that I may one day reunite with my mother. This girl had neither. She only knew the suffering."

I turned my body slightly to look her in the eye.

"You two have both had your fair share of horrors in this world. But, you need not worry now. I will protect and spoil the both of you."

Luna flushed pink, a smile playing about her lips, at my straight-faced delivery of such cringe-inducing lines. I smiled at her reaction, which earned me punishment in the form of her pinching my nose before going to the other side of the bed. "Now skedaddle to the dining table while us ladies get freshened up." I did as my lovely partner instructed and went to set the table.

After we all got cleaned up and ate breakfast, the three of us headed back to the Stoutdraft Smithy. Roy greeted us as he was opening his shop when we arrived in front of the building. He told us to go ahead and check on his sister while he finished opening up.

The three of us walked inside the living quarters. Luna and Grace took off the traveller's cloaks they wore to hide their beast traits and hung them on the cloak rack inside the front door. Luna and Grace stood to the side as we entered Cecelia's room. I used my Anatomical Perception skill to verify that she had healed up fully and was ready to awaken.

The potion I had given her to force the rest state would naturally wear off in another two to three days, but I could wake her early since she was healthy enough now. I sent Luna to prepare some clear vegetable soup for the dwarf, as she had an empty stomach and had been subsisting off of my meal-replacement potions. Grace followed my order to tell Roy that we were going to awaken his sister in an hour and see if he had eaten yet. After finishing that, she was to help Luna with the food.

While the ladies handled their tasks, I took care of my own. First, I pulled from storage the alchemy tools and ingredients I needed. Then, with a now well-practiced hand, I started manufacturing the required Draught of Wakefulness that would end the medically induced coma early. Finally, I finished the complex series of refinements and distillations under the interested, watchful eye of Roydon. He had shown up shortly after Grace delivered him the good news, impatient to confirm his sister was indeed okay.

"You have some steady hands for a human folk." Roy brusquely stated as he observed my Rank 5 Alchemy skill at work. "Most of the short-lived races don't have the patience to take things slowly and carefully."

With the completed medicinal brew in hand, Luna, Grace and Roy stood to the side of the room as I got ready to imbibe Cecelia and wake her up.