The Anime Trope System: Stone vs. Viper, #8 a LitRPG (ATS)

by Alvin Atwater

  And she did. But not just with a washcloth. When he felt the softness, he began to wonder if Melody had some of Yuki’s brandy. Then again, he knew the young woman was trying her best. Hell, so was he. He didn’t show any weakness in front of his team so that they’d always feel like they could rely on him.

  Melody did join in the large, jacuzzi-like tub eventually. And at last, the blushing returned. The redhead covered her face.

  “This is so embarrassing.”

  Clyde scooped her into his embrace, grinning.

  “You’ve got nothing to be embarrassed about. Damn I love this about you.”

  [Your relationship with Melody…Absolute endearment has evolved to Absolute Cherished level 2.]

  Melody was his. She leaned back on him, closing her eyes, long hair giving off a sweet flowery fragrance. She seemed to have determined something. Turning back toward him, she was smiling.

  “I’m going to be a better wife than all the others.”

  Clyde wiped away the nosebleed and laughed.

  “Good start. Now, how can I be a better husband?”

  That made Melody laugh.

  “Keep being yourself,” she said. “Oh and don’t hide all of your problems from me. As your fiancée and soon-to-be wife, it’s my responsibility to help you with everything.”

  “Fair enough,” Clyde said. Melody hugged him.

  “I love you.”

  When the duo dried off and put on bathrobes—their clothing awaited in Melody’s room—they opened the door to see a wide-eyed, open-mouthed Natalia standing there. The loli dropped her staff.

  “Marry me too onii-chan!” she anime-dove into him and whined. “That’s not fair Melody, you can’t cheat.” She pulled suspiciously hard at the bathrobe, soliciting the young man’s blank stare.

  The redhead plucked her off with a single hand. But Kanako seemingly appeared out of nowhere to replace her, hugging his waist.

  “Where were you all day?” she whined. “I was so bored and lonely without you.”

  “I take it you didn’t enjoy the time spent with Yuki and…what’s her name… Sophia.”

  “Oh, how mean to forget your devoted maiden,” Sophia said, walking toward them, beautiful as ever. Long white hair, green eyes, and dressed in a…silky white dress that hugged her curves. Of course his maidens would be different. Then again, this could be one of Yuki’s infamous wardrobe ideas.

  Clyde let out the millionth sigh.

  “Yuki and Sophia were great, but they can’t replace my master,” the genie said.

  “I told you to stop calling me that,” Clyde said, even though he still gave her the head pat. Melody laughed.

  “I just hope this lively moment lasts forever in our hearts,” she said.

  After dressing, they joined the others at the dinner table—Melody somehow getting her spot—and enjoyed the amazing cooking of the advanced chef.

  “I’ll be back in an hour or so,” Clyde said after dinner.

  “Where are you going?” Kanako said, floating toward him. He dodged her three attempts to hug his waist. The others were looking too, curious. Melody especially.

  “I’m going to train, practice some skills,” he said then in a lower voice, “that’s pretty much the gist of it. I may drop in on Tear.”

  Alice and Chika followed him all the way back to the room, glaring as he changed.

  “And why do you need to see my cousin this late?” Alice said.

  “Are you jealous?” Clyde said, pinching her cheek, then he pulled the half-demoness into him as he sat down. “Yep, you’re the most beautiful woman I know.”

  Taken aback, Alice’s anger melted away.

  “Hey, he’s mine too,” Chika said, joining Alice on his lap. He wanted to see Tear alone, but two cute girls who shared as much of his heart, changed things. Melody popped in and forced a spot for herself, surprising the other two.

  “He’s mine too,” the redhead said. That statement was a finality that not even Alice could challenge. “And I love him.”

  Instead of outrage, there was agreement. AGREEMENT.

  “So do I,” Chika said.

  “I love him too,” Alice said. “And first.”

  Natalia ruined the moment.

  “Fivesome!” the loli said as she anime-dove into the group.

  After calming down the commotion, Clyde put on his shoes. Alice gave him a look of longing.

  “Fine, you can come with me,” he said. “As for everyone else, don’t forget we’ve got both the parents meet and the cultural festival tomorrow. Get some rest.”

  They reluctantly nodded, seconds from protesting their desire to go too.

  “I’ll meet you outside,” Clyde said to Alice then took off down the hall. He stopped at Harumi’s, who chatted with Airi. The open door of course sparked his invitation.

  “Look who’s coming to pay his other wives some attention,” Airi said. Clyde laughed. “Ah, he thinks I’m joking.”

  “I can’t tell anymore,” he said as he sat in the chair closest to Harumi. Before he could say the first word to her, she hopped into his lap. Her fox ears and tail were out.

  “Need something?” Harumi said, “or are you just happy to see me.”

  “I’m always happy to see you,” Clyde said, chuckling. How did she maintain the innocent look while teasing him? “Is everything okay with your sister?”

  “Sure is,” Harumi said, cheerful. “She really appreciates your protection.”

  Clyde nodded.

  “If you need anything, Harumi, just let me know.”

  “Anything, huh?” Airi said then folded her arms, giving him a playful pout. “I don’t see the offer being extended to me.”

  Clyde laughed, though his eyes caught the panty flash that she did on purpose from her side of the room. Short nightgowns…

  Harumi stood, turned around, and kissed Clyde.

  [Your relationship with Harumi has increased to friend closer level 10, Absolute endearment plus.]

  “You’re always doing so much for me,” the pink-haired girl continued.

  “It’s because I love you,” Clyde said. “N—”

  [Your relationship with Harumi…has evolved to Absolute Cherished, level 2.]

  [Your relationship with Airi has jumped to friend, closer level 7, passionately interested and very curious.]

  “Do you have to go see Tear?” Harumi said as she straddled him. “Why not just—”

  “I don’t know if you’re a smooth talker, playboy, or genuinely has no idea what he’s doing, other than just being honest,” Airi interrupted.

  Clyde chuckled.

  “Or I’m just being me,” he told her. “Like always.” He gazed into the golden eyes of the fox girl, who’s tail was wagging. Natalia ruined the moment.

  “Pervy-nii have sex with me too!” The loli anime-dove into Clyde and Harumi. Airi sighed.

  “What an annoying child.”

  “Tell me about it,” Clyde said, agreeing with the Super druid. His erection vanished thankfully. The last thing he needed was Tetra arresting him. “Anyway, I’m off to do some training before heading to Tear’s. Alice is going.”

  “I think she’s jealous of… Tear’s assets,” Natalia blabbed. Harumi glared at her then also let out a sigh.

  Episode 41 (Part 8)

  Libado Grasslands…

  The nightly cool winds carried the fading scent of the Inn Keeper’s kitchen, grass, and even pine. The full moon and its starry sky illuminated the grasslands satisfactorily, not that it mattered much. The duo could see just fine in the dark.

  Clyde and Alice exercised, practiced casting, and even gave feedback on each other's forms, though not without an innuendo or two. Finally, after all of that was said and done, the young man wanted to do one last thing.

  “Alright Alice, I need you to come at me with your full strength,” Clyde said. “No holding back.”

  “Are you sure?” Alice said, stretching.

  “Channel your anger o
r something,” Clyde said. “Imagine that I left you behind and got Tear pregnant. Then hid that from you for nine—”

  Alice’s aura erupted around her, as if she became a Super Saiyan from Dragon Ball. Pulsing pink with sparks of electricity dancing from it every second or so, this aura meant business. It also reminded the young man of his life mate’s immense strength.

  “I’m going to make you hurt,” Alice said softly. “So prepare yourself.”

  “Perfect training—” he just barely dodged a fist that pounded into the ground, creating a ten-foot creator.

  [You have challenged your life mate, Alice to a Practice fight!]

  Clyde chuckled.

  “Remind me not to piss you off.” He continued to dodge her punches and kicks, his mystic senses almost making this too easy for him.

  [Alice activated slip distraction]

  [No effect]

  Clyde smirked.

  “That’s technically mental magic and it won’t work on me.”

  He dodged more of her punches, poked her nose, flipped her skirt and dodged again. How…just how in the shit did he become this strong?

  “Shit, I just know some bullshit cliché like me getting arrogant will occur and I’ll end up with my ass kicked,” Clyde said. Alice looked at him skeptically.

  “Or you can just accept that you’ve become so strong that I’ll actually have to take this seriously.”

  Clyde took his fighting stance, smiling.

  “Then show me what you got, Alice.”

  [Alice invoked Senkai Speed.]

  He could only gasp before barely dodging a fist that he didn’t see move—the mystic senses alone prevented his face from getting smashed in. He aimed a hand at the half-demoness.

  [Clyde activated Energy Blast.]

  Alice dodged and was on him. Then she activated another skill he’d never seen. One that he could only describe as transcending his evasion.

  [Alice activated tier 1 skill: Angel Step.]

  The young man knew he wouldn’t be able to dodge, so he flash stepped behind her and grabbed the back of her shirt. He blocked her spin kick, ducked under her aura punches, and scooped the half-demoness off her feet.

  “Your technique is off a little,” Clyde said, though his analysis was mostly bullshit. He simply bought a little more time for his cooldowns to right themselves. “Is something bothering you?” He paused, looking at the overall situation. Her skirt was raised high enough to reveal a good amount of orange-striped panties.

  “To think you’d fall for this, like a cliché pervert,” Alice said, her glowing hand aimed at him.

  [Alice activated Radiant raid crushing beam.]

  Clyde flashed stepped out of the beam’s bath, only to end up blocking three punches and a kick. She didn’t let up with the assault until his mystic senses got him to dodging again.

  [Clyde activated Binder’s Hand.]

  [Alice activated Senkai Speed.]

  That enabled her to actually dodge Clyde’s blue tendrils of magic.

  “Not bad, not bad,” he said. “Try going into your—”

  A hornet’s stinger missed his face by half an inch. Alice’s fist met the monster girl’s face in a one-hit KO. She swung and launched her at Clyde. He dodged to the left, meeting Alice’s shoe with a well-timed block.

  “Ugh, why can’t I hit you?” she said.

  “This is why we’re training,” he said. “You may run into someone dodgy or with high defenses. Anyway, I’m going to stop dodging and come at you with everything I got.” Alice sighed. “Don’t worry, I won’t use Mystic wrath or the power.”

  And so the duo trained for another hour until the young man was satisfied with the return of Alice’s confidence. She then kicked his ass, literally, out of frustration. He laughed.

  “No need to be a spoiled sport.”

  [You ended the practice fight.]

  He sat and then laid back, relaxing. Alice straddled him.

  “Do you feel like doing something stupid?” Clyde said.

  “What are you going on about?” Alice said.

  “We take a walk into that forest, maybe halfway through, then come back,” he said.

  “No,” Alice said then laid on top of him.

  “I told you it was stupid.”

  “Did you forget about the deity there?” she said.

  “Oh yeah,” Clyde said. “How did I forget about her? Maybe it’s due to all of the shit we faced since then.”

  Alice shoved a finger into his cheek.

  “Now is not the time to get complacent.” She grabbed his erection. “Or else I’ll have to punish you.”

  Clyde smirked.

  “Oh no, I’m feeling very complacent.”

  Alice kissed him.

  “I warned you.”

  Seconds later, the duo engaged into wild sex. Two wide-eyed hornets watched from afar, fingers shoved inside themselves, longing. They even climaxed at the same time as Clyde and Alice.

  “What the hell was that?” Clyde said then shook his head. “Never mind. We can’t visit Tear like this—and too much time passed.” He’d go by himself another time. He really wanted to let her know how much he appreciated her. He also couldn’t ignore his life mate, who seemed to crave his attention more than usual.

  He kissed her, gaining her blush and return kiss. He found himself inside the tight young woman again, her breathing feeling him with glee.

  An hour later, the duo laid back and gazed at the mysterious sky. Alice snuggled into him during the conversation. Neither brought up training.

  There were thirty hornets watching from afar, some wiping tears from their eyes.

  “So…romantic,” one of them said. “Why can’t I have a romance like that.”

  “You mean find a husband?” another said. “Don’t be ridiculous, you know who owns our forest. No man would be stupid enough to enter it.”

  “And even if they did, the queen will take him for herself,” another said.

  “So are we doomed to just wish for—”

  “Instead of slacking off and daydreaming, you could just stick to doing your job,” a hornet leader said. “Sheesh and this is why she bitches at us constantly. Let’s gang up on the man, capture him, and…”

  Their eyes widened as the woman stood in front of them, smiling. The others bolted into the forest, screaming, except the leader. “There were more than thirty of us—ugh, what kind of cowardice is this. We’re hornets. We don’t run from enemies.”

  But her companions were long gone, none looking back.

  “You can start running too,” the young woman said. “Or I will squish you.”

  Overcome by intense fear of the blonde-haired being with overwhelming power, the hornet leader nodded, eyes teary, and ran away.

  “I take it none of them were brave enough to fight?” Clyde said as Alice strolled back to him.

  “Nope,” she said. “Just a bunch of cowards. Strange for their kind.”

  Clyde chuckled, but did not go into any details. Libado Grasslands was his training grounds. Of course he’d instill fear into the monsters. They always attacked first, which helped him improve his defenses.

  Clyde took Alice on an enjoyable moonlit walk. Through his mind’s eye, he decided to try something. Taking the Moon Drop potion, he combined it with all of the jewels in his inventory, the storage ring that he never used, and some random fancy materials scavenged from the Ashfall safe. The half-demoness had no idea what was going on, as he carried on their conversation without missing a beat. He even scooped her into a kissing session.

  The young man wasn’t sure what sparked on Alice’s increased aggression, but he hoped it wasn’t because he didn’t pay enough attention to her. As far as he knew, they did almost everything together. Then again, with the increased number of women in the household, maybe she simply had no intention of fading in the background.

  He didn’t plan to let that happen to any of the girls. Hell, they all were assertive in their own ways.
For now, he set them aside to focus on his number one. The only girl who he couldn’t associate with a trope. Well, unless one counted the twin tails. But that was just a hair style. Alice let down her hair plenty of times. Yuki seemed eager to comb and brush it for her, sometimes competing with Natalia and Ruri.

  The system prompt gave him the message he was looking for.

  [Would you like to craft this? It is considered a complicated item due to the selected ingredients.]

  Clyde selected yes and watched it form in his head. He would not be able to create this unique item again—the materials wouldn’t be possible to find. Especially the Moon Drop potion, which he decided to take a risky guess at getting it to do something during the full moon. Anime logic? Or did his intellect actually do something?

  [Quest completed: craft 1 complicated item. Reward: 1 level gain for all physical skills, 10 million dollars, and **World Map ** item class: legendary .]

  He’d dive into the world map later. The item he just crafted was far, far more impressive. If he didn’t truly love Alice, the young man wouldn’t give this up. Instead, the gamer inside would be itching to solve its mystery, figure out its abilities.

  Clyde stopped, getting the curious look from Alice that he wanted. Since this wasn’t Earth, he decided to skip the cheesy speech and the kneeling. His knees were sore as fuck from the training, anyway. One cannot train with Alice and not go at full strength. She was that strong. He didn’t tell her though to keep any smugness in check.

  He warped the item from his inventory into the palm of his closed hand. It almost pulsed time and space, but calmed, instantly adjusting to the surrounding realm.

  [You have crafted a complicated item! Moon Goddess Ring of the Heavens and Valhalla. Item class: **Symbolic ** Unknown benefits and abilities.]