As the large house of the Stone finally came into view, the maidens could only be awed. Clare told them the funny story of the young man starting off in an apartment. However, he had a home and wasn’t stuck in an all-girls boarding school like them.
Ichiko took a deep breath, asserting herself as the leader and Arch Priestess of the group. She rang the doorbell. She couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable.
The house’s defenses…looked to have spawned some kind of shadows to watch the young women. She assumed they automatically attacked monsters. Her assumption seemed to be right because the creatures nodded, not deeming them a threat, and sank back into the ground. She let out a breath that she didn’t realize she held.
The door opened and a beautiful woman dressed in casual clothing greeted them.
“My great and lovable master whom I want to lay in his arms forever is not here to donate to the—”she paused and smiled. “So, you’ve finally come.”
Ichiko gave her a respectful bow.
“Are you the Head Maiden, Asu?”
“Indeed,” Asu said. “Although, you may say I’m still in training. Come in, come in! My master’s prophet told me all about you a few days ago. I’ll show you to your rooms and then the secret temple. My great and handsome, loving, hot, chocolate master doesn’t want to be worshipped. So I don’t do it in front of him.”
“Are you really a….”
Ichiko observed the woman. She had normal brown skin, white hair, and violet eyes.
“Oh, the disguise,” Asu said. “I forgot to turn the human form off. Ever since someone attacked me, the Fireside magical girls, you know the ones that work for Clare, insisted that I wear it.”
Asu shimmered. Her skin shifted to a purple-gray tone and her hair took on a purple-white. The woman’s eyes remained the same. Ichiko could no longer ignore the large breasts that seemingly mocked her average size. She resisted the urge to poke one.
“Yep-yep-yep, I’m a lich,” Asu said. “My Master himself isn’t human. That also applies to most of Team Stone. If you have a problem with it, welllllllll. You’d better turn around now.” Her smile was still cheerful, without any malice behind it. However, Ichiko could feel the intense power within the Head Maiden. She gave her a bow.
“No problems, Head Maiden,” she said. “I’m not human either.” She allowed her pointy ears to show. “My mother’s the elf queen.”
Asu froze.
“You…”
“I hid it from all but the maidens,” Ichiko said. “And it must stay hidden. My family and I aren’t on speaking terms. I even lived in Lot City during childhood for a while before grandmother, the Stone Maiden Counselor, called me to duty.” She eyed Asu. “I’m an Arch Priest. But you…hand-picked by the Stone himself, chosen by fate...” She grabbed Asu’s hands, eyes starry. “I acknowledge you as the true leader of the Stone Maidens.”
Asu stared at her blankly, then shrugged.
“Alright, alright, you’re creeping me out, Ichiko is it? Look, until my wonderful, nice-butt, master gets back, you will help with the chores, prepare meals and stuff. Worship—I mean Maiden stuff is up to you.” She placed a hand on Ichiko’s head. “Relax. Team Stone, that includes me, are all good people.” She smiled warmly. “Also it’s nice to have someone to talk to. My master left me behind to greet you on Ming’s orders, but it felt so cruel not to be able to stare at him directly with wild fantasies.”
The Stone Maidens nearly fell backward. Asu gestured them to follow. They did.
“The house is huge, but I doubt we can bring all of the Stone Maidens here,” Asu continued.
Ichiko chuckled.
“There’s thirty of us total, but don’t worry about them. They will stay in the main temple.”
Asu nodded.
“I hope I get to visit this temple one day.”
Ichiko’s eyes took in as much of the Stone’s house as possible and found it surprisingly normal. Many doors were closed and locked, the residents not wanting their privacy violated. If the Stone knew they were coming... The Stone’s prophet—to think that he already had her on his team. Ichiko was certain they’d have to send a group of maidens to locate her.
**
Tuesday. Week 4. Month 2. Year 1. Season: Late autumn. Last week of the month.
[Satovian Universal Calendar: Nova, 46389]
[School: Winter Break. Day 4 of 30.]
[Stone mode: still recharging. You must rely on your learned strength for now…]
[Current declared fiancée(s): Melody, Alice, Tear, Harumi, Chika, Natalia.]
[Card bearers in Sawing Glades: 1, Ming.]
[Cook-off opponents in Sawing Glades, Terravan: 23. Harumi, Advanced Chef Yuki, Liru, Kitome, Alice. The rest are unknown.]
Clyde and the team wasted no time boarding the bus after breakfast. The young man made sure to thank Master Chef Hector before heading out. He didn’t want to leave the impression of being an ungrateful piece of shit. Somehow, he felt that the chef knew more than he led on. And he addressed the succubus as High Lady Tear.
Tetra wasn’t at all bitter about being stuck on driving duty, her cheerful attitude not being missed by the others.
And so, the long drive began again. The young man wondered if maybe taking the train was the better idea. He glanced at the billion-dollar bus. Maybe not. At least this wasn’t a fantasy world where they’d have to spend weeks on horseback. To kick the nail in that hypothetical coffin, he’d have to learn how to ride one. “City boys” didn’t have the seemingly inherit skill.
Alice and Harumi, Clyde’s two pregnant fiancées, were seated at his side carrying on a conversation. Although he was technically in it, the young man’s thoughts wondered to the knowledge of the world around him. His limited knowledge that is.
[*World Objectives:
-Slay the demon lords: 3/15. Reward: *World star fragment* .
-Receive special training. Reward: Stone magic line access.
-World side objective: learn more about this world. Current knowledge of Satovia: 6.5%
System opinion: You still need knowledge! Quit slacking.
*Challenges remaining: 1 (max 3). Challenges completed: 3.
-Challenge: kill 1 enemy using a throwing knife without being detected.]
Roughly six percent knowledge of Satovia. Sure, it was just a side objective, nothing mandatory, but he called this world his home. There were so many things the young man wanted to know.
“Clyde, are you well?” Alice asked. “You seemed spaced out.”
Clyde blinked, focusing on the half-demoness.
“Just wondering thoughts, that’s all,” he said. “I’m also mentally preparing myself for Naoko and Natalia’s training.”
Kitome, who sat on the couch opposite of them snorted.
“I didn’t learn a damn thing. Are they even capable of teaching?”
“Unsurprisingly rude,” Natalia said as she approached with Nina and Naoko. The gothic loli seemed to be rubbing her head.
“What’s wrong with her?” Harumi asked.
“She took a sip of Chika’s blood,” Natalia said. Clyde frowned. No nickname? He let the irrelevant thought go. To think even the loli-witch knew the risks of pestering the silver-haired girl. The only one completely oblivious was Kitome.
Maybe that was why Chika and Kitome never seemed to argue with each other. Well, they got along—but the young man seen the girls bicker with almost everyone else.
Abruptly, his phone buzzed. A missed text from last night. Clare? Hopefully nothing happened. His eyes widened when he read it. The Stone Maidens really did appear. Not that he doubted Ming, but simply couldn’t fathom how they knew where he lived. Sure, the leader, someone named Ichiko was a childhood friend of both Clare and Naomi, but that still didn’t mean much. Or did it? He hoped they respected his lich. The young man didn’t want to leave Asu behind—her knowledge and power had its uses. Still, as the Head Maiden, she had duties, including the introduction of herself to the main
force. And guarding his power core was nice.
“Well, it seems like the maidens arrived,” Clyde told the group. He made eye contact with Ming, nodding. The beautiful dual-eyed girl smiled.
“I hope they don’t cause trouble for Asu,” Nina said, perching herself on Fumi’s lap.
“They won’t,” Ming said. Ruri, seated next to her, sniffed.
“More girls, just great,” the hellhound said sarcastically. “Do they really have to live with us? Why not send them back to their temple or whatever?”
Clyde rolled his eyes.
“Says the girl who doesn’t want to return to her clan.” He spoke over her upcoming protest. “Even if we wanted to, there was no stopping their visit. They’ve got a duty to help out with saving the world from the Viper. I don’t know about you, but I don’t mind the extra hands.”
Ruri pouted.
“You know what I mean.”
No one voiced it. The possible increase in an already crowded harem. The system made no noise about it, so he’d focus on keeping things professional between him and the Stone Maidens. Natalia crawled onto Clyde’s lap.
“Pervy husbando onii, it’s training time.” She eyed Ruri. “He won’t cheat.”
Ruri chuckled, shrugging.
“What’s this training about?”
“No need to worry about that,” Natalia said. “Naoko and I still have to pull out pervy-nii’s power. Lady Alice, Chika, and Kitome joined us yesterday, but today…we’re going to take Harumi with us.”
“Wait what?” Harumi said.
“Bye!” Natalia said, triggering the teleportation. And just like that, Clyde, Natalia, Alice, Naoko, Chika, Kitome, and Harumi were inside the spiritual instance.
Harumi glared at the loli-witch. She anime-dove into the pink-haired young woman’s breasts.
“You need training too,” Natalia said. “And Lady Alice might bully me.”
Clyde sighed.
“So what can I expect today?” he asked Naoko. He bit back any sarcastic suggestions so that the others wouldn’t suspect the dreams they had the previous night were memories. The young man wondered if he was going to regret returning Tear’s panties for the laundry. Then again, he doubted the brats would be redundant with the training. The mischievousness hidden behind Natalia’s adorable loli smile confirmed it.
“We’ve brought a lot of food,” the kuudere loli said. “We also summoned some hungry monsters to kill everyone.” She pointed at the pots on portable stoves and a lit campfire with a spit in place, ready for roasting. “Natalia shall observe. Harumi, you will be onii-chan’s assistant. Kitome, Chika, and Alice will be training with me.”
“What? No! I want to participate in whatever’s coming,” Kitome said, her voice almost an angry whine.
“No can do, meanie-faneamie,” Natalia said. “You’re close to a breakthrough for a major powerup. The same applies to Lady Alice and Chika.”
Kitome opened her mouth to persistently protest, but a roar from afar interrupted.
“Okay, we don’t have time to sit here and argue. We’re here to train. Get to your assigned stations,” Clyde ordered.
Kitome muttered something under her breath, but reluctantly hurried off with Naoko and the others, leaving him behind with Harumi and Natalia. Clyde spun to face the loli.
“How do you know about my new powers?” Clyde said.
“Whatever could you be talking about, husbando onii?” Natalia said, smiling innocently. “You know something about that old man,” Clyde declared.
“Clyde, hurry, the monsters will be here any second,” Harumi said.
“Use your cooking, pervy nii,” Natalia said.
Clyde had to admit to himself that he was excited about trying out his new summoning ability, but what did the loli know about the Master Chef? Why did people insist on holding secrets when the fate of the world was at stake? Dammit anime logic.
He rushed toward the cooking area, grateful to see that Harumi had already started preparing something.
“Natalia said you have the power to make food come to life,” Harumi said. “I hope you can do something about those!”
He turned where she pointed to see a fucking giant ant and scorpion maybe less than a mile away, approaching at a leisurely pace from a hill in the distance. Another creature…a fucking dinosaur emerged behind them, letting out another roar.
“Dammit Natalia, this is the first time I’ve activated these powers,” He said, turning, only to see nothing. The loli was gone.
“Clyde,” Harumi said, a little nervousness in her voice.
He nodded.
“Let’s do this.”
The young man opened himself up to his new power, aura surrounding him in a magnificent burst of light green and orange.
Harumi stir-fried vegetables with a mix of mouthwatering seasonings and spices. Clyde utilized the Soul Heart style to prepare the meats.
Suddenly, the food cooked instantly…
[Ability triggered. Food Summoning Fighting Food-Ons.]
Harumi gasped as the food lurched into the air, somehow without splashing anything hot onto the duo. Because that was how things worked apparently…
They took shape into a giant creature with a roast beef head. The entire thing looked like…a giant fucking meat robot. A meat and veggie mech? Its weapon, a sword, was a glowing carrot. The green and orange aura surrounded the delicious creature.
[Get ready. The enemy approaches.]
Clyde’s grin was almost manic.
“I’m going to call it, Meatbot.”
Harumi anime-fell backward.
Episode 56 (Part 5)
Meanwhile on the bus….
With the lights out and a nice amount of Team Stone members, including Clyde, gone into the instance, Seth’s grin emerged. Fuyoko was asleep on the couch opposite of his own. He licked his lips, enjoying the clear view of her panties. Dressed in a green mini skirt with disappointingly normal-sized breasts, the young woman had very nice legs.
He examined the super-hot girl again, feeling his raging hard-on. Normal breasts? Maybe above-average. Seth was so glad that he took the time to max out his most recent passive ability: Night Eyes. Normally the bus would be virtually pitch-black due to the windows.
If only he could take a picture. No, the young man was beyond that. He forced himself to turn. Then his head started back in that direction on its own. The young man flinched when he realized someone was sitting right beside him.
He glared at Nina, the stupid vampire kid blocking his view.
“Can I help you?” he said, distaste and annoyance mixed heavily in his voice. Of course he controlled the volume. If Fuyoko woke up, or the others returned, the young man’s time of amazingness would be over.
“I smell rising iron,” Nina said, seemingly drooling. “Well, it’s wilting now.” She turned to him, licking her lips. “I can help you release. Tear showed me a video of it once. She said it’s called a fell—”
“Tear what the hell?” Seth blurted out, interrupting the approaching word from the brat’s mouth. The succubus looked at him from the front of the bus, smirking. “Why are you poisoning these innocent children?”
“No idea what you’re talking about,” Tear said, feigning innocence.
“And this is why Harumi needs to be around,” Seth said. “She filters out the—what the hell are you doing?” He covered his pants and moved all the way to the edge of the couch and as far away from the vampire brat as possible.
“We’re both adults,” Nina said, innocent smile on her face that made Seth want to lecture Tear.
“I hear someone’s having girl problems,” Tear said to Yuki and Ruri. They gave him “the look.” Seth rolled his eyes. Damn did he hate that glare.
“Perverted enemy to children,” Ruri said.
“A total lolicon, scum of the earth, and should die,” Yuki said ruthlessly. While she was practically emotionless, Seth felt a tinged of playfulness in that voice, not that it made him
feel better. He glared at the women feigning gossip. Then he turned his heated stare to an amused Toru.
“If you don’t get your assistant away from me, I’m going to set this entire bus on fire,” Seth said.
“She needs blood,” Toru said. “You owe me a favor for, you know…”
Seth’s eyes widened.
“Dude, you can’t bring that up. Besides, nothing happened. Tyrone was there. He would know!”
“But he’s not here to be your witness,” Toru said, grin evil. “And a little money would easily bribe him—”
“If you don’t call her, I will speak of an interesting story about,” he looked at Tear. “Toru and the goat.”
Toru’s eyes widened. Ah, the naive boy was just where Seth wanted him. The blond grinned evilly to unleash the killing blow. “Try me.”
The brown-haired rich boy sighed.
“Alright Nina, don’t bother him anymore.”
“Kay,” Nina said hopping out of the seat, but before she left, she whispered, “you know where to find me.”
“No thanks,” Seth snapped. “I wouldn’t even if it was legal.”
“I’m older than you,” Nina said.
“Go away,” Seth said. “Kids should learn to just be kids.”
Nina pouted. Before she could quip, Toru called her.
“This isn’t over, blondie,” Nina whispered as she walked away. “You’ll regret treating me like a child.”
“Pssh, I’m not afraid of some snot-nosed brat who will burn up in sunlight. And holy light.” Seth chuckled. “I’ve got plenty of defenses.”
Nina stuck her tongue out at him.
“Dummy blond.”
Seth sighed. When he stole a glance at Fuyoko, the young man took the smash of disappointment. She was sitting up, fully guarded and playing some kind of Loli Saga puzzle game on her tablet.
The young man glanced in Yusuke’s direction. His couch was in bed mode, black curtains draped around it. His vision enabled him to see the silhouettes going at it. Dammit, once again, the other guys were getting laid. Seth overheard Fumi’s voice once or twice during the trip.
The Anime Trope System: Stone vs. Viper, #11 a LitRPG [Alice Edition] (ATS) Page 9