Chapter 49: Book 2 Chapter 7 – Movie Marathon

 

Jake luxuriated in the feeling of the new bond, joining the valkyrie’s as he held Fhesiah in his lap. He could feel that he too got just a little bit stronger as a result of the new bond, the [Hearth Bond] providing him 5% of Fhesiah’s attributes, which were even stronger than before.

Jake’s new familiar, the [Young Voidwyrm], was quite proud of itself, and shared Jake and Fhesiah’s feelings of victory. Jake sent a mental thanks to the creature. He would come up with a name for it soon, he just hadn’t had time to. 

He had looked once again into the materials for Odin’s Summoning Ritual for the soul matching familiar and found once again that he could not purchase several of them, making him wonder what Tier this ritual was even meant for. He had hope at the market they had just gone to, but once again came up empty handed. That made him look into attempting to summon a familiar that matched his present needs for now.

Jake had realized that while the [Arcane Eye] was effective, it still had a few blind spots. Its vision could not pierce through walls or the ground without entering them, and it was slower than what he needed. Jake had reviewed familiars of all types, compared their pros and cons, and eventually settled on choosing a familiar that excelled in sensory.

There were various creatures that excelled at enemy detection or at sensing complex magics and interacting with them, but many of them shared the same problems of the [Arcane Eye]. Too slow, only good at one or the other. But Jake found there was a rare option that might only work for him, and his high attributes. 

A wyrm was a sort of snake-dragon, and they carried that same 'pride of dragons' that they all shared. When forming a pact with such a creature, the prideful creature understanding and agreeing that it was lesser and that it would serve the other was quite rare. For Jake’s level, his [Presence] is incredibly high, and that was why he was able to give his offer: his special mana, and any other special energy contained in Jake’s hearth. 

His hearth mana was unique enough that the creature of the void was interested in consuming this tasty snack, fueling its growth. As the both of them grow, the advantages they both bring to each other will become greater. The creature accepted its servitude, for the small price of small amounts of mana that Jake’s [Energy Hunger] ability sucked in at a rapid pace. Jake wouldn’t even notice the price.

What Jake receives would be the [Young Voidwyrm]’s superior sensory capabilities. Being a creature of the void, it sits on the edge of physical reality, space, and the void itself. Targeting the creature was near impossible for anyone of Jake’s Tier, the wyrm being able to freely phase in and out of normal space. It had what was a sort of tremor sense, able to feel and see through walls, and perceive both minds and magic as they touched the void in ways that Tier 1 or Tier 2 casters likely could not even begin to understand, without those areas being their own specialty. A Psionic or Void Mage might be the only ones that could even detect or otherwise harm the creature. 

Fhesiah could detect the creature within her radius, but she was quite special for her Tier. Her ‘lighthouse’ radius for divine sense was more than ten times what a normal cultivator of her Tier would have, thanks to her soul being much more powerful, having been a Tier 3 cultivator before. Still, Jake shouldn’t become complacent, as a Tier 2 psionic creature or specialist may be able to hide their minds from the young voidwyrm. Jake would just have to hope by the time they could encounter such a creature, that the voidwyrm would have also advanced from Tier 0. 

No, for its age and tier, the [young Voidwyrm] was a master of the void.  Jake was ecstatic that the creature answered his call, as the runner-up was going to be some type of pixie or imp, or barring those types of creatures, a magical bat or owl. Within just a few hours of summoning the creature, it had already paid dividends: helping Fhesiah enter foundation establishment safely. 

This creature was quite intelligent, and its inquisitive mind had it taking in information quite rapidly. While it couldn’t or wouldn’t talk, it understood Jake and his desires well enough. Thankfully Jake had quite a bit of experience understanding the emotions and intent even without it having inner thoughts thanks to Fhesiah and Ophelia.

Jake was quite thankful for this new addition to his family. It circled in the air in triumph, and phased out and snaked inside of Jake– a strange thing, but he didn’t feel anything. The wyrm coiled up around his hearth, like a cat in front of a fire. The creature was not very large, being little more than a foot long and an inch thick at the moment, it easily wrapped itself around his metaphysical hearth core inside the center of his chest. 

Unlike how Fhesiah or most creatures would level up within the framework, this creature, being a familiar, did not have a level. It would simply get bigger as it got older and had more of Jake’s energy, until eventually it would raise itself in Tier.

The demoness stirred, and she turned and grabbed his face and kissed him on the lips. The kiss lingered, and he tightened his hold on her. He said in his mind to her, “Congratulations, Fhesiah. Your [Spiritual Temple] was really something.”

She pulled away and gave him a beaming smile. She spoke aloud, “We really outdid ourselves. Where is your little- oh, inside your body? What a strange, interesting creature. Still, I approve. Wyrms are a sort of dragon, after all. It’s amazing that it decided it was willing to be your familiar, I wonder if their mother also promised you’d be a nice husband?’’

Jake just smiled wryly at her teasing. Jake wasn’t even sure a creature of the void could really have a gender or parent, their birth a result of clashing exotic energies and souls within the void. This was part of the reason he had difficulty naming the creature in the first place. He’d give it more time before he had a better understanding of them, before giving them a name. 

It’d already been several days since they closed the last [Rift] and headed back to their [Refuge]. Each member of Jake’s party was working both as pairs or as individuals to improve their skills over the last few days. Unfortunately, Jake was not able to purchase the [Technique] he was interested in, being short on contribution points. They had completed five rifts in total and earned just under 2000, but the one that Jake wanted was 2500. Instead, they managed to buy the one for Ophelia for only 1500 contribution points, or CP.

It replaced her Melee Specialization skill which had the subskills: spear, shield, flight, and winged combat skills with: [Ride of the Valkyrie Lv. 1]. Jake cracked a smile, as she now could fly almost exactly like Fhesiah now, without flapping her wings. Her body and wings were infused with holy magic, and she was propelled by her will. She would practically skate over the ground, and her blows were infused with enhanced speed and holy might. 

Her momentum was almost completely under her control, and she could transfer it to an enemy by slamming into them, or she could stop on a dime with ease. Jake felt like it was similar to if she was riding an invisible mount while she used the skill, the mount taking care of movement while the valkyrie utilized the momentum and power that the mount provided.

When Jake sparred with her, the disconnect from her ability to speed up, slow down, feint, and even slam into his shield with no or too-much force was challenging to deal with. He would brace his shield and body for the inevitable collision of the speedy valkyrie, only for her to stop and attack with a fast, nearly unstoppable thrust of her spear from an unexpected angle.

Not only that, but her wings would become hard when infused with the holy magical energy, and she could shield herself or others with them. It was now nearly impossible to land a solid blow against her without completely overpowering her, something that only an opponent like Berri was capable of doing.

Of course it cost her mana to maintain this state, and it especially cost a lot to block a major blow with her wings. Luckily, her bonded hearth mana core gave her a large amount of mana along with her valkyrie heritage, and the power and speed multiplier was very efficient, allowing her to match Fhesiah for longer than she could keep up her own enhanced speed and strength. At least, until now that Fhesiah entered [Foundation Establishment]. 

If Fhesiah’s spiritual sea was a small pond of heavenly energy before, it was now a massive pond or small lake. Combined with her practice of runic magic and advancing her two energies, and her heavenly truths to match, Jake doubted that anyone in his team could be her match, once again. 

They had spent their days doing all sorts of training and fun activities, Jake trying to spend more time with Berri. They played sports both for competition and for fun, though most human sports were completely lost or required changing rules or the size of fields in order for the monstrous humanoid girls to really enjoy. Basketball just wasn’t the same when Berri could dunk without jumping, or really even changing her own posture. Her head casually rested in her ‘standing’ posture at about 3 meters tall, just inches beneath the hoop. Then her hands were large enough that holding the ball almost looked like a person holding a kid’s ball.

But what Berri did love, Jake hadn’t expected.

“What is this, it’s like a little stick? It’s kinda cute.”

“Er, hang on a minute. Here, try this one.”

“Ah, that’s better. I can really get my grip around this one. What now? Where’s your stick? What’s that little sphere?”

Berri was easily excitable while also quick to get impatient, and those last few questions came in rapid succession. Jake chuckled and said, “Your upper body should be facing to the side as you watch me. I am going to throw the ball in front of you at about your waist level. I want you to swing the stick in order to hit it.”

“Got it! Go ahead!” Berri showed a beaming smile on her face, and Jake shook his head. It was like she knew how to bat right away, her posture looking quite similar to a baseball player, minus her lower body of course, Jake guessed due to being able to swing her mace or club with high proficiency. Jake had chosen a softball due to it being a bit larger for her to hit. Jake threw the ball underhanded as a slower pitch to get her used to it. Berri’s body then blurred as she slammed her bat into the ball, before it would have even crossed the ‘plate.’

It made a loud crack as shards of the bat flew everywhere, and Jake’s life flashed through his eyes as space was warped in front of him causing the ball to just miss his head by a few feet. The ball crashed into the wall where it shattered against the powerful materials the training room was made of, making yet another loud sound.

The wyrm huffed from its spot, annoyed that its rest had been disturbed. Jake gave a mental thank you to the creature, because while he thought there was a good chance of survival with divine reinforcement and Ophelia taking some of the blow with her ability, he certainly didn’t want to test it. To think that Berri almost killed two of them in one swing while playing around was scary to think about.

Berri giggled and said, “Wow! Did you hear that sound? I like it! Smashing that felt really good. You have more sticks, right? What’s the matter, Milord?” 

Jake managed to force a laugh and said, “It’s nothing, don’t worry about it. Sure, Berri, you can have all the sticks you want. Uh…you think you could aim where you hit the ball?”

“Oh! That sounds like fun. Where do you want me to hit it?”

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Jake’s mind blanked, he wanted to say ‘anywhere not near me,’ but then he realized this idea had some potential. She was lacking in a ranged attack, and this looked like it could work, what with Jake almost dying a moment ago. She had her tail and she could throw a ‘ball,’ and most enemies would not expect something so crazy. Force was going to be lost transferring her swing to a heavy ball, but she had plenty of it. 

Jake found that Berri absolutely loved baseball. Jake would pitch hundreds of balls to her, and she was a natural. Jake lined up some targets for her to hit the ball to, and despite doing his best to make it difficult for her, he was far from a pro baseball pitcher so she had no problem hitting the targets with near pinpoint accuracy. 

While Jake could throw the ball faster than any pitcher that ever existed now, he was not really able to do the more advanced pitches, never having played or received any training. Not only that, but Berri’s strike zone was completely wonky.

While a human batter wouldn’t really be able to shift their whole body much backwards or forwards, and still bring out the proper power to the swing after the pitch, this was not a problem for Berri at all. Jake could throw the ball straight at her torso, and she was still able to shift her body, floating in the air as it was attached to her tail rather than legs and feet, to where she could hammer the ball right back at him; as if he had pitched right down the center of the plate.   

Fhesiah and Ophelia would play a game of tennis where the ball would never hit the ground while in the air, and Jake had thought he finally found a sport he could potentially beat the girls in with golf, until Berri taught him he was wrong. If it involved some form of club or stick in the sport, she would be the absolute master. “Not quite, Jake. She hasn’t even gotten to touch your club, yet. There is no way that snake will beat me in that sport.”

Jake just smiled at her antics and shook his head. Berri was a work in progress. It’s not as if the goal was just to sleep with her, if that was the case she probably would have been willing moments after she arrived. The problem for Jake was that she didn’t seem to understand love, in Jake’s opinion. She wanted family, but the human ideal for family appeared to be a means to an end. That if she wasn’t in Jake’s party, she would just abduct some male and take them into a cave or something similar. 

Jake wasn’t sure if he could love a monster like that. He may try, but he wanted to see if she could change a little first. It wasn’t as though she had to change in order for Jake to try to love her, but he hoped that her thoughts and emotions were simply a result of her situation growing up. Berri was probably only alive today thanks to not trusting or taking risks for others, living in a society that punished doing just that.

Now that she was in the Alliance rather than the enclave, this mindset was not really necessary. She would have a much more enjoyable life if she interacted with others 

Of course, she did care about Jake and the rest of the girls as they were slowly becoming her sisters in truth, but the ability to care for others just didn’t seem to be clicking for her outside of her own context. 

She only cared for Jake because he was her Lord, and Fhesiah and Ophelia her mistresses. There was also another personality within Berri to be considered. Jake wouldn’t forget those cold eyes. The bond was very weak in that first encounter, but he thought her first feelings were very genuine. She had low self esteem thanks to her ‘curse,’ as she was abused and had been looking for acceptance for a long time. Really, she needed to be loved, something that her people had never given her. 

Still, they had watched a few movies and shows with her, and she would quickly get bored with any drama. She simply didn't care for the character’s problems. Part of it, Jake supposed, was that perhaps the character’s problems were pathetic in comparison to ones she had experienced. Finding out the guy you liked was into some other girl was small potatoes when compared to having to fear being beaten or killed, after all.

Jake tried a few movies to try to see if he could get her heart to move.

Jake said, “Isn’t it sad? The little lion lost his father, then he was exiled from his people.”

Berri looked on impassively. “I don’t know if it’s sad…maybe boring? Is there a fun part in this?”

Jake sighed, “I think there’s a singing, dancing pig coming up in a few minutes.”

“Oh! That sounds good! Hmm…would a pig taste better if it can sing?”

Jake chose another. He thought originally when he saw it, that you would have to be a true monster to have the first ten minutes not move you. He wasn’t sure he even wanted to try. The scene had no words, so usually most would be able to understand what was going on, but perhaps many might not.

Berri asked, “What was that place, that room where they looked all sad?”

Jake replied, “That was the hospital, the woman learning that she couldn’t bear a child.”

Berri frowned, “Couldn’t they just heal them with magic?”

“My world didn’t really know about magic. There were some things medicine could cure, and other things they couldn’t.”

Berri sighed, “This is all so confusing. In that other movie with the little people with no shoes there was all sorts of magic.”

Ophelia said, “I liked that one! I loved when that warrior killed that guy shouting: ‘I am no man!’ It was great!”

The movie continued, and Berri laughed, “That dog is so stupid! He’s so funny. Jake, do you think we could get a talking dog?”

Jake chuckled, “Probably? The multiverse is vast, so they might be out there? Still, I doubt that a dog that could talk would still be so silly and stupid.”

“Oh. Well, how about those balloons? Oh! What about that big bird? It looked really tasty!”

Ophelia said, “She’s right, Jake. You should make some jumbo chicken or something!”

Jake said to Berri, “What did you think about the old man? After his wife died, the old man was empty inside, lonely. He didn’t care for the kid at first, only caring about accomplishing his goals. But by helping him and each other, they formed a connection. The old man found fulfillment and even a sort of family, by putting his goal aside for the child. Did you learn anything from this?”

Berri looked thoughtful for a moment, before her expression hardened. “I guess? I’m not sure why you would want a fat and weak child as a friend, but helping them is a good way to make them one? I would want to help a Dark Lamia child, instead. They would be a much more valuable and beautiful ally.”  

Jake sighed. He didn’t know what to expect, but perhaps it was wishful thinking that he could get the message across using some kids films. Jake had tried to get her to put herself in other people’s shoes, but perhaps because they were not Lamia like her, she just couldn’t bridge the gap in her mind. She was different, disconnected. 

Fhesiah chimed in his mind, “She’ll figure it out eventually Jake. Hestia promised there was a possibility of good within her kind, and I don’t think she just meant that you could point her as a weapon against the enemy and good would ultimately be achieved. Still, I understand your want for there to be love and not only lust, or breeding. 

Why, it’d almost be like we’re tricking her, her wanting babies and not getting them. She might really go crazy if she didn’t understand that part. Still, we need to figure something out soon, or we might have a relapse of the previous event, as fun as it was for me.”

Jake just shook his head at that. He was definitely not looking forward to having to try to talk her down again. He felt like a hostage negotiator, but he was also the hostage. “Just don’t set her off and we’ll be fine. Anyway, I think it’s about time we decide where we want to go–”

Jake was interrupted by a notification. [Ariminium World Task from Goddess Available. Visit a Shrine of Hestia to receive the Task.] 

It looked like it was time to receive their goddess’ first task, and was related to the world that they were currently visiting. Jake was surprised, as this world did not seem to really need their help. The [Sons of Rome] and various guilds were pushing the world towards the raid on the defender’s side, and it was likely only a matter of time before they won and pushed the outsiders off the world for now. 

After closing those five rifts, the progress had only moved one full percentage point, and Jake’s party and those in their battlegroup were far from the only ones that were contributing across the globe. Jake guessed that their efforts combined with the battlegroup probably only equated to less than half a percentage point, if they were lucky. 

Nothing was changing in the conquest progress bar, so just who needed their help?

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