I figured there was no point in hiding my abilities anymore. I wanted to know if return worked, so it seemed like as good of a time as any. I gestured for Lydia to give me her hand. She blushed, but took and then moved right next to me. Meanwhile, Miki was still clinging to me from the other side.
“Ladies, would you like to be in my party?” I asked.
Miki cocked her head curiously, while Lydia gave me a confused look. They were both slaves, so of course It would seem a bit weird for me to suddenly ask them to join their party. By all accounts, I was in charge. However, I didn’t know any other way to make a party, so I felt I needed to ask. I gave the two girls a nod of confirmation that they should answer.
“Okay.”
“Yes.”
{Miki has joined your party.}
{Lydia has joined your party.}
“Ah? I feel even better than before?” Miki said in surprise.
Lydia nodded, “I too feel rejuvenated.”
It appeared like they could feel the party status up. Unfortunately, it didn’t apply to me, but I imagined it felt a bit like I felt when I switched from something like cook to something like here. Just a boost of strength and energy that came from that particular job’s skill boosts. It was good that Miki now had that boost. Figuro had said she could pass out unconscious within hours of being revived. That might have happened without her status boosts, or perhaps Figuro was being a bit dramatic to discourage me from getting Miki. I didn’t know.
“Okay, girls, stay close to me. If I disappear for some reason, just wait here and I’ll return in a bit.”
This added a few more weird looks at me. Well, that was fine. I was just experimenting anyway.
At this point, I’d probably just use the portal to return if I found that the return ability of the hero didn’t work. I’d need to do a lot more tests on it in the future. For example, could I use it multiple times a day, or just once like portal? Would it teleport all of my party? Did they need to be touching me? If they were touching me, did they even need to be in my party? All of these were questions I had, but the first thing I wanted to test is if I could bring people in my party at all, so I worked towards maximizing that likelihood.
“Alright, Return!”
It would have been nice to see the look of surprise on Figuro and companies face as we vanished, but Return was too quick for that. One second, I was surrounded by a caravan, the next second, we were standing in the town square right next to the fountain feature.
“Master is awesome…” Lydia said wonderingly. “That was much faster than Portal.”
“That’s true…” I breathed, knowing that both girls in my party traveled with me. “But it might have some limitations I don’t know about yet.”
I already knew it couldn’t work in a dungeon. I couldn’t believe the skill would be much more OP than portal, which required the rare and elusive dungeon points.
I took a step forward, planning to leave the town square, but then I felt a tug on my pants. I looked down to see Miki lying there on the fountain steps, smiling helplessly.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Master, I cannot walk. You will need to carry me.” Miki said.
“Ah? I guess the resurrection did weaken you a lot, huh? In that case, Lydia, can you please help get her on my back?”
Lydia looked between me and Miki, a concerned look on her face. “Ah… y-yes… Master…”
However, Miki shook her head. “My arms are too weak to piggyback. I might fall. Master must carry me in front with two arms.”
“P-princess carry!” Lydia gasped.
Miki nodded, a mischievous smile showing on her face. “Master must carry me princess style!”
“I… see…”
Yeah well, she did jump at him the moment she got resurrected so I doubt she's as weak as she says. This little trouble maker.........better be careful Lydia
Thanks for the chapter
Ok, she's Trouble. But then again, fox girls usually are. LOL That's ok, there's a lot of leeway for fox girls and cat girls!
Haha.. this little trouble maker...I like her!!!
On an unrelated note...it's a shame how a select few can ruin a good thing.
Interesting thing a fan of mine noticed. It turned out the most "vocal" proponent slamming my story as cheating turns out to be an alt account for an author on scribblehub currently in first place. They also have interestingly enough disappeared now that my story is no longer "competitive". I'm sure his downvotes, smear campaigns, and vitriol were 100% altruistic though.
@whatsawhizzer Well f*ck... I'm once again reminded of how some people embody hate, jealousy, and general douche-baggery. Everything is about playing a numbers game instead of actual talent. Such annoying bullshit...
@whatsawhizzer dang that sucks. How did you find out and who was it?
@whatsawhizzer Yeah, I noticed how your story drew in some real brain dead water heads my guy. Some comments that they were leaving made them sound smart but when you broke down what they was saying and used facts... God I wanted to smack them with my heavy common sense stick. You have made a really good story so far my guy, I'm proud of you. TFTC.