Chapter 12: Power Leveling

The next morning Elaine woke up still holding Evelyn in her arms. It was an oddly domestic moment she hadn't had since breaking up with her last long-term girlfriend. Waking up in a tangle with Alexis and Ophelia had been fun but not quite as intimate as this felt. Maybe she should be giving them each more alone time? Or maybe this was just a side effect of dating three girls at once and that she still had to get used to.

Speaking of Ophelia, the moment she properly woke up Elaine saw the notification for a new message. The fact that there was only a notification rather than the message simply flashing in front of her meant that the message must have come in while she'd still been asleep. She remembered Ophelia saying something about needing less sleep than a normal human before, so that explained how Ophelia would be awake before someone used to a military rhythm.

Things had ironically gotten much more laid-back ever since the Invasion and Elaine could now sleep in if she wanted to but her body was still used to the shorter sleep patterns and early wake-up calls that came with being a soldier. As such, she had of course been awake long before Evelyn and so she got to listen to her girl making some adorable squeaking sounds as she slept.

How did a girl this cute have a Soul Shard of Indra inside her? Oh right, the penchant for doing stupid things and then enjoying the punishment that came of it, probably. Elaine made a mental note never to let Evelyn drink too much, too. Indra had a reputation for being unable to hold his liquor.

She shook it off and focused on Ophelia's message.

So Cassie had talked to Abigail then? Elaine smiled. Maybe she would be able to find some common ground between Abigail and herself after all. It also helped that she really didn't mind the idea of going on a date with Cassie. The mere fact that Cassie copied Astolfo's hairstyle told her that they might have at least a little in common. She also remembered that Cassie had gotten her Witcher 3 reference back in Albion, so chances were pretty good that he was actually a nerd and not just wearing his hair like Astolfo for the attention.

And then she had to swallow as her mind wandered. Cassie had said he was bisexual. But what would that mean if their relationship went anywhere? Would he accept her the way she was? Would he want her to take him? Would he want to top her? She shook it off. She found him attractive. Given the way he'd been looking at her and the fact that Ophelia had managed to bribe him with the promise of Elaine taking him out on a date she was pretty sure he found her attractive as well. But that didn't mean anything had to happen between them.

She shook the thought off and texted Ophelia:

Elaine rolled her eyes.

As she sent the last message Elaine wiped away the AR displays as she noticed Evelyn stirring in her arms.

“Morning, baby”, she told the redhead.

Evelyn felt so small in her arms it was bizarre to think the willowy little woman could crush concrete with her bare fists.

“Your voice is way too sexy when it's rough from sleep”, Evelyn muttered, only half awake.

“Same to you”, Elaine told her. “Now get up or we won't be getting out of bed.”

“I could think of worse ways to spend the day”, Evelyn mused.

In response Elaine started tickling her.

“Stop, stop!”, Evelyn giggled out.

“Get up you evil temptress”, Elaine told her, keeping the tickling up. “We can't spend the entire day in bed.”

Evelyn squirmed out of bed, just to get away from Elaine's tickling fingers. “There”, she gasped out, “I'm up, you evil woman.”

By the time she finished speaking Elaine had gotten out of bed as well and pulled her into a kiss. It wasn't a hot and steamy kiss but it wasn't just a peck on the lips, either. It was the kind of kiss one gave a lover and it made their hearts soar.

**

When Cassie entered the cafeteria all of his other teammates were already present. Evelyn was giving Elaine the most adorable puppy-dog eyes he'd ever seen while Ophelia and Alexis were happily chatting with each other and Elaine. Abigail, once again, sat apart, just far enough to demonstrate her awkwardness without making anyone think she wanted to leave the group.

He frowned at that. Had Ophelia not told Elaine yet what he'd told her? Oh well, there was one thing he could do. First, though, he made sure to catch Ophelia's eye before he got himself a big pibble jibble.

She rolled her eyes at him but she was smiling when she did.

When he had the food of the gods on his plate alongside a bottle of caffeinated soda he sat down at his team's table, right next to Abigail. He gave her his best social media influencer smile and then he none-too-subtly bumped her hip to push her closer to the rest of the group until they sat together like a proper team.

Abigail looked at him, a hint of panic on her face, but he just kept smiling and finally she gave up without even letting out the dramatic sigh he'd been expecting.

“Good morning”, he said, slightly too cheerfully.

A chorus of “Morning”s came back before Alexis asked: “What are you eating?”

“Pibble jibble”, Ophelia answered before Cassie could open his mouth.

“Pibble jibble?”, Alexis asked and Cassie was more than happy to let Ophelia explain as he dug into his ambrosia.

He was extremely particular about his pibble jibble. It had to be white bread. None of that sourdough bullshit and no fancy whole wheat bread, either. Basic, buttery, nutritionally deficient white bread, toasted until golden brown. One side slathered with sweet strawberry jam, none of that artisanal barely sweetened stuff, the other slathered with a good and most importantly smooth peanut butter. Then, after marrying both sides together, he started by eating the outer crust, squeezing the middle of the sandwich to get out just enough jam and peanut butter to make the crust bites not totally bland. Only when no crust was left did he dig in to the best bites, the center bites, full of way too much peanut butter and jam. As he did he squirmed in his seat, letting out sounds that he otherwise reserved for the bedroom.

When he finally finished with his sandwich he looked up into five lightly blushing faces.

“Was it good?”, Abigail asked.

“I feel like I need a shower after that”, Ophelia said.

“Seems more like he needs a shower”, Alexis muttered.

Had he made a mess again? It was a messy sandwich but he was usually pretty good about not letting any of it fall. But before he could find himself a mirror or something Elaine leaned forward, looming over him, and wiped a thumb over his cheek. There was jam on it. Instead of pulling her hand away and making a comment about his eating habits she held the finger in front of his mouth, almost expectantly.

He swallowed. Yes, he was interested in her but this was a bit forward, wasn't it? Ah fuck it, he was interested in her and apparently she was interested in him as well so he just leaned forward and licked the jam from her thumb, then suckled on it just a little bit. After overhearing her talk with Nurse Rachel he knew there was another part of her he'd be willing to suck on but before anything like that could happen he still had to admit to her that he knew about it. It would be awkward, yes, but he refused to let his life become a fucking anime cliche where he didn't tell her and then she found out about it later.

He realized he was still suckling on Elaine's thumb and drew away, his own cheeks as red as hers now.

“Wow”, Elaine finally said. “I was gonna ask you out on a date anyway but now I'm even more sure.”

He looked away in embarrassment. Way to come across as way too eager. “Y-you want to take me out on a date?”, he finally stammered out. Honestly he found it was a valid question. Did she want to take him out on a date or was she doing it purely because Ophelia had promised him that date? Then again, would Ophelia be able to make a promise like that if Elaine wasn't interested in him? From the appreciative looks the brunette was giving him every now and then he thought she might be interested but he couldn't be sure. The woman had three girlfriends, would she even be interested in him, who was decidedly not a woman? He decided not to think about it.

“Sure”, she said. “How about tomorrow?”

“Y-yeah”, he said. “I'd like that.”

**

When everyone was done eating Elaine once again suggested they all allocate their EXP, well, minus Cassie since it would make more sense to do so after their date, in case that increased his Bond Level.

Alexis decided to start and pulled up her level up menu.

“Holy shit”, Evelyn breathed as she looked over Alexis' new abilities.

“Yeah”, Elaine agreed. She'd already had a peak at them but they truly were insanely powerful.

“If I'd known that this was what those Charged Attack skills were building up to I would have started buying them much sooner”, Alexis said as she stared at the new offerings. “500% bonus damage would let me take down a Demi-Lich in a single hit.”

“Honestly that sounds like one of the least useful abilities”, Abigail said, making everyone look up at her. She blushed a little at the attention but then said: “Think about it. This entire skill set is meant to make you into a front line fighter who takes hits and then strikes back. You have a lot of abilities to let you heal damage taken by fighting on. So I think the best skill of the bunch is Unbreakable. It lets you keep going, which in turn allows you to use one of the abilities you have for healing damage.”

“She's not wrong”, Ophelia said. “With Highlander all you need to do is kill something to gain a massive boost to regeneration and Unbreakable makes it so that pain won't stop you from doing it.”

“But does it actually matter?”, Cassie asked. “If your armor is compromised does healing even help?”

“The armor regenerates”, Ophelia said, causing Alexis, Evelyn, Abigail and Cassie to stare at her. “Seriously? None of you noticed? Elaine, what about you?”

Elaine pressed her lips together. “I had suspected. Now I'm sure.”

The others kept looking between Ophelia and Elaine.

“The armor isn't just normal armor”, Elaine explained. “It was developed in Heaven. Angels wear this stuff. It's as much magical as it is technological. A couple times I got nicked with it on and thought I would have to go have it repaired and then the next morning the hole I thought I'd seen wasn't there anymore. I think the armor heals itself. It might even have other properties.”

“Freaky”, Cassie said. “Cool, but freaky. Never mind then, I guess healing abilities aren't useless.”

They talked things out a bit longer but eventually Alexis just went for it.

“Sweet merciful Christ”, Evelyn said. “Look at those stats.”

“Yeah”, Ophelia said, then turned to Elaine. “How are you doing?”

“Amazing”, Elaine said, then shared her own notifications.

“Alright, my turn”, Ophelia said and pulled up her level up menu.

“I can't put into words how glad I am that I didn't waste Credits on buying one of those Thorns Jeanne is selling”, Ophelia said as she stared at the dagger M skill.

“And that weird herb lore skill finally makes sense now”, Elaine said. “Though 70 EXP is a bit steep for the ability to pluck healing herbs out of thin air.”

“I think I would need to have bought the herb lore skill to refute that”, Ophelia said. “But I don't think I'm going to bother with those skills for now. Okay, I think I know what I want.”

“Weird, I could have sworn your Vigor was 35 when you were done leveling last time”, Elaine said as she stared at Ophelia's stats.

“Good thing it's not just me then”, Ophelia said. “I thought it looked off. A glitch, maybe?”

“I doubt it”, Elaine said. “You haven't been bullying Cassie for his apples, have you?”

“Hey!”, Ophelia protested. “I don't bully people.”

Elaine raised an eyebrow at her.

Ophelia fumed.

“She's messing with you”, Alexis told the vampire. “Cassie's apples increase Vigor and Endurance but only your Vigor stat is off.”

“Speaking of”, Elaine said, looking at Cassie, “have you been eating those apples?”

“I have”, he said. “They're showing effect. And, just to be clear”, he turned to Ophelia, “you wouldn't have to bully me. I'd just give some to you if you asked.”

“I'm not a bully”, Ophelia protested.

“What you did the other night doesn't count?”, Alexis teased.

“You're all mean”, Ophelia whined as she crossed her arms and Elaine leaned over to kiss her cheek, causing her to blush despite her pout.

“Should I go next or do you want to?”, Evelyn asked Abigail.

“Go ahead”, Abigail told her. “I'm fine going last.”

Evelyn nodded and pulled up her menus.

“Jesus, that scared me”, Evelyn said as she looked at the red text. “Apparently it does work exactly as you described it.”

“Didn't think you'd be getting access to anything that can be compared to a goddamn nuke though”, Elaine said.

“The real question is, should she buy it?”, Alexis said.

“What kind of question is that?”, Ophelia asked. “It's a pocket nuke. That's stronger than anything else we've got access to.”

“Exactly”, Alexis said. “It's overkill. I can't think of a single situation where this could possibly be useful.”

“Well, it would have made the fight against that Shoggoth a freaking joke, for one thing”, Ophelia argued.

“Sure, we could have blown that Shoggoth up, but if it's half as strong as the description suggests we would have blown up the entire town to do it”, Alexis countered.

“You're both right”, Elaine finally said and everyone looked at her. “I can see very few situations where an ability this powerful could possibly help. However, in what few situation I can see it helping it's damn near the only solution I can think of. I think this is very much a case of 'better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it'. But on the other hand it's 80 points that might be better spent on something more practical. So this has to be your own decision.”

“I agree with you, Elaine”, Evelyn said. “If we ever need this we really really need it. This gives us an option where we might otherwise be fucked. I would have liked to buy the magic abilities or the next upgrade for Font of Soma but contingency planning is more important.”

“Ah crap, you actually bought it”, Ophelia said.

“Didn't you just say that she should?”, Alexis asked.

“Yeah”, Ophelia said. “But think about it. She has a pocket nuke now. Now the universe is going to conspire to create a situation where she'll actually need to use it.”

“This isn't a novel”, Alexis said. “It's real life. If anything, if she hadn't bought it the universe would have conspired to create a situation where she would have needed it. Now that she has it she'll never need to use it.”

“You're both being silly”, Evelyn said and then looked at Elaine. “How do your stats look?”

“Slightly insane”, Elaine said and showed off her notifications.

“Alright, we're all done”, Evelyn said.

“Abigail still has to do her leveling”, Cassie said, nudging the singer none too subtly.

“Right”, Abigail said, her voice a little subdued.

“What's wrong?”, Alexis asked.

Abigail turned away under the scrutiny, embarrassed.

“Her Bond Level's way lower than ours”, Ophelia said. “She's embarrassed about it.”

Abigail flinched as it was laid out so bluntly.

“Hey, it's okay”, Cassie told her. “It's not a competition. Come on, just buy what you think is useful.”

“Alright”, Abigail said quietly.

“Well, there's not much to discuss”, Abigail said. “I can buy everything and so I will buy everything. At least it all sounds useful. Well, minus that tier five recovery skill.”

“I think it's worth the investment”, Elaine told her. “You're too pretty for scars.”

Abigail looked away in shame. If only Elaine knew...

“Yeah, she's really starting to look like a support class”, Alexis said.

“More like a mage”, Cassie said. “Okay health, terrible physical stats, fast and with high magic. Letting her work as nothing but support is a waste.”

“True”, Elaine said. “She's a level behind Ophelia and yet her Intelligence isn't that much lower. We're going to have to make sure to use her more as a mage. Making everyone 25% tougher is a waste when she could be blasting a quarter of our enemies away instead.”

Abigail looked up in surprise. They weren't making fun of her for being an outsider, they were impressed by her abilities. Well, maybe she could be part of this group after all. She decided to try and make the effort.

“So what did you get out of it?”, she asked Elaine.

“Let's see”, Elaine said and shared her notifications.

“Alright, so I've got that bow of yours and another massive heaping of stats”, Elaine said.

“I'm kind of curious just how strong you are right now”, Abigail said.

“Truthfully so am I”, Elaine said.

“So what do you want to do about it?”, Ophelia asked.

“The same thing we do every time you girls are done leveling, baby”, Elaine said. “Going down to the training hall to test our abilities out.”