"Hey, Vel, I just got a trait for doing that with Saph," I explained to the young elven woman still pressed up against my back, peering over my shoulder.

"Oh, wow! Traits are super rare. Even Dad only has a couple of them." Vel exclaimed, rather excited for me. "I wonder if I would get the trait as well if I did that with their core."

"I’m not sure." I shrugged. "I don’t think the trait would be super helpful for you though, but if you want to try, there’s only one way to find out. Is that okay with you, Saph? Do you mind if Vel gives touching your core a try?"

The little blue slime that was now back to sitting in my lap after momentarily turning into a puddle gurgled enthusiastically at my question. Since Saph gave their consent, Vel quickly moved around and took up a position sitting in front of me. Once there, the slime slid over onto her lap, and she gently placed a hand on the top of their gelatinous body.

Of course, the outer layer of Saph’s body was still firm and resistant to any penetration, which meant that the young elven woman’s hand wasn’t going to go in without a little bit of help. Although I didn’t know why using my stimulate skill on Saph made it so that their surface was malleable enough to push a few fingers inside of them, I wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

As such, I brought my hands over and cupped the sides of the slime as I said. "Okay, Saph, when I activate the skill, push up on Vel’s hand just like you did to mine."

Once the slime gave me an affirmative gurgle I activated my stimuate skill. Luckily, this process wasn’t just something that was unique to me, as the events that followed were pretty much the same as last time. The pleasure of my stimulate skill’s effects made Saph’s outer layer soft enough that Vel’s fingers could push through without damaging them. Then, once her fingers were inside the little slime, she began to massage the slime’s core until a few minutes passed and that same strange contorting happened once more, which ended with Saph taking the shape of a puddle as they orgasmed. Or at least that was what I was calling it since I didn’t actually know if it was the case, but it seemed very similar.

However, not everything went the same as last time. After a few seconds of waiting afterwards, Saph had regained their blob-like shape, and Vel just gave me a shrug. "I didn’t get anything for doing that."

"That’s weird," I responded with a curious look, all the while thinking over what else could have been necessary to unlock the monster lover trait that I just got. "Maybe there was something else I did that was necessary to meet the requirements. Something that might not be immediately obvious…"

"Oh, well. It doesn’t really matter, does it? At least we can all still have fun together." Vel just turned her attention back to the slime sitting on her lap, who she began petting.

Thankfully, though, the young elven woman didn’t seem too disappointed by not getting the trait. Additionally, Saph couldn’t have agreed more with the woman’s sentiment and began to excitedly gurgle as they pressed themselves up against her hand, petting them.

Unfortunately, any plans in the making to have a bit more fun together while we still could were cut short by my stomach growling. Which, upon hearing, Vel said. "We should probably start heading back soon. I’m not actually sure how long we spent out here since I lost track of time after the third or fourth orgasm, but it’s probably getting close to lunchtime."

Of course, the perverted little slime let out a disappointed gurgle upon hearing this. No doubt, Saph would have much preferred it if we stayed out here doing this for the rest of our lives, but that was not in the cards. However, in an attempt to console them, I suggested. "You know, Saph, it's a long walk back to your tree and my stimulate skill has a relatively short cooldown."

Upon hearing this, they immediately launched themselves from where they were sitting on Vel’s lap over to me. They remained there, held in my hands, for the rest of our time together. Which made it slightly hard to put my shirt back on, but with a little help from Vel, once she was dressed, it was no problem.

From there, the three of us began our walk back through the forest. Every time stimulate came off cooldown, I would immediately use it on Saph. However, I was just stimulating her surface and not putting any fingers inside their body, which could have been dangerous to do on the move. Still, though, Saph seemed to thoroughly enjoy the attention I was showing them. It was good to know that I could pay them back for all the fun they showed me, vibrating on my pussy those past few hours.

Partway through the walk, I remembered something I was going to tell Vel but had momentarily forgotten about when I got distracted by my new trait earlier. "Oh, I almost forgot. Vel, take another look at Saph. Their core is definitely bigger than it was before."

"Oh, wow. Yeah, you can really see the difference now." The young elven woman gasped. We momentarily paused walking so she could take a closer look at the slime held in my hands.

Since she was looking closely at Saph, I also did the same, which let me notice something I wasn’t at all expecting. Their core was even bigger than the last time I took a good look at it. Albeit, not by a lot. Maybe a millimetre or two at most, but it had definitely grown further in only a handful of minutes.

"I think having sex with Saph and stimulating their core is helping them grow," I theorised. There wasn’t any proof of my claims other than what we had been witnessing, but this just had to be the case. It was the only thing that really happened between now and the last time I paid attention to the size of their core, which could have explained the latest growth of their core.

"Maybe…" Vel mused as we continued walking. "It seems a little weird, though. Why would a monster grow stronger through sex?"

"It makes just as much sense as a person's growing stronger through sex. I responded, gesturing to myself.

"I guess." She shrugged, not at all convinced by my point. "Dad would probably know more since he has had a lot of dealings with monsters, but…"

"Asking your dad about Saph would clue him in on the fact that you have been having dealings with a monster behind his back." I finished her sentence for her as she trailed off.

"Yeah…" Vel sighed.

"Maybe I could squeeze information out of him about monsters by playing on the fact that I don’t know anything about the world. I could say I’m just curious about it after seeing how he came home yesterday covered in monster blood." I suggested trying my best to be helpful. 

"Yeah, that could work…" She mumbled back, not all that enthusiastically like she normally was, but it was clear that it wasn’t my idea that had gotten her down.

The sudden shift in Vel’s usual cheery mood stayed like this for the rest of the walk back to Saph’s home under the tree. Once there, we said our goodbyes to the little blue slime and promised to come back and play another time. I was sure if Vel and Saph had their way, they would be spending every hour of the day together, but how much time they could spend together really depended on her dad and how much time she could spend away in the forest.

After leaving Saph’s tree and beginning the walk back to Vel’s log cabin, it was clear her sombre mood was going to continue. For a few minutes, I waged a debate in my head on whether or not I wanted to stick myself into something that might just have been none of my business. However, my desire to help my friend and my wish to see her happy again won over.

As such, we came to a momentary stop after a handful of minutes of walking. This happened when I pulled the young elven woman into my arms and gave her a big, warm hug. There wasn’t anything overtly sexual about the hug. Instead, we just stood there for a couple of seconds as I comfortingly held her against my body.

When one of us eventually did speak again, it was me who asked. "A penny for your thoughts?"

"Isn’t the saying, a copper for your thoughts? What’s a penny?" Vel raised an eyebrow, confused by what I had said.

"Ah," I paused, realising I'd messed up again, just like I had with her father the day before. Luckily though, she wasn’t going to react like her father did after one slip up, which gave me an opportunity to cover for my mistake. "I’m not sure, I just kind of said it. But that doesn’t matter. I can tell that something is on your mind. Do you want to talk about it?"

"No… I’m fine." Vel responded, but it really didn’t feel like she was being honest with herself.

"Really? We’re friends, Vel and you’ve done a lot for me. If there’s anything I can do for you, even if it's just listening to your worries, then you can tell me anything. What else are friends for?"  

Vel finally started to admit what was on her mind after a few seconds of silence."It’s Dad…"

"Sometimes he can get a bit suffocating…" Although the young elven woman was slowly getting out her words and what it was that had upset her, I just waited patiently and listened to everything she had to say. "I know he loves me and wants to keep me safe, but it can be a bit too much sometimes."

"I mean, I’ve lived in this forest for my entire life and the only people I’ve ever met are you, Saph, and him. Of which, I met you only yesterday, and I’ve known Saph for a little over a year. Most of my life was just spent with him in our cabin."

"As much as I love him and love my home here, sometimes I just want to run away…"

Once it was clear that Vel had said everything she wanted to for the moment, I hugged her again, just trying to be there for her as best I could. I didn’t really need to say anything or suggest a course of action to make things right; all she needed was someone to support her. Of course, that said, a part of my mind was ticking away, thinking up plans on how to help her out with her father.

There has to be a reason he is keeping her out here secluded. After all, Damien didn’t seem proud of himself when it was just the two of us and he mentioned that he was glad Vel finally had a friend. Why would a father do that to his daughter unless he felt like he had no other choices?

"I’m glad you came into my life, Eve." Vel slowly pulled her head back from where it was resting on my shoulder so that she could bring her lips to mine.

The kiss that followed wasn’t at all like any of the ones we had shared before. Where our kisses were normally filled with passion and a deep, heated desire for each other’s body, this kiss was more intimate and loving. A fact that made me worried, worries which were substantiated when she pulled away from my lips and confessed something I was dreading to hear.

"I… I love you, Eve."

"Vel… I…"

"If it’s okay with you, I don’t think I want to just be friends with benefits anymore," Vel admitted, further twisting my heart into a knot.

It was one thing to hear her admit that she loved me, but it was another for her to do so after only a little more than twenty-four hours had passed since we met. What was worse was that I clearly had feelings for her too, but it wasn’t fair to pursue anything more serious with her when I still wanted to sleep around with as many men and women as would take me.

The whole point of the choices I had made throughout my reincarnated, second life, was to sleep around and to make up for all the sex I missed out on in my first life. Speaking of which, that was also something I was lying to the woman about, which was also making me feel incredibly guilty at that moment.

Taking my silence for an answer all on its own, Vel’s eyes started to water up, only for her to turn away from me so that I wouldn’t see her cry. "It’s fine if you don’t feel the same way. It was stupid of me to say anything… Sorry…"

"No, I do like you. I like you a lot, Vel. It's just…" As conflicted as this made me feel, I knew at that moment that I needed, to be honest with her. It was the only fair thing to do. "Although I like you and may even come to love you, Vel, I can’t be with only you. It wouldn’t be fair to promise you that when I won’t be able to keep that promise. I want to have lots and lots of sex, not just with women, but with men too, like your father."

Vel turned around, wiping the tears from her eyes, but she didn’t seem upset or angry at me, only confused. "Why would you have to be only with me? What does that have to do with loving me? You can love more than one person. It might not be the same kind of love, but loving you doesn’t mean I love my father any less."

"Huh." My jaw dropped, practically hitting the floor. I was speechless.

Fuck, I’m an idiot. I was so caught up by the morals of Earth ingrained in my way of thinking that I never stopped to consider if this world had different opinions on the matter of monogamy. For all I know, having polygamous or open relationships in this world might be normal, and just wanting one partner could be considered odd.

Or, then again, this might be a way of thinking that Vel has developed after spending her life isolated in the forest. Either way, if she’s open and willing to try such a relationship, why not go for it? I just hope I don’t hurt her. That’s the last thing I would want.

"I never really thought about it like that… But if you are willing to give that kind of open relationship a try, I would love to be your girlfriend." 

"I do." Vel’s eyes watered up again, but this time her tears were because of how happy she was.

As soon as I heard her response, I practically jumped the poor young woman. Once again, we shared one hell of a loving and intimate kiss. When our lips eventually parted again, we just stood there holding each other as our heads pressed up against one another.

Oh, fuck. I actually have a girlfriend now. This feels so surreal!

Unfortunately, that happy feeling was subdued by the fact that I was lying to her, which was something I really needed to rectify. It might not have been the perfect time to do so, since it was going to kill the lovey-dovey mood we had going on, but these kinds of things really needed to come out as soon as possible. Before they could grow and fester into a more serious breach of trust.

"Vel, there’s something I need to tell you."

"What is it?" She gave me an intrigued look, no doubt more than a little bit curious about what it could be that I chose to bring up then of all times.

"I have been lying to you about something. You see I actually-"

"Where the fuck is it? You said you said you spotted something in this direction Lucas, so where the fuck is it and don’t tell me we are lost." The gruff voice of a man cut me off as both Vel and I spun around to face the direction of the disturbance, just in time to see three human men stumble their way through the forest.

Worst of all, though, was the fact that they immediately noticed us, and they did not at all look friendly.