S1E12 - Another version of me was so timid

  ?Is it level-up time?

  Has your status changed?

  Does it make you happy?

  You're so stra-a-ange?

  Old marching song of the Level-Watchers Brigade

  I love the smell of sexually satisfied woman helplessly sprawled next to me on the bed and breathing heavily in the morning. It smells like losing my virginity for the ninth time

  Never to her though - not that it makes much of a difference at this point, but still a pleasant change

  I do think that I might have, probably, maybe, gone a little tiny bit overboard, as a way of overcompensating. You see, all our previous encounters were completely one-sided - I don't know if it's because I used to be a devote follower of a Way of a True Pushover, or because it usually happens much later in the story when she becomes even more pent-up, but original script for this scene usually describes her riding me into submission all night long. And it's a one time thing, too - so I never get a chance for a rematch

  *pant-pant-pant*

  This time was exactly the same, at first - but I thought it would be too boring to just take it lying down (literally), so I decided to put my hips into it (also). The result is as you can see it - which is my only source of complaint in this otherwise all-around nice situation

  *pant-pant-pant*

  What is it with this huge fucking difference between my sexual and regular stamina, huh!?

  How come I can't run even five floors up the stairs without stopping for a breather - but at the same time can swing my hips like a wild monkey for hours, and not even break a sweat? You see this sexy lady impersonating a jellyfish on a sandy beach over there? You think something like that is easy to accomplish? Yeah, right! A word of advice - don't ever underestimate the power of a half-dryad married to her job that has been suppressing her libido for almost a decade. Ever!! It'll take a platoon of highly trained solders with several QRFs and Medevac on a constant standby to fill that kind of Black Hole, and even then the success is not guaranteed - yet here I am, just casually soloing this Legendary Dungeon, no problem! Hey, Unlimited Heroic Sex Drive, I would really like you to share that abundance a little bit with some of the other stats of mine - otherwise they're going to think I'm playing favorites

  ...Heroes really are just glorified walking dicks, I guess

  *pant-pant-pant*

  『That ? was ? amazing ????????』

  *pant-pant-pant*

  Excellent point, fully agree, commencing Could-You-Stop-Your-Silly-Bitching procedure

  As to the reason why there was no second encounter of the sexy kind between us - I blame myself, entirely, with zero sarcastic assist. All those other factors that come into play we're going to skip for now, and let's focus on the specifics of a personal life of our Flower-Dress Jess. Actually, let's skip that, as well, all the way straight to the punchline - Jess has no personal life, as long as we're not counting that fellow wriggling in the pot by the window, which we aren't

  To expand upon a well-established fact, Jess sure is alright - to everyone but herself. You know the type - super laid-back, relaxed, easy-going, charming, calm, composed, and actually really fucking serious and diligent. Nobody knows what's going on behind that motherly smile of hers, which is perfectly fine by her, since she doesn't want to bother anyone with her problems

  That clumsy workaholic of a woman

  I don’t claim to know all the details, but it's not that hard to fill in the full picture - she had a few unsuccessful attempts at forming a relationship early on, before starting a full-time affair with her career. And then we fast-forward to the point when she's 28 - too long out of the game to actively try and build something, and too serious for any form of a one-night stand. Don't forget her dryad blood that greatly intensifies certain urges, and her diligent nature that makes her toss all of it aside as irrelevant - and you'll get a solid grasp on at least one of the problems she doesn't want you to know about

  *pant-pant-pant*

  『The world ? is ? spinning ????????』

  *pant-pant-pant*

  And when she gets assigned to a dorm inhabited by a Legendary Sex Monster that breeds everything that moves - what does this klutz do? She tosses this opportunity aside as well - along with a bunch of perfectly fine excuses not to. Why, you ask?

  Because she thinks it would be unfair to that Legendary Sex Monster

  ...

  So yeah, that's pretty much it - the only reason nothing ever happened between me and that unbearably honest woman again is because that previous me didn't have the guts to ask. At least that's the way I see it, and you have no choice but to take my word for it - for nothing in this world is always absolutely so, except for a single undeniable truth

  Previous me is a disgusting giant-ass flaming bitch

  *pant-pant-pant*

  『Flowers ? are ? blooming ????????』

  *pant-pant-pant*

  And the current me is just stalling for time, really, since this day just keep on bringing fresh new experiences. In the loops, as soon as the horny effect from the transformation wore off, she got off me, apologized, pretended like nothing happened, and immediately kicked me out – so this Mellow Jess is kind of an uncharted territory. As much as I want to just let her bask in the afterglow for as long as she needs, I have my own selfish reasons, as usual

  *pant-pant-pant*

  『Hero is a True Lord of the Bed ? Oh my, who knew? ? All hail Troy the Night-Conqueror! ????????』

  『I aim to please, honey. You know how we Heroes are - never waver, and always stand firm!』

  『Fufufufufu, firm is ri-i-i-ight ? Especially in a certain pla-』

  『...』

  『...』

  『...』

  『...Kuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!』

  Blushing and squealing Jess, rolling around on the bed in a fetal position while covering her face is also ri-i-i-ight ?

  『What have I done!? What have you done!? What have we-』

  『Yeah, that's one secret report I definitely wouldn't want to write』

  『Who cares about that right now!! ? How is this!? ? What did you!? ? What am I!? ????????』

  Jess, I know you're being serious right now, but all those ? constantly slipping back into your voice are kind of breaking my sense of urgency

  『Goddess, how could I have... I'm so sorry! Troy, are you alright?』

  Naked flustered superdryad leaning on me with worried look on her face isn't helping either

  『First of all - you have nothing to be sorry for, second - of course I'm fine, when wasn't I. The main question is - are you fine?』

  『There's no way I would be!! Troy, what did you do!?』

  It's not a problem if you want to furiously shake me back and forth, but please make sure you stay still yourself while doing so - they're bouncing

  『In-in-in-in-in-com-com-com-pre-pre-pe-pre-pre-』

  『What!?』

  『Incomprehensible Hero Stuff. Imperative to saving the world』

  『That doesn't explain anything!! ????????』

  『I know, right? Would it kill them to write a manual, or something? Anyway, this was intended as an apology gift, but I changed my mind at the last second - so now it's a token of my appreciation for your eternal beauty, Jess』

  >> Rememberry [Memory Dungeon]

  『『...』』

  『Fruit of the Original Harvest』

  『The same』

  『Fufufufu, what a vivid dream, oh my! Ouch! But why does it hurt, even though it's definitely a dream, I wonder?』

  Staring blankly into the distance while pinching your cheek will not help you, woman. Hero never wavers!

  『Stop trying to escape from reality and eat it already - I know you'll need a lot of Memory to transfer your cooking skills』

  『I wouldn't dare!! ????????』

  『Heroic Gift. Imperative to saving the world』

  『...』

  『Imperative to saving the world』

  『...』

  『Imperative to saving the wo-』

  『Ugh, fine』

  *glance-glance* *sniff-sniff* *paku-paku* *gulp*

  『Tasty, right?』

  『It's far beyond anything words can describe ? To think such priceless treasure would be wasted on someone like-』

  『Now, eat the seed too』

  If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  『Never!!』

  『OK, I'm eating it then』

  *snatch*

  『Aaaaaaaaaaan ~ 』

  『Stop!!』

  *snatch back*

  『『...』』

  『Did you really just try to eat the Seed of a Sacred Relic?』

  『Did you really just implied it was the craziest thing I've done today?』

  『『...』』

  『I'm not letting you eat it! It was a gift to me - so I'm keeping it as a family heirloom! Hmph!』

  『I'm so going to eat it the first chance I get』

  『I will guard it with my life!! ????????』

  『Good! 'Cause if I learn at any point that my gift to you somehow ended up at HAIAI - I'm eating your tentacle friend instead』

  『...Slavedriver』

  『Workaholic』

  『Enemy of women! ?』

  『Repressed nympho! ~』

  『You!! ????????』

  『What!? ~~~~~~~~』

  *pant-pant-pant (x2)*

  Those are not sexy pantings, we're just tired from bickering

  『...Dryadulla, huh? Ancient Midwife of Original Hero... It feels... surreal...』

  『Should probably give your mom a call sometime soon - I'm sure she'll be proud』

  『*giggle* Somehow it seems even more unrealistic. But you're right, I should probably call her, after I... you know... unpack this whole thing』

  『Right. At the risk of being a total dick for not letting you properly process the situation - I need a quick favor from you. Can you level me up?』

  『What makes you think... Oh my, I actually can!! But still, I've never done this before, so it's not a good idea...』

  『You'll do just fine, don't worry about it. Plus - practice makes perfect, and I'm the only test subject here, so here we go!』

  『Slavedriver ? Alright, ?here we go? it is ~』

  Well, to be completely honest - I'm her only test subject, period. Ancient Midwife of Original Whatever can only level up me, Hero. Also, people that are really close to me - but we don't have to talk about that right now. What we do have to talk, instead, is how in addition to my Exclusive Personal Dungeon I now have my Exclusive Personal Level-up Specialist - are you finally starting to take notice of how amazing I am?

  Heroic Bragging, half-an-hour, go!

  >> LEVEL UP ! ! !

  >> LEVEL 4 → → → 5

  >> ENDURANCE : (C) : 511 + 12 → → → ENDURANCE : (C) : 523

  >> STRENGTH : (D) : 165 + 9 → → → STRENGTH : (D) : 174

  >> SPEED : (E) : 154 + 6 → → → SPEED : (E) : 160

  >> PERCEPTION : (E) : 316 + 6 → → → PERCEPTION : (E) : 322

  >> FOCUS : (B) : 266 + 15 → → → FOCUS : (B) : 281

  >> COORDINATION : (D) : 158 + 9 → → → COORDINATION : (D) : 167

  >> MEMORY : (C) : 512 + 12 → → → MEMORY : (C) : 524

  >> INTELLECT : (E) : 158 + 6 → → → INTELLECT : (E) : 164

  >> INTUITION : (C) : 270 + 12 → → → INTUITION : (C) : 282

  >> WILLPOWER : (D) : 507 + 9 → → → WILLPOWER : (D) : 516

  >> BRAVERY : (C) : 261 + 12 → → → BRAVERY : (C) : 273

  >> WISDOM : (C) : 258 + 12 → → → WISDOM : (C) : 270

  >> NEW CLASS SKILL : Heroic Spirit

  So that's pretty much the same as what every certified level-up cleric with an appropriate skill does - she scans me, gets the necessary amount of Soma from the pool, fiddles with it, applies it to me in a certain way - and all my stats go up according to their respective ranks, with a bonus of a new Class Skill that became available on LVL 5

  Two key differences

  First - she provides 20% discount on the amount of Soma needed to level up. Don't ask me how she does it, I don't know - but since Hero is a Legendary Class, and takes 5 times the Soma to level up compared to a Common one, it's definitely a big deal

  Second - see those numbers added to every stat? They are fixed based of the rank, but sometimes - countless hypothesis why - they double themselves randomly for a random stat during a random level-up. Millions of experimental ways to rise the probability of it consistently happening for a specific stat pales in comparison to our Overly Serious Miracle Worker – level up by Jess has a 100% chance to double the increase of every stat. Yeah, she's a keeper

  Mine are tripled though - I'm pretty sure that's the additional effect of that Naturalborn...

  >> WARNING ! !

  >> CURRENT PHYSICAL VESSEL IS INCAPABLE OF INCORPORATING PROVIDED STATUS

  >> REARRANGEMENT IN PROGRESS

  *CRACK-CRACK-CREEEEAK*

  『What is happening!? Troy, are you hurt!?』

  『All good, babe, just rearranging myself to better suit your tastes - I know you like'em tall』

  『...Moron』

  『Hey, no peeking at my private status parts!』

  『Like I need that to know what you are! Just lay down, I'll try to-』

  『Nah, it's really alright - just a normal growth spurt from status increase』

  『Normal? I've never seen... Ugh, I don't care anymore...』

  Excellent choice, Jess - you care, you lose. But yeah, that sound my bones are making right now is quite nasty

  ...

  When your body can no longer fit the stats from your level up - it grows. Usually it happens gradually during your childhood and adolescent years from low-coast initial levels, so you have enough time to adapt to the change - and by the time you reach adulthood, the process more or less stops, provided you don't choose to keep steadily leveling. Dungeon Divers, that obviously do, have more frequent encounters with the experience similar to what I'm going through now - but I do believe that I'm couple of digits past any known record of status shift between two individual levels. Even regular adult growth spurts are extremely pleasant, so the one I'm having now theoretically should drive any motherfucker completely insane, but...

  ...

  Right, stats. While we're waiting for what I hope is about to happen soon - allow me to elaborate

  Four groups, three stats each

  First group is pretty self-explanatory - Strength is the amount of damage you can do to a Horny Saint with your surprise titty-twister, Speed is how fast you can run away when she tries to split your skull open with her giant hummer, and Endurance is how long it will take for her to catch up to you. Easy

  Perception determines the amount and density of information streams you can receive from the outside world, Focus is your ability to single out just one stream, and Coordination is how good you are at juggling several. So, Coordination will let you effectively dodge the hammer that Boob Monster is trying to squash you with, while Focus will make sure this won't distract you from carefully observing her wildly swaying around safety cushions, with Perception vastly increasing the resolution at which you burn this sight into your memory. Fine, I'll stop now

  Memory is memory, and also holds knowledge, spells, and most crafting skills, Intellect is, well, duh, but also responsible for Formula-based family of magic called Alchemy, and Intuition, apart from the obvious, governs the most randomly put together sorcery branch of them all - Seed Projection Magic, known as Voice Magic in the old days. They say Intellect allows you to find the only right choice, while Intuition lets you make a choice when there's no right one - kind of like choosing between the left and right boob of a Horny Sa... OK-OK, now I will stop

  Willpower is just that, but also the amount of Mana you can stockpile, Bravery is your resistance and Enhancement proficiency, and Wisdom is your recovery and Thaumaturgical aptitude – combined branch of Miracles and Sorcery. There's also something about Bravery being the power to resist the will of the world, and Wisdom - the power to accept it. Hey, I told you that I'll stop

  Overall, stats represent twelve distinct Soma-flow circuits within you and roughly display your potential to do certain actions - so, on their own, they don't really mean that much. Here's the example

  Suppose that me and little Timmy both want to punch each other in the face. We both have Strength at 100, but my Strength is Rank S - and little Timmy only has F, because he's bad at everything. The resulting impact from my punch will amount to 50, when Timmy strikes a puny 10 at best - the difference is already apparent, but you might be wondering about the whereabouts of the unused strength a little, right?

  Well, if there is a potential, there's something to realize it with - and that something is, of course, an active skill. Suppose we both have a skill ?Punch in the Mouth? that utilizes the full 100 Strength we have to offer - the resulting impact will change to 500 and 100 for me and little Timmy respectively, at which point little Timmy's head will probably fly of and our experiment will be over

  Pay no attention to the precise numbers - the actual math is a little bit more complicated, but I hope that's enough to show you that stats basically act as fuel for various skills that are actually responsible for making a bunch of crazy shit happen

  Where do you get those awesome active skills? From your class on leveling up. What amazing skills does Hero Class have? Very funny

  Another, less popular way is to get yourself some Personal Skills that are unrelated to your class. Low popularity is understandable, since you have to jump through a bunch of hoops in order to acquire it

  Meet the level requirement for a specific skill

  Meet the stat rank requirement for the very same specific skill (usually more than one stat)

  Repeatedly do the same shit that corresponds with that very skill over and over

  Get the skill ready for transfer

  Spend Soma to transfer it to your Seed

  Spend one of the core stat as well (usually just one)

  Become a happy owner of a skill that is invariant to your class change - congratulations, I hope it was worth all that hassle

  The core skills are Endurance, Perception, Memory, and Willpower. By ?spending it?, I do mean literally - you lower your stat value by a specified amount in order to get a new shiny tool. No, class skills require none of that bullshit, but you lose them all on class change - unless you managed to complete all the conditions to Verify your class before switching to another one, in which case the skills from your previous class become available for transfer and, well, see the above

  At this point you probably figured out that I'm busy fishing for a Personal Skill, so I have only one thing left to add - it's Personal Talent, actually

  Similar thing, really, you just don't have to activate it - the effect is present all the time, but at the expense of much higher Soma and stat coast for transferring

  Bravery branch, BRV Rank C, MEM Rank C, MEM cost 100, lots of headache

  Name of the Talent is

  >> PERSONAL TALENT : Mental Fortitude >> READY <<

  『Jess, I-』

  『I'm on it!』

  >> MEMORY : (C) : 524 - 100 → → → MEMORY : (C) : 424

  >> PERSONAL TALENT ACQUIRED: Mental Fortitude LV1

  >> Mental fortitude LV2

  >> Mental fortitude LV3

  >> Mental fortitude LV4

  >> Mental fortitude LV5

  >> Mental fortitude LV6

  >> Mental fortitude LV7

  >> Mental fortitude LV8

  >> Mental fortitude LV9

  >> Mental fortitude LV10

  >> Mental fortitude LV11

  >> Mental fortitude LV12

  >> Mental fortitude LV13

  >> Mental fortitude LV14

  >> Mental fortitude LV15

  >> Mental fortitude LV16

  >> Mental fortitude LV17

  >> Mental fortitude LV18

  >> Mental fortitude LV19

  >> Mental fortitude LV20

  >> Mental fortitude LV21

  >> Mental fortitude LV22

  >> Mental fortitude LV23

  >> Mental fortitude LV24

  >> Mental fortitude LV25

  >> Mental fortitude LV26

  >> Mental fortitude LV27

  >> Mental fortitude LV28

  >> Mental fortitude LV29

  >> Mental fortitude LV30

  ...

  >> Mental fortitude LV31

  ...

  >> Mental fortitude LV32

  ...

  >> Mental fortitude LV33

  ...Fuck ~

  >> Mental fortitude LV34

  ...Yeah ~

  >> Mental fortitude LV35

  ...Right ~

  >> Mental fortitude LV36

  ..............Nice. So nice. And quiet

  >> Mental fortitude LV37

  It's so quiet ~

  >> Mental fortitude LV38

  I can hear my hair growing

  >> Mental fortitude LV39

  I can feel my flesh sinking through the sheets

  >> Mental fortitude LV40

  I can taste the tea I drank three months ago

  >> Mental fortitude LV41

  I can smell the sun. How do I do that?

  >> Mental fortitude LV42

  Did her room always had so many colors?

  >> Mental fortitude LV43

  ...Yeah, she was always this beautiful

  >> Mental fortitude LV44

  How can she be so fucking beautiful?

  >> Mental fortitude LV45

  Say something. But please, don't say anything

  >> Mental fortitude LV46

  I don't want this silence to end

  >> Mental fortitude LV47

  Don't let it ever end

  >> Mental fortitude LV48

  It's so quiet ~

  >> Mental fortitude LV49

  『Does it still hurt?』

  『...What makes you think I was hurting at all?』

  『Right』

  >> Mental fortitude LV50

  >> PERSONAL TALENT : Physical Fortitude >> READY <<

  Hm. That would be interesting - but I don't care ~

  『Jess, if you will』

  『Your wish is my command, My Lord ?』

  >> ENDURANCE : (C) : 523 - 100 → → → ENDURANCE : (C) : 423

  >> PERSONAL TALENT ACQUIRED: Physical Fortitude LV1

  >> Mental fortitude LV51

  ...

  >> Mental fortitude LV52

  ...

  >> Physical Fortitude LV2

  ...

  >> Mental fortitude LV53

  ...

  >> Mental fortitude LV54

  ...

  >> Mental fortitude LV55

  ...

  >> Physical Fortitude LV3

  ...

  The clock is too fucking loud. How do I turn it off?

  ...

  ...

  ...

  ...I mean, I can just start my retirement a little early and just lay in this bed, doing absolutely fucking nothing until the end of days. This whole None-of-My-Busieness concept will take some time to get used to, so might as well start early

  So, for now - I'm just going to take it easy

  Just laying here, doing absolutely nothing

  Simply... staring at this gorgeous naked gem right in front of my eyes

  ...

  Absolutely nothing

  ...

  Juuust laying

  ...

  ...

  ...

  『Wanna go another round?』

  『...I really think we shouldn't, considering...』

  『And I really think we should. Discuss』

  『...Moron ?』

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