John found himself sitting on some kind of throne. It was the centrepiece of a conference room in the palace. In the Aztec design, chairs were a rarity. Sometimes there were stools, but mostly the seats consisted of big pillows on the floor. The angled lines and their curved corners decorated the rectangular pillars that kept the roof up. In the middle of the chamber, under a pane of glass, was a basin filled with colourful freshwater creatures. The largest of them were axolotls, swimming around being cute.
The presence of the glass pane was interesting and added to the oddity of the local technology level. That the locals had innovated somewhat over the past 500 years was expected – perhaps they had even picked a few things up from the Spaniards before the split – but what they had and hadn’t taken over was interesting.
As for why John sat on the throne, it was because it was a seat that may as well have been designed by him. It was broad, heavily cushioned, and a whole carpet of pillows to his feet made for pleasant sitting for a number of additional people. Either there was some ritualistic purpose to it all that eluded him or harem-keeping was approved and even celebrated in Abyssal Aztec culture.
“I see you found the manor lord’s throne,” Nahua commented when she stepped in. “You’re even using it appropriately, good job! You’re so smart!”
Considering John was currently sitting between Aclysia and Hailey, who fed him sweet slices of fruit, while Sylph was sucking his cock, the harem-celebration appeared to have been the proper reading of the architecture. “I do not appreciate your tone,” John told her jokingly.
“One would think you’d be used to me doing an itty-bitty bit of teasing by now.” The axolotl woman looked at her animal kin under the glass as she strutted down the length of the pool.
Nahua was decked out in golden ornaments. For all of the necklaces and heavy bands that covered her arms and legs, her actual clothing was minimal. The strip of white scarcely covered her chest and the bottom was little more than an ornate thong. Having so much skin exposed served the purpose of showing the many tribal markings that had been drawn on her in green, and blue, joining the white lines that decorated her naturally.
Twelve steps of her smooth legs later, she stopped in front of the pillows and scanned the room. “Where did you leave Gnome?”
“She’s resting in one of the bedrooms,” John answered. During the orgy, Gnome had been left out to watch Velka and receive visitors, should there have been any. As recompense, she had gotten twenty minutes to herself afterwards. Riled up from the orgy preceding it, he had pounded the brunette out of her mind. The others had recovered during that same time.
Which was also why Ehtra was not on the throne with him. The sour-sweet woman was compensating hard for her loving episode during the orgy and giving her Master the cold shoulder. That she could not resist sneaking glances at him every other second made that an entirely cute gesture.
During that same gap, Aclysia had gone out and ordered a delivery of local specialities. Fish, fruit, meat, and drink had been brought in abundance soon after. John was currently enjoying all of that in a rather kingly fashion. While he did not want that title, he could not say he minded the lifestyle. Then again, historically, most kings were less decadent than he was currently being.
John took a sip of the glass Aclysia held up to his lips, while Hailey asked, “Hope ya had a good time catchin’ up with your ol’ man?”
The sweetness drained from Nahua’s features, replaced with sharp disapproval. “Our talks were tainted by the lack of respect delivered by our guests.”
“Everyone always wants respect from me, when do I get respect from others?” John made a tossing gesture. “The fate of young money versus old blood, I suppose. To the point, you should know that I didn’t mean any – Sylph, you need to stop.”
Audibly, John’s cock popped out of the volt bunny’s mouth. “Really, do I neeeeeeed to or should I?”
“Yes. Aclysia.”
“Distraction initiated.” Aclysia dangled a sweet piece of fruit above the green-haired chatter mouth, who went straight for it. The occasional clacking of Sylph’s teeth was less interrupting than her tingly throat around his cock.
“You should know that I don’t mean disrespect, is what I was trying to say,” the Gamer continued, squeezing Hailey’s thigh as he did. She was every bit as naked as he was. They all were, except for the demigoddess.
Instinct made his hand go further. Hailey leaned against him, parted her legs, and pulled his fingers the rest of the way to her flower. A soft coo escaped her as his fingers curved into her. Nahua was glued to the entire scene.
Snapping out of it, the demigoddess rested a hand on the left swing of her wide hips. “Intended or not, Father does feel disrespected. You have ignored all warnings and your questions have shown a lack of gratitude for the audience given.”
“Let me guess: he would request that I offer a variety of items for the trouble – food, preferably,” John said.
Nahua’s eyebrows pulled closer together. “Those kinds of presumptions are exactly what gets you called respectless.”
“But is he correct though?” Rave strutted past the demigoddess, Copernicus and Velka by her side. A cat of light and a cat of dark with her, the feline Lightbearer looked like a goddess herself. Circling around the throne, she positioned herself behind her man and scratched his head. “Just askin’, Nana.”
The axolotl woman ignored the nickname and sighed. “Huitzilopochtli did suggest that it would be appropriate to bestow a gift of perishables, yes. An exchange for the hospitality you are taking such great advantage of. You think that would be unreasonable?”
“No, that sounds fine by me,” John answered. “I will have something prepared by the evening. He will have his offerings.” A demonstrative pause had it look like the Gamer was pondering saying something he was already certain he had to ask not to look suspicious. “You dismissed the theory that your father is possessed by the five, then?”
“Look around you, John.” Nahua spread out her arms, a pleased, smug smile on her lips. “My people have never known more abundance. This is not the rulership of one that is consumed by sins.”
“I suppose I have to bow to the wisdom in that,” the Gamer relented.
The swiftness at which he gave in had Nahua pause. When she probed his mind, it was anything but covert. In fact, it was deep and sudden, like a rapier getting thrust at his soul.
To John, the intent was clear: she wanted to try and see if he would shut her out, when he hadn’t before. It was exactly what he had expected her to do.
Which put John in the interesting situation where he had to lie through the mental connection. He constructed an entirely fake stream of thoughts around Nahua’s mental probe. It was an effective inversion of what he truly thought, putting the likelihood that everything was right first and foremost, while keeping the possibility that something was off at the back of his mind. His stay, this version of thoughts justified because he wanted to be the potential middleman, in case the forces of the Grim Reaper got too aggressive.
John hadn’t done something like this before. When he wanted to keep a secret, putting up a wall was usually enough. This was the drawback of having someone he could not fully trust attached to his mental network.
Ultimately, his lie was not expertly constructed – but neither was it shoddy. Even unpractised, it was enough to fool the demigoddess. The rift between their Mental Stats was too large for her to notice any potential inconsistencies in the façade John presented to her. “Tots sorry about that!” she apologized after pulling back. “Just have to make sure and all that – you’ll forgive silly old me, right?”
“Only because you’re cute,” John answered with a well-faked smile. He hated lying to women he liked. “There’s another thing I can offer as recompense though. You remember the Perks I granted you?”
Nahua struggled not to keep glancing at his cock, still hard and twitching from the current lack of attention paid to it. Her eyes managed to stick to his face, for the most part. “Rhetorical question, do go on.”
“I am about to unlock another wave of such power ups. Since you are currently part of my system, I can include you.” John made a magnanimous gesture with his one available hand. “Your father was friendly enough to keep you and I connected for the time being, it is only right that I repay that by making you the best I can make you, right?”
Smirking darkly, Nahua took a careful step into the pile of cushions. Her naked feet landed between the cotton-wrapped pillows. The sashaying advance was all the more hypnotic now that the sexual intent behind it was genuine. Bowing down, the fanged Aztec woman whispered to John, “You have earned the respect of the warriors on the Glory Road, invader. You are strong and strength is respected. Play your cards just right and perhaps you will be offered a suitable bride to assure peace between our great nations.”
Sinister and enticing, the face of the axolotl demigoddess filled John’s field of view. Her dark green eyes rose intensely, the white of her sclera surrounded by blue paint thicker than the eyeshadow western women often wore. To John, it looked more like warpaint, and it made the dangerous nature of her fangs all the more apparent. The frills behind her pointy ears trembled lightly.
“I always was apt at card games,” the Gamer flirted right back. “You should prepare a shortlist of candidates.”
“Such a list has to be very short indeed.” Nahua took a half step back and plopped down on the cushions to the throne’s feet. Now at the same height as it, she outright stared at his cock. The implication of it all was clear. “Beyond the Perks, where are we on granting me the… Stats, I believe was the word?”
“You’ll have to understand that I am still reluctant on that one – although I could be convinced to tap five more times on one of them.”
“What would convince you?” Nahua asked in a husky tone.
“Nothing will convince him!” Momo barged into the conversation. “This flirting is bad enough without you reaching average levels of horny!”
“I still can’t believe this is average.” Nahua fanned some wind into her face, effortlessly following along with the change in topic. “I’ve needed to take care of myself once every day so far.”
“Once! Ya hear that, girls, she had to cum once a day!” Rave’s amused shout also served as the signal for everyone to group up. From all corners of the room, the haremettes coalesced on and around the pillows. Even just the present members were too many to fit. Gnome remained resting in a neighbouring chamber.
“One climax in a day?!” The suggestion snapped Sylph out of her fruit-chase. “The horror! The actual pure horror! I couldn’t do that. I need like… a thousand a minute! At least! Bare minimum entrance level ecstasy, that!”
“She’s overplaying it,” John assured Nahua. “We’re operating in the dozens per hour… or one continuously for several minutes. We never did quite work out how that works. Maybe we should do a brain scan while it happens sometimes?”
“It’s probably both and neither,” Scarlett weighed in. “At our absurd level of Libido, we probably have a new category of orgasm altogether.”
“Also, I’ve seen ya cum, Nahua, that’s barely an orgasm, that’s like… an end to masturbation,” Rave continued on. “You’re out of it for like two, three seconds max. It’s a proper orgasm when it’s five to fifteen. Scarlett’s right, though, many of us have aftershocks upwards of a minute.”
“The joys of being a woman,” John playfully lamented. “When I cum it’s pump and done most of the time.”
“Someone’s gotta keep things moving.” Rave kept scratching his head.
“The world of lust…” Nahua ran two fingers over the front of her thong, pressing the fabric into the centre of her cunt. She was visibly getting excited and how could she not? Not only was she quite obviously bisexual, but John was also right there and he was really attractive. It did not help that the entire room smelled of sex. Every last one of the naked women around her was spreading pheromones like crazy after the last orgy. “I would love to delve deeper,” she spoke hungrily.
“Later, perhaps… what is your people’s opinion on premarital sex?” The question just slipped out. Hot weather, hot women, and an untended erection were not a combination for reasonable thoughts.
“I won’t tell if you won’t tell,” Nahua chirped, mischievously closing one eye. When she opened it again, she tilted her head. “If I feel gracious enough to give you something that valuable, invader. Infertile or not, I am not a price taken cheaply.”
John took the warning without another comment. Pushing further ran the risk of starting an argument he did not want to have. That Nahua continued to be friendly with them was contingent on them showing deference to her people. Their power dynamic had fundamentally changed now that she was home.
That being said, John wasn’t even sure if he couldn’t have levelled this city if he wanted to. The god-warriors were roadblocks, of which only Xipe-Totec was really worth the mention. Even if Huitzilopochtli had a level in excess of 1000, John fancied his chances with the current line-up.
Nahua trusted in her father, that much was clear, but she must have known that even if he came out on top, this was not an easy fight. Huitzilopochtli would have come to the same conclusion, especially with the other foreigners on his doorstep. ‘I suppose that is the reason why she’s coming onto me a little harder than before,’ John worked out. ‘They also need to secure their position.’
All of that was a problem for another hour. Right now, John would dedicate his brain to the Perk selection. Step one was buying the remaining necessary points to get the Skill to 100. 9 more points were necessary and a tap on it informed John that it would cost him 5 points per rank.
‘Guess I’ll have to buy the 50 points package then,’ he thought. That was 1000 Points out of his budget of 2608. ‘Maybe I should buy an SEP too? Get a Perk for the Creator Puppet or Ehtra? I’ll decide after the storm of windows about to descend on me.’
45 Skill Points went into Metracana Master, the remaining 5 into Skyfall. While he pressed the buttons, Aclysia explained the process to Nahua, “Master will go through the process alphabetically, you will be last, therefore.”
“Works for me,” Nahua assured.
And with that, John opened the first blue box.