Mature Content Warning: None. (Gasp! N-no Ero... say it ain’t so?! Well... there is something....)

Author’s Note:

The rest of the volume will deal with missions, and hunting. There might be some ero and such here and there but mostly it will be about adventuring around.

However, I must point something out. When volume two begins, the ‘system’ of how this world works will change. I have come to feel that there is just too much, for too little story gain, in regards to things like ‘tier’ and star-level. So, everything will be streamlined to make it easier to understand and remember. This is one reason why it has taken me so long to get new chapters out recently.

A further question. As a reader, would you prefer that I update this once or twice per week with longer chapters, or daily Monday - Friday, with chapter segments of 1500 - 2500 words? Basically, would you like longer, less frequent, updates or more frequent, but shorter updates?

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Chapter 19: Sweet Peaches

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The sense of increasing energy was quite intoxicating for Scott. He tried to put a damper on his enthusiasm, but it was hard. The empower ability was known for causing people to feel like they were going to explode due to the power that coursed through their bodies.

He had trained most of the morning, and after a short interlude with Shaia, he had gone back to training. There were four components to learning any new skill. Each of those components was a single step along the path to mastery, and could not be overlooked.

The first component-step was simple familiarization. The would-be skill master would have to memorize and become comfortable with the process that the skill would require in order to use it.

Scott had become quite familiar with the process and had advanced well into the second component-step. In the second step he had to develop each of the key processes within his body one at a time. There were several things that he had to do in order to make the skill work.

At the moment he had already developed some facility with the relaxation portion of the skill. He had managed to reach a state of mind that was alert even while his body was relaxed. It was an absolutely vital state of being for any would be developer of a skill, as they all required that level of concentrated relaxation in order to work.

Currently, he was one the second part of the skill development process. He had to slowly draw on the vital essence of the world around him in order to overcharge his body with that energy. It was a slow process as he could not risk rushing the effect. He could do a great deal of internal damage to his body if he did not take the time and effort to train properly.

Time passed while he trained. His method was different than the practice sessions that the girls currently undertook. Their powers were natural. While they could learn new abilities related to their elements, they would easily be able to incorporate it. What might take him a week or two, would take them only a few hours at most.

Scott finally relented for the day. There was only so much that he could do on any given day when it came to training new skills. Hard training was for after a new skill was learned, not during the development process. One screw up and he might end up with an injury that his body could not heal naturally.

Humanity had advanced its material science and medical knowledge a great deal. His body could self-repair almost any tissue damage and could even regrow teeth or nerve cells over the course of a few weeks. Broken limbs still required setting, and severed limbs would still need to be re-attached, however. He did not have the upgrades necessary to regenerate limbs. They were hideously expensive augmentations and would take up all of his augmentation slots.

Any limb or organ that he lost in the line of duty could be replaced with a cloned item, even his brain. After the advent of magic and the true understanding of the human soul as a pure intelligence, it became possible to heal almost any injury.

Even a destroyed brain could be healed, but that sort of thing required quick action. It was generally known that after twenty-four hours, the true mind would not return.

Doctors could clone a body, and even memories, but if the true mind did not return the patient was still dead. Someone else who wore their face would walk the world. Psi-scans had proven that time and time again as the energy signature of the new mind was different than the original.

It was only the advent of magic that had allowed for the restoration of a true mind to a cloned body or brain. Utilizing specialized spells and skills, the medical practitioners could restore life to the fallen. Time was sensitive, but it could be done.

“I should work on something else.” He had another hour or two until Alexis would arrive. They had agreed to get together later this evening after another series of messages.

Scott rubbed his chin then nodded. He left the training area and walked toward one of the solar rooms. The solar rooms were places where people could spend time while natural light filtered through the windows and the ceiling. They were heavily reinforced. He had to walk through four security doors to reach one. The research institute was outside of city boundaries. While wild Crystallim were uncommon in the area, it was better to be safe than sorry.

The weakest point in the whole building was the entrance way, but if anything broke through it would have to go through several corridors of automated security features to reach any areas where people resided.

Scott made his way through the security doors then blinked. Several girls were chatting amiably. They each had various flower or plant parts on their bodies. Several Alraune had gathered in the area.

“Ah, a bold adventurer appears.” said a girl with tree branches growing from her head. She smiled pleasantly at him.

A girl with green skin and bright pink flowers in her hair waved at him. “Perhaps he is seeking an adventure?”

Scott shook his head then smiled. There were many Crystallim who lived at the institute, but they were largely segregated from Scott and his group. He had only met a few of them; in fact there were more girls in this room than he had met in the entire time that he had been here.

“I just wanted to train my solar absorption ability, ladies.” said Scott.

“Oooh, Solar Absorption. That means you already have an Alraune, huh?” asked a girl who seemed to be a cross between an elf and a plant. She was quite beautiful.

“Yes, her name is Flora. She’s a sweet girl.” said Scott.

The elfin-eared plant girl sighed. “It figures. I was hoping to find a master soon.”

“You don’t have one?” Scott found it hard to believe that someone as pretty and openly friendly as this girl had no master.

She shook her head. “All of my friends have masters and will be leaving the institute, but I’m stuck here because of what I am.”

“Really? Why would you be stuck here?” he asked in confused.

She shook her head. “I’m a Hamadryad. I cannot travel far from my tree.”

Scott’s eyes lit up. A truly rare crystallim had appeared before him. The hamadryad were known to be among the most powerful of all plant-type crystallim. She was a fourth-tier evolution! However, even though they were powerful they were not suitable for a hunter’s active harem. Their crystallim core was the heart of their tree. If it were removed, the tree would die.

The Hamadryad could be transplanted into a new tree but she would go into shock and she would eventually fall asleep, possibly for years if it was a forceful transplantation. Normally, she would only sleep for a few weeks at most. It was an emergency measure in case the tree was destroyed by overwhelming force.

“What is your name, human boy?” asked the pink haired hamadryad.

He smiled at the beautiful plant girl, “Scott Matthews. What is your name beautiful Crystallim girl?”

She smiled sweetly at him then nodded. “My name is Peach, but my friends call me Peaches...”

“Oh, so you’re bonded with a peach tree then?” asked Scott.

She nodded. “Yes, my fruit is quite pleasing.”

Scott eyed her casually for a moment and she adjusted her body position. She had definitely meant that as an open invitation. “Is that so?”

The other Alraune in the room giggled softly then made happy little gestures toward them. It was nice to see Peaches talking with a guy. She was normally a lonely little fruit tree.

“I’m surprised that you do not have a master. Even if a hunter would not be able to have you as part of his active team, you seem like a nice girl.”

“Do I?” she asked softly.

“Yes, I think so.” said Scott.

Her smile widened and her eyes began to shimmer in the light. “You seem like a nice human boy as well.”

They chatted amiably for a while after that. Scott learned that Peaches was something of a big sister to all of the plant type girls at the institute. She was nearly as old as Pirouette, and they were on very good terms with each other. Scott had the impression that his darling Pirouette had tasted the sweet fruit of Peaches’ tree on many occasions.

Scott abandoned his idea of training when Peaches invited him to walk with her in the garden. He was interested in seeing her tree in person. This was a rare opportunity to witness one of the natural glories of this world.

They walked side by side through the institute’s garden. Many Crystallim waved to them as they passed by. More than a few plant girls giggled and pointed. Big sister Peaches was walking next to a man? That was so cute!

A Honey, a type of bee-girl Crystallim, ran over to them. “Big sister!”

“Hello, Amri.” Peaches smiled gently at the bee girl. She was also the big sister of a lot of non-plant girls as well.

The honey bee girl blushed softly then twisted her body from left to right in an embarrassed manner. “I see that you have a master...”

“No, Amri. I do not. He is but a new acquaintance.” replied Peaches.

Amri pouted then turned to Scott. “Please be nice to my big sister.”

“I will.” said Scott simply. He offered the girl a smile and she bit her lip.

“When you’re done being nice to her, you might consider being nice to me too.” said Amri before she giggled softly.

Scott laughed a little then nodded. “I will certainly take it under consideration.”

Amri made a happy little squeal then her wings rapidly buzzed in excitement. “I’ll look forward to it!”

They parted ways with the happy little horny bee, and continued through the garden. Other girls would occasionally run up to them and many of them would request that Scott be nice to their big sister, and more than a few among them also requested that he be nice to them as well.

As it turned out, the institute’s only morale boosting sessions came as a medical service. Several medical technicians would come out once per month and interact with the girls in a clinical, rarely sexual, manner. It was enough to keep them coherent and Lucid, and it did allow them to live master free. However, some of the girls would prefer a deeper relationship with a special someone.

Peaches, the apparent queen of the garden, received her little sister-subjects with grace and kindness. It was obvious that everyone here loved her.

Eventually, they made their way to her tree. Scott could not help but stare at the radiance aura flaring out from the tree. It seemed to be on the verge of exploding with life. “Whoa.”

Peaches smiled gently then glanced over at him. “Does it please you?”

“You have a lovely tree.” said Scott. He turned to smile at her and she returned that smile in kind.

She walked over to her tree then reached up her hand. One of the branches creaked then moved down to where she stood. A peach dropped into her palm.

She held the peach gently in her hands for a moment then turned back and walked over to Scott. “In honor of our new acquaintanceship, I would like to give you a gift.”

“I’ll take it, gladly, but shouldn’t I give you something as well.” said Scott.

Peaches shook her head gently. “No, I don’t need to have a gift from you. I have enjoyed our time together, and if anything I would like to do this again.”

Scott smiled at her. She was a gentle girl and quite easy to spend time with, and for a brief moment he wondered if Flora would grow into such a person over time. They shared some of the same personality traits, it seemed.

Peaches presented her peach to him by holding out to him in the palms of both of her hands. Her lips parted gently and a soft pink tinge rose across the bridge of her nose. She began to breathe more deeply, her chest rose and fell as though she were greatly excited.

Scott reached out and gently took the large and beautiful peach from her hand. The Galataean peach was a little larger than old Earth variants, and this one was larger still. It was more like the size of a small melon than a peach.

“Would you do me the honor of tasting my fruit?” asked Peaches softly. She gazed at him with a hopeful expression.

“Absolutely.” said Scott.

He took the overly large peach in hand then rolled it over. Peaches gasped softly. Scott looked over to her and she shook her head. He blinked then looked back down at the fruit in his hand. Did he just bite into it? Why was it a strange moment? He was just going to eat a piece of fruit, but she had delivered it to him in such a grandiose manner that it seemed inappropriate to simply bite into it.

Scott found a small set of ridges in the fruit, a barely discernible depression between them drew his attention. Now that he thought about it, that section of fruit looked suspiciously familiar. He decided to ignore his perverted mind. Instead, he placed his thumbs against the little hills next to that tempting valley then pressed them sideways. He was surprised to see that the peach split with little effort. It was as though it had been designed to simply open up at this point.

Peach gasped softly once more then breathed in deeply and exhaled slowly. Scott glanced over at her and she shook her head. “No, no... Don’t mind me... Please, enjoy my fruit.”

“OK...” he said.

Scott looked back to the gently parted fruit in his hand. What now? Why was eating a piece of fruit such a daunting prospect?

Experimentally he lifted his hands up and he kissed the center of the opened peach. The garden queen made a soft gasp, but did nothing else. Scott’s mind began to form a strange suspicion.

He placed his lips around one of the former ridged then drew back while sucking a little juice from the delicious fruit. Peaches moaned gently then bit her lip.

Scott’s lips quirked up into an amused smirk. So, that was her game, huh?

Thus began a lengthy event. Scott ran his tongue slowly along the peach in order to savor its juices. The garden queen moaned loudly then rubbed her thighs together a little.

Scott made a big production out of nibbling on the edges of the peach and his new acquaintance giggled and squirmed a little. He loudly whispered to the peach, loudly enough that the garden queen could hear him. “Mmm, so good.”

“Oh, yes quite...” replied Peaches.

He grinned one more then loudly slurped at the peach. He pressed his entire mouth into it then swirled his tongue around.

Peaches began to breathe heavily then placed her palm under her chin. Her pinky finger slid to the corner of her lips and her eyes began to sparkle. “Oh my, so aggressive...”

Scott slurped at the delicious fruit for a moment then nibbled it once more. With each new action Peaches became more vocal in her appreciation of his enjoyment of her fruit.

Finally, the poor abused fruit could not handle the excitement and it broke apart. He lost his grip on it and it fell to the ground. Scott sighed then looked up at Peaches. Sweet juice dripped from his face. “It seems I broke it...”

She panted softly then bit her lip. “Mnn...”

One hand rose into the air and another branch lowered. This one hand several peaches on it. She took one then presented it to him with both hands one more. Her face had taken on a dark pink shade and her lips parted gently. “Please, have another...”

Scott took the unspoiled peach in hand then smiled at her. “I’ll gladly eat your peaches any time.”

“Oh goodness...” she said, her eyes went wide but her smile was wider still.