By the time they were back at the bus, John was fully restored. He didn’t feel any better or worse than before. There was a distant sense of something good having happened. It was an emotional release that had been necessary, although he had no idea why or in what way.

He hung out with his haremettes for a couple of hours, unwilling to commit to anything that would take a long time before Eliana got back. She did turn up by the bus eventually, having walked all the way back from the train station. There was nothing interesting to report about her journey. She had gone there, found the barrier, done some kicking of corpses, and then came back. The middle part was doubtlessly cathartic for her. Most important about the journey was that she had taken it.

After Eliana was back and his remaining worries dissipated, John spent about two more hours maxing out Experience of Love for the day and then headed out to be at least a bit productive. Since he currently had a wealth of Max Class Levels and a goal to spend them on, being a Perk that allowed him to find a solution to Delicia’s sickness, he prioritized that over running an Assault. What started on that evening would continue all the way until the end of the following day.

The idea behind finding a cure for Delicia was to locate a Kingdom that already had it and appropriate it for his use. There was a limitless number of pocket dimensions out there, accessible to him thanks to the Adventure mechanic. Getting one with a specific and, since it didn’t exist on Earth, very rare development in magic was like trying to get natural twenties over a thousand times in a row. Space Protector was the most likely Class to supply something that could let him either specify or at least limit what kind of Kingdom he ended up in.

Challenges for Space Protector were, like Class Challenges in general usually were, either grindy or oddly tricky. Time investment and skill checks were the bread and butter of any MMORPG, so that dichotomy wasn’t overly surprising. For the former, John just had to keep going at something. For the latter, he sometimes needed advice. In both cases, Lee was very useful. The young Fateweaver was using the opportunity to train her own skills, providing John with time dilation and an Intermediary Barrier. The latter was something she had only recently learned and it took her at least twenty minutes to open just a single one, while her father always had a practically inexhaustible amount ready at a whim. Time and hard work would close that gap.

There were two repeats and an improvement on the previously selected Networking Perk in the first set of choices. The improvement was not worth as much as the initial choice. Saving himself 20 minutes when setting that function up was a very minor benefit, compared to having the function in the first place. That allowed him to at least consider the other two options. They hadn’t been able to compete at all previously.

Enduring Barrier was still solidly okay. The extra month meant basically nothing. Each level in Space Protector already increased the amount of time a Gamer-made Protected Space lasted by one year since creation or the last renewal. That they couldn’t be removed by the average joe was the real benefit and one that could come in handy, especially if there were follow-up Perks to raise that requirement further.

Entrance Setting fulfilled a similar role. If the barrier was near impossible to find, then it couldn’t be torn down either. It had the additional benefit of making the creation of secret bases around the country a bit easier, if John ever wished to do so. Out of those two, he would have rather gone with Entrance Setting.

But were those cases worth the twenty minutes?

The instinctive answer was ‘yes, of course’, but John looked at it similarly to the old Age of Empires 2 CD he had seen in his room. Instinctively it was worth more than the two bucks he could get for it via ebay. In reality, it was just sitting on his shelf, gathering dust. Much like there was an Age of Empire 2 remake available, John could just buy his way into more convenient bases. Most importantly, he could buy himself Mobile Barriers, which were superior to Protected Spaces in just about every way. Any covert base of operations in his country wasn’t something he needed to set up, but something he needed to find. He was the head of the government. Who would he hide from within his own borders? How often would he need to create a Protected Space in enemy territory, over sticking to the various Mobile Barrier machines of war Fusion had in the making? Once every hundred years, maybe? How often would those need the protection from being torn down or profit from having a specific entrance area? Neither of those mechanics saved them from being located by a Fateweaver with the necessary skills. How often would he save 20 minutes in the same timespan?

On the other hand, how valuable were 20 minutes really? More valuable than a mechanic that could be extremely useful, when it finally was useful? Those were some really dull 20 minutes, and they came on top of however long it took him to transform an Illusion Barrier into a Protected Space as well. What could he expect from each of the Perks down the line? More customization regarding entrance conditions, better protection, and quicker set-up as well as, hopefully, internet access. The last point was what finally swayed John to pick Quick Networking. Any base of operations without LAN access was horror.

Those three choices were quite potent for being the third choice in the Class. Like had been initially advertised when John unlocked it, the Class boosted the Overclock he had been granted at the end of the Fateweaver Class. Well, two of the given choices did anyway. As much as John wanted to consider the two more interesting options, Time Dilation would always come out on top. Having the extra 50% in general and 150% for the Overclock was strictly better than a change to the formula.

Here John just went with Instant Networking, staying in the previous line of argumentation.

While Instant Protection was another nice time saver and Sleep Protection would give his paranoid mind something to appreciate, Cooldown Reduction was so hilariously good that he had to take it. There wasn’t even any questioning that fact. It was so far above the other two in utility, that the choices might as well not exist. There was no playstyle in existence that would make the other two Perks competitive.

Right now, the Instant Dungeon Overclock was practically unusable. It had a one-year cooldown, only counting real time days. Because of that massive number, John hadn’t even considered using it until he improved his time dilation noticeably. If he just activated it today and tomorrow he got another 50%, that would be 150% for the Overclock lost. Opportunity cost dissuaded him from using the Overclock until he had exhausted his options at making it better, and even then, it would be down for an entire year afterwards.

With Cooldown Reduction, that wasn’t nearly as much of an issue anymore. A day per finished non-Assault Instant Dungeon and Raid Boss wasn’t great, but it was something he could actively pursue to set up the next good grinding session. Most importantly was that Adventure Quests also reduced the cooldown, since he could typically do them in quick succession. It made Adventures provide something unique outside of the entertainment factor. Assaults were better for EXP, Floors better for Loot, and Raids the best for both. If he could use Adventures to set himself up for proper grinding sessions, then that was a nice and natural change of pace. Sadly, he couldn’t cheese it by running Adventures while inside the Overclock I.D. The cooldown only started after that one got closed.

‘Alright, so I got a time dilation related one at 3 and 6. If I was a betting boy, I’d say I’ll get another one at 9,’ John thought, while reading through the options of the final Perk he unlocked in this session. ‘Let’s run the numbers. Extra 50% means I can make every 1 day into 3 days regularly. The Overclock calculates the maximum time dilation, takes it times three, adds it to base day, and applies that to up to 3 mundane days. 200% times 3 is 600%, so I get 7 days instead of 1, or 21 in total. With Focused Time, I’d also get 600%, since it’s 150% times 4, so I’d get 14 days in total. Time Dilation is always better than Focused Time, at this point, since I can just take or leave the third day. Stretched Time applies 450% instead, so I get 5,5 days, times 4, for a total of 22 days. Slight upgrade in the total amount of time spent in dilation, but also takes an extra real day. Adding to that that Time Dilation II is useful outside of the Overclock, the choice is really obvious.’

He tapped the selection and sighed. Not out of frustration, but because Lee was doing a pretty good job sucking him off. Part of her Fateweaver training was maintaining barrier control no matter what happened. Orgasms happened to be a pretty effective way to break concentration. Outright sex would have been a bit too much, so swallowing his cum was what they had stayed with. Since Lee was acclimated to the general sex life by now, only passing out when the orgies went way past casual sex, she could at least take the repeated orgasms from commands, hypnotism, and swallowing.

It was great that he got a double excuse to get his dick wet. It got them experience and it trained Lee’s barrier maintenance. Pretty convenient, such things. After he blew his load, they closed the training space and returned to the bus. For them it had been about three days. For the harem, it had been roughly 24 hours. Unsurprisingly, he returned to an orgy.

Eventually, when he had satisfied everyone who had gotten cravings in his absence (in other words: every last one of his haremettes), they lazed about on the couch. “So, you all did nothing today?” John asked them.

“I wish I had done nothing,” Momo complained, her head resting on John’s chest. He couldn’t help himself but continuously play with her soft hair, as he chuckled doubtfully. “I mean it! I had an email exchange with Emrik about the fine print of what it means that nobody is supposed to be able to hold two offices simultaneously.”

“Ah. Let me guess, he argued that the devolved parliament is a special body within Fusion and should therefore be exempt from this, so he can be both head of it and an elected representative for the general area?”

“Yep.”

“And you told him to bugger off?”

“Let’s see.” Momo looked at the ceiling, while she recalled the exact words she had used. “With all due respect, which is fairly little, your efforts at breaking the convention will be met with utter disdain. Because I know you don’t care at all what we think, let me threaten you with something that you understand the honesty of even while I’m not in the room to use your lie detector powers on: an attempt to hold two offices will be met with immediate executive actions, followed by judicative assessment. I’ll bet the weight of my butt in Mithril on the court ruling in our favour. Please, match the bet or stop wasting my time.”

“What was his response?”

“Okay.”

“Straight and to the point like always,” John said and laughed when Momo turned her head to give him an annoyed glare. “Yes, yes, you handled the situation adequately and sassily, like I would want from my chancellor.”

“Say that first next time, idiot,” she chided him while putting her head back down on his chest. “I deserve more compliments.”

“That you do,” he agreed wholeheartedly. He kissed the top of her head and stroked the shoulder of the other woman lying on top of him: Nia. The pariah had nothing to add to the situation, at least verbally. Physically and mentally, her presence enriched John’s comfortable lying on the couch severalfold. The slender body of the blonde may not have smelled or tasted like anything, but she did still have the typical human warmth. A smooth leg lay on top of his, the soft thighs squishing heavenly against him. The erection their presence caused was tended to by Nathalia. Insatiably, the dragoness kept engaging in whatever sexual act she could, while the majority of the haremettes had petered out into pockets of cuddling and quiet conversations.

Yawning, John realized that he wouldn’t make it to the bed today. It was unusual for their day not to end in an orgy over there. Sometimes, a general feeling of laziness took over though. Today was such a day. Even the nymphomaniac goddess did eventually care more for a nap than more sex. One after the other, they dozed off on the couch. John first lay there with his eyes closed, hands still caressing the women in his arms, then gradually felt his consciousness slip.

‘Four more Perks in the Class,’ he thought, the rhythmic breathing of his beloved harem all around. It underlined the electronic music that was still running at a moderate volume. ‘Two more Max Class Levels to spend. Let’s hope that’ll be enough… hm… I’ll get to meet Lorelei tomorrow… and the rest of the Order leadership too, I guess…’ He yawned, feeling relaxed to the core. ‘Let’s see… how that… goes….’