Ryan's POV...
The portal closed as Ryan left his harem palace and returned to his dorm room.
Finally relaxing, Ryan laid back on his bed and closed his eyes. 'I'd like to know if there's a way to fix the portal so it won't be open while I'm in my harem. What if someone accessed it while I was in there?'
He could feel a slight wind coming through his window, bringing a fresh flower scent into his room, and energizing his thoughts. 'The most pressing matter is strength. Now that I have enough to rank up to D-rank, there's no time like the present.'
He sat up, stretched, and put his feet on the floor. And with a simple allocation of energy points, Ryan received the following prompts.
[Congratulations on upgrading to D-Rank in Cultivation]
[Congratulations on gaining the ability 'Harem Oath']
[Congratulations on upgrading the following ability: Overlord's Harem Conversion]
[Please note because you have 50% corrosion and your race rank is inferior to your cultivation, your curse 'Primal Evolution' is replaced by Overlord's Constitution']
Baffled at what Overlord's constitution was, he clicked on that first.
[Overlord's Constitution]
[Overlords never waver, Overlords never shake. Overlords never bow, Overlords never break.]
[Description: Primal Evolution was always a means to an end. And you seem to have chosen the correct path. The path of an Overlord was never about overcoming your previous inhibitions. It was about embracing them. Congratulations on passing the test, and officially becoming an Overlord.]
[Changes]
[Your death timer is removed]
[You have complete control over your body]
[You gain the following abilities:]
[Overlord's Authority]
[Overlord's Reign]
[Overlord's Judgment]
A scorching heat filled his body, and Ryan cried out in pain. Roaring, Ryan began to scream, but no words came out. Instead, a giant black blob of matter oozed out from his mouth and pores. He began choking.
The chunk of matter smelled like death and was so ascetic that it burned a hole through his dorm floor.
As his mind started to become foggy, the only thought playing through Ryan's mind as he fell back on his bed was, 'For fuck sake, not agai-"
Not able to finish his words, darkness took hold.
===
Emily, Izzy, and Lizzy sat in the shade near the boulders.
"Let's just wait here for a while to see if Grace will appear," Lizzy said.
"I'm hot. Let's just go," whined Izzy.
"No, Ryan asked us to do a job, and we need to complete it," Lizzy retorted.
Izzy grumbled and sat back.
The girls sat for a while, not talking, just looking over the landscape and enjoying a moment of peace.
They heard Grace before they saw her.
"I'm so excited for you to meet my mother. She's going to be so grateful. Thank you so much, Cassius, for taking us there," Grace said.
Grace kept talking without a break, "I have missed you all so much. Unfortunately, things got a little tense back at the school, and I had to take off for a while."
"Cassius, did you know I'm going to die? I'm so grateful to Ino."
Cassius was just about to reply when Grace said, "Wait! What are they doing here?" She raced toward the rocks and shouted to Cassius and Ino. "Give me a minute. I'll be right back."
Lizzy looked at Grace as she ran toward them, muttering to Izzy and Emily, "She's not blue anymore. Something must have happened."
Grace approached the three girls. Her face showed the confusion she was feeling. "What are you guys doing here? Why are you near my home?"
Emily's hand shot out, grabbing Grace's wrist, pulling her close and out of the sightline of the other two travelers.
Izzy hissed, "So you're not blue anymore? I guess you're not dying?"
Lizzy poked her in the back.
Izzy's tone lightened. "We are glad you're not dying, but what happened?"
Grace was too happy to notice that all three girls' faces bore no expression of delight.
"I know, right?" Grace squealed. "I mean, I thought I was a goner. I was almost going to slash my wrist. Jump off a building. I don't know. But then I met this old lady. And she had this tea. And she cured me!"
"So let me get this straight," Emily responded, her voice holding a note of sarcasm, "You happened to meet an old lady who happened to have just the right tea that would counteract the Grand Empresses' poison."
Grace's face fell. "What do you mean the Grand Empresses' poison?"
"Exactly," Emily said. "The Grand Empress is the one who poisoned you."
Grace tried to back away from the girls. She held out her hands, waving them in the air. "Why would she want to poison me? I think you guys are mistaken."
Emily grabbed Grace's wrist, not letting Grace leave the trio's company. "No mistake. Come on. We have some questions for that nice old lady of yours."
Emily kept hold of Grace's wrist as they walked out from the boulders toward where Grace had left Cassius and Ino.
"Ino, Cassius," Grace yelled, "Where are you?"
Emily, Izzy, and Lizzy looked at each other and shook their heads.
Grace looked at them. "Oh, don't worry. Cassius has a rock. He probably was excited to have Ino meet my mother. I'm sure they already went through to the village. Let's go." Grace began pulling Emily along, motioning for the other girls to follow.
She suddenly stopped, "Oh, wait. No, I don't have my rock. Oh no!" Grace wailed, "I'm so stupid. Why didn't I take the rock from Cassius? I guess he forgot that I didn't have my key."
"Grace, calm down," Emily said. "We have your rock. Do you remember you threw it at Ryan? He gave it to us to go looking for you. We've already been to your village."
Grace stopped crying and looked at Emily dumbfounded. "You have my rock? Have you been to my village? Did you see my mother?"
Grace's eyes held so much hope that even Izzy felt sour for her, "No, we haven't seen your mother, but Grace, we have some questions for you. Somethings weird in there."
Not paying any attention to Emily, Grace broke loose of the hold on her wrist and began running toward the stones. "Let's go!" she yelled, "I want to see my mother. Mom! I'm coming!"
"Fine," Lizzy muttered. "Come on, girls. Hopefully, we'll get our questions answered when we go back inside."
Catching up to Grace, the four girls went through the columns, quickly surrounded again by the thick fog.
"Oh," Grace yelped as she fell to the ground. "What did I hit?"
A scream instantly followed her thud on the ground. "Cassius," Grace screamed, "What happened, Cassius?"
Emily, Izzy, and Lizzy ran over and saw a body but all three stopped seeing Cassius's remains.
His mouth was open impossibly wide, and his face looked like a dried grape from how sunken in his cheeks were.
Grace was wailing while Emily, Izzy, and Lizzy looked at each other, concern filling their eyes.
"Let's go," Lizzy said, grabbing Grace's wrist and pushing all four to charge through the fog.
Grace kept sobbing.
"Shut up, Grace," Izzy barked, "Something is wrong. We have to get your village now."
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