Chapter 217: Exploring The Inner Realm and Yurei's Evolution
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After Frank let everyone travel and explore around the inner realm and how much, depending on his imagination, he could change the landscape and appearance of it, everyone left the Inner Realm and finally joined back to have breakfast together.
However, after what happened with Frank and Gwendolyn, things would not be the same anymore, not at all…
There was now a slight awkwardness around it, but well, many months had gone by since Frank went into a coma, so things had already changed anyways…
However, coping with Frank being in a romantic relationship with Gwendolyn was still a bit surprising to the family…
But as they interacted with everyone, chatted, and talked, they slowly relaxed, deciding that things were still kind of the same anyways, or at least, that they were still good, they were still unified as a family, and even when Gwendolyn and Frank were in love now, it did not mean that everything else did not exist for them…
"Well, it is nice that you two are together now… I always kind of knew that Gwendolyn had something for you, Frank-kun… Behind your back, she always spoke about you as if she were proud, and she also kind of admired you…" said Cathyl teasingly.
"D-Don't say such embarrassing things…" said Gwendolyn, acting like a young girl who was being flustered, which made Annabelle feel like her mother was showing a new facet she had not seen before.
"Fufu, look at her, she's so cute when she gets all embarrassed…" laughed Cathyl.
"Indeed, she's beautiful… I always… well, liked her too… And also kind of developed feelings for her as well… After all, she was the first woman that helped me get used to this world, that introduced me to it, and more… But I never truly confessed such feelings nor tried to pursue them because I always saw her as something that I could never reach… But I guess things are not as I always thought they could be…" sighed Frank, as Gwendolyn who was sitting at his side held his hand and rested her head on his shoulder.
"I-I am also happy… It has been truly a long time since… I have received such fervent love… It makes me feel fulfilled and happy…" said Gwendolyn.
"Love? But I love you too, mommy!" said Annabelle.
"Ah… I know you love me, my dear… I love you so much too… But… not… that kind of love, you know? I will never get tired of the love of my beautiful and precious daughter… But… I was also missing the love and… passion that once filled my life with joy… such thing that can only be given by a lover," said Gwendolyn, finally making her daughter realize that her mother was… perhaps more complex than she imagined.
Annabelle had always thought that Gwendolyn didn't need any men in her life, that she was happy to be with her daughter, and that she would be happy to be with her forever until her last day…
But it seemed that such narrow thoughts were incredibly far from the truth, as a woman who had experienced love and passion, after enduring for so long the sorrow of the loss of her husband, she had finally gotten through it but there was something within her heart, an empty void that was very hard to fill…
The craving for passion, for the feeling of love and acceptance, the embrace of a lover that protected her and made her feel such pleasures that she had not felt for years and years…
Gwendolyn was not as self-sacrificing as she thought, and in fact, was quite selfish herself… or at least, she had been suppressing any selfishness for the good of her daughter.
But now that she was finally allowed to be happy in such regards, she didn't doubt it a tiny bit and embraced Frank's love.
"Sorry…" said Annabelle.
"Hm? Why?" asked Gwendolyn.
"Sorry for acting so stupid before… I should have realized earlier that what you wanted was this… Something I really could not give you… I was just being selfish… You are more than just a mother… I never… considered that" sighed Annabelle.
"Aw, my little girl… I am glad that you… understand how I feel… Don't worry, I will always be there for you with anything you need," said Gwendolyn.
"Wait, mom, I… I want to sleep on my own now…" said Annabelle.
"Eh? Really?" asked Gwendolyn.
"Yeah… I technically slept alone all night and didn't felt strange nor alone… I feel like it's about time I stop doing that thing… Frank, you can sleep with mommy now… Now that you two are… well, you know…" said Annabelle with a slight blush, she seemed to want to let her mother be happy, so she decided to let her sleep with Frank instead.
"Annabelle… I see. Thanks a lot… This means a lot… I will make sure to ask Yurei to build you a new bed. Oh, how about your own room? I think she's strong enough to generate a whole new room if we give her enough Mana and materials," said Frank.
Yurei was the haunted house that Frank created by converting Gwendolyn's house, inserting many dead spirits inside, and using Undead Transformation and Combination with the dead spirits, fusing them into a giant soul which possessed the whole House.
Thanks to Frank's System, Yurei was registered as a risen Undead, given a status, skills, and more, which is developed naturally by itself.
Through these months of absence, Yurei had been fighting monsters own thanks to everyone's help, as they brought half-living monsters to her, which she killed easily through shaping its wood as sharp spears or by using its phantom to devour their souls away, like that, even the house itself leveled up and evolved.
Now, she could easily generate rooms and other things, and shapeshift itself a bit, however it was not all-powerful, and it could only do things limited to the materials it originally had, and new materials were needed to be given to her if a whole new room where needed.
But theoretically, Frank could keep giving her materials to assimilate, slowly making her become a giant manor or even a castle!
Truly, Yurei had way more potential than everyone imagined, and Frank was now thinking about how to abuse it and let her grow exponentially.
He was even considering that whenever they set off Acacia Town, that he would let her enter his Inner Realm so everyone could live comfortably inside of there.
"Thanks a lot… Annabelle… My little girl… Sniff… You have grown so much now without mommy even realizing!" cried Gwendolyn, as she embraced her daughter in a tight hug.
"I-It's nothing, it was about time I slept on my own!" said Annabelle.
"Ohh… Now that I think about it… you two should really get your won room too!" said Cathyl while rubbing her chin.
"Eeeeeh? But I like to sleep with you mom!" said Asterion.
"But Asterion you are too big already! Look at you, you are already a full-blown young man! Isn't it a bit awkward? I don't want you to develop any weird feelings for mommy!" said Cathyl.
"Aaahhh?! What are you talking about?! Uegh, fine! N-Not like I liked you to hug me while sleeping or anything!" said Asterion.
"Hehe, I am fine too, mommy, I was thinking the same thing as well," said Hilvera.
"I see, it would be good to make a room for each one of you, right? So you could have more privacy…" said Frank.
"Sounds good… But I wonder how we are getting so much wood?" asked Kamei.
"Oh, didn't Frank said he could buy literally anything on his System shop?" asked Asterion.
"Yeah… but I won't waste points in things such as wood… I have a way better idea," said Frank.
…
In front of their very eyes, Gwendolyn, and everyone else glanced as the large and old trees of the forest surrounding their house began to… move by themselves.
By taking out their roots and using them to walk like feet, the trees began to walk one by one, marching in unison.
"I think this should be enough wood, right?" asked Frank, glaring at the trees that had lined up near the house, they were around a dozen.
"Y-Yeah… I forgot you could turn plants into monsters. But it is really surprising to see how you can do it with trees too! And you have total control on them now?" asked Gwendolyn.
"Yeah, before this I really couldn't do much, but now that I can refine these monsters by simply unleashing my aura over them, they all obey me," said Frank.
"Amazing… Well, that's that then, let's make sure to not empty the entire forest though…" said Cathyl.
"Y-Yeah!" said Asterion.
"Alright then, Yurei, time for a meal," said Frank, as the entire house suddenly shapeshifted!
It generated large tentacles made of phantom and wood, extending itself over one of the Walking Trees and devouring it entirely, triturating it and then manipulating the triturated wood by possessing it with its phantom, molding it slowly to the desired parts it required to "upgrade" its appearance.
One by one, each tree was eaten by Yurei, as crunching sounds could be heard each time it took a tree, which did not resist its fate.
Crunch, crunch, crunch…
And as she kept eating trees, Yurei kept upgrading herself slowly, growing in size and surprising Gwendolyn.
"My house is getting the makeover I always dreamed of… Thanks, Frank…" sighed Gwendolyn, hugging Frank as both kissed passionately, glancing at their house reform and grow even bigger…
"It's nothing, you should have asked earlier if you wanted Yurei to get bigger," said Frank, petting Gwendolyn's head and caressing her fox ears, which seemed to make her happier as she waved her fluffy fox tail around adorably… Frank had completely tamed her already.
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