The next morning, or at least based on my internal clock, I woke up with stiff arms and legs. Well, with the girls basically using my whole body as a pillow, it's no wonder I feel like that.
Although I feel a little bad for waking them up, I had to move them away before I could even prop my body up.
"..."
But they didn't even budge.
What? Did my limbs get so numb that I couldn't even push their light frames off of me? I tried again, and similar to the previous one, I couldn't even make them roll over to the side.
"Everyone, good morning."
As a last resort, I tried waking them up by calling, but they were still sleeping so deeply that they couldn't even hear my voice. Having no choice, I just waited for them to wake up as I stared at their faces and the ceiling alternatingly.
"... Hmmm..."
The first to squirm and move was Ember. Since she was the one who was least tired of the group, she was also the first to wake up. After she opened her eyes, realizing that I was staring straight at her, she smiled and greeted me.
"Good morning, Master..."
However, instead of moving out of my arms, she did the opposite and leaned closer, burying my face in her cleavage. She slowly strengthened her grip behind my head, burying my face deeper.
"..."
Although it was a blissful gesture coming from her, I was having a hard time even breathing properly. Although I wanted to tap out, I can't even move my arms. Did someone cast paralysis on me or something?!
As I started releasing muffled sounds, the rest started waking up one after another as they said their morning greetings. But as expected, none of them even dared to get out of bed. I wonder just how I managed to sleep soundly with my posture being similar to Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man.
After that, it took the girls half an hour more before they finally moved out of bed and helped me recover from the numbness in my limbs. We then had our breakfast, which was the remains of what we had that evening plus a few more additions.
The morning training after that had a lighter menu. After all, we would be heading off at noon for the scheduled audience with the King of this country. Although it was a short while, the girls did improve their skills greatly. Especially the three, Fina, Judy, and Yorm, who were now able to chain their skills seamlessly.
Ember still couldn't master her teleportation portal skill, but the activation speed and accuracy increased by leaps and bounds. Fang finally managed to successfully use [Shadow Clone] without losing mobility, but controlling two clone bodies perfectly seemed to be too hard for her right now. If for normal battle use, which was just similar to button mashing a controller, then she can already use more than twenty clones. Still, mastery is a far-off dream.
For Igni, she managed to properly activate her new skill, the [Dragon's Dignity], but, similar to Fang, she was still far from completely mastering it.
Furthermore, all of them increased their displayed energy levels by almost 10% each! This training session was definitely beneficial to our team.
An hour before noon, we took our early lunch and prepared to head out. The girls spent quite some time in the bath, seemingly trying to enjoy it while they still could. Well, if the audience goes well, we'll be back here by tomorrow, but that's if nothing goes wrong... Saying that feels like I just raised a flag. I hope it's not a death flag.
When the girls finished preparing, wearing their best clothes, we finally headed out of the training room. With me in the lead, we went down the long pathway again and entered the wide lobby. There, someone was already waiting for us with a frown.
"... Just in time."
The person, a beautiful woman with a prickly attitude, muttered in a flat voice as she looked over at us. It was none other than Yu Na, the Lord governing the Capital.
"Miss Yu. Why are you here?"
She was the Lord after all; seeing her in a public place like this training center would be like seeing a celebrity strolling on a sidewalk for regular folks.
"What? Is it wrong to visit my own business?"
She asked with a raised eyebrow.
"This training center was really yours?!"
Although I guessed that she was related to this training center, given the power-level scouter thingy that was present inside the advanced training room, I never thought that she actually owned the entire place. It came as a bit of a surprise to me.
"Enough about that. Follow me; I'll guide you to the Royal Palace."
Ignoring our amazed expressions, Yu Na quickly turned around and briskly walked away. We hurried to catch up to her, who seemed to be rushing to finish her task or something.
"So you're here to guide us? But why? Can't we just go there by ourselves?"
Honestly, having a guide is very helpful for us. After all, I didn't even know where the Royal Palace was. Without stopping, Yu Na glanced back and glared.
"It's the direct order from the King. Stop wasting energy asking and just follow me quietly."
"..."
Aren't we already considered acquaintances? I even honored your request last time. Why the sudden cold treatment? Is it that? Are you on your period today or something?
Although I wanted to say those things to her face, I kept my mouth shut. After all, I still treasure my life dearly. Committing suicide with a loose mouth is just as pathetic as dying of thirst in the middle of a clean lake.
Yu Na guided us as she declared before, passing through several blockades and countless checkpoints. After a long walk, which made me realize reaching this place was impossible without a guide of great importance like her, we finally reached a blank space.
It wasn't really blank, as in the middle of the dome-like structure, about 20 meters in diameter, there was a glowing white magic circle of sorts.
"This... Is it a teleportation array?"
Looking at it reminded me of the one I saw in the underground a long time ago. Although their patterns were completely different, I'm getting the feeling that they're similar.
"It is a teleportation array. Now, follow me."
Yu Na quickly walked to the middle of it and stood in wait. The rest of us followed behind her, and as soon as everyone entered the five-meter-wide array, it abruptly started releasing a powerful pressure along with a blinding light.
"Ugh!"
I closed my eyes in reflex. When I opened it again, a different scene spread before us.
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