A large hole opened in the fabric of space and time. Out of the vortex ten people walked out there were five men and five women.
"Is this where I think this is?"
"Amazing!? We must have traveled nearly three months' worth in under a minute."
"Wow, how the hell did we get here?"
Various comments from admiration to surprise came out of the group. The only ones not commenting were a white-haired swordsman and the three women who had their heads down.
"Everyone this is one of Heavenly sword's skills. It's called [By your side will I fall]. Essentially. Any location I or my wives know of, we can open a teleportation gate to."
Hiro then looked at the surrounding and saw the snow-filled mountains and the dreary-looking trees. He used his AGI to sense the surroundings. Not much difference from what is visible, frozen lakes and a winter-like atmosphere decorated the place.
The frigid wind and savage subzero temperatures assaulted their bodies. Luckily as they were all system-users thus even the weakest of them Alan didn't get bothered much.
"Nii-sama, the temperature gets even lower the more you enter. In the deeper areas, it goes beyond negative 1000 Celsius. One would need to coat yourself in calibers just to survive."
Tsugumi, who noticed Hiro taking in the sights shared some insight. As the only person who ventured further due to her missions, she could be considered the most knowledgeable.
Currently, the levels of Hiro's group varied wildly. The goal of this excursion is to power-level everyone for the battle harem royal. In this brutal environment, Hiro expected them all to be so beaten that once their training completes they would all become stronger.
"I see. Alan and Xing. I will be power-leveling you both until you reach [Adept]. After that, I will send you home to Partisan via the gate. Everyone else will similarly hunt until a week later till we have a match between my wives and Sword Dynasty."
"Master. Is that even needed at this point? All three of us got demolished by the mistresses even before they became Vaginarnis how would we even beat them after a week of power leveling". Aurum couldn't help but complain.
Hiro who heard his belly-aching commented non nonchalantly. "Hmm. Then do you wish to return to Partisan? Are you tired? Do you want to rest? It seems there truly is no cure for stupidity."
Alarmed by the hostile reaction from Hiro, the blond San-Baka quickly explained. "Wha? I didn't mean that master I just meant the Ladies are already stronger. I never said I no longer wished to train."
"Then what of it if they are already stronger? You scared of getting beaten or something? Or do you think you are already too good to train with others?"
Silenced by the sound argument Aurum kept silent as he balled his fists. Tsugumi lovingly kissed his cheek as she answered. "Nii-sama my hubby is just worried I would get hurt. Pay it no mind, we will be honored to Onee-sama's after a week."
The butcher nodded and left it at that. He gave his blessing to Tsugumi, as they were part of her battle harem sword dynasty, and how she treated them fell solely on her. Due to Tsugumi and Hiro now being dominants, they understood that it had as many mental and social responsibilities as a marriage.
Dominants needed to check if their submissives were hurt, discouraged, or tired. Should a dominant ignore such situations it would negatively impact not just him or her but the entire battle harem due to the affection life cycle.
pandasnovel.com AN: The Affection life cycle is explained in depth in the Aux chapter (Explanation of the Battle Harem System Part 2), in a nutshell, it is the system of how a dom and a sub share stats to grow.I think you should take a look at pandasnovel.com
Due to having the ultimate say for their subs, a submissive's strength or weakness becomes the pride or the shame of their dominant. Hiro had a simple philosophy when it comes to battle harems. "Love them like a family, protect them like jewels but sharpen them like swords"
In Valorious being weak is a sin. Thus if you really care about someone telling them to relax and remain devoid of strength is the worse thing you can do.
Even if the invasions do not come, having a stronger body and higher stats granted massive benefits. To Hiro, not forcing your family to level up could be considered the epitome of idiocy.
Hiro then faced towards the elephant in the room or the dragon in this case. Despite her initial threats of leaving, the dragon defended his wives when he needed help. When they arrived while it could have already departed it stayed in place, like it waited for a goodbye.
"Dragon. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your help. Please forgive me for beating you up. If I knew you were my daughter I would not have done so."
The giant reptile snorted in annoyance, ice breaths came out with its gesture. It then lowered its head and showed its extremely sharp sword-like teeth. Just like before a telepathic voice about 10 years old came out.
'Daughter? Human, you speak presumptuously how can you be a parent to me when you are weak?'
Unafraid by the reptile posturing in front of him, Hiro approached and patted the reptile's mouth. "I know you are scared and confused. I am sorry I have not yet tended to you even after I got you out of Anvil. I intend to make it up to you. No matter what happens, no matter what anyone says. You are my family and will be my daughter."
'Why are you insisting on being my parent? …Who are you even? …How do you know me?'
The butcher noticed that the headstrong voice of the reptile began to waver. "I am Hiroto Musashi, but you must already know my other name. Hiroyuki Mitsurugi. I wish to be your guardian to not only protect you but love you as your parent. This is to repay what I owed you in our past lives."
'!! Hiro? Past lives? Then the visions I see in my dreams? They were all real? They actually happened?'
The dragon's voice got noticeably agitated the more it spoke with Hiro, prior to awakening as a dragon it dreamed of hundreds of lives. Thus despite its original naivety it quickly learned and developed mentally.
"I do not know about the others but your life as Riluttante Zhertva for a fact happened. I owe a lot to her."
'THEN TELL ME! WHAT AM I?! WHY DO I HAVE MEMORIES OF SO MANY PEOPLE?! WHO AM I SUPPOSED TO FOLLOW? WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO? I FELL LIKE I AM GOING INSANE!!'
The dragon's claws dug deep into the ground. Its wing opened and closed from unease, its hulking frame trembled like a small animal. Hiro who saw the body language of his daughter felt his heart break.
'How can anyone be expected to stay safe if you put the memories of over a hundred lives in someone's brain? Did Rilu experience the same thing? Just how scared has she been to see the dreams at ten years old.'
Hiro then embraced the side dragon's enormous face, the affection radiating from his entire body. The reptile froze like a block of ice at the man's intimate gesture. Her heart melted even further when she heard his next words.
"I don't know what is happening to you child, but I know we will eventually find out. We can find out together but for now, let me protect you. Come under my family and I will promise you my blade would sever the lives of anyone who aims to harm or make use of you."
