Harem Master - RPG story

--- Asher Montgomery ---

Asher read the message on the panel in the Starting Room again, wanting to make sure he'd understood it correctly.

---

Special Mission for Harem Master!

Requirement: Kill any boss of Level 1

Restriction: You can't return from the dungeon without completing this quest.

Reward: Harem Master Ring

Harem Master, do you accept the quest?

Yes / No

---

He had never heard of a special mission like this before, nor of the panel addressing someone directly.

"What's going on?" Lucy asked, bouncing from Sisi to Asher's side. "Oh!" she gasped. "Special quest just for us? It's so cool!"

"Are you sure?" Ava asked. "We don't have any others available."

"Why would we need anything else when we have that?" Lucy asked, pointing both her hands at the panel. "Harem Master Ring. Someone wasn't really creative with the name, but it must be overpowered."

"Maybe," Ava replied. "But do we even want to take this quest?"

"Of course," Lucy gasped, glancing at Asher, as if waiting for his obvious confirmation.

"Let's think about it," he replied instead. It was a special mission, so the reward should be special too, and Asher wanted to know what that ring could do. Despite that, he didn't want to make a reckless choice.

"We were planning to fight a boss this weekend anyway," Elara said.

"Sure," Ava replied. "But it's not just a quest to kill a boss. We won't be able to get back until we kill it."

"You can't get out of a boss fight anyway," Lucy commented.

"Yeah, but if something goes wrong during the exploration, we can always go back and not risk fighting a boss," Ava said. "With this quest, we'll be forced to fight, no matter what happens."

"Nothing's gonna go wrong," Lucy replied.

"That's just you being optimistic," Ava said. "I would prefer to think it through and make a smart choice."

"Sure," Lucy replied. "We're around the level to start thinking about fighting a boss. And that's without taking him into consideration." She pointed at Asher. "We're all stronger thanks to him, which makes us not only ready but overprepared. You're worried that something might go wrong during the exploration. But it's a Level 1 dungeon, what exactly can happen that would put us in such a bad spot that we can't take a boss?"

"Are you really asking me what can go wrong in a dungeon?" Ava asked.

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Is a Level 4 monster a problem for us? No. It has no chance. Sam can tank it, Elara can kill it. And the rest of us can stay back and watch it. But we won't. We'll fight too. With your elementals and Naomi's unlimited arrows, we can take anything a dungeon can throw at us."

"Obviously one monster isn't gonna be a problem," Elara said. "But a group can be."

"Oh come on!" Lucy gasped. "We've dealt with groups before, and now Naomi has her AoE skill, and Ava has elementals. It's like we have two additional tanks that can distract monsters and buy us time."

"There are also traps," Ava said.

"Fortunately, we have Elara, who has a skill to detect them," Lucy replied.

"It didn't help us last time," Ava commented.

"Hey, fuck off," Elara gasped. "It's not my fault that this skill is useless. Just as well, you could have noticed that something was off. And maybe let's consider what will happen if Ava runs out of mana before we even reach a boss fight. She would be more useless than her elementals."

"They at least don't rush into a fight like an idiot!" Ava replied harshly.

"Hey, hey, hey," Asher said quickly. "Calm down, both of you," he said louder, wanting to stop them from arguing. "We were supposed to talk about the mission." He looked between Elara and Ava.

His girlfriend scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "She started it," she huffed, glaring at Ava.

"That's not important," Asher said. "As Ava mentioned, traps might be dangerous, and we need to be wary of them. All of us. But even if we get into one, we should be able to deal with whatever it is."

Asher let out his breath slowly, waiting to see if someone would say something, but everyone remained silent, looking at him, so he moved on to the next possible problem. "Ava can save her mana while we're looking for the boss entrance. And even if something happens and she uses it, she can drink a mana potion. And in the worst case, we can wait by the entrance for her to regenerate it."

Ava grimaced but nodded. Asher knew that wasn't a perfect solution, as it would take some time, and monsters could appear at any moment. Additionally, Elara had limited time to use her skills. On the other hand, they could just restart the timers there.

"Just in case someone gets wounded," Asher continued, "we can do the same - drink healing potions or wait until they heal naturally. Sam has increased regeneration, so she would tank everything, and we won't need to wait for long if she gets injured."

"Drinking a healing potion before even entering a boss battle is exactly what I meant when I said something might go wrong," Ava said. "Going into a boss fight without the possibility of healing quickly is too risky."

Asher let out his breath slowly, knowing it was a problem.

"But we have a healer now," Lucy said.

Asher shifted his gaze to her, and then to Sisi, who was watching everything while standing to the side.

"I have so many new questions," she said, looking at Asher.

"Sisi can easily get to Relationship Level 2 now," Lucy said, "and get the healing skill. Then if someone gets wounded, she'll take care of that, and we'll have potions available for the boss. Along with her skill."

"That'd help keep us safe," Elara said.

Asher stepped closer to Sisi. "I know you have a lot of questions," he said, wondering if she knew anything about boss fights. "But do you know what the big white stones in your world are for?"

Sisi nodded before she replied, "They teleport to ghosts."

"Ghosts?" Asher asked, trying to understand what she meant.

"Yeah, of dead beasts."

Asher nodded, realizing he should spend more time talking with her and trying to understand her world - from her point of view. He wondered if bosses were really ghosts - they were coming back to life after every fight, but they also had new bodies, so he wasn't sure if that was what was happening.

"We want to go through one of them," he said, focusing back on the conversation with the dryad, "and fight against a ghost that would be there. Do you want to go with us and help?"

"That's dangerous," Sisi murmured.

"I know," Asher said. "But we're strong, and we can kill it. We just want to be extra safe, and for that, we need your help," he added, pointing at her. "We'll give you a share of the loot," he offered, hoping that would convince her.

Sisi looked at him, thinking it over, before she finally nodded.

"Great, so you can help us the most if you get the skill I mentioned before," Asher said.

"The one I can unlock through a ritual?" she asked.

"Something like that," Asher replied.

"You need to fuck him!" Lucy exclaimed.

"No," Asher protested. "Kissing would be enough," he added quickly.

"You make others stronger through sex?" Sisi asked.

"In a simplified way," Asher replied.

"How does that even work?" Sisi asked.

"I have no clue." Asher shook his head. "No one really knows where our powers come from."

"You will get a special reward for killing a ghost?" the dryad asked, shifting her gaze to the panel.

"Yes," Asher replied. "And in case you ask, I don't know how that works either. I only know this." He gestured at the panel in the middle of the room. "Gives us missions, and then rewards when we complete them."

"Okay, I'll help," Sisi replied. "So, to get this skill..." she trailed off, averting her gaze from Asher.

"Kissing time!" Lucy gasped, clapping her hands.

Asher watched Sisi closely - her green skin, golden eyes, pale green lips, and dark green hair. Then he leaned slightly forward but stopped, waiting for her to move too. When her gaze locked on his face, they stared into each other's eyes for a moment.

The dryad licked her lips, then closed her eyes and shifted closer. Asher pressed his lips against hers gently, focusing on the subtle touch between them as her forest scent again filled his senses. Her sweet lips moved slowly, teasing his mouth, before she pulled back, catching a breath.

"Now you need to kiss me," Lucy said, stepping closer to them. "That's a part of the ritual."

"A girl?" Sisi asked with a confused look.

"Oh no!" Lucy gasped. "I knew it was too good to be true. Our monster pet's straight... just my luck," she lamented.

"First of all, it's not a required part of the ritual," Asher corrected. "And second, Sisi is not a pet, she's... a person," he finished, unsure if she really was one, but he lacked any better term for her.

"Whatever," Lucy murmured, her head lowered, pouting.

Asher snorted, pulling Lucy into a kiss. But as she pressed her armor-covered body against him, it wasn't the most comfortable, so he stopped quickly. "I'll have to be enough for you," he said.

Lucy rolled her eyes as she smiled. "The whole thing is amazing, but I hoped I could fuck a monster girl. Do you even hear how hot that sounds?"

"You will need to learn how to live with that," Asher replied.

"Or," Lucy gasped, "we'll find more monster girls, but this time we'll make an audition to make sure they want to fuck me."

"Can we focus on what's important right now?" Elara asked.

"That's very important," Lucy protested with a wink at El.

Asher turned toward Sisi. "Sorry for that," he murmured. "We need a few more kisses, and I'll give you the skill. Okay?"

"You're a bunch of weirdos. And perverts," Sisi added, glancing at Lucy.

"I'm proud of that," Lucy proclaimed.

"Haven't you had interesting dreams for the last week?" Asher asked the dryad.

Sisi gasped softly as her cheeks turned a darker green.

"Let's recreate a part of it," Asher said, leaning closer.

Sisi didn't answer, her lips were busy with something else. The kiss was slow and gentle at first, but her mouth began to move with more intent, brushing and pressing against his in lingering strokes. It deepened, lasting until a message flashed before Asher's eyes.

---

Level up with Harem Pet: Sisi - Forest Dryad

Relationship level with Sisi: 2

---

Asher pulled back, reading the notification quickly before he closed it. Sisi's eyes were moving through the air, and as she was reading her message, he focused on her status.

---

Harem Pet

Harem Owner: Asher Montgomery

Name: Sisi

Species: Forest Dryad

Level: 6

Health: 210 / 210

Relationship Level: 2 (2 point)

Skills:

- Pet Summon (Cooldown: 12 hours, Usable by: Harem Master): Allows the Harem Master to summon this pet to his side, as long as they are in the same world.

Upgrades:

- Forest Touch (Cooldown: 1 hour, Usable by: Harem Pet): The pet can restore health and empower the target with her touch, healing 20 health points and granting +5 Strength for 5 minutes. (Cost: 2 Relationship Points)

- Camouflage (Cooldown: None, Usable by: Harem Pet): The pet can disguise herself as a human at will, freely activating or deactivating this ability. While camouflaged, the transformation is flawless and cannot be seen through by anyone outside the Harem.

---

"I have a new skill option for you," Asher said to Sisi.

"What?" she asked with a confused look.

"I can give you the healing skill, but there's another option," he replied. "One that would camouflage the fact you're a dryad and make you look like a human. It costs one point," he added, glancing over the rest of his team.

"That could help to hide her identity in our world," Ava said.

Lucy was grinning before she started to speak. "I could take her to shops. Or cinema. Or park. Or club. Or-"

"I'm giving her the healing skill," Asher cut her off. "If Sisi would want, I can give her the other skill later on."

"I would look like you?" she asked.

"Yeah," he replied. "You could stay in our world, without danger that someone would want to kill you. You could live with us, you would be safe, and we could give you a room," Asher offered, wondering if she would want that.

"Can I think about it?" Sisi asked.

"Of course," he replied. "You don't have to make any choice now." Asher then focused on giving Sisi the healing skill, and from the change in her expression, he could tell that she got a notification when he did that.

"To use it," Asher said, "you need to focus on it, and what it's supposed to do," he explained. "And most likely you must be in contact with the person you want to heal."

"Okay," Sisi replied slowly, looking a little overwhelmed by everything that was happening, and Asher wondered if they hadn't rushed her too much.

"She can heal us now, and we're strong enough to beat a boss," Lucy said. "So can we finally take that quest?" she asked.

"Does anyone have any objections?" Asher asked, looking over his teammates. Naomi and Sam, throughout the whole discussion, remained silent, but as he looked at them, both shook their heads.

"We should be fine," Ava said.

"Yeah," Elara only added.

Asher was glad they'd managed to settle on the decision together. It crossed his mind that Rachel would complain they'd taken a risk they didn't need to, but on the other hand, just going into a dungeon was risky. And this didn't seem like much more than what they had been already planning to take on.

He moved to the panel and read the message again. He could just click 'No' and they'd have a normal exploration, but whatever was happening was tied to his class. And so far, he had no complaints about what he had gotten thanks to it.

Asher shifted his finger to hover over "Yes" and finally pressed it, accepting the quest.

The message changed to a new one.

---

Harem Master accepted the quest!

Good Luck!

---

It quickly vanished, and the panel shifted to the dungeon tab, where they still had only one option - Random Level 1 dungeon.

"Okay," Asher said. "Lucy, give Sisi back her weapons."

After the dryad had her dagger and bow back, Asher confirmed everyone was ready, and then pressed the only available option. The Starting Room was consumed by darkness.

---

Dungeon Entered:

Caves, Level 1

---

When the light returned, they found themselves in caves. The place was dimly lit by glowing rocks in the ceiling and by Ava's elementals, which had teleported with them and moved left and right along the tunnel where they had arrived, standing guard.

"That's not my forest," Sisi said with a confused look, glancing around.

"Unfortunately, we don't control where it teleports us yet," Asher sighed. "Can you get from here to home?" he asked.

"No way," Sisi replied. "I have no clue where I am. Don't leave me here!" she gasped suddenly, with panic in her voice.

"Of course not," Asher said quickly. "We need your help, remember? We'll take you back with us. There are only a few options where it can teleport us, so sooner or later we'll get you back to your home."

Sisi nodded slowly, with worry still written all over her face, as she glanced into long tunnels that were getting lost in darkness.

Asher wanted to calm her down and ease her worries, but he had no idea what he could say that would help. Because there wasn't really anything he could do, beyond taking her with them on the explorations, hoping they would get back to the Forest Dungeon.

"We need to be careful about traps," Ava said.

"Fuck you," Elara gasped.

"El," Asher said. "And Ava." He shifted his gaze from his girlfriend to the Latina.

"What?" Ava gasped. "I was just reminding us, it's not my fault-" Ava stopped herself mid-sentence, pressing her lips into a thin line. "I didn't mean it as a jab at you," she said, turning toward Elara. "Just like in every dungeon there are things we need to be careful about. Here we need to look out for traps. All of us," she explained.

Asher sighed, knowing it wasn't really Ava's fault, and Elara had snapped at her, but he really didn't want to argue about that at the moment.

"We have your elementals," Naomi said quietly. "They can go first."

"Exactly," Asher said. "We'll be safe. Let's move on."

As they walked forward, Ava pulled out a piece of paper and a pencil, handing them to Asher so he could make a map again.

They advanced with the fire elementals positioned ahead and behind them at a distance for extra safety, so Ava was the first to spot what lay ahead. After a while, she warned them of a large empty room up ahead.

When they reached the elemental standing at the entrance, they looked inside, noticing a tunnel leading out on the opposite wall.

"Actually, I think I see a trap," Elara said, frowning. "A little past the middle, the ground looks strange, doesn't it?"

"I don't see anything," Asher said. "But it might be your skill working."

"So it's not so useless," Elara said dryly, glancing at Ava.

"Can you tell if it's just in that place, or goes through the whole width?" Ava asked.

"It's wide, but I can't tell if it reaches the walls," Elara replied.

"We should go back and go the other way to avoid that," Asher suggested. After everyone agreed, they turned around and walked back, wasting some time but avoiding an unknown trap.

"I'm sorry about arguing," Ava said quietly, walking next to Asher.

He looked at her, surprised that she had apologized, especially since he had stopped it before it really escalated and it didn't turn into a big problem. "No problem," he replied with a smile. "But thanks."

Ava smiled too, still walking next to him. He figured that to hear an apology from Elara, they'd really need to have a big argument, and there was no chance she'd apologize for a small one like that, especially not when it was between her and Ava. But he was glad that at least one of them was willing to let it go... and perhaps avoid other conflicts.

"There's a cave troll ahead of us," Ava said after some time.

"We need to choose between it and the room with the trap," Asher said. They hadn't found any splits so far, so those were their only choices.

"We can take it easy," Lucy said. "It's alone, right?"

Ava closed her eyes for a moment before she replied, "Yeah."

"And it's most likely Level 3," Lucy said. "It's slow and big. We can hold it back while Naomi kills it."

"Let's fight it," Elara said.

"Naomi and Sam?" Asher asked, wanting to know what they were thinking, as the fight would mostly rely on them.

"I can tank it," Sam replied with a shrug.

"It'll be an easy target," Naomi added.

"Okay," Asher said. "Let's play it slow. Sisi, stay at the back with me. Everyone, be careful, and don't do anything stupid." It was mostly meant for his girlfriend, but he looked over the whole group.

They moved forward with Sam ahead, soon joining the fire elemental at the front, while the other stayed behind them to warn if anything would approach.

As they stopped, Asher could see something like a boulder ahead, but he quickly realized that this was the cave troll sitting on the ground. Their steps must have warned the monster that they were coming, as it started to get up.

---

Cave Troll

Level: 3

Health: 250/250

---

Two hundred and fifty health seemed like a lot, but with their high damage, it wasn't really a big value, and they should take it down without any problems.

The monster picked up a long metal mace, which ended with big spikes. The size of the troll and its weapon could be intimidating, but in the limited space of the tunnel, it was actually limiting its movements.

It also meant they would have a hard time getting close to it, but fortunately they didn't really need to, with Naomi's unlimited arrows and high damage.

The monster grunted, moving toward them. Naomi created an arrow and aimed it but was waiting, with her range limited by the ceiling, as she couldn't shoot it as high as in open space.