Alexander POV
After a few minutes of praying with no response, I decided to give up; if Goddess Eywa didn't mind or if she wanted to help, she would've responded; at the very least, she would've given me a sign, even if subtle. 'You're plan failed, Zart-' Just as I grabbed my Zartha and Trina while standing up, I suddenly felt a pat on my back.
Quickly reacting, I used [Blink], appearing a distance away while facing the person who had tapped my back; only, it wasn't a person, well, not in a conventional sense. Standing behind was a tree, not one of the monster trees that I've killed hundreds of, but a normal tree, the kind I could speak to.
'What the– Goddess Eywa!?' Realizing it might be Goddess Eywa responding, I absorbed Trina into my body and cautiously approached the tree before outstretching my hand, gently grabbing the branch that had tapped my back as I spoke using the language of trees.
No words were exchanged, just raw emotions —an incredibly complex yet simple language. Once we finished speaking, I retracted my hand and nodded with a small smile before looking at the sky. "Thank you, Goddes Eywa." At my words, the tree moved back to its previous spot, its roots digging themselves back into the ground as it once again became motionless.
I hadn't spoken directly with Goddess Eywa; the tree was merely a messenger, which I was fine with. I didn't talk with her directly. As for the chance that the tree was lying, that was impossible; normal trees don't suddenly just move, and why would a tree, a being of nature, lie using the Goddess of Nature's name? 'I don't even think that's possible. That's like if the God of Strength's muscles suddenly decided to be weak.'
Scratching my head at my nonsensical thoughts, I was suddenly frozen stiff when I heard Zartha's voice dripping with scorn resounding within my mind, causing me to snort. 'What about my plan failing, Master?' Ignoring her jeering, I absorbed Trina into my body and began walking home.
Since I could use the name of Goddess Eywa, I didn't need to linger; besides, I was tired, not physically, but mentally. Being in a state of intense focus, where just the slightest mistake could lead to my death, for over a day had taken its toll; right now, I just wanted to enter a deep slumber for years.
'Um, Master, I think you're physique is awesome, but I don't think everyone else will like it.' As Trina's hesitant voice entered my mind, I stopped and looked down, gazing at the swaying manhood, causing a soft sigh as I continued onwards. "Thank you for the warning, Trina."
Grabbing a corpse along the way, I used Zartha to skin it, using the reptilian, scaly skin as a makeshift kilt. "Ugh, this feels so uncomfortable." Getting goosebumps at how unsettling this felt, I suppressed the disgust and eventually started jogging across the sparse forest, avoiding the road for obvious reasons.
Minutes quickly added up as I jogged to Cassandra, turning into hours before I finally saw it emerge from beyond the horizon, causing me to faintly smile. Picking speed a little bit, when I neared Cassandra, I slowed down to a casual walk, observing the work and cleaning that was occurring; most of the monster corpses had been dealt with, but the smell was still intense, and the ground was looking unpleasant.
As I walked past the people, I got several suspicious glances, causing me to wryly smile as I greeted everyone with a friendly smile; I couldn't blame them, I too would've looked at me, a naked man with nothing but a single piece of clothing that was clearly cut from a monster.
Thankfully, because of my [Hero Aura], no one stopped me, so I was able to make it to the entrance of Cassandra with no problem… Well, I would've, but you see, a mini-giant came charging towards me at immense speed, the ground faintly trembling from her stomping footsteps.
However, Yuki wasn't the only one I had to worry about; beside her was Vanye, speeding towards me. She wasn't the juggernaut of an unstoppable force; she was like a fairy —a deadly, graceful one. Opposite Yuki was Lazuli; she'd turned her legs into springs, allowing her to keep up with Yuki and Vanye as she leaped across the ground, covering a considerable distance with every step. Above the three of them was Talis, who was speeding through the sky right for me. Last but not least, Jasmine was in the far back; she'd cast buffs on herself to increase her speed, but even so, she was moving slowly compared to the other four.
'That's scary.' Nervously gulping, I used neutral mana to strengthen my physique and lowered my stance as I braced for impact, yet even so, I didn't call Yuki an unstoppable force for a reason. When she reached me, she slammed right into me, trampling over me as the two of us crashed into the ground, tumbling across the dirty earth while she clamped her four arms around my body, squishing me against her damaged armor.
'I-I can't breathe… I'm thankful I don't need to breathe.' Yuki's crazy strength was practically crushing my chest, preventing me from inhaling any air. Following Yuki came Vanye, who wrapped herself around my head, curling around it like a ball, causing my face to twitch now that my vision was blocked.
After Vanye came Lazuli; she latched onto my leg, her nano-bot body morphing around it as she slithered through Yuki's tight arms, giving me an entire full-body hug while her head, the only human part of her, stuck out from my thigh. 'Does that not feel weird to her? My thigh of all places?'
Talis slammed into us from above, wrapping her large, feathery wings around all of us; to top it all off, after several seconds, Jasmine finally arrived and, unable to find a good spot to hug me, leaned against Yuki while tightly holding my hand.
A few minutes passed in silence as my body healed itself whenever Yuki cracked a rib, though the one to interrupt the atmosphere and break the stalemate wasn't any of us. "Um, excuse me, you're in the way, can you move? You're atop a monster." All of us, simultaneously, turned and glanced at the nervous young man, prompting me to [Blink] out of Yuki's embrace as I appeared beside the young man.
"Yeah, sorry about that, they're just thrilled to see me. They thought I might've died… Anyway, how old are you? You look really young to be out here. It's dangerous, you know." Yawning, I stretched my arms and patted the young man's shoulder, causing him to awkwardly raise his head as he glanced up at me. "Um, 1-16." "Damn… I feel so old." Softly sighing, I gently patted the kid's shoulder before reaching down, pulling my wives and Talis onto their feet.
"What happened, Alex!?" Leaping into my arms, Jasmine grabbed my hands and looked up at me, her eyes glistening with concern and worry, causing me to smile as I lifted her onto my shoulders. "Ah, I'll tell you about it later; I'm tired." Patting Jasmine's thick thighs, with my head nestled between them, easing my mind, I walked off, heading towards Cassandra, while my wives and Talis followed closely.
"E-Excuse me, but what's your name?" Hearing the young man, I stopped and glanced at him with a raised eyebrow, curious why he'd want to know my name, but I just offered him a thumbs up. "Alexander Vestalis. Anyway, seeya." Waving at him, I turned around and continued walking while dealing with my wife's incessant questions, which I mostly ignored.
As we entered Cassandra, we received weird looks from the guards and then headed back home. Stepping into the house, I set Jasmine down and removed the terrible feeling of the makeshift kilt of the monster pelt before tossing it outside. However, just as I turned around, Vanimo was sitting on the couch beside Michelle and Chloe.
"I don't even care right now. Try not to look, Vanimo." "Haha, you don't need to tell me, Alex." Awkwardly laughing, Vanimo gazed firmly at my face while Michelle and Chloe leaped onto me. "W-We headed to the wall after everything and talked with the others! T-They told us everything!" With tears in her eyes, Michelle tightly hugged me while Chloe just silently wrapped her limbs around my body like a koala.
"I know you were worried, but could you get off me? I'd like to shower and go to sleep." My words were promptly ignored by Michelle and Chloe, causing me to spend the next few minutes soothing their worry before they finally got off me.
Once I was freed, I kissed all my wives on the cheek before heading upstairs and entering the bathroom, where I washed away the dried blood and scales stuck in my hair. Once I finished, I wrapped a towel around my waist, exited the bathroom, and plopped onto my bed, where I finally, finally, succumbed to deepest desire. Sleep.