John did not get to work immediately upon getting home. Instead, he went to bed. He fully desired to finish up Lee’s initiation that day and to do so he wanted himself and his girls to be at their absolute best. That started with them getting their rhythms properly sorted. Lydia left at that point, but only after John told her the hour at which he saw today’s date ending.

When he woke up for the second time that day, at the sensible time of 7 AM, the Gamer was exhilarated with the potential of the day. That feeling of something exciting happening soon filled every fibre of his being. It sweetened his breakfast, warmed the shower and elevated the morning orgy to intense heights. The feeling was clearly shared among the harem. Everyone was excited for the new addition.

‘This level of anticipation is definitely what should precede someone new in my harem,’ John thought, as the morning rituals petered out. Despite, or maybe because of, this general excitement, they were done after only one hour. ‘Everyone’s looking forward to one more person to love and share their life with. If there’ll be any more women in the future, they better induce the same feeling in my harem.’

After all was washed and all were sexually satisfied, the harem found themselves on the Couch. The TV was on, but only showed a simple visualizer that went along with the soft beats Rave had put on. They were all gathered around the low table and all lounging on some part of the Couch. Even Scarlett and Siena, who sat in armchairs, were sitting on the Couch.

Because this was no longer the exquisitely crafted, somewhat enchanted, but ultimately normal leather-clad couch they had before. This construct of black leather and cushions was the recently acquired Harem Couch. It had been assigned the space around the table, essentially a large U facing the television, and was utilizing it to the best of their wishes. Quite literally, as it reshaped as was necessary.

John had enabled an option called ‘Adaptive Relaxation’ and now the Couch became whatever was optimal at the time. First placed, it had been just one U-shape unit. When the harem had wanted to sit down, the Couch parted to allow them simple access to the seats. When they sat down, those that preferred armchairs had their segments transformed. Similarly, those that lay down found themselves with a headrest forming at the perfect spot. Those that cuddled had the backrest of the Couch stretch into a semi-circle, making the nuzzling a bit easier. The Couch could even broaden and do away entirely with the backrest, essentially transforming it into a leathery bed.

So, while they may have been on their own segments, they were all technically on the same Couch. “I love this thing already,” John mused while stretching his feet out. He only had to wait a moment for a footrest to form. Watching leather flow like water and expand in an impossible fashion was a bit odd, but nothing too unusual for him at that point.

“I concur,” Copernicus purred. Despite not being a part of the harem, the Couch reacted to him and created a pedestal for the solar jaguar to lie on. Because cats would always do cat things, it was almost two-metres high and allowed the eclipse elemental to look down at everyone else, when he wasn’t sleeping. Velka, who got her own, smaller and lower, pedestal chirped in support.

“Same,” Rave joined the chorus of universal approval, nuzzling a bit closer to his right.

“It will certainly reduce the required cleaning,” Aclysia said from his left.

Both were resting their heads on his shoulders; their feminine curves were pressed against him and their hands lovingly brushed over his chest. While everyone in the harem was equal, there still was a hierarchy to certain things, as there was with every social endeavour. Those two usually got to claim his sides. The beauty of their group was that, when one of the girls really craved or needed the attention, either Rave and Aclysia would make room. Mutual respect and appreciation was a must.

John sat at the centre of the short-side of the U-shape and, thus, could oversee the entirety of his harem. Sitting on their own, in loose or tightly knit groups, all awaiting what he would say next, all naked and beautiful, two cuddled up directly with him. To say that he felt like a king at that moment would have been an understatement. ‘No king ever had this brilliant of a life,’ he thought and smiled. As beautiful as they all were, as good as Aclysia and Rave smelled, he still remained mostly flaccid.

It was time to concentrate.

“Alright, just one thing before we get to the date planning,” John spoke up. “Artificial Spirit just reached level 50, so I am getting some Perks.”

The girls seemed a bit disappointed by that announcement, even the Artificial Spirits themselves. Between new Perks and Lee, it was clear where everyone’s hearts and minds were at. John wanted to put a mild buffer between the orgy and the date planning though. Give everyone some more time to get their reasonable faculties activated.

“Let’s start with Aclysia,” John said as usual.

“Strength and done.” The minor choice, being nothing but a tiny Stat upgrade, was always easy to get through.

Two choices were new, one a repeat (that being Juggernaut). The repeat was also John’s favourite of the bunch. Because Aclysia wasn’t particularly mobile, she had neither the Agility nor the movement Skills of Beatrice, her getting restrained was a steady worry. Anything that allowed her to break out with ease was a boon. The resistance against mental effects was also quite nice, albeit not as necessary thanks to high Mental Stats and the Mental Backlash Attribute.

All of that being said, the two new choices were interesting. Support Servant sounded like a solid Devotion builder. Just how solid depended on what exactly classified as ‘enabling’. If it was enough that Aclysia fought someone in an area where an Unstable Arcana was pulsing, it was essentially a steady resource generation. She could also weave in and out of engagements to refresh the effect, rather than stay put.

Maid Knight Aura was the weakest for general combat purposes, but it could be really potent in the right circumstances. On its own, it was a 5% Endurance buff for Aclysia, assuming the aura also affected her. In terms of harem-related fights, it was also a Sword Specialization 1 and 5% Endurance buff for Beatrice. That already made it good enough for consideration. The more maids inside the aura, the better it would obviously be. John couldn’t imagine that the rest of the harem had the time or motivation to put in the work to qualify as a maid, but there was, probably, going to be a squad of lesser maids that would eventually join Aclysia to keep the Palace clean. That was part of the reason why she had started her little school.

That had not yet come to pass, making it a less effective pick. The choice wasn’t his to make, however.

“So, what do you think? I am leaning towards Juggernaut,” he asked Aclysia.

Aclysia hummed, both looking at the window and kissing his neck at the same time. The calming fragrance of lavender rose from her at the moment. “I’d like Support Servant more. I want to be able to use Master’s Shield more frequently.”

John chuckled and sighed at the same time. Of course, she would prioritize the Perk that would let her keep him safe better than the one that ensured her own wellbeing. As long as she could still use the Skill that made her the target, it didn’t matter whether she was rooted or not. ‘I can hardly tell her she is wrong…’ the Gamer thought, trying to come up with any arguments to make her see things his way. ‘Immobilization is too infrequent an issue to convince her that having a countermeasure is paramount.’ “Alright then,” he conceded and picked the passive.

Exhaling slowly, John deliberated the presented choices. He had waited for a long while for the next set of enrichment Perks to roll around. Earliest, he had thought they would come when the Skill hit 100 again. Not only was he now presented with a potent set of choices, they were doubly important because Beatrice, through Copy Quality, would benefit from all body-adjusting Perks Aclysia got. Her refinement speed would only be half as the drawback. Not a big one, considering Beatrice would still get her own Perks.

“I need some expert opinions here,” John said and made the window fly over to the next seat over to let Metra read the choices. Once she was done, she waved it along. Because they were in his Harem Party and because John let them, they could move his windows. One after the other, the girls read the contents, until the choices were back in front of John, Rave and Aclysia. “Thoughts?”

“Is there any reason why we would even consider Arcane Mysteries?” Salamander asked.

“It may lead to Astrotium,” John told her. “This is how I perceive these choices, at least. Arcane Mysteries concentrates more arcane energy inside Aclysia, obviously. Mithril and Astrotium are arcane metals. Mithril more so than Astrotium, as far as we know, but Astrotium is so rare that we here in Fusion have some of the most reliable research data in the world.”

“It was such a boring fucking day,” Metra grumbled, leaning onto her clenched fist. After the Hudson Brawl, while they checked exactly what the chunk that was missing meant to her health, Metra had spent a whole day being analysed by whatever experts they could gather. Very little data had been gathered. The procedure that had created Metra, the very first Artificial Spirit, was too archaic to be entirely understood by modern instruments. Similarly, Astrotium had too many barely understood properties that messed with readings. The best they could do was establish some likeness with Mithril. Both metals had similar structures and both could be found exclusively within Natural Barriers. Mithril was usually guarded by some kind of dragon as well. What made it so those two things often spawned alongside each other was a mystery.

Knowing this and the choices presented, Salamander asked, “Any reason to believe Draconic Secrets may not lead to Astrotium as well? It gives Mithril right now, so that’s a pointer in that direction, right?”

“I’d guess that Draconic Secrets will have less of an overall yield and different side benefits than Arcane Mysteries,” John presented his theory. “One will go into Mithril and Astrotium, the other into Mithril and, most likely, Oblivium. The Shard of Destruction is mentioned explicitly. A shard of Nathalia’s core. The earliest Oblivium I got is associated with her.” He made a simple gesture. “Theory-crafting aside, Arcane Mysteries also has a tangible bonus. 25% upkeep reduction, applying to both Aclysia and Beatrice, is pretty hefty. It reduces their costs from 10% of my mana regeneration to 7,5%. Whenever their costs get adjusted by a patch, it’ll become even more worthwhile, I guarantee it.”

“What about Elemental Body?” Gnome asked.

“The balanced choice,” Scarlett answered before John could. “Doubtlessly goes into generating all elemental extreme metals.”

“Collimets,” John corrected.

“That desperately needs a rebranding,” Scarlett groaned. “Doesn’t roll off the tongue at all. Even Col-metals would work better. Col-metals and Fuse-alloys. Those are terrible and still fucking better.”

“That’s a discussion for another day,” John grumbled, somewhat attached to the names he came up with. “Let’s stick to the Perks. Aclysia, Beatrice, what do you two think? Your opinions are the most important.”

Both remained silent for several more seconds. John could feel the back and forth of opinions between the two going through his soul. Beatrice spoke up first. “Statement: I only care to provide maximum value and have no emotional attachment to any of the three choices.”

John nodded. He had expected as much. Then he looked over to Aclysia, who was still pondering.

“By process of elimination, I view Elemental Body as dispensable,” the weaponized maid let her thoughts be known. “Even assuming that Collimets will be generated by a follow-up Perk, the Guild Hall already produces them reliably.”

“We should take that out of the equation,” Gnome spoke up. “The Mines also yield tiny amounts of Mithril on the lower levels. The Guild Hall produces moderate amounts of both and will produce more once it reaches Tier 5.”

“She’s right,” John confirmed that bit. “To put it simply: Arcane Mysteries may lead to the rarest metal. Elemental Body may lead to the Collimets. Draconic Secrets supplies Mithril now and may lead to very interesting things. We do not know what these ‘following this path’ parts really mean, but Gaia wouldn’t put them there for fun and games.”

“Weeeell…” Rave threw it in, “…okay, no, probably not into Perks.” Silence settled on the room again. “Oh, come on, Aclysia, ya already know what ya want to pick. Ya wanna go with Draconic Secrets.”

The white-haired maid looked over to the head of the harem with confusion in her eyes. “Yes… but why?” Asking how Rave knew that was unnecessary. “It appears to have the least long-term benefit.”

“Come on, ya know why,” Rave teased.

“Personally, I want to click it because it has that ‘Special Path’ next to it,” John admitted.

“No, that’s not it.” Aclysia shook her head. “…I think it is… because I admire Nathalia’s strength,” the weaponized maid shared what she figured out. “I was paralysed by her mere presence the first few times we met. The world obeyed her whims. What she wanted to achieve or protect, she could. I want to be like that. I want to have all the power I can, to shield what I value.”

John looked over to Beatrice. “Do you agree with Aclysia’s choice?”

“Answer: to protect you is the highest of values. If Aclysia designates Draconic Secrets as the proper path to find the might needed to that end, the choice has my full support.”

John confirmed Draconic Secrets. An orange glow suddenly emitted from both of the maids, a particularly intense line spreading out from their collarbones and crawling over their skin. Heat and a fizzling sound, close to a campfire flickering, accompanied the display. It wasn’t hot enough to burn John, but Aclysia still distanced herself while it continued. After less than thirty seconds, the orange light had reached her fingertips and ebbed away.

Everyone, including themselves, inspected the two maids. Two changes were immediately apparent: a thin, orange crystal was embedded above their sternums and their ears had taken on a pointier shape. They weren’t elongated, like an elf’s or Nathalia’s would have been, but they were definitely out of the human category. A third change became clear when Aclysia looked over to John: the pupils of her eyes were now vertical slits, like a reptile’s.

“I didn’t expect immediate physical changes,” John confessed, looking at her. Aside from those mentioned things, she was still his beautiful, pale-skinned, white-haired, bottom-heavy Aclysia.

“Do they bother you, Master?” she asked, already knowing the answer through their mental connection. “I can sense that this, not the figurine you used to create me, is now my base shape. I can still adjust myself to your liking.” Just to demonstrate, she made the Shard of Destruction disappear back under her skin.

John put his arm around her side and pulled her back against his side, where she belonged. “You’re as beautiful as ever,” he said to her, looking deep into her emerald eyes. “I never minded myself a girl that is supernaturally exotic either.” He looked over to Beatrice and waved her over. At the same time, to make room, Rave got up. She knew perfectly how to read the room. When the passive maid joined them, he quickly pulled her against his right. “You’re both incredible,” he whispered and kissed them.

One after the other first, then in a pretty messy three way that consisted mostly of tongue action. He got the feeling they had gotten longer and nimbler with theirs, but there was nothing definitive there yet.

“Alright, let’s continue, we still have Bae’s Perks to go and a date to plan,” John interrupted their little session, before it could get out of hand.

The choice here was Swing. To date, these Minor Upgrades were the only way to raise the cap of the resource, so investing in it was the most sensible choice.

“I think Sworn Weapon would be good,” John said. “Sunder sounds pretty powerful in a lot of situations, but I’d like it if you could arm yourself instantly.”

“Agreed,” Beatrice stated and the choice was made quickly.

Sometimes he got roughly equivalent Perks and sometimes he got one that was so clearly better than the other two that the choice made itself. Sex Servant was incredible, he already knew that for certain because Aclysia had it, but it was nothing he should take while it was next to actually useful Perks. Treasurer did not meet that threshold. Would it be nice to have? Yes. Did Beatrice currently fall short of her duties in any way? No. Therefore, she did not need it.

Copy Quality Better increased the speed at which she generated Mithril. Money put to the side, making the legendary metal the primary ingredient of her body faster would be an immense boon to her physical safety. Therefore, it had to be that one.

John thought so hard about that choice, he actually moved both hands in front of his head and rested his chin on both thumbs. “What do you think, Beatrice?”

“Statement: Making it her Own.”

“I tend to agree,” John hummed. Perfect Copy Quality and The Greatest Flattery both suffered from taking away from Beatrice’s choices. They had traded this in order to let the passive maid catch up with Aclysia, as far as refinement Perks went. Now they were given the choice to not only opt out but to do that with another hefty bonus. Copying Ultimate Body with even half the Stat increases was a bonus of 10% to All Stats. It was a Perk that John had gotten considerably earlier in his Gamer career and that was obviously overtuned, but Gaia had never nerfed it. Even applying half to Beatrice was an immense boon. “Hmm… how about some trickery first?” he asked with a grin.

It was a rhetorical question, he was already moving to do some minor exploiting of the way the system worked. He moved the Beatrice Perks to the side, without making the choice, and turned back to Aclysia. He had 3 SEPs, which meant that he could give Aclysia two additional Perks. Any of those being further body adjustments meant that Beatrice got them as well. It was pure value maximizing by making his choices in the right order.

‘Welp, that’s not what I was looking for, but alright regardless,’ the Gamer thought. “Any preferences?”

“I believe Strong Inventory will scale the best,” Aclysia said.

“Yeah, same,” John just made the choice. Since Gaia had already assured him he would get something out of it, he went ahead and spent the other two SEP on another Perk. The next time he wanted to buy a Perk for Aclysia, it would cost him 3 SEP, but he wasn’t too bothered by that prospect.

“You want to be like Nathalia, right? Indulgence of Destruction it is!” John said, raising his finger in a dramatic fashion.

“No!” Aclysia grabbed his hand. “I don’t want to be like THAT side of Nathalia.”

John laughed, not being serious from the start. “And I don’t want you to have a lizard’s head,” he told her and kissed her on the soft lips. “I was just teasing you.”

“I do not appreciate that, Master.” The weaponized maid pouted.

“Statement: I do not want to have a lizard head copied to me,” Beatrice chimed in, grabbed John by his right cheek and pulled. “Criticism: the joke went too far.”

“Alright, alright, I apologize,” John relented immediately, even if the pull wasn’t strong enough to induce any discomfort. “Draconic Tendencies it is, right?” Both maids nodded. John confirmed the choice.

The orange glow returned and once more crawled outwards from the, now visible, shards above their sternums. By the end, the maids’ hands and feet had come to be covered in black dragon scales, with sharp claws ending each finger and toe. The Shards of Destruction were slightly larger and their ears slightly longer. That was the extent of the changes, however, and after they got rid of the scales and claws, obviously a detriment during work and cuddling, there was little difference to their first transformation. They looked more fully than half-elven now, given the ears.

John picked the Perk for Beatrice, which caused no further physical changes to occur. It was purely a boost to her Stats.