Chapter 265: Your First What?!
NukEncore folded her arms beneath her chest. "Don’t look at me like that."
"Like what?"
"Like you’ve finally noticed there was a game being played."
"This was never a game to you."
Her lips parted.
Martin glanced at the fire trembling around her fingers, then at the wet shine in her eyes.
"You were serious."
Her face turned red. "That is still not the important part!"
"It’s important to me."
"The important part is that Alexandra broke the rules, kissed you behind our backs, and somehow turned you into a man who says embarrassing things without even looking embarrassed!"
A branch snapped inside the forest.
Kumoe’s curious head barked and pulled against Martin’s arm. He immediately turned toward the sound.
Alexandra stepped out from between the trees.
Her wolf armor had survived the explosion, though black scorch marks covered one side. Wet leaves tangled through her white hair, and a small branch had caught beneath one of the silver fang decorations on her shoulder.
Her stride was even. Her chin had returned to its usual angle, and the faint smile on her face looked fit for a villainess arriving late to her own execution scene.
Only the hand gripping the broken branch gave away how angry she was.
The middle head immediately stretched toward her and wrapped the burns in green restoration. The curious head barked happily, while the right watched Alexandra approach and gave one slow nod that looked suspiciously approving.
Alexandra pulled the branch from her armor.
"For the record, I didn’t confess just now. I kissed him."
NukEncore spun toward her. "That is worse!"
"Possibly."
"You were practically swallowing him!"
"Jealousy has made your memory unusually creative."
"I am not jealous!"
"You invented an Epic spell for the sole purpose of removing me from his arms. I’m not inventing much."
"That was a measured disciplinary response."
Alexandra glanced toward the shattered bushes behind her. "I crossed three of those. Your measurements need work."
NukEncore’s hands flared with mana again, but a system warning appeared before she could cast.
[Diva’s Rejection is on cooldown.]
Her eyes narrowed.
Alexandra noticed the tiny pause. "Did your disciplinary response come with a cooldown?"
"I still have Fire Thunder Bolt."
Martin stepped between them before she could prove it.
"Both of you, stop."
Alexandra pointed at the forest behind her. "She launched me through several trees."
"You were attached to his face!"
"I’m aware. I was there."
NukEncore made a sound somewhere between a growl and an offended squeak.
Alexandra reached Martin’s side and rested one hand on Kumoe’s right neck. The middle head continued restoring her while the curious one pushed her muzzle against Alexandra’s hip.
NukEncore pointed at her again. "You broke the agreement."
"I did not confess today."
"That technicality makes it worse!"
Alexandra considered the accusation. "Perhaps."
NukEncore’s expression sharpened in triumph, but Alexandra continued before she could celebrate.
"It also wasn’t our first kiss."
NukEncore stopped breathing.
Martin closed his eyes because he already knew what was coming.
Golden light flashed across the road.
"YOUR FIRST WHAT?"
Kumoe’s curious head barked back with equal volume.
Alexandra calmly ran her fingers through the wet fur along Kumoe’s neck. "Our first kiss happened some time ago."
"You kissed him before today?"
"Yes."
"And you didn’t tell us?"
"No."
"You lying, cheating, white-haired bitch!"
"I thought I had bewitched him."
"You can be two terrible things at once!"
Martin rubbed his forehead. The agreement had already opened a dozen questions in his head, and neither woman seemed willing to leave enough silence for him to examine one.
"Enough. Alex, explain."
Alexandra looked at him.
The easy amusement around her eyes thinned. Trading insults with NukEncore had required nothing from her. Martin’s tone did.
"We agreed not to confess," she said. "Everyone had her own reasons. Some wanted more time. Others worried that whoever moved first would corner you into choosing before the rest of us understood what we wanted."
"You moved first anyway."
"Yes."
NukEncore threw both hands into the air. "Finally, she admits it!"
Alexandra’s fingers tightened slightly in Kumoe’s fur. "I got tired of hiding behind an agreement that solved nothing. I told Martin what I wanted, and I told him why wanting it frightened me."
NukEncore’s glare shifted between them. "And where, exactly, did that beautiful burst of honesty lead?"
Alexandra looked at Martin first.
He could think of no version of the answer that would not make the road louder.
Her smile returned by a fraction.
"The harem."
NukEncore blinked.
Rain tapped against the water-gathering tower. Kumoe’s middle head finished healing Alexandra, yawned, and dropped back against Martin’s chest.
NukEncore tried twice before her voice worked.
"The what?"
"Martin and I discussed whether he could date me without pretending the rest of you had stopped mattering," Alexandra said. "I made no promises for anyone else. You decide what you want."
NukEncore turned to Martin so slowly that the movement looked painful.
"You discussed a harem?"
"We discussed whether one could work," Martin said. "There were conditions."
"There should be one condition. No."
"It isn’t that simple."
"It is unbelievably simple!"
A system window reappeared in front of NukEncore.
[Your natural control of mana, repeated creation of original spells, and ability to combine established magic into new forms have revealed a new class path.]
[Would you like to begin the quest to upgrade your current class, Mage, into a Spellweaver?]
[Spellweaver: An evolved Mage class specializing in natural mana shaping, original combination spells, and adapting established magic into new forms.]
Her glowing eyes flicked across the message as Alexandra continued beside it.
"No one would be forced into anything. Anyone could refuse, and anyone could change her mind later. Martin would have to treat every relationship as real instead of collecting women and leaving them behind whenever someone more exciting appeared."
The class prompt waited.
[Yes.]
[No.]
NukEncore struck the first option.
"Yes!"
Alexandra’s eyebrows rose. A slow, pleased smile spread across her face.
"Wonderful. I expected more resistance."
NukEncore looked away from the vanished prompt.
Horror replaced the satisfaction on her face.
"I WAS ACCEPTING MY CLASS QUEST, NOT YOUR HAREM!"