Rise of the Harem King

Davi woke up, and in his sleep-deprived state, he ended up smacking Ange's ass hard, forgetting he was not at Sophia's house anymore.

"Sorry…" Davi muttered, lowering his head. There was no other possible reaction.

"It's… okay," Ange quickly replied, waving her hands in a clumsy attempt to calm him down. Still, she couldn't hide the flush creeping across her cheeks.

Then, as if her curiosity had suddenly overpowered her embarrassment, as it always did, she leaned forward toward him, her gaze searching his face.

"So… why did you do something like that?"

Davi swallowed hard. How was he supposed to answer that?

With any other complicated question, he would choose to just tell the truth and be done with it, but this time the truth was so absurd that she'd never believe him. Besides, to explain it properly, he'd have to bring up a lot of… other things.

"Well, it's…"

"Maybe you have some interest in me?" she interrupted, leaning even closer.

Her large breasts brushed lightly against him, almost certainly by accident, though she didn't seem to notice. Her eyes were locked on his, studying his every microexpression.

Then, she stepped back, her face lighting up with a sudden thought.

"No, that doesn't make sense. I'm just an old teacher… it's not like I'm attractive, right?" she said with complete sincerity, even turning halfway to the side as if to prove her point, inadvertently showing off her perfectly sexy figure.

No one in their right mind would dare say she wasn't attractive, but in her mind, that was simply a fact she had long accepted.

"And besides… you have a girlfriend, don't you?" She tapped her index finger thoughtfully against her cheek. "Oh! Maybe you got confused, you thought I was your girlfriend, right? You do seem half-asleep, after all."

"Yeah… something like that," Davi replied awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck.

Then his nose twitched, and his eyes widened.

"Uh… Ange? The food's burning."

Her head whipped toward the small stove in the corner.

"Ah! No, no, no, no…!" She dashed over, fumbling with the pan as smoke began to curl toward the ceiling.

In her panic, she almost knocked over the pot of boiling water, but Davi was already moving.

In one smooth motion, he grabbed the smoking pan with a rag, set it safely aside, and turned down the heat before anything else could catch fire. Then he opened the shack's rickety window to let the smoke out.

Ange stood there, frozen, holding a spatula like it was a weapon she didn't know how to use.

"I… I had it under control," she said, clearly lying.

"Sure you did," Davi muttered with a small smirk before turning back to her. "And… sorry about earlier," he said, helping her up and stepping up to take care of things.

Then he turned to her, gazing at the woman with his powerful eyes. "One more thing, you really shouldn't say you're not attractive. You're a beautiful lady, Ange. Anyone with eyes can see that."

Her eyes widened, the words hitting harder than she expected. The blush returned, deeper this time, and she quickly looked away.

"A-alright, enough of that," she blurted out, clearing her throat. "We should… we should get back to work. Yes, work." She busied herself with cleaning the mess on the stove, though her ears stayed suspiciously red.

ⵔⵔⵔ

"Damn, damn, damn!" Ange shouted, running back and forth while two monsters the size of cats, but with the unmistakable shape of cockroaches, chased her relentlessly down the dungeon corridor.

Without a second thought, she leapt and practically threw herself into Davi's arms, clinging to him as if he were the last piece of driftwood before drowning in a sea of death.

The power of the creatures, of course, was no problem at all. In fact, any average explorer could easily defeat them. But for Ange, it didn't matter how small the threat was, cockroaches were an enemy she would never face head-on.

"I'll deal with them. Just… take a step back and let go of me, please," Davi said, a hint of irritation in his voice.

She hesitated for a second, but the sight of the twitching antennae made her jump back faster than a cornered rabbit.

Davi raised his right hand, mana instantly condensing in his palm, and cast <Fire Ball>.

A blazing sphere shot forward in a straight line, exploding against the cockroaches and turning them into two charred stains on the ground. The stench of burnt carapace filled the air.

Ange grimaced in disgust at the sight, but said nothing, relieved that the insects were dead.

"There. Now you can…"

GROOOOOWL!

The sound echoed through the tunnel, coming from more than one direction. And the reason quickly became clear: Ange's screams and the blast of magic had attracted company.

From the side corridors emerged other creatures: lizards with sharp claws, small doglike beasts with scaly hides, and even a pair of spiders the size of goats.

Davi sighed.

"It's amazing how you can turn a peaceful stroll into a mass extermination event."

He stepped forward and drew his sword, cutting through the air. The lizards didn't react, thinking the slash would never reach them, until they felt the <Air Blade> split them in two.

The survivors froze for an instant, and that instant was all he needed. Taking a deep breath, Davi felt the heat build up in his lungs.

He wasn't very used to employing that skill, but he decided to activate <Fire Breath>, he needed to get used to using all the abilities at his disposal.

A torrent of flames swept through the corridor, swallowing the remaining enemies and lighting up the stone walls with golden reflections. When the fire subsided, only charred corpses and a heavy silence remained.

He turned toward Ange, who was still pressed against the wall, staring at the ground as if any shadow might hide another cockroach.

"There. Clear. Now let's get back to work."

"Yes, thank you…" she said timidly, with genuine gratitude.

"Don't worry, after all I'm your assistant," he said firmly, patting the clumsy girl on the head.

"Okay, now I'm motivated to work!" she said, sending a shiver down Davi's spine, because Ange being motivated only meant she would cause more problems.

And he was right. Before long she managed to cause an explosion that attracted even more monsters, but he didn't complain. It was good training, after all.

ⵔⵔⵔ

Back in the tent, Ange quickly went to sleep, exhausted. Davi said he would soon follow, but he didn't. Seeing that she had already gone to sleep, he left the tent and went hunting for monsters to train more.

He needed to get stronger and faster.

Ange, noticing this, got up lazily and went to observe what her assistant was doing. Once again, he intended to spend the night pushing himself and training.

She was worried that he had been pushing himself too hard lately.