Zero to Hero: A High Fantasy Harem Romance LitRPG

"I think my feet are going to fall off," Tristan murmured into my neck.

As the tower's light started fading, the bottoms of Tristan's feet had become more blister than foot, so I scooped her up into my arms and told her I'd princess carry her the rest of the way to Goodfield. Even if she could have healed herself, I told her I'd rather her save her mana in case something happened. Plus, now that I was as strong as I was, I didn't mind carrying her. It was bonding.

Neither did she. She didn't complain one bit.

"You did great today." I pulled her closer. "Twelve straight hours of walking isn't easy."

"You made it look easy."

To be fair, it had been relatively easy for me. "Punching things and waking places are what I do."

"Our big, strong man." She nuzzled into my shoulder. "You know, this reminds me of when you carried me after we fought that gloomfang."

"You fought a gloomfang?" Vral asked. "Those things are gross. I don't like their long snouts."

Tristan nodded. "Yeah, we fought one at the entrance of Copperhold right before we met you. We even saved a kid."

"Wow, you two were pretty heroic from the start, huh?"

I laughed. "We did our best. That was a wild week."

"I wonder how Cam's doing?" I couldn't believe I remembered the boy's name.

"We'll find out by... morning?" Halfway through her sentence, it turned a question.

I shrugged. "At this pace, I think we might get there around noon."

"I can't wait." Tristan's face told me she was excited to see our old friends. Also, I knew how much she wanted to stuff my inventory full of Bethany's cheese before we left for Embermist Keep.

"You gonna be alright marching all night with all this extra weight?" Vral sounded incredulous.

"He's a big boy." Tristan patted my chest. "I believe in him."

Damn right I was. "I should be fine. Even if I get tired, [Grit]'s got my back." Despite my words, I actually didn't know exactly how far I could push the talent. Ever since I'd gained it two years ago, I hadn't been in all that many situations where it triggered, especially considering how much stronger I'd gotten. Since this little side quest was pretty low stakes, I figured it couldn't hurt to find out where my boundaries were now.

"Alright, so you two fought a gloomfang." Vral sounded excited. "What happened after that?"

"Honestly, I don't remember that night all that well. I got knocked out during the fight and kind of went in and out. The one thing I do remember is that I woke up and realized Alex was carrying me. I almost melted into a puddle when I realized what was happening."

"Hot..." Vral breathed.

"I'm happy I could do that for you." I grinned at the beautiful woman in my arms.

Tristan kissed my neck. "You know, I'm pretty sure that was the night I finally accepted that I was completely in love with you. It only took me a year and a half of denial."

Her words warmed my heart. I pulled her closer. "Honestly, I felt the same way. When you got hurt, I damn near went feral on that gloomfang. After it crumbled away, I realized I was in deep."

"My handsome guardian..." She nuzzled me again.

"Damn, you princess carried her all the way back then?" Vral's voice sounded above my head. "You damn romantic! That had to have been hard, considering how weak you were back then."

"Says the woman riding on my shoulders right now."

When the tower's light had faded, Vral ran ahead, yelped, and limped back to us. When I asked her what happened, she said she twisted her ankle, so I scooped her up and threw her onto my shoulders. I was pretty sure she was faking it, but I figured what was the point of all this strength if I couldn't even carry two beautiful women?

"Giddyup, horsie!" Vral bounced on my shoulders as if I were a horse. "I'll break you in yet."

"I'll buck you off if you give me any more sass, woman."

"You wouldn't dare." Despite her challenge, her thighs squeezed tighter around my neck. "I'm precious goods."

I couldn't help but laugh. "You're something."

"Rude."

"Yeah, well, don't question past me's abilities. I was as strong as an ox back then. And now? A dragon."

"A dragon? Nah, no way. You're a stallion. My stallion."

"A stallion? Why's that?"

"Because I like riding you."

"Don't we both," Tristan added with a wink.

"Down, girls."

"Never!" They both hissed the word at the same time.

Damn, they'd really packed up lately. I was outnumbered.

"Seriously though, how'd you carry her like that? That couldn't have been easy."

"You're not wrong. I don't actually know how I pulled it off, but it was our first fight against a real monster. I think I was running on love, [Grit], and adrenaline. Plus, I wanted her to think I was awesome. It was a bit of a flex."

"Oh, it worked." Tristan's voice was breathy. "I still dream about that night."

"I can't blame you, girl. Getting carried like that would have melted my panties, too." Vral rested her elbows on the top of my head and leaned toward Trisan. "So..." Her voice was husky. "How was the next night? Was it amazing? I bet it was. Did he throw you around? He totally threw you around, didn't he?"

Belting out a laugh, I clarified, "No. We didn't start that part of our relationship until we got back to the temple."

"And whose fault was that?" Tristan's voice was turning bratty.

"Yours."

"What?!" She Held her fingers to her heart and pretended to be shocked. "How could you say such a thing?"

I glared at her. "That night, you rubbed your barely covered ass on my groin, but after we got all hot and heavy and I tried to make a move, you literally said you weren't ready yet and wanted to take it slow."

Tristan's eyes were gleaming in the moonlight. "It wasn't covered."

"What?"

"My ass."

Damn you, less experienced Alex! You should have read her mind! "Then why'd you tell me to stop?"

She blushed. "I wanted you to fight for it!"

I rolled my eyes. "That's stupid."

Vral shook her head. "He carried you for like eight hours straight. If that's not fighting for you, I don't know what is."

"I mean, I didn't know what I was doing... And He was the one with all the experience! Plus, Maven told me guys love that stuff!"

I shook my head. "No, we don't love that stuff. And it wasn't that much experience."

"Don't even!" She glared at me. "Before you realized I was one of the two most beautiful women you'd ever seen, you told me all about Devon, and Alexis, and Heather. And what about Lindsay? Oh, and Lauren. Can't forget her! And... uh... whatever that other skank's name was."

I couldn't help but chuckle at her little outburst. Her jealousy was generally pretty entertaining considering how uncommon it was, but also, she'd picked up a lot of Earth terminology back when we were walking our road together. The way the words sounded in Reial's language always made me laugh.

"Hey now, that was all in the past." I gave her my best grin. "The only women for me are you two. No one else exists. Can't even see them."

"Damn right. We're the only women you'll ever need! The whole package!" Vral's confidence had returned in full force since her little episode earlier. "A complete handful!"

Chuckling, I agreed with her. "Isn't that the truth?"

"Hey!"

Tristan wasn't having it. "Her name started with an I. I know it."

With a big sigh, I said, "Isabel."

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"Isabel! What a skank. That's a skank name." Her eyes were gleaming with mischief. She was enjoying her prodding.

"Tch, it's not his fault he's a catch." Vral stroked my cheek. "I, for one, enjoy knowing how much value my treasure has before I claim it as my own."

"Whose side are you on?" Tristan was in full pout mode now. "I thought we were a team!"

Vral laughed. "Obviously, I'm on team bad bitch."

"Then you should be helping me by pretending to be mad at him for not making a move!"

"Tch, you fucked up, girl. I didn't know what I was doing either at first, so I just took him out, got him trashed, worked up some courage, and told him exactly what I wanted."

"Was it really that easy for you?"

"Yeah! He tore my top off right then and there in that alley and shoved me against the wall." She shivered. "Best night ever."

"Lucky! After he left the next morning, I had to stay inside and..." She blushed.

"It wasn't luck. I just communicated." Vral patted my head. "This guy's dense and honest to fault. You can't blame him for taking your words at face value."

"Well, I know that now. But I was fresh out of my second change, confused, and filled with bad advice from Maven. It wasn't my fault."

"Mhmm. Excuses, excuses." I shook my head at her. "Anyway, I don't know what the problem is. After we got back to the temple, you waiting for me in my room was the best surprise ever. I thought our first time was magical."

"It was," She breathed. Then, putting on her doe eyes back on, she add, "But I wasn't waiting for you for that reason. I was there for... um... to study. It was completely innocent."

"Oh yeah, absolutely. Your lips colliding with mine the second I shut my door was totally innocent. And after that, when you dropped to your knees—"

She covered my mouth with her palm. "I was praying! Because I was a sweet, innocent angel who was navigating a dark new world. And you corrupted me. You fiend."

I snorted.

"What? Are you saying I wasn't a beautiful, innocent angel back then?" The mischief shining in her eyes and that little smirk of hers told me exactly what game she was playing. But I played by my own rules. That's what she loved most.

"I mean..."

Her lips worked upward as she thrust her chin away from me. "Well, I never!"

"What? You were pretty sulky back then, and those oversized brown robes weren't doing you any favors. Until you took those off and grew your hair out, you kind of looked like a medieval femboy librarian."

"Ugh!" Her head whipped back around, and she smacked my shoulder. "I was perfect."

Vral smacked the top of my head. "You be nice to our hot piece of ass! I remember seeing her outside of the Galden mines! She was a babe and a half back then."

"Yeah, of course she was. She'd finally taken her robes off."

That got me another smack from both of them.

I chuckled. "Okay, okay, I'll stop."

Tristan smiled at me and patted my cheek. "Good boy." She kissed my cheek. "And yes, our first time was perfect. I was honestly happy it happened back home. As horny as I was in Goodfield, it was way more special doing all of that in the moonlight and in our own bed."

Laughing, I said, "I'm glad you think so too."

"I do." She kissed my neck again.

"Hey, that alley was special, too! Remember when we shattered that crate?"

"Hell yeah I do."

***

After our banter faded, we fell into a comfortable silence. I walked for a good hour before a new question came to me. Looking up, I asked, "Hey, Vral? When'd you know?"

"About what?"

"You know. When'd you fall for me?"

"Well..." Her legs tensed. "Honestly?"

"Yeah. Go for it."

She ran her fingers through my hair. "It was when you told me I deserved more."

Tristan's eyes lit up. "When'd you tell her that?"

I remembered everything about that moment. It was our final fight in the Pit. We'd been fighting for a while, and I'd just used [Second Wind]. To beat me, she'd been willing to do anything. I almost watched her give her life away to the shadows, both literally and metaphorically. I tried every way I knew how to keep her from jumping off the ledge. "It was back when we were fighting in the Pit. She was close to accepting the Dark Lord's offer, so I told her she deserved more."

"I don't know anything about any offers, but I definitely felt a presence then." Her voice was heavy. "It was so tempting. I felt like all I had to do was reach out, and I'd have all the power in the world."

It was still odd knowing that people experienced the Dark Lord's presence in different ways. While I heard words, she experienced everything as visions and feelings. "I'm glad you didn't."

"It's thanks to you, dummy." She stroked my jaw. "I should be thanking you. So thank you."

"Who are you, and what did you do with Vral?"

That got me a head smack.

"I always wondered what you were saying down there." Tristan's sapphire eyes searched my face.

"Honestly, a lot of it was fight flirting."

Vral giggled. "It was fucking hot getting thrown around and talked down to."

"You were flirting as you fought? That's pretty romantic for you two maniacs."

"I didn't really realize it at the time, but I was totally vibing with her out there. But, as is usual for me, I didn't know how I was feeling until way later." I looked at Tristan. "Plus, I was worried about how you'd feel. You were my priority, you know?"

"Good man," Vral chirped from above.

Tristan rolled her eyes. "You knew I was comfortable with it. I told you that a thousand times. I have two moms after all, so us being a trio is comfortable. Plus..." She paused for a second. "That witch said there would be three of us girls in the end. Why would I get mad when you found one of them?"

"Tch, two is good," Vral muttered. "We don't need to pick up any strays."

Ignoring Vral for the moment, I told Tristan, "True, but—"

"But nothing. The second I heard Vral's voice in that cell next door, I knew she was going to be a part of our lives from then on. I never had a doubt in my mind. Didn't hurt that I already thought she was gorgeous."

"Yeah, what she said. And don't try to save face now. You were coming onto me hard."

"He did that the other night..." Tristan whispered.

Vral squeaked, then coughed to cover it up. "Anyway... it was toward the end of the fight when he told me I deserved more. And it wasn't romantic so much as... it made me feel seen." She rested her forehead on the top of my head. "I felt this overwhelming anger and resentment bubbling in me for years and years. Then, I had this guy in front of me who was determined to save me, whether I wanted to be saved or not. But all I could think about was how he'd let me down like everyone else had. So I was determined to test him. To give him my all." She paused. "All I could see was winning. I thought that would show everyone that I would never be weak ever again. And I wanted to fail. I wanted to prove to him that he had no chance of taming me. That I was my own." She kissed my forehead. "I'm glad I was wrong."

Tristan asked, "Do you feel tamed now?"

"Yeah, but no. Sure, I'm not as wild as I was back then, but I feel far more... focused. Like I can do anything I set my mind to, because I have people who believe in me. You know?"

I nodded. "I do."

"Me too."

That got me thinking. "What about you two? When did you girls catch the bug?"

Tristan smiled. "That's easy for me to answer." She looked up at Vral. "She impressed me from the minute I saw her outside of the mines. She was just so fierce and powerful. I was enamored from the start."

"I was pretty great, huh?"

"You were." She reached up and rested a hand on Vral's thigh. "But what really won my heart was when, after the prison ceiling collapsed on Alex, you did something small but so meaningful to me."

"What?"

"Do you remember how I'd been crying and praying at his bedside every day?"

"Of course I do. You were a wreck."

"Do you remember how you stayed with me through it all?"

"Of course I do. I couldn't just up and abandon the handsome idiot who saved me and his beautiful girlfriend, now could I? At least not until he woke up. After he did, I was planning on getting out of there."

"That escape plan really worked out for you, huh?" I stuck my tongue out at her.

"Put that damn thing back in your mouth before I bite it off."

Tristan laughed. "You two are stupid."

"I never said otherwise."

"Don't lump me in with him!"

"You've been lumped." With a shake of her head and a big sigh, Tristan continued. "Well, your staying was the start of it for me. But there was another thing, too. That's what really did me in."

"What was it?" Vral's voice was soft.

"I knew you'd fallen for Alex, and I also knew that you were nervous because you didn't know how you'd fit between us or how I would take it. But still, you stayed. Then, one day, after my third or fourth night in a row of overdoing it trying to heal him, you went to the kitchen and got me a big plate of food without asking if I wanted it. When you came back, you handed me the plate, yelled at me to eat, fed me when I refused, and made me lie down when I was done. When I crawled under the covers, you crawled up next to me and held me until I cried myself asleep. That's when I realized how much our roots had grown together."

Vral's breath hitched. "Well, you needed to eat."

Tristan smiled. "You're right. I did."

So freaking sweet! "I've never heard that story before."

"I've never told it before." Tristan's smile grew. "Now I have."

Vral swallowed and was quiet for a while. Then, with a huff, she said, "Fine," and cleared her throat. "I guess I'll go next." She inhaled, then exhaled. "This is gonna sound so stupid compared to hers."

"What is it?" I asked. "It can't be that bad."

"Hey, I told you mine. It's only fair you tell me yours."

Vral sighed again. "It started for me when you told him to kick your ass."

"In the prison cell?!" There was no way.

"I wasn't expecting you to say that." Tristan shook her head. "But, knowing you, maybe I should have."

"Okay, hear me out... You were always sweet and kind and funny when we talked through that stupid pipe. But...I mean... not only did you infiltrate that place to make sure he was okay, but when you told him your plan to get out of there and save us, you didn't hesitate to do what you had to do. I thought, 'damn, not only is this woman willing to go into that horrible place to save the man she loves, but she was ready to go through hell to make it happen!' And you were such a badass that you told him to give you his best shot, all while knowing he was a badass gladiator, and you took it all without a single complaint." Vral's voice grew louder with every word. "You were awesome! And don't tell me that's not hot!"

"I had no idea you felt that way..." Tristan blinked the mist out of her eyes.

I... didn't love that day so much. It sucked pretty badly, actually.

"Well, it's what happened, okay?" She crossed her arms on my head. "You did all that, and I thought, 'damn, that's a real woman right there.' So there I was, some lonely imprisoned chick who had the sweetest guy in the world looking out for me from the cell next door and making all these promises he had no way of keeping, and then his amazing girlfriend showed up and did everything she could to rescue us both." She laughed. "I started thinking of you two as the ultimate power couple. In my head, there wasn't anything you couldn't do, and I didn't think there was anything I could offer that you two would want. But, after everything went down, you made sure that I was always welcome, and you made space for me, and you opened up to me and were vulnerable, even though I was a prickly little shit..." Vral swallowed. "So yeah, that's when I knew."

"Vral!" Tristan was trying and failing to blink away her tears. "That wasn't stupid at all. It was so sweet!" She took Vral's hand in hers.

"That really was so sweet, Vral." I reach up and squeezed her thigh.

"Yeah, yeah..." Running her fingers through my hair again, she asked, "What about you? I know how you two became a thing, and now you know about us. So when did you start finding me so irresistible, huh?"

I thought for a few moments before answering. "You know, I don't think there was any specific moment for me. It was just all those little conversations we had over those six months we spent in our cells. I learned a lot about you in that time, and the more I learned, the more I cared. Then, when I found out that all of us prisoners were going to be executed, all I could think of was how I was going to save you, but I'd already been feeling that way, too. I guess, at some point, I ended up not being able to imagine a life without you."

She laughed. "I really would have killed you back then, too, so that's something. But then you went and beat me fair and square. Who would have thought? Not me, that's for sure. You really were something."

"So are you saying he's worthy?" Tristan's sapphire eyes sparkled in the moonlight. "Because it sure sounds like it. And it sounds like you just need to cross the final bridge and take what's yours."

Vral tensed. "Hey now, don't be putting all that out into the world. I still haven't taken his hand yet. He has a lot of work left to do before he'll win me over for good!"

"I thought goblin women didn't sleep with men who weren't worthy?" Tristan asked. "You've certainly broken that rule more than a few times."

"So many times," I added.

Vral sputtered. "Well... you see... It's part of my tests! He needs to be mighty with all of his weapons before I'll be sure! I'm the last living future matron of the Tu'Vigh tribe after all... I have to be extra choosy when searching for my mate!"

"Oh, I'm sure, Vral." I reached up and pinched her ass. "That's why you're tests have been so vigorous all those times you've pulled me out behind the barn, right? You've been testing me."

"You've been sneaking out to the barn? Where was my invite?!"

Even in the dim moonlight, I could see that Vral's ears had turned bright red.