The first thing Rick noticed as he slowly ca back to life after the amazing threeso’s ’first ti’ was that he couldn’t move.
This was not due to the soreness in his muscles, which remained mild and manageable compared to the morning after Nerissa. This ti was less extre than his experience with Nerissa.
Well, this ti he couldn’t move because two won were holding him tightly on both sides, making it clear that they had no plans to let go anyti soon.
Carmilla’s arm was draped over his chest, and her head was resting on his shoulder. She was breathing slowly and evenly, as if she were in a deep, content sleep with no regrets about the night before.
Natasha was on the other side of him, with her face pressed against his neck and one hand loosely curled around his collarbone. When she was asleep, the look of analysis on her face was gone, and in its place was sothing that looked a lot like peace.
Rick looked at the ceiling for a long ti.
The ocean beyond ridia was already starting to glow with the soft blue-gold of early morning. Fish swam by in lazy schools, not caring about what was going on inside the palace.
The bioluminescent coral nearby pulsed softly, and the whole scene felt like sothing Rick would have dread about in his old life, when he could only imagine things like this.
He really, really believed that this was what it was like to live in paradise... well... paradise of MILFs, to be exact.
Then Sebastian appeared right in front of him, floating cross-legged in the air with his monocle shining and a smug look on his face that Rick had co to know as "I know exactly what you did, and I’m going to make it your problem."
"Good morning." Sebastian said, "How’s the first ti with that threeso you always dread about in your previous life?"
"Oh my fucking milfs..." Rick closed his eyes. "Please... not with this shit again."
"Most people would say good morning back. It’s just good manners, especially if you have a helpful butler like . But I guess after last night, just being able to function is asking a lot."
Rick said, "I’m going to fucking strangle you if you keep yapping about that shit again," but he didn’t raise his voice because he knew there were two won sleeping next to him and didn’t want to ruin this mont.
"You really look comfortable." Sebastian tilted his head and said, "Two people in love, morning light, and a calm setting."
"It almost feels romantic... key word: almost, if I forget that you are the sa man who died alone at three in the morning with a half-eaten bag of chips and no friends."
"Please stop talking," Rick said through his teeth.
"I only want to learn from this."
"I want to continue discussing this topic... specifically the way you presented it to them." Rick said, "You told them everything about and Nerissa!"
"You FUCKING snitched on and told Carmilla and Natasha everything! That was supposed to be a secret!"
Sebastian had the nerve to look a little offended. "I like to think of it as helping bonded partners talk to each other."
"Being open is good for relationships. That’s what I’ve read in many spiritual texts over the course of my sixty-seven thousand years of life."
"That’s not a good fucking reason to snitch on ."
"I told them to take the initiative."
"That’s the sa fucking thing!" Rick looked at him. "Are you stupid?!"
"Is it really?"
"Yes."
Sebastian made a small, calm gesture to fix his monocle. "Listen, here’s the deal..."
"If I hadn’t told them, they would have been polite and patient and waited for you to notice they needed help, which you might have done eventually."
"By telling them, I sped up the process in a way that was good for everyone, including you, as you can see from the evidence sleeping on both sides of your body right now."
"Even having a threeso with them! No need to thank because it seems like you’re one grateful motherfucker!"
Rick opened his mouth to argue, but then he closed it again because it was annoying that Sebastian wasn’t completely wrong.
Rick grumbled, "I still think you could have asked first."
"And what would you have said?"
"I probably..." Rick’s voice then toned down a bit with a look of embarrassnt. "...would have said yes."
"There you go, ’good boy.’ So I saved ti, and now... you’re fucking welco." Sebastian pulled out a scroll from sowhere in his coat and opened it with a snap. "Speaking of things that happened last night, I have a new kind of skill notification for you."
"Don’t ever fucking call a good boy again!" Rick blinked. "Anyway... what kind of new skill is it? Didn’t I already have sex with them before the threeso and get so skills from them?"
"Not exactly from the threeso in the way you’re thinking, but it seems like the system registered the simultaneous activation of two Spirit Bond resonances in close proximity during an emotionally intense shared experience."
"Think less about the physical components and more about the fact that you, Carmilla, and Natasha were genuinely emotionally synchronized in a way the bond network recognized as significant."
Carmilla moved a little next to him. Her arm tensed up for a mont before she fell back asleep.
Sebastian’s voice got a little quieter, maybe by two percent. "The skill is a combination type. It’s a whole new category."
"It only works when you have at least two Spirit Bond partners close by and in sync."
Rick’s interest grew stronger on its own. "What does it do?"
Sebastian flipped the scroll over.
[NEW SKILL ACQUIRED: RESONANT CONVERGENCE]
[Type: Bond Combination Skill]
[Activation: Requires physical proximity and active Spirit Bond synchronization with minimum two bonded partners]
[Effect: Temporarily rges the offensive and defensive capabilities of all synchronized partners into a single unified strike or barrier. Output scales exponentially with number of synchronized partners.]
[COMBINED STRIKE — UNIFIED ACCORD: Combines Carmilla’s Guardian’s Resolve, Knight’s Endurance, and Resonant Shield with Natasha’s Frost Mind, Glacial Fortress, and Tactical Mind into a simultaneous convergent attack. Damage output and barrier strength calculated as combined total of all contributing abilities, multiplied by bond depth.]
[Warning: Requires genuine synchronization. Cannot be forced or faked. Partners must be in willing active resonance.]
[Cooldown: 30 minutes]
Rick read it twice. "That’s really scary."
"In the best way." Sebastian agreed with a smile, "Carmilla’s raw defensive output, Natasha’s tactical precision, and elental ability all go through your bond network at the sa ti."
"The system says that if all six bonded partners were in sync, the theoretical maximum output of this skill would be what it politely calls a significant geological event."
"A what now...?"
"Don’t try that inside."
Rick looked down at the two won sleeping again, this ti with more respect. "So this only works when they’re together."
"With them, and maybe with other partner combinations as you learn how to sync up your emotions, but so far... Carmilla and Natasha are your strongest and most tested bonds."
"Their sync ca naturally." Sebastian rolled up the scroll. "The skill exists because last night wasn’t just physical, but... it was also real."
Rick had nothing smart to say, so he remained silent.
"... ..."
That silence seed to make Sebastian happy.
"Have a good morning, and try not to accidentally trigger the skill inside the palace."
"The structural wards are effective, but they aren’t as strong as ’two Spirit Bonds worth of convergent force,’ if you know what I an." He folded his hands behind his back and disappeared, leaving the room quiet, warm, and exactly as it had been.
Rick let out a slow breath.
Carmilla’s eyes opened about ten minutes later, warm and calm, like soone who wakes up when they don’t have to be anywhere right away and there aren’t any imdiate threats.
"Mmmm... huh...? Rick... Good morning," she said, her voice still sleepy.
"Morning," Rick said with a smile. "Did you sleep well?"
"Very well actually..." She stretched a little without moving away from him, which Rick liked. "I woke up, and you were still here..."
"I was wondering if you’d do your topside power-up thing again."
"I already got the skill notification. Sebastian ca by."
Carmilla made a sound that was half amusent, half exasperation. "Was he impossible to deal with?"
"Well... he was Sebastian, after all," Rick said with a blank expression.
"Hehehe... yes, you’re right."
Natasha woke up a little while later, and the difference between her sleeping face and her awake face was clear and almost funny. Her eyes opened wide and focused, and for about two seconds she did sothing that was probably a quick internal assessnt before her face relaxed into a softer look.
She said, with no emotion in her voice, "Statistical analysis of the current situation suggests that today is an adequate morning..."
Rick said, "Oh wow! That’s actually high praise."
"It was ant to be."
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