Serum

After Pandora arrived, Dirk and Alec continued to talk. It seemed like her presence made Magenta and Ivory more reserved, but the boys didn’t care about that, so they went into their own little world after ignoring the weird atmosphere. 

It was Magenta who eventually spoke up, engaging in conversation with Pandora. Like that, the two were locked in discussion, talking about the affairs of the Dark Kingdom, among other things. Pandora also talked to Ivory about her sword techniques, something she didn’t mind talking about. 

Like that, the two groups socialized for a while. Dirk and Alec were especially talkative, never seeming to run out of stories or topics to choose from. Unlike the girls who seemed stiff and formal when talking, they were completely casual. 

They had always technically been friends, but their friendship had been one sided for many years, not even mentioning the fact that they hadn’t seen each other for years. Despite that though, Alec still took Dirk as his friend and never let those things get in the way. And now, Dirk was finally in the position to reciprocate. 

Even Alec noticed how Dirk was far more open. He had first seen it during their time at the Dark Kingdom, and it was even more pronounced now. And Alec had always been an outgoing and social person, so despite Dirk still being generally reserved, they seemed to fit well together. 

And now that Alec had gone through the military, gaining a plethora of experiences, Dirk could relate to him much more. 

Unfortunately, the girls weren’t exactly in the mood to just stand there and watch them talk, so eventually they all went their separate ways. That left Dirk and Alec to spend the rest of the day doing whatever they wanted, and when evening came by, they decided to head to one of the few restaurants in the base. 

It served high class food aimed toward the powerhouses that were stationed here. This meant it cost a pretty penny, but both of them were quite rich. Alec was the son of an influential Marquess and Dirk had the bottomless wallet known as Pandora. Neither were lacking gold. 

So they got whatever they wanted, their talks continuing on into the night. 

During that time, they talked about everything there was to speak of. All kinds of stories from their travels, their experiences in combat, the intricacies of magic, and even their relationships both with family and the girls in their lives. 

After enough time, Dirk was basically completely open, sharing some of his struggles while only hiding more confidential secrets. He talked about the endlessly long road to power as well as all the conflict going on in the world that he would surely be embroiled in. He also spoke of his conflicts with Pandora and Ava, the only two girls who had managed to find a place in his heart. 

And Alec was a good listener, giving advice while asking introspective questions and offering the wealth of his experiences with Ivory and Magenta. And some of his words surprised Dirk. 

There was a reason Alec had two girls by his side. In fact, he spoke of two others besides Ivory and Magenta who were trying to wiggle their way into what Dirk could only assume was Alec’s growing harem. 

Such a thing could only happen because, in this world with extreme power scales, a man having many wives was actually rather common. On Earth, a man could attract mates by having money, charm, and good looks. Here, power was the most attractive trait a man could have. 

As for women having harems, it wasn’t unheard of, but men were generally unwilling to submit like that. On the other hand, women were more willing, especially in this world. 

Of course, this didn’t make harems common either. It was really only seen at the top of the power hierarchy. So while Alec wasn’t quite there yet, for him to be so strong while so young meant that he would surely reach that height in his life. 

Not only that, but Alec was charming, smart, kind, and came from an influential family. He was quite the perfect bachelor. It was no surprise then that he was forming a harem. 

Of course, Dirk had no plans to go that far. Alec already had four girls, and Dirk was panicking over the possibility of having to deal with two. Alec found it funny, but Dirk didn’t have any experience in this regard, so he was taking it seriously. 

In the end, Alec gave some good advice and lots of food for thought. Dirk would need to spend a while sorting himself out, but at the very least, he wasn’t as panicked. And there was one detail that gave him more solace than even the fact that harems were common for talented and powerful people. 

That was, Hybrids were a race of people that practiced polyamory very frequently, far more than anybody else. If anybody was accepting of it, it was them, and Ava was a Hybrid. 

And although Ava had been raised in a human empire, she was now within the Hybrid empire, surrounded by her kin and their ideals. After so much time, there was no doubt that she had been exposed to that concept if she hadn’t already been. So Alec guessed that she would be understanding. 

Of course, Dirk still felt guilty. There wasn’t anything that could change that, and Alec’s words were mainly just to try and comfort him. 

And it worked to some extent. When night came and both of them decided to retire, Dirk left greatly satisfied. He felt like he got a lot of things off his chest. After all, you could only connect with certain people in certain ways. He couldn’t speak with his mother or Pandora like he spoke with Alec, just like he couldn’t be comforted by Alec like he was his mother and couldn’t be intimate with anyone like he could be with Pandora. 

But it seemed like he was filling all those roles. A close friendship, an intimate relationship, and a loving family. As time passed, Dirk was finding himself more and more fulfilled, finding the things that he was never able to have in the past. 

Perhaps that was one of the reasons he opened up to Pandora. With her, he could experience intimacy he never had before. It satisfied a part of him he never knew he had. 

He couldn’t help but think about that as he returned to their residence on the base. When he returned to his room, most of the family had already gone to bed. His father, brother, and sister all had to fight, so they needed their rest. 

On the other hand, Pandora was waiting for him in his room when he returned, wide awake and casually practicing some magic in a nightgown. 

She smiled when she sensed his presence, turning to him as he sat on the bed she was lounging on. 

“Have fun?”

“Mm.”

“That’s good. Alec is a good kid. His girlfriends, on the other hand, I’m not completely fond of. Ivory could be a bit less stuck up. She carries the arrogance of a noble child raised in a shelter.”

“That’s because she’s exactly that. But that doesn’t make her a bad person. You can be quite arrogant as well.”

Dirk smirked, causing Pandora to roll her eyes. 

“My arrogance is simply confidence in everything I do, built upon experiences that she couldn’t ever fathom. But yes, I suppose I can’t blame her for being shaped by her environment. To expect otherwise is unrealistic. Still, seeing you shatter her worldview with a simple swing of the sword was quite enjoyable.”

Pandora chuckled, and Dirk also couldn’t help but smile. He couldn’t deny that he also found it amusing. 

“Anyway…”

Pandora suddenly changed topics, speaking in English. 

“We can’t spend all our time here playing. We’ve got business to attend to. We both need to train, but we also need to acquire intelligence on that airship we plan to steal. You need to ask your mother about whatever facility it's being produced in and do some reconnaissance. It’ll take a while to plan our attack, so we better get started now.”

“How much time are we going to stay here?”

“Well at minimum, we’ll be here until we get that airship. But otherwise, I intend to stick around until I form my Domain and advance. I’m guessing it’ll be a few months, because forming a Domain out of four elements is proving to be much more difficult than I expected.”

“Alright.”

Dirk nodded, thinking that he could afford to spend his time more generously than initially planned. 

Then, Pandora suddenly shifted toward him with alluring eyes. 

“For now though, let me get a sip of that luscious blood. And I’ll be sure to reward you generously after.”

She climbed on top of Dirk, going for his neck, and he didn’t resist. 

Afterward, they tumbled over each other for a while before going to bed, Pandora being much more vigorous than the night before, and Dirk not as reserved, taking in everything she was offering with less remorse and more pleasure. 

……

…

After that day, Dirk and Pandora’s schedule became somewhat routine. 

Pandora was wholly focused on her magic, as was Dirk. In fact, he began another training regiment with his mother, absorbing everything she had to teach about dark magic while refining his spells and techniques, especially Stealth. 

He even got some training from his father, learning some large scale fire spells from him. While Dirk didn’t generally prefer to use large spells, it was never a bad thing to have more weapons in his arsenal. Unfortunately, Ryker didn’t know anything about Lightning since he didn’t have the specialization, so Dirk could only continue studying the Lightning Crystal he received from the Dragon Uuvos. 

On to of all that, he also received information about the site of the airship factory. 

It was a standard factory if you looked past the extra layer of security compared to other buildings. It was located toward the edges of the capital city as it covered a massive plot of land, comprised of a few huge warehouses along with what looked like two hangars. 

Not only was it a factory, but it was also a maintenance facility. Dirk could see airships occasionally dropping into the hangars, some of them battered from battles, others looking completely normal. 

Unfortunately, he couldn’t enter the premises as the entire area was walled off. He would need to sneak in, and from a quick scan with his mana vision and a few discreet mana pulses, he found that there were plenty of magical security measures that would hinder his advance. 

But that could all be operated around in time. At least now, he knew where his target was located. Now, he just needed to find this airship specifically and figure out a way to break it out of the facility. 

He and Pandora spent some time brainstorming ideas, and they came up with a general plan. 

Facilities like these couldn’t be broken into and out of with brute force. Pandora knew everything there was to know about breaking into high security facilities, and not all of her experiences involved using violence. 

She decided to infiltrate the place by merging with the staff. To do so, she would need to gain the clearance to enter in the first place, which would involve finding the right people to grant her that clearance and station her there. 

Because of this, she decided to use some of her tools. She had four of them, and they were all somewhat influential figures within the military and government. 

These spies of hers could be activated and give her what she needed, allowing her to enter the facility and gather intelligence while working with Dirk to figure out a way to break the airship out. 

This would take time though. Not only did she have to get in contact with these spies, but they would need to do their work before she could get in. And when that happened, Pandora would put a halt to her training and infiltrate. 

So she got the process started while Dirk simply waited. 

After that, a couple weeks passed. 

During that time, both of them continued to train while Pandora received daily reports on not only the situation within the facility, but information about the identity she would need to assume and who she would be working with. 

Just like that, she was given a fake set of credentials and an entire backstory for her fake life. Every possible detail was there, from her parents to her time at the Academy and her interest in engineering magical devices. She even utilized a magic tool that disguised her entire body, making her a completely different person.

Not long after, Pandora disappeared into the facility. She would go there as if it were her standard job, and Dirk would visit her in the nights, receiving reports. 

From that, they gathered much needed intelligence. And Dirk was surprised by Pandora’s ability to not only act, but gather information. 

She let nothing slip. Magic alarms, the layout of the facility, the strict security, the doors and barriers, the materials of the walls and structures, the daily routine of the various facility sectors…

She definitely had experience with everything, but with every new report, they slowly understood how tough breaking into the facility would be, let alone breaking out of it. 

Their main difficulty was the security. And not the guards, but all the automated magic sensors and alarms. If Dirk wanted to get in, he would need to either scramble or hack them. And while Dirk had been taught how to do those things at Asura’s Mountain, he didn’t learn enough to deal with high level security enchantments. 

So Pandora continued her work, spending an entire month acting as a completely different person while constantly gathering even the smallest details that might help Dirk infiltrate and figure out how to carry out the mission. 

But then, they were met with two unexpected surprises. 

The first was in regard to the airship, their target. Turns out, the airship was a massive experimental project that, to some extent, had already been completed. The ship was called the Sky King, and it was the great culmination of many years of research and constant upgrades. 

It was a project that never ended. The Sky King was never deployed, instead being upgraded whenever a new technology came out. It was generations ahead of anything currently in use, and that was because it was the vehicle that was responsible for testing every new and bleeding-edge piece of equipment. 

So they at least didn’t have to worry about their target not being able to fly at all. But that was only the first surprise. 

The second surprise was that, at the 2 month mark since arriving at the capital, Exos finally dragged himself out of seclusion. 

Dirk and Pandora had gradually forgotten about him since he never left his room, devoting every hour of every day to whatever convoluted work he was doing. But one day, he finally emerged, and he brought with him a shocking piece of news. 

In the Strider household, Dirk stood in Exos’ room. He had come after receiving a message from him. 

But in the room, Dirk could see nothing but papers and books strewn about the place. All of them were filled to the maximum with enchantments, many of which Dirk couldn’t make the slightest sense of. 

And Exos sat behind a table. In front of him was a small metal container, inside which was a glowing mana crystal. 

Exos himself looked ragged and emaciated, the bags under his eyes making it look like he hadn’t slept at all in the last two months. 

But he was smiling with such genuine glee. One might think that he had cracked the secrets of the universe. 

“I’ve made it.”

He muttered after Dirk entered, looking at the container before him like it was his baby. 

“The Processor, containing artificial intelligence driven entirely by magic enchantments. I dare say that, on this day, I have revolutionized the entire field of Enchanting. In the future, all will bow before my skill and hail me as the greatest mind that has ever graced the coming world of industrial magic.”