Hopefully, with the rate his teeth are coming in, he can start eating solid food in the next few days. The sooner the better, my curiosity is really bothering me about what is going to happen with him. I won’t do anything to rush his development, but I still hope that he will develop quickly.

  He finishes his food, but he doesn’t seem tired, so I lay on the bed and play with him. As we are playing, I start trying to think of what I should name him now that his eyes are open. I know plenty of dog names from my world, but I can’t really see any of them fitting him.

  If all goes well, he should be pretty intelligent, so I can’t name him Butch or Killer. I also need to keep in mind that he will likely end up with holy type abilities and find a name that fits. That rules out most of the names that I would normally consider for a dog.

  After thinking for a while and not coming up with anything, I decide to go with Asuna’s suggestion. However, I am a little worried that it might still be a little early to name him. On the other hand, I named most of the other kids when they were extremely young and nothing bad happened.

  “Little one, from now on your name will be Kirito!”

  MP: 20,816/35,816

  It took fifteen thousand mana to name him, which is more than I was expecting. Although, it is nice that I can now name something and not have it completely drain me. There was the normal flash of light, but luckily it didn’t wake up Lin and get me in trouble.

  Kirito doesn’t seem bothered by being named and just keeps attacking my hand. Luckily, he plays quietly and once he gets tired he curls up against my chest to sleep. Once he is fully asleep, I move him to his nest and then just patiently wait for Lin to wake up.

  Or at least that is my intention, but it only lasts about five minutes before I get bored. Luckily, I have something that I can do, so I take out the essences I collected. I start studying them and comparing them to each other to try and spot the differences.

  I make some interesting discoveries, but just as I am getting really into it Lin starts to wake up. I quickly clean up the essences and then turn my attention to giving Lin some affection. I wait until after we have had some fun and Lin is satisfied before I say anything.

  “Lin, do you remember Bull?”

  Lin says “You mean the one and only ancient being that you have woken up that didn’t turn out to be a massive threat? Yes, I remember him, why?”

  “Because shortly after I found the fruit bush I was looking for, he messaged me. He is somewhere close to the middle of the mountain chain and he is trapped. He asked me to come and rescue him.”

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  Lin says “And the only reason you didn’t take off to do so was because I made you promise not to enter the mountains, right?”

  “No. I had to come back to see you before you left. Besides, Bull said he was fine for now. He even suggested I wait until after dealing with the Magic Kingdom. He is trapped, but he isn’t in any immediate danger.”

  Lin says “So, what are you going to do?”

  “That depends on what you and Brightfire have to say. To be completely fair, I should wait until after Sero and Kreno have had their time with me.”

  Lin says “Are you sure that you can resist your curiosity for that long?”

  “Honestly, not really, but I will try. There are so many things that set my curiosity off that I can distract myself if I need to.”

  Lin says “You mean you will focus on your curiosity about something else to keep you from running off to the mountains?”

  “Yeah, pretty much. Oh, before I forget, I want you to take the bush with you. Ask Albion to see if he can get it to grow on the peninsula.”

  Lin says “Alright, but is there a point behind this?”

  “Yes. I want our people to have the option to gain the ability to have levels even if they don’t worship the goddesses. I don’t want it to seem like we are trying to force people to worship them.”

  Lin says “Alright, that makes sense. Not to mention that it will help build loyalty in those we grant levels to.”

  “True, that will be a bonus, but only if Albion can get them to grow. Although, maybe you should tell him to wait until Leafa is summoned. She is probably even more skilled with plants than he is.”

  Lin says “That’s a good idea. I will do that. I am taking Victoria with me and getting her started on her training, right?”

  “Yes.”

  Lin says “Okay. What about Asuna? She should head back with me, right?”

  “I plan to give her the choice, but I am betting she is going to want to stick around to help with Kirito.”

  Lin says “Oh, you named him?!”

  “Yes, I did. When I got back this morning he was awake and his eyes were open.”

  Lin says “That’s great! I hope he wakes up before I leave so I can meet him properly. Asuna is going to be thrilled, there is no way she is going to want to leave once she knows that.”

  “Yeah, that’s about what I expect.”

  Lin says “Alright. Anything else that I need to do when I get back?”

  “Not that I can think of. Just be careful when you are working out the contract with Damona. She is still a demon and they can be quite tricky.”

  Lin says “Don’t worry. I know to be careful when reading contracts. I will double and triple check it before I agree.”

  “Good. Anything else that comes up, deal with as you see fit. I trust you. In fact, I expect you will make better decisions than I would.”

  Lin says “Well of course I would, I think before I do something!”

  “I don’t always act without thinking! Sometimes I think first!”

  Lin says “I will admit that you have gotten better since we first met, but you still act impulsively most of the time.”

  “Only when things are happening in the moment. When I have time, I try to plan things out.”

  Lin says “You don’t need to sound so defensive. I know you try, but you don’t succeed very often. Still, despite that, I do love you.”

  “I love you too! And I am going to miss you!”

  Lin says “You had better! If you don’t, I will make you stay put and run your empire on your own!”

  “No! Please, no! Anything but that!”

  Lin starts laughing loudly and I quickly join in, then we kiss and cuddle a bit more. Lin gets her wish, our laughter wakes up Kirito, who is very curious to see what is going on. I pick him up, bring him over close to her, and formally introduce him to Lin.