Kirito seems to understand what is going on and when Lin holds out her hand, he licks it. He seems to like the taste, because he keeps on licking her hand which makes her giggle. He really seems like he recognizes her, although it could be because she is covered in my scent.

  That may not be the only reason, but I am sure that it helps and either way it is making Lin happy. Lin plays with Kirito for a few minutes and then we head out to the main room. Asuna and Victoria are there waiting and I repeat the process to introduce Kirito to them.

  Asuna says “He opened his eyes! Finally! He sees me!”

  Lin says “Told you she would be excited.”

  “I never doubted it!”

  Asunas’ hand, like Lin’s, gets lots of licks, but Victoria only gets a single lick. Asuna’s scent should be almost as familiar to Kirito as mine is, but Victoria only played with him a little. Luckily, she doesn’t seem to mind and we soon all sit down to have breakfast.

  Instead of using the glove, now that his eyes are open, I give Kirito a bowl of milk. I also increase the ratio of beast blood in the milk and he is quick to figure out how to eat it. He seems to be enjoying it and he eats until his belly is swollen before passing out on the table.

  Asuna quickly gets up, fetches his nest, arranges it on the table, and moves him into it. Then she sits back down and resumes eating her breakfast and I tell her that Lin is leaving today. She immediately asks to stay here with me so that she can help take care of Kirito.

  “We both figured that would be your choice. Yes, you can stay.”

  Asuna says “Thank you!”

  Lin says “However, this is not a vacation, if you stay then you have to work. You will be responsible for taking care of Kirito whenever Ash is busy.”

  Asuna says “Understood! I won’t let you down!”

  Lin says “Good. You also need to be prepared, your brothers and sisters are going to be jealous of you spending so much time with your dad.”

  Asuna says “I know. I will explain it to them in the soulscape. Are we going to be able to invite Kirito to the soulscape?”

  “Probably not yet. He needs to be able to understand when it is asking him if he wants to join. Give him a bit more time and then we can try it and see if it works.”

  Asuna says “Okay, dad. I just can’t wait to introduce him to the others!”

  “I know. I am excited to see all of you playing together! It will happen soon enough, there is no need to rush things.”

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  Lin says “That almost sounded wise!”

  In response I stick my tongue out at Lin and both she and Asuna start laughing at me. This time the laughter does not wake up Kirito, but he does twitch like he wants to wake up. When the two of them finally stop laughing and go back to eating, I turn my attention to Victoria.

  “Victoria, you will be leaving with Lin. She will introduce you to my other wives and the rest of my kids. You will also be going through our military training. That should allow you to figure out your combat style. Once you know that, I will make armor and weapons for you.”

  Victoria says “Understood.”

  Lin says “We should still have some of the angel equipment that you sent back. She can use that until she is done growing and then get some custom made gear from you.”

  “If there is equipment that matches the style she wants to use, sure. If not, I will make gear for her. With shapeshifting, it won’t really matter if she grows.”

  Asuna says “She needs demon cores to grow, right? Ekard doesn’t like the shadow demon cores, so we should have some that we can give her.”

  “That would be helpful. Once you have gone through training and have chosen a style, I plan to ask my kids to take you to the shadow plane with them. That way you can get combat experience and collect the cores you need to continue ranking up. That reminds me, do you have a class? Can angels have classes?”

  Victoria says “No, I don’t. Angels can, but it is very uncommon. Only a deity's primary angel is normally granted a class. The rest of us depend on ranking up to increase our power. Well, that and abilities granted to us.”

  “Seronia, can you grant my angel the ability to level up or is that something that I will need to do?”

  Seronia says “She would need to be my angel for me to be able to grant her that ability. You would need to do it, but you don’t have that ability. Unfortunately, it isn’t something that I can teach you. You would need to become a god and reach a certain level of power to gain that ability.”

  “Understood, thank you. Victoria, Seronia says that it isn’t something that I can do unless I become a god, which isn’t going to happen. However, if you are willing to take a risk there might be another option.”

  Victoria says “What option?”

  I take one of the fruits out and explain that the beastmen are able to gain a class by eating them. The problem is that I have no idea if it will work for an angel or if there might be side effects. Victoria doesn’t seem to have any sense of fear, she just takes the fruit and eats it.

  It takes her a couple of minutes to eat the entire thing, it is about the size of a cantaloupe. Nothing seems to happen, but then I realize that she is blankly staring into space. After a couple of minutes there is a flash of golden light around her and she smiles.

  “I’m guessing from your smile that it worked?”

  Victoria says “Yes, it granted me a class. Actually, it gave me eight classes to choose from.”

  “What class did you choose?”

  Victoria says “Paladin. Considering the abilities you have granted me, it seemed like the most fitting.”

  “That makes sense and it does seem fitting. I am just glad that the fruit worked and didn’t cause you any problems.”

  We finish eating before the conversation ends, so once it does we pack up and head outside. We find Grimgar and Lenora outside the cabin waiting for us and their reactions when I put the cabin away are amusing. Grimgar gives Lenora a few last instructions and then she moves to stand with Lin.

  After Lin confirms that Brightfire is ready on the other side, I give her a long kiss goodbye. Then I open a gate back to the peninsula and Lin, Victoria, and Lenora go through. A few minutes pass, then Brightfire comes through the gate and throws herself into my arms.

  Grimgar chats with Asuna while I am giving Brightfire a properly affectionate welcome. When we finally break for air, I introduce Brightfire to Grimgar and the rulers. Her introduction to Kirito is going to have to wait until later since he is still asleep.