Chapter 158: Prelude to Tournament
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Name: Dennis Larson
Class: Berserker
Health: 12,340 / 67,000 -> 92,000
Strength: 67,500 -> 99,999
Dexterity: 32,200 -> 97,200
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[That is correct, Master. However, your stats are now approaching those of your wives, and they are certainly sufficient for the tournament in two days.]
[It is not cheating, Master. You have strengthened yourself through training, and these are the results.]
[Isn’t that a good thing, Master?]
[I hope so too, Master.]
"Da—da... da—da," Destiny immediately started babbling, looking at Dennis like a baby telling her father a long story.
"Were you looking for Daddy?" Dennis asked.
"Okay... let’s go, Destiny. Come with daddy," Dennis said.
"Seriously... a total daddy’s girl," Daisy said, sounding huffy.
After that, they headed back to the basement and entered the secret council room to get into their pool. Once inside, they saw Diana, Dahlia, Donna, Deborah, Dulcia, and Daphne soaking. They looked incredibly stiff—likely from the training—and their faces showed how much they were suffering, even while soaking.
"Exhausted. After training, we were so weak we didn’t even have the strength to chase Destiny," Diana said.
"Yeah... Destiny is so active... I think she loved it when we took her to the training room, sugar," Donna said.
"Yeah... she couldn’t stop staring at the stars scattered across space and wouldn’t sit still. That’s why we haven’t trained for the next level yet, right?" Deborah asked.
"But it’s fine. The tournament is in two days; you guys will definitely win," Deborah added.
"Alright... come on in. Hand me Destiny," Daphne said, standing up.
"Destiny, Papa needs to rest," Daphne said.
"It’s alright, no big deal," Dennis replied, hugging her back.
"What can I do? She’s just a baby, right?" Dennis said, looking at Destiny’s face and giving her cheek a playful kiss.
"Of course, you all have to be there, Destiny included. But please, only show yourselves three at a time—take turns. My parents and mother-in-law aren’t an issue, but seeing everyone else at once would cause a stir," Dennis answered.
"But don’t the two of you have to stay overnight there starting tomorrow for two days until the tournament?" Donna asked.
"You guys can just show up when the tournament starts. I don’t think we’re taking the car, so you can use it. You can drive, right, Donna?" Dennis asked.
"True, but sorry, I’m too lazy to drive," Deborah replied.
"Then we need to pack Destiny’s clothes just in case, pack the diapers and the formula. That’s your job, Deborah—make sure there’s plenty of milk," Diana said.
"Um... I can drive too," Dahlia said, raising her hand.
"Everything’s all set, dear. We’re ready to go," Daphne added, giving a thumbs-up.
They went back to soaking in a relaxed silence, with only the sound of Destiny splashing her hands and feet in the water. Out of curiosity, Dennis checked the stats of his seven wives. Except for Daisy, everyone had a power level of +99,999, just like Destiny. As for Daisy:
Name : Daisy Larson.
Class : Samurai.
Health : 32,000 / 32,000.
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Dennis looked at each of them once more, one by one, smiling with satisfaction at the results of their training. Then he turned to Daisy beside him and checked her status again. His mind started racing, calculating strategies for the upcoming tournament so that neither he nor Daisy would stand out too much. But Daisy, seeing him stare, thought he was looking at something else entirely. She purposefully turned and flaunted her body, arching her back to emphasize her chest.
"Huh... what are you doing? We can’t. We need to rest before the tournament, and we have to leave tomorrow afternoon," Dennis answered.
"Hey... Destiny is right here," Dennis pointed out.
"Hey... what are you all doing?" Dennis shouted.
"Destiny is right here, don’t start anything," Dennis warned.
"Huh," Dennis looked down at Destiny in his arms. Her head was tucked against his shoulder and her eyes were tightly shut. It seemed she really had been looking for Dennis just so she could fall asleep in her father’s embrace. Then, Dennis looked at the faces of Daisy, Diana, Dahlia, Donna, Deborah, Dulcia, and Daphne. They looked ready to pounce.
"Fine. Let me take Destiny upstairs, but someone better take over for me after this," Daphne said, lifting the sleeping baby from Dennis.
***
"Good grief... I told them no... now I’m pins and needles all over and I can’t even move. It’s already 7:00 AM... I have to leave by 11:00. How am I supposed to pull this off," Dennis muttered in his head, feeling the pain radiating through his entire body.