“We must say. These new Weebon novel titles are definitely getting a little out of hand,” Zexa Xeza said.
The twin priestesses Zexa of the Sundial and Xeza of the Moondial had had their own unique and somewhat unusual rotating fashion of speaking ever since they had transformed into the time elementals that they were today. They had just finished up their relatively new books, freshly imported from Weebon. The pair of novels hadn’t even lasted the week it had taken them to arrive at the dungeon. Well, they almost did, given that the dungeon in question was now within eyesight. Julia, the paladin and the dual priestesses’ girlfriend wouldn’t have put it past them to have timed it that way.
Of course, it wasn’t like they had purchased just the pair. No, the wagon was carrying a whole shelf’s worth of novels. The twins had even gotten one book gift-wrapped for Julia, though much to her displeasure, they had insisted on keeping it wrapped up until today.
“Oh, Julia, just listen to these titles,” the twins said, snickering. They then began to list off some of their favorites.
“Is it ok to feminize monsters and adventurers when remodeling a dungeon?”
“I took an arrow to the junk, but instead of retiring, I decided to get a sex change. Now I’m adventurering as the hero’s girlfriend.”
“I was reborn as the Demon King’s overpowered daughter, but I’d rather just be a gyaru housewife.”
“Grim death dark black evil soul chaos time: True Ultimate Revengeance for being summoned to another world.”
Julia had to cringe, especially at that last one as it was spoken in stereo on both sides of her. A memory flashed before her of the first day her girlfriends had been transformed. Their initial panic at being inside of each-other’s head all of a sudden. To them, it seemed that they were going to lose their individuality all together at that point. Luckily, Julia was able to get them through this hurdle, and they were now using their unusual way of speaking for all sorts of nice purposes, Including those where Julia ended up without clothes on the bed...
Shaking those lewd thoughts out of her head, Julia winced and giggled at the same time. “Are those really the titles?!” she asked. It was hard to believe that those wordy and ridiculous titles were real. There was a reason she didn’t have any interest in these books, but they were apparently all the craze in Weebon.
“Don’t worry. We got a good one just for you,” Zexa Xeza said, smirking at each other.
Julia let out a sigh, smiling. She’d been a little bit worried about what sort of ridiculous book they had gotten her, judging by the other books they got for themselves. Then again, she knew the twins. They wouldn’t just give her a joke book… right?
“Well, what are you waiting for? After all, it is your birthday today”
Of course, it was Junyulus 3th, wasn’t it? And here they were, out on an adventure to get to some old dungeon. How could Julia have forgotten that? She looked between the expectant faces of the twins, sighing, before tearing open the wrapping to her birthday present. What she found inside was actually quite surprising!
“Magical Maids: Veyrth! Whoah, I haven’t read this in years!” Julia cheered excitedly. It was, after all, her favorite childhood book. A classic tale of a trio of guys, summoned to another world to vanquish evil. It had everything! Sexy magical transformations, classic sword fights, giant robots, yuri threesomes, and sometimes all at the same time. Julia couldn’t help but squeal a little as she noticed the rustic lettering. “No way, this can’t be… a 1st edition!!”
“Look inside,” Zexa smiled, turning to face Julia
“Of the cover” Xeza smiled, mimicking her sister.
“YOU… YOU GOT IT SIGNED!!!” Julia shouted in disbelief. She actually found herself almost falling off the bed before she managed to stabilize herself. She dragged both girlfriends into a bear hug. The pair had expected this and had both taken deep breaths beforehand. It still wasn’t enough though, as it was still squeezed out of them from Julia’s barely constrained joyous strength.
“We asked the charter of dates, Natsuki to pick it up during her trips,” The twins explained.
“I love it!” Julia squealed, pulling them even closer until, well, what else. All three of them were soon all up in each-other’s faces. Julia began to passionately make out with both of her lovers, who in turn had begun to tug on her clothing, slowly removing them and-
“Ahem!”
The sudden interruption sent all three gasping and they quickly grabbed the nearest bed sheets to cover themselves, looking around to see where the voice had come from.
“I hope the three of you haven’t forgotten your mission today. If I’m not much mistaken, you should be arriving there today,” Bridget cut them off as the portable communication device that Akita had rigged up for them in the carriage suddenly activated. The magitech invention projected an image of the eldest of the new Keepers against the carriage canvas. Even as a translucent visage, she held a timeless, metallic appeal. Though she was vocally admonishing them, the genuine smile on her face said otherwise.
“In any case, happy birthday Julia! From me and all the Sisters back at home!” Bridget cheered.
Julia giggled. “Thank you so much!” she cheered, carefully trying to pull her clothes back on underneath the blanket.
Bridget then turned her attention back to the twins. “But you two, please don’t forget your mission. I know it’s her birthday but this is important. And please don’t think you can let the adventurers you hired do all the work. They are going to need your help. Need I remind you the equipment is temporally sensitive?”
“Oh fine. But they can handle the base dungeon at least,” Zexa Xeza muttered. They pouted, their hands caught in the proverbial cookie jar. They too slowly began to pull their clothes back on, though reluctantly so. Julia couldn’t really blame them of course. After such a slow week on the road, they were all kind of in the mood.
“Probably, but we’re on the clock with this quest,” Bridget said, adopting her best motherly glare which honestly wasn’t very menacing but no one had the heart to tell her that. Instead, the three just let out a collective groan at the pun.
“Now, where’s the birthday byte,” came a second voice as Akita's face popped up into the holographic view. She rubbed up against Bridget suggestively, causing the latter to blush and giggle.
“Akita, stop…” Bridget stammered as she started to blush. Even though her skin was made of metal, you could still distinguish the slightly redder hues in her face.
“No I won’t, my Petabyte,” Akita responded, giving her a kiss on the cheek. It was an adorable sight within the limited view space of the imager.
“There you are! Happy birthday!” Akita cheered.
“Thank you!” Julia said with a smile, finally modest enough again to get out from under the blankets.
“Now, did you remember where I put our gift for you?” Akita asked.
“Of course, they’re safely stored. Can I open them now?” Julia nodded, thinking to the packages that they had entrusted her with.
“I’d say save it for an emergency but I’ll leave it up to you. Just remember that while Laset was a genius inventor, he was also a mad genius. Even if this dungeon wasn’t his main lab, it still has plenty of secrets.”
“Ohh what gift? Hmm, is Julia keeping... Secrets from us?” Zexa Xeza said simultaneously.
“No screwing the gift out of her, you Terabytes,” Akita said firmly. Julia, who had been nervously sweating between the twins’ gazes, was quite thankful for that. Akita wasn’t really one to get strict at all, preferring to remain playful, but she could raise her voice only around those she truly cared about.
“Fiiine,” the twins muttered, pouting.
“I still think I should have gone there… or Kaidyn,” Akita said, addressing Bridget now.
“Akita, you and Kaidyn both have your own missions to worry about, and you know it. You’re the only one of us who can solve those equations on the cube Nyela found,” Bridget reasoned.
Akita shrugged. “Alright, alright,” she chuckled.
“Oyy ladies, we’ve arrived,” came a thick and gruff shout, cutting into the conversation from outside the wagon.
“We’ll leave you to do your work. Just remember to keep us updated on any developments,” Bridget said as her visage began to fade.
“Of course, sisters,” Zexa Xeza replied but as soon as it deactivated, they turned towards Julia simultaneously, a devious smirk plastered all over their faces.
“Now where could those gifts be?” they said.
“We’ll uh… We’ll be right there!!” Julia shouted to the men outside as she quickly hopped up and out of the wagon before the twins could grab her for a more ‘formal’ interrogation.
Once outside, Julia could see the outskirts of the dungeon. The complex itself didn’t look all that impressive, having been buried by time and smothered by plant life. The only obvious hint that it was even there, besides the giant Guild Sign of course, was the pixelated elemental digitization of the plant life in the area that marked the border of the dungeon. It reminded her a whole lot of Akita’s simulations.
“So this is Laset’s Summer Descent, it doesn’t look like a summer home, does it?” the twins said as they followed her out. They both looked to have made a complete turn around from mere seconds ago, looking and acting very professional now. Still, Julia could tell they were both a little annoyed with her escape. It wasn’t obvious, but the micro twitches on their dials were a clear indicator. She’d known the twins for long enough to recognize it alright, and it made her a little bit nervous for what would happen the next time they were alone. Then again, it was her birthday. They wouldn’t get too kinky tonight right?… right?!?!
Shaking off her worries for now, the trio caught up to the rest of their party. The adventurers they had hired were waiting by the Guild Sign for the dungeon.
“Julia, you’re looking hot today! You know, they say the best way to spend your birthday is with one's family! I’ll help you out, if you ever want some more,” Samson Punchalot shouted. It had been his burly voice that had interrupted them earlier and he was also the first adventurer that had joined. Samson was how would you describe it… well simply put a big hunk of meat. He was so bulky and muscular for a human that he was almost mistakable for a giant dwarf if it wasn’t for his lack of a beard. That said, his giant mustache and chest hair that could make a bear blush almost made up for it. Other than that though, the fist fighter looked relatively plain with his generic crop cut black hair, a tight green short sleeve tunic that was likely one size too small that showed off his thick muscles, and his loose but somehow also tight fitting tan slacks and black boots.
“Oh uh… Happy birthday...” The other hired help muttered. He was Maverick Mcburn, the weebonese mage who simply stared at the twins but didn’t make any outlandish comments like the other one. The mage had a thin and sullen face and a wiry frame to match, though that was mostly covered by his loose and ill-fitted robes. Despite it all, it was the dead fish eyes that made it clear he was a bit of a creeper. He never said anything disrespectful or perverted like the other one did but it was clear just by looking at him that he was likely undressing the twins in his mind, or worse… After all, it was the same look the twins gave Julia when they were in the mood.
All in all, they were the only two professional adventurers that had accepted the quest. It wasn’t too surprising, given that this quest in particular was one that really only paid out if the quest was a success. It was usually only something done on a guaranteed success or when there were limited funds. In this case, it was mostly the latter as there were a couple of projects with huge expenses that were eating up the budget of the church.
Unfortunately, being professional adventurers did not mean socially competent, or anything else outside of their chosen professions for that matter. They both had developed obvious crushes on the three of them and the word 'no’ apparently didn’t appear in their dictionaries. Samson, for instance, had been not so quietly stalking Julia after she had kicked his ass in an arm wrestling match in the guild hall a few months ago. Despite already being rebuked, he kept making very vocal statements, wondering how a foursome would be ‘awesome’. Julia was therefore quite reluctant on hiring him when he first enlisted for the quest.
Maverick’s interest seemed to be a mix of lust and intellect. The mage, despite his last name, appeared to have knowledge about and interests in time magics. Unfortunately, he asked for some more hands on applications regarding his research at the church and, despite the obvious rejections, continued to pester them. Of course, this quest gave him a valid excuse to observe Julia and especially the twins closely.
Regardless, there was a time and place to brood on these matters and standing in front of the dungeon wasn’t one of them.
“Maverick. You mentioned you’ve been here before, right? Anything important we should know before we start?” Julia asked, glancing at the mage.
“Eh… nothing we haven’t discussed before. You can leave the Carriage here. the guild marker will secure it as an official job. If we were just here on the typical construct culling run, we would easily be back in a couple of hours as it’s a fairly small dungeon. However, if the decrypter you mentioned works, who knows how long it could take. We could find hidden rooms or even entire undiscovered floors,” the mage replied clearly elated at the thought.
“Well, we’ve brought over a week's worth of supplies. Here’s hoping it’ll be enough,” Julia said as she effortlessly lifted a huge supply pack as big as she was out of the carriage.
“Let me help with that,” Samson said as he took the 2nd pack which was just as large, though he looked to be struggling with it a bit more than Julia was. “So what’s this about construct culling?”
“I mentioned it to the priestesses earlier. Putting it into words even a simpleton like you could comprehend, this dungeon constantly produces magitech constructs. When I say it constantly, I do mean constantly. They emerge every 30 to 60 minutes or so. On their own they’re not too dangerous but you’ll sing a different tone when faced with a whole army of them. Needless to say, if this dungeon is left alone for too long, they begin to overflow into the countryside and wreak havoc on everything. As such, there's daily culling quests that the local guild house issues,” Maverick explained thoughtfully as he checked the guild sign. “Looks like there are two other parties inside at the moment doing just that, given their both silver ranks.”
“Has no one tried to shut down the construct production??” Samson asked puzzled.
“There was an attempt to shut it down in the past but it apparently triggered the self-defense mechanisms of the dungeon. The stories from those that survived the event were quite terrifying to say the least. I don’t know the exact details as it was over a hundred years ago but there's been a restriction placed on trying that again ever since,” Maverick replied, shrugging indifferently. “Personally, I think they just don’t want to mess up a stable income. I hear those quests fetch quite a bit of cash around these parts.”
“Anyways, are you all ready to begin?” The twins asked, their Staff of Cycles at the ready.
“Ready!” Julia replied cheerfully as she readied her shield.
“Ready to bust some mechanical heads!” Samson shouted even louder.
“Very well. Stand back everyone,” Maverick said calmly. He then outstretched his arm as radiant flames gathered around him. As he pointed at the gates of the dungeon, the flames quickly thrusted forward. The flames quickly sundered the digitized plant life. However, rather than catch on fire, the trees disappeared in a stream of digitization. This revealed a large magitech gate that had withstood the tests of time remarkably well. “Get inside, quickly, before they regrow,” Maverick mentioned. Sure enough, the scattered pixels of plant life were slowly starting to recombine once more...
The journey through the initial floor of the dungeon was fairly uneventful. The path was relatively clear, though there were sounds of combat coming from some of the halls and rooms they’d passed by as the culling teams went about their business. There was some nervousness when the first dozens of robotic constructs spawned upon them but they were easily dispatched, offering minimal challenge to the party. While the enemies didn’t prove much of a challenge, the geography of the dungeon certainly did, very much earning Laset’s Summer Descent its classification as a dungeon. There was so little sense to the structure's many corridors and snaking pathways that led nowhere half of the time. There was even a room where gravity seemed to be flipping all around constantly. Luckily, the many culling teams of the past had been able to more or less map out most of the area. All that they had to do was follow the map that Zexa Xeza was holding.
“Straight.”
“Down.”
“Left.”
“Right.”
“U-turn.”
“Shake.”
“Twirl.”
“Those aren’t directions!” Julia shouted in the middle of the dance she had found herself doing. The twins just whistled innocently in response.
“What, they aren’t?” Samsom asked mid twirl, while Maverick just chuckled at the idiocy of his teammates.
Eventually, after several more easy fights with constructs and yet another birthday dance musical number that Julia would disavow all memory of, the group arrived at their destination. The singular long corridor they had been following ended abruptly as a blazing blue wall of digital pixelated flames barred their path.
“So this is the blue dungeon firewall we were looking for,” the twins said, staring intensely into the flames. Half melted pools of constructs that had wandered to close littered the floor in front of it.
“Yep. This is one of the firewalls. As far as we’ve been able to find out, there are five of these in the dungeon, each with a different color. Though there could be more of these that we’ve not been able to find yet. I’ve tried ice spells on these before but they're just too hot. In fact, the resulting steam of those attempts were so hot, they could cook you just as easily as the flames would. Of course, I’m not a cryomancer archmage. They might have more luck getting through here, but alas. As if anyone could afford their fees, or find one with any interest for that matter,” Maverick said with a look of annoyance on his face, probably out of prior experience. “Anyways, you said you have a way to get through it, correct?”
“Correct, though this could still be dangerous, so we suggest standing back,” the twins said as they grabbed their staff in tandem, turning the sun at the top of it to face against the flame. Julia and the others simply scooted away, eager to watch what was going to happen.
Bracing against each other, Zexa walked towards the left wall while Xeza stayed put. They prepared themselves for a moment, pushing on the staff towards each other while Zexa… began twirling up the wall? Xeza, meanwhile, had to use all of her strength to keep her sister from falling, who by now was standing upside down on the ceiling, exactly above Xeza. The twins then began to rotate their staff between them, causing the flames to start dancing in tandem. A little at first but soon there was quite a bit of chaos. So much so that the flames eventually started to collapse in on themselves. Soon enough, the flames began to dissipate completely into pixels, much like the plant life had done at the gates. This kept going until there was a singular smooth clicking sound, finally deleting all of the pixels completely.
“The decoding is complete,” Zexa Xeza said as they both started to sway a little.” Now Julia, please catch us.”
Naturally, Julia obliged eagerly. She positioned herself to catch Zexa, who soon came falling down right into her arms, while Xeza lazily collapsed against her at the same time.
“That was impressive,” Maverick said with a bit of a tremble in his voice. He then not so subtly turned around, trying to straighten out his pants. Meanwhile, Samson just stared ahead, dumbfounded at the display that had just happened before them.
While the two men were busy, Julia faced her back to the two men and helped the twins stand up straight on their own feet again. She hugged them close to her face, where they proceeded to casually and lazily draw circles on her chest with their fingers. “Show-offs,” she whispered to them. “None of that was necessary was it? Didn’t Akita say the decoder could auto install?”
“My, My whatever are you talking about,” Zexa Xeza asked, looking at her innocently before both getting up and pointing towards the now open hallway. “In any case, let us continue!”
“We shall!!” Samson replied with a gusto that cut off Julia’s sighs.
Meanwhile, Maverick had finally turned around again, having straightened himself out. There was a glint in his eyes as he stared intently at the twins’ staff. He approached them and reached forwards with his hand. “Would it be possible to take a lo-”
“NO!!” was their unanimous reply. The pair then turned around again, holding onto their staff a little bit tighter. Meanwhile, Julia made sure to pay extra attention to the mage’s movements as she took her position between him and the twins.
Maverick just sighed and retreated again for now.
”Do be careful though. We don’t know what else could be-”
“INCOMING!” Samson shouted, interrupting the conversation as the sound of clanking metal was beginning to fill up the hallway, indicating the appearance of more constructs. However, instead of emerging from the walls like earlier, their forms solidified from digitally pixelated blocks, condensing in the space around them.
“Didn’t you say these things spawn every 30 plus minutes? It’s definitely not been that long since the last batch!” Julia snapped as she used her massive shield to bash some construct heads together that had spawned a little too close to Zexa Xeza.
“It’s been 17 minutes and 26,3 seconds,” the Twins confirmed. They didn’t appear fazed at all, fully trusting Julia to protect them from harm. They then prepared their staff again and shot out a beam of light in the direction of several constructs ahead of them.
“Hmm, you’re right... maybe the dungeon has more power to expend, now that this firewall is inactive,” Maverick proposed thoughtfully as a flaming lance burst out of his hands, obliterating the last machines in a singular intense blaze. When the resulting smoke cleared, the hallway was free of danger once more. The brawl had been over so swiftly and it honestly wasn’t any more dangerous than the earlier ones they had fought but it could overwhelm the culling parties if they were spawning even more frequently than they already were.
“In that case, we should probably turn it back on after we pass through it,” Julia said thoughtfully to the twins.
“Closing our way out seems like a bad idea. We should worry about that when we’re fully done here. We could encounter more dangerous foes on our way to the treasure room… or whatever it is we’re trying to reach,” Samson said resolutely.
Maverick nodded in agreement. “For once, I agree with the meathead. It’s mere speculation at this point in time anyway. I don’t see any reason to worry about it too much when we could be spending that time getting closer to our goal here. If you’re really worried, I can of course leave a Guild Marker for other parties to flock to,” he said.
“Very well. Proceed. After you finish with that, we shall continue,” Zexa Xeza nodded.
Maverick began making circles on the wall, using magic at the end of his fingertips, drawing a guild emblem. There were several different kinds of such emblems, but this one in particular was a way to let adventurers know that this specific location required extra attention from a more experienced party.
As the party walked down the unexplored corridor, they saw that gradually, even the metallic walls had begun to show signs of corrosion from elemental digitization. Random pixelated blocks lined the walls and even the air itself, which the party felt should probably be avoided lest they end up in a pixelated blob themselves. Finally, they reached an elaborately decorated door.
“This should be it. If we are correct this should lead to the estate’s R&R Zone,” Zexa Xeza said, turning to the rest of the party.
“This feels like one of those setups to keep something in, rather than keeping people out,” Samson said cautiously as he eyed the symbols on the door.
“Oh, getting cold feet are you?” Maverick mocked. “Don’t worry. R&R stands for Rest and Relaxation, even mad geniuses needed some time off after all. There should be a safe zone beyond this door.”
“I was just being cautious, you dweeb! Unlike your cowardly ways, I stand on the front lines like a real man,” Samson replied heatedly and slightly embarrassed at being shown up.
“Boys!” Julia yelled, interrupting them. “You can do your macho dance off later when we're done, got it?!” She could certainly get stern if she wanted to.
The two guys grumbled in response, quietly turning their attention back to the door, just in time to see the twins simply push them open. This revealed a large glass tube-like chamber that could probably fit a whole caravan.
“Shall we?” The twins asked, entering the chamber and gesturing for the others to join them.
“You two could be a little bit more cautious,” Julia sighed as she took her place next to them. As soon as they were all inside, the door behind them closed as the squeaking and ticking of long unused gears met their ears. Everybody gasped when the chamber itself suddenly hummed to life, feeling it moving? However, it didn’t feel like it was moving left or right, or even up or down.
“We suggest standing still for this portion,” the twins said. Of course, they had it easy as they both hugged Julia, knowing that the brawler would be as strong as a tree. Plus, Julia suspected that this was simply another excuse her lovers had for cuddling up to her. Aether pixelization suddenly began to fill the entire chamber as everything began to blur in a chaos of pixelated black and white.
“Is this supposed to happen?” Samson asked, a slight panic in his voice, but his cries were met with more blurring which stretched on for what felt like ages.
[Validating]
“Maybe. It’s too old for us to know for sure. We believe that it is merely checking for invaders,” Zexa Xeza replied, aether flowing off them like water as their staff glowed.
“It should be fine. I’ve done this plenty of times before, though with newer magitech... but a warning would have been nice,” Julia said, blushing from the dual hugs she was getting. She enjoyed it whenever they did it of course, but now was probably not the best time for it, as there could still be danger lurking around. As such, she dislodged the pair just as the blurring began to fade again.
[Authorization accepted]
“Amazing,” Maverick said, staring intently at the phenomenon. When enough of the blurring and pixelation had cleared up, the party could see that the windows of the tube, which had been completely dark before, now revealed what was outside of them. They could see what looked to be a sky of aether, stretching as far as the eye could see, and the chamber they were on was floating right in the middle of it on a series of ring-like tubes. More importantly, they could no longer see the dungeon they had been in just a minute ago. For a while, the chamber floated in the nothingness, until they suddenly spotted a series of floating islands, linked by several roads, that they were slowly approaching.
“That’s a pocket dimension, isn’t it? I knew Laset was rich and all but really? He had his own pocket dimension for his R&R Zone?!” Maverick stuttered, dumbstruck.
“Damn. How rich would you have to be to afford something like this,” Samson muttered. There was a sad look on his face as he reached for his own money pouch which didn’t look all that heavy at all.
“This is only one pocket dimension. It was said that Laset was rich enough that he owned several of these,” Zexa Xeza said as they inspected each island, wondering where their target could be located. All the while, their chamber brought them to the center most island. The largest of them all.
When the chamber finally stopped at a hub like station, various platforms could be seen with paths extending outwards to each of the other islands. It was like an advanced version of that new rail system being built across the land. While the structure had seen better days, it still ran smoothly despite the layers of digital dust on everything. A marvel of magical engineering. The lights flickered on and various doors opened up as they stepped out of their elevator and into the middle of Laset’s R&R plane.
“We do admit, this place is much larger than we had anticipated,” The twins said, looking around the area. “Helpdesk!” they shouted, only for the echo of their voices to answer them. “Darn... We were hoping that it would have one installed here. We guess we will need to search for it the old fashioned way.”
“Uh… so… I guess now’s as good a time as any to ask. What exactly are we looking for? Given that each island is probably bigger than the entire dungeon we were in, it could take weeks if not months to find anything,” Maverick said, nervously looking around at the various islands. The echo of his question only emphasized just how huge the area really was.
Zexa Xeza looked at each other, as if quietly talking without actually saying a word before nodding and turning towards their companions. Julia of course knew that they were talking mentally through their connection, but to the two men, it just looked confusing. “We are currently looking for the Chrono Cycler. Laset was known to have created and sponsored the Chrono Cycler, so we expect that he would have had his own stored here as he had his garage here.”
“What in the world is a ‘cycler’? Any descriptions of what they look like?” Samson asked with a completely oblivious look on his face.
“Are you serious? I thought a simple minded meathead like you would be all over the Orima Races but if you don’t even know what a cycler is, I’m guessing you’ve never heard of it after all…” Maverick interjected somewhat incredulously.
“Wha- I know what the Orima Races are!! It’s just that racing is not really my thing,” Samson replied indignantly, though looking pretty embarrassed in the process. The Orima races were one of this region’s specialties. People from all over the world flocked to them to watch, cheer, and most importantly, to bet on them.
“Really? I thought you’d be all over them,” Julia asked, tilting her head. “I know I certainly am. I’ve actually participated in the races last year.”
“You...you are… a racer?” Samson gasped as his blush instantly vanished to make way for the palest voice Julia had ever seen.
“Oh yeah! I even won some rounds!” Julia said, flexing her muscles and causing Zexa Xeza to swoon all over her again.
“Well… ah… a man can change his mind, right?!” Samson said nervously. Maverick just facepalmed in return.
“In any case, the gear they use for those races are all considered cyclers. It’s essentially any equipment gear type that uses the cycling motion of magitechology to function. Karts, bikes, and even roller skates all use some version of the basic principle,” Maverick explained. He then looked to the twins. “Though I do admit, I’ve never heard of a Chrono cycler before, let alone see one.”
“From what we know, the Chrono Cycler is unique enough in design to differentiate it from others. Mainly in that the wheels should be clocks. that’s all that we have on it though,” The twins admitted before a sudden loud “ROARRR” rippled through the area.
Maverick’s hands lit ablaze and Samsons hands came to the ready only for the twins to start giggling among each-other. “The time is now 7:00 PM and therefore dinnertime. We should set up camp,” they said, blushed and acting like nothing had happened as their tummies rumbled. Indeed, the artificial skyline was starting to dim, as was Sol at the top of Zexa Xeza’s staff, slowly transitioning to Luna.
“Haha! True enough, ladies. no point in searching on an empty stomach,” Samson laughed, already looking forward to raiding Laset’s fridge. “Shall we set up here?”
“Eh… the living quarters shouldn’t be too far away from here,” Julia interjected, pointing down the right side corridor. “I spotted some buildings that looked residential in that direction while we were coming down.”
“Hmmm, nice beds” Zexa smiled, her eyes gleaming at Julia. “And of course baths,” Xexa said, a devious grin all over her face directed at their girlfriend. “Very well let us make haste,” they said, not giving Julia enough time to react. Instead, they just grabbed her arms on either side and began skipping with her down the plaza with surprising speed. The adventurers struggled to keep up as they chased after them.
“You know, this place didn’t look nearly this big when we were coming down,” Julia said as the party was finishing up their dinner. They had found some mansion-like building that they decided looked safe enough to spend the night at. Like the station hub, it was clearly abandoned with the same layer of aetherial dust covering everything. Again though, there was no real damage. The lack of real weather around here likely prevented the degradation that would happen to normal ruins.
“Laset clearly spared no expense on this place,” Maverick said as he put his fork down. “I have to say, a lavishly decorated mansion is one of the last places I expected to spend the night at within a dungeon.”
“You and me both!” Samson cheered as he refilled his plate again for the fourth time. Or was it his fifth by now?
“We hope that you enjoyed the food. We have worked hard on this,” Zexa Xeza chimed in, having already had enough after their first plate.
Indeed, dinner was surprisingly good, given their limited resources within this dungeon, even if they weren’t exactly sure what those digitized blocks were supposed to be. The priestess sisters had insisted they prepare dinner tonight since it was of course their girlfriend’s birthday. As expected, they were especially chummy with each-other. It sometimes felt like they were pretending Samson and Maverick weren’t even there at all.
After they had cleaned up dinner, the girls instantly claimed the largest bedroom and locked it shut. The guys could only imagine what was going on behind those closed doors.
“Well… I guess I’ll be going to bed as well then,” Samson said. “Long day ahead of us and all that.”
“Hmm, yes… you are right,” Maverick nodded in agreement. He seemed to eye Samson for just a moment longer before turning around to find a bedroom of his own.
To Samson that seemed quite suspicious. Maverick agreed with him and there was no accompanying insult? However, there wasn’t really enough time to think about it. After all, he had his own plans for tonight. He pretended to enter one of the many hallways but as soon as he was in, he quickly turned around and peeked around the corner, making sure that Maverick wasn’t around anywhere. When he deemed the coast to be clear, he snuck back down the stairs. Going out of the front door wouldn’t be wise of course, as it would make too much noise. Instead, he snuck to the kitchen, opened a window and climbed out there instead. When he was outside, Samson felt a little bit more comfortable. He could now look for the Chrono Cycler himself and impress Julia before that annoying mage could get his grubby hands on it!
However, that was when he heard a sudden noise. Jumping to alert, Samson checked his surroundings. The dimmed artificial lighting was quite unnatural and made it harder to see. “Show yourself!” he shouted, his fists at the ready.
“Ugh… of course I’d find you sneaking out,” came an all too familiar voice as a figure manifested itself in front of him from an invisibility spell they had been using, revealing Maverick.
“Oh it‘ s just you… wait where are you headed?” Samson growled at the mage. He didn’t necessarily hate him, because at least they weren’t trying to go for the same girl, but his personality just rubbed him the wrong way.
“Likely the same place and reason you were,” Maverick answered plainly. He, too, did not look all that pleased to find Samson out here, having hoped of finding the Cycler by himself.
“Right,” Samson sighed. “This dungeon isn’t really my thing but for Julia...”
“Bah! The twins are clearly hotter but I digress… truce for now?” Maverick said, his hand outstretched. Samson eyed it for a moment. He didn’t really like sharing the spoils with the mage but there was no other option now, was there. He nodded and shook hands with him in wingman agreement. “So where are we headed? You clearly have an idea.”
“I do! I may not know the terminology magitech mages use but mechanist buildings are usually built roughly the same, even if this one is in a pocket dimension,” Samson answered truthfully. “It isn’t exactly hard to figure out which ones to check as we did have a bird’s eye view when we were coming down after all.”
“Well, lead on then,” Maverick flourished as Samson grumbled.
The pocket plane was eerily quiet as the pair made their way down the empty streets towards the smoke stacks by the coliseum on the opposite side of the island. One often took for granted the sounds of the wind and insects when traveling the roads. Now, only the patting of their footsteps and occasional banter was the only real noise.
Eventually, they found themselves in front of Laset’s Garage according to the signs. If they were going to find racing gear, the garage would of course be the most obvious place to start. There were several large sectional roll up doors that seemingly automatically opened as they approached each revealing Cyclers of various builds.
“Huh… well that was easy,” Samson said as he spotted a kart-like vehicle with 4 large clock faced wheels on one of the center podiums. What was more surprising was the fact that it wasn’t even the strangest vehicle to be found in the garage. There were rolling carpets, pizza rollers and even hamster wheels??
“You think this is it?” Samson asked, looking towards Maverick.
“Unless this is some elaborate trap designed by Laset, then yes, it is the cycler we’re looking for,” Maverick said, seemingly lost in thought.
“Well, let's get this thing to the priestesses then!” Samson said, moving to grab the cycle off the podium.
‘BBZZZTT!’
The podium flickered as an energy field suddenly became visible.
“Ouch!” Samson shouted in surprise from the shock.
Maverick chuckled. “You didn’t think Laset would just leave his stuff unattended without some form of protection, did you?” Maverick said simply as he tapped the field with his staff only for it to be casually repelled as well.
“Would it kill you to say something next time?” Samson grumbled as he shook his stinging hand. “So what is it exactly? Another security wall like that fire?”
Something caught his eye then. There was some kind of blinking display appearing on a monitor next to the podium.
[System Error: Chrono Cycler can only be used by Circuit Participants.]
“Interesting. I guess only racers can use it,” Maverick said, examining the screen from various angles.
“Can’t we just register as racers and take it then? I mean, it’s not like there are any races running at the moment so we won’t have to participate in any races.”
“Why do you think it would just let us register?” Maverick sneered. “I highly doubt such a simple and stupid plan could...”
Suddenly, the display changed its color from red to blue as a new prompt appeared.
[Do you wish to register for a race?]
[YES] [NO]
“Really...? Is this thing voice activated or something?” Maverick asked, clearly very annoyed as he started looking around the room.
“Come now, Mavey. Are you really gonna look a gifted horse in the mouth?” Samson chuckled, patting the mage on the back and gesturing towards the Chrono Cycler less than a foot away from them.
“I mean, yes? This is all a bit too coincidental for my liking. Fate is a fickle mistress and I don’t trust it one bit,” Maverick grumbled. He was about to turn around to try and think of another plan when he noticed that the [Yes] option on the screen had been highlighted. Oh no… In that last sentence, he said...
“I didn’t mean that!!” he shouted but it was already too late as the screen changed and a bar appeared, gradually filling up as [Registering] flickered intermittently.
“What did you do?!” Samson yelped as runic magical circles appeared around them.
“I didn’t d-”
Was the last thing that Maverick could say before the circle activated, causing the pair to start disassembling into digital bytes.
“Initializing Grand Circuit Cycling Tour,” boomed the system as the coliseum awoke for the first time in hundreds of years.
Xeza stretched her arms and held her staff up high. Luna, the moon, shone its light down upon her, casting its shadow upon her dress. Being the priestess of the moon dial, she was the night owl of the three of them. Sometimes, this made for boring nights as Zexa and Julia would often sleep early. Late at night was usually the only time she could ever be somewhat alone in her thoughts. Of course, they could never be truly alone, what with Zexa’s dreams still penetrating her mind. At times like these, Xeza would often reminisce about the days before their transformation. Back then, they both thought they didn’t have any privacy at all between them already, but now? Sometimes, she wished to go back to those days and she knows Zexa shared those feelings. Then again, they both agreed that they very much enjoyed being time elementals. On top of that, they were both very glad to have this mental connection most of the time. If only there was a way to shut it off temporarily…
Regardless, Xeza decided to take this opportunity to just read some more of their collection of Weebon books. Reading was another thing. It had taken them quite some practice but they were now able to both read different books at the same time and still follow their respective stories. Of course, it was far easier to read at this time of night, with Zexa off in dreamland and Julia off in a pool of exhaustion and an adorable afterglow. Her other birthday gift had her moaning for hours after all.
However, her reading was disturbed by a sudden infernal racket that swept through the mansion. It caused both Zexa and Julia to stir, but they remained soundly asleep.
“What are those adventurers doing now…” Xeza grumbled. Silently, she snuck out of their bedroom and closed the door behind her, hoping they wouldn’t wake up from it. She looked around the hallways for their adventuring aides. “Maverick! Samson!” she shouted but there was no response. Following her ears, Xeza eventually found herself walking towards the living room. The apparent source of the noise.
“Whoah! That has to be the biggest Crystal Vision set I’ve ever seen,” Xeza said in awe at the crystalline display she encountered in the living room. The whole thing may have been even taller and wider than the wagon they had rode on to get here. It was even curved around like a coliseum set piece!
In the middle, the title [Orima Cycle] was flashing in light blue. The moment Xeza approached it though, the screen suddenly changed. ‘Here comes a new challenger!!!’ now flashed across the screen. Then, transitioning from the sight, there was a display of what looked to be a racing area. First, the screen showed off some of the contestants. Xeza simply raised an eyebrow at some of them. Who in their right mind would let a bunch of Zombimbos participate in such a race? However, that’s when the image of the very confused looking adventuring duo appeared on the screen.
Xeza sighed. “Those idiots! We told them how dangerous this place could be!” she huffed.
Of course, there was no way for them to hear her as the screen changed again, showing the racers taking their positions. Xeza couldn’t help but chuckle as Samson and Maverick took their places clumsily. Apparently, they were using a three legged cycle position where one leg from both linked to the same wheel cycle, despite the notable size difference between the two. They were clearly arguing with each-other about the whole thing too. Something did catch Xeza’s attention about the cycler though.
“That’s it! That’s the chronocycler! I guess they found it but… it looks like they are stuck for now. Hopefully we can salvage this somehow,” Xeza said, unable to prevent the urge to facepalm. However, no amount of facepalming was going to stop this race from starting and, needless to say, Maverick and Samson were terrible. Xeza wasn’t sure if she should laugh at their misfortune or scream at their idiocy. Thus, she settled for just nervously giggling as she watched what could only be described as a comedy routine between the two struggling to finish even one lap.
“Well, that’s one way to race…” Xeza mused. She had to admit, it was pretty funny to watch them struggle. “But… what can we do from here?” she pondered, looking around the room. She noticed then that there was some sort of tablet with a smaller screen resting on the table in front of the Crystal Vision with a prompt on it.
[Management Options]
Raising an eyebrow, Xeza tapped it, causing more selections to appear on the screen.
Style - Locked
[Full Manual]
Vehicle - Locked
[Chrono Cycle] [Doubles]
Race - Locked
[Orima Grand Circuit Cycling Tour. Year 769]
The top settings were already locked in place but there were dozens of management sub options available.
“Well well well, this could be interesting…” Xeza smirked as she went over the various different options she had at her disposal. She once again looked up at the pair. They almost crashed out of a bend in the road but managed to stay on track at the last second somehow. She figured that that couldn’t have been because of their skill, but rather that of the cycler. A grimace passed over her face as she examined the additional settings. Perhaps she could still have some fun while trying to get the two adventurers out.
Skins
[Original Scan]
“Oh this is going to be a headache… but maybe…”
Cycle Mods
[Chrono Cycle]
“HHHHHmmmmm. Perhaps I should...”
Bonuses
[None]
“Ohohoho”
“I have no idea how we won that round but this is still all your fault,” Samson huffed in annoyance as they readied for the next round of the race.
“Wasn’t it YOUR idea to enter the race in the first place?! And let’s not forget that moment that you overdid the jump and landed us in the water!” Maverick yelled as he shook his head, a small flame drying his bright silver flowing locks of hair out.
“It was a shortcut!” Samson yelled back as he let his golden blonde hair flow next to the drying flames as well.
“A shortcut?! Are you nuts?! You’re lucky I pulled three stars and a platinum shroom or we would have been dead last!” Maverick shouted angrily, sticking his tongue out between his cute, soft, sensual lips.
“Oh whatever. That's just luck-based rubber banding. If you hadn’t slipped on that banana peel we would have made the jump,” Samson shouted back, doing the same with his pale skin contrasting greatly against Maverick’s thick tan.
Their faces were mere centimeters away from each-other, their cheeks all puffed up. This caused them both to blush and turn away from one another, folding their arms. Their annoyance was cut short, however, as they both felt a pull on their hair.
“Ow Ow Ow! What did you do!?” Samson shouted, his head pounding against that of Maverick.
“Ow Ow!! Stop pulling! Baka!! You’re just making it worse!” Maverick yelled back as he noticed that their hair had tangled together in a singular knot.
“You got it knotted!” Samson yelled as he lamented why this was happening to him?!
“Well, stop fidgeting so I can untangle it!” Maverick yelled back, trying his best to start working on the knot.
[The next round is about to begin. All racers, please move to the starting area]
“Oh crap…” they both stammered.
“You really shouldn’t stay up so late,” Zexa lectured with a frown. Xeza simply yawned and rubbed some of the sleep from her eyes without much results. The artificial rays of the sun were slowly creeping into the building as Luna on their staff had begun to transition into Sol.
“You get the next round,” Xeza nodded sleepily as their attention returned to the racers on the screen. There was no need for Xeza to explain everything to her sister, for her knowledge had already become Zexa’s. There were no secrets between the sun and moon after all.
“Those idiots!” Zexa hissed.
“That’s what I said,” Xeza said, half nodding off.
“You’re turning them into girls?” Zexa pondered.
“They would have become girls anyway by the attacks of the other racers, the cost is just getting paid... earlier in their lifetimes. It was simply more efficient this way.” Xeza responded, as she leaned into her sister and closed her eyes.
“And their entangled hair…” Zexa began.
“... is so they share a bond somewhat like ours, though more physical and less complex. It’ll protect them somewhat from some of the enemy’s mental attacks,” Xeza finished.
They simply watched the race proceed when they noticed the tell-tale sign of a temporal shift happening within the race, and thus, in their timeline. It was something only time elementals could truly notice. The Chrono Cycler had adjusted itself again. It pulled on its wielder’s timelines, fueling itself. Yet another moment from the future would be drained up, all to edge them closer to victory.
“This is worrying… but perhaps we can work with this,” Zexa Xeza said together nodding in agreement.
Zexa had no trouble navigating the application, as Xeza had already figured that out for her. She began fiddling around with some of the settings while her sister started dozing off. Time ebbed as it drained on Samson and Maverick’s future but she twisted the MOMENTS. The pull from their future was ignored as instead it drew on their past while a new past was formed to compensate. What once were lives filled with bench presses and book reading became lunges and synchronization.
Their old past as a cost…
A new past given...
Their future was reserved...
All so that there would be enough fuel...
For the Chrono cycle would bring victory at a high price to pay but the costs for those MOMENTS could be altered.
“YES.”
“I didn’t know we could change modes midrace...” Synsae said between her exhausted panting. He had found himself carrying Maevyn ponyback style for almost half that last race while the latter defended him from the attacks of the other cyclers.
“Yatta! Well we did and we won! Thank goodness! I got a little shinpai desu after that kink bomb hit us but we still came out on top!” Maevyn said as he rubbed his still enlarged breasts. Wasn’t it supposed to have worn off by now? Not that he minded of course. It was just a little embarrassing to have Synsae lean in against them constantly. At the very least, he appeared to be enjoying it so it was probably fine… right?
After their surprise first round win, they had been targeted by the enemy cyclers with all sorts of physical and transformational attacks. In the process, their clothes had mostly been torn to shreds. To preserve their modesty, it was high time for some new clothes. Then, as if someone was reading their thoughts, there was a sudden audible ‘PING’ as new clothes that matched the color schemes of Zexa and Xeza digitized in front of them.
“Watashi call the bodysuit!” Maevyn shouted without hesitation. He didn’t even question the strange occurrence that had just happened as the lust in his eyes quickly overtook him. The tight, silver bottom would without a doubt show off all of his curves just like Xeza had taught him, while skin tight golden top would crush Synsae’s complaints just as Zexa would want it.
“Fine,” Synsae said, rolling his eyes at his partner's broken weeblish. He just picked up the other outfit which, in all honesty, wasn’t all that different. Maybe the crop top and shorts showed just a little bit more skin but he didn’t really care. Julia had taught him that muscles were sexy and if you had them, why not show them?
They both couldn’t help but blush as they stared at each other's matching yet opposing outfits. Zexa Xeza Sensei definitely designed these… but hadn’t they always done so since they had joined Julia Senpai’s Order? Fashion wasn’t exactly the forte of Synsae and Maevyn, and especially not that of Julia Senpai after all.
The Chrono Cycler had accepted the rerouted fuel sources.
The Moments chosen were consumed as they anticipated.
“Do you think we should...” Zexa asked.
It was all just so simple. Some minor changes to some Moments in their past and the butterfly effect would take care of the rest. A new series of Moments, all leading to a series of chance meetings years ago.
“Why not? They are lonely and it will make them happy, and it is the most efficient option,” Xeza replied.
The errant Moments were consumed. Instead, what was once a passing became a lifetime for both.
Moments, a chance adventuring mishap led to bosoms and despair.
Moments, a chance meeting with a cute paladin would lead to love and repair.
“Besides, Julia might appreciate it,” the twins said together grinning. “It’ll also be nice to have one.”
As the Moments were gradually consumed, their time updated. morphing into an entirely new set of Moments.
The dusk of one time would bring the dawn of another.
This budding Paladin Order would be devoted to their Cycles and would facilitate the growth necessary for victory.
“Should we really?” Zexa Xeza pondered.
The Sun mentored as Rivalry was turned into Friendship.
The Moon nurtured as Friendship was turned into Companionship.
As Companionship was turned into Love under their eternal Cycle.
An Order of Cycles was born.
“YES!”
“Would you stop that already? This is a racetrack, not a bedroo… AHHHhhh!” Synsae moaned as Maevyn grinded, err... massaged her weak spot against her. They had decided to start the race low to the ground into each-other’s loving arms. It allowed for great aerodynamics and explosive power at the start! Okay, perhaps that last part was a bit over exaggerated but it DID distract all of the other racers enough that they were left in the dust.
“Kimi wa like this, don’t you,” Maevyn teased. Their hair link transmitted the general gist of their thoughts and so, betrayed some of the lewd thoughts Synsae was having. The artificial spell matrices that formed the bond weren't quite as efficient as that of the mistresses but they were still proud of the design.
“S-shut up!” Synsae said, blushing as they sped through the tunnel. They were actually going so fast that they managed to loop up the wall, over the ceiling and down the other wall. It was not necessary to do that at all, but the two did enjoy making a show out of their race alright.
“Just ichi more lap! Watashi protect!” Maevyn said, licking Synsae proudly as they sped out of the tunnel, dodging another bimbo beam in the process. They were getting used to the tricks and powers of the other cyclers by now, and Maevyn was definitely not going to let a mere bimbo beam affect a Weebon gyaru like herself!
“That was a close one!” Synsae gasped. Of course, Maevyn had to protect Synsae above all. Her muscles were what kept them on the track most of the time.
“Shinpai janai desu! I will protect you! We’re a team right? And there’s no I in lesbian after all!” Maevyn nodded self assuredly.
“The phrase is ‘there’s no I in team’ you dork... “ Synsae sighed, staring at her fellow trainee. She wondered what went through her head sometimes, if anything at all. Their hair link only allowed for a general gist after all. It had only been a few years since they had met but their training with Julia Senpai and Zexa Xeza sensei after joining the Order of Cycles had taken them so far already. What better way to pay them back then to win these items they were looking for.
However, there was no time to dwell on it for much longer as they had arrived at the S turns of the track, which required a lot of concentration on her part. Luckily, their synthetic gold and silver outfits worked really well for this. Being perfect mirrors of each-other, they were a reflection of their oath to the Order of Cycles, and they were so streamlined that they had barely any friction with the air around them. It was as if these outfits were made to work well with their Chrono cycle, though knowing Zexa Xeza sensei, that probably was the case.
As the duo sped out of the final S bend, they crossed the finish line in first place yet again, much to the excitement of the crowds.
Synsae kissed Maevyn lovingly. “Wanna start the next race like this as well?” she whispered.
Maevyn eagerly nodded in return.
“Ah, there you two are...” Julia yawned blurry eyed while stretching her arms upon entering the living room. It wasn’t all that big of a surprise to find Zexa out of bed as she usually arose slightly before sunrise but to find Xeza out of bed as well? Something must have been up alright. It was even more surprising to find them both in front of a Crystal vision set watching a race. Or well, Zexa was. Xeza appeared to be snoozing soundly, despite the multitude of noises coming from the cyclers on the screen.
“Good morning, Julia! You should have some,” Zexa said excitedly, gesturing to the dozens of mostly empty coffee cups scattered throughout the room.
“So… what’s up? What are you doing here and where did those two go?” Julia asked as she took one of the still steaming coffee cups. When she woke up, she had wandered around the manor for a moment to try and find Zexa Xeza, only to realize that their companions had vanished in the night as well.
“Take a look for yourself,” Zexa said, simply pointing at the screen. Julia eyed the screen before spurting out the coffee she had just been drinking. She was half laughing, half groaning as she watched her squires race?
“They activated a simulation of the Orima Races Grand Prix Circuit that the system recorded,” Zexa added.
“What?! Why?!” Julia groaned.
“Seems they found the Cycler during the night while we slept,” Zexa sighed.
“Wait they found it and they didn’t just tell us?” Julia asked incredulously, fully intending on giving them an earful. They were her squires! While, technically, they had finished and become full fledged paladins, they were still under her charge. She was the Head Paladin after all.
“They wanted to surprise you for your birthday,” Zexa chuckled while handing Julia a new cup of coffee and a towel. “Did you know that while the Orima races happen annually, it turns out that the Chrono cycler was only ever allowed in one actual race. As such, that’s the only race it’s allowed to be used in, even in this simulation. It got banned shortly afterwards for being too powerful.” Zexa was mostly explaining it by herself but Xeza still muttered some of the missing words in her sleep.
“What’s so broken about it? Some of those other Orima Cyclers have some ridiculous magitech. I mean, look at this,” Julia mentioned, gesturing to the well known Princess Crownobile currently on screen who wooshed into another racer, who was promptly turned into a pretty princess with a huge ballgown. The ballgown, of course, caught wind. So much so, in fact, that they were actually blown off the rainbow course. “And remember that Void Cycler last year?” Julia added, shuddering at the memories.
“Well, hmm, how did Bridget put it? Time Cycles... Ah yes. It allows the user to cycle through temporal possibilities and always picks the best possible outcome that will lead to them achieving their goal. In this case, to win the race,” Zexa explained.
“Okay… fair enough… I can see why that would be banned,” Julia deadpanned as she thought about why they had kept it under wraps. Such an artifact would be worth a Demon King's ransom.
“Uhuh. Unfortunately, on top of it being broken, Laset also underestimated the costs that the Chrono Cycler has. You see, it utilizes the wielder's timeline as fuel for its power. The original users, I believe, died of old age at the Orima medal podium.”
“What!? Then we have to get Synsae and Maevyn out! Can we shut it off somehow?!” Julia yelled, worry filling her. Leaving them to use up their lifespan was out of the question!
“Forcibly ending the cycle mid circuit... It would be dangerous to say the least, seeing as it wouldn’t just change the end point of the cycle,” Zexa warned.
“Then what can we do??” Julia asked.
“What do you think we’ve been working on throughout the night? All they have to do is complete the circuit to finish the current race cycle.”
“But that means they’ll be winning...” Julia said.
“Why yes. The Chrono Cycler will ensure that they will,” Zexa nodded.
“Won’t that just pull on their remaining time further?!” Julia asked, raising an eyebrow.
“DEAR! We are time elementals! Give us a little credit,” Zexa Xeza said while Xeza finally woke up again, looking rather under-slept. “We have manually searched through their past time correlations and used those as fuel instead to get the desired results. While there are some ‘side effects’... we made sure nothing terrible would happen. In fact, things are already different from how they were last night.”
“Different? Different how?” Julia asked. She didn’t notice anything different about Maevyn and Synsae. They were still her squires within the Order she and Zexa Xeza had established. What could have been so different last night?
“Normally, we are not allowed to tell anyone but… you are you and we cannot possibly keep secrets from you,” Zexa Xeza said, obviously trying to make Julia feel a little guilty about the secret birthday gift she had been given by Akita and Bridget. “We will tell you later. For now, just sit back and enjoy the show.”
“Fine... But if it looks really bad, I’m going to use your blue screen breaker to get them out,” Julia said as she started pacing nervously around the room while watching the pair race three legged style down the rainbow road. They were actually pulling a good pace as they hugged against each other while drifting past a particularly tight curve.
“WATCH OUT!” Julia shouted. It was unnerving to watch Maevyn get hit by a green boulder thrown by another cycler. Then again, Maevyn was always a bit of a masochist. Even on the screen, it was clear by her face that she was getting off on body blocking the projectile. In the meantime, Synsae looked behind her and pulled out what looked to be an umbrella with a clock on it. It was her Chrono umbrella. She smirked as she opened it to ‘stop’ the rival cyclers mid jump, causing them to fall into the abyss.
“NO!!!” Julia cried out. Her nerves were on edge when they got zapped by one of the transformation beams by the Bimbo riders but, thinking about it, both of them did always have a pretty bimboish build. Their hourglass figures were a bit on the muscular side but they still kept it lean so as not to affect their looks all that much. Synsae was likely offloading the mental effects to Maevyn who, being a weebon version of a bimbo (what was it called. Gyaru or such?), was more or less unaffected by the mental effects.
“Stop cheating, you @#$@#%@%” Julia shouted at the CV as one of the other cyclers threw a squid into Synsae’s face. The ink splattered all over her face but instead of slowing down, they were speeding up. It must have been the Chrono cycler at work! Wait… When had Maevyn mounted Synsae from behind? It appeared she was acting as navigation and the front wheel. She never taught them that…
“Really? You managed to hit a banana peel?!” Julia groaned, facepalming as the two squires spun out. However, they used the opportunity to switch cycle mode. As they entered the tunnel, the cycler split into two with both riders zipping down the walls on either side. Were they really copying the ceiling walk thing that Zexa Xeza had done yesterday to remove the firewall?
“YES!!! YOU GOT THIS!” Julia cheered. It was neck and neck! The Princess Crownobile unleashed a princess rain upon them but they flowed through it, cycling between 5 different modes to dodge the portions of the attack that didn’t get blocked by their Chrono Umbrella. As the finish line came closer and closer, Synsae and Maevyn got closer to the ground for aerodynamics and...
As they passed the finish line, it was clear that both had given it all they had and a loud voice resonated throughout the pocket plane, announcing them as [WINNERS!!].
“WOOO!!!!” Julia hollered with excitement while the twins seemingly just basked in her energy.
“Hmm, oh right. Change the exit node to here,” Zexa Xeza said. Their hands filtered through a dozen menus on the application in front of them as faster than humanly possible. Soon enough, Synsae and Maevyn’s forms, as well as the Chrono Cycler, appeared in a digitized flash right in front of them. They looked like a sweaty mess who were barely holding. It looked like they were still basking in the cheers of the crowds when they realized that they were no longer in the simulation. They looked around the room in surprise when they spotted Julia.
“Julia Senpai!!!! Did you see that?! We did it!” Maevyn and Synsae shouted excitedly as they jumped for their sister of the Order. Where did they even find the energy for that, after racing all night long?
Julia just hugged her squires back. “I was watching that last race, yes! Well done you two,” she said. She was so proud of how far they had already gotten. Sure, they had only joined the order a few years ago and tried to copy Zexa Xeza and herself a bit too much sometimes but she wouldn’t trade them for the world.
“But… What did I say about running off on your own and-” Julia started, wanting to lecture them but the lecture died in her mouth as she realized that the pair was actually feeling rather heavy in her arms. Looking at them both, she realized that they had actually fallen asleep. The adrenaline from the races must have worn off and the pair's exhaustion had finally caught up with them.
“Oh, you two… Let's get you to bed,” Julia sighed with a smile as she carried the pair off to their room. Her own training allowed her to lift them both up without much trouble. “I’ll be right back, ZX,” she told her lovers.
Upon her return, Julia found the twins working on the Chrono Cycler. The space around it seemingly decompressed, revealing an engine many times larger than the cycler itself.
“Ah here it is. We believe this is it, the chronomatrix fuel that Feline and Lavini asked for,” Zexa Xeza said as they pulled out a cube of a sparkling black liquid like substance from within the cycler's base. They carefully poured it into a bottle and corked it shut. “How Ingenious. It looks like the engine intertwined the chronomatrix of itself with that of the user. That is what allows time to loop within the Cycler Circuit. However, instead of a full loop, it created a transitional loop. They were technically doing short resets constantly. The effects of this seem to be carrying over on each new timeline it created, all stacking up to achieve their goal.”
“I understand some of those words…” Julia said jokingly. She loved the twins and would do anything for them, but she never did quite understand them when they were talking about time.
Zexa Xexa laughed in return. “It should be safe to transport the fuel now,” they said.
“So… does that mean we're done with the quest?” Julia asked, looking around the mechanical mess they had made of the room.
“More or less. Once we’re back in town, we’ll have a courier deliver it to the temple. However…” Zexa Xeza said ominously with wide grins on their faces. “It’ll be a few days before they recover and, since they beat us to the Chrono Cycler, we guess we can get to work on their requested prize.”
“What? No way! I’m punishing them!” Julia yelled. “That stunt was beyond reckless, even if they did succeed! They shouldn’t get any prize for that!”
“Hmmm, yes, that is true. But the prize they wanted wasn’t for them. What they wanted is actually for you. The best birthday relaxation present for their Senpai. So, why don’t we get started on that. What do you say, JULIA?” The twins smiled widely, grabbing Julia’s arms on either side. All of Julia’s strength always failed her when it came to Zexa Xeza, who just slowly inched her out of the living room and back to their bedroom.
“EEEHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!????” Julia gasped.
The ride out of Laset’s Summer Retreat was pretty uneventful. The constructs were too slow and weak to deter them. The paladin squires’ punishment was finally coming into play, as they were forced by Julia Senpai to carry the heavy Chrono Cycler, as well as Julia Senpai herself, out of the dungeon. Of course, Zexa Xeza Sensei had ensured that the Cycler’s engine was turned off, so that it was safe to carry it around. They technically didn’t need the Cycler anymore, but it was far too precious to just leave behind like that.
“Did we ever figure out why those constructs keep spawning?” Synsae asked as she smashed her way through the front gate where natural sunlight finally greeted her again for the first time in several days.
“It looks like someone initiated one of the combat training programs. But they fled when they were overwhelmed. The system continues to spawn them in order to finish the training program,” Zexa Xeza Sensei said as they left the ruins behind to approach their wagon, which had thankfully not been looted by burglars it seems. The guild marker had done its job.
“Huh… If that’s so, shouldn’t we turn it off?” Synsae asked, looking back towards the dungeon as they loaded the Cycler into the wagon.
Maevyn, meanwhile, hopped on the wagon and placed Julia Senpai down on one of the benches. She had been in a weird, zen-like state since they had woken up, while Zexa Xeza Sensei just smirked every time they looked at their girlfriend. The twin priestesses had assured them that they had just given her the requested relaxation session while Synsae and Maevyn were asleep, though Maevyn had to wonder what had actually gone down behind those closed doors.
“As watashi said earlier,” Maevyn said, addressing her sister squire, “the guilds around here are profiteering off the constructs far too much to want it to stop.
“There’s no point anyway. The training session’s controller is in the Training section behind a different, inaccessible firewall. The R&R section has no control over it,” the twins stated simply. “Besides, we need to get to town to deliver this ASAP.”.
“Hai! Sensei!” Maevyn nodded as she helped them and Synsae onto the wagon. She then took one last good look at Laset’s Summer Retreat. “You know, watashi feel like we forgot to do something…” she mused, but then she just shrugged. “Probably nothing important.”
With that, they were off.
Huh? The firewall is down?
Oh, the guild marker says the branch has been cleared.
I guess it should be safe to check it out?
.
.
.
[CONTINUE?]
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