The Eternal Family

The night forest some hundred meters away from the castle smelled damp and muddy, Harry walked further on as he waited, in anticipation and some bit of fear.

Was the eternal going to come?

The sound of cicadas, the gentle rustling of grass as little animals moved around.

Trees all around trembling as birds moved and flapped their wings in the cover of night.

He silently looked at the sky; his heart was beating loudly.

Past the branches and leaves, he couldn\'t see clearly, but he could see the round moon, and the shining stars, \'Had it been that long since I last saw such a scene?\' he wondered.

The stars were much brighter than the ones on Earth, the sky was vaster here too, and it felt more distant. A cool wind passed past him, he shivered and walked ahead, the main body was still asleep, so he can\'t earn pleasure points now…

Step, step, step, step.

The forest echoed with his footsteps; he walked past puddles, stumbled on small rocks, stopped when he heard hisses, and broke little trunks at times. Yet, he kept advancing,

He didn\'t have any ability except lustful absorption after all…

He was just a man walking by himself, a mortal without any other fancy abilities.

If he had something other than lustful absorption… that must be his newfound deficiencies.

The unbalanced status was not something so easy to ignore.

As for Lustful Absorption?

Only this ability seemed ingrained in his soul, all others had vanished but it stayed.

As if it was a part of him. And instinctually he knew he could absorb.

Nevertheless, he was now a mere Human.

And outside of his family now, even his only Gift was rather useless.

Walking past a small shrub as it rustled, he looked at a small boulder through the moonlight and climbed atop it, it felt cold against his naked skin.

Sitting cross-legged, he waited.

Will the eternal come?

He didn\'t know.

Was he afraid?

A bit.

Was he tired?

Very much.

Shaking his head, suddenly he flinched and looked at his hands, oh crap, he had put his hands above some worm… Ew, he shook it off and then rubbed his hands on the boulder.

Pfew…

Breathing out, he entered into meditation and began to think, What is the best course of action now?

Was it to go into hiding after finding some gift that he could absorb and training on it alone in some place where no one can find him?

And,

Make the clone have a 100 soul limit so that even if the main body died somehow, nothing would happen to the clone…

Or shouldn\'t it be the other way?

Moreover, he hadn\'t even a good gift now, Or should I just go back to the castle after the light comes out and Eternal\'s presence is out of the question…

That seems like a good choice since he could just go and fuck a random woman and take her ability with him to the outside world.

Maybe I should go to the academy…

Being there, for the most part; he can have a firmer foundation if he has a good teacher and while focusing on a single or at most 2 gifts should make him more capable on one aspect, he can also make his main body focused on hoarding more abilities.

Clone can become the expert of one art while the main body becomes the jack of all trades.

That seemed like the best way ahead, and if he can successfully get into the academy, there were even more paths that could open up.

But this was not a game, it won\'t be that easy.

He was the prince, Harry Lust Vincias, and his face must be rather well known, so there would sure be background checks if he went in like this and once that happens, he will be fucked.

There will sure be a barrel of questions thrown at him at least… Like, why does he have two of himself? for example.

Not to mention the possible attempts at assassination and such considerations.

The royal family had its good amount of enemies after all.

But of course, if he could somehow barge his way into the academy circle, a team of people capable of staying hard against even the Lust Family, and attain some influence inside…

That could lead me down the path for very long.

No, it can absolutely be fate changing...

Time sprinted past like an unstopping river, the dark forest kept its dark vibe… he thought and thought and thought and thought… the first trickles of sunlight poked its head in and the lands started to brighten.

He looked at where he had come from, but the castle was no longer visible.

He was quite some distance away, he breathed out in relief.

The Eternal hadn\'t come.

His legs were still intact.

Omnipresent… was he just a part of the disaster?

Was he too an illusion?

The disaster still had a lot of details in it that he found himself struggling with and even now, he had no idea what it all came to.

But one thing he was sure of, at least, there were no worries using the clone for now.

And that was good news, he smiled and looked around the forests.

He could hear the birds chirping, the squirrels moving around, he could even feel his own heartbeat calm down.

He was very tired till now, but yet, due to the good news, he felt rather refreshed.

And moreover, now he had a good plan as to what to do, and he didn\'t have to go back and unlock an ability to do so. He was good to go.

Jumping down from the boulder, he licked his lips and walked in a certain direction.

Oh fuck… I should have at least taken a map.

He shook his head and walked ahead with a smile…

Well…let\'s see where the wind leads me…

Walking across the lands and learning its culture seemed like a great idea and at the end of the journey…

"I wonder whether Mad Hooligan really is as good as everything seems…"

He had to see this person for himself, he seemed like a lot of excitement.

And maybe teach some girl in the academy some fun magic! Magic he meant.

Kek.

Seems like a lot of fun.