Tears streamed from my face, and I greeted the cute children one by one, feeling the nerves retreat. It seemed that my children's mothers were not blaming me at all for my inability to be around me. In fact, I noticed now that more kids were like Mina, carrying a little doll like me.
Almost all of them were either shy to meet me or excited. I was in heaven on whatever planet this was as I took time with each child. I didn't have enough time. I never had enough time, as I had missed all the important milestones. My shy children didn't know what to do as I was never there before for them growing up. Luckily, many of them were too young to resent me for not being around.
I had too many children, though, and many of their mothers were pregnant again. I found that more pregnant women were actually in the education area talking with other mothers. It seemed while I was gone that all the mothers and potential mothers I left behind were making a village and helping each other out. Many of the kids were playing with their half-siblings, and I felt warm watching them.
I was a terrible father at the end of this all. I wasn't the one paying for their meals or even supporting them at this point in time. It was my Father and Mother and our family or clan that supported them. Some of the other clans or Bunny-kin equivalent of Nobility was, probably supporting them. I also found some B-ranked Wizards teaching my children different things about Mana, making them exceptionally lucky compared to the poorest and weakest of our Tribe.
Forgetting about that, I couldn't help but wonder if this was for the best. I already knew that I could never spend enough time with my kids. I was one bunny-kin, and the number of kids seemed to be exploding in numbers. In two or three months, that number was about to increase to a number I wasn't even sure of completely. The number of pregnant women that entered the room to see me after I first entered was not less than ten. When they looked at me I could see lecherous smiles or warm smiles as they rubbed their pregnant bellies and went to join the other mothers for conversations.
I was there for hours, delightfully playing with my young children happily before my mother came into the room. I ran around the room and picked up a little child of mine named Tanya, that was a little Silver bunny-kin that had my nose and eyes, and I hugged her. "Gotch ya!" I exclaimed, much to a squeal of delight after she ran away from the game.
It was at this moment my mother sent a mana message summoning me from the room. The kids all seemed to know their grandmother as she announced my temporary summons to them. "Don't worry; daddy will be back tomorrow, I am sure. Make sure your good to your mommies and tell them how your day was!" Mother told them.
"OKAY!" About forty kids said together, and I reluctantly pulled away from the kids.
I wanted to snarl, but I kept my smile for the kids as I left before the door closed. My mother sighed and looked at me, "Time for the full debrief without an A ranked Illusionist around. The Elders are worried and want to double-check that she doesn't have you under any spells that we hadn't noticed. I delayed them as much as I could, but," She looked at the door, "I am surprised they let you see your own kids with how worried some of them are acting. I cannot help but say that your sperm might be becoming a strategic-level resource to the Bunny-kin tribe at this rate. Some of the stupider and more extreme Elders are thinking of keeping you in Silvermoon Tower to Increase the number of pregnant women in the Silvermoon tower these days."
That wasn't good news. I frowned, and I realized that having that Contract that said that I was the only one allowed to move the forces of the Succubi Illusionists was the reason that they probably wouldn't. "It was the Contract, wasn't it?" I asked.
"It was the Contract with Queen Mira." My mother nodded, "This war is needed for you to be honest, Honey," My mother said before motioning us to move while Mana rippled a little as my mother cast a spell to keep ears from listening in. "You need to make a seriously high-level achievement for the Nation, Honey. Something huge that won't allow you to disappear. Otherwise, I think some of the Elders might override your Father with a majority vote and have you become a breeding Bunny-kin. It is simply outrageous how smart your kids are and how magically adept they are."
"It's not like I am not already doing my part on that end," I said contemptuously, "I have at least forty lovely little kids in there. There are at least another hundred on the way with the number of Pregnant women I saw that looked at me while rubbing their stomachs," I felt rage burning in me, and I stopped to take a deep breath. "As the Father of my children, I want any Elder that wants me to become a Breeding stud to have no access to my children in the future, including their descendants. I want their families to have access to my genetics, either," I told my mother strongly.
My mother shook her head, "That is akin to declaring open war with them, Honey. Also, not the smartest choice as when they first drugged you, they had some of their own family's women impregnated by you." An iron anvil hit my stomach, and my mother nodded, "In a way, you are already related to them."
FUCK!
I was fuming in my head, and I took a deep breath. "I get it," I told my mother as we stopped at a lift, "I cannot play the brute force game anymore. I can slow down their access, though," I told her, "I can cut down how fast they get access." I shook my head. "Still, your right," I said much slower, "Making an achievement where I cannot be disappeared is the easiest solution to all of this. The only question is if the Empire will allow me to."
"That is the question, isn't it," My mother replied. She turned and opened the lift and entered the mana bubble, moving with us and she looked at me, and her eyes changed. "Anyways," My mother closed the distance a moment later, and she looked down at my pants, "Let us put aside that for now. I heard from your sister that you had taken her first time," My mother said with a sultry voice, "Christina is very interested in more, but her hard persona doesn't really let her communicate that fully. And I have to admit the Elders are not the only ones concerned with the package inside your pants. I have been thinking about it these months. Your Father had to talk me out of heading over the Demon lands. Although now isn't the time I expect you to take care of your sister and me. After that, I think I should introduce you to your older siblings. I don't want you thinking they are all like Anthoney."
My mother pressed her body against mine, and her smell entered my nose. I forgot about the Elders temporarily, and Doornocker seemed to perk up a little in my pants, creating a bulge. My mother smiled at me, and her lips brushed my lips. "Not now, Chelsea; we are about to meet the Elders," My mother finished and backed up.
I glared at her and replied, "Fine, I do have to meet my older siblings in better environments than the Demon Lands this time," I finished.
"Good," My mother replied as the elevator opened, "Oh, By the way," My mother began holding the mana bubble, "Lately, I feel that I am finally breaking this stupid wall of power I have been feeling. I think I might be ascending soon or maybe during the war. I feel I may become an A ranker soon and finally break free."
My mother dropped a bombshell and then opened the door to the Elder council's meeting area. My mother dropped the mana barrier, stopping others from listening in with a smile. "Come in, Honey," My mother said while I was glaring at her. I took a moment again to breathe deeply and stepped inside.
I stepped into the room, and the doors closed. The room was furnished with a wood I didn't know, but it was dark-stained wood, and the center of the room was a table made of mana-infused materials. Enchantments lined the walls, and I knew this was a safe room in the Silvermoon tower, probably one of the strongest rooms with the most soundproofing. Behind me, I knew I would see those wood doors marked with more enchantment lines that would match the walls.
My Father stood and smiled, "Today, Chelsea, we are going to go into a deeper debrief with you. I am sorry for taking you away from your children or my Grandchildren, But we also need to inspect you to see if Queen Mira has influenced you."
I nodded, and I sat down in the only chair that was left open for me. It was a chair packed to the max with Mana, and as soon as I sat down, the chair's Mana warped around me. "As you know, Chelsea," My Father said, "This is the testing chair. Please contain your Mana."
I frowned and began to meditate, and I felt Mana fluctuate all around me as I centered myself and retracted my Mana into the vortexes that fueled my body. The moment my Mana retracted, I was filled with invasive Mana that checked my body throughout. It was all the same, Mana and I felt the enchantments check all they could. I frowned as this was an extremely invasive procedure, and I grimaced as the Mana invaded me deeper, sending shivers of phantom pain through me.
Gritting my teeth, time seemed to slow down, and every moment sent pain through me. I hated this feeling, but I understood, and I clung to that understanding as pain wracked my body again and again. It was excruciating, and I bit my lip. Moment after moment, I was searched down to whatever level the creator of the chair understood magically, and suddenly when everything was done, it stopped instantly.
"Found no traces of Foreign Mana in restrained person. Restraints deactivated." The chair informed all it could with a mana message. The restraints freed me from binding, and I stood suddenly gasping for air that I had forgotten to breathe. I took several gulps of air, madly breathing, making my chest heave.
"That is never a comfortable feeling," My Father said, "After every fight, we sit in that damned chair to see if they leave any mana in us." my Father looked at several Elders who were nodding, "Saved all of our lives at least once at some point though," My Father finished.
"Now that we know you are not being influenced, we can talk much more openly with you, Chelsea," Elder Greggory said, "This deal was simply too much to believe for us. An unimportant potion none of us use, turning into something of a national resource with the addition of Illusionists, isn't something we expected. Unfortunately, I believe that there is only one race among our tribes that practice Illusion and they are a small and weak race. How are the Fox-kin doing?" Greggory said, turning to another Elder.
I looked at the Elder, and my chest heaved. This was Elder Yana, the elder that mostly dealt with tribal affairs I have heard, although mostly the strongest ones like the Dragon-kin. "They are not doing too well. They are asking for their people to be held back from the war. I heard that slavers raided their village several years back, and they are still recovering. I believe because we have the Succubi to assist us, it would be a good idea." Yana looked at a couple of elders, looking unsatisfied, "Remember that we cannot allow a fellow tribe to disappear from existence. Especially with this new potion. They will become the benchmark for improving Illusionary wizardry in the future of our nation."
I was surprised that we had a race like the Fox-kin that followed the Illusion wizardry, as I thought it had almost died out everywhere else. "Indeed," Elder Greggory said, "In fact, there are several kin that I think should remain out of the war to replenish their numbers. I believe that we can increase our standing with many of them with more aid and food to assist in that as well, Elder Yana."
Yana nodded, "I have been," She said her expression told me the motives were not charity. "I have done so for several of the neutral tribes and friendly tribes that have been struggling because of the Human slaver's invasion. We have gathered quite a strong tribal following these days."
Bright smiles grew around the table, and I realized that I was missing something as they talked. Just as suddenly as the conversation started, my Father slammed his fist down, "We can discuss that later,' He said, ending it. They all turned to me under the implication, and I looked back, realizing there was only the one chair that all knew I wouldn't sit down again.
My mother watched; her expression showed no emotion, and I knew I was in for a ride.