Cultivating Anthro CEO RPG Hero Harem Reincarnation In Another World

Vash, Kanna and Ai, under the escort of the Dragon Monks, had been given a grand tour through the various buildings of the monastery⁠—each devoted to a unique purpose.

They started at a long building with barren walls and floors, housing the brick pizza ovens and preparation stations.

Kanna sighed. "Ah! Smell that, Ai-chan?"

Garlic. Marinara sauce. 

Melting mozzarella cheese, and crisping pepperoni. 

If Heaven had an aroma…

Everyone in the party would agree, this was it.

Vash found it interesting that some of the ovens were powered by Fire-specialized Mages, channeling their flames directly into the ovens in a stream formation.

She consulted the Dragon Monks about it.

"Hey...is that fire stream technique taught to the students here?"

"Indeed! The [Dragon Breath] style."

Vash scratched her chin. He'd tried producing the same effect on his own in the past, but could never quite master it, so he was intrigued to learn what the trick to it might be.

Ai was more curious about the pizza-making process itself.

She'd had an idea recently…

"Kanna-siiiis," she said, as she was watching a [Dragon Chef] rolling some dough. "I wanna learn how to cook, too!"

One of the Dragon Monks overheard.

"Ah, well then you're in luck as well!" He said, beaming at her profusely. "Cooking classes are a mandatory part of every monk's training. From boiling rice, to baking our signature [Dragon Fire Pizza], you'll go from a Novice to a Master Chef guaranteed!"

Ai's eyes sparkled. "Guaranteed!"

The next building on their grand tour was the main fighting dojo. A square-shaped room laid with woven mats, racks filled with wooden training weapons on the walls. Here, acolytes were fitting in some sweaty, last-minute sparring practice as the sun was dying on the horizon.

Kanna saw all the weapons the students were using, but one in particular caught her attention:

"Woah! Is that...a katana!"

"Actually, it is known as a Wodao." One of the Dragon Monks corrected her.

Kanna glared, shaking her head. "No, that's definitely a katana: the curved blade, the pattern on the hilt, the tsuba...even though it's wooden, it's all designed exactly like a katana."

Vash chimed in: "You're a sword nut all of a sudden, Kanna-chan?"

To which she laughed. "Ara ara, I just think they're cool! I'd be so excited to get my hands on one. It's, uhh…" She gave an anxious laugh, as Vash moved in front of her. "Been my dream, ever since coming to this world."

"You'd look even more badass with a katana," Vash said, touching them on the shoulder, brushing a strand of hair from the side of their face with her thumb.

It was an unexpected, but welcome touch.

One that caused Kanna's mouth to slightly hang open, and her to wonder...

'Is this...really Vash?'

Though, Vash being Vash—a nerdy Mage at heart—had to spoil the moment by then turning from her sharply, to watch the hand-to-hand fighting displays between some of the acolytes. 

"Hmm. I wonder," he mused aloud. "Well, it wouldn't hurt to expand my horizons…"

'Classic Vash,' Kanna thought warmly, as she couldn't stop herself from giggling—what was truly a rare occurrence indeed. Thinking it was nice to have some things that remained consistent in Nirvana.

During all this, Ai was groaning.

She was exhausted from all this walking with her big belly.

"I'd really like to sit, or lie down…"

A Dragon Monk took her by the shoulder. "Of course! I'll take you to rest in the dorms, while the others meet with Elder Loose Fingers."

She yawned, as he gently led her away.

Leaving just Vash, Kanna and the second Dragon Monk.

"So, what're your thoughts so far?"

Vash and Kanna briefly exchanged glances, their hands silently touching.

"I can't wait to begin," Vash said, smiling. Still gazing softly into Kanna's eyes as she did, making them feel butterflies in their stomach.

Kanna nodded, unconsciously licking her lips. Breathing loudly through her nose. 

"Me too."

"Excellent!" said the Dragon Monk, then suddenly looking surprised. "Ah! Before I take you to speak with the Elder, though, I suppose I should mention that the nightly Group Sex Cultivation session is scheduled to begin soon."

Vash and Kanna both stared at him—both uncertain of whether they'd heard him correctly—retaining their smiles.

"Uh...repeat that?" Kanna finally said.

"The nightly Group Sex Cultivation session is about to begin." 

He extended his hands to them. 

"Guests are free to join."

...

Elsewhere, while that discussion was being had, Ai was brought to a multi-storied hall where the acolytes lounged and slept. 

The bottom floor contained an immaculate living space with several sofas arranged on a decorative rug, surrounded by hanging wall scrolls depicting cloudy mountain spires and intricate flower branches, snarling tigers and wind serpents. As well as an adjacent small kitchen with a clay wood burner stove, stone countertops, and a tall glass-panelled wooden food storage cabinet.

The first floor was empty at this time, as most acolytes were out preparing for the imminent Group Sex Cultivation session, 

"Do make a shout if you need anything," the Dragon Monk said before leaving Ai there alone, rubbing her bruise-tinted tummy with a salve she'd robbed from someone's inventory in Mithil, labelled in its description as "a remedy to all aches and negative feelings." 

'Akira...that inconsiderate jerk!'

'All he could think about was how I looked!'

Still, Ai couldn't help but blush, remembering the things she'd said.

'Is it true Akira thinks I'm...pretty? Even with a ridiculous belly like this...' she pondered, gently feeling along the part of her that had since turned from deep purple into a full black, and grown to take up the majority of her total size.

The discoloration made it a gruesome sight, to be sure, but fortunately much of the pain had subsided, along with her ferocious temper.

Now, in her state of calm, she could seriously consider her options:

'Should I...keep it?'

'I mean, if it's really the result of a spell…'

Thinking on it, she hadn't chanced upon any [Abortion Clinics] in this world, but would an exorcism rather be in order?

Curious, she pressed her ear against the tumorous tummy, closing her eyes…

Listening, serenely, for a kick…

Instead, she hears:

THE NEVERENDING ANGUISHED CRIES OF A COUNTLESS NUMBER OF TRAPPED SOULS, UNITED IN THEIR SCREAMS OF ETERNAL DAMNATION IN THE LOWEST DEPTHS OF THE DEEPEST SULFURIC PITS OF HELL, emanating from within her womb.

'Okay, that was loud. Fuck.'

'That settles it—'she retrieved her dagger, rearing it back in her arm. 

'Bye, bye baby!' 

She nearly plunged it into her bellyful of demons, when suddenly a frantic voice yelled at her:

"W-w-wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!"

'Huh?' Ai glanced around, seeing no one else in the room.

"Is someone...there?"

"Not there—inside here, mommy!"

Ai had only one guess as to what "inside here" meant, and it was the correct one.

"That's right," the voice continued in a snarky tone, playfully adding: "It is me—your bundle-of-joy to be! Coming at you live from the studio in your womb, where the amniotic fluid is especially nice and warm today."

"Cool," she said with a blank face, rearing back her arm holding the knife again. "I'm gonna stab you now."

"Aha! Don't be so hasty, mother…"

"You're not paying any rent, so consider this an eviction notice."

"Wah! I haven't even grown my arms yet, and you're already treating me so harshly!" the voice whined, though it was obviously being facetious. "I can feel you have a heart, so please be more gentle! You're all I have..."

"You're an abomination that needs to die."

The knife's edge came within a hair's reach of its target, when the voice stopped her again—becoming dead serious:

"Go ahead and do it if you dare, bitch. All you'll succeed in doing is unleashing a nuclear bomb's worth of demonic essence and harvested souls, unto this godforsaken pizza dojo."

Ai wasn't intimidated. "I'll also kill you, won't I?"

"Hah. As if. I'll simply find some other womb to serve as my phylactery. Maybe one of your friends, if they somehow survive the demonic blast."

"However, you'll most definitely die, if you decide to take it that route." He laughed. "Then, I'll be sure to bring you back as a thrall—just so I can use your mouth for a pissing cup, as punishment for making my eternal undeath slightly less...straightforward."

Ai bristled. "How do I know you're not bluffing?"

"I'm a talking demon fetus. Try me."

Sighing, Ai tucked her dagger away. At least for now, until she could figure something out. She wouldn't dare do something rash to risk the lives of Akira and Kanna.

"Smart choice, mommy!"

"Quiet!" Ai snapped. "I'm not through with you just yet." Not by a long shot. 

Because no way was she just gonna let someone violate and manipulate her, on such an intimate level, and expect to get away with it!

Worst case scenario, she would run off to some secluded place...and—

'No. There has to be some other option.'

Earlier, one of the Dragon Monks that had shown her, Vash and Kanna around, made mention of a library…

'Maybe, I'll find out something there.'

She wasn't going to have it wait until morning, either.

Night had befallen the monastery as she rose from the sofa chair she'd been sitting in, when she heard a loud clanging—that of an alarm bell, being rung by some Dragon Monk sentries posted on lookouts along the monastery's outer walls.

Some acolytes were roused by the alarm, yet many were still confined in the "Lotus Chamber."

The most lavish building on the grounds: it was a cylindrical tower-like structure, entered into by a pair of massive, wooden doors bearing intricately patterned gold designs.

Inside, there were no furnishings. The floor was of smooth, polished cement showing a design centered around a lotus bloom.

Numerous thin, vertical slits along the walls served the role of windows: allowing for privacy from outside observers, while also letting in enough light to see by during the day. Whereas by night, the moonlight only permitted the vague forms of others in the room to be seen; thereby, prompting the use of one's other senses...

Vash and Kanna were among the acolytes gathered here, oblivious to the alarm bell's ringing as they were nakedly intertwined on the floor, kissing and grasping at each other with mutually starved passions. Whilst, all around them, others were grunting. Moaning. Lips were smacking. Congratulatory fanfare—that which accompanies a player's [Level-up]—to be heard every few minutes, to a half an hour or so.

"Rakshasa attack! In the wheat fields!"