“Improvements are slow, but I did gain another level recently,” John reported and dismissed the window. “The higher my level gets, the harder it is to just grind more out. As potent as my powers are, seems like Gaia still wants me to work for the incredibly high echelons of might.” He reached out for the cup of cold water in front of him.

It was another hot day in New York City. 28 degrees Celsius on high humidity and with no clouds in sight. Even being outside the Hudson Barrier didn’t help much, only the softest of breezes occasional rolling about. As it was, there was only the veranda of the café in whose cooling shade they, and many others, had decided to escape to.

By all descriptions, John was faring better with the heat than his sole companion. Be it because he was regularly cuddling with a fire spirit, the general cuddling heat generated when sleeping in his bed, Gamer’s Body or the enchanted clothes he was wearing, his sweating was kept to a minimum and he was relatively comfortable.

Marie, on the other hand, was steadily fanning air into her face, using the menu. The black-haired French aristocrat wasn’t doing badly in the heat. The tanned colour of her skin indicated she had spent more than a bit of time around the Mediterranean parts of her homeland and was used to warm weather. Regardless, the motion never stopped.

The steady flow of air lightly swayed the large brim of the sun hat she was wearing. It was a stylish piece, sharing its black colour with her hair and the summer dress she was wearing. An article that was clearly designed for John’s viewing pleasure. Tightly sticking to her body, it emphasized her decently large breasts and lean figure. Gold embroidery formed stylized swords and the fleur-de-lis, a combination of the Damocles house and traditional French royal iconography.

John was rapidly developing an appreciation for these sleek and sexy dresses. It was very possible they would soon land among maid outfits and lingerie on the list of clothes he was immediately attracted by. It would be an acquired taste, in this particular case, but a genuine one regardless. Repeated exposure to new things did widen the horizon, after all.

“Your steady growth iz enviable,” Marie answered, changing the angle of her fanning from her face to her cleavage. A gesture that got her more than a bit of attention. The café was packed to the brim. Aside from the weather, the location also drew people to this place. It was just across the street from Central Park.

Most people had the decency of looking away. A few of the rougher looking types didn’t care about such things and were openly taking Marie’s displayed curves as an invitation to feast their eyes on them. Something generally fixed when John managed to get their attention and give them the most intimidating stare he could muster. The combination of his now clearly muscular build and 100 Charisma did ensure that anyone of that category of men caught this way kept their eyes to their table afterwards.

A second group was also staring at John’s date and, personally, the Gamer disliked those a whole lot more. The working-class folks may have been rough around the edges and unkempt in their behaviour, but at least they were straightforward. Compared to that, the suited-up hyena’s that were hanging around, flaunting their influence through clothes and bragging flirts, made John feel sick.

Not to say that every last person that looked remotely rich in this café pissed John off. There was tactless scum to be found in every social class across every time in history. The majority of either category were good people that kept to themselves and glanced occasionally as the male gaze was directed by base instincts. Of the two outlier groups, John just disliked the rich ones more.

“Zheir lack of respect seems to offend you,” Marie noted the obvious and leaned forward, pushing her breasts up by resting them on her arm. A cross-shaped pendant dangled between the emphasized juiciness. The hint was rather obvious.

John stopped glaring at everyone around them and returned his gaze to her. If she wanted to be looked at, the Gamer was happy to oblige. “Yes and no,” he admitted. “I’ll admit that I’m not used to going places where people don’t know my face. That normally comes with at least respect of power. I like being reminded that I’m not that special to the mundane world at large.” He sipped from his cold water; the ice cubes were shrinking by the minute. “People staring at my date, however, is disrespect I don’t take lightly in any setting.”

“They cannot be blamed,” Marie managed to formulate that sentence without her accent dominating every word (although it was still very much present). “I have a body men desire, it iz only natural for them to look. They have no other choice.” John considered if he should mention her self-aggrandizement issue, but she moved on before he could come to a decision. “I was surprised, however, that you suddenly asked me out today.”

“I happened to have an empty afternoon.” John smirked; since Gnome’s birthday, three days had passed and it was now Saturday. “Most of my girls are busy with organizing things or going after their hobbies. I thought I should pay you a visit.”

“As much as I deserve your attention,” her phrasing was as arrogant as ever, “I have to ask if you truly have nothing better to do? Your guild is going through interesting times. I wouldn’t want to distract the hero of his tale while sharpening his sword.”

“Interesting as they may be, they are also rather stable.” John shrugged. “Really, the most pressing thing I did today was learn about traffic rules through some good old practice.”

“What is zhe purpose of that knowledge?” Marie asked and leaned back. Now that she had his attention again, there was no need to emphasize her breasts like that. Instead, she sipped from her own drink through a straw, which was its own, less blunt display of sultriness.

“I’ve been doing a crash course the past few days. Well, Aclysia, Beatrice, Metra, Jane and I, to get the complete list. We’re finally getting our driver’s licenses.” He emptied his five-dollar glass of ice water and leaned back in his chair. “About time. Always relying on taxis was pretty annoying. The test is on Monday.”

“I expect you will pass?” Marie asked, only to prevent the conversation from becoming a monologue.

“There’s basically no question about it in the case of the maids and I.” John let out an amused sound. “In Jane’s and Metra’s cases, they might fail because they fool around. I’m surprised they even got through the theory part. They thrive more on the practical side of things.”

“Failing to get both in balance is a shameful display.” Marie shook her head quite intensely making her straight, black hair fly off her shoulders for a moment. “A ruler’s significant other should never be a hindrance. It would never happen to-“ She stopped when John audibly slammed a finger on the flat surface of the table.

He would have gone with the entire hand, he was easily mad enough for it, but he didn’t want the entire veranda’s attention. Worse than that, if he didn’t carefully control himself, he was almost certain he would break the table. As such, one finger had to do and it did. “You’re doing it again,” he warned her.

“Doing what again?” she asked, furrowing her brows in a confused fashion. The lack of self-awareness caused John to let out a frustrated groan.

“You’re insulting one of those dear to me while also comparing yourself positively,” he laid it out clearly for her. “You did the exact same thing towards Lydia the first time we properly talked. Honestly, I have threatened people over insults alone. You’re lucky that you’re witty and attractive, otherwise my interest in you would have withered away the first time around.”

The directness of those words had Marie taken aback. “I apologize, but you brought up her personal failings and-”

“It’s not a failing,” John interrupted her again. “It’s a flaw and she is working to counteract it as best she can. We all have them. I made a joke about it and she is probably going to pass anyway. Jane isn’t stupid, she just doesn’t care for rules and regulations. You would be well-advised to stop thinking of yourself so highly if you want us to ever become something. I’m not sure I can stomach any further degradation of my loves and I’m very sure that the rest of my girls won’t tolerate having you around in the harem proper, unless you improve.”

Silence settled on the table afterwards. Once the initial rush faded, John knew that he had said a lot of things and perhaps a bit too harshly. He had meant all of it, however, so he didn’t offer an apology. Marie finished her drink as well. They both looked at their hands.

Right up until someone approached the table. John guessed it to be the waiter, but instead found one of the earlier identified suited hyenas stepping up to the table. Leaning onto the table, his shoulder blocked John’s sight of Marie’s face. Presented only with the man’s back, the Gamer had no immediate way to get attention without immediately resorting to physical means.

“Hey there.” The guy had a well-trained smooth voice. He was probably attractive as well. At the very least, his body shape was in the fit area. “If you want to have a better time, why don’t you leave with me?” The guy must have seen that their talk had gone pretty sour pretty quickly and swept in at the first opportunity.

‘Maybe vulture is more accurate than hyena,’ John thought, ready to do something. Ready to stand up, he heard Marie’s voice.

“You’re not a man half-worthy of my time,” she said in a sharp tone. “You carve no destinies and find no new paths in broken worlds. Search for your ‘better time’ amongst your opportunistic kind, zhere is nothing I have to discuss with someone rude enough to interrupt an honest talk with the impure ambition of a lust-seeking cur.”

“Wow, didn’t realize behind that pretty façade would be a babbling fucking weirdo,” the guy cussed, but didn’t back off. “Fine, I wouldn’t have bothered if I had known that anyway. What kind of fucking asshole are you when I was so ni-“

John grabbed him by the shoulder, no longer interested in being a bystander. “Do us all a favour and back off,” the Gamer said quietly, as they had garnered more attention from surrounding tables than he liked. “My lady isn’t interested, and I assure you, you won’t like what happens if you harass her further.”

The vulture of a man opened his mouth to respond, but his open mouth only produced a high-pitched sound of pain when John’s grip intensified. Like iron bolts, the tips of his fingers pressed between muscle and bone. When he relaxed his hand, the guy immediately backed off, threw another series of curses, but kept his distance.

For a moment, John expected Gaia’s Ire to come his way in at least a small way, but it seemed he had measured his strength well enough to be believable. He didn’t sit back down, with all the eyes on him now, John wanted to be somewhere else now.

“Let us move elzewhere,” Marie suggested, evidently of the same mind. They quickly paid their bills and were then on the road. Their steps brought them further north, away from the central park and the Hudson Barrier. For no particular reason. “I’m genuinely sorry for offending you,” the French noble spoke up. “I will reflect on it, or attempt to, zhat is good enough, no?”

“Good enough? We’ll see, but it’s all I ask for.” John kept the truthful theme going and they continued on. “By the way, I have a question,” he gestured towards her breasts, but for once not for their sake, “that pendant, are you Christian?”

“In a certain sense,” Marie said, the word ‘sense’ changed tremendously by her accent. “In my family, we study the Bible extensively. You might imagine, with our ancestor, that we take the scripture more seriously than others in the Abyss – to my house’s benefit.”

“It’s not the worst holy work to get inspired by.” John had an easy time agreeing to that. Although he was cherry picking the quotes he observed, and wouldn’t call himself anything short of an atheist (in the sense of not believing in any of the mundane religions), influences of the Bible on his western mind were undeniable. “I guess the more interesting question is whether or not you believe in God.”

“Zhat is rather difficult a question,” Marie answered. “Something has to stand at zhe beginning of everything. Is it a consciousness? Is it another entity zhan Gaia? I fail to find a definitive answer to these questions.”

Even with the extra knowledge John had, that they were likely something the supreme deity dreamt up, those answers were hard to come by. Who was to say there wasn’t something a level above Gaia that had made her? Who was to say there was nothing above that, even? It reminded John of the Hindu idea that the elephant’s holding the world were standing on turtles and that it was simply turtles all the way down. A logical loop that beckoned an impossible explanation.

“Regardless, I believe there is something that watches over us, whatever it may be,” Marie answered the question with a shrug. “It may be naïve, but it frames zhe world in a way that makes sense to me. I would call myself a Christian, but not a particularly good one.”

“Interesting… I would be happy to discuss the theological at some further length sometime,” John told her. “I like asking myself big questions. It reminds me that I don’t have the definitive answers for everything, and Lord knows I need those reminders,” he chuckled.

“Your conduct is arrogant sometimes indeed,” Marie responded.

“Look who’s talking!” John responded in an overtly dramatic fashion, then they both laughed. There was some hope for her attitude, if only he could drum some more self-awareness into her head. “Which reminds me,” he continued on, “maybe we should visit a church?”

“Do you want me to repent in front of the Lord?” Marie asked with an amused fashion. “Swear my oath of betterment before the cross? An effective strategy, maybe.”

“Not what I had in mind, but let’s go with that,” the Gamer responded. “Who knows, maybe you’ll witness what I was getting at and I will have something to tease you with.”

“You have stirred my interest. If it is another part of your tale that is worthwhile to record, then I will be happy to witness it with my own eyes.” Adjusting her head, she waited while John grabbed his smartphone from his pocket and looked for nearby churches.

As it turned out, there was a cathedral not too far and it’s name was too fitting not to aim for it. According to the trivia, it was the largest Protestant cathedral in the world, despite being only two-thirds built due to funding problems.